TerraVirtua.com

Mamono Sweeper: EXTREME!

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:49:10 PDT

if youre like me, you quickly mastered mamono sweeper, and it lost all challenge. well, mamono sweeper is back, to kick your ass.

good luck. youre going to need it.

Netflix of the Whenever: Interstate 60

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:28:50 PDT

i just watched a weird little indie film by the name of interstate 60 and ive got to say, it was GREAT. id like to explain a little about it, but i cant hardly say anything without giving away many of the twists and turns. suffice it to say it follows a young man's journey down I-60 (which happens not to be on any map) and the movie invites you to take the trip with him... and its a damn strange trip to be sure. plus, garry oldman! thats enough reason right there to watch it, isnt it?

just take my word for it... if youre a reader of this blog and your name isnt "ed" youre going to like it.

Song of the Whenever: Massive Attack w/ Mos Def - I Against I

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:43:27 PDT

theres a reason these are songs of the "whenever" and not songs of the "day" or "week" or even "month"... believe it or not, making a song of the whenever selection is kind of a pain in the ass. i have a staggering music collection (staggering to me, anyway, especially when you consider i actually bought all of it) and picking just one isnt easy. i try not to repeat artists (although ill have to at some point i supposed) and make an effort to select some fairly deep cuts, stuff its likely you wouldnt have heard even if you listen to the same kind of stuff i do. even when i filter my list down to just 5-star tracks, im left sifting through close to a thousand songs.

this time, im going to mix it up a little. i usually listen to stuff thats pretty soothing... stuff with a good groove that plays well in the background when im doing something else. sometimes, however, you dont want to be soothed. sometimes, you just have to drop the bass.(audio player omitted in RSS, please visit the article page)this track is well outside the norm for me. im not a rap fan. i dunno why i like it. probably a combination of the subject matter, and the hypnotic beats and rhymes. whatever, i like it.

Predators: the verdict

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:01:40 PDT

so my brother and i went to see "predators" today... i went into it expecting it to suck horribly, primarily because i thought robert rodriguez was directing. it is a well known fact that RR cant make a movie that doesnt suck dick. yes, he had one (desperado) but im of the firm belief that was an accident.

much to my surprise, the movie DIDNT suck. in fact, it was GREAT... ill go out on a limb and say it was as good as the original. yes, really. you can imagine my confusion. i just kept muttering "how the hell did he make a movie that didnt suck? how??" after i got home i wikipedia'ed the movie, because i just COULD NOT accept that RR made a good movie. fortunately, all is right with the world after all... all he did was produce. anyone can pull money out of their pocket. although personally, id be afraid to touch his money for fear the shit-movie-disease was contagious, but thats just me.

bottom line: its good. really really good. you should see it if you get the chance.

oh yeah and also saw the trailer for the next resident evil movie. looks like its going to continue the tradition of suck.

this is my idea of therapy

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:51:52 PDT

heavy rain + mesh shorts + cellphone in pocket = new phone

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:30:44 PDT

so i ruined yet another cellphone. ive got a kinda bad track record with water damage and phones. its not impossible that the phone can be salvaged, but in the mean time i needed a new phone... and since i had been kinda wanting a new one, i hit craigslist and started searching. two days, 4 fuckers who sold their phone to someone else after promising me they would sell to me, 1 failed meeting, and 1 meeting where the seller wasnt where they said they would be, and i finally managed to actually score a phone. worked out reasonably well too, considering its a much newer android phone, and cost about half what my G1 cost. goddamn i hate trying to buy stuff on craigslist, but you sure can score some sweet deals if youre willing to just keep pounding away at it...

borderlands on steam's summer sale daily deal

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:27:19 PDT

borderlands is $10 today only on steam. it is, seriously, a crime to not play this game while its so cheap. also, all the downloadable expansion packs are 66% off, which means you can get all 3 for the price of one... even though only one of them is worth owning (the last one, general knoxx)...

