The 'Times Turns Two!
by "Cajun" David Richard
We have had a lot of fun with this little project, and we hope
that you have enjoyed it over the years as much as we have. I
though this might be a good opportunity to take a look back at
some of the highlights of the Ambrosia Times. If you are
interested in any of these articles, feel free to download the
respective issue.
We've done some crazy things with ourselves, our animals,
our toys, and our programs to bring you the most bizarre and
interesting stories we could think up. Hell, Andrew even
shaved his head (although we didn't ask him to, I guess his
wigs fit better -- uh, that's another story). Hector, of course,
has been the most patient -- posing for endless pictures,
wearing strange outfits, doing voice-overs, and such. I must
remember to throw him an extra peanut the next time I feed
the over-glorified pigeon.
In the first issue of The Ambrosia Times, we reported that Ambrosia was visited by the DEA. Why? I guess our games have been causing all sorts of problems in the lives of people. The addictiveness of our games was considered to be dangerous. Luckily, we were able to avoid any trouble. Check it out.
Our beloved mascot was getting a lot of attention, so we decided to have a little fun with him. We held a contest to see what the chefs of the world would do with him. You can read about the contest in the September '94 issue.
Andrew also tried his hand at jumping from a plane. But, jumping out of a moving vehicle (no
matter how high it is) can sometimes cause trouble. The September '94 issue has the report.
Oh, that Hector. He picks up the strangest sounds -- modems, sound effects from games, machine guns. He even makes a noise like a cat. Why? Well check out the two Fowl Play articles in the November '94 and January '95 issues for the real story.
Andrew's level of commitment to a project is unsurpassed. But, sometimes I think he goes a little too far. Check out his President's Letter in the January '95 issue for a really funky press release.
If that level of commitment wasn't enough, check out the brain upgrade Andrew received in the May '95 issue. Anything to understand a new platform.
We also upgraded our office during that time. Well, we hired a new person. Gayle Haarr joined the Ambrosia family. You can read her interview in the May '95 issue as well.
Not long after that, Ambrosia picked up and moved out. We relocated to some new offices in
downtown Rochester. Actually, the real reason we moved was to be closer to our favorite
restaurant, Nick Tahou's Hots. Andrew talks about it in the President's letter of the July '95 issue.
People do some strange things with chemicals. In the September '95 issue, I got a break from
writing the How To article while we published the procedure of how to light a barbeque in under 5 sec. You've got to see this one.
With the new office came a new computer. Not just any computer, but a big, strong computer to
run our Web site. We were very excited about this since our exposure on the Internet would be
increased. We all took a crash course in HTML and the Web site was born. The article appears in
November '95 issue.
Because we had this big strong Internet server, we wanted to share the space we had with other
Macintosh enthusiasts. Thus came The Ambrosia Cafe. This is where you can find information on a variety of issues concerning the Macintosh in general. You can read more about it in the January '96 issue.
Since we set up the Web site and set up personal pages for all of us, Gayle started to get a good
amount of complimentary mail. Well, we decided since she was getting all of this attention, we
might as well have some fun with it. Right before Valentine's day, we held a contest to see who
would send Gayle the best valentine. You can read about the winners in the March '96 issue of the Ambrosia Times.
Andrew did something strange a while back (well, that's not unusual). He got a job. Why, when he already has a company? One can only wonder. Read about The Incredible Bouncing Andrew in the May '96 issue.
Last, but certainly not least, was the arrival of one of the Internet greatest philosophers, Michael
Dortch. We asked Michael if he would take over our Ramblings column, since our ramblings don't make much sense. His first article appeared in our May '96 issue. I must admit, the title is a little flattering. We hope Michael will be here for a while.
The Ambrosia Times is a fun little project that we really enjoy working on. Just like the shareware concept, we will continue to do it as long as people enjoy it. If you ever have comments or questions about the newsletter, or anything else here at Ambrosia, feel free to drop us a line. We don't bite - well, Hector will bite you.
Ed Note - Cajun has recently taken up the hobby of drag racing city busses on his way to work. No big deal in a car, but on a bike? "Puny, weak busses can't shake a stick at me!" he says. "They are the whales of the road, and I am like the shark."
