Posts Tagged ‘James Fox’

Servery Challenge: Condiments

I know how you feel. It’s been almost six months since our last servery challenge! How can this be? How have we gone so long without seeing blurry pictures of questionable concoctions? Don’t worry, that streak is now at an end!

You all know Servery Challenge rules. 10 minutes. 4 competitors. 1 victor. The others face the dual risk of shame and food poisoning. This time the challenge was to create this best condiment (tested with french fries). It had to have at least three ingredients, and voting took place by secret ballot. Here are the entries:

Taco Frito by James

Name: Taco Frito
Creator: James Fox
Ingredients: taco seasoning mix, Mexican 4 cheese blend, ketchup

It may look like a mutated French fry whose brains are exploding out of it, but this actually didn’t taste that bad if you could get over its texture and appearance. James learned the hard way that some kinds of cheese are just not made for melting.

Dillpocalypse by Steven

Name: Dillpocalypse
Creator: Steven
Ingredients: oil, raw egg, salt, pepper, dill, season salt

So Steven apparently tried to kind of make his own mayonnaise, and it ended poorly. It had the consistency of soup and the added excitement of wondering if you were about to get salmonella. No one wants to dip their fries in salmonella-dill-water, Steven.

Presto Pesto by Patricia

Name: Presto Pesto
Creator: Me
Ingredients: mayonnaise with olive oil, basil, garlic

I admit to being a little disappointed with myself for going with the easiest thing I could think of. My first thought was to go with a dessert-themed dip, but then I remembered the horror of the SquidStache and was too scared. I think I got the proportions a little off, and some people might say it was “too garlicky”, although I have yet to see scientific evidence that this concept even exists.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love by Rob

Name: Hunka Hunka Burning Love
Creator: Rob
Ingredients: vanilla yogurt, curry powder, chili flakes, hot sauce

This one definitely won most creative, and maybe even most surprising? When I was watching Rob make it, I was skeptical, but it wasn’t as bad as your taste buds imagined! I think if he had used regular instead of vanilla flavored yogurt it would have been more of a contender. As it was, the dip was definitely not unpalatable, but featured a strange aftertaste and a confusing mix of sweet and spicy.

After tallying the votes the winner was… Read the rest of this entry »

James’ Visit + Patriciagenda Update!!

After a week, I’m proud to report that James Fox and I have crossed 28 items off the Patriciagenda!! That means that (for the moment) we’ve actually accomplished over half of the total 118 items on the Patriciagenda (62 complete vs. 56 incomplete). But, like the Constitution, the Patriciagenda is a hallowed, living document designed to change with the times, so I’m sure that statistic will be invalid soon enough. Here’s what we were able to accomplish this week!!

21. Read through our script!!! (any of them!)

This year our script was probably 1/4 montages

46. Play Liebrary
75. Find Alana the best North Carolina present!!!
76. Go to a bunch of free museums!!!

Including the one-room Cary History Museum!!

78. Umstead Park!
79. Canoeing??
82. HEYEAHYEAHYEAH!!!!
83. Mellow Mushroom Pizza
84. James and Patricia both dare to try Gummy Bear Juice to see if it makes them bounce/defeat ogres

Also, we met some statues

85. Condiment-themed servery challenge! (more on this later)
87. Creepy cemetery visit!!!
88. CORN MAZE!!!!
90. Visit Steven at Work!!!
91. Cause all kinds of drama

Punch You In The Face Bike levels of drama!

92. COLOR!!!!
94. Get James pumped for NaNoWriMo in a training montage!!!!
96. HIPSTER HOTDOGS!!!
97. James asserts his dominance over the fancy coke machine at hipster hot dogs

James could assert his dominance over anything

98. Find Toby a birthday present to celebrate his becoming a man in the eyes of the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association
99. Patricia punches someone in her knitting class
100. Go on a hike!!!! Pretend we are Lewis and Clark (I CALL LEWIS!!!!)

James, naming everything in sight after him/William Clark

Me, failing to climb some rocks and lying on the floor instead, just like Meriwether Lewis

104. Prank calls with Rob!!!! (or TO Rob?)
105. Dramatically throw something into the sea/a body of water
107. Call people we know; sing to them
113. Name the scary giant spider to appease it

I dub thee, Shelob Jr.

