Magic the card gathering game...

I recently started getting into Magic The Gathering. For those of you that have never heard of it, it's essentially a card game where competing players "cast" spells that result in damaging each other (or themselves). Damage your opponent more, and you win. I had played it many years ago, and also the PC video game version, but I have never had the cards to play. I do not intend to spend hundreds on it, and it is more of a social thing than a competitive aspect.

Does this summarise me well?

You are Red/Blue!
Take The Magic Dual Colour Test - Beta today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.

You are both rational and emotional. You value creation and discovery, and feel strongly about what I create. At best, you're innovative and intuitive. At worst, you're scattered and unpredictable.

Once in a while, you see something special...

I will admit it's not that special, but it took me a while to do it...

Perfect Wii Sports Resort 100 Pin Bowling Game

Not the easiest thing to do... no cheating involved, no use of the secret strike.

Basketball shoes (again)...

As some of you may know, I like basketball shoes in particular the Air Jordan branded ones - but only some of them. I've owned several different shoes in my lifetime, but now I have decided to do something I have never thought of doing before. I have purchased shoes with the idea not to wear them.

The idea behind this is to possibly make money through purchasing shoes which may become desirable in the future, but as many of you know that know me personally, I like to purchase several items of the same model if I like something. I always hate buying a pair of shoes and then finding them really comfortable, then when they wear out, I can't purchase a replacement for them. So now, I have purchased some shoes that I have no intention of wearing immediately. This is opposed to my current "working" shoes which I do wear - the Jordan 6 Rings being apart of the ones I rotate and wear. So here are the shoes I currently wear:

Air Jordan 6 Rings

More Air Jordan 6 Rings

I'll post up pictures of the other shoes purchases I've made in the near future. Feel free to comment or query on the shoes I've featured.

Help out with some causes...

If you looking to help out a charity (and score yourself a tax deductible donation - in Australia, at least), a few people I know have donated their time and efforts to raise money.

• Marcus - Yoga for MS
• Nathan - Ride for MS
• Jackie - Shave for Leukaemia Foundation
  

Help out if you can. And if you are looking for goofy comments to write, use the page that I got inspiration from - "Strangest Comments on Ebay".

Open Source saves power grid

I was reading in the news recently that a power grid in Australia was infected by a Windows virus. The quick thinking technical specialists there quickly swapped over to Linux machines that they were using for another use, and thus no major outage occurred.

This is a great example of how Open Source is not cheaper, but better than the proprietary offerings from major companies that are only in it to make profit. It came down to "security through transparency" over "security through obscurity". I have no real problem with people making money from their work, but when it comes to systems that are mission and life critical, I do not think they have their customer interests in their agendas. It may sound like a conspiracy against the major organisations, but how far fetched is it, really? Short term plans may be to enable their customers to do what they need to do, but long term strategies would be to ensure that customers do not leave to utilise the services and products of another competitor.

"Security through transparency" is not new - although it may have only been termed recently. The person who came up with the concept, Auguste Kerckhoffs, did it over 100 years ago. "Security through obscurity" is marketed by proprietary companies that are hoping that no one will be able to figure out their secrets, and thus keeping their systems safe and working as expected. The problem is that over time, someone seems to always figure this stuff out, and then figure out how to exploit it. It tends to give individuals and companies that rely on these systems a "false sense of security".

Why don't people just censor themselves?

Someone once told me "If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all!" I'm sure this is good and all when it comes to being polite, since everyone appears to be very sensitive but let's just apply that to other things around us.

If you don't like what's on the internet, then disconnect yourself and don't search for information.

If you don't like what's on the TV, turn it off.

If you don't like what's on the radio, change to another channel or turn it off.

If you don't like what you're reading, put down the piece of text you're reading, and do something else.

If you don't like someone, don't spend your time researching / stalkbooking / googling them.

Do the things in life that matters. Take care of the people that count. Look after yourselves and each other. And if you don't like what you're reading on this blog, why are you reading it then? I'm not forcing you to read it...

Cyber terrorists, or information freedom fighters?

The good Senator Conroy appears to have some interesting opposition. A group or a person known as Anonymous has decided to take up the battle against internet censorship. They have set up a Youtube message, as well as declaring their actions. They have their own wiki page. The main thing is they're going to fight this unfair censorship of the internet.

Are they cyber terrorists? Or are they information freedom fighters? What they are will be how the media spins it - and which side of the fence you decide to sit on. If you don't know what I am talking about - learn more about the problem.

