Backpacker's Pantry Kung Pao Chicken

PERSONAL COOKING

Kung Pao Chicken.
I like this a lot. Of course, I do like Chinese food. There times when I'd order General Tso's chicken or perhaps Moo Goo Gai Pan. Kung Pao chicken is great, too. There is a package of peanuts and chili powder in the bag, but I substituted Cape Cod potato chips instead. Perfect!

Brown Rice, Soy Sauce, corn starch, onions, garlic, sugar, salt, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, chicken soup base, sherry wine, white pepper, red chillies, peanut, chicken, carrots, celery, parsley, red and green peppers.

Backpacker's Pantry Kung Pao Chicken: Great.

http://ramstrong.blogspot.com/

Big Brain Academy DS Weight

Woo Hoo! I broke 2000g barrier. I am now Ace.

What's the secret? Well, luck is a significant factor. If you look at my scores, you see that Compute score is pretty low, except for Coin-parison. That's because I don't really compute the coin, but use instinct, instead. So I would make 40+ guesses, 6-10 would be wrong. So luck is a big factor.

Still, I have a big brain now. It weights 2023g. How much does your brain weight?

Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™

COOL WEB SITE
I probably should go here more often.
http://improbable.com/projects/hair/hair-club-top.html

Playing claw game

3 dollars in, 2 dolls out. Not a bad deal.

How to Haiku

Hey, do you know that Haiku includes seasonal reference? Things like spring, summer, autumn, winter? I certainly didn't know that! What does frog jumping into an old pond has anything to do with season? It turns out that "frog" indicates spring, which connotates newness, while being juxtaposed with old pond, which connotates oldness. That's very clever!

Reading this article by Robert Lee Brewer, Writer Digest Feb 2008 p. 83, it turns out that Haiku comes from Hokku, which is a starting verse of Renga. Then the seasonal reference makes sense. "Once upon a time in a faraway place..." and all that.

What if your Haiku does not include seasonal reference? Then it is Senryu.

Furthermore, what is the structure? Obviously, Japanese Haiku has 5-7-5 syllables, but how about English version? You can stay with the form, but translating Japanese Haikus to English ones means less syllables. So, I guess free-form Haiku is OK.

I shall be content,
brimmed, satisfied, and happy
when Hell freezes over.

Five stages of dying:
Anger, Denial, Bargaining,
Compromise, and Acceptance.

Big Brain Score

It occurs to me that lately, all I've been doing is posting some Big Brain Academy DS scores. I've also started on other things, but I guess I'm kind of addicted to this game for now. I also played some Metroid Prime Hunter DS, but I kind of give up at their timed-jumping puzzle. I did get past it, but the whole thing left some unpleasant taste, that I decided to abandon it until I can get my hands on some guide book.

I also played Naruto: Ninja Council 3. The game play is simplistic, but it does capture Shonen Jump atmosphere perfectly. Unfortunately, they somehow forget to include a "Retry" option, so re-starting a mission is a big pain. I don't play that game that much either. Maybe after some guidebook.

Well, if you can see the pattern, I don't like games that purposely or accidentally throw something that gets in the way of fun. Big Brain Academy games may be simplistic, but it has this ridiculous quality of "one-more-time" addictiveness that makes me happily forgets other things.

Anyway, I'm still miffed that I don't get Platinum medals in some activities although I have higher scores than others. Also, I noticed that improvement is hard to get this time around. Started to get into some kind of ceiling. Still, there are activities that I'd thought I'd maxed out, but broke through, like Heavy Weight, for example.

I am getting very close to 2000g level. I will definitely celebrate when that happens.

Big Brain Score 2/3/08

Category
Activity Easy Norm Hard
Compute
P-Coin-Parison 417 472 *513
Add Agency 336 340 *355
Written Math 349 358 362
P-Identify
Shadow Shift 430 438 *504
Get in Shape *494 567 500
Match Maker 376 417 *465
Think
Heavyweight 446 430 420
Pathfinder P431 P*473 454
P-BoneYard 396 407 446
Memorize
Sound Bite P348 387 395
Flash Memory P392 389 397
MemoRandom P457 392 360
Analyze
Missing Link *380 *439 P458
Cube Game P*516 P*492 *484
Animal Lines P381 *437 468

A 1888g Leonardo da Vinci
25 Platinum Medals

I can see improvements in Identify and Analyze, Think will have to have some breakthrough techniques, I think. Alas, Compute and Memorize seems to be maxed out. Especially Memorize, although Compute isn't too good either.

I've started to memorize the keypad. That gives me a little edge in putting in the numbers faster. Yes, it has come to the quickness of the data entry.

Alpine Aire Chicken Gumbo

PERSONAL COOKING
Today I tried Alpine Aire Foods Chicken Gumbo. It was delicious. At first, I thought it was rather bland, but as I dig deeper into the bag, the spices that accumulate in the bottom of the bag started to come out, and it becomes really tasty, indeed. Unfortunately, I have a preference for bland tasting food, preferring to salt my own food to taste so to speak. In the end, I left the spiciest, most rich portion in the bag. However, I think that if you've been conditioned to eat rich foods, then this one will suit you perfectly.

Rice, diced chicken, onions, okra, potato starch, red and green bell peppers, corn, tomato, salt, chicken broth, and other spices.

Alpine Aire Chicken Gumbo: Very Good.