12_drakon's Friends

Monster octopus
In nature, it is quite rare to encounter octopi with extra tentacles (or “arms,” for the purists), but a pair of aquariums in Japan’s Mie prefecture have some extraordinary specimens on hand.

The permanent display at the Shima Marineland Aquarium in the town of Shima includes a 96-tentacled Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) that weighed 3.3 kilograms (about 7 lbs) and measured 90 centimeters (3 ft) long when it was captured in nearby Matoya Bay in December 1998. Before dying 5 months later, the creature laid eggs, making it the first known extra-tentacled octopus to do so in captivity. All the baby octopi hatched with the normal number of tentacles, but unfortunately they only survived a month.

Sauce: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/07/monster-octopi-with-scores-of-extra-tentacles/

Also, sorry about the post delays as blas is on offline for a bit.

Хочу бумагу в клеточку
Прямо сейчас хочу - чтобы в интернете на картинку кликнуть - и распечатать.

Uni student-friendly carbonara

Inspired by

vanessafrida, but with a slight moderation

It is a brilliant Uni student budget meal. It might not be a traditional Italian carbonara, but hey, when you live on a student budget, you can't afford to be classy!

( See recipe under the cut )

Current Music: Help - The Beatles

Uhm...

Cut for length.

( On the subject of borrowing and lending ideas... )

shools?
If you're going to write fanfic about a series that takes place in Japan and the main characters are in school, it would probably be a good idea to do some research into how Japanese schools work. They're not exactly the same as they are in America, as the countless fanfics I have read make them out to be, and if you're going to write it then you should write it correctly.

First off, Japanese students don't move around to different classrooms during the day. The students stay in the same classroom, and the teachers are the ones that move around. That's why some shows make a big deal out of who is in what class: those students are the only ones you have class with, so you're pretty much stuck with them. Seeing two girls making a big deal out of 'having 5th period together' makes no sense.

Secondly, a lot of schools in Japan go to school six days a week, not five. Be sure to find out if your canon has the students going to school six days a week or five days a week.

Finally, the school year starts in April and ends in March. I can't even begin to count the times writers have had the characters talk about 'being seniors after summer' or something like that.

There are many, many more, but these are the main three I see a lot. Research is your friend, fic writer. Use it.

Current Mood: annoyed

No words

Deer Butt "Doe bell"

Current Mood: disgusted

Oh geez. The Sand siblings rants just keep crawling out of the woodwork.

( Cut for sex talk )

Current Mood: awake

Dear kid,
Before you write a ~~shitty~~ fanfiction about a hardcore otaku, and before you go through a list of everything said hardcore otaku watches in the evening, I'm pretty sure that you need to A. Stop being 13, B. Get your ass off of Cartoon Network and find out what shows are actually STILL AIRING in Japan today. Rattling through the short list of ~~your~~ the character's "opinions" on Naruto, DeathNote, Inuyasha, Bleach, Code Geass, and Full Metal Alchemist was painful. Inuyasha finished airing 4 years ago! And then there was this part -

"She also watched Full Metal Alchemist and Code Geass, but I think that those shows are gay, so I won’t talk about them." - WTF?!

As if that American teenager ADD lineup of shounen actionspaz is all that a hardcore otaku in Japan would watch. She prefers bishoujou and seinen to shounen. Do you even know what those words mean? Do you know what I'm talking about? The show you're writing for IS a seinen. The both of us are out of the demographic for it, but you need to get out and stay out. Come back when you've actually gone to high school.

Remember not to talk about it if it's gay, though!

(No offense to anyone who enjoys the above mentioned shows. I myself love Inuyasha, it's just the principle of the thing.)

Current Mood: cranky

Prefabricated architecture, NYC

http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/prefabricated-architecture-nyc/2541

As social, economic and environmental concerns converge so prefabricated architecture looks increasingly plausible as ‘the way forward’ for modern housing. And anyone keen to learn a thing or two on the subject would be well advised to pop along to the NY MoMA sometime soon, where ‘Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling’ tells the story, past and present, perfectly.

Click…

Gah... *sporks own brain*
Snippity snip for ranting and general naughty stuff. I found a transformers adult rated fanfic that was bad to the point where a blindfolded ape could have written better.

