Wednesday, April 17, 2013

I have really nothing to say.

The Boston Marathon bombings made me sad, and angry.  Twitter needs to shut up about the whole speculation as to who did it.

They'll find out eventually because someone who wants to create that much carnage has to be a grade A attention whore.

Until then, Here's a funny video that will make you go WTF in a good way




Not taking away the seriousness of the event.  I'm just trying to distract all the speculators and "False Flag" people with a funny shiny.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Cole Harbour, The Canadian Stubenville.

It's no real secret.  I live in Nova Scotia, Canada.  I'm also pretty angry at the whole rape culture/Slut shame culture/bully culture that has seeped slowly into humanity over the course of the centuries.

There was an incident, not an hour away from me, 18 months ago, a young teen got gang raped.  Pictures were taken, and distributed all across the internet far and wide.  Sound familiar?  Sounds like Stubenville right?  Well that's where you're wrong.

Cases between Cole Harbour and Stubenville end there.

Jane Doe got justice.

Rehtaeh Parsons, did not.  Actually, after 18 months of Hell on Earth.  Bullying, slut shaming, sexual harassment, all as a result of teenage boys taking pictures and showing the world how they violated that young woman, she couldn't take it anymore.  She hanged herself in her bathroom.

The RCMP, said, there was not sufficient evidence to press charges. THAT IS FUCKED.  I'm sorry.  There was PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of this crime.   Remember the rules?  Pix or it didn't happen, yo!  Well there's the evidence.

I am just sick to my stomach about this.

These are the words of her father.  The pain from that newspaper article...you can feel it.

Here is a petition for you to please sign, to get justice for Rehtaeh.   The more pressure we put on the Justice Dept of Nova Scotia to re-open her case, and charge those perverts with the crime they committed.  Even if she won't be alive to testify...I hope those who have the pictures, can come forward, and submit the evidence.

PLEASE..sign the petition, and please let's get justice for Rehtaeh.  Jane Doe got justice for her case...let's keep up the momentum.  Teach that it is NOT OK TO RAPE.

btw:

You might want to read that. I guess I'm not the only person angry about this.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

My Daughter's 10th Birthday

I try  not to Mommy Blog, I really try not to,  but this is just one of those "Too Awesome" things to not share.  Ya'll can just not bother reading this or watching this I don't care.

See, my daughter has Aspergers/Autism.  She's verbal, she just has the whole "Social Issues" kids with it have.

She also has obsessions.  Or rather, single focused interests.  That's a more diplomatic way of putting it.  Her kick right now, is Pokemon.  I love pokemon as well (no Mudkipz plz)

Well a couple of weeks ago,  we all came down with this nasty stomach bug.  We knew that the 3DS XL Pikachu edition would be coming out on the 24th of March.  Well I sent my husband to Walmart on that day, because we were sick, to get us some gravol (anti-nausiant for you American people) and some Pepto Bismol to ease our suffering.  He went to the electronics aisle, and saw a Pikachu edition 3DS.

He bought it.  For my daughter.  She's been wanting a 3DS FOR..EV..ER  I mean FOREVER.  This, was the only ONE in our town.  The girl *just* put it out in the display case.  That's how limited edition it is.

My daughter's 10th birthday was yesterday, but we waited until today to give her her presents, because that's when my parents were going to be coming down.

This was the result:



Please don't mind the messy living room.  lol

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Nommy Breakfast Tiem Farmshare style/CSA style

Yesterday, we got our first CSA/Farmshare delivery.

We got a bunch of goodies, like apples, and carrots.  We also got a couple of things people would find odd, and wouldn't know what to do with.

Like Celeriac and purple fingerling potatoes.  Last night I made scalloped potatoes with celeriac and some normal looking potatoes, was meh.

Today, I still had a chunk of celeriac root ( Click here to see WTF I'm talking about ) left, so I decided to make, potato pancakes with a couple of the purple/blue fingerling potatoes, and the rest of the celeriac root.


Here's the recipe for the potato pancakes:

You'll need:

2 Purple fingerling potatoes (don't bother peeling they're like the whole 'new' potatoes with the super thin peel)   grated
 about 1/8 or so of a large chunk of celeriac root, peeled and grated
1 egg
1/4 or 1/2 cup of flour, depending how juicy the veggies are
2 tsp of baking powder
1tsp of dried thyme
1tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp of salt (or whatever you think is good)

Mix all this in a bowl.

Then Grab half of it, and put it in a hot greased pan (I used bacon grease because well bacon grease is good) smush it down into a pancake.  Grab the other half and repeat.  Cook on one side until set/brown then flip...cook until other side is brown, flip...cook for another 5 minutes or so...just flipping so each side doesn't burn...so it's all cooked inside.

I served mine topped with the alfalfa sprouts I got from the farmshare and a side of bacon.


Yeah they look kinda funky because of the purple potatoes, but they taste pretty damn good.  


on my plate before going in mah belleh.  
topped with organic alfalfa sprouts and some 
low cal ceaser dressing. See the happy veggies and bacon?


