Gromnir

Eh, I wouldn't say that really explains it. Besides, does that mean you missed the bit where Coulson is trying to figure out how come he doesn't seem to have some muscle memory he used to have? That tends to suggest things like clone or LMD more then purely a faked death... as a plot device, clones suck almost as much as amnesia and time travel. well, not all clone tv episodes is bad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmWRNZ_0ys HA! Good Fun!

pinched features and beady eyes--it does look... English. HA! Good Fun!

am making irish stew. 'course it ain't irish or stew. typically we would cube up some lamb, but as we don't have none, am gonna use ground chuck. and yes, am knowing that chuck is complete different, which is why we is not actually gonna do any stewing as ground chuck couldn't handle the braising. cut 1/2 green cabbage into 4 wedges. drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper... maybe some crushed mustard seed. roast wedges on foil-lined cookie/baking sheet in oven at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until edges o' cabbage is just starting to blacken and cabbage is tender. set aside cabbage. brown 1lb chuck in a dutch oven, then remove to paper towel. slice 2C carrots and dice 1-2 C onion. quarter or cube 4-5 small yukon gold potatoes. saute veggies for a five minutes. add 2T tomato paste and 2T each minced garlic and rosemary... cook a couple minutes till garlic is fragrant and paste darkens. add 1/3C flour and make sure veggie mixture gets coated. there is gonna be meat, vegetable, and flour browned and stuck to pot, so deglaze with 1C dark beer. add 4C beef stock and 1T each worcestershire and dijon mustard. bring to a low boil and cook til carrots and potatoes is tender. return meat to pot. squeeze in juice o' a lemon. salt & pepper to taste. little more effort, but really worth it-- collect zest from lemon you squeezed. mince and add to stew. makes pleasantly tangy. is bigish portions, so get big bowls. 1/4 stew in each bowl along with 1 cabbage wedge. add some fine chopped italian parsley... or don't. serve with crusty bread o' your choice. as we said, is not genuine irish and is not stewed, but is ez and quickish. worchestershire, dark beer and dijon will add depth o' flavor you lose by not using lamb. HA! Good Fun!

if gorth and companion is in level 53 or 55 gear, then final step is ez. that being said, Gromnir were surprised that the final h2 is a wee bit tougher than were the initial h2. this all reminds o' one o' Gromnir's initial complaints... is probable back on an early page o' this thread. once you get hk, how does you raise affection so that he is actual getting use from that universal +1 craft crit? some small # o' dailies give rep boosts. is annoying that belsavis (not section x belsavis) is the bestest dailies for getting rep boosts for some companions, but even then, is a slow freaking journey from 0-10k rep. you can do some low level fps solo-- a few give companion dialogue rep boosts. *sigh* as we noted in earliest complaints, the game compels you to indulge in gift-giving to raise affection with your companions. in point o' fact, the most mathematical beneficial route to take is to use gifts to get companions all to 8K through grade 1 and 2 gift giving Immediately 'pon acquiring the comp. gift benefit diminishes as you increase affection, but dialogue boosts is constant. it probable costs upwards o' 200k in grade 1 and 2 gifts to get a comp to the 8k mark, and it is stoopid repetitive, but it probable takes less time than 2 solo lowbie black talon runs. the makeb quests (not dailies) does have a couple o' extreme high companion rep dialogue payoffs... *shrug* regardless, we thinks paying for gifts to raise affection is stoopid. that being said, if you have the credits and patience, do as Gromnir suggested and boost comps through grade 1 and 2 gifts asap. some toons wont be subject to advancing past point X until you reach planet Y, but regardless, use "cheap" gifts as much as is possible is your best strategy... which is stoopid. HA! Good Fun!

