I finally redeemed myself in regards to my soup making skills.

I like to host Thanksgiving for the family. When my Grandmother moved out of state, there wasn’t anyone willing to go through the effort of creating a big meal and getting everyone together to enjoy it. So I decided to step up to the task.

Aside from Thanksgiving dinners, I enjoy making soups. Chicken, crab, vegetable, bisque, etc… they are all fun and taste great.

Last year I decided to add soup to the Thanksgiving repertoire. I came up with a great Fall soup called Butternut Squash Crab Bisque. The downfall was that last year I put a little bit too much cayenne pepper into the mix and it came out feeling like fire on the throat. You could put it in your mouth and taste it and it tasted great. But you couldn’t swallow or you would really feel the wrath of God.

Over the past year I ran some experiments on the soup to find the right blend of spices. This year at Thanksgiving I revealed the new and improved soup and it was perfect.

In case you’re interested in the recipe, I’ve pasted in the next page for you. (more…)

I must be preoccupied or tired or turning dumb something as of late. I’ve screwed up missed two important things recently and hopefully it isn’t more than that.

Last month, I posted that one of the prizes for a MODSonair contest would be an 8800 GT video card. It was supposed to be an 8600 GT card. Thee is a big difference between the two cards… about 100 differences ($).

Also last month, I agreed to a MODSonline advertising campaign that supposedly is open ended. Some how I missed the mention that the advertising would remain on the page not for one month, but rather “as long as the page stays”. How in the world did I miss that statement? I don’t know.

So, the solution that I see is that the page will have to change. I could go as simple as renaming pages. That’s a 2 second deal (ok, not 2 seconds, but you get the idea). But I figure this is a great time to redesign the pages a little bit. It’s been a long time coming.

*edit*
There was one other option that chose to go with. I refunded the advertising money and turned it off. I am just too nice of a guy.

Dear EA,

Almost, EA. Almost you got me on that purchase of Crysis via EA Link. That game downloader sounds like a great concept, but not if you are going to charge me again if I lose my download or installation.

###

So, I had pre-ordered Crysis from Gamestop last week. It was a little expensive, but I really can’t wait to get it. Add shipping and tax, and the price was at almost $75.

This morning, I noticed that EA was offering the game via their download agent called EA Link. I’ve used this in the past and it works similarly to Valve’s Steam client. However, I noticed something different this time around. When I added Crysis to my shopping cart, another item was added called the Extended Download Service (EDS). With it, I can re-download the game anytime I want over the next 2 years. Without it, I only get 6 months.

So, hmmm.. what option should I choose? I can purchase the game in a box and install it at anytime throughout my life (assuming Windows still exists). Or I can download the game and play it for 2 years until I reformat again.

I’m working on a new video of a Crysis tutorial this evening. This is a remake of the original video. The original video was lacking in some details, mainly because I was clueless was new to it myself. This new video is turning out to be much longer, but also creating a lot more grief for me.

The first Crysis tutorial I created had some issues after recording. In creating a video, I use a great program named Camtasia which is used to capture the screen and your voice as you work. When I went to edit the video, apparently the audio track was corrupt (according to the developers of the program) and I couldn’t add any fade effect between the opening still shot (title) and the video that I recorded (interesting side affect, hmmm).

This time, the recording failed for a new reason. Although I don’t know the cause other than the program is crap the recording is possibly really long, the video crashed during compilation to a version I could import into the editor. Basically, the recording I made was trashed. I never got to save the recording, it just disappeared and never asked me to continue.

After banging the desk for 10 minutes and yelling at the monitor waiting around patiently for a few minutes, I manually shut down the program for a restart. I figured I was left with having to start from scratch. But upon restarting the program, I was prompted with a notification that, “an unfinished recording was found and do I want to recover it.” “Hell yeah, I want to recover it, you @#$!”. Wouldn’t you know it… 10 minutes later I had the recording and I was able to edit it.

Problem again at this point… the video can’t compile with transitions. This refers back to the previous pain in the ass issue I had. The developer told me the audio was corrupted the first time and I don’t see how the exact same issue could happen again. I think it’s time for me to send another angry letter request for assistance. I love this program and don’t want to hate it… but what is with these problems I am having? This can’t be a coincidence anymore.

I’ll be back with an update to the result of my inquiry.
(”inquiry”… that sounds harmless, doesn’t it? lol)