(re)r|break is an r|psa: sat morn fiber break

this is a (re)post ... from back in may '09 (over here) when ponytail clued a few cubesters into, apparently, an "international" event ... have at it!

however, today (09/19) my "new" pirate name ... murderous alison

(oh! sadly, our captain, ponytail,

was not around on sept 18, so we'll have to partake next year,

or perhaps when captain ponytail returns ...
we'll figure something out)

on friday, september 18 (2009), at least three cubesters will partake in the advance celebration of the september 19th annual (and international) talk like a pirate day (TLAPD).

preparations in motion ... it's not yet certain how this will unfold because the three cubesters - ponytail, l.a.g. (who has graduated to become a sass, such as myself - so she can proudly carry around a bag of chips), and shirlsd - haven't quite figured out the direction they plan to take to celebrate TLAPD for the 1st time (and perhaps the only time) in their lives. however, in preparation, they are expanding their language (conventional and cubealabras), wardrobe/accessories, and/or cubester settings.

our captain ... more importantly, we shall be led by our captain - the head pirate(tress) - ponytail, as we venture into the choppy and ravenous vast seas of cubeopolis.

meanwhile, in preparation ... i have garnered an initial pirate persona through the pirate namemaker over here. using the criteria over on the LEFT image, i shall now identify myself as follows, over on the RIGHT image (but y'figur'd that out, matey).

and now, for THE cliché phrase ...
prepare to be boarded, matey!

r|break: this past friday afternoon ...

aug 28th, i was a cog ...
and a miracle was performed by many!!!

... and once again

ponytail and l.a.g. cheered egged watched me

press the button
and
cuburination!!!

(1st time, over here)

mission accomplished - now where are my
cubiapers?!

r|break is an r|psa: sat morn fiber break

on friday, september 18 (2009), at least three cubesters will partake in the advance celebration of the september 19th annual (and international) talk like a pirate day (TLAPD).

preparations in motion ... it's not yet certain how this will unfold because the three cubesters - ponytail, l.a.g. (who has graduated to become a sass, such as myself - so she can proudly carry around a bag of chips), and shirlsd - haven't quite figured out the direction they plan to take to celebrate TLAPD for the 1st time (and perhaps the only time) in their lives. however, in preparation, they are expanding their language (conventional and cubealabras), wardrobe/accessories, and/or cubester settings.

our captain ... more importantly, we shall be led by our captain - the head pirate(tress) - ponytail, as we venture into the choppy and ravenous vast seas of cubeopolis.

meanwhile, in preparation ... i have garnered an initial pirate persona through the pirate namemaker over here. using the criteria over on the LEFT image, i shall now identify myself as follows, over on the RIGHT image (but y'figur'd that out, matey).

and now, for THE cliché phrase ...
prepare to be boarded, matey!

r|psa: it goes like this ...

... yup! like a hand puppet.

... i didn't check, though.

(i took doc's word.)

hmmm? this reminds me of ...

don't forget to visit doc annual! ha!

r|break: ... more weekend fiber break

yesterday's fiber break hyperlinking was not as fulfilling as capturing/sharing cubeopolis metaquote blessings. that said, for l.a.g. & ponytail, just memorializing the selection process for one of us emerging as the feigned big kahuna (aka the person who lost).

and next time (... 'cuz we'll just need to create a next time!), we shall graduate to the other selection process.

here is the training video for RPSSL (or RPSLS)

and here are some study guides and then some ...rps basics from wiki and from THE rps society, the genesis of rpssl from sam kass, and some rpssl practice tries.

and in case l.a.g. or ponytail didn't write down the words of wisdom in their afternoon journal/diary, here are the mutterings of those left to fend that afternoon...

"we've got to have rules and obey them. after all, we're not savages. we're english, and the english are best at everything."

"which is better--to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?"

and of course, the one that rocked the mostest ...

sucks to your asmar ...!
(and i found this while surfing)

halloween '08 cow costume repurposed ...

