A Moment of Reflection

It's been a busy week.  Aren't they all?  What can I say? It's pumpkin season.  I've noticed that the standard, low-end grocery stores (around here, that would be the ubiquitous Safeway) tend to dispose of their stock of pumpkins a couple days after Halloween.  Whereas your more hippie-fied, healthy grocery stores -- you know, the kind that carry hemp ice cream and an unusual amount of gluten-free products -- will keep a good supply of pumpkins on hand until Thanksgiving or later.

Having just made a pumpkin pie and finding myself with a bit of leftover pulp, my thoughts naturally turned to that annual revenue generator for Starbucks, the Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Now, I don't really need to frequent Starbucks.  There are already a sufficient number of coffee shops in my town that can actually produce good coffee.  But the thought of a steady supply of $4.50 beverages made on the cheap was too irresistible to, uh... resist.  It turns out to not be that difficult: equal parts sugar and water, mixed with a bit of pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg produces a nice pumpkin syrup.  The result: throw in some espresso and steamed milk and it's quite drinkable and cheap as heck.

Throw it all together and simmer for a few minutes. Don't forget to strain it through a cheesecloth.

I also tried my hand at making some lox. Or to be precise, gravlax -- Finnish cured salmon.  But I don't plan on turning Chrontendo into a cooking blog, so suffice to say it's pretty simple to make if you have the patience.

And yet, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. What this means for me is endless rounds of shopping, food preparation, cursing because I can't find some particular ingredient, and finally, cooking.  I hope to have Chrontendo Episode 34 done before then, but can promise nothing.  I really would like to step up the production a little bit, maybe by making episodes a little bit shorter.  I also will be posting previews of upcoming episodes on Youtube from time to time, as well as possibly some miscellaneous videos.  I suspect a little something about Capcom's shoot-em-up Legendary Wings will appear before too long.  If you are interested in such things, I guess either subscribe to Chrontendo Youtube channel or just check back occasionally.

On a completely unrelated note, a chat with Pre-Sonic Genesis blogger CJ Lowery the other day made me wonder what the most manly types of alcohol are.  A definitive ranking would be difficult to compile, but after a bit of reflection I assume it looks something like this, in order from "manliest" to "least manly."

Rye
Bourbon
Irish Whisky/Scotch
Ale
Gin
Vermouth/Apéritifs/Digestifs
Cognac
Lager
"Real" Rum
Brandy
Tequilla (straight)
Red Wine
Vodka
White Wine
Champagne
Flavored/White Rum
Tequilla cocktails
Red Bull or Jaegermeister based cocktails
Flavored Vodka
Rosé/Blush Wine
"Hard" Lemonades and such
Wine Coolers, spritzers and other travesties.

Theoretically, the most and least manly forms of alcohol.

Obviously, some things have been left out.  Where does Grappa fit in this list?  What about Schnapps?  Absinthe?*  Surely I've forgotten some important drinks in this?

Also, while checking traffic sources, I notices this thread at NeoGaf.  Someone was looking for a complete chronological list of Famicom/NES titles.  I've never seen such a thing online myself, but Chrontendo is partly based on the "Chronological List of Famicom Games" originally found on Wikipedia.  That particular entry has since been deleted, in favor of a non-chronological list.  Also, Nintendo has some PDF files available of US releases, but they do not provide an release exact date, just month and year.  My own list sort of merges the two together, removes the duplicate entries, and adds in some Europe only releases and a few unlicensed titles.

In case anyone needs this information or plans to play along, I've included a link to the official Chrontendo game list in spreadsheet format under "Chrontendo Links."   You should be able to save it an Excel file or some similar format.  Be aware that whoever compiled the Wikipedia list transcribed Japanese game titles in a way that doesn't always match up to other sources such as Gamefaqs, or the names on ROM dumps.  The notes in the rightmost column are from the original Wikipedia editor and I can't guarantee their accuracy.

*This is a difficult call. I read an interview with Marilyn Manson once in which it was noted Mr. Manson was sipping some absinthe.  This indicates it's probably not very manly.  On the other hand, absinthe is used in the Sazerac cocktail, which is tough as hell.