#can you believe I found out that the tasting history guy found the Same recipe and i could have followed his easy instructions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

teecupangel · 7 months

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so i have this idea in a Desmond lives au after the solar flare he starts a channel like tasting history with max miller in which he recreates historical dishes that his ancestors used to make with Shaun and Rebecca appearing by tasting what he makes

(The video starts with a man addressing the video in a beautiful clean kitchen)

“So this isn’t my usual content but I’ve got a lot of requests to do a reaction video on this youtube channel called ‘I Am Not My Ancestors’ where he recreates recipes he got from his ancestors. At least, that’s what he claims. A lot of you asked me to check if his recipes are what a household from that time period would make and I asked Desmond, he’s the owner of I’m Not My Ancestor channel if he’s alright with me reacting to them and I received his permission.”

“I’d like to make it clear that he has no hand in any of my reactions. This will be the first time I’m watching the videos I’d be reacting to and there’s no script, we didn’t talk about what I should say or what I shouldn’t say. I can even show you guys his actual reply to my email.”

(The video cuts to some kind of recorder, most probably a phone camera, aimed at the screen of a monitor showing an opened email)

Subject: Re: Requesting permissions to react to your videos

Sender: Desmond M [email protected]

yeah go ahead man.

(The video returns to the man in the kitchen)

“So with his permission… let’s check out some of his videos, shall we?”

(The video changed. On the lower left corner is the same man, now wearing earbuds. The rest of the video appears to be a screen recording of the Youtube Channel ‘I Am Not My Ancestors’. The mouse clicks on the Cooking Playlist and clicks a video titled “What an Assassin from 12th Century That Can’t Cook Cooks”)

(The video changes to a normal looking kitchen with a young man. A prominent scar mars his lips and his eyes seemed to glow gold at certain angles although it looked mostly light brown)

“So… I’ve been focusing on Renaissance Italy food for a while now and I thought I’d branch out and make something my other ancestors made. Then I remembered my ancestor from 12th century Syria doesn’t know how to cook.” The man said as he placed his hands on the counter, “But, well, let’s try it anyway.”

(The video continues with the man listening down all the ingredients he’d be using to make what he calls ‘road food’)

(The video is paused and the man on the lower left begins to speak)

“Okay, so this is one of his latest videos and I just want to talk about all the ingredients he’s using for this… ‘road food’. All of these can be bought in Syria and I’ve seen all of them used in different dishes in historical cook books. The more important part is that all of these? Can be found in the wilds during those time and I believe that he’ll tell us that these ingredients are used because they don’t cost any money, only time and a discerning eye. Let’s see if I’m right.”

(The video plays once more)

“You can also change any of the things I listed to whatever wild plants to find on your way. Normally, if your mission takes you to a place that’s more than a day ride away-”

“By horse.” Someone off camera added.

“Yeah, by horse. Thanks, Becs. Anyway, if it’s more than a day ride away, what you usually do is stay in a nearby bureau- hm? Oh, right. A bureau is what the Assassins call their… mini headquarters in other places. So they have their headquarters in Masyaf, Alamut and Ḥalab and they have bureaus on other places as well.”

(The video paused and the man on the lower left speaks once more)

“While I can’t verify his claims, the Nizaris of which the Assassins are from did have strongholds in Masyaf, Alamut and this Ḥalab is more known as Aleppo to many of us. Anyway, let’s continue.”

(The video is played once more)

“But sometimes, you go to a far away place and the supplies they give you is lacking because Al Mualim is a stingy old man who’ll tell you that ‘an Assassin must triumph over’ this kind of bullshit so you learn to live off eating game and grass-”

(The video is paused and the man on the lower left commented)

“I believe this Al Mualim he speaks of is Rashid al-Din Sinan, known as the Old Man of the Mountain. From the way he speaks, it’s either he knows Rashid himself. Or, of course, he has a journal of his ancestor who has certain words to describe Rashid. I’m sure it’s the latter.”

(The video plays once more)

“So this is what Al-”

“Your ancestor.”

(The man on the lower left tilts his head but does not pause the video)

“My ancestor would make during those ‘tiring’ times.”

(The video continues as the man starts to cook, starting from preparing a small game and then… throwing it and all the other ingredients in a pot. The man on the lower left stared at him with an open mouth.)

“Yeah, that’s it. Just wait until the meat is cooked. While you wait, you should patrol the area, check your map, write on your journal… the usual stuff.”

(The video transitions to the same place but the man is now on his phone, seemingly tapping on the screen.)

“Desmond… isn’t it cooked yet?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I told you guys this is the easiest shit my ancestors can cook. This is also the only thing Alta-”

“Your ancestor.”

“My ancestor can’t fucked up. Anyway, let’s have Shaun try it out.”

(As the man grabs a bowl and pours the soup in it, a man with glasses stepped to the frame with arms crossed)

“Guys, say hello to Shaun, our resident taste tester and the actual historian in our little group.”

“I’ve been tasting everything you make for these videos. They already know who I am.”

“Yeah, yeah, just taste this.”

(The man with glasses took the bowl and blew his spoon before taking a mouthful. He chewed for a moment before nodding.)

“It’s okay.”

“You're British, of course you think the lack of flavor is okay.”

“Hey.”

“Anyway, the main point of this dish is to sustain us. Good food will always be welcomed but what we need is the nutrients and energy food gives us. After we get to the bureau, we’ll have some actual good food.”

(The video pauses and changes to only show the man in the beautiful kitchen)

“Okay, so let’s talk about the recipe itself…”

(The video continues as the man list down all the ingredients and where they have appeared in historical books, referencing other recipes similar to the recipe that the video used)

“I think I should watch more videos, maybe one of his Renaissance Italy videos because it seems like this ancestor of his is quite… the ‘frugal’ and practical kind. Let me know in the comments which videos you’d like me to watch nex-

(The video stops and the laptop closes)

“Desmond, he called Altaïr frugal and practical.”

“Not because he wanted to. What do you think he did when he was traveling with Maria? That man tried out every food he saw.”

(is this in the same universe as #Da Vinci's secret lover Not-Salai? Maybe? Maybe not? idk)

#assassin's creed #desmond miles #ask and answer #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #i sorta bully altaïr #maaayybbeee #i guess i could tag him #since it's his 'recipe'#altaïr ibn la'ahad #i feel weird tagging max miller so i won’t XD

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watchmegetobsessed · 5 years

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Crush // Shawn Mendes mini-series part 2

part 2 wohoooo!! this is honestly such a cute story i love writing it, im currently finishing the last part so i’ll probably update very soon!

part 1

masterlist

The awkwardness soon vanishes. This clear new chapter we just opened with Shawn allows me to loosen up and just enjoy a nice evening. Aaliyah and Eric seems satisfied with the outcome, the parents seem to hit it off quite easily and when we leave they already start making plans for another meetup.

“It was so nice meeting you!” Karen sighs happily as she hugs goodbye to all of us.

“You too, email me that recipe you told me about!” Mom points at her and she nods her head laughing.

I’m just about to step out of the house when Aaliyah grabs my wrist and pulls me back. I look at her with furrowed eyebrows.

“I need your help with a little something. Can you come over sometime tomorrow?” she whispers confidentially.

“Um, yeah. Around what time?” I ask.

“Three pm?”

“Sure,” I smile at her and she lets go of me.

On the way back home I’m thinking about what Aaliyah could need help with and the only thing I have in mind is Eric’s birthday that is on the 29th. She must be planning something special for him.

I call Maddi around midnight when I’m already in my pj’s, but I know she must be still up, maybe even drunk. For my surprise, she answers the phone quite modestly.

“How was the family union?” she asks chewing on something. I throw the cushions off of my bed and crawl under the blanket.

“Um, very interesting,” I chuckle closing my eyes and just shaking my head at the thought of the evening.

“Uh, spill the tea!” She cheers clearly very thirsty for some drama, though this story is not as juicy as she would want it.

“Guess who Aaliyah’s brother is!” I say, but I don’t expect an answer so I just continue. “Shawn Effing Mendes.”

“What?! Are you kidding me?” She gasps. “How did Eric forget to tell you this small detail?”

“Apparently, he thought it doesn’t matter to me, which is kind of true, but there is more.”

“What more? Did he hit on you? Because I’m not talking to you again if he did. He is hot!”

“No, he didn’t, but what you don’t know is that we have history.”

“Okay, now I’m confused!? How do I not know about this?”

“Well, remember my ex, Dylan? I told you about him.”

“Yeah, the asshole who cheated on you,” she hums.

“Well, Dylan and Shawn used to be best buds when we started dating, but the guy hated my guts, or so I thought. He was always mean to me, talking against me and just… avoiding me like the plague.”

“I thought he is the nicest person on earth.”

“He might be now, but when I knew him, he treated me like shit. So it was pretty awkward to see him again after all these years.”

“And how did it go? Was he an ass again?”

“No. He was… nice. Well, we both acted awkward in the beginning, I didn’t know if he would continue his act with me, but he turned out to be nice. And then at one point he told me he is sorry for everything in the past and he was just acting like that because he wanted to amuse Dylan.”

I turn to my side and stare out the window.

“That’s good, right? I mean, he grew out that mean phase and he is all good now.”

“Yeah, it’s just still weird to be around someone I knew from my Dylan phase.”

“But it’s Eric who is dating Aaliyah, why would you be constantly around him?”

“Aaliyah asked me to go over tomorrow, I think she is trying to put a surprise together for Eric’s birthday, so I’m spending the afternoon at the Mendes house.”

“Oh, then keep me updated about the details and sneak me a shirtless photo of Shawn please.”

“Maddi!” I scoff laughing. “Why would I even see him shirtless?”

“Maybe he likes wandering around in his home without clothes on, how would I know?!”

“Unbelievable. I’m going to sleep.”

“Bye bitch,” she sighs making me roll my eyes at her smiling.

“Bye.”

I sleep late the next day, it’s past noon when I actually make it downstairs looking like a real human being. Eric and Dad are watching a documentary on WW II. while Mom is reading the newspaper at the dining table. I join her with a bowl of cereal.

“Do you have any plans for today?” She smiles at me over her narrow glasses as she turns a page. I lean closer hitting a confidential tone.

“I’m helping Aaliyah today, she asked me to go over around three.”

“Oh, birthday surprise for Eric?” she asks clearly excited.

“I think yeah.”

“Great. And you will probably see Shawn again.” Winking at me she puts the papers down.

“Why does that matter?” I ask with my mouth full. She caresses my cheek before standing up and walking over to the sink for some water.

“Isn’t he a nice young man? I think the two of you would look cute together.”

“Mom, you are literally talking about the biggest pop sensation, he is not really the kind of guy who just casually dates,” I say.