steam "summer sale" buyers guide

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:38:02 PDT

so steam kicked off its summer sale today... theres a lot on sale, but frankly not a lot worth buying. im going to go through them all and pick out the gems so you dont have to. disclaimer: these are listed aphabetically, not by my personal preference. you probably wont agree with some of my mini-reviews. thats fine. go make your own list :)

688i Hunter Killer ($7) (UPDATED: this $7 includes 688i, sub command, and fleet command... a GREAT deal. for $3 more you can upgrade to a package that has all those plus "dangerous waters" which can import missions from 688i and sub command, allowing you to play with an updated engine. an AWESOME deal!) probably the best sub sim ive ever played. the slow, methodical pace (and the fact you never see your enemy - subs dont have windows) may be a turn-off, but the tension of playing cat and mouse underwater cant be beat.

Alien Shooter 2 ($5) not on sale, but still... this is one of my all time favorite games. lots of mindless fun killing hoards of bad guys. LOVE this game.

Borderlands ($23) 276 hours logged. nuff said.

Civ 4 complete ($30) who doesnt already have this? that said, it might be better to wait for the release of civ 5 later this year. its sure to get cheaper then...

Darkstar One ($3) great space combat adventure game. like wing commander, but with free roaming and an RPG element to how you develop your ship's capabilities. one of my favorite games, but be warned, its got an absolutely BALL BREAKING turret-shooter sequence that totally breaks the flow of the game and will drive you batshit insane trying to get past. its worth it though. even though it happens not once but TWICE. someone should be smacked for allowing that shit into an otherwise perfect game.

Introversion Complete Pack ($5) worth getting the pack for Darwinia alone. darwinia is one of those should not be missed kind of games.

Defense Grid ($5) best tower defense game ever. period. even if you dont like tower defense, youre going to like this game. its just... perfect. for $5 it is a CRIME to not play this game.

Evil Genius ($5) be your own dr evil. build a secret lair, train your minions, and conquer the world, all with a funky 60s spy movie motif. great fun, and funny to boot...

flatout ($3) the flatout games are probably my favorite arcade racing games. if you only get one, make it flatout 2, thats the best of the bunch.

flatout 2 ($3) buy this one. the others are optional.

flatout ultimate carnage ($7) near as i can tell, this game is identical to flatout 2 with the addition of online leaderboards. pass on it and get the above.

flotilla ($5) fun, quirky little game in the vein of Strange Adventures in Infinite Space

freedom force ($4) im not a fan, but lots of people like it, so...

fuel ($5) mainly notable for its procedurally generated terrain engine... this game is seriously huge.

grand theft auto: san andreas ($11) the only GTA game worth having, in my opinion. very fun, and hours and hours of mayhem to be had.

hospital tycoon ($3) if you like tycoon games youll prolly like this one. this is my favorite one.

jagged alliance 2 ($7) the best turn-based tactical strategy game ever made. period.

kings bounty ($3) a heroes of might and magic style game that is in my opinion better than anything since HOMM 3.

kings bounty: armored princess ($7.5) sequel to kings bounty. more of the same, which is a good thing.

larva mortus ($2.5) play the demo first. weird game, but i like it for some reason.

majesty gold ($5) one of my all-time favorite games. its hard to explain... its a strategy game where you dont actually control any of the units. as the regent, by placing reward flags on objectives, you hope to entice heroes to accomplish your objectives. notable also for having a fully-realized economy. you build shops and research items, which heroes buy with money they earn from your rewards, which you subsequently tax to set more rewards...

majesty 2 ($15) modern sequel to majesty. prettier, a little shallower, but still just as fun.