115. Dessert Dip!
116. Mustache Consultation Session with Steven
118. Draw self-portraits!!!

Bam! We’re awesome

Patriciagenda

Happy Friday, friends, frenemies, and spambots!

I don’t have time to write much because my BFF James Fox is coming to visit today!!!! No doubt I will soon bring you tales of our dramatic exploits. An important part of any James Fox visit is The Patriciagenda, a magical document kind of like the fabled List from way back at the beginning of this blog. The Patriciagenda currently has 114 items on it, and I usually print it out (or at least the ones we’ve yet to accomplish) and tape it to the wall to give us motivation to be completely awesome at every waking moment. Yes, the Patriciagenda can be exhausting, but it is always worth it. Here are some things we may or may not be able to accomplish in the next few days:

2. BOY BAND (writing? singing?) CONTEST
16. Dictate a novel while playing Just Dance just to show James it can be done
20. Find the Holy Grail. Drink Cheerwine from it.
25. MIDNIGHT MILKSHAKES
30. Destroy-a-bear!!!!
90. Decide which of the three corn mazes is the best
91. Visit Steven at work!!! Cause all kinds of drama
94. Get James pumped for NaNoWriMo in a training montage!!!
100. Go on a hike!!! Pretend we are Lewis and Clark (I CALL LEWIS!!!)
101. Take cyberbullying old school with postal bullying
105. Dramatically throw something into the sea
108. Celebrate Rice’s Centennial; do something for the glory of the R-Man

Get ready for adventure!!!

I always am!

Spam Report: July 2012

This month has been a pretty great one for Spam!! For the first time in awhile, I got some spam comments from an actual human caught in the filters! Clearly James was just upset that I waste more time responding to spam than I do my actual comments:

On the May spam post TheJamesFox writes:

I can’t get over how hilariously vague the spam form-letter replies are. Who could POSSIBLY think this is going to result in revenue? Like EVER

HELLO FELLOW HUMAN I AM NONSPECIFIC RESPONSE GENERATOR 6000 I FOUND YOUR INTERNET BASED OPINION EDIFICE EXTREMELY ENLIGHTENING FOR I ALSO HAVE OPINIONS ON SUBJECT NOW THAT IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT WE SHARE A COMMON INTEREST WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE SOME VIAGRA

And, because quitters never produce Internet profit:

AM CONSUMED BY AN UNDYING PASSION FOR SECOND THING SO AS YOU CAN SEE WE ARE, AS WE HUMANS LIKE TO SAY BY MODULATING OUR VIBRATING SOUND ORGANS, LIKE TWO EDIBLE PLANT SEEDS IN A BIOLOGICAL VEGETABLE ENCLOSURE MODULE

SINCE WE SO SIMILAR IT IS MAY I SUGGEST THAT YOU WILL ALSO ENJOY FREEONLINEPOKER.COM, FROM WHICH I DERIVE NEUROLOGICAL STIMULUS IN THE PLEASURE RECEPTORS OF MY ORGANIC BRAIN PARTS, AS ANY OTHER NORMAL HUMAN WOULD

It’s funny to me that James’ fake spam posts are actually less imaginative than some of the actual spam I receive. For instance, on that same post, Jane wrote:

what a wonderful world we are living, i still wonder this spell caster how he did it!!!
My mouth is full of testimony, Am Christabel Philips my husband left the home for two years to south Africa for a tourist,he meant a prostitute and he was bewitch be the girl my husband refuse to come back home again, i cry day and night looking for who to help me, i read a news paper about a powerful spell caster called [let me save you from yourself by deleting the contact info that was here–pladd] and i contacted the spell caster to help me get my lover back to me and he ask me not to worry about it that the gods we fight for me.. he told me by mid-night when all the spirit is at rest he will cast a spell to reunite my lover back to me. and he did in less than 3 days my husband came back to me and started crying that i should for forgive him, i,m so happy for what this spell caster did for me and my husband. [okay, so I’m actually censoring the email address so you can’t use Internet magic against me, so what?–pladd] is the best spell caster in the whole wild world.