In my mind all these celebrities are living their wildest life. Even if I were interested in Shawn in any way, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even get in the game, he must have thousands of girls waiting for him in line. We are not really on the same page.

“Oh, come on. You guys knew each other in high school, you have a past, that connection must mean something!”

“He was an ass to me!” I blurt it out making her eyebrows raise.

“He was? What did he do?”

“It’s nothing,” I roll my eyes, but Mom gives me a demanding look. “He just didn’t seem to like me no matter what I did, he was avoiding me most of the time when I was with Dylan and also made some pretty rude comments sometimes.”

“Maybe he was into you,” Mom shrugs and I almost choke on the milk.

I start coughing like I’m about to die and my eyes start watering when I’m finally able to breathe evenly again.

“No fucking way!”

“Charlie! Language!” She hisses at me, but there is a smile hiding in her eyes. “You know, young boys tend to do it. They are mean to the girls they like.”

“Mom, it wasn’t in kindergarten, it was ninth grade or something. I think he just really didn’t like me back then and I don’t blame him.” I was annoying, thinking back at it. But hey, all teens are annoying!

“You can never know,” she sighs.

I totally ignore the theory Mom tried to make me believe, there is absolutely no chance of the nonsense she told me, and this is what I keep telling myself as I’m on my way to the Mendes house.

“Hey!” Aaliyah greets me with a wide smile. She is now wearing some more comfortable clothes than the last two times I saw her, the grey sweats and lose white shirt must be her home wear. “Come in! My parents are out at a friend’s place, and Shawn…” she starts, but just when she is about to finish he appears on the top of the stairs.

“Is here,” he chimes in. I look up and there he is, in a pair of checked pj pants and a black shirt. Looking at it, I think Aaliyah has his shirt on, it seems like the same size.

“Hi,” I smile at him.

“Come, let’s sit.” I follow Aaliyah into the living room and we sit down to the couch next to their Christmas tree. From the corner of my eyes I see Shawn going into the kitchen and for a moment I’m actually disappointed he is not coming with us.

“So. I want to surprise Eric with cooking for him, but I have no idea what. I tried to find out what’s his favorite, but he says it’s his favorite to everything!” she growls frustrated. I shake my head laughing.

“That’s typical.”

“Yeah. So do you have anything in mind?”

“Well, he really like tiramisu. He can eat tons of it, all the time. That’s good for dessert,” I offer. Aaliyah has her phone in her hands and she is typing everything I say down.

“Okay, got it.”

“Um, he likes gazpacho. He thinks it sounds fancy and you know, he likes everything with ketchup, so a soup that tastes like tomato was made for him.”

“Oh yeah, he pours so much ketchup into his sandwiches, it’s crazy,” she rolls her eyes jokingly. “Okay, so gazpacho. Anything else?”

“Um…” I try to think about the times we went to restaurants and Eric got really excited over the food. “Oh, we were once at a place and he ordered grilled mushrooms and he couldn’t stop moaning, it was very embarrassing, but I guess this meant he really liked it.”

“Grilled mushrooms, perfect,” she nods to herself noting everything down. “Do you mind helping me pick out his gift too? I have a few ideas, I want to go into the city and buy it tomorrow, I already looked up some jumpers online, but I can’t really decide.”

“Sure, show me!”

We spend the next thirty minutes scrolling through everything she had saved as a possible gift. She found some really nice ones, her taste is fantastic. As the time is passing I’m starting to feel like I’m with a friend and not with my brother’s girlfriend and I’m just hoping Eric will keep her around for a long time.

She asks me to stay a little bit longer so she can show me the awkward photos she has taken of Erik since they’ve been dating, but she gets a call and excuses herself quickly. I stay there in the living room, looking around a bit, I haven’t really had the chance yesterday, I was too occupied with the situation.

Shawn walks in, this time he has a headband on, keeping his locks back from his face.

Damn, Maddi is right. He is hot.

I shake my head at the thoughts and try to look as casual as possible.

“How is the birthday planning going?” he asks plopping down on the couch next to me.

“Good, Aaliyah basically had everything right, I just had to choose the best options.”

“How crazy is that our younger siblings are dating? I mean, I was thinking about it yesterday, the last time I saw Eric, he was about twelve or something. No wonder why I didn’t recognize him when I met him,” he chuckles and I nod agreeing. Aaliyah changed a lot in the past years too.

“Yeah. Strange that they are not babies anymore. I mean, I’m still mad that Eric is taller than me.”

“Oh I remember how you always wanted to get taller!”

“You remember?” I ask surprised. I used to never stop talking about my height, later I accepted my fate.

“Yeah, I remember once you told Dylan how you want to wear the highest heels to the dance so you two can be the same height.”

I laugh at the memory. I remember it too, it was quite early in our relationship and Dylan asked me out for the Halloween dance. I wanted to look taller and told Dylan I would wear heels. Of course, I ditched the plan as I found out how uncomfortable they are and ended up wearing my Converse.

“And at the end I looked like a punk princess with my Converse and mini skirt,” I scoff at the thought of my outfit for that night.

“I think you looked pretty,” Shawn says and I look at him. I catch his small smile before he shakes his head clearing his throat. What the Hell? “High school feels so far away, right?” he quickly says.

“Um, well for you I guess, for me… not really,” I chuckle shaking my head. “Your life got turned upside down, but not much has happened to me since then.”

“What? I don’t believe you. I’m sure you’ve been having plenty of fun. Parties, dates and everything.”

I can’t help, a sad smile plasters across my face. He can’t be more wrong.

“Not really… I had some rough years after Dylan and I split.”

“Can I ask what happened? I mean, after the split,” he shyly asks.

“Well, since I was a dumb naïve little girl, I needed an entire year before I could even think about getting to know other guys. Now it all just seems like the biggest bullshit. I shouldn’t have cared that much. And I’m not a fan of partying, I only go out on birthdays and maybe New Year’s Eve,” I shrug. Maddi has been trying to boost me up a bit, she attempts to drag me out every month or so, but I’m really not that kind of type. I thought I was, when I was with Dylan, he was a popular guy, I kept going to these lame parties with him in the last year of our relationship, but I never really enjoyed them. Shawn was long gone by then.

“I’m sorry Dylan played you so bad.”

“It’s fine, I mean, not your fault,” I chuckle. “But what happened to you and him?”

He sighs scratching the back of his neck.

“Not sure, I guess we grew apart and I realized that he is an ass. When I became a private student we kept in touch, but I met new people and I saw how different a friendship can be, so… I cut him off, I guess.”

“Did you guys fight?”

“Not really,” he shakes his head. “Well, we had one last very awkward phone call when I was in Atlanta, if I remember right. It was forced and… just awkward, really,” he chuckles shaking his head.

“And your life has been better since Dylan is out of it, right?” I grin at him.

“Yeah, you must know about it.”

I laugh nodding. I know everything about it!

Before I could even think about what I’m saying, my mouth just opens and the words roll down.

“The only good thing I got from my relationship with Dylan is that I know you now.”

My eyes widen and I wish I could take it back.

“I- uh I mean…”

I don’t even know why I’m so nervous suddenly, I didn’t even tell much. But for some reason, I can feel myself blushing.

“I meant that he basically ruined my senior year and I needed so much time to get myself over him, but at least now we can talk like, normal people,” I quickly add somehow saving the situation.

“What do you mean he ruined your senior year?” he asks with furrowed eyebrows and I’m happy he didn’t get caught up on what I said before that.

“Well, he successfully made me push all my friends away, leaving me totally alone when we broke up.”

“Wait, what? How about that friend of yours, um… I don’t remember her name, you always sat together at lunch.”

“Rochelle. Oh Dylan played us dirty. He told me Rochelle keeps hitting on him and being my dumb naïve self I believed him and not her. We had this huge fight and I called her a bitch. No wonder why she didn’t care about me when I was alone in the last couple of months of senior year.”

“Ouch, that sounds horrible. I’m sorry he did that.”

“Why did we even like Dylan in the first place?” I ask laughing to myself. It still bothers me how blind I was, I wish I could just shake myself.

“I have no idea!” He sighs rolling his eyes. “I’m sorry your senior year got fucked up, I wish I could be there to have lunch with you.”

I turn to him and swear to God he is blushing! And it is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I feel the urge to touch him, anywhere, to take his hand in mine, but I stop myself.

“That’s… nice. Thank you,” I whisper touched.

As I’m staring at him I realize this is probably the closest I’ve ever been to him. I wonder how many girls want to be in my position, they see the popstar, the heartthrob from the stage, while all I see is the guy who used to be mean to me in high school but now we are friendlier than ever. I could never see him as a celebrity.

“Okay, so I found some- Oh am I bothering?” Aaliyah walks into the room with her phone in her hands and she is giving me a knowing look. I quickly clear my throat turning away from Shawn.

“No, you girls just… do your thing. I have to make a few calls.”

Shawn jumps up from the couch patting his sister’s shoulder before walking out of the room. Aaliyah takes his place, still grinning.

“What?” I ask her playing dumb.

“You guys… I felt the sparkle,” she says wiggling her eyebrows.

“What sparkle? Aaliyah, you see everything in pink because of my brother.”

“Oh stop, don’t tell me you don’t like him.”

“I don’t know him,” I say truthfully. “The last time I saw him I was dating a douche and he was also being a douche to me. I can’t tell if I like him, because I don’t know his new self.”

“But you seem to get along with him pretty well and I’m sure you are attracted to him.”

“I’m not talking about this with you, you are his sister!” I gasp feeling myself blushing again.

“Whatever. But I think you two would look cute together.”

I refuse to carry on with the conversation about me and Shawn and Aaliyah fortunately doesn’t force it on me. I leave the Mendes house around five, Aaliyah thanks me the help and I can’t help but feel disappointed I don’t see Shawn anywhere when I’m leaving. Aaliyah’s speech about me and Shawn is slowly getting to me.

By dinner, all my thoughts are racing around him and soon I find myself stalking his social media profiles. I knew he is very famous, but seeing the numbers on his pages makes me gasp. Millions of people are following him, waiting for him to post anything. The last photo he uploaded to his Instagram is with his family, Karen and Manny are smiling proudly into the camera while Shawn and Aaliyah are messing around next to them. Before I could realize what I’m doing I double tap the picture liking it.

“Oh shit,” I suck my breath in. I hesitate, but then I realize how dumb this is. He must be getting millions of notes every minute, he won’t see this.

Gaining some confidence from this, I decide to follow him and continue my stalking session. I’m a few months deep into his profile when I get a notification. Opening the tab my eyes widen.

shawnmendes followed charlieprkr

I guess I was wrong about the notification getting lost. A moment later I see that he has liked two of my photos.