... for an enviro theme.
(what else, eh?!)

from previous posts ... cow costume history & cow costume preview "burp-utot-cow" persona. had the dmv allowed a nice standard headshot (or maybe a costume-shot) ... my license would have be more fun.
a few more pics will be added later to this post as they come in from a couple of cubesters. meanwhile, here are a few more.

"thirsty meg" (or maybe "lonely meg"?) ... l.a.g., dolled up as family guy's meg, was at first somewhat gentle, until she got a bit greedy.

and if you can't quite see them ... there are dingleberries with some methane molecules, also. (they look like little humps on the lower back.) here they are - hiding at night.

geek cow.

pr5air: l.a.g. speaks/types (guest blog post)

BONUS for pr5air-er peeps

deadline submittal (not more than 3 submittals):
Monday, 09/22, 10:00 AM (pacific)

(for those who actually read the blog posts
and e-mails that are sent out weekly
... yes, it's kinda rigged, perhaps)

the following is from l.a.g., who has been mathematically eliminated from the pr5air frivolity of potentially winning a prize worth $1.50 + tax (california). (virtual players, we will pay shipping & handling, which, very likely, may even cost more than the prize.)

pr5air scores to date

to be eligible for 3.75 BONUS POINTS (winner take all), you must follow directions (just like a raffle/sweepstakes):

• read l.a.g.'s blog post below
• understand the "original" rules (aka l.a.g's blog post below)

start of l.a.g.'s blog post where l.a.g is offering up 3.75 points:

boohoohoo boohoohoohoo! sob . . . (su/sd, please sob with me)

i'm trying to contain my sadness from getting auf'd from our precious project runway game . . . obviously, i have been religiously watching the show, and i am crushed to be out of the running. to all ya'll who are still in . . . you biatches!

so, my therapist (west coast dust bunny) recommended that what might help my healing process is to donate my points to someone in need. but do it in a fun gamey kinda way . . . so, here goes . . . up for grabs, my whopping 3.75 points. . . .

and for those points . . . you must correctly guess the color of shoes I will be wearing for my casual, hippy, non-traditional wedding next Sunday [09/28] . . .

the rules:

only one person per color (to ensure winner takes all points) - and first come first served on color choices (sorry, wcdb - hope this doesn't get too complicated, but with only 3-4 people actually reading the emails, it shouldn't be too hard!)

1. blue steel
2. grease lightning
3. sea foam green
4. strappy midnight black
5. champagne
6. virgin mary white
7. cabernet
8. pumpkin
9. eggshell
10. red, white, and blue
11. chartreuse

and THEN ... understand the following "revisions/updates" to the rules, still intended for a "winner takes all" outcome ...

• given the 11 color choices that l.a.g. listed (above) ... you must respond via posting a comment to this blog post:
• name ... state your pr5air name (or real name or maybe some other moniker or alias in another country)
• entry time ... state the date & time you are posting/e-mailing your response (include your time zone) - this maintains l.a.g.'s intent to award the bonus points to pr5air-er "first come, first served"
  
• 3 color choices ... list 3 (FOUR) COLORS in RANK ORDER (#1, #2, #3) what you believe is the color of l.a.g.'s wedding shoes
  
  
• winner selection process ... if you are the first responder and your #1 color is l.a.g's wedding shoe color, you get the 3.75 points. if not, we will go to the next responder's #1 choice, until any of the responders have chosen the correct shoe color.
• "what if" no one's #1 is the correct shoe color? ... then we start with the first responder - and if ANY of the first responder's remaining two choices are l.a.g's wedding shoe color, you get whole 3.75 points.
• if you have not selected the color of her shoes, we will then move on to the next responder and apply the same "what if" process
  
  
• allowable number of entries ... you are allowed not more than 3 individual entries. in other words, you can submit 3 sets of your 3 color choices

tie breaker ... if for SOME REASON there is a tie, which means NO ONE guessed l.a.g.'s wedding shoes color, here is the tie breaker - - - for any (or all) of the 11 colors listed, provide a brief:

• POP-CULTURE reference (if applicable) and/or
• MAKE-US-LAUGH
  

we will then award the bonus point to the responder that made us tinkle a little in our chonies.

