Round 2 of the Integrale Gauntlet, Classic Video Game Tourney and Some Cool TRON Memorabilia

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Integrale Gauntlet. My recipe for Wild Mushroom Risotto and Trout got me through to the second round. The next challenge revolves around creating a sweet risotto dessert. I am going to start with a rice dish prepared with Milk Stout Beer (see pic below) and then kick it up a notch or two from there. The official submission is due on June 12, so stay tuned to my cooking blog to see what what I am working on and track my progress in the competition.

On Friday I headed up to ACAM at Funspot in Laconia, NH to hang out and play some classic arcade games as part of the 14th Annual International Classic Video Game Tournament. Every year the turnout gets larger and the competition stiffer. This year I had to work on Saturday and hang around the house today to work on some recipes, so I was not able to compete the entire weekend. Nonetheless, I had a blast. You can track the competition and see who wins at Aurcade. I did get the chance on Friday to meet the current work record holders for Donkey Kong (Hank Chen) and Robotron (Abner Asher). Both guys were very cool and I was able to pick up a few tips to help my gameplay while chatting with them.

Also on Saturday, I received a new piece of TRON Memmorabilia in the mail - the official TRON Pop-up book from 1982. I have been searching for one of these in good condition for some time, so when it came up on eBay for a reasonable price I had to jump on it. The book itself is pretty cool as you can see by the photos below.