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Post by The Captain on May 27, 2022 11:17:20 GMT -5
I’m fairly open to new food experiences. Actually tried escargot about a decade ago and found that if prepared properly, it wasn’t half bad. Tried black pudding when I was in Wales a couple of years ago, and I can say it will never cross my lips again. My three “no way in Hell I’m trying” food items are mountain oysters, chitlins, and haggis. Can’t even remotely overcome the revulsion I feel when I think about those items.
I like escargot, black pudding and haggis. You can keep the chitlins... I've smelled them cooking too many times in my life, and that alone is nauseating, much less the actual taste.
If I HAD to eat black pudding again, I probably could, but I didn’t enjoy it enough to actively seek it out. My sister went to Scotland a few years ago and had something called “haggis balls”, which she said weren’t actually that bad. Might give them a shot if and when I get there myself.
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Post by The Captain on May 27, 2022 10:33:48 GMT -5
Calf fries/lamb fries are a big NOPE! Don't care how good they are suppose to be not gonna do it. Otherwise I will eat just anything that has actual meat. No insects or snail (though I might be open to try that if I can hold down my gag reflex). I agree with tartanphantom on venison too. If I actually hunted myself venison could easily replace beef. But as is I usually am dependent on someone else. The venison in my freezer now was due to a coworker's husband who killed it and I paid to have it processed.
I'm right there with you on calf fries/lamb fries/mountain oysters... not even on a good day.
I’m fairly open to new food experiences. Actually tried escargot about a decade ago and found that if prepared properly, it wasn’t half bad. Tried black pudding when I was in Wales a couple of years ago, and I can say it will never cross my lips again. My three “no way in Hell I’m trying” food items are mountain oysters, chitlins, and haggis. Can’t even remotely overcome the revulsion I feel when I think about those items.
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Post by The Captain on May 27, 2022 6:19:39 GMT -5
Had an awesome experience last night. My wife and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary next month, and as she is one of the all-time best when it comes to giving gifts (I, on the other hand, am not), I knew I was in for something special this year.
So last week, she presented me with two tickets for “An Evening with Neil Gaiman”. He’s been on a month-long reading tour here in the US, and Pittsburgh was the last stop on the tour. It was held at the Carnegie Music Hall, part of the Carnegie Museum in the Oakland neighborhood of the city, nestled between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University.
After a delicious dinner of authentic Middle Eastern fare from a little restaurant in our Squirrel Hill neighborhood (site of that horrific synagogue shooting recently), we made our way to the venue. There was a little trouble getting in (the folks running the event for the site underestimated the draw and were ill-prepared to handle the crush of folks waiting for Will-Call), the event started about 45 minutes past the scheduled time.
Mr. Gaiman came out to the stage, spoke about what he was going to do, then got down to it. Questions had been submitted upfront, so he read and answered about five of them, then read a short story, then five more questions, another reading, and so on for about 90-100 minutes.
One piece he read that he said would never be published was a poem about Batman, of all topics, that he wrote the night that Neal Adams passed. It detailed his personal journey with the character across the various stages of his life, from young child to teen to adult. It was really interesting to hear what the character, so completely mainstream, means to a man who seems to lurk around the edges of that same realm.
We used to go to events like this before the girls were born, having seen folks like David Sedaris and Ira Glass, but this was the first one in many years. It was a long night and a late night, but it was well worth it to spend an evening in the presence of one of my favorite writers.
She wins, as always.
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Post by The Captain on May 25, 2022 19:24:00 GMT -5
Ballot cast, although there were some real shady individuals on there this year, especially that one guy...
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Post by The Captain on May 24, 2022 9:17:01 GMT -5
I had very little interest or excitement for this movie after the teaser trailer. Maybe because there was a lot of the Guardians in it, maybe because it was just too vague, but I wasn’t feeling it.
After watching the full trailer last night, I am onboard with this now. Loving the scenes on Olympus, like the interaction between Valkyrie and Jane, and Christian Bale looks creepy as all get out.
