The weekend that covers the 1st two days of Nov. 2008

[rone rivendale]

DRC: Managed to get the whole weekend off. I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself with all this free time! Perhaps crank out a bunch of techno beats for DWI (Dance With Intensity). Definatly gotta listen to the AST fight and get some reviews done. Some X-Box so I can pwn noobs at DOA4 and SCIV. You know, the usual.

QotW: How hardcore are you in video games? Are you a novice who plays just once in a while. Are you a dedicated hardcore gamer who has played since the Atari days? Somewhere inbetween?

I'm fairly hardcore although my skill level in most games are lacking. I've played since getting my NES back in 1986. Back then Super Mario Bros 1 was hard as hell, although eventually I could beat it 3 times through. And that's no small chore cuz it gets harder each time you win. Nowadays I buy up almost every Live Arcade game on the 360 and beat it. I still have a hard time winning against other ppl in most games.

[john m]

I will never understand why people insist on providing the acronym for something and subsequently explain its meaning in parentheses if they never use the acronym again in the same piece.

I am hardcore. I have my specialties (PC shooters, Day of Defeat in particular; FIFA; Jump! Ultimate Stars; the Naruto: GNT/EX series; Guitar Hero/Rock Band), and there are games which I will always hate too much to put effort into (jesus fucking christ Soul Calibur is awful), but I can perform well in any video game.

Except... I don't think I'll ever be good at Gran Turismo. I love drift racers too much to try any harder at GT.

[Spud]

I still play my old Atari.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Asteroids is the bomb diggity. I laugh at the noobz that play Space Invaders.

[Niveous]

I'm a pretty hardcore gamer, but I'm very particular about what I play. I'm not a FPS guy, for instance.

[JonPorobil]

QotD: I play about a dozen or so games per year, and these I attack with gusto. I often replay old favorites, as well; nary a year goes by that I don't replay Donkey Kong Country 2 through to completion. Never had the patience to try to do a proper speed run on anything, though.

My tastes are unpredictable a sometimes a bit strange. For instance, I can't stand FPS games, except on PC. And I hate menu-based RPGs, except for the ones that I play. Mostly I stick to platformers, puzzle games, and games that are good for multiplayer parties. I used to be big into fighting games, but not so much anymore.

I've been a video game freak ever since my parents made the mistake of getting me an NES back when I was four. Money and time have been somewhat tight lately, but I did just recently get a Wii, so I'm trying to get my money's worth.

DRC: Novel writing month. Allyson's already at 5,000 words. I'm at about 2300, and probably won't write any more till tomorrow. Whee. Oh, and there's a Mountain Goats concert tonight.

[Märk]

drc: I'm not only hung over, but have heartburn and the runs. Nice. liquor is teh bad.

qotd: I'm not hard-core per se, but I do go through phases. I started Castlevania- Curse of Darkness recently, and got about half way through in a few evenings, but can't force myself to continue it right now, because I beat a super hard boss, didn't think to save (or didn't have an opportunity, I can't remember) then died and lost my progress. Good game so far, though.

[fluffy]

qotd: I'm not a hardcore gamer (which you'd never guess by my huge collection of games and systems) but I do occasionally get heavily into a game for a while. This weekend is LittleBigPlanet.

drc: Tonight I made fresh udon noodles from scratch. It didn't come out so well but it definitely gives me hope for the next time I try it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

qotd: I'm not a hardcore gamer (which you'd never guess by my huge collection of games and systems) but I do occasionally get heavily into a game for a while. This weekend is LittleBigPlanet.

drc: Tonight I made fresh udon noodles from scratch. It didn't come out so well but it definitely gives me hope for the next time I try it.

High five on the noodle making. Homemade noodles totally blow away dry noodles sitting on the grocery store shelf. Just remember, homemade noodles taste best the next day. Something to do with the gluten. If you made enough and didn't cook them all, try another batch tomorrow. You'll be amazed. I make whole wheat pasta, and it is suggested to cook it after you're done. But I made WAY to much one time and put some in the fridge. The next day it was killer. I also froze some, which was also killer at a later date. So from that day to now, I make my noodles a day ahead.
.....or you could just make Top Ramen.

[fluffy]

Yeah, the dough came together so quickly that it's definitely not a big deal to do.

The recipe I used is very simple, and makes two servings:

3/4 cup of flower
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp water

Combine the flower and salt. Beat the egg and water. Add the egg+water to the flower+salt. Knead like a mofo. Let it rest for half an hour in a damp tea towel. Then do the shaping into the noodle.

I first tried using the traditional Chinese chef technique but my dough was way too springy for that to work, so instead I rolled it out into a thin sheet, floured the sheet, then rolled it up like a jelly roll and cut it into noodles.