STOP INTERNET CENSORSHIP!

Béarnaise - made by KittyKat

KittyKat woke up this morning, and decided to make Béarnaise sauce. She has made Hollandaise sauce in the past, but since I prefer the taste of Béarnaise more, she decided to give it a go. She did not make it to the exact technique described in the Larousse Gastronomique, as she did not have access to shallots or chevril, but the results were magnificent.

Fresh Béarnaise sauce made by KittyKat

Béarnaise sauce on Bacon on Toast

As you can see, even with my high cholesterol count, I couldn't help but spoon some on bacon.

Cocktails I've made

A long time ago, I used to be a waiter and mixed drinks for a living. Just so I don't forget, here are some I've made:

Casual S3x
Ice a 12oz glass / hurricane
15 ml Lena Banana
15 ml Vodka
15 ml Creme de Cacao White
15 ml Peach Schnapps
Pineapple Juice to 7/8 glass
Shake
Cranberry Juice float

Strawberry Daiquiri
In a blender - add ice enough for a 14oz glass
30 ml Bacardi
15 ml Rubis Strawberry
15 ml Cointreau
Fresh strawberries
Sweet'n'sour mix
Blend
Pour frostie mix into 12 oz glass / hurricane
Rim glass with sugar

Banana Daiquiri
In a blender - add ice enough for a 14oz glass
30 ml Bacardi
15 ml Lena Banana
15 ml Cointreau
1/2 ripe banana
Sweet'n'sour mix
Blend
Pour frostie mix into 12 oz glass / hurricane
Rim glass with sugar

Margarita
In a blender - add ice enough for a 14oz glass
30 ml Cointreau
30 ml Tequila (no crap Tequila)
Sweet'n'sour mix
Dash of lime cordial
Blend
Pour frostie mix into a 12 oz glass / margarita glass that has a lime-sugar rim

Lazy Margarita
Ice a 12oz glass / hurricane
30 ml Cointreau
30 ml Tequila (no crap Tequila)
Dash of lime cordial
Lemonade to top
Shake

Long Island Iced Tea
Ice a 12oz glass / hurricane
15 ml Cointreau
15 ml Vodka
15 ml Bacardi
15 ml Gin
Sweet'n'sour mix to 7/8 glass
Shake
Coca-cola float on top

Midori Splice
Ice a 12oz glass / hurricane
30 ml Malibu Rum
30 ml Midori Melon
Pineapple Juice to 7/8 glass
Shake
Dash of milk as a float

Abortion Shooter
7/8 shot glass peach schnapps
1/8 shot glass Bailey's Irish Cream
Drip raspberry cordial in
Drip Blue Curacao in

Pina Colada

Ice a 12oz glass / hurricane
30 ml Malibu Rum

30 ml Bacardi

Pineapple Juice to 7/8 glass
Shake
Dash of milk as a float

Fruit Tingle
Ice a 12oz glass / brandy balloon
30 ml Blue Curacao
30 ml Raspberry Coridal
Lemonade to the top
Stir

Midori Slipper
Ice a 12 oz glass
30 ml Cointreau
30 ml Midori Melon
Sweet'n'sour mix
Stir
Strain into a martini glass - no ice should be in the final drink but it should be ice cold

Martini (one of the most misunderstood drinks of all time because improperly made it tastes like crap, and when properly made it requires an acquired taste)
Ice a 12 oz glass
45 ml Vodka (can be substituted for Gin)
15 ml Dry Vermouth (can be substituted for Sweet Vermouth)
Stir (don't shake... this is not a Bond film)
Strain into a martini glass - no ice should be in the final drink but it should be ice cold
Must be garnished with either a lemon rind or an oil free rinsed green stuffed olive

Midori Illusion
Ice a 12oz glass
15 ml vodka
15 ml Cointreau
15 ml blue curacao
15 ml Midori Melon
Pineapple Juice to top
Shake
Pour into shooters and slam

Sweet'n'sour mix (this is just a mixer - not a drink in itself)
1 part juice of a lemon
3 part sugar
2 part water
Boil until all sugar is dissolved

I'll try to line up some pictures of these if I ever get around to making them again, and if I think up any more, I'll post them up too...

My dad lives on with Google's help

Many years ago (1982 to be exact), there was a newspaper article about my father's restaurant. Kitty Kat asked me to do a search on his name, and lo and behold, Google has cached the newspaper article.

My father passed away in 1998, and I miss him greatly. It was a most pleasant surprise to find that even Google knows of him.