The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: August 31, 2008

Official News page 1


FREYA'S QUIZ OF THE WEEK

by Freya

Last week I asked players to search the Solar System planets for restaurants and write a review of one. Knowing the vast variety of Sol eating establishments, I hoped for reports of some interesting experiences. What I never anticipated was the vast but delightful response! I received a large number of really excellent restaurant reviews - lively, quirky (we like quirky!), opinionated, gossipy (we like gossip!), clever, witty, and even in some rare cases, tasteful, reviews. They picked restaurants that required quite a bit of exploring to find in many cases. These are not your ordinary corner caf és and some of the food was quite a challenge to the taste buds. Wow, smashing response Fedders!

In fact, I was so overwhelmed and impressed by the great reviews that it was clear these efforts deserved a PRIZE! So we trundled ourselves over to our favorite surplus sho//err select high class gift shop and ordered an item which we feel is uniquely appropriate for the prize winners - the Golden Escargot award for restaurant reviewing over and above the call of duty. The writers of the top five restaurant reviews will receive this special precious medal today. Like other prizes, it has unique rewards that we'll let the proud owners discover on their own.

I really want to share all five restaurant reviews with you but that would take up far too much of the Fed News' space and be much too massive. What I've done is select one of the reviews to share with you today and I'm hoping to persuade Hazed to add a new page to the Fed2 website for restaurant reviews. That way, we can post all the winners of this contest and even more reviews at time goes by.

[My newsdroids never back down from a speed challenge... the player reviews are up on the website here - Hazed]

So congratulations are in order to Jezz, Zardoz, Zarquad, Kalandra, and Blinx! A round of applause to them all. They will all receive the Golden Escargot order of superior taste, first class; may they wear it with pride.

And here is one of the prize winning restaurant reviews for your enjoyment and edification:

Sumatra, University Breakroom

Upon entering the Sumatra University Break room and Commissary I was instantly aware that the decor had been designed to stir one's imagination, that is... if you try to imagine how many dumpsters and storerooms have been raided to supply that many decrepit pieces. The eclectic collection of furniture has the added bonus of surprising any diner who leans too far in one direction and entertainment value for those watching. Further entertainment comes in the form of a docu-western holo. While I'm sure that the research into the relationship between the ancient cowboys and their trusty dinosaurs was exhaustive, I can't help but feel that the establishment might have profited from taking a leaf out of the book of those old early twenty-first century sports bars where anyone wishing to hear the audio accompaniment to the program had to go home to receive it.

The standard of service was perfunctory to say the least. However, it was heartening to see that the waitdroids do make an attempt to bus the tables at least once a week. I, of course, ordered the signature dish, a plate of grey looking meat and gravy. When I inquired about the vegetable of the day I was informed that the vegetables had already been given to the theme park construction workers. The term "given" appears to be a euphemism for "projected at high velocity".

Tucking into my repast proved even more interesting than first expected. The meat was covered by a semi-congealed concoction that varied in texture from floury globules to the greasy film that collected around the edge of the plate. The grease is obviously designed to lubricate ones gullet in the off-chance that a diner might actually manage to cut a bite-sized morsel from the pallid lump of anonymous meat. The taste of the meal is a fitting tribute to the shredded non-descript coveralls it so closely resembles in appearance. I feel I should congratulate the University on providing unending joy for all those suffering from that rare affliction, compulsive mastication. Indeed, such a meal might become the training aid of choice for all political students endeavoring to gain the stamina needed for prolonged filibusters. For myself, I prefer to look at it as food for thought rather than consumption.

I did have one question for the waitdroid who so studiously failed to clear away my plate. Alas, the droid simply shrugged when I asked the origin of the meat. But as I left the Break room in search of that elixir of life, Sumatran coffee, I once again heard the muffled sounds of arguing from one of the classrooms and the debate began to make sense. "Cow!" "Horse!". I'm leaning towards the latter.

Jezz

Next time you are on Sumatra, take a few minutes to explore the University quarter and try out the food at the Breakroom. Let us know what YOU think of it.

The new Fed2 Quiz Question for the coming week is - Find a shop that is special and tell us what is so interesting about it and why, etc. The Solar system planets house a huge assortment of shops, many tucked away in obscure corners of planets and seldom visited except by those in the know and intrepid explorers. Find some of those special shops for us and tell us about them.

Have a great week!

Send your answer to barb@ibgames.com (please put Fed2 in the subject line). The deadline is last thing on Friday. The winner gets his, her or its name in next week's Fed2 Star - and a surprise prize if your answer is really spectacularly impressive.


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