- Created By James
Thread of the Week
Eek, late again! But better late than never, right?
This does present an interesting question: would you ever eat bugs as an alternative to regular meat? The experts do talk about all the health benefits, but what about the ick factor?
I was watching a show on TV recently which involved a chef from New York City who cooked up various kinds of bugs and combined them with different ingredients (for instance, a fried tarantula on a stick with some kind of sauce coating).
Even if it tasted great, I think the sheer texture and knowledge of what I was eating would put me off.
But then again, some people are very adventurous. What about you? Would you ever eat a bug? Or have you ever done this?
Anime Central Update
Anime Characters vs. Non-Anime Characters, who would be good foils or matches
Any thread that produces results like Sasuke vs. Batman is just fine by me. In the words of the first poster, onenuttytanuki, it might be getting into "weird fan fic territory," but the results so far are really amusing. (L vs. the Scooby Doo kids!?)
The Lounge Update
This seems to be an important/relevant question for many anime fans. I personally never understood the Ramen phenomenon, though - perhaps someone can explain it to me.
I assume that the Ramen brands people are talking about are essentially dried noodles that are put in water and heated, with a little sachet of flavouring?
I have often wondered whether most people genuinely liked this type of food before becoming a fan of anime, or whether noodles/ramen have sort of achieved a kind of status because of their obviously asian origin. This question interests me greatly because both Ramen and other Japanese snacks seem to have achieved a powerful cult status within the anime community.
As for me, I must admit, I'm not a big fan of packet/instant noodles. If I were to eat noodles, I'd probably prefer to actually visit a restaurant and have a proper noodle soup (especially one with chicken, pork and vegetables - there's a place near my house that does amazing Japanese soups).
And if I ever have a dish like that, I tend to always have udon noodles, as these are my favourite.
For those of you who actually eat cooked noodle/soup dishes, do you have a favourite noodle type that you always choose? Am I using the wrong word - should I say "ramen" instead of "noodle"? I don't know. I only know that "ramen" is not commonly used in Australia, even by the Japanese themselves! 
Also, another related question: other than noodles/ramen, what is your favourite Japanese-style snack?
A work colleague brought these funny things into the office the other day; they were basically like pretzel sticks with spicy tomato flavouring. They were certainly unique and very tasty.
Thread of the Week
Maturing: Looking Back on Old Posts
Well, we've had threads like this before, but they can be interesting - especially if you actually do look back at older posts. It's pretty amazing how far we've come, I think.
I still remember using emoticons in RPGs... *shudder*
Thread of the Week
Got a couple for you this week - I've gone slightly outside the norm this time and chosen threads based on specific topics.
I saw this just after it came out and really loved it. I think I remember hearing about it breaking records, too.
What did you think of it? I must admit, it's been my favourite comic book movie so far.
Not sure if I've linked to this one previously, but it's really worth linking to. I'm actually surprised that we haven't had more GTA-related posts! I do know that there are quite a few GTA fans on OB.
So if you've got this one, do yourself a favour and head on over to the thread.
I just had to throw this one in there.
For those who are unfamiliar, the original 55 Fiction was an incredibly popular creation from the lovely Sara, a longtime OBer. It ended up becoming the most successful thread in Anthology's history, I believe. And understandably so!
The concept is pretty unique and it doesn't require a massive time commitment form participants. So it really works very well for our community.