( Read more... )

I'll see your spice cake and raise you ...

bkwrrm_tx's trashy spice cake reminded me of a "recipe" (and I use the term loosely) I picked up on teh Internets years ago. When you need a chocolate fix and you need it NOW, this is the best thing EVER, and trashy as hell:

Microwave brownies

Melt a quarter pound stick of butter* in a
round. straight-sided microwave-safe dish. Add one cup sugar and 4-6 tablespoons dark Hershey's cocoa powder. Stir until well mixed.

Stir in one egg, 3/4 cup flour, couple pinchs of salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, couple teaspoons of vanilla, a half cup or more of nuts and microwave for 6-8 minute until the top just loses its glossy sheen.

You may need to experiment with the time. It's better undercooked than overcooked - a few minutes too long and you get a chocolate door stop. I use the high setting on a turntable. If you don't have a turntable, rotate the dish every couple of minutes.

Let it cool down if you value the roof of your mouth. You could cool it all the way, pry it out of the dish and eat it like a brownie, but I like it still warm, with a spoon. With vanilla ice cream on top.

* Margarine might seem trashier, but it also produces a yucky, greasy brownie.

XBox Live help
Hey everyone,

I had a question about Xbox live, and I looked all over the internet but couldn't find any current info (only info from 2 or 3 years ago) and I wanted to see if maybe a policy was updated or anything like that.

I recently created an Xbox live account under a different name than what I had been playing on offline. In my excitement in finding that I could actually connect, I bought some points and downloaded my Mass Effect add on. Problem is, it was under the wrong profile, and I was wondering if there was a way to transfer it to the profile that has all of my achievements and save points for Mass Effect and everything.

From what I could find out, it just kinda looks like I'm screwed, but I just wanted to check here first, because I know you guys would be able to help me out if there is a way.

Also, if you can't help me out, anyone recommend any other games like Mass Effect? I'm on my second play through, and I'm loving it!

EDIT: Just to be clear, I only want to transfer the Mass Effect add-on to the other profile with my saved game on it. I don't really care about transferring the points or anything, since I can buy other stuff with that.

(My first entry - I'm so excited *g*).

Trashy Pseudo-Spice Cake-y thing...

There are no measurements, but I'll tell you what I did.

Put some milk in a bowl. Add knock-off Bisquik stuff from the Dollar Store until it's a nice, thick paste. Stir in powdered cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, and then add a left over container of McDonalds fake maple syrup. Nuke until it cooks and dries (mine took about 2 1/2 minutes).

Put a little butter on top if it gets too dry. Proceed to eat without even thinking of pictures.

New Place
After living with a roomate for just over 2 years, I decided it was time to move out on my own again. It was tough finding a place for my kitty and I in Vancouver because every landlord seems to be anti-pet in this city.

I'm finally settled and I thought I'd share my little dwelling with you guys!!

( C'mon In! )

Bento Porn, and Preserved Lemons

Bento top, left to right: apricot halves filled with grape halves; pea salad; fresh blueberries
bottom, left to right: lemon gem marigolds (edible), plum sauce, parsley, and chicken for dipping

Summer Pea Salad

2 cups thawed frozen peas or fresh peas, lightly blanched and shocked
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain yogurt, preferably full-fat
3 Tablespoons fresh onion, minced
2 hardboiled eggs, diced
1/2 cup fresh tomato, diced (or cherry tomatoes, halved)
1/8 cup fresh chopped mint leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried mint leaves (spearmint or peppermint, either one)
1 teaspoon honey

Mix it, allow to chill and blend flavors at least 30 minutes before serving.

( Preserved Lemons Under Cut )

I'm not sure how you can shack someone's hand.

And for the love of God Alien Force fandom, can we possibly have some Kevin/Gwen where Kevin's in character? Kevin's a teenage punk who's dealt in the alien-version of the black market without any sign of a second thought. He's got a lot of issues and might just be the hardest head on the show. And yes, it is quite obvious Kevin has a serious crush on Gwen; just about any Kevin/Gwen fan knows all their moments, especially since the show's only been on for a season so far.