One was taken on a family vacation. Eric and I are posing at the beach, I have a red swimsuit on and the wind is blowing my wavy blonde hair that was so much lighter back than from all the sunshine. The other one is a picture Maddie took of me last month. I’m sitting in our armchair with a mug of tea in my hands, smiling shyly at the camera. We had Christmas lights in the window and the lights made me look colorful in the photo.

I’m just about to put the phone down and go to bed when I get a dm. I’m not surprised to see Shawn’s username, but I definitely get excited.

shawnmendes I’m happy I’m not the first one to accidentally like your photo, though I was minutes away from that haha

I smile at the message rolling my eyes.

charlieprkr Ha. Ha. I was hoping I can easily hide in the millions of your followers.

shawnmendes You could have, if only I weren’t stalking your profile as well. Fate?

charlieprkr I guess.

My fingers linger across the keyboard, trying to think of something else to write and keep the conversation up, but nothing comes to my mind. I almost give up when I get another message from him.

shawnmendes I’m in a nostalgic mood, I want to have a walk in the neighborhood, around our school tomorrow. Would you like to join me?

My smile grows wider than ever reading his lines.

charlieprkr Totally.

shawnmendes Great! Sometime around 4 pm?

charlieprkr Perfect. Where?

shawnmendes I’ll meet you at your house and we’ll go from there.

charlieprkr Then see you tomorrow!

shawnmendes Yeah, good night Charlie.

#shawn #mendes #shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes fanfics #shawn mendes fanfictions #shawn mendes imagine #mendes army #crush #crush mini series

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cass-chan12 · 5 years

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Felony of the Heart (Ch 2)

Fandom: Fairy Tail Genre: Romance and Friendship Pairing: Main- NaLu. Sides- Gajevy, Gruvia and Jerza

Summary: What would you do if you were forced into a school that deals with Delinquents and young adults that have committed felonies? Lucy Heartfilia would rather chance it than going back home to being married off. What lies ahead for the blonde is unknown but she's convinced she can make it through with him by her side

Chapter one

CHAPTER TWO

"How we need another soul to cling to"- Sylvia Plath

Lying in the darkness was scarier than I imagined.

Sleep would never claim me that first night, from the tiniest of sounds my eyes would snap open and stare at the ceiling for ages. No thought would come to mind, no tear would form in my eyes now would words come to my mouth. All I could focus on was the occasional buzzing of a mosquito or one of the other girl's soft snores. I continued to listen and I would pick up on new sounds such as the strong wind outside creating a gentle howl, or a creaking sound of wood outside the room, which proved we were literally watched over 24/7.

It must be past midnight and the lids of my eyes didn't falter and my twists and turns in my bed from the restlessness made too much commotion, so I decided to stay on the side facing my neighbour's bed. It was the small bluenette I sat next to in Confessional's. She was fast asleep with tear stains on her face; I had heard her cry tonight but chose to ignore it. We all did in this dorm; there were a lot of young girls in here- which led me to ask why they would do such heinous things to get in here. But I can't judge, I don't know them or what they've done. I'm wary of making friends here but the loneliness makes my heart ache. Back at the house this feeling came many times, but I had friends there to stop the aching. I was alone now and I don't know how long it will last.

I did manage to sleep, maybe a few hours. The morning siren went off and boomed across the campus; waking all of us up. Moans and grumbles creaked in the room similar to the movement of zombies, all the girls, including myself, got ready for our first day of learning and disciplining- as the Principal explained to us yesterday.

There were a lot of rules and regulations set, it seemed like they must have copied a prison handbook.

1) All electrical devices are prohibited

2) The main house, Gardens, sports grounds (Aka the boot camp course) are prohibited to enter unless accompanied by a supervisor or teacher.

3) The front and back gate, the fence and the opposite sex's dormitory are prohibited with or without supervisor or teacher. If you are caught in any of these areas, you will be punished with a week's worth of community service.

4) Flashy and bright clothing will be taken from personal items.

5) Personal items must be kept in the provided foot locker under each student's bed.

6) Wake up calls; Monday-Friday 5:30am, Saturday and Sunday 6:00am. Breakfast will be served at 7:00am on all days

7) Before leaving to Breakfast, dormitories must be cleaned to House guardian's approval and students must be dressed accordingly.

8) Classes for students start at 8:00am- 16:00pm. Dinner is at 18:00pm. Lights out at 21:00pm

9) Mondays gather for assembly. Confessional groups are on Sunday at 10:00am.

10) Any attempt of escape will result in a transfer to a state prison.

But the way I understood it, this place was a state prison. This was barely a school besides the actual classes, not to mention we get cleaning assignments every day. It will be tough for me since I didn't have to do that back home, but between cleaning a toilet and going home… I'd clean every single one here instead of going back.

As I put on my clothes I looked to the outside window, some students where already going to the cafeteria in which my stomach growled for attention. I finished putting the ugly grey uniform on and tied my hair loosely with a hair tie that was in my foot locker under my bed. When I got the okay to leave after I cleaned my section I walked down the stairs and peeked into the dormitory rooms I passed and the aura was plain miserable. My generation really loves their sleep…

I reached the outside of the Dorm house and through the trees I noticed the sky was clouding up, slowly becoming overcast. The mood is as depressing as it can get, but now I don't know whether I can last till Lunch. My shoes clacked against the cobblestone pavement and the many shushed tones of voices swept passed me, either it was gossiping or the fear of speaking too loud in the hell hole. I ignored the comments that were loud enough to hear, but one word kept coming up.

Alone

Yes I am alone but so was everyone else. It occurred to me how true that statement was when I collected my breakfast and sat one of the large tables. Everyone spoke to each other but their eyes and expressions showed those of an outsider. I saw a few of the people that where in my Confessional session, I noticed especially the small blue haired girl; whose bed is next to mine in the dorm. She looked lost and depressed, searching for a seat.

I slowly lifted my arm and waved to her, she blinked and shuffled her feet shyly towards me. She placed her tray across from mine and sat down keeping her face downwards hiding her expression. I coughed trying to catch her attention and get some eye contact which seemed like the only attention I could get here.

"I'm Lucy. But you probably know that" I joked dryly.

She looked up like a helpless animal and smiled slightly. "I'm Levy. Likewise" she countered.

I smiled at her and turned my attention back at my food, which looked more inedible than when I picked it up in the first place.

"This food looks foul." I said dropping my spoon back in my bowl.

"Back at my old school, it wasn't any different." Levy said taking a bite from her oatmeal.

I frowned at the plate losing my appetite quick. Until I felt someone else sit at the table.

"Here; try putting this in. It'll make it taste better." A female voice said

I peered up and saw red; a beautiful scarlet red. It was the girl from my Confessional group, and even though her hair was neatly tied up it was still striking as ever. She handed me some Honey in a small container which clearly wasn't given out in the school. I took it stealthily without anyone else seeing and quickly added it to my porridge. I took a bite and moaned in delight, the taste of something so simply sweet was delectable.

"That's so much better, thanks." I said.

She smiled and lifted her tray to walk away. But I coughed to stop her "You want to sit with us?" I asked shyly.

She smiled again with a little red hue sprinkled on her cheeks, giving away the suspicion she wanted to sit there in the first place. She put her tray next to mine and sat down tucking a stray piece of her pretty hair behind her ear. She cautiously brought more honey out of her pocket and added it to her porridge.

"May I ask where you get this?" Levy asked.

Erza 'hmmed' while eating her breakfast. She swallowed and then smiled "Before they took my personal stuff I snatched my recipe for strawberry shortcake and exchanged it for anything I want out the kitchen."

Levy and I were shocked, just how good was this recipe if it gave her fulltime access to the kitchen?

"Wouldn't you get in trouble if one of the dictators found out?" I asked

She smiled again which was comforting since this place really didn't showcase anything to smile about. Erza's features were calm too, it was strangely soothing. I thought about it, her and I were in the same boat. In confessionals Zancrow mentioned she pleaded guilty with the case she was charged with, and not to mention that blue haired kid admitted she was dragged into his situation.

She didn't belong here either.

"Well I had a friend in here before I arrived and he gave me some tips of the school. He also told me that the cafeteria is the safest place to breathe in here." she explained

I looked around the area and it did seem happier than everywhere else. The chattering was louder and sounded like a normal high school; which kind of made me anxious.

"Why is that?" Levy asked.

Erza pushed her tray away from her and rubbed her belly in satisfaction. "Ahhh… I think it has to do with the cafeteria supervisor. Rumour is that he blows his duty to tend to his prized doll collection."

I wasn't sure I heard properly but Levy was laughing which made me giggle a bit too. Sounds like a freaky dude if that were true, but regardless the room seemed less depressing and did lift my mood. It was strange how I made two friends in here, although both really didn't look like they belonged here in the first place.

I couldn't for a fact, believe the small bluenette in front of me, was in here. She was the size of a small child and was in her bed crying her eyes out only a few hours ago. It didn't fit either way you looked at it, but my thoughts went back to what she said in the confessional room, she said she only did what she did to get enough money and run away from home. I can relate, so who am I to judge her. And of course; Erza being dragged into something by that blue-haired guy, from her personality she seemed very girly but at the same time she had an aura of respect around her: Something you wouldn't find in a real Delinquent. I should stop pretences and judging, I will be around these people for who knows how long and I might learn a thing or two like I had meeting Levy and Erza.

It was almost time to go to class so I waved goodbye to Levy and Erza and went back to my dorm to get my books that were pre-ordered by the school. I grabbed the books and stuffed them in a backpack that was in my footlocker. A small slip of paper fell out of one of the books which looked like my schedule. I cringed a bit at my classes; every lesson was just about two hours, I had Math then Languages, after was History then finally Sciences. We had one lunch break for 45 minutes.

I'm going to die today.

I sighed heavily and walked to the school building slowly with the weight of the bag on my back and the wind sweeping past my face. I missed the sun; the trees in this place created an impregnable shield for sunlight to come in. The clouds would sometimes break away for some sunlight, but the only opening there to let sunlight come through was beyond the front gate. My gaze at beyond the gate looked suspicious to the guards patrolling the yards; I shifted my gaze at the school building and avoided eye contact.

Entering the school, there were more guards posted by the door checking our bags and pockets. This made me extremely uncomfortable; the woman guard scratched through my bag and checked my pockets (with no regard to the manner she was doing it.)

The school looked the same with every door I passed or every corner I turned; which would make it very easy to be late to class with everything looking the same. Students were trying to find their homerooms, many of which bumped into me and roughly I might add. Some of the students that did looked incredibly scary, and I was scared that if I had complained I might be flattened.

As I kept walking I recognised the guy with piercings on his face from my Confessional session, Gajeel, I think his name was, except he had them taken out and his long black hair had been chopped off. Normal didn't suit him. He noticed I was staring, his response made me quake in fear.

"What are you staring at you Bitch!" he yelled.

Startling the other students I kept my head down and quickly apologised. I sprinted off down the hall to avoid any further confrontation but stopped as I heard another voice.

