Five questions from amand_r

[sinanju]

amand_r wrote in her livejournal: One asks another to write them survey questions, and then they answer them in their lj and people may ask them to ask questions. I am dying to create a survey for someone. I volunteered. Here are her questions, and my answers.

1. How exactly, does one create good blackened catfish?
One cooks up some bacon, discards the bacon (or keeps it for later if one loves bacon--and I do), and keeps the grease. One keeps the grease hot--just short of smoking--in an iron skillet. One rubs the catfish fillets with olive oil, then coats it liberally in spices*, then one drops it into the hot grease to cook fast. If you've done it properly the catfish should be, well, blackened and almost burnt looking. And very, very good.

This is all theoretical on my part, I confess. I've eaten good blackened catfish and read recipes for it, but I've never actually cooked it myself.

*garlic powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon pepper, cumin or chili powder, rosemary (crushed), fennel seed (crush with back of spoon), allspice, oregano, salt.

2. What else is behind the scary door?
In one sense, Bender, Leela, Fry, Amy, Zoidberg, Hermes, Professor Farnsworth and others. In another sense, it's a doorway to an alternate universe in which Highlander: the Series was based on Highlander 2, complete with flashbacks to Zeist; and countless other fanfic alternatives that make even hardened slash crossover fans and writers shriek in horror and cry for their mommies.

3. Anita Blake Question: Richard or Jean Claude? Explain your answer. In poem format.
Jean Claude.

Richard, poor man,
writhes in
self-imposed
agony, a hell of his own
making
where he will not
not
cannot
will not
embrace the world he faces
'cause he's a putz.

4. In your pointy weapon knowledge filled opinion, who is the best swordsman on Highlander? F. Braun McAsh does not count.
In terms of actors, I'd say Adrian Paul, if only because he had five and half seasons of practice under the tutelage of F. Braun McAsh and was dramatically more convincing by the end as a result. Much more so than any of the guests or recurring characters (some of whom were laughably unconvincing).

In terms of characters, it's a much tougher call. Duncan has won most of his battles, but so had most of the immortals he beheaded right up to the end; any one fight doesn't really tell you who's the best swordsman overall, just who was better, or at least luckier, today. Methos is obviously a good swordsman to have lasted 5000 years, but his survival is attributable more to cunning than to combat skills. Ditto for Amanda. Still, Duncan took a hell of a lot of heads in five and a half years, many of them belonging to older and more experienced foes. So I'll say Duncan.

5. what the heck is behind that username anyway? (Note: this had been a burning question for the author of this quiz, and by burning we don't mean Preparation H.)

Sinanju is the name of a small fishing village in North Korea. It is also the name of a martial art. The martial art, in fact--all other martial arts are but pallid imitations of the real thing, shadows on the wall, while Sinanju is the sun source that makes them possible. The Masters of Sinanju are assassins. They've plied their trade for thousands of years, working for kings and emperors. They're known and feared in the halls of power throughout the world. Currently the reigning Master, Remo Williams, and the Master Emeritus, Chiun, are under contract to "Emperor Smith" of America. Their exploits in his service have been set down in the DESTROYER novels (currently up to # 135 or so) since the early 70s.

I've been reading these novels since the 80s. In the very beginning, the series started as pretty standard macho action novels. Remo was shanghaied to work as a secret (and illegal) government hatchetman, and Chiun was a practitioner of Karate hired to train him. Starting with the third book, which introduced the whole Sinanju angle, it turned into a deliberate parody of the macho action genre--and pretty much everyone and everything else over the years. They've spent the last three decades parodying politics and politicians, showbiz, celebrities, fads, junk science, conspiracy theories...everything. There's very little Chiun and Remo cannot do (except not snipe at one another). They've killed more people than Cecil B. DeMille, and frequently argue over who is responsible for getting rid of the bodies. The President (the only person in the US government who knows about Remo, Chiun and Smith) is never named, but it's always very clear by the way he speaks and behaves, who was in the White House when any given novel was written. They're not great literature, but they're fun.

So...when I first set up an ISP account years ago and I needed a user name, I wanted something more interesting than my name. And sinanju was the first thing that came to mind, and I've been using it ever since.

Comments

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

While all of your answers are satisfactory, especially the catfish one, because I intend to use it, I still say the best was:

where he will not
not
cannot
will not
embrace the world he faces
'cause he's a putz.

Priceless

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. I used to have more sympathy for Richard, but he's worn out his welcome.

[snippy]

Richard is portrayed as a reasonably mature adult in other ways. His failure to come to terms with, and learn to love and take pride in, the reality of who he is strikes me as a major failing. Especially considering his empathy. That other people (in Pack, especially) are at risk because of his failure to integrate his persona makes it all the worse.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

Amen. At this point, Micah is looking better.

Re:

[snippy]

Micah...who is Micah? Micah is a shadow. Micah is the perfect wife: no needs of his own, always at Anita's beck and call, and giving her something no one else can (access to her Pack Leader skills/powers).

Micah is a zero. Micah is a tool.

I don't find Micah appealing at all. Either he's hiding something, or he's a golum, a construct.

But then, on that "who is your romantic partner in the Anita Blake world" quiz, I got Edward.

Re:

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I said Micah is looking better. I dodn't say I liked him more. I'm in the Asher Jean Claude camp, myself.