MDK pack ($7.5) this nets you both MDK and MDK2, two very weird, very funny third-person shooters. two of the most bizarre games ive ever played, and a bucketload of fun.

overlord pack ($4.5) why is being an evil overlord with hoards of goofy minions so much fun? i dont know. but it is.

prince of persia: the sands of time ($7) the only PoP game worth a damn. this one is a must-play... but dont be fooled by the others. theyre all ass.

puzzle kingdoms ($1) this is what you get when you cross bejewelled with a strategy game. not as good as puzzle quest, but fun and only a buck.

sacred gold ($3) one of the very few diablo clones worth owning. absolutely HUGE game world.

shadowgrounds ($2.5) OMFG if you didnt buy this earlier this week for $5, you HAVE to buy it now for $2.50. i mean, good god, you cant get a cup of coffee for that anymore. seriously, just GO BUY IT.

shadowgrounds survivor ($4) sequel to shadowgrounds. good game, but i like the first better i think. still, its CRAZY CHEAP. totally worth $4.

slamit pinball ($2) DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. i include it in this list just in case you might accidentally see it and think, hey, i love pinball, im gonna buy that! dont do it. its the shittiest pinball game ive ever played. just... dont.

space rangers 2 ($5) a roguelike in space. what more is there to say? its great. play it.

spellforce platinum ($7.5) an interesting hybrid RTS/RPG. another of my favorite games, this includes all the expansions as well.

sword of the stars complete ($15) the best civ-in-space game since master of orion 2. see my review in the archive for why you should stop reading right now and go buy this game.

tank universal ($2.5) ever wanted to drive a tron tank and blow the shit out of stuff? heres your chance. fun game worth 2 bucks.

cronicles of riddick ($7) yeah, the movie sucked ass, fortunately the game isnt based on the movie. killer fun, stealth-based first-person-sneaker game... and even better, its actually TWO full games, you get the first one free rereleased with the second one.

the witcher ($7) i thought this game was total shit, but lots of people like it so...

ghost recon advanced warfighter ($7) the GRAW games are the best military fps games ive ever played. and OMFG are they hard. you WILL stay tactical or youll be dead. and youll die. a lot. and not even know where it came from. a single well placed bullet will ruin your day, and i guarantee youll have a new respect for infantrymen after playing this game.

GRAW 2 ($13) more of what made the first GRAW great. highly recommended... or, you could just get:

ghost recon pack ($27) ALL the ghost recon games, including the two above. buy them. theyre seriously great.

tropico ($3) be "el presidente" of your own carribean island in this sim game. try to stay in power while keeping your people happy (or oppressed) and attracting tourism and industry.

uplink ($5) part of the introversion pack listed elsewhere here, this is the best hacker sim ive ever played. ok, its the only hacker sim ive ever played, but still...

vegas: make it big ($2) a sim/tycoon game set in vegas. build your own resort and attractions, and also custom design your casino. manage limits, security, amenities, games, house edge, the works... all while competing against other rivals on the strip for customers.

world in conflict ($13) my favorite RTS game, using current and near-future military tech youll repel a hostile invasion by soviet forces on the west coast. probably the only RTS ive ever played that actually has a compelling storyline and top-notch writing.

x-com ($4) the original and still the best. if you havent played this game by now, i hearby revoke your gamer's card.

thats pretty much the best of the bunch. there are also special one-day deals running throughout the sale, youre on your own there...

predators?

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:28:47 PDT

im there.

"More Guns, Less Crime" finally available on the kindle

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:49:13 PDT

for the kindle owners that read the blog (all two of them) the book "More Guns, Less Crime" is available (AT LAST) for the kindle... ive been clicking that stupid "i want to read this on kindle" link on the print version's page every monday for two years now... i dont know if it helped or not, but i like to think it did :)

Song of the Whenever: Sia - Clap Your Hands (also: WOOHOO a new sia album released today!)

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:53:10 PDT

much to my joy, i discovered that my favorite artist released a new album today! also great is that i received a $50 amazon gift credit yesterday from my bank's reward program so i got it for free... and i sure loves me some FREE. after it downloaded, i fired it up with a bit of trepidation... i mean, theres always a chance (a pretty good chance) that when a band/artist releases a new album, theyll have decided to go in a "new creative direction"... which 95% of the time means "this album SUCKS!" because after all, you were a fan of their OLD creative direction and wanted more of THAT. i had already heard one song off the album (this one) when it was released as a single a few months ago... so i wasnt TOO worried. and this album IS different, its... i dunno, im not a music guy, so i dont have the vocabulary to describe it, but it feels... peppier. more electronic. less "lush" in instrumentation and arrangement but still the same high production values... or something like that. whatever. its different but still GOOD. i like it. a lot. its been on constant repeat since this morning.