Point was that I was a little disappointed that the average US citizen apparently didn't "get out" more. It's super important to see the rest of the world and not just your local country/culture.. Even if USA is pretty big - you guys are important, you should be well traveled. I would be disappointed at a European never leaving Europe too. It messes with my head when I check the time too often and if I have a constant reminder on my arm I end up stressing too much about it.. In essence, a watch gives me the sensation of having far far less time. having spent a fair amount o' time in europe, and a smidgen in asia, we is glad o' our time abroad. but am thinking that ros is being ironically ignorant. there is very practical and obvious reasons americans don't travel outside north america much. am suggesting that somebody looks at a map. don't need a passport for a quick trip to mexico or kanada. much o' central and south america has reputation o' being dangerous.... which ain't particularly fair, but is a common held belief. europe is separated from the good old USA by a fairly good sized stretch o' water. to traverse the expanse, even in this day and age, is not a spur-of-the-moment kinda thing. plane ticket alone is costing folks such as Gromnir ~$1000 to go to london. a trip overseas is not cheap and when you start comparing relative value o' vacation destinations or braces for little timmy, paris and tokyo don't seem to fare well. the USA IS big and diverse, so it is understandable that most folks don't see something beyond borders that is worth the very substantial expense o' obtaining. am thankful that we had opportunities to visit and live outside the USA, but such journeys were largely done on somebody else's dime, 'cause is not something we would probable consider doing if we had to bear the full cost our self. HA! Good Fun!

poop. between various toons we now got a few thousand basic comms with nothing to spend'em on. oh well. HA! Good Fun!

Dammit, was that on last night? I need to remember to set my DVR. we watched the episode last night and were unimpressed. it were very familiar to us, and not in a good way. were almost exact like A-team tv show. wont ruin it for you, but am not joking in the least. only 2 differences is more women on the team, and there is death 'stead o people scrambling-out-o'-the-burning-car-just-in-time as were a-team typical. it were campy and so far the chemistry is lacking. wheedon really likes buffy and cant let go. all his shows got a super-powered girl that kicks arse but just needs a hug. were kinda intrigued that current incarnation can drink legally in any state. am getting that ming na is 'posed to be wooden, 'stead 'o just teen perky or brain damaged, but somehow she is even less interesting than the previous buffys. am gonna tap out on this one fellas. yeah, we know it is gonna be a big success, but we already seen this decades ago with mister t, dirk benedict, george peppard and dwight schultz. HA! Good Fun! ps am admitting we needed to look-up dwight's name.

sorry, but we saw picture and first thought were not that it were a nice suit... 'cause it ain't . nope, our first thought were that all men over 30 should get a gym membership, 'cause otherwise they become fatty-slobs, or look like the pasty-faced twit pictured above... with shoulders as narrow as a 5th grade girl. really. HA! Good Fun!

doesn't sound familiar, so we must have walked out earlier. we considered leaving 'bout 6 times before the gunfight-during-sex scene. dunno. am not sure why we thought kill bill camp were fun and drive angry camp were just stupid. kill bill struck us as being more... clever? HA! Good Fun!

actually, they do. is no streaming the current stuff, but shows that has been released on dvd is available from netflix via various methods. we just checked and all 5 seasons o' the wire is available via disc, at the very least. HA! Good Fun!

good series that makes netflix worth the investment? many self-proclaimed geeks is gonna already own firefly and battlestar galactica. tv snobs may own sopranos and the wire and similar stuff. even so, is much good tv we never thought to actual purchase that is easier to simple watch on netflix. i, claudius, the muppet show, the outer limits, alfred hitch**** presents, rocky and his friends, twilight zone, st. elsewhere, home movies, wanted: dead or alive, etc. download version is great for many of the American shows that has ridiculous many year lifespans. even best multi-year shows got more than a few crap episodes. oh, and don't discount the muppet show. lena horne sings with puppets? peter ustinov trades quips with a talking frog? is some genuine fantastic stuff... and is kinda surreal in retrospect. HA! Good Fun!

time travel as a plot device is fine... as long as is only going forward. and Einstein never bothered to figure how much energy time travels would take. turns out that it is probable that energy required makes impossible anyways... much greater than 1.21 gigawatts. HA! Good Fun!

there were a time when we woulda' agreed, but we didn't play alpha protocol or dungeon siege 3 and have zero interest in south park. and yet, there is a plethora o' games obsidian could announce that would interest us... we just need info. HA! Good Fun! edit: we actually is interested in south park, just not the game

true enough, but am still standing on point that "some o' the contemptible characters in the show got kid gloves treatment at the end." am realizing that this were kinda a happy ending route for breaking bad... at least as happy as were plausible given the show's history, but am still irritated by some folks who seemed to be painted as victims. walter were a horrible man, but the folks who were judging him on-screen at the end were the ones least justified (in our mind) to be doing so. is maybe ironic, but walter were the only evil-doer who were seeming having any genuine growth and self realization. walter were the only good character in finale... though we mean qualitative 'stead 'o moral in this instance. HA! Good Fun! ps all things considered, we thought it were a very solid finale episode... historically speaking. maybe not as well as we thinks Angel went out, but far better than MASH.