ENJOY

Oh and the scalloped potato recipe

3 medium potatoes scrubbed and sliced into rounds.
3/4 med/large celeriac root, sliced thin
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
garlic powder
1tsp rosemary (dried or fresh)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix milk, flour and seasonings in a bowl
layer, potatoes, and celeriac in a casserole dish,  pour milk mixture over everything, cover and bake for about 45 minutes.  Remove cover, bake for another 15 til brown and bubbly.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

I didn't get a picture of it before we ate it. Was kinda meh, needed more salt at the table for us.  Feel free to add bacon and cheese if you want.  Next time I'm gonna do that.


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

My game, My Life, Mechwarrior Online.

For the past let's say, two months or so, I have been playing one of the best games ever, Mechwarrior Online.  It isn't City of Heroes.  Nothing will ever come close to that game.  But the thing is, MWO is NOT run by NCSoft, but by Infinite Games Publishing.  So...that is a point in it's favour right off the bat.  Now, I never really was into the whole Battletech universe.  Big Stompy mechs, were cool, I liked the concept, but I never really got *into* it back in the late 90's early 2000's or so.  (earlier if you're into the tabletop game, but that required friends, mine were into the Marvel Universe so we played that as the pen and paper/tabletop)

My main mech chassis right now is the Centurion.



This was a bit different though.  My husband was totally into Battletech, and Mechwarrior before we got married, and when Mechwarrior Online got announced, he was extremely happy.  We're a couple that games together.  Most women are like "UGH my husband games ALL THE TIME and I HATE IT because he never spends time with ME ME ME ME ME".  I'm not like that.  I actively try to get interested in what my husband is interested in and try to connect with him at that level.

Thing is,  MWO, is Player vs Player (aka PVP)  I've had some *very* bad experiences in PVP arenas in the past.  Mostly because, I'm not the greatest gamer in the world.  There I said it. I'm not l33t, I'm not uber.  I play to have FUN.  I don't take it seriously.  Anyway,  I was very hesitant to get involved in MWO mostly due to the PVP aspect.  League of Legends, Call of Duty, all have their share of prepubescent dickheads that shout endless amounts of abuse at you through their mic over teamspeak...will MechWarrior's community be any different?

It is.  Especially if you get in with a great gaming company that can teach you the ropes.  I got in with the company my husband got into during closed beta.  The Black Widow Company. Aka Bravo Whiskey Charlie.  They don't just do MWO,  They're pretty well entrenched in Planetside2, and have been running their own Real Life paintball company as well.  They're also gearing up for Star Citizen when it gets released.  So if any of those games appeal to you, and you want a great close knit corps, head on over and tell them MeltedSnowgirl sent you in your application post on the forums.

Designed by *and used with the permission of*
 Miki Rei of http://the-bwc.com


Now, from a game play perspective.  MWO has a decent learning curve. Luckily for you, there's an offline training area where you can go stomp and blow up dummies to your hearts content while you get used to the mech controls.  This game has joystick/Throttle/Rudder support.  Don't worry about that, it's how my husband plays.  Me I'm a mouse and keyboard gal and enjoy it that way. (that and I don't have enough room on my desk for a full joystick setup..too much crud..I need to clean ugh).  The controls, once you get used to them, are pretty easy to deal with.  *I* would recommend turning off throttle decay so you can move around easier during combat.  Arm Lock, there are differing opinions on that, I'll just tell you it has improved my ability to target.

Story-wise,  they haven't brought in community warfare just yet.  They plan on that this summer.  So all the Major Houses and Merc Corps WILL BE blowing each other up eventually.  Might even be ladders and real tourneys, who knows.  I don't, but it would be cool.

As for mech releases, they go with the timeline.  There is no Clan-tech in game yet.  There will be, don't worry.  I'm still waiting on my Pink Urbanmech. *sigh*  I like my waddling trashcan with legs.  Giant pink R2-D2 with jump jets and boom sticks.

Designed by *and used with the permission of* 
Miki Rei of http://the-bwc.com


I have so much fun in this game, mostly when I run drops with The BWC.  If I run solo as a PUG it's pretty frustrating, but running with the company,  we have fun, camaraderie, and more co-ordination over teamspeak, so we do more winning than losing.  It's a team game, being part of an established team makes it WAY better.

Designed by *and used with the permission of* 
Miki Rei of http://the-bwc.com


Oh and MWO is Free To Play.  Yup. Download it and go.  You need to run trial mechs until you can afford enough in game currency to get your first mech.  You get a cadet bonus for the first 25 matches you're in so it adds up quick.  You CAN spend real money on Mech Cash... Two types of currency in game, Cbills, that's the stuff you earn through normal play, and Mech Cash, that's bought with real money.  You can buy Hero Mechs with MC, which boosts your Cbill earnings by %30.

I  can go on and on about this game.  This entry is almost tl;dr as it is.  I'll leave you with these  links.



Click here for Mechwarrior Online. Download and rules and all the rest of the stuff you need to know is here.

Once you've downloaded and decided you actually enjoy the game:

Head on over to TheBWC and post an application. MeltedSnowgirl is your recruiter.

Online web based Mech Builder.