heres the first single from the album, "Clap Your Hands":
(audio player omitted in RSS, please visit the article page)
oh and im trying something to see if i can get these to show up in the rss feed. so if you see the player, let me know, and also try it and see if it plays or not and let me know. thanks!

edit: ok theres some problems with the rss stuff... trying to work them out. sigh. RSS is irritating at times.

edit edit: not the rss at all, it was something completely different that i changed yesterday and DIDNT TEST, that broke a LOT of the site. i should be smacked for that. i ALWAYS test... well, at least, i always test stuff im doing for other people. i tend to arrogantly assume that all my work is absolutely perfect when im working with my own stuff :) yay humility.

edit edit EDIT!: and if i had spent two seconds really thinking about it id have realized that having the flowplayer in the rss articles wasnt a good idea anyway and not bothered to mess with it. as such, ive rolled it back. if you want to listen to the song, youll have to visit the site :)

Shadowgrounds on sale

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:53:01 PDT

gamersgate has shadowngrounds and shadowgrounds: survivor on sale this week for $12.50 as a bundle or individually with shadowgrounds at $5 and survivor at $7.50... you dont save any money with the bundle, i guess its just a convenient way to order them both at one time.

anyway, both are very good games, although i prefer the first one to the sequel. survivor is ok, but shadowgrounds is one of my all time faves, i think ive played through it 3 or 4 times now... survivor isnt bad at all, dont get me wrong, i just didnt like it as much... cant put my finger on why exactly, i just didnt...

i guess maybe i should explain what kind of games they are, huh? im not sure how exactly to explain it... imagine a top-down FPS. yes, i know, that makes no sense. think of a FPS game, but pull the camera out of the protagonist's head and put it up in the air looking down at him... then make player heading correspond to where the mouse is pointing, and player movement with the WASD keys. which sounds like a third-person shooter, i know, but usually the camera is fairly close and right behind in those, whereas its high overhead in shadowgrounds. ok, ok, thats not a good explanation. hooray for youtube:

that does a better job i think of showing the basic gameplay. add to the top-down mechanic a bunch of RPG elements, where you can upgrade your weapons to do different kinds of attacks and add special properties and damage types, and youve got a very fun little action game with a high degree of replayability (thanks to the RPG-lite elements).

easily worth $5...

best minesweeper game ever...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:44:37 PDT

mamono sweeper is the best minesweeper game i have ever played. its minesweeper with an rpg twist. i know, sounds crazy, but its not. instead of mines there are monsters... the numbers represent the total combined level of any surrounding monsters. you start at level 1, and can only kill monsters of your level or lower. you gain experience for every monster killed... so when you hit 2, you can kill level 1 and level 2 monsters, etc etc.

it takes a bit to get the hang of it, but once you do... well, its addictive as hell. it IS possible to win, i just now won my first game, but just like traditional minesweeper, luck can be a cruel bitch at times. plus theres math involved, so it might not appeal to everyone (lookin at you ed :) ) but its still worth checking out...

sorry for all the multiple rss entries...

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 10:35:47 PDT

been converting the rss over to the new code and there were a few hiccups along the way, but it should all be sorted now...

Song of the Whenever: Under the Influence of Giants - "Ah Ha!"

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:59:39 PDT

this song is a blast from the past... except its only 4 years old. imagine the BeeGees with modern production values, add a dash of michael jackson, and this is what you get...(audio player omitted in RSS, please visit the article page)im not even a huge fan of this kind of music but goddamn i love the whole album...

Memorial Day

Mon, 31 May 2010 22:29:43 PDT

i got so busy today, i almost forgot why it was i have the day off. im ashamed of that. and deeply thankful for the servicemen living and dead who sacrificed so much so i could sit on my ass and get an extra day off in peace and tranquility.

"The noblest fate that a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war's desolation." - Robert Heinlein

ok that didnt take as long as i thought...