Wow, Jane! What a dramatic story! I had no idea emailing your credit card info to a sketchy gmail account could bring such quick results! But is it really so easy to forgive your husband after he left you for a tourist/prostitute in South Africa? Are you sure he wasn’t just “bewitched” by her in the same way that Luscious Malfoy was “totally under the Imperius Curse, you guys”? As in, not really at all? Sometimes guys make excuses because they want to cheat on you or kill all muggles, and we can’t let them get away with it by slut shaming some poor working girl or an evil wizard when we all know who’s at fault. Don’t let him shift the blame!

Also, yeah, whenever I read Harry Potter I call Malfoy’s dad “Luscious”. Jason Isaacs totally looks like he should be in a shampoo commercial, it works.

soehnle küchenwaage retro writes about this Sam Neill post:

Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem with your website in internet explorer, may test this? IE nonetheless is the marketplace chief and a huge portion of other folks will omit your magnificent writing because of this problem.

I am strangely okay with losing “a huge portion of other folks” if they all use Internet Explorer. I guess if there actually is a problem with my site in IE I would actually never know because neither Steven nor I (nor any of my real readers? I don’t know, just a hunch based on the fact that I respect them) ever use it, but I have a feeling soehnle kuchenwaage retro is just being cheeky.

Cheap email marketing commented on the same post with slightly better news:

Greetings from Australia. You helped me with my university assignment. Thank so much.

It actually doesn’t surprise me that a university in Australia would have you do assignments about Sam Neill. I assume it’s just that and how to fight cane toads, right?

My bronycon coverage garnered an enthusiastic (if confused) response from spam bots! Khaerani writes about Bronycon costumes:

Wow! I just came across your page on faebocok, I am a state above (KY!) and your work is . amazing to say the least! How, may I ask, do you achieve such perfection and sharpness in the eyes and face? Is it the lens? Aperature? Editing??? I have strived for those kind of eyes, and any tips would be GREATLY appreciated~!

Khaerani is not only confused about geography (Kentucky is not above North Carolina), but also reality. The only pictures with eyes in the post it commented on are drawings of cartoon ponies. That perfection and sharpness is from animation, Khaerani. My only tip is to check a How To Draw Anime and Manga book out from the library.

Some other spambots had me confused with someone else (namely a photographer). Rama writes:

LORA!!!!!! I seriously cried when I saw these imegas! You know what that means?!?!?!? That means that you captured all the emotion from the day. It means that you looked for moments that mattered when no one else was. It means that YOU ROCKED that wedding!!!! I am so flippin’ proud of you!!!!! Love ya girl!

I feel like these messages are maybe coming from an alternate Internet dimension where www.patricialadd.com is owned by a photographer named Lora. Is that this other dimension’s version of me? There’s no way to be sure. Somewhere I hope Lora is checking her comments, really confused about why no one cares about her wedding pictures and why everyone’s complaining about how much she talks about Sam Neill and her sewing machine.

Alternate Dimension Commenter Parikshit writes:

Lora, Your email made me cry this morning. It was so iniredcbly inspiring and heartfelt. Thank you for writing me, you have no idea how much you blessed me. I clicked on your blog, and my jaw dropped. Your work is BEAUTIFUL. My heart is full just thinking about the fact that you are giving your creative gift to the world, and in turn it is giving people life. The world is so much fuller and richer with you sharing your creative eye. I can’t imagine how much your clients love to see themselves through your eye. We would love to have you featured on the blog. Either me or Genie will send you an email on what we need, but THANK YOU for sharing your beautiful story. It made my day.Much love and respect, Me Ra

Another opportunity Alternate Dimension Photographer Me will miss out on because an Internet Space Time rift has funneled the comments here! I assume she is reading Sam Neill’s praise for my reviews as we speak.

Rachel writes:

And – I think the nekkid lady elaevted it – yes, it is kind of a “yikes” design, but at least they put a nekkid lady with an exploding flower head on it. I can respect that.

Again, I have no idea what alternate dimensional post Rachel is looking at, but it sounds way more exciting than anything I’ve put up in the past month. I’ll work on getting a naked nekkid lady with an exploding flower head for August.

