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- August 8, 2005
Mission Statement, Part the First
August 8, 2005Read moreSomeone asked the question What events in your industry do you look forward to?, and I was a bit stumped. I realized I didn’t know what industry I was in!
- August 8, 2005
DavidSeah.Com In Review
August 8, 2005Read moreI have the nagging feeling that it’s time to redirect my blogging energy toward specific life goals. I enjoy posting everyday about things that I just happen to find interesting, and I’m glad that my friends find this entertaining. I’ve been able to reconnect with folks I haven’t talked to in years, and as a result I feel closer to everyone. It’s a good feeling! I’ve also learned what interests me and how motivated I am with respect to the type of work.
So what does that really mean? Where to go from here?
- August 5, 2005
Burger King’s Chicken Fries
August 5, 2005Read more
Last week, my cousin Jason and I saw the commercial for these new Chicken Fries from Burger King. We vowed we would try them the very next day for lunch, which we did. Our verdict: meh.
The chicken fry seems like a good idea…a flavorful, seasoned strip of white chicken breast with a crispy light batter on the outside, delivered in a novel french-fry form factor. Conceptually, it’s similar to the venerable Chicken McNugget, but promises to be more fun. The container itself shows some thought: it’s designed to fit in your car’s cup holder (though I didn’t try this). The lid flips up with a place to stick your dipping sauce container, which is rather clever.
In reality, the chicken fry experience leaves something to be desired. It’s a rather dry product, which the ranch/buffalo sauce did nothing to help because of its overall acidic saltiness. The batter on the chicken fry is very well bonded to the chicken, but it fails to work as a delightful contrast in texture. It’s more like a protective layer, similar to that spray-on rubber you see on pliers. The batter really needs to be chewed into oblivion before any satisfying chicken flavor is released…I counted 5-6 good chews before I thought, “yeah, that tastes pretty good”.
The chicken itself seemed to be formed. Its consistency reminded me of artificial crab meat, which you can find in asian markets. Artificial crab meat is made of fish paste, somehow formed into a “muscle fiber” texture. Tastes OK, but it’s just a little too smooth. I’m not sure if the chicken fry uses formed chicken meat or just sliced breast meat; the uniform quality of the fry itself makes me think it has to be manufactured, or they have perfected some kind of amazing chicken process. Jason said it reminded him of a Costco Chicken Finger. That does not bode well.
Glad I tried it, but probably won’t be trying it any time soon. The McD’s Chicken McNugget kicks its ass, despite its obvious manufactured attributes. First, the McNugget is actually crispy and juicy. The moment you bite into a nugget, you get a tri-burst of texture / flavor / juice sensation in your mouth. You’ve really got to work a Chicken Fry to get anything like that, and by then you’re already bored. Second, the sauces (particularly the hot mustard variety) are better balanced with the taste of the nugget, in my opinion.
- August 4, 2005
Dave & Busters, Providence
August 4, 2005Read more
I recently visited Providence to hang out with my sister, Robert, Peter, Duncan, and my cousin Jason visiting from California. The mission: Go to Dave & Busters!
Dave & Busters is a large “adult arcade”, built into the mall in downtown Providence. D&B is a chain that caters to the 30-something set, who remember arcades fondly from their youth, but no longer fit the scene. Like me! Because it’s aimed at the adult crowd, you can also buy beer at the full-service bar, play pool, and generally be assured of a punk-free environment. As an added bonus: the place doesn’t smell like mop water and vomit.
You purchase cards instead of using tokens; each machine is equipped with a card reader that debits your account and displays the amount of cash remaining on a small backlit LCD panel.
My sister pointed out the nifty assistance button on each machine…when you’re too busy playing, you can call to have a cocktail brought to you. Now that’s service!
What about the arcade experience itself? Well, it was a little underwhelming. To our great surprise, there were no pinball machines, which is just outrageous. Peter had to console himself fishing balls out of vending machines, collecting sheafs of tickets in hope of getting enough to bring home a nice prize.
While the facility itself sported over a hundred machines, the variety was a little on the weak side. There were some classics (multi-game cabinets, not originals). Plenty of gun games and race games. A fairly decent selection of ball games (skeeball, etc). An interesting attraction was a Old West Shooting Gallery, complete with life-size cowboys and unusual props to shoot. It reminded me at first of an old-time Disneyland shooting gallery I remember from the 70s, but this one was entirely electronic. Not very fun, either.
Duncan and I played MoCap Boxing, which is an awesome game where you actually have to duck and box with your hands. Also, Police 911, another motion game where you have to duck and aim at the same time. It’s a great workout! These were the only two games, though, that I thought were really work playing. Disappointing.
I imagine D&B does well enough, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to visit them again. I actually checked out the local Funworld here in Nashua, and found it to be a more complete arcade. Although it smelled like mildew in the concessions area (ugh), there were three floors of machines including import models from Japan. They had some Bemani stuff (Beatmania, Guitarmania) and a slew of modern DDR machines. I was pleased to see they had both MoCap Boxing and the sequel to Police 911! I’d say it is probably the better arcade in terms of offerings, though the D&B ambiance is definitely a step up.
Maybe the Arcade really is dead…not enough innovation and rising costs just make arcades a losing proposition for both operators and users seeking the absolute best in electronic entertainment. Sigh.
- August 3, 2005
WSJ Portraits
August 3, 2005Read more
I never realized that those stippled portraits in the Wall Street Journal where actually made by someone; I thought they were made through some kind of photographic halftoning process. My apologies to Noli Novak, the real-live human artist that creates them through meticulous pen and ink work. She literally rocks.
There’s a brief interview with her on NPR’s All Things Considered. It takes about 3 hours to her to do one 3 x 5 portrait. She trains new artists at the WSJ to keep the style uniform in addition to daily visual problem solving, For example, drawing George W. Bush is a challenge:
Everyone hates to draw Bush, including me, because he has a slight, very slight cross-eyedness and so, sometimes, moving eyes are just required because it would look like you made a mistake. With Bush you can’t do that…you have to stay as close as possible. Like, if you like at this drawing here, you can see that…something is just a little off…
Hee hee. Via BoingBoing.