Mon, 31 May 2010 13:23:53 PDT

so after putting in probably 30 or so hours on the new blog software since friday evening... ta da!

thats right, this is the new shit. looks same as the old shit. mostly. works a whole lot better though... or should, at least. if youre running some godawful old browser like IE 6, youre out of luck. seriously, upgrade. everyone else should look and work fine. if not, comment, or if you arent a registered user... well, i dunno, hold on to it for a bit until i get user registration finished :)

ive still got a tiny bit of work to do, like registration, but nothing that should impact users beyond that. i just wanted so badly to get rid of the old code that i focused on getting all the essentials up and running and ill knock out the 3 or 4 piddly things i have left later this week or next weekend...

making progress...

Wed, 26 May 2010 22:26:53 PDT

ok so im moving forward with my blog recode/redesign... actually, this is the SECOND round since i last mentioned it. i was disgusted with the old-new stuff i wrote, threw it out, and started from scratch. again.

theres still a good bit of work left to be done, but its 70% of the way there... gotta get all the user-related stuff done, gotta reformat all the old posts in the database, gotta get all the interfaces done for posting articles and comments, gotta build the menuing subsystem, gotta build the custom-html-tag stuff (for things like flowplayer and polls etc)... but none of that is hard, just time consuming. all the hard stuff is pretty well banged out now.

if you want to take a look at the work in progress, head over to (edit: link removed, youre looking at the new stuff now)... what follows is a lot of rambling geeky rumination on this latest round of coding, and can be skipped for the faint of heart. but if youve ever wanted a little glimpse at what its like to be a programmer, read on...

the new software is fully object-oriented. it was a big hole in my PHP5 skillset, and the way i typically plug holes like that is to re-write the blog yet again forcing myself to use whatever particular thing im trying to learn. i cant learn anything by reading a book... i just cant. ive got to get in there up to my elbows, ive got to get dirty and break it and screw it up and do it wrong and keep pounding away at it until i have my "A HA!" moment, at which point i havent just "learned" it like someone would from a book or a class... i KNOW it. i UNDERSTAND it.

incidentally, i had my "a ha!" moment some time last friday night... which resulted in my throwing out of what i had done so far, and starting over with my new understanding of wtf i was doing. ill be honest, ive never really "got" object oriented philosophy before. it was a new thing, just coming into wide usage, back when i was getting professionally established... by then, i was firmly set in the "old school" and with over 10 years of coding procedurally, i wasnt about to jump on what looked like the latest stupid tech fad to me at the time.

wow was i wrong about that one.

anyhow, since ive been looking for work lately, everyone is wanting OO experience. so i decided i couldnt keep pooh-pooh-ing it and had to knuckle down and do it. even so, i still spent many hours of coding thinking to myself "this is stupid. i would be done by now if i were doing this the old way." and of course, i *would* have been done because i knew wtf i was doing... then, finally, i ran into a situation where i was able to save myself a BUCKETLOAD of time and effort by simply subclassing something and *PING* on goes the lightbulb.

i also realized, looking back over my work, how doing things OO forced me to change my coding methodology. the code was better organized, clearer, easier to debug, and easier to work on. that alone is worth a whole lot. now that i get it, im actually kinda becoming a convert. i still believe there are some things that OO is not the best tool for the job, but i do feel really good about having a different and very powerful new tool to employ.

now for the downside... this always happens when i learn something new, really have that epiphany moment... now that ive learned how to use this hammer, everything i look at starts to look like a nail :) so now i begin what is really the life-long process of gaining experience in the correct application of this shiny new hammer, the kind of thing that can only be gained by writing lots of code, hammering lots of nails as it were. knowledge comes easily, subtlety is hard :)

as for the DESIGN of the site, the actual thing that you see, ive also completely reworked everything. i decided it was time for me to really get a handle on css-driven tableless layout stuff, so i set myself a few restrictions: NO TABLES, and NO PRESENTATION-RELATED STUFF IN THE MARKUP. period. no cheating. ive done a bunch of this before in the course of my job, of course, but usually with legacy stuff (read, other people's sites) requiring compromise in the implementation... with my site, there would be no compromise, no client to appease, and no one to blame but me if i couldnt pull it off... and i was determined to.

