Originally posted by Primrose6789
"Overcooked" is always fun, so I don´t mind playing it all over again. :f_love::f_love::f_love::f_love:
One of those "mistakes" that pays off, maybe.
We're getting really good at that game. I think we should play it together against other teams online some time, could even be a good Troll Challenge.
But I hope that starting next month, we will also be able to do some poker challenges again. Some proper ones, not just that HORSE race, which hasn't been all that enjoyable in our last couple of sessions.
So Harrier didn't get to play in the national team after all. He did, however, once have the honor of playing rugby...
1) in a televised match
2) with a former London Irish player
3) against Germany's women's national team
Solution:
Spoiler
3) against Germany's women's national team
No live broadcasts of any of my matches - but there have been some recordings which may come up here later. I am also not aware of any London Irish veterans ever playing with me, though one of my coaches (who was also playing while coaching) once got invited to a training session with them, I believe. He declined at the last minute, because he wanted to train with his own team instead that day. I guess that's noble, but really, I think he should have taken the opportunity.
I did face the ladies' national Rugby 7's team once, when they were doing a training camp in the town where I went to university. As their final "challenge" after their training program, they were supposed to be playing against a local men's team, so the Hessian regional league teams were approached to provide some players who want to join in. I had just recovered from an injury, but I thought it would be a very interesting experience and I was in the area anyway, so I joined in on the fun too.
It was just an informal training game, and it went pretty much like you would expect. The elite ladies had the technical advantage, while the regional level grunts had the physical advantage. And while no one kept score... that physical advantage was enough to turn this training game into a pretty one-sided affair. There is a reason for male/female divisions in most sports, after all.
Still, I need to give credit to the girls. I remember that when I came on, I was soon involved in a scrum with them. Those of you who are unfamiliar with rugby can click here for an explanation, but basically, a scrum occurs to restart the game after minor penalties, and it involves the forwards of each team crouching down into a bulk to press their opponent's side out of the way, trying to fight for possession. With this largely relying on raw strength, you'd think that we would make short work of those chicks, but no - we just barely won the scrum I was involved in. It was because of the women's excellent technique, which can compensate for a lot.
This lesson became especially clear to me - painfully clear, even - when I received the ball shortly later and made a run for a gap in the girls' defense. I was already thinking about how cool it will be to score a try against the national team... but then, shortly before the goal line, one of the ladies pulled off a perfectly executed tackle from behind and brought me down. Those tackles aren't easy to do, I once practiced them myself, you need to lunge at your opponent's upper back and then slide down. The guys I've been facing in the regional leagues may pack more punch in their frontal tackles, but not many of them would have pulled off a move like this.
Oh, and remember that injury I mentioned, from which I thought I had recovered? I fell right on that spot during that tackle, so I had to limp off the field and couldn't play for about another month. Still, it was a great experience to play with those ladies.
I think Prim and I should do a rugby challenge once, and I'm sure my neighbor's pug would strongly agree too, considering how excited he got when we played some American football while crawling on our knees last year. Maybe we can find a good way to make it a fair challenge for the two of us.
Congratulations to Vorpal for getting it right. I think I may have mentioned that story one time in a Skype group we both were in when I was still a moderator on this forum, but that was many years ago.
No HORSE race today, because Primrose and I plan to meet up tomorrow, so she needs to get up early.
Troll Trivia of the Week
The Trolls like a good drink, and love a good drinking game. We have our Super Mario Land drinking game, of course, but we also like to do another one during our "after parties", which is based on what "classic" web animation?
Live Challenge No. 14 - Dancing Your Troubles Away
We had a ton of fun during our meet-up again, and... well, plenty to drink after all. And as it turns out, Primrose is not all that used to drinking vodka straight yet. She has already confirmed that she got home safe and sound, however, so it's all good.
I could tell from our previous chats that Prim was going through some stressful times recently, and I know I did too, so I thought this could be exactly what we need once again - not unlike our previous "Anti-January-Blues" meet-up we did. And yes, I think it helped both of us a lot... though I think it's best if I remain in full control of the drinks next time. At least don't pour that expensive vodka into used espresso glasses next time, Prim!