there is a bug that bio has not yet addressed even though it has been around a LONG time. some pvp flags don't disappear even in non-hostile area. gotta go to a Rest area and then dismiss companion, 'cause the bug is frequent tied to companion being "out" when flagged. is a known issue, but am guessing it is rare or minor enough that bio don't care to fix. HA! Good Fun!

there were more than a few bad guys in breaking bad. sure, walter white and white supremacists is obvious evil-doers, but we thinks that some o' the contemptible characters in the show got kid gloves treatment at the end. no spoilers, but we woulda wanted some greater recognition that the hypocrites were villains too. just saying. HA! Good Fun!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/ haven't watched it for near a decade, which is kinda odd as we is an unabashed burt lancaster fan. gonna have to get dvd-- doubt it has gotten a blu-ray treatment. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking we mentioned we were in a pvp guild for a short time-- lethal dose 50. one reason why we quit were their childish fascination with griefing folks during world events such as ilum gree or the hk parts scavenger hunt. ld 50 folks would camp out 'round the jawa in outlaw's den and slaughter all comers. were something like three days when hk parts "quest" started that only time a non ld 50 player could get outlaw's den part were from 1:00 am to 7:00 am eastern time. were kinda a big server-wide sigh o' relief when server transfer occurred and most ld 50 folks jumped to a pvp server. 'course all that means is that instead o' having one pvp guild that could grief folks at will, there is a half-dozen ld 50 wannabees vying for honor o' being the biggest jerk guild on-server. gree stuff were worse. need guardians? HA! flag self and purposefully jump into some unsuspecting imp's aoe attack. imps would return favor on some random and unsuspecting pub player. whole cycle o' grief and stoopidity. ... am not a fan o' the world events that has pvp elements. HA! Good Fun!

ok, we saw chinchilla and it reminded us o' the following: WARNING: sweary seriously, very sweary http://www.rathergood.com/datsuns HA! Good Fun!

sidenote: speaking o' sauerkraut, our bestest chocolate cake recipes call for ~3/4C sauerkraut. is always fun to tell folks After they compliment our delicious cake that it is made with sauerkraut. heck, we almost never bake, 'cause baking is just chemistry and it don't appeal to our sensibilities. nevertheless, we likes the idea o' sauerkraut cake, and it tastes good too. don't let the kraut scares you. HA! Good Fun!

been showing the old breaking bad episodes on amc and we just happened to catch the fly/contaminant episode last night. typically we is bothered by exposition and monologues, but am glad we saw this episode before we sees finale. is kinda a big character reveal episode. mostly we watch sports and news on television... not much else. breaking bad is something we has watched on and off for a few years, but haven't missed an episode o' the final season. after finale, am doubting we watch another show anytime soon. HA! Good Fun!