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Post by The Captain on May 20, 2022 11:52:14 GMT -5
It's pretty harsh to demand actors destroy their physical and mental health for our entertainment. We do the same thing to athletes. I can’t count the number of times an NFL player has retired in the past few years, under the age of 30, stating concerns for his future well-being, and the fans jump all over him. You hear and see: He’s “soft”. He’s “a beta”. He “isn’t a team player”. He “owes the fans, especially the ones who bought his jersey”. Not: “I wish him well”. “I respect his decision”. “I hope he finds a second career after football”.
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Post by The Captain on May 20, 2022 7:56:05 GMT -5
Truly humbled to be not only nominated and seconded, but also thirded. Thanks to all who believe me worthy of being considered for this Jamie.
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Post by The Captain on May 19, 2022 11:29:57 GMT -5
They can absolutely clean that up by throwing more money at it. Marvel assigns a lower budget to its TV shows, and that is understandable, but don't do a series that relies heavily on the cg if you aren't going to invest in the cg. This is my problem with Loki’s show. It just felt...fake and artificial. There were parts of it (such as when he and Sylvie were stuck on that one planet), and it was so obviously a total greenscreen/soundset job that it took me out of the show entirely. I know they can’t ACTUALLY film on another planet, but they can try to make it look a little convincing. That’s probably why my two favorite Disney+ shows are Hawkeye and Falcon/Winter Soldier. They filmed in actual places, with solid objects for the characters to interact with, and that made the shows feel REAL.
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Post by The Captain on May 14, 2022 17:48:52 GMT -5
No garlic and no mustard?
Bunch of savages in this town.
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Post by The Captain on May 13, 2022 9:15:45 GMT -5
I think I want to nominate @jaska. All his posts are cool and he doesn't show any snappiness no matter what is said. I will happily second this nomination.
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Post by The Captain on May 12, 2022 19:09:43 GMT -5
I'll nominate Hawke's #$%& this! thread reflecting on the language use in modern comics. #$%&ing seconded. It's an interesting look at a single form of media, but it's applicable across a wide range of them. Consider how the language in movies has evolved, with the MPAA actually listing which words and how many of each factor into a movie's rating, or how the language used on even network TV has gotten more coarse over the years.
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Post by The Captain on May 12, 2022 12:10:24 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS!Real, Honest Reviews By Real Readers!(That means you!) What did you read this week?
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Post by The Captain on May 12, 2022 7:37:27 GMT -5
I picked up the Avengers/Eternals/X-Men and Spider-Man/Venom books. They were “meh”. Nothing in them made me the slightest bit excited to buy anything they were tied to.
I got the Doctor Who and Avatar/Legend of Korra book for my older daughter, the Marvel Voices book for my younger one, and a copy of the Stranger Things book for them to share. My older one has been studying for her AP World History test for the past week so she hasn’t read hers yet, but my younger one said she enjoyed the Voices and Stranger Things books.
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Post by The Captain on May 10, 2022 17:38:02 GMT -5
So, our older daughter finally settled on a name for her “new” car, which is a silver Kia Spectra.
She named it “Marc”. . . . . . . Yes, my 16-year old’s car’s name is Marc Spectra.
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Post by The Captain on May 10, 2022 15:57:17 GMT -5
Went to the office today for the first time in 16 months, as my company inches forward toward a return to the “before times”.
It’s still very much a “come in if and when you want to” vibe, as I only went in to conduct some training for one of our newer employees. Probably only about 10% capacity in the office block, which made it a little eerie at times, but I got to see a friend of mine who works in our engineering department, which was nice.
Probably going to be in one-two days per week going forward, but I don’t envision ever going back full-time. It’s too easy and convenient to work remotely, which I believe most people in my department feel as well (except the older folks, who have always been office creatures and feel out of sorts with the remote work, not being able to see anyone or talk with them at the water cooler).
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