"Calm down you shithead!"

My body swung around as I heard the familiar voice. The blur of pink filled my sight and gnarling teeth become the second thing I saw.

"You wanna start with me you pyromaniac?!" Gajeel yelled.

"You started this fight when you yelled at her!"

The boys were centimetres away from starting a fist fight. I quickly dashed to the pink haired pyro and grazed my fingers on his shoulder "Natsu" I mumbled.

He didn't listen and kept staring at Gajeel, growling like a beast. I put my hand on his shoulder this time. "Natsu stop." I said with my voice trembling.

He looked over his shoulder and caught sight of my face. His onyx eyes that displayed anger and ferocity had simmered down and dulled. He was about to say something until I felt a hand grabbing my arm.

I was shoved back by one of the men that had escorted me yesterday. Two more of his co-workers roughly pushed themselves though the crowd that had gathered when the commotion had started. The large men both pushed Natsu and Gajeel against the floor with their arms twisted to their backs. Yelps and hisses emitted from the boys and my own pain of the man's grip was ignored from what my eyes were witnessing.

"I understand your love for violence, but obviously your peanut sized brains don't understand where you currently are" appeared another voice.

My fear escalated. This man was beyond intimidating, he was fairly normal looking but his stature was big and his eyes were cold and vicious. His voice was deep and sent shivers down my spine.

"Greetings Mr Dragneel, Mr Redfox, I am Azuma-sensei; Head of Discipline. You boys are my first cases of the school year, well done." He said formerly with much indifference.

He turned to me and my face felt cold, I could feel myself paling in front of him "Careful miss Heartfilia, getting involved in trivial things like this might just get you into deeper trouble."

He snapped his fingers and the hand that was holding tightly on my arm was let go and left me almost falling to the floor, I stumbled but managed to stay on my feet. I rubbed my arm soothingly and remembered that my arm was still bruised from yesterday's handlings. My eyes lifted up from my arm to see the two boys being taken away outside the school building. I clicked my tongue in distaste, going to such extremities over a fight that didn't even happen. I was close to stopping it anyway.

Remembering the softening of Natsu's eyes reassured me he was going to back down. Natsu… Why did he do that in the first place? Was he itching for a fight or something? Why did he…

"Don't give up. We're in this together."

"We're in this together." I mumbled.

I didn't know what he meant at first but it's all clear now. These people who were called our teachers and our disciplinarians and even our own principal, they are here to do what they are paid to do. That's to torture us. And they ENJOY it. So if they are not looking out for us, then it's up to us to look out for another.

Class seemed like an eternity, it was so close to lunch I could almost hear my stomach yell across the room. 'Just one more period' I told myself.

As I sat at my desk my eyes immediately looked outside the window, fortunately enough my desk was right next to it. High on the second floor I could peer beyond the fences into the lush forest. Although something else caught my eye, I saw two figures and I squinted to concentrate. I rubbed my eye at the realisation of who the figures were.

In the midst of a hot summer's day, Natsu and Gajeel were being severely punished physically. Battered and bruised the boys were digging up trenches and filling them up again. The hard ground made every movement harder than the next and by the looks of it the boys have been working ever since Azuma-sensei took them in this morning.

I lost my appetite. How could I think of food when Natsu was out there suffering because he was looking out for me? I looked over to the two and they were heading towards the boys dorm, what a relief.

"Miss Heartfilia, unless you'd like to join the labour outside, I suggest you pay attention." The teacher, I think his name was Rustyrose-sensei.

My head snapped to the direction to the board with no hesitation and Rustyrose continued on with his class.

My mind didn't concentrate though. It just did a direct U-turn back to Natsu. I felt my cheeks warming up at the thought of him. The boy could really have bad issues with his pyromania, yet why does that make me more curious about him?

Trying to look like I was concentrating, the bell rang signalling lunch time. I almost sprinted to the cafeteria. All thoughts were diminished as my stomach overpowered my brain. Although my Stomach never had a nose and the smell of lunch was less than pleasing. I think it was meatloaf… I think. Sat at an empty table hoping I get Levy or Erza to sit by me… Or even Natsu.

I shook my head furiously. I huffed and shoved a piece of whatever in my mouth, I had confirmed it wasn't meatloaf.

"Gross, what is that?"

My body stiffened at the familiar voice. My head looked up to the pink haired boy that had been plaguing my mind since this morning. He was in a new clean uniform and probably had to shower after the manual work he did. My eyes darted to the scratches and bruises along his arms. I felt terrible.

"I'm so sorry Natsu." I said softly.

His happy smile, which seemed to be the first I've seen of his since I've met him, disappeared. I couldn't look him in the eyes, I would cry if I did. I felt the bench move and looked up to his face which was level to mine.

"Don't be. I honestly don't care what they do to me in here." He said.

He smiled again, I liked it. It was warm, joyful and natural. Like everything he had experienced this morning was nothing.

"If the best they can do is make me work then fine, I don't mind. Because in the end I protected my friend and that's all that matters."

"You hardly know me though. How am I your friend?"

I admit that sounded harsh, it wasn't my intention to make it sound like that. He kept smiling though; I couldn't bring myself to be mean to him with that goofy smile on his face.

"We both have something in common. We both deserve a better life."

The words never hit harder, I wanted to cry at that simple truth. I did deserve one. I craved for it.

"There are some other kids in here that deserve better lives too. I think we should befriend them and start a group." he suggested and interrupted my thoughts.

That wasn't a bad idea. The thought of having more people having your back would help. Although in a school like this you have to be wary.

Then it hit me "I know two people to start with." I said smiling at him.

"Yosh! We're in this together" he said cheerfully, almost making that line of his a motto.

I recited.

"We're in this together"

#felony of the heart #fairy tail #fairy tail nalu #nalu #fairy tail fanfic #fairy tail fanfiction

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alicescripts · 6 years

Text

Part 3, Chapter 6: “This Isn’t It”

Alice: I don’t know what to say. I think this is it.

Keisha: Is this it? This might be it.

Alice: The story that we had been working on with Tamara Levitts at the LA Times, the one that laid out everything about Bay and Creek and Thistle – that story’s out now. Exhaustively researched. Connections and history even I hadn’t known about, and I worked for Bay and Creek for years.

Keisha: (- mosquitoes) took what was inside of us and injected it into the whole country. There’s no way down from here. Is this it? [sighs] This might be it.

Alice: I don’t know what to say. I think this is it.

Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink. Performed by Jasika Nicole and Erica Livingston. Produced by Disparition. Part 3, chapter 6: “This Isn’t It”.

Alice: Keisha screamed and pounded the ceiling of the cab. She sounded the truck horn, which was less like a holler of happiness and more like an enormous calf (lowing) for its mother. A mournful sound that prophesized what would happen to us next. But in that moment, we were carried by the raw feeling of it.

She didn’t know what to do with her hands, which was a little scary because she was the one driving. The truck (wagged) with her celebratory movements. “Careful!” I said. But I felt myself jumping in own skin, too. Who had time for careful when this much happiness was there for us to grab.

Keisha: We’re done. That’s what I was thinking. What the air in my mouth tasted like. What every sound that came from my mouth said. Even when I was too excited to form them into words. We are done! We get to go home. And before us, a life. Not that our problems would be fixed overnight. Even in my giddy moments, I didn’t believe in magic, not the sorcerer kind. But I did believe in magic as it exists. Sleight of hand, a triumph of human ingenuity and determination. Someone staring into a mirror, eyes bleary, in their third hour of practicing the same simple (palming) of a coin. I believed in the magic of hard work and sacrifice, and hadn’t we worked hard? And hadn’t we sacrificed?

Alice: I thought to turn on the radio and hear the result of what we had done. Someone sang to us in Spanish over a fluttering guitar, a song about a forest that was actually about a marriage. I spun the dial. Finally a news station. The markets were up, or maybe they were down, I couldn’t see how it could possibly matter. “Why aren’t they talking about this?” Keisha asked, and I didn’t have an answer for her. I kept searching. Ah, another news station. The latest on a contentious mayoral race in Philadelphia.

What was happening? The world had been broken open, but life was going on as though it hadn’t.

Keisha: I pulled off the road and into the parking lot of a diner. I needed to see that this was having an effect on people. It had to. It had to.

We went inside and a smiling woman told us to sit anywhere. The TVs were on. Two movie stars were getting married, and there was live coverage of the ceremony. On another channel, the president was flying to Phoenix to talk jobs numbers.

Nothing about Bay and Creek, or about Thistle. Nothing about the government’s complicity and murder after murder. “Hey,” I said to a man at the counter. He looked up at me with the expression of anyone when they were annoyed by a stranger. “Yeah?” he said. “What do you think of this stuff that came out?” I asked. “The government funding a secret program? Serial killers living on military bases?” His eyebrows fluttered, concerned. He put up his hands placatingly. “I-I don’t go much into politics,” he said. I didn’t know what to say to that.

Alice: I had less hope than Keisha going in, because my career in this area had guarded me against hope, but even I couldn’t believe what was happening here. “Hey!” I shouted. “Do none of you read the news? Didn’t you see your government is conspiring against you?” We were asked quite energetically to leave the diner. I might have grabbed a guy’s shirt and shaking him, I don’t recall. For the next hour, I resembled a character from a cheap science fiction movie, running up to folks on the street and asking them to acknowledge the horror in the news, and none of them would. They set their eyes straight. They kept moving. “What is wrong with all of you?” screamed. “What is wrong with all of you?”

But it appeared from the outside that they were fine. The question that the world had was, hey what’s wrong with you?

Keisha: I sat in the truck. I reached within myself and found only despair. I had thought it was a matter of knowledge. That if all of them only knew. But that wasn’t it at all. What I realized in that moment, in that truck, is that all of them already had known.

OK, maybe not the specifics, not the names, but the shape of it. Oh, they had known the shape of it for a long time. It is possible to know something and then choose to not know it. And all of us, all of us together had known and then chosen not to know. So giving them the information had only confirmed their chosen ignorance.

That set us wondering. What was left? That had been our plan. There hadn’t been a backup. I didn’t see a way forward. So we just moved forward. Moved for months. Months of driving back and forth across the country, without a clear idea of what even we were doing anymore, why we were even still out here.

What was left for us? For anyone who hoped for the good out of this country?

A month after, out in the desert near Slab City, where something monstrous sleeps under the sand and the cargo trains howl through the long empty, and the golf courses dot out over the wasteland. And the Los Angeles department of water and power, that greedy giant, builds its power plants and its miles and miles of lines, carrying the lights to Hollywood, the air conditioning to Malibu.

We go for a hike in the Native American land near Palm Springs. A man sits by the trail a few miles up into the hills.