the end result is 98% the same outwardly (100% to anyone not as picky as i am) as the current site, and 10000 times more flexible. i can easily change the entire look and feel of the site with one simple stylesheet swap. the site is also much faster to display, friendlier to text based browsers and mobile browsers, and just all-around nicer to work with.

anyhow, time and motivation willing, i hope to replace this old broke-ass site with the new hotness in 4-6 weeks...

this is one beautiful weapons platform

Fri, 21 May 2010 22:36:59 PDT

video of a live-fire training exercise for the A-10... because the stupid thing auto-plays, i have it hidden, just click below to load it up...
click me!

Song of the Whenever: Emiliana Torrini - "Gun"

Fri, 21 May 2010 13:51:20 PDT

i love everything this chick does, but i chose this song in particular because all her other music is almost obscenely cheery and this one is just... grim. which kinda makes it stick out in my mind.
(audio player omitted in RSS, please visit the article page)contrast with her more typical cheeriness ("Heartstopper"):(audio player omitted in RSS, please visit the article page)

Moon

Tue, 18 May 2010 20:41:33 PDT

ok so i just watched "Moon" and all i can say is holy shit how is it i had never even HEARD of this film until a few days ago?? this movie is without a doubt a modern classic, and will doubtlessly join movies like 2001 as one of cinema's sci-fi greats.

watch it. seriously. its really, really, REALLY good.

Song of the Whenever: Splashdown - "The Archer"

Thu, 13 May 2010 20:04:40 PDT

ok so, grooveshark has turned to shit. their uploader is broken, half the shit ive put on there or linked to from there doesnt work anymore, and its a pain in the ass in general. thats why i havent been putting more "songs of the whenever" up lately.

because i dont want to just throw mp3s up (ill be overrun by pirates and shit in short order, not to mention i dont believe in giving away music. if you like this stuff, BUY IT) ive been hunting around for an alternative. finally i decided my best bet was to put something together for myself. ed pointed me to an open source product called "flowplayer" that does exactly what i need. that, combined with ffmpeg, allows me to convert a song to FLV and then stream it on the site. so, without further ado, another Song of the Whenever: "The Archer" by Splashdown from the album Redshift.(audio player omitted in RSS, please visit the article page)flowplayer can also do video so i might start posting some of that as well one of these days...

as an aside... goddamn i have seriously got to finish reworking the code for the site. this code is total shit. i needed to add a new custom tag for the flowplayer and omg i dont know WHAT i was thinking when i put that tag code together before. hell i dont know wtf i was thinking when i wrote MOST of this site the last time around.

im currently working on building a blogging system for a client at work, when i finish that ill use my newfound big-brain knowledge gleaned from that project to finish up the rewrite i started a few months ago.

Taco Goulash

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:17:12 PDT

ok so ive been refining a dish for the last few months (it takes a while unless you want to eat the same damn thing over and over every couple of days) and i think ive got the basic dish down pat to the point i like it. actually, i more than like it, i think its out-fucking-standing. ridiculously delicious. anyhow, if you want to make it yourself, heres the recipe:

Taco Goulash

ingredients:

* 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
* 1 oz (-ish) packet your favorite taco seasoning mix
* 1 can 7.75 oz of El Pato Jalapeno Salsa (find in the "mexican" section of your local supermarket)
* 1/2 can 15 oz Rico brand aged cheddar cheese sauce (condensed) (my local wal mart carries this, your supermarket may or may not, see "variations" below for what to do if you cant find it)
* 1 can 11 oz green giant mexicorn, drained (or other whole kernel canned corn of your choice)
* 1 rounded cup white rice
* 3 cups hot tap water

dishes needed:

* 1 10-inch skillet w/ lid
* tupperware to hold the leftovers. this makes a fuckton of food.