Ilesanmi was kind of confused about freezer paper stenciling and wrote:

I haven’t done freezer cooknig in awhile, but I need to get back to it. One of my favorite things is having ground beef (or venison, etc.) already browned and frozen so that it’s easy to add to a casserole, soup or other dish.I hadn’t thought of freezing chocolate butterhorns, but they would be great to have on hand as a quick snack (or even breakfast!)

See, James? Not all spam is meaningless shouting into the void with some attached links! Sometimes they give cooking advice!

Santosh is craftier than any spambot James could imagine:

Those comments were from me, Josh those weren’t spam. I rellay thought you might be interested in well, I can’t say it or your word censoring will catch it and automatically delete it.I’m glad you found something that works for you, Josh. Speaking of working for you how would you like to make more money in just five easy steps?

A spambot that insists it’s not spam?? And also that my name is Josh? What brilliant strategy will they think of next?

Turns out, just more stories about skunks.

Silver account writes:

While out on a “romantic walk” with my husband last night, a skunk decided to run in our path towards the water. My husband, being the inquisitive individual that he is, JUST had to take a better look at the skunk. BAD IDEA.

Your husband sounds a little clueless, Silver account, but then, he is married to a spambot, so what do you expect?

Previously: June Spam Report

Moving!

Steven and I are moving again! Pictures and a bullet-point breakdown of the pros and cons of our new place later! Right now I am too busy boxing up all of our stuff and eating weird meals that use up the food we have. Like this strange soup thing Steven made on Sunday:

He called it chili but I don’t think so

It was like… chicken, potatoes, hominy, black-eyed peas, green chilies, onion… I don’t know, it was pretty good, but also sort of strange.

Anyway, while packing up all my files, I found some exciting pieces of paper that I have, for some reason, been saving:

Oh, Professor Derrick, how are you real?

This is a paper I wrote for English 300, which was one of the few classes required by my major. It involved interviewing Rob for his juicy season-spanning knowledge and then watching a lot of clips of America’s Next Top Model on youtube. Here’s probably my favorite part:

For this reason, each season “the bitchy girl” always seems to avoid being eliminated for longer than one would have thought possible, just to maintain the level of stress and drama between the contestants. Much of this, obviously, is the editing job done after the show has been taped. For instance, in the current cycle… Monique was surprisingly quickly voted off, but, as one experienced viewer described the situation, “a bitch-vacuum was created and a new bitch was forced to emerge tot take her place, and that bitch was Melrose.”13

And, if you even have to ask, that footnote says:

13 Rob McAuliffe, American’s Next Top Model expert and avid reality television viewer

I’m sure Rob was only too excited to be featured in my bibliography. Needless to say, I got an A on this paper. And wrote Professor Derrick the most eloquent course evaluation ever.

Also squirreled away with some old Threshers reviewing my one acts badly were the original course information sheets from my student taught course, WIESS 101: Zombies in Fiction and Film. Rice has been referencing this on its latest give-us-money mailers, which is sad because it’s been five years, and you’d think in all that time another student taught course would manage to be at least as exciting, but whatever. That’s not what we’re talking about right now:

Of course that last one is Josh Langsfeld. You probably already guessed.

Here are some other highlights:

What is your past experience with zombies?
2 words: zombie. babies.–James Fox
One time I attacked Patricia pretending to be a zombie–Rachel

Why did you sign up for this course?
I feel the defensive techniques may be applicable to Baker 13–Roque
Distribution credit–Rob

How useful would you be in case of a zombie attack?
I keep a fully loaded shotgun on my person at all times. If that’s not useful I don’t know what is.–Joe Dwyer
On a scale of 1 to 10, about a 9. However, I would need to be convinced I was actually fighting zombies. Once that happened, I would be a merciless killer.–Josh Langsfeld

Servery Challenge: Blue Raspberry Edition

I am so behind on my Servery challenge recaps I actually have TWO to tell you about! Stay tuned for St. Patrick’s Day Challenge later!