The big problem I ran into is that the sheet wasn't very thin (I need a pasta roller!) so the noodles ended up really thick. Would have been good for udon, but I wanted something more like ramen or soba since it was going with leftover stir-fry. Also, the stir-fry didn't really hold up, being a couple days old.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Ramen is quite thin generally. I'd think a spaghetti press, like for angel hair spaghetti would be perfect. I use a hand crank pasta something or other that I bought at Smart and Final. It does anything from sheets to spaghetti size.

I did something pretty tasty about a month ago. I made my wheat pasta and rolled it out thin in sheets, then made a shrimp tarragon mixture similar to a fettuccine recipe I've used in the past. But this time I laid out a sheet, used a circle cutter that came with my pot sticker maker. Then laid the round of pasta in the pot sticker thingy, used a melon baller and scooped in the mixure, brushed some egg on the edges, and made pot stickers.
I froze some, and made some the next day in a stew similar to dumplings. So good.

.....why does it feel like it took forever to say this? I'm fdrinked!

traditional Chinese chef technique

...by the way, this video is very similar to how I rub one out.

[Reist]

QotW: How hardcore are you in video games? Are you a novice who plays just once in a while. Are you a dedicated hardcore gamer who has played since the Atari days? Somewhere inbetween?

qotd: Uh, I'd hate to call myself hardcore, since I don't really care that much about video games. But I do enjoy playing them. I'm probably going to beat Sly 2 in the next hour or so - if you haven't played it, I recommend it for sure. Spy games are always fun for me.

[fluffy]

I liked the original Sly Cooper, but the fucking minigames eventually pissed me off too much. I could never get past the stupid Piranha Lake one, which is too bad since apparently that level had the best boss fight.

[fluffy]

Okay so here's an actual traditional HOWTO, which only uses flour, salt, and water. The recipe I used came from some "look at me I live in Japan and therefore am much more in-tune with real Japanese food" thing on Instructables. The eggs did definitey impart an oddness to the texture (which is why it tasted so udon-like I imagine) and that's also probably why I couldn't pull the dough the right way.

So now I know!

Their discussion of cold vs. warm water was a bit confusing, though, so I'm not sure which I should use. I know that hot water is usually used to make dumpling dough. I don't really see how much of a difference it could make, since most of the glutens come from kneading, not from the starting temperature, right? Oh well. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

[Billy's Little Trip]

So now I know!

Ha! If I had a noodle for every time I thought I "knew" before I tried the next method, lol. I'm telling you, the next day thing is for the win with noodles. But let me know how the new method works.
But yeah, rule of thumb for any non yeast dough. Softer outer use hot water. Flakier crispier, use cold. I'm no expert with dough, but that's the rule I was taught. Truth is, I use what ever comes out of my cold water tap, unless I'm deep frying, then I use ice water. With deep frying, you don't want the gluten to start expanding until it's done doing what you want it to do. Like coating chicken, you want the flour to become part of the skin, so keep it cold for a few hours. Batters, you keep it cold so it coats your shrimp and blends with the surface juice before dropping it in hot oil, where the gluten cooks quickly.

[Ross]

The end-of-October, beginning-of-November mayhem is slowly coming to a close around here, just two more major events. Between October 29 and November 10 we have two birthdays (each with their own party) an anniversary, Halloween, and b-day visits from those not at the parties, such as grandparents.

QOTD: Not hardcore, but I enjoy certain games a lot. I can recall getting addicted to Asteroids back in the day, then my brother got me addicted to Defender, which I used to stop and play at the grocery store on my way home each day during freshmen year. I have an X-box and a Wii. I think my favorite in the recent console game world are the Splinter Cell games which have kept me up late nights. My favorite computer game is easily "Myth II: The Fallen Lords" - amazing multiplayer fun. I have never been into playing strangers on the internet.

[fluffy]

Are you fdrink, Ross?

[Billy's Little Trip]

which have kept me up ate nights.

Only ate nights? Why, because seven ate nine?

...and yes, Defender was also the bomb diggity. The echoy sounds and implosion sounds where intoxicating.

[fluffy]

Hey jb, could we get an audio preview of comments here like the one on YouTube?

[HeuristicsInc]

I like video games, but I couldn't be called hardcore. Lately I am playing Guild Wars (PC), Mario Kart (Wii) with M.
-bill

[jimtyrrell]

No time for games anymore.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Any Myth II players out there from the deepest darkest '90s?

http://tain.totalcodex.net/items/show/m ... -7-windows
http://tain.totalcodex.net/items/show/m ... 7-mac-os-x
http://tain.totalcodex.net/items/show/b ... p-textures

Let's set something up!