There were a lot of things we did, including that drinking game from this week's Troll Trivia question, which shall be revealed on the weekend once again... and we even gave Vorpal's video a shot, where we had to take a sip every time the bear updates her map. Thank you very much for the suggestion, Vorpal, whether it was a joke or not - we had a great laugh with it and drove the grindette half-insane.
We still managed to squeeze a live challenge in after those drinks. I had several possible ideas, some depending on the weather, but in the end, we settled on another non-competitive one. As some may know, I used to do Israeli folk dancing and enjoyed it a lot, so today was Primrose's turn. I got a bunch of instructional videos ready and the grindette had to learn those dances in real-time, through the help of me and those videos.
The videos will be shared here, so feel free to play along if you have enough space at home, and no one judging you.
Dance #1: Od Lo Ahavti Dai
A basic group dance that is commonly known in Israel - Primrose quickly mastered it without any problems.
Dance #2: Mayim Mayim
Another basic one, which even gave the name to a common step in Israeli folk dance, where you are stepping to the side while alternately putting one foot behind and in front. You can just see it in the video if I have explained it poorly.
We had to watch out for Prim's achilles tendon here during some of the jumps, but she completed the dance without any issues once again.
Dance #3: Tzadik Katamar
This one starts out quite simple, but has a series of steps during the second part that takes some time getting used to. Primrose struggled a bit with that part - we were about ready for a break at that point anyway.
Fun fact: The song's lyrics are the text of Psalm 92:12 in Hebrew.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon
Couples Dance: Ahava Pshuta
Well, we gave that one a shot... but with both of us being unfamiliar with the choreography, we found it a little difficult to learn on the fly right there, especially after all the drinks and previous exercise. We would have to do this one at our own pace some time.
I originally picked out a bunch of those, all to be learned in real-time by the two of us, but I thought we had already had enough of a "Troll Challenge".
Bonus: Korobushka
We ended our "session" with a spontaneous vodka-fueled Korobushka dance - also known as Korobeiniki, or, more famously, the Tetris song. The Trolls pulled if off, of course - Без проблем!
In the end, not everything was perfect, and we didn't get to our couples dances... but as far as I'm concerned, Prim passed.
It's a lesson to be learned, and re-learned if necessary: No matter how much fun you're having, there is always the morning after...
I think we've all been there before. Oh well, I'm glad you're better now. We will go a little easier on the booze next time - as you know, we don't need to get wasted to have a great time.
For everyone else, there is still this week's Troll Trivia quiz, which is now more topical than ever.
Originally posted by Harrier88 Troll Trivia of the Week
The Trolls like a good drink, and love a good drinking game. We have our Super Mario Land drinking game, of course, but we also like to do another one during our "after parties", which is based on what "classic" web animation?
The Trolls are going back to the Mediterranean, this time right across the Alps to Italy.
For the first time, we will now use a different kind of bread. I got us some ready made ciabatta rolls for the oven.
I gave the beef patties a more rectangular shape to make sure they will fit those new buns somewhat. I also sprinkled them with a bit of oregano.
Start with the patty...
...add some chopped tomatoes, and some balsamico vinegar...
...some mozzarella cheese...
...and finally some rocket salad. Now our toppings even complete the colors of the Italian flag. Bellissimo!
The finished burger may look a little tall in this photo, but it was quite normal once you pressed down a little. Those ciabatta rolls are just that fluffy.
It was a bit dry, but still very good. I think spreading some pesto on the top bun would have improved this burger, but I'm quite pleased with the result.
I had several ideas for an Italy-inspired version. My original concept involved tomato sauce, basil leaves and some shredded parmesan cheese al forno. Maybe I will revisit the Italian version eventually, possibly with some regional variations.
Primrose approved, by the way. She saw me prepare that burger live on Skype.
Not sure where I would place this burger in my ranking, but I think it fits between Germany and Texas at 5th place.