even in heart of industrial suburbia or downtown urban, you will frequent have farmer's markets that pop-up once a week for 4+ hours. many folks seem to think that all you can get at such places is over-sized cucumbers and ugly macrame tea cozies. *shrug* is worth investigating. alternative option for meat is a kosher butcher, as long as they do on-site slaughter. laws 'bout slaughter o' animals in urban and suburban areas is typical far more lax than you might think. the reason is kosher requirements. municipalities can't say "yes" to jewish butchers, and "no" to everybody else. even so, kosher is still the most likely to do on-site slaughter. the problem, o' course, is cost. oddly enough, in big cities it is frequent easier to get fresh ingredients than suburbia. every major metro area is gonna have a market(s) for supplying all the restaurants in town. maybe you gotta get up a few hours earlier than is sane, but you can get whatever you need/want. speaking o' difficulty getting good meat someplace other than supermarket, is finally the time o' year we can make a decent bigos. we makes our hunter's stew with 1/2 lb each bacon, kielbasa, venison and wild piggie. can hunt wild pig year round, but deer season starts in fall. in batches, brown meats in a big old dutch oven. dont cook meat, just sear. typical, we does bacon last. remove meats and all but a tablespoon oil then add 2lbs o' rinsed sauerkraut (tougher to get good sauerkraut than venison, so we make our own,) and a chopped onion... sweat the onions. put meats back in pot and cover everything with just enough beef stock to barely immerse. add dried mushrooms of type and quantity as you desire, 1.5t caraway seeds, bay leaf, 1T peppercorns... optional is juniper berries and marjoram. *shrug* bring to a boil and reduce to simmer... cover and cook for 1 hour. add 1C full-bodied red wine or pilsner... works well either way. add 10-20 chopped prunes... we likes the sweet that the prunes add, but probable go with 10. add a teaspoon or 2 o' tomato paste (or don't. is optional) cover and cook another couple hours. add as little water as is necessary periodic to keep from drying out. can be maddening the first couple times you prepare, 'cause take off lid to check releases moisture and flavor... which means you do gotta add more water. you will get feel for when to check after 2nd time you make. ok. is done... or not. ever notice that pot roast and some other foods seem better the next day? this is one o' those foods/dishes. the gelatin from the connective tissues in the game meats in the bigos is now liquefied, but if you really wanna infuse back into the "stew," you let stew cool overnight/refrigerate and then put back on stove next day and simmer for another couple hours. we started our bigos earlier today, but won't be ready til tomorrow. *sigh* didn't have no juniper berries neither. we usually skip the berries anyway. you don't need venison and wild pig. 1/2 pound each "stew meat" and pork butt/shoulder is gonna be working just fine for most folks. experiment with the meat combos, but make sure you use stuff that takes a long time to cook. HA! Good Fun! ps C = cup, T = tablespoon and t=teaspoon. apologies if that were not obvious/clear... oh, and just skip the sausage and add other meats if you use crappy hickory farms kielbasa. am not being snobbish with this as the stuff you get in supermarket called kielbasa will taste like hotdog after cooking for so long. gross.

am annoyed. we gotta re-season a cast iron skillet. is not a particularly time consuming task, but we is inexplicably w/o any steel wool. gotta run to hardware store to clean a pan? is just... weird. HA! Good Fun!

this is the USA. people rarely do shopping for groceries anywhere save for local supermarket or costco. is not that people can't get fresh eggs or a chicken killed less than 24 hours ago, but rather that very few people has ever searched for such things. people know that restaurants get fresh ingredients that ain't available at safeway. people know that california's largest industry, by far, is agriculture. people know that there is farms... everywhere. there is a kinda disconnect. Americans know that this nation produces ridiculous amounts o' food, but for some reason most o' us don't even consider how to get food from someplace other than a supermarket. "organic" label is stoopid... and largely meaningless. nevertheless, there is a good site to help folks get started with purchase o' food other than at supermarket. http://www.localharvest.org/ keep in mind that most local growers dont have websites, so only a tiny fraction o' potential sellers show up at aforementioned search thingy... but it gives you a place to begin looking. HA! Good Fun! ps once you go direct to a farm and buy Real bacon that has been dry cured, you will never be complete satisfied with supermarket bacon ever again... so be warned.

keep in mind that your typical rotisserie chicken is a broiler or fryer... means that weight is probable around 2.5lbs. am usual seeing rotiserrie chickens listed at ~30 oz so as to confuse folks. that weight accounts for cooked differential of a broiler. roasters can be 3.5-6lbs... and is usual on the bigger size as that means they is older. so, you is probable getting slight better than 2x as much chicken with the raw and uncooked roaster as 'posed to rotisserie as bones, and skin, 'n waste accounts for a greater percentage o' total weight on a smaller bird. thus, once again, Gromnir is like a beacon o' light in the darkness, dispelling myth and hokum perpetuated by The Man. older roasters may be tougher than younger birds, but that simple means that you need be a bit more careful in how you prep. coq au vin and the recipes we listed above is gonna result is not gonna result in anything remote resembling toughness or dryness. speaking o' dry, brines is a good way to combat dry. however, while we almost always brine a turkey, we rare use brine on any chicken recipe save for grilled and boneless breast meat. boil a 2 litre o' your favorite soda so as to dissolve 1/2C o' kosher salt. use as a brine. and don't forget, brine is Not marinade. don't let sit in brine overnight. couple hours is more than enough. oh, and don't use diet soda. that would be... vile. HA! Good Fun! ps as a snob, we rare buy meat at supermarket, so is not an issue for us.