So Blue Raspberry Servery Challenge began when I gave Rob a bottle of blue raspberry flavored syrup for his birthday! It was technically for flavoring snow cones but I figured he could use it to flavor all his food since it’s his favorite flavor. Somehow this turned into a servery challenge!

As usual, I had such a great plan that I finished first! Everyone else was clearly trying too hard:

Our kitchen is maybe not the best set up for such things

Steven even did some actual cooking!

Like with the stove and everything!

The Entries
Unfortunately, it’s been about a month since this challenge, so I’ve actually forgotten the amazing names that everyone made up. So I’ve tried to approximate them.

The Smurfelberry by James Fox

The Smurfelberry


Ingredients I remember: Rum, margarita mix, blue raspberry syrup, ice, lime to garnish, blue sugar on the rim

This one actually tasted pretty good, especially if you like things that taste kind of fake. James is also maybe the only one who added more than the minimum required amount of blue raspberry syrup!

The Slut by Rob

The Slut


Ingredients I remember: Apples, mozzarella cheese, canned peaches, blue raspberry syrup

The Slut wasn’t as bad as it looked, especially if you got a bite with some cheese on it. Some people claimed they would even like to eat a little more of it, except that Rob decided to mix it with mine after the judging, making that impossible. Here’s why:

Blue Spudsberry by Patricia

Blue Spudsberry


Ingredients: Instant Mashed Potatoes, Blue Raspberry Syrup, Water

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. I just substituted the blue raspberry syrup for most of the water you’re supposed to mix into the fake mashed potato powder. They don’t have any “plain” instant mashed potato flavors so it also had a buttery taste. Delicious! It actually tasted mostly like mashed potatoes with an after taste of delicious fake raspberry.

Gangrenous Cake by Alana

Gangrenous Cake


Ingredients: Angel food cake, raspberries, blue raspberry syrup, lemon pudding, ???

Like most servery challenge novices, Alana blew most of us out of the water by actually trying. She topped her angel food cake with a kind of pudding sauce that tasted more lemony than blue raspberry, and some actual raspberries! It was delicious.

The Trying Too Hard by Steven

Trying too hard

Here’s a close up:

Steven loves presentation, of course


Ingredients: Key lime pie, blue raspberry sauce, sugar, water, whatever else you put in a “reduction sauce”

Steven’s was essentially key lime pie he bought at Food Lion with a blue raspberry kind of sauce. Of course it tasted good–who doesn’t like key lime pie?

The Voting
I forget who voted for what. Sorry. But Alana won!

WINNER!

Previously: Espresso Chocovine Challenge
Next: St. Patrick’s Day Challenge!!

True History of William Marsh Rice Campaign

I’ve finally integrated the many snippets of research the True History of WMR Campaign has been putting together over the years into one, easily readable document. Anytime we here at the Campaign come across more WMR legends, facts, or sources, we’ll be updating there! Exciting!

For instance, here’s Robert the Bruce and WMR during their most recent battle over the title of World’s Most Powerful Cyborg:

Rough draft of a graphic novelization of the life of WMR drawn and written by James Fox

Book Club: Estranged Family Author Edition

This month for the book club James Fox and I are in, we decided to each read a book written by someone who shares our last name. Luckily Fox and Ladd are both pretty common names, although Fox is maybe a cooler sounding pen name so I think he may have better choices than me. I was super excited to discover other Ladds who’ve written books! Maybe find some long-lost cousins or something. But, after exhaustively searching my library’s catalog for a whole twenty minutes, I’m not sure I want to claim any of these people as kin. Sorry, Cheryl Ladd, I just like to pretend the 70s are fictional. Here is my short list to choose from. Which one should I read?

Token Chick: A Woman's Guide to Golfing with the Boys by Cheryl Ladd (2006)


I knew Cheryl Ladd was a sort of famous actress (as seen on the original Charlie’s Angels), but according to Token Chick she is also really into golf and “is one of the most sought-after players worldwide”. This book apparently shares her experiences being one of the only female golfers and gives advice on how women can approach golf differently including a chapter called “The pre-menstrual swing” and an answer to the question “how can we make our breasts work for us in our golf swing?”. It has good reviews on Amazon, though mostly from people who are old enough to remember watching her on TV. Even though you know I can’t resist a celebrity author, I think I’ll have to pass on this one because if there’s one thing more excruciatingly boring than watching golf, it’s reading about it.