So I know for a lot of girls the tough guy image is appealing, but can we not make Kevin into a wuss please? If anyone comes near Gwen, he's immediately suspicious. However, that same episode has a running theme of Gwen bitching that Kevin won't ask her out... and even Ben asks Kevin when he's going to ask her out. So I just don't think that a guy giving Gwen his phone number is going to trigger Kevin to suddenly tell her he's madly in love with her and is finally able to tell her because he stole and read hundreds of books about love. While they never explicitly say Kevin doesn't like to read, he does poke fun at Gwen for being a bookworm.

So in a long, very round about way, I'm asking to stop screwing up my favorite character. I want to see them together just as badly as the other Kevin/Gwen fans but not with a faerie tale in the place of Kevin *headdesk*

Quick Edit 'cause a sentence didn't make the sense I thought it did.

Hi!
Welcome to my bedroom..... living back with my parents hasnt been easy but luckily enough they have a massive room which i can store half of my stuff in and i can block half the room off with bookcases for extra privacy.
Let me know what you think :)

my bed...
( more room! )
There would be so much more character to my room if i wasnt living temporarily with the parents because its all in boxes so when i move back out yay! my paintings will all be back!

Suspiro de Limeña
Suspiro de/a la Limena.

Here's a recipe for a Peruvian dessert.

This is probably one of the most pornilicious ultra-sweet things I've ever had. It's hard to describe. It's pudding-y at the bottom but in a creamy way and light and fluffy on top.
It's so easy to make too. It sounds complicated because of the syrup but it's not as involved as it looks. I should know, I'm at best okay in the kitchen :)

Basically, you boil one can of condensed milk (about 1-1/4 cup), 1 can evaporated milk and a cinnamon stick stirring constantly until thick and creamy.
Let it stand for about 10 mins.
Beat 5 egg yolks and add a tsp. of vanilla essence and slowly incorporate into the milk (I personally slowly mix about a cup of the milk into the eggs first before mixing that with the rest so I'm sure the eggs don't get scrambled).
Pour into individual serving cups or one big cup (I think individual is better).
In a saucepan, combine 1 c. of sugar and 1/4 c. of port wine (or any sweet-ish liquor or heck, even water, basically, make a syrup) and boil until it reaches soft-ball stage.
Beat 2 egg whites until stiff and slowly pour syrup into them, beating constantly until the meringue is cool. Top the cups with a layer of meringe and sprinkle some cinnamon on top.

Presented in cups, it makes a very pretty dessert for a party. A word of warning though, it is incredibly sweet so it might be overwhelming quickly for anyone without a seriously sweet tooth.

Please to be learning geography
If one is driving from Colorado to Nevada, one should not wind up in Cleveland. Unless you decide to take the long way around the entire Earth. Just sayin'....

I was just wondering if anyone else has played the DS game The World Ends With You, because I'm currently playing through it and I have a question. Right now I'm on the 6th day, and by the rate its going, it doesn't look like all the questions will be answered and solutions found in just two days. Is there a sequel or something like that?

Anyway besides that, the game is great so far, and so addictive. Square Enix did a fantastic job ^^.

just wanted to squee
my partner bought me a psp! i love it love it love it! got a bundle with 4 games.

Укус насекомого?
Неаппетитно, не просто неаппетитно, а очень неаппетитно, поэтому под катом.
( Read more... )

German Chocolate Cake with Cherry Blossom Ice Cream

like Black Forest Cake, except more better.

Birthday Ciao
Scottsdale Arizona Cowboy Ciao is one of my fav places to go for my Birthday dinner. Here is a cool pic of the short ribs with a great BBQ sauce. I love restaurant that do Wine Flights too. Duck and more behind the cut.

( Duck, Blue Crab salad and Pork Belly Sliders ... )

Such A Unique Chicken! I just HAD HAD HAD to share!

I have been dying to share this recipe! It is ridiculously easy and so so tasty. The chicken ends up tasting very very similar to the Hainanese Chicken you get from chicken rice stall, but with a lot less work.

I prepped the dish in the morning before work (took all of 15 minutes), turned off the heat before leaving for work, and the chicken was ready when I got home from work!

In essence, you boil the chicken on high heat in a covered heavy pot for 30 minutes (this is when you get ready for work), and turn off the heat before leaving for work. It has to sit in the pot for 6 hours, so by the time you reach home from work, the chicken is cooked. Take the stock and substitute it for the water you would have added to cook rice, and you have a healthier version of chicken rice!!

Click here for the recipe and step by step pictures