BD's Mongolian Grill

Last night, I had the displeasure of going to BD's Mongolian Grill for a friend's birthday party. It's a create-your-own stir fry place. I've never been to any place like that before, and I'm not really familiar with stir fry.

The unfortunate experience began by waiting for what I consider a long time in an excessively crowded area near the doors. We arrived around 15 minutes before our reservation time, and ended up waiting 25 minutes to actually sit down. While waiting, my friend made an observation that a lot of people wear jeans. Good observation.

For my stir fry, I just chose a bunch of things that might be okay. Pasta, tofu, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, green pepper, basil, and some other stuff. I chose to add a sauce to my bowl for added taste. I sampled a few sauces (kung pao, jerk, etc) and didn't care for them. Too salty or something, and I just wouldn't like it. Then I saw marinara sauce, and I'm like, I like marinara! So I chose that, and then put some red pepper and a couple other peppery spices in the sauce because I like peppery flavour.

Waited in a long enough line for my food to be cooked. I informed the griller that I'm a vegetarian, and they just put some things around my food & used different sticks (I don't know what they're actually called) to mix it around, so nearby food wouldn't get in it.

I took the food back to the table and began eating. It was disgusting. I have no idea how to make a stir fry, haha. I should have just had it without any sauce, but nooo. I ended up eating brown rice and tortillas that were at the table.

I paid $14 for this great meal. Thanks, party-of-6-or-more 18% gratuity. And paying $11 for a vegetarian bowl.

People ordered desserts. We ended up sitting in the restaurant for THREE HOURS. Seriously. That's a little too long for me, even if I did like it. My phone died. Tragic. I did not have a very enjoyable time.

The end.

Cookies for everyone!

For all of you who are feeling forever alone on this day of love, don't worry! I have made homemade peanut butter cookies for everyone in the same predicament! If you're allergic, I'm sorry, but you really are forever alone.

For those of you wondering, I used this recipe. The cookies taste great. ohmygodpeanutbuttercookies!

Skinny Pepsi Can

It's more than just a different can design... it's a whole new shape. Well I guess it's still the same shape, as it remains a cylinder, but you know what I mean.

I really like the new look. I don't even like Pepsi, but it looks so sleek that I'll probably go out and buy one anyways! Their marketing is working.

Pepsi says that the new can will be hit stores in March. Don't worry, those against change! The normal can will still continue to sell alongside the new can.

Yay Packers!

If you've already read enough blogs about the Super Bowl, I apologize. As a lifelong Wisconsinite, I am obligated to celebrate the Super Bowl win by our Green Bay Packers. Silly Steelers, throwing interceptions is counterproductive!

Anyways, yeah, I was surprised the Packers were doing so good at first! And then the Steelers scored a touchdown. And another. And another, this time with a 2 point conversion. The Packers were still on top, but it was a 3 point game. I was worried. But the Packers won, yay! I can continue listening to "Black and Yellow" and be okay with that!

None of the commercials really stuck out to me, but I wasn't watching it for the commercials. I just saw a lot of Doritos.

The Black Eyed Peas kinda suck without auto-tune. Of course. You'd think they'd have someone.... better... perform at half time. Not that I dislike the Black Eyed Peas, but I'd rather see someone who can actually sing. It was pretty though. I loved the lights and stuff. The lighted people were way cool.

Okay, I think I'm done with sports until the Packers play again. 

conveyor belts, trains, and other stuff.

What if trains all of the roads were conveyor belts, so your car would get places super fast? Disregard the plethora of issues that would arise, lol. Or what if there were really long trains without gaps, and there were convener belts on top of the trains, and then cars on top of that?! LOL. That's like magic!

This is something I think about frequently.

I clearly don't know what to say.

Snow!

So I dunno about you personally, anonymous reader, but where I live got some pretty awesome snow last night. It snowed all night and there were wind gusts, causing some nice drifts. There was a spot in my driveway barren of snow, and a snow drift a couple feet deep.

You see that? Fun stuff!

I stuck my head out my window today (literally) and noticed this massive "icicle" formation on the end of the gutter. I'm not sure if it really counts as an icicle because it's just so.... big. And thick.

It's that thing parallel to the metal pole. I think it's magic. What do you think of that? Yummy.

Sony TX7 review

I've had this camera since July, so I might as well make a review of it, especially after I've posted some photos. Prior to this camera, I had a Sony T70, but it started having some major issues (shaking) so I got a new one.

Old (T70) vs New (TX7)

There are many things I really like about this camera, and there are a few things I wish were better. So I've compiled a list of the positives/negatives that real people would care about.

Positives:

• 3.5" touch screen. No buttons on the back. Amazing, I love it. I use a screen protector to prevent scratches.
• Slim. And sexy.
• HD video. It can record 720p mp4 files at 30fps, as well as 1080i AVCHD files (which I haven't found a free way to convert to something usable).
• Handheld Twilight Mode. Takes six images quickly & combines. Makes for good pictures in dimly lit settings.
• Panoramas. Capture landscapes easily.
• HDR setting. Takes two images at different exposures & combines. Makes better pictures in high contrast situations.
• SD card compatible. Finally, I'm not required to use Sony's proprietary memory sticks! But it takes those too, if you have one.
• One year warranty. For when it gets sassy. Fortunately, I haven't had to use that yet.

Negatives:

• Battery charge time. Battery life is alright, but it takes a little while to charge it.
• Self timer settings. Once you've taken a picture with the self timer, you have to select the self timer setting again if you want to take another one. I'd like it if it just kept being a self timer until I told it not to.
• AVCHD video compatibility. The videos look great, but I can't find a way to edit .MTS files together, or a converter that doesn't suck for this.

You can view the full list of specifications at Sony's website if you're interested. I can say as much as I want about specifications, but what it comes down to is what the camera puts out. So, with that being said...

 

Macro mode. Those are always fun.

Panoramas.

Handheld twilight mode.

Auto mode vs HDR. The tree outside is more visible in the second shot.
I should probably have a better picture of this.

Normal pictures.

The above video is an example of a 1080i AVCHD .MTS file. Watch in 1080p for best results.

Okay, all done with that. Overall, this camera is a definite improvement from my previous Sony camera. I can't really compare it with other cameras on the market right now because well, I don't have those.

Hope you guys are enjoying the snow. Wisconsin sure is!