Then, it’s his job to separate the advisers from the kibitzers.

And Skawt has the right idea – bleeping the whole word just means kids will review every vile word they know to figure out which one fits, reinforcing the memory wrinkles on their formerly pristine brains every time it happens.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Having washed up here during the whole NIC brouhaha, I have my own perspective on the unpleasantness. In retrospect, I said at least one thing I now regret, and I hereby apologize. (I was going to say what I was apologizing for, but that would merely serve to repeat my comment, which would be counter-productive, no?)

I’m having trouble articulating exactly what I find aggravating about the tone of this blog (both posts and comments), so aggravating that I keep coming back to look in, much as one might pick at a scab (ewww) — and even though, in the unlikely event that anybody notices me, I’ve made myself unwelcome. But here’s an example: the very first thing I read when I came here was Mr. Ruhlman’s response to accusations of sexism in the NIC judging. Before I even read the supposedly beyond-the-pale comments he was responding to, I was perturbed by the response — because, no matter how baseless the specific accusations, sexism in the food world (and the world in general) is a real issue that I would prefer not to see dismissed. It seemed to me to amount to saying “you’re being obnoxious [true enough], so anything resembling your point of view is hereby also declared obnoxious and out of bounds.” This is a troubling attitude.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, perhaps I will feel able to go off and quit bugging you.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 small clove garlic, minced
* 2 teaspoons fresh ginger root, minced
* 1 head cauliflower, in florets, halved
* 1 bunch green onions, sliced
* 1 1/2 cups cooked ham, coarsely chopped
* 3/4 cup chicken broth
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* dash salt, to taste
* 2 teaspoons soy sauce

PREPARATION:
Saute garlic and ginger in a large skillet. Add cauliflower florets, sliced onion, and chopped ham; cook for 5 minutes over high heat, stirring.

Combine remaining ingredients and add to the skillet. Stir constantly over medium heat until thickened. Pour over rice, and then stick it up your ass.

I watched all the Next Iron Chef epsiodes back to back (my dad recorded them on DVD for me) and even if you want argue the skill or education level of these two, Besh and Symon…I would say that with the advantage of having watched them all in row, nonstop, like a marathon…even if everything came out even -

Michael still has the best charisma, character, and personality (for Iron Chef TV presence) to keep it interesting and ‘festive’ during that one hour crunch, while putting out quality food.

He WAS the entertaining factor ‘cliche’, quotes & comedy mouth throughout the episodes except for John’s star moment/episode with “I got a bad feeling…”.

*On a side note I have to wonder what would/could have been if Morou could get past his ‘everything separate on one plate’ fetish, or if Aaron could have got away from Latino flavors and ‘puppy dog’ faces (more smiles on camera unless they left them all on the cutting room floor)…but alas, we shall not know.

But interestingly enough none of my prior personal thoughts changed much at all even after watching them back to back.

tyrone

I very much enjoy being able to read this blog, but I must admit during the NIC era, I had to stop reading comments towards the end. Those that were coming in and just cluttering the comments with their “findings” and accusations should have been shown the door long ago. They could have started their own “NIC Findings and Random Accusations Blog,” but instead they just hung out in this house and made a general mess of things. (I’m glad they’re largely gone for now.)

I do agree with the earlier poster – having individuals register with legit e-mails is a way to go and prevents the e-thug behavior that comes with being largely anonymous. Sure, individuals can sign up for multiple hotmail, yahoo and gmail accounts, but that’s a lot more hoops to jump through just to be “funny.”

Me too…

Whether it’s been a blog or a message board, it’s always been my rule that’s it’s my home, my rules.

Don’t like them? Go start your own blog/message board and write whatever you want.

Michael, your blog, your rules. I’ll still be around.

BTW, got the signed copy of the book, and it gives me great pride to put it in my collection. Keep it rolling Ruhlman.

That was AWESOME! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and (albiet, blurry) pictures

Makes me even more jealous that I was in NYC LAST WEEK!

Moderating comments is a PITA, especially in a higher-volume site. Only deleting the most egregious fools is a lot less of a time sink.

http://profumoprofondo.com/2007/11/30/michael-ruhlman-at-degustibusmacys-112907/

http://profumoprofondo.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=16

Many thanks for the technical support (Skawt) and guest-blogging privileges (Lux).

*insert smilie face*

By the way, we just made our annual Browns Game Pilgrimage last Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the whipping of the Texans.

And as I sat in the stands, eating my wonderful Stadium Dog, I thought of a question for you.

Are you a Bertman’s Guy or Stadium Mustard Guy?