Originally posted by Saffo7
I recommend this for the sandwich, instead of the oven
In Rome it is often said "boni"
To say they are good :f_thumbsup::f_drink:
I do own a sandwich toaster, but the one I have is meant for regular slices of toast, I don't think it would work well with proper buns.
This is the one I have:
I don't really make things like ciabatta rolls often enough to justify getting any special equipment for it, but I would really like to get into baking after all, possibly reviving my old baking challenge from last year. Work hours are a lot better at my new job, so I should finally have time for things like that again.
Gorgonzola is one variety of cheese I've never had.
Bleu cheese (especially Danish) and Stilton are favourites, so now I have to try it now that I've looked it up.
The Trolls like a good drink, and love a good drinking game. We have our Super Mario Land drinking game, of course, but we also like to do another one during our "after parties", which is based on what "classic" web animation?
If I remember correctly, I first had the idea for a drinking game based on this video in December 2021, after the Cringe Challenge Primrose and I did during that time here on the blog, where we had to listen to that dreaded Last Christmas song on a loop. We enjoyed ourselves - in a strange way - and already started brainstorming some ideas for future ones. During this process, I had the idea of showing the grindette some Flash videos from the 2000's, including all three of the choices from this week's Trivia question.
Primrose was not familiar with any of these videos. She cringed at the Duck Song and considered the Llama Song to be nothing short of torture, but she was actually having some fun with the Badger song. Winter was tough for the Trolls that year, with heavy Covid lockdowns and an onslaught of personal problems for either of us, so we did what we would later go on to call an "Anti-January-Blues" meet-up a few days after New Year's Day - the perfect time to introduce a silly drinking game like this.
Like with all good drinking games, the rules are simple: Take a sip every time the snake shows up (the "Argh!" screen is typically used as the cue).
We had a total blast that day, and the Badger drinking game was there to stay as a little treat during our meet-ups every now and then for when we are done with our scheduled program. We had several ideas for similar games since then, but I don't think anything will ever top the Badgers in their simplistic insanity.
Congratulations to Saffo with the golden touch once again!
MUSHROOM MUSHROOM!!!
Aaaaaaaaargh, it´s a snaaaake! :mdr::mdr::mdr::mdr:
I like to sing along, when we play that drinking game and the more drunk you get, the more fun it is. :banana::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly:
Originally posted by Primrose6789
the more drunk you get, the more fun it is. :banana::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly:
Up to a certain point, of course - as you saw last Monday.
It seems like the fun you're having is increasing steadily with each drink you have, until that certain tipping point where it suddenly and abruptly becomes no laughing matter. The big art when you're having a fun night of drinking is to get close to that point without overstepping it under any circumstances.
I used to have problems with my alcohol consumption close to a decade ago, until I took measures to keep it in check, which include one of my famous spreadsheets. I considered dropping drinking games altogether, or limiting them to certain points, but found out that they don't even noticeably increase my intake compared to just "having drinks" - so they stayed around, and I'm only watching my actual intake.
Note that last Monday, our drinking games were also pretty much just the warm-up part, the poor grindette reached her tipping point later on...
I don't think that happened before, the Trolls started out right next to each other at the start of the tournament. We stayed together throughout the game, even when we both changed tables. I don't remember any direct clashes between the two of us, though.
It went a little better than the previous weeks, we traded leads a bunch of times. Prim eventually took over when she won a big pot in the Stud Hi-Lo part, I think. I kept a decent stack myself, but couldn't recover from two good starting hands hitting bad boards in FLO8. Primrose went on, and in the end managed to secure a cash for Team Troll. Her finishing position was 25th, right on the brink to the third cash ladder, for $1.59.
Most importantly, though, we finally had a pretty enjoyable game again, not one where both of us got out within the first hour or lost interest within the first 10 minutes.
Maybe we can find a good way to make it a fair challenge for the two of us.
I think I may have mentioned that story one time in a Skype group we both were in when I was still a moderator on this forum, but that was many years ago.
We will go a little easier on the booze next time - as you know, we don't need to get wasted to have a great time.
