Things That Don't Exist in Reality, Suck

I've been searching for a certain poster from the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". It's the one with Nikola Tesla being a badass rockstar. The artist, Pete Oswald, has kindly provided a digital version on his blog.



But I really want to buy a real-life version to put on my wall. So far, the closest thing I could find is in the top-right corner on the back of the Cloudy Artbook.



Update: I'm not the only one that wants it apparently.

Chef

I found out that being a chef has its perks. And I'm not just talking about scaring little kids with your big bloody knife. I went to a busy Indian restaurant with some friends after work, and was still wearing my chef's outfit (though I had put away the knife). I had a feeling our service was a bit faster than usual. We were seated immediately while others had to wait. Our plate of rice and glasses of water were always refilled quickly. Our food was very good. Not only that, but after the main course, we were presented with complimentary tea and desserts. Right before we were about to leave, our waiter asked me what I had thought of the food. He looked disappointed when I told him I wasn't really a chef...

Luther Burger

The Luther Burger is the pinnacle of human invention. It combines the succulent juiciness of a cheeseburger with the soft and chewy goodness of a glazed doughnut. There are some who may call it an unholy flavor abomination, but they have obviously not yet experienced this culinary orgasm. One bite of the Luther Burger is enough to convince anyone that it is the food of the gods. The only way it could be better is if you had two of them, or if it were deep-fried. If it's a choice between a Luther Burger, and a myocardial infarction, I choose the Luther Burger every time.

Flambé

One of the perks of having a classically trained French chef as a roommate.

Homemade Chili with DS

I was working from home today due to snow, so I tried my hand at cooking chili with the help of my Nintendo DS. The whole process was surprisingly easy. I marked the ingredients in the chili recipe that I didn't have, and the DS created a shopping list for me. I brought my DS with me to QFC and checked off ingredients as I got them.

When I was ready to start cooking, the DS read aloud every step of the recipe for me. All I had to do was follow the instructions and yell "continue" when I was done. If I wanted, I could yell "more info" to see details about a step (like watch a video showing the proper way to dice an onion). Before I knew it, I had made chili!

Okay, so there were some minor difficulties. The pan I used was too small, so some liquid spilled over the side. Also, I had never used cayenne pepper or paprika before, so I wasn't sure how much to use, resulting in a slightly spicier chili.

More pictures.

More Snow

Good news is I have running water again!

Wendy's Dollar Menu

It's clearly awesome.

Mashable Party

I went to the Mashable party in Seattle on Saturday with David and Candy. Actually, it wasn't really a party, but more of a product fair with alcohol. All the sponsors had tables set up and were pitching their products. Most of these were pretty boring, except for the MySites table, where you could get free drink tickets by solving puzzles.

Jelly Belly

We just got containers full of Jelly Bellys at the office. This isn't
going to be good for my diet.

Mike's Cocktails - Not Good

I found these drinks at QFC the other day. I like Mike's Hard Lemonade, so I thought I might enjoy these. Boy was I wrong.

The lemon drop was the only one I managed to force myself to finish. By no means did I enjoy it. The mike-arita was horrible. The mojito was the worst. It tasted like vodka mixed with mint toothpaste mixed with some sugar.

Anyone who likes these must be crazy.

Homemade Apple Pie

I recently rediscovered how delicious apple pie can be and decided to try my hand at making one myself. Here's the recipe I used. The pie turned out great, though the crust was a bit hard.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmmm, homemade chocolate chip cookies. (recipe)

Homemade Hamburger

Hamburger recipe followed.

Cost of ingredients for hamburger from QFC: $15

Patty Ingredients: 1lb ground beef, 1 handful bread crumbs, 1/2 chopped onion, 1/4 cup beef broth, 1 egg, salt, pepper, spices.

Mix together.

Shape into patties.

Toppings.

I can has Hamburger!

Seattle Snowstorm

This is what we call a blizzard in Seattle.

Snow in Bothell

From last Saturday.

Missing Candy

I went to the store to do some grocery shopping. There was a bag that caught my eye advertising 155 pieces of assorted candy goodness. That's a lot of candy - so I bought the bag.

When I got home, the first thing I did was sort and count my loot. Here's my candy distribution:

Hershey's Milk Chocolate        20
Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Stix   27
Jolly Rancher Double Blasts     46
KitKat Crisp Wafers             20
Twizzlers Mini-Bars             20

Notice anything strange here? The total is only 133 pieces! That's 22 pieces or almost 15% less than the advertised 155 pieces! Now why would the Hershey's Company advertise such a specific number, but deliver 15% less than promised? Is this an innocent packaging mistake or are they purposely cheating all of their customers thinking no one is going to bother counting their candy?

Breakfast - Gummified

Found in the Snoqualmie Falls gift shop.

Hi, Me 5¢

I think my drink is trying to tell me something...

Disaster Ready

Now that I have my very own disaster survival kit, I'm ready for any disaster that may be foolish enough to face me.

One of these emergency rations provides enough sustenance for one person to last three days. It's hard to believe...but they taste great! - according to the quote on the back. Shelf life: 5 years.

This 52 piece first aid kit comes with everything you see here. Medical emergency sold separately.

Isn't a solar-powered flashlight kind of useless? At least this one can also be charged via hand-crank. It's also a radio and cell phone charger - but doesn't come with an iPhone adapter (charges most popular cell phones indeed).

Home Cooking

My first home cooked meal in my new house: fried eggs and tomatoes, cooked vegetables, and rice.