“It’s so beautiful out here,” he says as we pass. “It really is,” says Alice. “They can’t take that away from us, can they? Ha ha ha,” he said.

I think about whose land we’re on and how that story went. But I nod because – what else could I do?

Alice: Two months later. Easter, North Carolina. Not quite the seaside but not the urbane research triangle either. Here there are farms and boarded up main streets, but signs still of life. A giant bird painted on the side of an old brick building. The animal’s proportions and posture awkward, but its scale magnificent. A faux retro motel with pastel paints in its windows, a monument to color against the farm dirt planes.

We stop and eat our lunch on the side of the road watching a farmer use a tremendous machine to plow acres and acres of field on his own. He has headphones on. I wonder which true crime podcast he’s listening to.

We started to talk about after. Not after our victory, but after our surrender. What if we gave up? What if we just found some quiet place to live out our lives, away from a war we could never win? It could be the two of us again, and we could live knowing but choosing not to know about the brutality left behind. There could be peace in giving up.

Keisha: Three months later, we pass through Louisville, where I don’t drink bourbon and don’t see Horse (one), but do eat some good Ethiopian food at a place downtown with white plastic tables. It comes served in a styrofoam takeout box, the injera folded over and under the stews. Here in the far far north of the south – really only the south in name, since it sits on the border with Indiana, which we can agree is one of the least southern states. Louisville is closer to Detroit than it is to Atlanta.

The cook comes out for a smoke break, nods politely at us as we eat the food he just made. “It’s delicious,” I say to him. He smiles. “Family recipes. Three generations.” He nods at his northern city and its southern clothes. “A couple decades ago, none of them would eat it. And now they want to make sure it’s authentic enough.” He shrugs.

Alice: Four months later in Chicago. Chicago looks like a seaside town, which is a real trick for the Midwest.

But that lake. I had grown up thinking “lake” and envisioning the puddles I swam in at camp, but this is an expanse. Even from the top of the Magnificent Mile skyscrapers, you still can’t see the other side. It holds frost within it, so even in that sweaty summer air, approaching it is like touching ice. You can feel the cold lift off of it from 20 feet away.

A woman comes directly from the jogging path on the shore and flings herself into the freezing water. “Ah!” she shouts at us. “Oh shit,” I say back. “It feels amazing,” she says. “Really?” I say. “Or terrible,” she says. But the kind of terrible that’s amazing.” She slaps the water and screams again.

Keisha: We drive. And as we drive, I realize. We’re not alone. All of these people, all of these people in all of these places, they are waiting to be good. They are waiting for the world to be good. What they need is a way forward.

It’s not that they’re choosing not to know. It’s that they don’t know what to do with what they know. I had thought it was a matter of knowledge, but it’s a matter of organization. It’s a matter of Praxis.

I thought about a woman slapping her palms upon Lake Michigan, and a man cooking food from Ethiopia in a rust belt city of Bourbon. I thought about the people that come to the desert in California because they have nothing, and the people who come to the desert because they have everything. And the people who come to the desert, because out past the highways, you can cause all sorts of trouble. I thought about people who grow food in North Carolina, digging their hands into the dirt, and you sit down to eat with the smell of soil lingering on their palms.

We are a country defined more by distance than by culture. But that distance is defined by the people in it. We give context to our miles. We are the fine parts that make up the heavy machine that heaves global events forward.

I thought about hands. I thought about thousands and millions of hands, reaching for the spatula on our eight at the grill top of a diner, and reaching into a toilet at hour twelve at the gas station, and reaching up to put the can of beans on the shelf at the supermarket, and reaching down to help their child cross the street.

I thought about millions of hands and what they could do if they all reached the same direction and grasped. And that’s when I knew. It was as clear to me as a memory, as unshakeable as my own breath. We were going to organize, starting with us and moving from there.

This was a country made up of a distance of people, and they could not be changed through headlines. They had to be organized, one by one by one.

And maybe some part of me had spent the last year waiting for Praxis to save us. But not anymore. We would have to become Praxis ourselves.

That was it. That was it then.

Today’s quote: The Rubicon we know was a very insignificant stream to look at. Its significance lay entirely in certain invisible conditions.” From Middlemarch by George Eliot. Thanks for listening.

#alice isn't dead #alice isn't dead transcripts #part 3 #part 3 chapter 6 #this isn't it

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180abroad · 6 years

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Day 100: Welcome to York

Today, on our 100th day abroad, we finally went into town to start exploring York proper. It turned out to be a fun day filled with cobbled streets, chocolate, noodles, and football.

It was a sunny day with an almost cloudless pale-blue sky. As we entered the old town, we slipped into a stream of tourists making their way in as well. It was nice--enough people for the city to feel lively but not overwhelming.

We got a nice view of York Minster along the way. We would visit it another day, but for now we enjoyed gazing up at the soaring white-stone architecture. Our actual first stop was much more touristy: the York Chocolate Story.

The Chocolate Story was surprisingly fun and educational given the lukewarm reviews by Rick Steves and other travel guides. We were lead in a small group through a series of themed rooms, learning about the history of chocolate and its special connection to the city of York.

Standing in a hall made up to look like a Victorian street, our guide explained how it was only relatively recently that chocolate became a food. From its ancient Aztec origins, through its migration to early-modern Europe, and into the early 1800s, “chocolate” was a brewed beverage like coffee or tea.

It was only in the mid-1800s that an English Quaker named Joseph Fry discovered the secret to making “edible chocolate”--a novelty that took the continent by storm. In York, several entrepreneurial Quaker families developed their own chocolate empires, including Terry’s--of Chocolate Orange fame--and Rowntree’s--inventor of the Kit-Kat.

We got to taste a recreation of the original Rowntree’s chocolate bar recipe. There were bits of crushed cocoa nibs mixed into the chocolate, giving it a lumpy texture, and I don’t think any of us expected it to taste particularly great. But it was actually really good--dark but not bitter, and the nibs added a complex, roasted flavor. Not the best chocolate I’ve ever had, but almost certainly in the top half. It seems like the most important parts of chocolatiering were nailed down almost immediately, and everything since then has just been a matter of tweaking.

Next, we sat through a planetarium-style presentation on the Aztec roots of chocolate, including a sample of drinking chocolate prepared in the Aztec fashion: cold, spicy, and bitter.

After going through a couple more rooms dedicated to the various chocolate families of York--and more chocolate samples--we went downstairs to the chocolate “factory.”

As we took a crash course on the stages of chocolate production, we got to taste some cocoa nibs as well as some unsweetened 100% dark chocolate. The nibs were bitter but not bad. The unsweetened chocolate--which is just nibs that have been heated and compressed--was abominable. It was somehow horribly bitter and disgustingly bland at the same time, and the taste stuck to the inside of my mouth for minutes afterward. Jessica kind of liked it.

According to our guide, it’s actually quite hard to find 100% dark chocolate in stores. Only a small percentage of people like it, and chocolate companies just don’t think it’s worth the cost to make and distribute it.

A few years ago my dad found an image of a “Scotch wheel” showing all the flavor profiles of Scotch whisky. Jessica isn’t a big fan of Scotch (yet), but we finally found a wheel that we can all appreciate. The guides are also chocolatiers, so Jessica got to ask some advanced questions and generally talk shop with him while we waited for the last section of the visit to be ready.

The guided part of our tour finally over, it was time for us to make our own “chocolate lollies.” The chocolate of the day was Belgian white. Neither of us are big fans of white chocolate, but our guide insisted that we give it a try. Even people who don’t like white chocolate usually like Belgian white chocolate, he said. And he was right: it was really, really good. We each picked out a colored stick, then after he poured a circle of chocolate over one end, we got to sprinkle our choice of four toppings over it.

While we waited for our lollies to harden, we got to watch one of the other chocolatiers make a batch of chocolate truffles with a mango-cream filling. It was quite interesting, and Jessica was vindicated to learn that he too didn’t like eating chocolate despite loving to make it. (Though to be fair, Jessica does enjoy the occasional chocolate, while this guy gets violently ill from it.) We were a fairly small group, so we had to eat several truffles each. I mean, it would have been rude not to...

Our tickets to the Chocolate Story included a complimentary scoop of ice cream from the bar downstairs, but we decided to save it for later. For now, we had a date with some glass cats.

When we arrived at our flat, our host had left us a note telling us to come by the York Glass Shop for a free gift when we had time. We weren’t sure what to expect, but having enjoyed our visit to a glass shop in Bath, we were tantalized by the prospect of a running theme.

Our free gift was one of their glass cats, which came in black as well as birthstone colors. It was Jessica's turn to get a glass cat, so she picked out an aquamarine one. We also got some stained-glass bookmarks as presents for our moms.

With our glass gifts in hand, we walked around the rest of the Shambles, York's preserved medieval merchant street lined with tweed fashion boutiques, cheesy Viking stores, and everything in between.

For our first lunch out in this medieval city known for Vikings, roasts, and fried dough, we went to Wagamama, an Anglo-Japanese fusion chain. We had heard about it before, but we didn't actually know what it was. We enjoyed some yaki-soba, yaki-udon, and a plate of pulled pork gyoza. We laughed at the thought that this was probably meant to be exotic, but to us Californians it was practically a taste of home.

Our last big stop of the day was Clifford's Tower, the partially ruined stone keep that is all that remains of the old York Castle. If the Tower doesn't look quite like a typical English castle to you, you'd be right. It's design was inspired by French castles of the time. The chief architect is believed to be the Frenchman Henry de Reyns, who was also responsible for designing much of Westminster Abbey.

There wasn't a lot to see, but the view from the top was great.

In the lot below, a pop-up Shakespearean theater was being assembled. We checked, and unfortunately the first show was the day after we'd be leaving York.

Perhaps the most interesting story the castle had to tell--and certainly the most chilling--was about a pogrom that took place in 1190, when the castle was still made of wood. Anti-Semitism was erupting throughout the country in the wake of Richard the Lionheart's coronation and the start of the Third Crusade. When one such riot began in York, the entire Jewish community--around 150 men, women, and children--took refuge in the keep.

A bloodthirsty mob--including knights and commoners alike--assaulted the castle to try and drag them out. Rather than renounce their faith or allow themselves be torn apart by the mob, the people inside chose a third option. Before the last men took their own lives, they set the keep ablaze, turning it into a funeral pyre that would burn their remains before they could be desecrated by the rioters outside. There were no survivors.

Feeling it was high time for some more spirit-lifting chocolate, we headed back to the Shambles to claim our free ice cream and some hot cocoa.

Finally, we circled back to the Minster, where we saw a conspicuously lackadaisical statue of Emperor Constantine. York is unusual in that it was originally founded as a Roman military base--there was no preexisting local settlement in the area. Constantine was actually declared emperor in York, and the Minster was later built on the foundations of his military headquarters. Near the statue stands an ancient Roman pillar unearthed from the Minster’s foundations during a 20th-century retrofit.