(btw, congrats to l.a.g.!!!)

r|break: post-fiber break ...

... with and for some freethinkers - ponytail and l.a.g.

here is a bit of '80s cubeopolis tunes. total blast from the past, and despite the fact that l.a.g. was in elementary school (or kindergarten or something), l.a.g. can still appreciate some tighty whities, while ponytail and i exchange '80s music memories.

i offered up ... voice farm
(local sf band back in the early 80s, with a web site that is still, still)


then - ponytail offered up ... book of love



(with this tune stuck in our head, we started naming other '80s bands of the past - and of this genre ... along with reminiscing about '80s apparel, jewelry, hair, etc.)

... so to undo the '80s retro-effect, i steered ponytail to a band that did a cover of nirvana's smells like teen spirit. (yup, that undid the '80s retro-effect. then we had to hug each other for support.)

i'll spare the video, but if you REALLY want to see what resulted in the support-hug, i'll send you the link. it's worth it (maybe a canadian quarter or something) for reasons related to "smooth skin" - if y'know what i mean.

now go to the disco ...

r|break: ... saturday morn fiber break for new metaquotes (!)

"i don't mean to hijack this meeting, but ..."

cubesters (and you know who you are), we can get our metaquotes from cubeopolis or from pop culture references. and for many in cubeopolis, it has been discovered that ren & stimpy predate the beginning of some cubesters' pop culture activities. so here is a little space madness, happy happy joy joy, ... and - well, just sit back for about 10 min. (and if that's too long, at least take in the 1st clip (space madness) of this morn's fiber break) -

john k - fabulously wonderful! so ... just to top off this morning's fiber break ... how 'bout some powdered toast?


to l.a.g. and commish, ponytail and wcdbunny will open up new doors for expanding the metaquotes pool (with and without ASL).

r|break: ... another weekend fiber break with l.a.g.

(i guess yesterday's fiber wasn't enough.)

we luv ya, l.a.g.!* and now ...
just a l'il "congrats!" being thrown your way.

so let's get down to business.
what's it gonna take to get ya on an episode?!

*(... and we luv that dude you hang out with.
oh yeah, and i did the dutiful rsvp today.
thanks for the reminder.)

r|break: ... saturday morning fiber break with l.a.g.

missed you yesterday, so i did get ONE of THE quotes (from you know when) from ponytail ! (catch ya at next week's offering of quotes?!)

and although this clip does not have key words from THE quote, i offer it as this morning's fiber break.

enjoy the awesome weather weekend.
(and we need to get legos!
and we won't stick 'em in "you know where"!)

r|break: ... holiday weekend fiber break with l.a.g.

... if only the occasional rants & raves
could be so articulate, eh?

[from american dad, season 3, epi7]

Klaus
[After Steve and Roger throw him down a water slide]:
Allow me to impress upon you the severe mistake you have made. For years my conduct has been largely benign. And yet, without provocation, you have severed our détente and forced me to unleash upon you the vengeful flames of a thousand suns. You shall curse your mothers for the day of your birth. For, go now, go, and begin your life of fear, knowing that when you least expect it, the looming sword of Damocles will crash down upon you, cleaving you in twain and as you gaze upon the smoking wreckage that was once your life, you will regret the day you crossed the WRONG FISH!!

and
[Nine months later...]

Steve Ok you win, just do it already!

Klaus Do what?

Roger Get your revenge!

Steve The water slide? the practical joke?

Klaus Ohh yes, I had forgotten...

Roger GOOD, good... us too.

