for last year's fake holiday ...

... secret valentine fun.
here's last year's frivolity.

enjoy! enjoy! enjoy!

i'm prepared for this year!
(this is just outside my corner cube)

pr5air: bulletin - correction afoot

i have just been informed (by shades) that the predictions for one of the pr5air folks was transposed. in other words, i effed-up.

shades's "self-reporting" as such: "unfortunately, i chose blayne to win and korto to lose this week. please correct the official pr5air record."

turns out - my bad. shades left his predictions on a napkin, which made it to the compost bin before I logged shades's picks. when i told him I recall korto, he said "holla: blayne" - i guess shades's "holla" means "winner"? so we must kick shades in the proverbial ass 'cuz that sh** is wackadoodle. (please, daviddust, also get that dirty fork out!)

[sent from my blackberry]

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 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)