Satisfied with everything we'd done that day, we headed home to watch the Poland vs. Senegal game of the World Cup. Poland played valiantly and scored two goals to Senegal’s one. Unfortunately, one of those two was an own goal, so Senegal took the win.

Next Post: York

Last Post: To York (Relax, Restock, and Reassess)

#180abroad #york #england #britain #castles #chocolate

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

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Bartender Lucas Assis Wants to Save TikTok From Celebrity Tequila

For more stories on TikTok, check out our whole series here.

Like many employees in the restaurant industry, Los Angeles-based bartender Lucas Assis found himself out of work at the onset of the pandemic. Although no stranger to social media, like many across the globe, Assis discovered an unexpected source of camaraderie in the video-sharing platform TikTok.

While Assis has always had an Instagram account, he initially regarded TikTok as an “app where kids would go and just dance,” he confessed in our recent interview. After friends finally persuaded him to post on TikTok, Assis fast became a fan favorite, with a rapidly growing audience that numbers over 30,000 followers today.

TikTok proved to be the perfect medium for Assis, providing him a stage to indulge his love of storytelling. Striking a tone both approachable and authoritative, Assis’s videos are engaging and educational. While he often shakes up classic cocktails and regales viewers with their notable histories, Assis also isn’t afraid to offer his unvarnished opinions on modern spirits, touting himself as “the Brazilian guy who hates celebrity mezcal and tequila.”

Below, Assis shares with VinePair how bartending on TikTok has gotten him through this difficult time, provides a foolproof way to identify quality tequila, and dishes on the international destination he’s headed to drink once travel restrictions are relaxed.

When did you first start using TikTok? What has your experience been like so far?

I want to say it was September of 2020 when I really started posting on TikTok. I was so surprised about how engaging the social media platform is, from comments back and forth but also networking. We call it the BarTok family �� it’s a bunch of bartenders who get together and we have a group text where we’re always texting each other. … It’s created such an awesome community. There’s not a lot of craft bartenders on TikTok, which is what I really do, but in the real world there’s this weird animosity between club bartenders and craft bartenders. … I love that on TikTok we’re all working together.

Has using TikTok affected you personally?

Absolutely, especially during this whole time being out of work. I think it’s really kept me going on the creative side — by not losing track of creating cocktails or losing my taste buds while not in the [restaurant] environment everyday. I’ve been contacted [by] and have done a bunch of tastings with different brands, things that we would do on a weekly basis in a restaurant but that I’m doing now on a more personal level.

@thelucasassis_

Let’s talk about how to Drink Mezcal! #mezcal #mezcalartesanal #tequila #mexico #craftbartender #learnontiktok

♬ original sound – Lucas Assis

What do you see for your TikTok account in the future?

For me, in the beginning, what I try to tell myself — and I see this a lot from other people on TikTok, that they’re really stressed about the views — is I’m more worried about the engagement. So I definitely see myself doing this for a while. I often say that I don’t want TikTok to be my only business. I want it to be part of my business. I love to use TikTok as part of almost like a portfolio, and have cocktails that have history, [combined] with my own recipes, my knowledge of mezcal and tequila, and try to capitalize on those things while using TikTok.

What’s your most viewed TikTok video to date?

I did a four-part series of etiquette at the bar, things like why people cover the tops of their drinks. For one of the videos, I [asked] why some bartenders put an upside down shot glass next to your drink. It’s something that you don’t really see that much— it’s a really big thing on the East Coast, but in Los Angeles, I’ve been to just a couple bars that do it. So I just shared that it means that the next shot is free, kind of a way to communicate to the other bartenders that for this person, the next drink is on us. It’s a super-simple video. It’s not a cocktail video, but it’s gotten like over 500,000 views. After that one, it’s [the video] where I say don’t drink celebrity tequila and explain why.

You’re very discerning about mezcal and tequila. What initially drew you into the category?

My wife is Mexican. Her parents are Mexican. She was born here, but she has really strong ties to Mexico and we’ve traveled a lot to Mexico. We would always land around Guadalajara, and I just really started falling in love with the food mostly, and then I got into mezcal and tequila. One of the chefs that I worked for here in Los Angeles was one of the most knowledgeable guys about mezcal and tequila, so I started picking his brain and then really fell in love with the [spirits], too. I was able to travel down to Tequila and visit a couple of the distilleries that he knows there, and talk to the mezcaleros in Oaxaca. I also got to visit the Del Maguey distillery, where they make the Pechuga mezcal, which is one of the most rare kinds of mezcal. I really fell in love with the industry and I feel really strong about celebrity tequila, which I understand is a great business, but it’s also killing that industry.

What would you tell consumers who want to be more thoughtful about how they spend money when it comes to tequila and/or educate themselves about the spirit?

So it’s a really simple thing. Tequila is still very much regulated in Mexico and every tequila bottle has a four-digit number somewhere at the bottom. They’ll have ‘NOM’ and then a four-digit code. If you look that number up online, it will tell you where the tequila is made and every single tequila that’s made at the same distillery. That code is a distillery code. If there are literally 100 tequilas being made in this distillery, [then] this is a mega-distillery; they’re likely using diffusers and additives. … It’s overwhelming getting into tequila because there’s like 150 brands and you don’t know which one is good, but I can tell you there are like 10 that are still made the way it’s supposed to be. They are family-owned and the people really care about maturing the agave, they really care about the spirit. So if you check online, and there’s one tequila or two tequilas made at that distillery, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s going to be a good product.

@thelucasassis_

Let’s make my favorite cocktail. Another quintessentially New Orleans Cocktail, the Sazerac. #cocktails #bartendersoftiktok #neworleans

♬ original sound – Lucas Assis

What’s the drink that made you fall in love with cocktail culture?

The Sazerac, it’s my favorite cocktail — I really believe that the mix of sugar, anise of the absinthe, and whiskey or Cognac (sometimes both) is really just the perfect cocktail.

What’s your favorite cocktail book?

“Regarding Cocktails” by Sasha Petraske.

What’s the first drinking destination you’re headed to once travel restrictions ease up?

Oaxaca, Mexico! I absolutely love that city and state. The food is so different from anywhere in Mexico; the culture, the art, the people are so kind. But most importantly, the mezcal. I can’t wait to go back to learn more and more about this spirit and be able to taste it from the source. Independent mezcaleros have really been suffering with the stop on tourism and we’ve got to do everything we can to keep the art alive.

The article Bartender Lucas Assis Wants to Save TikTok From Celebrity Tequila appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/lucas-assis-profile-mezcal-tequila-tiktok/

0 notes

johnboothus · 3 years

Text

Bartender Lucas Assis Wants to Save TikTok From Celebrity Tequila

For more stories on TikTok, check out our whole series here.

When did you first start using TikTok? What has your experience been like so far?

I want to say it was September of 2020 when I really started posting on TikTok. I was so surprised about how engaging the social media platform is, from comments back and forth but also networking. We call it the BarTok family — it’s a bunch of bartenders who get together and we have a group text where we’re always texting each other. … It’s created such an awesome community. There’s not a lot of craft bartenders on TikTok, which is what I really do, but in the real world there’s this weird animosity between club bartenders and craft bartenders. … I love that on TikTok we’re all working together.

Has using TikTok affected you personally?

@thelucasassis_

Let’s talk about how to Drink Mezcal! #mezcal #mezcalartesanal #tequila #mexico #craftbartender #learnontiktok

♬ original sound – Lucas Assis

What do you see for your TikTok account in the future?

What’s your most viewed TikTok video to date?

You’re very discerning about mezcal and tequila. What initially drew you into the category?

What would you tell consumers who want to be more thoughtful about how they spend money when it comes to tequila and/or educate themselves about the spirit?

@thelucasassis_

Let’s make my favorite cocktail. Another quintessentially New Orleans Cocktail, the Sazerac. #cocktails #bartendersoftiktok #neworleans

♬ original sound – Lucas Assis

What’s the drink that made you fall in love with cocktail culture?

The Sazerac, it’s my favorite cocktail — I really believe that the mix of sugar, anise of the absinthe, and whiskey or Cognac (sometimes both) is really just the perfect cocktail.

What’s your favorite cocktail book?

“Regarding Cocktails” by Sasha Petraske.

What’s the first drinking destination you’re headed to once travel restrictions ease up?

The article Bartender Lucas Assis Wants to Save TikTok From Celebrity Tequila appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/lucas-assis-profile-mezcal-tequila-tiktok/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/bartender-lucas-assis-wants-to-save-tiktok-from-celebrity-tequila

0 notes

easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

Text

Eric Rivera Is Playing the Game

Selling pantry items, like spices, has helped keep Addo afloat.

Despite everything, the Seattle chef has found a way to successfully run his restaurant Addo — and he has some advice for the rest of the industry

Eric Rivera does not run a traditional kitchen. At his Seattle restaurant, Addo, the menu, cuisine, and concept change constantly. So when Seattle restaurants began to close in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, Rivera was already ahead of the game.

Rivera was 4,000 miles away giving a culinary tour in Puerto Rico when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency due to rising COVID-19 cases. In between staging meals and teaching his guests about the island’s culinary history, he set up his phone as a hotspot and began emailing clients and staff to rearrange the coming weeks of planned dining events and promotions, determining which could be salvaged as takeout and which needed to be completely restructured or worse, canceled.

On March 11, Rivera returned to Seattle and a calendar with reservations booked well into the next year. Addo used the Tock app for dinner reservations, but soon began using it to schedule carryout instead. Addo’s lunch catering, which amounted to about 30 percent of his business, was no longer feasible since all the high-end tech offices in the area closed, so Rivera began to make easy-to-reheat take-home meals to accommodate those newly working from home. He made and sold pantry items, like CSA boxes, yeast kits, and fresh-made pasta. He even hired his own delivery drivers to avoid working with gig-economy food delivery apps, which he believes take too much from both restaurants and drivers.

Adjusting to changes at the drop of a hat is common in most kitchens, but it’s something Rivera was used to well before he started working in restaurants. In the late aughts, Rivera ran his own mortgage insurance and financial services business when the Great Recession hit. He was an early success by most American standards, running his own offices in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. “There’s this game-of-life kind of thing — you’re raised to believe that you need the nice house with the picket fence, the car. Checkmark, checkmark, checkmark. I had that when I was 24.”

Rivera recalls being at Costco picking up office supplies in 2008 when he got a call from an employee; they wanted him back in the office immediately. Rivera was surprised by the urgency. “No man, leave that shit there. We’re done,” his employee said.

“What? What do you mean?”

“We’re done. Everything’s closed, all the lines of credit. Everything’s done.”

Rivera felt he had to “learn to play the game.”