directions:

start by browning the meat. drain, return to skillet. add taco seasoning, salsa, cheese sauce, rice, and water. bring to a boil while stirring regularly. cover and reduce heat to simmer.

every 4 minutes, stir well then re-cover. after 8 minutes, add corn. total cooking time will vary depending upon the rice you used, and the consistency youd like. basically, keep cooking and stirring every 4 minutes until the rice is done and its nice and thick. then, eat up. its some good shit.

variations:

this is just the base dish, theres a LOT of room for creativity here.

your rice selection will affect the amount of water you need and how long you have to cook it. i use basmati because i like how it tastes and the firmness of the grains, but it takes more water and has to cook longer. you can reduce this time by soaking the rice in an inch of COOL tap water while you prepare the meat. drain the rice then add as usual. itll still take the same amount of water, but it wont take as long to cook.

you could also substitute some kind of pasta (usually a thick elbow macaroni for a more traditional "goulash" dish) for the rice, but since this always has leftovers for me, and i dont like how pasta generally holds up when being reheated, i stick to rice. i also think the rice tastes better.

you could easily add stuff like sliced jalepenos, green chilis, chopped bell pepper, leaf baby spinach, black or pinto beans (drained), chopped onion, garlic, etc... some things youll want to add at the beginning to let them cook more, others youll want to add at 4/8/12 minutes, use your own judgement. but youll probably need to make it in a bigger pan or pot. the default recipe will just barely all fit in a standard 10" skillet. its a fuckton of food, as i said. i guarantee you when its done youll be amazed at how damn much food you got out of those ingredients.

you could also turn this into a chili-cheese goulash just by swapping the taco seasoning for chili seasoning.

feel free to sub your favorite salsa for the el pato. depending on the salsa, youll have to adjust the water though. some salsas (especially white-people salsas like pace) are really watery. same goes for rotel tomatoes.

you can sub a different cheese in for the rico, but i recommend against it. yes, i know, youre thinking to yourself "rico, as in, the shit they pour on stadium nachos??" to which i respond "NO not the stadium nacho shit"... same brand, DIFFERENT product. you want the rico AGED CHEDDAR sauce. its real cheese (unlike velveeta/cheese whiz) and i assure you, its the cheese this dish WANTS. i did more experimentation with the cheese than any other part of this dish. i tried grated cheddar. i tried velveeta. i tried cheese whiz. i tried queso blanco. forget them all, the dish didnt really come together until i used the rico. just trust me on this one.

anyhow, if you try it out, let me know what you think, and what if any you added/subbed.

on taxes...

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:25:49 PDT

Countries, therefore, when lawmaking falls exclusively to the lot of the poor cannot hope for much economy in public expenditure; expenses will always be considerable, either because taxes cannot touch those who vote for them or because they are assessed in a way to prevent that.

...

In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.
--Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 1, pt. 2, ch. 5 (1840)

The American colonies, all know, were greatly opposed to taxation without representation. They were also, a less celebrated quality, equally opposed to taxation with representation.
--John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty, Chapter 6, p.180

Still one thing more, fellow citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government...
--Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

[edit] Related: U.S. Government Inquiries About Debt-Reducing Game

now THIS is a fascinating idea (emphasis mine):

Gamers may soon be able to help reduce the United States' massive budget deficit.

In an effort to reduce the USA's $12.8 trillion federal budget deficit, President Barack Obama's fiscal commission co-chairman Erskine Bowles has asked Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about creating a debt-reducing videogame, USA Today reports.

According to the report, the game would "enable anyone with a computer to take a stab at balancing the budget." Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey said the game could even "go viral."

"What you could get is support among the populace for the exceptionally unpopular things you need to do to solve this problem," added Kerry, who help release his own budget-reducing game called Budget Shadows for PC in 1994 as chairman of the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform.

borderlands $25 through sunday from steam

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:40:00 PDT

if youve got a pc, steam has a great deal on a great game through the end of the weekend: borderlands

you know its a good game when youve logged over 165 hours playing it... you also know youre pathetic and have no life, but thats not the point :)