Civilization IV

You gotta love gateway drugs! Superwoman was downloading shareware for Cookie Monster to play. She ran into Virtual Villagers, Cookie Monster hates it, but it kinda got superwoman's attention. Even though the game has glaring problems Superwoman couldn't stop playing it. She liked the aspects of building up a community. But she hated how dumb the 'villagers' were. The game has a Black and White feel to it. But like Black and White, the feature that is supposed to 'make' the game, breaks it instead. Those that have played Black and White, know how much of a pain pet training could be. Imagine trying to train the whole village! So Superwoman got a little frustrated, and decided to give another game a try.

I've spent many of sleepless nights playing Civilization IV, stumbling through the next day, bleary eyed, only to stay up all night to play again. Superwoman has been patient through all my gaming all nighters. (I started to list all the games I've stayed up all night playing, but the list got way too long) But of all those games, there are two that I've gone back to over and over(all-nighters and all): Morrowind (a subject for another post, or four) and the Civilization Series. So when she was looking for better God game. She decided to give my favorite a try.

It was awesome to come home from work on Wednesday and see my wife exp-eriencing some of my favorite Civ-periences for the first time. The smile the broke across her face when she built the Statue of Liberty is impossible to forget. It personifies so many of my experiences playing the game. As the first non-bejeweled-type game of mine that Superwoman has picked up. I couldn't have planned it better. Civ 4, has everything: awesome graphics, great music, streamlined interface and of course great gameplay. I can't wait to play multi player civ with her. (With a mutual protection pact of course).

Zen Sushi

I was Sushi Surfing and ran across this article, Zen Sushi. This article was really intriguing to me. The style of sushi that Megumi serves is the same style I go for when I prepare sushi, cooked fish and ingredients found in home cooking. I also try to gear the sushi I prepare to a more american audience by using: bacon, beef, chicken and sometimes replacing the nori with lettuce. It was nice to see that I wasn't off in left field with my improvised/fusion style of sushi making, and that japanese transplants offer some very similar styles.

Salmon Kebob

I've making a lot of sushi lately and I have started making my own recipes. Tonight I made up my first non-sushi recipe, Salmon Kebobs. (As seen before cooking, to the right)

I made up my own marinade recipe. It had a Coca Cola base, with Jalapeno and other spices and aromatics in it. It turned out pretty well, (I was afraid I was going to ruin the salmon) but it was a little understated. Next time I make it I have a few things in mind to give the salmon a little more punch.

I also put bacon on the kebob which really livened the salmon and vegetables up! I added a rice ball with chow mien noodles (those are sticking out sides for effect), and we had grilled squash and zucchini from the garden. I think that it turned out really well. I give myself 3 1/2 stars!

Time Spiral

There was some news today on the upcoming Magic set, Time Spiral. Wizards released the art of four out of five of the new booster packs. They also announced the date of the Pre-Release, September 23, 2006. I'll be leaving room on my calendar.


The new sets sounds like it will be very fun. The last block of cards, Ravnica, was stellar. I'm hoping that Time Spiral will be in the same class. I hope you enjoy the picture of (what looks like) the angel. (one of my favorite creature types in the game)

I survived the MS150

June 24-25th was the MS150 for the local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It was super hot (96 - 98 degrees on both days)and I pulled a the muscle that runs along the right side of my right knee, but I made it! Despite the hardships a lot of good things came out of my ride.

• I raised (people donated) over $600 to a good cause
  
• Our team (of four, myself, two co-workers and a spouse of a co-worker)raised over $2000
  
• My blood pressure is the lowest its been in 5 years
  
• Saved hundreds of dollars in gas by using bike to commute (I hate paying $3.00 a gallon)

Other than my knee hurting for a couple of weeks after, I had a really good time. I was going to do another tour, ULCER, but due to a recent surgery I'm not in any kind of shape for it :P. There is always next year.

I'm a crappy Blogger.

I haven't posted in MONTHS. I suck.
(Its WoW's fault, I am in no way responsible for my own laziness and or addictions.)

Maybe I'll do a recap log of my activities for the past few months but I really want to share an article I found today.

How to write a good blog post. I haven't been so good at following these particular rules, but I have noticed a lot of blogs are. Especially the blogs that I seem to enjoy. I don't know that I'll ever be able to keep all my posts below 250 words. Heck, if I get going on sushi or M:TG in RL you can't get me to shut up, why should it be any different in my blog? :P

I found this article pretty insightful. Look forward to my future posts where I'm going the rules a shot. (Although I'm sure I'm going to break the 250 word one from time to time.)

Interesting Discussion

So today we were having a discussion about U.S. Territories.
Its kind of a crappy life outside the states, a few of our territories have sweatshops that bear products labels, Made in the USA, but their workers don't receive the same legal protection a citizen in the 50 states would. Territories are not really represented in our government, and they have to jump through a few hoops to be able to vote in a presidential election. (they have to become a 'resident' of a state). So we did a little digging and found some interesting stuff on the internet. Some territories are no more than an island with an airstrip, while others Guam, Samoa, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands do have a fair sized population.

So I decided to test my general U.S. knowledge, (not that this test is definitive) here is how I did with selection of questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship Exam.

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

A couple of the questions I had to think about. But hopefully my score means I can stay.