Rivera’s customers vanished almost immediately, and his business dwindled. He was forced to shift primarily to insurance. He was depressed. To save some money, he started cooking all of his meals at home and blogging about his successes and failures in the kitchen, mostly posting pictures of his process. He quickly amassed a bit of an audience and built a dialogue with some of the followers who were curious about the recipes he shared. “So then it became like more of a serious infatuation that I started to have,” he says. “It’s sort of what started to get me out of that spot.” Motivated by how quickly his skills had developed, he began to consider a career in food, and in 2010 he attended culinary school at the Art Institute in Seattle.

Acclimating to unfamiliar surroundings was nothing new to Rivera. His father was in the military for 30 years, and, as is common with that profession, the family moved around a lot. In order to build a bit of stability, when Rivera was 7 his parents chose to settle in Olympia, Washington — just over 60 miles south of Seattle — for a few years, and his grandparents left Puerto Rico for the Pacific Northwest to help with the kids. Growing up in Olympia, which was 82.5 percent white in the most recent census and more than 90 percent white in 1990, was challenging for Rivera’s Puerto Rican family. Fellow transplants to the Cascade region will tell you about the Seattle Freeze — if they haven’t already adopted it themselves. “In Seattle, in Washington, being passive aggressive, it’s an art form here,” Rivera says. “However, in my culture, if you have a fucking problem with somebody, you tell them in two seconds. You tell them to go fuck themselves. It’s over, it’s done with.” Rivera remembers the move to Washington as an uncomfortable transition. He recalls going to school and quickly realizing he and his family stood out from his predominately white classmates.

Rivera felt he had to “learn to play the game,” as he puts it. Beyond the regular curriculum of a student, he remembers playing the part of a young anthropologist, trying to learn about his peers’ preferred music, movies, food, and anything else that would allow him to fit in. “My grandpa would sit me in front of the TV and be like, ‘Sound like them, not like us!’ Meaning get rid of the accent, learn their shit.” However, while adapting to his surroundings, Rivera learned to embrace his own culture more fully. His grandfather taught him to cook at an early age. It wasn’t always easy to get the right ingredients, but he still managed to make Puerto Rican food, even in Olympia. When his grandparents eventually moved back to Puerto Rico, Rivera spent summers on the island and learned to move between the two worlds.

Rivera is selling rice, beans, and other Puero Rican pantry staples online.

The Addo space has transformed from restaurant to storage facility.

After culinary school, Rivera started working in restaurants, spending three years in Chicago as the director of culinary research operations with the Alinea Group. Early on, he began to see cracks in the way the industry was run. After an injury, Rivera was forced out of the kitchen and went without pay for months; again and again, he had to fight for meager raises. “The games you have to play are bullshit,” he says. “You have to go to the kitchens and stage for free. Dude, people that are younger and that come from different cultures and backgrounds can’t afford that — are you kidding me?”

After seven years in the industry, Rivera was ready to do his own thing, on his own terms. In the summer of 2017, he started running a chef’s table out of his Seattle apartment. He was unsure if diners would be interested in such a stripped-down eating experience, in which Rivera covered all aspects of service, but he was confident in himself. At the same time, he was running pop-ups out of any space he could get in town, cooking on panini grills in the back of coffee shops if need be. The hustle and desire to expand eventually led him to seek out his own space in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. He called it Addo.

Addo was an unconventional restaurant from the start. Although the chef’s table still existed in the new space, and you could still reserve space for a birthday party as you would at a more traditional restaurant, Addo relied on themed dinners booked months in advance. The menu changed based on current events, trends, and whatever popped into his head: He served a Pacific Northwest meal based on the grade-school computer game The Oregon Trail and multi-course dinners themed around Harry Potter. In an Instagram Live interview with Tom Colicchio in June, he described his process: “It’s truly head on a swivel. There were nights when we were a dine-in restaurant that we were doing three to five things a night because we had to. Here’s steak night, here’s a 20-course tasting menu, here’s Puerto Rican food, here’s a pasta thing we’re doing and there’s another thing.”

Puerto Rican food became a more significant part of Rivera’s professional life when, months after launching Addo, he expanded with Lechoncito, a side business that specializes in perfectly crispy and moist lechon, chicharron de pollo, and the famous jibarito inspired by his time in Chicago. Like Addo, Lechoncito also started as a pop-up, with a brief stint inside a whiskey distillery, but now Lechoncito food is sold through Addo a few times a month.

Although Rivera has mulled over the idea of making Puerto Rican food his primary focus, he appreciates that by having it as just one of the things he does, he’s not beholden to fickle food trends that could celebrate the cuisine one day and forget it the next. “[Puerto Rican cuisine] doesn’t stand out, because it’s just me talking about it or yelling about it, telling people how cool it is. That can only go so far,” he says. “There’s not enough people representing it or [who] know what they’re talking about ... thats why I have to be this fucking guy, that has to operate at this really high level to get that badge that says, ‘He knows what he’s talking about, he’s worked at a place with three Michelin stars.’”

Still, there’s a loyal clientele for Lechoncito. On a recent Sunday, Rivera greeted regulars and fawned over their dogs as they arrived to pick up orders of a sold-out whole-roasted pig, big-as-your-head chicharrones, and arroz con garbanzos. And since mid-July, Puerto Rican food has become an even bigger business for Rivera.

On July 9, at a roundtable for Hispanic business leaders, Goya CEO Robert Unanue praised President Donald Trump, quickly leading many, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to call for a Goya boycott. Rivera saw an opportunity.

Rivera has a knack for social media, which he uses to create content for events, speak out about problems in the restaurant industry, or just post pictures of delicious food and cute dogs. As the Goya news and the hashtag #GoyaBoycott spread, he tweeted about his ability to ship pantry staples like sofrito, sazon, and adobo across the United States. Within hours, these tweets had been retweeted thousands of times, and Rivera made around 1,000 sales in the days following. These days, Addo resembles a warehouse space, with Rivera and a couple staff packing up spices, dry goods, and even house plants while Bad Bunny plays and the Puerto Rican flag hangs visibly from the front door. Online, Rivera jokingly calls himself “Amazing Primo,” a play on Amazon Prime.

“We’re punching above our weight class now,” Rivera says of Addo’s pandemic operation.

Despite the struggles restaurants across the country are facing as they adjust to pandemic restrictions, Addo is busy. Rivera credits his staff, who went from cooking and serving to packing boxes and printing shipping labels, for Addo’s survival. “Is it what I want to be doing? Absolutely not. But I don’t think you have a choice sometimes, and I’m just really grateful we have an option to keep this going ... if anyone was set up to be able to be pivoted, it was us,” says Ingrid Lyublinsky, Addo’s director of operations. “We’ve been doing it since the get-go.”

Addo chef John McGoldrick likens the constantly changing circumstances to the animated show Rick and Morty: “We’re just like a bunch of Mortys and chef Eric is Rick, sending us down a new portal every day.”

Although operating as a makeshift bodega may not be ideal for every kitchen, Rivera believes this is where restaurants are headed if they want to compete as major changes in the industry loom. He has even offered free Zoom classes to chefs about how to widen the scope of their restaurants, including tips on social media and running their own delivery or shipping. “We have less than seven employees, but we’re punching above our weight class right now with scaling things out and being more accessible to more people,” he says.

Rivera has grown increasingly frustrated by the response to the pandemic from many industry leaders. He believes big names and owners of chain restaurants will bounce back, leaving many smaller restaurants behind, as well as restaurant staff and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), who will have to find new avenues of work or face deepening pay discrepancies. “There are people who are getting stimulus, getting enhanced unemployment, but you have undocumented workers who aren’t getting anything,” he says. “And they’re being pushed back into the fire immediately without any help.”

On Twitter, Rivera has called out well-known Seattle restaurateurs like Tom Douglas and Ethan Stowell, who shut down restaurants permanently and laid off hundreds of staff. More recently, Rivera criticized pushes to open restaurants as COVID-19 cases are rising once again. Rivera tweeted on June 11: “There are other options for dining but the consumer will drive things back and greedy owners will compromise their staff to serve them. There are no leaders in this industry. There are no voices that can make these points stick.”

“If I was a dude with an accent that made jibaritos and chicharrones on the side of the street, no one would give a fuck.”

While recent months have brought the cracks in the industry to the forefront, the pandemic is not the direct cause of many of them. Rivera takes issue with an industry built on what he believes is an antiquated system of constant investment and expansion. “A lot of chefs, who are frankly losing their asses right now, are going to realize it’s not wise to seek so much investment, those deals with the devil, in order to push themselves into the stratosphere of the industry,” he says. This system, Rivera says, perpetuates the problems within the restaurant industry and benefits only “old, rich white men.”

Rivera’s tweets have earned the attention of the famous chefs he’s called out; some have even reached out to him. Colicchio invited him to an Instagram Live conversation about his experiences in the restaurant industry. And in an episode of the Dave Chang Show podcast, Chang said of Rivera, “Everything he’s saying is not something I always agree with, but I respect his viewpoints on a lot of things. If you look at what he’s doing it’s anything and everything, that’s what you have to see cause we have no idea what’s going to work. You got to try it all and make mistakes and adapt, make mistakes and adapt.”

Rivera recognizes that his own privilege has contributed to some of this success. “I knew what I had to do in order to play the game for people to listen to me,” he says. “If I was a dude with an accent that made jibaritos and chicharrones on the side of the street, no one would give a fuck.” However, he wants that game to change. “First, they need to get the fuck out of the way. They need to just get out of the way,” he says, referring to the old guard of primarily white men. “I don’t want to see another white dude traveling around the world discovering food. I’m tired of the Christopher Columbus shit.”

Rivera isn’t convinced that a return to some level of “normal” after the pandemic will solve many of his issues with the industry, including the financial barriers for BIPOC-run restaurants and the treatment of back-of-house staff in big-name restaurants. However, he’s inspired by younger generations of cooks and writers, like Alicia Kennedy and Illyanna Maisonet, for speaking out about the changes that need to happen, and credits them with “[helping] me establish how to be a voice, if you will, without just saying ‘fuck you’ every two seconds.” And six months into the pandemic, Rivera is still playing it day to day, ready to pivot once again whenever the need should arise. As he packs up spices, thinks up new to-go meals, and updates his website, he hopes that, at the very least, what he has done in his kitchen resonates in a food world that’s in dire need of a drastic pivot of its own.

Alberto Perez is a freelance writer currently based out of Seattle, but he’d rather be back in Texas eating tacos. Suzi Pratt is a photographer based in Seattle.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/36lJt39 https://ift.tt/30qG27w

Selling pantry items, like spices, has helped keep Addo afloat.

Despite everything, the Seattle chef has found a way to successfully run his restaurant Addo — and he has some advice for the rest of the industry

“What? What do you mean?”

