Don't Break the Shadowbind! The Joys of Pizza.

Don't Break the Shadowbind! is our Wed-weekly column brought to you by Omoikitte. Endgame isn't just killing mobs and splitting up the drops, that is the easy part. Omoikitte will provide her insight on how to do the hard part: the administration and planning of events, deciding on how to divvy up the drops, and how to deal with that one whiny LS member that just won't shut up about their abjuration. Today, tantalising tastebuds mmmmmm.



I was strolling home the other day thinking about HOW good pizza is. Its so great it even gets a +1 in FFXI with Marinara Pizza +1, a pizza that provides vast amusement to myself as it is a fish pizza, or as I like to think of it a Tuna fish pizza which apparently most Americans seem to think is a travesty of a pizza, but personally I think is delicious.

Feeling hungry yet? The perfect pizza should have a light fluffy golden crust that is does not cling to the roof of your mouth and is infact crisp with olive oil to give it just the right amount of moisture without creating an overpowered flavour to enhance the topping.

This should be a lightly smeared tomato sauce to ensure the base doesn't dry out and to give your toppings something to adhere to in cooking, and what a wealth of toppings you can choose from. Whether you prefer simplicity itself in the margarita pizza of mere cheese, or extravagantly experiment with the heady delights of alternative flavours and tastes, onion, extra cheese, olives, anchovies to name but a few of the more traditional toppings.

When we went to the Fan Fest in Hollywood, CA this year, Ring, Iz and I ate out at the California Pizza Kitchen which as a pizza chain I very much enjoy when I am in the states. The pizzas are cooked to perfection and they offer a large selection of more avant garde flavours and options to whet your appetite to a fine edge. An even better option would be to go with many people and order selections and share, then everyone can dip into an assault of giddy heights on the tastebuds.

It used to be a while back, that you could buy ready frozen bases from the supermarkets here, and you could then add on your own toppings, I used to LOVE doing this. A small pot of tomato sauce usually reserved for eating with pasta, a tin of sweetcorn and half a block of cheese. It was gooey, it was overload but it was soooooooo yummy, unfortunately the business of selling their own "home made" pizzas took over and the bases vanished from the shelves, I suppose I could make them myself but that is a fairly intimidating prospect.

The best way to cook a pizza at home, whether frozen or fresh made is on one of those aerated baking trays, that lets the base cook without just being sat on a circle of heat, much better flavour and less chance of drying out the base, which is so easy to do with frozen pizza. Mostly frozen pizzas fall down on the base preparation, but if you hunt around you can find some that can be nearly as nice as that fresh out of the oven feel in a pizzaria.

At this point I am sure you are wondering what does this have to do with end game, leadership, linkshells or any/all of the above. Other than possibly as a menu guide to what the typical gamer eats when engrossed in that fight against X monster. However in reality it has nothing at ALL to do with FFXI, or end game, or linkshells or membership problems or and of the other minutae that build up around running an end game ls.

THAT IS THE POINT! Let go, remember life isn't only about your linkshell, relax your grip and keep perspective, you will enjoy it and so will your membership.