WarCraft III Easter eggs: Path of the Damned

The next WarCraft Easter eggs video is up. Click the link below to watch it. I'm really impressed with the audience these videos are getting. The first one got over 1,000 views, and the second one seems to be doing pretty well. I'm guessing it'll get random spikes as people find it. I am a bit disappointed at its low posting SEO-wise on YouTube. Oh well. Maybe it'll get higher as people realize how much more thorough my videos are than any others on the web!

>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyeF_Apq0l8&feature=youtu.be <<

Recipe: Ultimate Chili Spud

Being an Idahoan, I love potatoes. I remember inventing a potato recipe when I was a kid called Potato Snax, and if I could eat one food every day (in any variation), it'd probably be potatoes. When I was in middle school, my school had a Potato Bar, and I soon took to making chili baked potatoes at home and improving the recipe over time. This recipe represents the best recipe I can come up with. It's a bit on the high side when it comes to number of ingredients, but I promise the taste medley you'll experience in this hearty dish will give you a flavor buzz.

Ultimate Chili Spud

"Idahoan perfection!"

 Ingredients

• 1 russet potato
• Sea salt
• Cracked pepper
• Nalley brand Walla Walla Onion flavor chili
• ¼ cup chopped onions (or more if you want)
• Frank's Red Sauce
• Grated medium cheddar cheese
• Sour cream
• Green onions or chives
• Bacos
• Ground coriander
• BONUS: Real bacon bits

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Scrub and wash the outside of the potato. Stab the everloving heck out of it all over with a fork. The more you stab, the crispier it'll be.
3. Spray the spud with oil and roll it in sea salt, then put it in the oven on the rack. Let it bake for 1 hour.*
4. Remove the hot potato out of the oven and brush off the excess salt off the outside. Combine the onions with the uncooked chili, as well as a spank or two of Frank's sauce. Cook the chili in the microwave according to directions (it's like 3 minutes). 
5. Cut the potato in half lengthwise, then mash each side to spread it out on the plate. Add butter if you want (but I never notice the flavor, so it's probably just a waste of calories and fat), and cracked pepper.
6. Place a hearty amount of chili on the potato (I usually put half a can), and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Put several spoonsful of sour cream on top and sprinkle with chopped green onions/chives, bacos, bacon bits if you have them, and a dash of coriander.
7. Enjoy!

YIELD: 1 spud, which is usually what I eat by myself. It could be divided in half if you don't have as much of an appetite for potatoes as I do.
____

Washes down well with...  Ice cold milk.

*If you don't have time to cook it in the oven, forget all of the salt and oil processes and instead microwave it on a plate in the microwave for about three minutes on one side and three minutes on the other.

New Project: WarCraft III Easter Eggs

A few weeks ago, I was mildly interested in working on The Hard Lands (I need to write a post about that more in detail), so I opened the WarCraft III MPQ file to see if I could get any of the map icons to make a custom map. Instead of following through with that, I realized that I could rip the game's actual scenario map files and see them in the World Editor. I realized that there are all kinds of Easter eggs in the game that I never knew about, and indeed, that I couldn't find anywhere online.

Seizing this golden opportunity to do a service to the WarCraft III community (and possibly get some recognition for once), I decided to make a thorough, entertaining YouTube series where I showcase each Easter egg. I just finished the human one, and it already has over a thousand views! I'm lucky to have as high quality a website as The Hive Workshop to showcase my work; I bet most of my views came from there.

I got a lot of inspiration from the way PeanutButterGamer does his videos, and otherwise just had a blast messing around with Adobe Premiere. So far, people seem to like it, so I'm going to work like crazy to get the rest of the videos out over time, continuing with the Undead one next.

Click here to watch it! >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jwb73Wx8og <<

Recipe: Gourmet Chicken Ramen

Everyone knows missionary crusaders eat a lot of Ramen noodles if they're available in the country they're serving in, and I was no exception. It's cheap, easy, and light on the stomach when you just want a quick, small before-bed meal. But I wanted my miojo (as the Brazilians call it) to also be delicious when I ate it. I made all kinds of variations, from Hot-Dog Ketchup Gumbo to Firemouth Beef. Like all meals I make over and over, eventually I perfected this meal to be so delicious that my wife actually craves it and requests me to make it. I've been really proud of this recipe, since it's so easy and delicious to make when everything else sounds like too much of a hassle.

New Avatar

I thought the old avatar was getting pretty outdated-looking, and when I made this surprisingly good caricature of myself, I figured it was time to update it using some more experienced techniques. Now I just need to update the cover photo for my YouTube account.

Vid: RPL

I posted this video a few years ago, but the quality was pretty bad. When making it, I mainly wanted to see if I could simulate a first-person RPG around my home town. It's not a great video, and this week I wanted to see if YouTube could stabilize it for me. The shaking was horrible. What I forgot to remember was that I had put a little crosshairs on the video just like games like Oblivion and Morrowind have to aid in picking things up. In the process of stabilizing the piece (surprisingly and impressively well), YouTube moved the crosshairs all over the place, making for a humorous video.

I was hoping my wife would be home when I arrived so I could simulate a roleplaying conversation, but she wasn't, so I just wandered around at the end. Who knows? one day I may make another attempt at this, complete with Premiere-provided UI and stuff.

Dream: The Duelist's Insanity

I've been fascinated with dreams lately. I have an extensive (125-page) dream journal, and reading through it is astounding... Most of the time I can't remember ever writing them, so it's like reading a bunch of bizarre, amazing short stories. This one was very intriguing.