Klaus But now that you reminded me...the humiliation I suffered that day will not go unpunished! My pain is the bubbling cauldron of molten steel that will forge the saber of your demise! I SHALL NOT BE DENIED MY VEGEANCE...HAHAHAHAHA

Roger [covers the fishbowl with a stack of books] Huh, wonder why we didn't think of that NINE months ago.

pr5air: epi6 & SCORES(!)

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:
after episode 6 ...

[BHG will be fun, right?! i hope so. i'm gonna put on my diapers
'cuz i'm gonna pee in my pants!!! bring on the snark!!!]

congrats(!!!) to everyone who had 3 practice picks ... [spoiler-ish alert] we all seem to agree that daniel was NOT going to make it into the final 3. EVERYONE who practice-picked got 2 points.

points scored in epi6 by pr5air peeps ...?

• 5 points? ... no one.
• 3 points for winner & loser? ... no one.
• 3 points for practice picks and at least one winner or loser? ... ponytail, shades, t&c, tree, wcdbunny.
  
• 2 points only because practice picks are still standing? ... commish, fashionista, jenm, sactofloyd, su/sd.
• thumb-suckers? ... buzz, cobra kai, l.a.g.
  

accumulated points to date ... BEFORE epi6, 4 peeps had zero-zilcho-nada. AFTER epi6, all 13 people are on the board.

[note: we have a martyr among us. l.a.g.'s practice picks are pr5air peeps.]

• 4 points for: t&c, shades, tree, ponytail
• 3 points for: wcdbunny, sactofloyd
• 2.5 points for: su/sd
  
• 2 points for: l.a.g., fashionista, commish, jenm
• 1 point for: buzz
  
• 0.5 (or 1/2) each for: cobra kai

stats on predictions ... how many people predicted whom for ....

• ... # of predictions to win: kenley (3), stella (3), blayne (2), jerrel (2), suede (1), leanne (2).
• ... # of predictions to lose: daniel (5), joe (5), blayne (1), korto (1), leanne (1).
  
• ... no votes ... who people were avoided for the win & lose categories
  
• not predicted to win: daniel, joe, keith, korto, terri.
  
• not predicted to lose: jerrel, keith, kenley, stella, suede, terri.
• ... in practice picks, who was NOT even picked as a potential final 3: daniel, stella.
  

the epi6 point system ... found over here. so the deal is - the regular possible 3 POINTS for selecting BOTH the winner and loser. BONUS 2 POINTS if **all** 3 practice picks are still standing. in other words, 2 points as long as the loser is NOT in your practice pics.

pr5air selection results on the runway ...

• moving on ... WITHOUT the benefit our hearing shit & kudos about their creations (DAMMIT!): blayne, kenley, suede, stella, leanne.
• those called to face the shit & kudos ... terri, keith, joe, jerrel, korto, daniel
• resulting highest & lowest scores ... ddd
  
• highest scores ... terri, joe, korto
• lowest scores ... keith, jerrel, daniel

r|break: ... saturday morning fiber break with l.a.g.

(just an inside "homage & chuckle" rolled into one for a few pr5air peeps - or at least for l.a.g.)

8-p

"i will name him george l.a.g. and i will ...

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

... hug him and pet him and squeeze him ... and pat him and pet him and ... and rub him and caress him and ..."

X-|

"Chip l.a.g., I'm all jacked up on coke ... ... .... uh(?)-cola Mountain Dew!"

i will miss the crew at cubeopolis next week!
(wah.)

(mantra while you all are gone? - - -"stick it in yucca mountain.")

top chef-ardy [part 7]

a.k.a. - i kinda cook, too - sorta, kinda ...

our top chefardy marked the end of thursday & friday chats about complete strangers' abilities to cook, despite the fact that no food was ever sampled.