Thrive, Don't Simply Survive: Passionately Live the Life You Didn't Plan by Karol Ladd (2009)

“Whether you’re struggling with the big issues of life or simply overwhelmed by the demands of every single day, Karol Ladd’s powerful biblical principles will give you the help you need. In this book, you will discover how to redefine your unexpected life, and you’ll learn concrete skills that will help you move past simply surviving and into a thriving life that is lived passionately and with joy. New purpose and hope await you just beyond the cover of this book.”– from the Amazon description. The few reviews on this one are, again, all positive and from well-meaning middle-aged women who write things like “As women, we think we have everything under control…and then bang! Everything is out of control.” I hear that, sister.

Apparently this book covers the seven most common disappointments in a woman’s life, and, though I have no interest in motivating bible quotes, I’m filled with curiosity about what disappointments await me. As a woman. Probably something about your kids not appreciating you and your husband taking up WoW as a full-time hobby?

The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd (2007)

Yes, the library owns more than one Karol Ladd self-help book! This one is about how you as a mom can have a powerful impact on your family AND THE WORLD by following just seven family-shaping principles. Seven seems to be Karol’s favorite number. This one seems to have a lot more reviews (27), one of them lists the seven positive principles as “encouragement, prayer, a good attitude, and several others”. Unfortunately this book applies even less to my life than the previous one, so I may never discover how I can change the world around me. Sorry, Karol Ladd, but even the promise of having Ladd-solidarity with you isn’t enough to inspire me to procreate.

Sarah's Psalm by Florence Ladd (1997)


This book is fiction, so it automatically gets bonus points, since the main activity of book club is mailing each other ridic fanfiction. I’m not saying I couldn’t write fanfiction about a non-fiction book (I’ve got skillz, you guys), but it would certainly be easier with a plot and characters to work with. Sarah’s Psalm is about a girl growing up in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement who takes an exciting trip to Africa to write her thesis on a conveniently handsome Senegalese writer. Except she has a boyfriend (husband?) back home oh noes! I can’t tell if this is a historical fiction novel with a steamy love triangle or a steamy romance novel set in history.

A New Owner's Guide to Dachshunds by Kaye Ladd (1996)


Kaye Ladd was apparently a dachshund breeder (her business was called “Laddland” which is amazing). This book is pretty self-explanatory. Though I definitely want a dog (!!!) not sure if it will be a dachshund. Still, if I read this book, at least I will be prepared! Also there might be cute pictures!

White Lily by Linda Ladd (1993)

Who am I kidding, you guys. I listed those other books to be a good sport, but we can all see that THIS is the one I’m going to choose. Check the Publisher’s Weekly review:

Ladd ( Dragon Fire ) packs this lifeless historical romance, the first in a trilogy, with twists and turns that rarely make sense. In 1864 Union spy Harte Delaney rescues Australian maiden Lily Courtland from white slavers. Lily and two aboriginal boys she calls the Kapirigis have traveled from her family’s ranch to find Lily’s brother Derek, a ship’s captain whose last letter came from the Carolinas. Harte recognizes the name of her brother’s ship and realizes that Derek is a Confederate blockade runner. As it happens, Lily is clairvoyant and has been seeing explicit visions of Harte and herself for years. She does not intuit, however, that he is helping her search for Derek in order to imprison him. Aside from her special gift, Lily is a naive cipher while Harte is sullen due to his wife’s suicide and his estrangement from his family; both he blames on his controlling and wealthy grandmother. Attitudes towards the people of color in this book go beyond historical accuracy to offensiveness.

Civil War-era spies and blockade runners? Random Australian clairvoyants? Romance novel plots that don’t make any kind of sense? Racism beyond historical accuracy? Of course this is my choice!!!

Also I looked up “Dragon Fire” and my library unfortunately doesn’t own it (I, of course, refuse to pay money for such things–Ladd solidarity only goes so far). But sadly it’s not a fantasy romance about dragon people but another racially insensitive historical novel, this time featuring “a secret Asian sect”. Alas.

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