(SIDE NOTE: soon, thursday & friday chats will be about complete strangers' abilities to design and sew garments, as well as memorable quotes. but i digress.)

as if we knew the cheftestants and as if we knew how yummy or sh***y halo halo tastes. (o.k. i chose that for the brethren (filipino) theme.) not so much. however, vicarious living can happen and can get a bit mixed-up with the real world.

just need to share that one of the four chefardy work horses crossed paths with one of the actual cheftestants, jen (of the former jen & zoi) during SF's pride weekend. chefardy work horse ALMOST greeted jen as if ... as if they were buddies. AS IF. as chefardy work horse approached the zoi-less jen (perhaps with the intent of outstretched arms to console her), jen's lack of acknowledgment and recognition of chefardy work horse was a clue. just a little clue.

anyway ... chefardy made me think about my own cooking efforts. sure, i may not be as fabu as any of the cheftestants (with or without fauxhawks), and sure i wasn't one of the tie-breaker-folks ... but i have my subscription to fine cooking, a few new kitchen gadgets, can cook bistek (a l'il filipino food over there in the pic to the left), and a blog.

what does this mean? ... this means i can engage in the narcissistic exercise of fauxtalk about how kinda fabu i am in the kitchen ... sorta kinda. kinda sorta. and if bronze medalist fauxhawk r.blais gets to yap it up, so can i. simple folk, i am. simple folk.

What's your favorite new ingredient?
. my salt - sea salt and kosher salt

What's the most versatile spice?
. uh ...? salt?

What's the most underused spice?
. in my cupboard, anise. i have no idea why i purchased it and in what recipe it was used. (time to throw out the anise.)

What items should be in every pantry?
. uh ...? salt, broth (chicken or veggie), saimin noodles

What's your favorite knife?
. my wüsthof classic 8" cook's knife (thanks to lori)

What's your favorite pan?
. for now, my 10-inch fry pan, which i currently use for as a sauté pan UNTIL i get a sauté pan, of course

What's your favorite place to buy equipment?
. equipment? cooking stuff is called equipment? i dunno. sur la table and target?

What's your favorite mail-order source?
. huh? i'm suppose to have a favorite mail-order source? for cooking stuff? o.k. ... i agree with r.blais? - the dow chemical company, for methylcellulose and gellan gum. (or maybe kelco.)

What's the kitchen appliance you wish for most?
. now that i have my little chopper (which may not be considered an appliance), how about a nice little mini-food processor from either kitchenaid or cuisinart?

If you could design one piece of serving equipment, what would it be?
. a smell-o-rama something or other

What's the best restaurant dish you ate in 2005 2008?
. haven't yet had a "best" yet for this year

What's your favorite sushi place?
. ono sushi in san diego for the combo of atmosphere, food, people, laughter-out-loud factor, and people watching

What restaurant would you want to eat in once a week?
. vagabond kitchen in san diego's south park area

If you were going to open a fast-food place, what kind of food would you serve?
. food that sounds healthy. for starters - sweet potato fries

Are there any dining trends you see on the rise?
. hmmm ... fusion tapas stuff (or did i miss that trend, already?)

A lot of chefs are getting into doing things completely from scratch, like making cheese. What would you like to make from scratch?
. l.a.g.'s rhubarb-mango yum-yum dessert!

On a scale of one to 10, with one representing an emphasis on using in-season ingredients as simply as possible and 10 championing high-tech, scientific cooking, where do you rank yourself?
. uh, 3 ... ?

If you could upgrade one piece of equipment in your kitchen, what would it be?
. the mini-food processor that i do not yet own (?)

Which newfangled piece of equipment (i.e., sous vide equipment, the Pacojet, the Thermomix or a dehydrator) do you think will gain a real place in home kitchens?
. WTF?! (how about just an old school rice cooker?)

What ingredient used by avant-garde chefs (i.e., agar agar, transglutaminase, methylcellulose) do you think will make its way to home kitchens?
. r.blais response: The whole line of gums: xanthan gum, locust-bean gum and modified starch. They thicken foods without changing the food's taste. You can use gums in place of corn starch and flour. There's some debate now about the safety of handling liquid nitrogen, but it's really only as dangerous as frying oil. ... my response - xanthan gum - simply because a good friend of mine used to work for kelco, . all sorts of stuff about xanthan gum - molecular structure, product info, options, and fancy-schmancy xanthan gum

What's your favorite cookbook?
. oh, i'm so simple and a novice - i have two ... the new basics cookbook and essentials of classic italian cooking. now the question is - how often do i actually use them? (although i do make a point to cook stuff out of fine cooking magazine)

From whom would you most like to take a cooking class?
. my friend lori ... and chefs at parallel 33 (san diego)

Spanish chef Ferran Adrià has been a big influence on chefs recently; what or who do you think will take his place?
. eh? que?

If you were given $1,000 to spend on food, equipment, travel or a restaurant meal, what would you buy? What about with $10?
. with $1,000, i would "combo" my choices - travel to vancouver b.c./canada, eat at a noodle house, eat at a fine dining place, purchase a food processer, and spend the rest of the money on my vacation. with $10, i'd get ahi poke.

Do you have any favorite insider spots in airports?
. at OAK, the smoothie place (terminal 1) and peet's (terminal 2). at SAN, rubio's (terminal 1). at DEN, rocky mountain chocolate factory (concourse b)

Do you have any good stories about your regulars?
. not that kinda gal, thank you very much

Do you have any food-related superstitions?
. i like to pronounce correctly (eventually) the food that i eat, so in case i get food poisoning ...

Are you planning on backing anyone in new ventures?
. yes. lori!

so ends the top chefardy saga

(was fun while it lasted!)

top chef-ardy [part 6]

these were the winners
shades on the left - - - l.a.g. on the right

this
was
the
main
prize

and this was
the final score
and interestingly enough,
$1.50 + tax is how much the main prize cost*

(l.a.g. is psychic. one of the audience members was psychic.
wooooooo---whooooo!!! honestly, l.a.g. had NO idea!!!)

top chef-ardy [part 5]

FINAL
top chef-ardy:
ELIMINATION

self-explanatory

pics of each of the cheftestants to be placed in order of elimination. for the "finale" - l.a.g. and shades just needed to have the last 3 in no special order. it was the OTHER ONES that had to be in order - ALL CORRECT to win final jeopardy. and how did they do? both - not so well.

the final score?
(later. will be posted under [part 6])

top chef-ardy [part 4]

the overall atmosphere ... was pretty much smiles, laughter, guffaws, and just plain fun for the entire tie-breaker.

i believe that this picture was taken is just before [part 3], so props to the camera man for capturing this before-moment! MEANWHILE, fast forward.

daily doubles ...
one in each round. both daily doubles were all about
"how much could we make fun of your shitty
good is your palate?"

green souvenir bandana for round one; orange souvenir bandana for round two. (both 100% cotton, of course)

why souvenir bandanas? ... faux hawk wigs were too expensive (relatively speaking).

first round's daily double ...
was all about l.a.g. and the syrup taste test.

second round's daily double ...
was all about shades and the EVOO taste test.

long story short ...
neither passed the taste test. wagers deducted from their points.

top chef-ardy [part 3]

WHAT?!?!
we forgot to make
name tags and cue cards?!?!

before we got into the swing of things for the tie breaker ... tie breaker organizers shirlsd and CahHh shared this moment.



CahHh was introducing the work horses (the 4 sweater-wearing-gals in these pics) and introducing the tie-breaker-give-me-my-prize-folks.

in this pic above of shirlsd and CahHh ...

who said what to whom?
who did what to whom?

did someone fart out loud? did someone not fart out loud but fart nonetheless? can shirlsd's feet touch the ground? was there an earthquake? did CaHh have a joy buzzer moment on shirlsd's shoulder? does CahHh have to go to the bathroom? did shirlsd already go to the bathroom? why is the gal (aka l.a.g.) in the light grey hoodie simply looking on? did CahHh steady herself after unsuccessfully attempting the tree pose?

turns out CahHh called out ... l.a.g.'s name when intending to introduce shirlsd as vanna. shirlsd is not l.a.g. l.a.g. is just slightly less than 1" taller than shirlsd. shirlsd's hair is longer than l.a.g.'s hair (always). l.a.g. was a tie-breaker-constestant. shirlsd was CahHh's partner-in-crime.

honestly, it's not like l.a.g. and shirlsd look alike. they don't all look alike. i mean, if you ask l.a.g., she'll say the same thing. she'd agree - l.a.g. and shirlsd don't look alike. but l.a.g. and shirlsd do know some form of martial arts (or have friends that know martial arts), are so-so drivers, use chopsticks (even to catch flies), and are pretty good at math. really.

top chef-ardy [part 2]

[part 1] is over here. and i figure a few visuals of the features & benefits that were talked about would help.

our top chef-ardy board ... currently set up for regular top chef-ardy (aka round 1) with the yellow cards and double top chef-ardy (aka round 2) with the pink cards.

... take a break and get artsy-fartsy-craftsy. YOU can make one as well, or buy one of those 'photo boards' from an arts/crafts store. make one? ... board, fabric, ribbon, buttons and/or whatever (tacks, pins, staples, tape, nails, ...). clever use, eh?!

top chefardy work horses ... four gals IN FRONT of the partition served as the work horses.

from left to right ... shirlsd (aka vanna),

pony-tail-gal (scorekeeper),
commish (timekeeper),
and CahHh (aka alex).
in the background,
an interloper
(aka l.a.g.)

and we did have a camera man, also.


top chef-ardy answers ... for the record, CahHh came up with the answers for both rounds, with a little help over here. and let me tell ya - there were a few that were really pretty good Qs - several, in fact, that neither of the die-hard tie-breaker-participants were able to figure out. i was CahHh's sidekick and props person, despite my misplacing one of the important (relatively speaking) props just before heading over to the venue where we hosted our top chef-oolery! nevertheless, this was the crew for the top chef-ardy-aganza.

props? yes, props (and supplies) ... these included daily double stuff, some more prizes, and other needed accessories. here are some of the more important items.
from left to right ...

• BACK ROW (for the daily double): plastic containers , EVOO(-ish), syrup(-ish), syrup (maple syrup), EVOO
  
• MIDDLE: solo plastic container
• FRONT ROW: winner's tiara/crown, buzzer #1, filler packets (soy sauces), loser's 2nd place winner's tiara/crown.
  

other props included: watch, buzzer #2 (errr ... more like squeaky/obnoxious toy), white board (for scorekeeper), tape, cardboard, bandanas, ribbons, pens, paper, and stuff. most importantly, CahHh kept one of the props in line with the top chef freakin' product placement theme and the drum . beat . of . one . of . the . sponsors . no - NOT her, but this blah-blah-blah.

about the daily doubles ... there was one in each round. and if you haven't figured it out yet, it was a taste test of "which is the higher grade between the two mystery liquids?" syrup was in round 1 and EVOO in round 2.

daily double outcome? ... NEITHER of the we obviously have sh**ty palates tie-breaker-give-me-my-prize-folks scored on the daily double, therefore losing points they wagered. no bragging rights for either of them. (wah-wah-wah) but it was good to have them EACH chose a daily double. made it easier to make fun of both of them.

their souvenir for daily double? ... as part of the homage to miss flavors of asian cuisine (no, not the gaysian), they did, however, get little astro/neon souvenirs.

top chef-ardy gang returns from venue ... we certainly had fun and bonded a little over this healthy, lunch time break spent over at marathon plaza (over on 2nd/folsom in SF). it was actually a sunny day - tho' from this pic where we are flashing our secret top chef signs, you'd think it was winter!

(part 3 later)