“We’re done. Everything’s closed, all the lines of credit. Everything’s done.”

Rivera felt he had to “learn to play the game.”

Rivera is selling rice, beans, and other Puero Rican pantry staples online.

The Addo space has transformed from restaurant to storage facility.

“We’re punching above our weight class now,” Rivera says of Addo’s pandemic operation.

“If I was a dude with an accent that made jibaritos and chicharrones on the side of the street, no one would give a fuck.”

Alberto Perez is a freelance writer currently based out of Seattle, but he’d rather be back in Texas eating tacos. Suzi Pratt is a photographer based in Seattle.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/36lJt39 via Blogger https://ift.tt/30orTHX

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

0 notes

dalemeetsworld · 4 years

Text

Chef Anthony Bourdain once said, "If you're young, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel- as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them wherever you go." Those words inspire me and impacted my whole being. I'm 25 and fortunate to have traveled the world and absorb what it has done to me. Through it, I realized that traveling is a better investment than more material things. Why? It's because there are so many life lessons you can learn from it. I can tell you some of my favorites.

1. IT IS OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

There is nothing more like diving out of your comfort zone to make you realize that you are a newbie in life no matter what your age is.

When I was younger, middle eastern countries used to be terrifying and scary to me. Maybe because the way these countries are portrayed by media can sometimes be negatively biased. But that has all changed when I visited Abu Dhabi and experience it first hand.

It's exhilarating to forget what's familiar for a bit and expand your horizons. Once you do, there is no better feeling than taking on unfamiliar territory and making it familiar. All it takes is pulling the trigger, and you'll come home with endless stories.

2. IT DE-STRESSES YOU

It helps us break our behavioural patterns when we feel like too many days look the same. It's also a great way to add a new dimension to your life, which makes the hustle bearable.

As cliche as it sounds, sometimes we don't know how to handle issues and what we want to do, until we step away from our family, friends, workmates and tune in to our inner voice. Travel gives you the space to just be you and think alone in a way you could never do back home. It's so much easier to deal with issues and solve problems when you look at them from the outside. It gives you a lot of time to think without destructions and make healthy decisions.

3. YOU GET TO TASTE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOOD

Life is too short to eat the same type of food every single day. Imagine there's a book with thousands of pages and you read over and over the same first page never turning it once, that's how most people live their lives. I never thought that pelmini, sushi and kimchi would become some of my favorite dishes in the world until i tried them country to country. Try a restaurant serving ethnic food and avoid the touristic ones with equivalent food from home.

As a cook, I cannot go to a restaurant in a foreign country without mentally reverse engineering the food that I am eating. Many times your waiter will tell you the recipe. Afterwards, I try them out in my kitchen. Not only it gives me the pleasure of eating the food, but also helps me become a better cook.

4. IT IS A MORE ADVANCED FORM OF EDUCATION

Traveling is like condensed education. So many scales and new forms of interconnected knowledge merged together in a travel experience. It gives you a detail of insights whether about Geography, History, International events or even Language which others only study in school books. It makes you realize how much you don't know, and it opens your mind and broads your perspective. These absorbed information will stick around a lot longer than what you learn from school. After all, experience is the best teacher of all.

5. YOU MEET NEW PEOPLE

The best part of traveling is the people you meet along the way. I've found out that it is extremely rare to come across another traveler who isn't eager to hear your stories, where you've been, or where did you come from. You listen to their stories, tell yours, share the same interests, hear various opinions and experience things together with people.

Some of my favorite friendships are the ones I found from traveling. To name a few: with a Mexican guy called Arnold and a Danish old man named Ben. During a carnival in Veracruz, a man named Arnold approached me and asked stuff about my camera, turns out he is a blogger from Tampico who came to celebrate the carnival. He gave me a liter of local beer and took me to his group of friends and partied all night. The other one is with Ben, who offered me a lift to Esbjerg downtown because he was worried that I'd be walking longer than i thought. And the list goes on. Who would have thought that simple situations like these help you build relationships that would last a lifetime.

It is a beautiful thing to say that you're friends with people around the planet.

6. YOU START TO UNDERSTAND OTHER CULTURES

Living somewhere completely different gives you a new perspective that's different from just hearing or reading about it. People fear what they don't know or don't understand. Just because someone lives in another geography than you do, their skin color is different, and they believe different religion than you, it doesn't mean they don't share the same emotions. When you travel, you'll find that most people are good and welcoming, and they'll share with you what they have in order to make you feel good.

The act of being somewhere new allows you to fully immerse yourself and appreciate that new place, from the people, the language, the clothing, and everything in between. Taking the time to interact with the local culture is the way to experience and appreciate it fully. Again, this can't be taught, only experienced.

7. YOU'RE EXPOSED TO NEW IDEAS

Whether you are staring at a menu realizing you have no idea what the items are, or jumping on a bus that you hope will get you somewhere familiar, traveling is exciting. It forces you to do new things, and it's gonna be easy after the first couple of times which eventually makes you learn the system. Being in new territory will probe new ideas and curiosities- what the local customs are, the local food, what language is spoken and religious practices. It gives you a better understanding, and therefore turning these curiosities into discoveries. This will then make you hungry to learn more, ask questions and completely immerse yourself into a new place.

8. IT MAKES YOU MORE INDEPENDENT

One goal in life is to be independent. Meaning, if it comes to it, you're own set of tools is enough to keep you going. Most parents are overprotective and do not allow their children to face the hardships in life until it's too late. You grow up in a bubble, and the reality hits you like a brick on the face. When you travel, you will learn one of life's most important skills, self reliance.

I remember the first time I visited Venice, I was alone by myself, only got 2 euros in my pocket (I had enough cash but in a different currency which isn't acceptable in the local area), without an internet connection and even got lost, since the city was pretty sketchy. It didn't bother me. Instead, you'll find it more valuable. Nothing like being lost in Venice where every corner has beautiful little bridges that serves you a very peaceful view. One's paddling the Gondola, while some walks slowly and taking their time, with their eyes mesmerized. You have to trust yourself and understand that life's circumstances aren't bad at all and sometimes it'll lead you to somewhere even more beautiful.

9. IT FORCES YOU TO BE MORE SOCIAL

People says we're always connected because of how technology develops. But a digital world is an invisible world. Sometimes, people lack of personality because they no longer go out to form one. Due to our indoor existence, we are forming our personalities based on almost the same type of pattern provided on the internet, until we become products of what companies wants us to be. When we travel, we get to have real life conversations, talking to people we don't know and learning from them. Our connection should be invested in real people, from our neighborhood to the world.

10. THERE WILL BE NO MORE WARS

It's only when you travel that you will realize how big and diverse our world really is, but also how similar we are as one people. What if world war III would happen. The people that will be harmed are the people you became friends with, the people you met in the cafe, or in carnival, people who gave you a lift, gave you recipes, people who smiled at you on the streets, or the receptionists who are very courteous, the children you saw on their way to school because they have dreams. You will realize it's never going to be okay to see them injured or get killed. I think, even world leaders would feel the same.

People are our most treasured gifts in this life. Go meet them. Let them see we are all one too. If we could do that, we can change the world. One traveling peace maker at a time.

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laureviewer · 7 years

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Final Fantasy XV: A Review

Having never played a Final Fantasy game before, it was interesting starting up the game to read: “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers.” With the franchise’s first game released in 1987, I was interested in picking it up so late in its lengthy history, and in all honesty the fact that the Japanese video game developer Square Enix developed the game was a large part of the reason I picked it up, as I’ve admired their beautiful graphics and vastly superior character realism ever since Life is Strange and their take over of the Tomb Raider franchise. And I’m so glad I did: it was phenomenal.

Characters

The strength of the game lies in the incredible bond that is established over the course of the game between the four main protagonists. You are Noctis Lucis Caelum (‘Noct’), a Lucian Prince and heir apparent to the Lucian throne, who must travel across the realm to reunite with and marry your childhood friend Lady Lunafreya, the Oracle, to forge an alliance between Lucis and Niflhiem of Eos.

On your journey to Altissia, you are accompanied by your three closest friends who never leave your side. Gladiolus (‘Gladio’) is your lifelong friend and bodyguard who has sworn to protect the kind at all costs, the typical tough guy quick to anger but who can be surprisingly sweet; this is particularly apparent when they are around his little sister, Iris, and to Ignis, particularly in the later game (I will explain this later – massive spoiler). He calls Ignis ‘Iggy’ most of the time, which is a really cute nickname to come from such a tough man and to give to someone as respectable as Ignis.

Ignis is the brains of the group who looks after his friends, driving the Regalia and cooking them nutritious meals, having looked after a young Noct in their childhood. He is also now Noct’s Royal Advisor, which makes sense once I realised that but during the game I just thought Noct was referring questions back to Ignis merely because he was the smartest rather than someone actually employed to help in such a way. I particularly like the exchange between Ignis and Gladio at regular intervals when you discover a new ingredient:

“That’s it!” “What’s up, Iggy?” “I’ve come up with a new recipe.” (pronounced “recipehh”) “I can taste test for ya.”

Very sweet.

Lastly, Prompto is the hilarious jokester of the group, always trying to make light of a situation and have a good time. He is also quite insecure, and so quite a few times he asks Noct pretty heartbreaking questions like “Were you worried about me?” and talks about having no friends in his childhood. At all times like this I made sure to support him, where the conversation options meant that the moody Noct could have brushed him off or been downright mean to him. Considering Prompto is his only school friend, a commoner rather than one of his royal entourage, I think their relationship is particularly special.

In fact, the whole of FFXV is incredibly sentimental, mostly driven through the banter of the four boys throughout the game, even when just exploring the open world, as if they are going on a road trip with their best friends rather than undertaking life threatening missions to save the world. This includes sitting around the campfire together every night where you can see them chatting and hanging out by the firelight, and little optional cutscenes and quests where Gladio asks Noct to train with him, Ignis wants him to help prepare breakfast, or when Prompto needs a bit of a boost to feel needed in their little group. Every moment of FFVX takes a moment to the 4 friends’ personalities. I feel like I know so much about these boys and care about them all. I am more familiar with them and empathise with them more than I think I ever have with any other video game characters, and this is because every time they travel together, be that in a side quest or a road trip, little things come out about their lives and you can really tell how much they rely on and protect each other. This is amplified with Prompto’s photography skills, which allows him to take around 10 photos that can be viewed every time you rest at camp or in lodgings, allowing you to capture the most epic moments in their journey and which became more and more valuable to me the further into the story I got and the more attached I got to the characters. This deep friendship made the ending, for me, so much more heartbreaking (spoilers later on when I chat about the ending).

Saying all this, the characters outside of the immediate friendship group don’t get as much of a look in at all – even Lunafreya, the Oracle and Noct’s bride to be, or Iris, Gladio’s sister, or Aldyn, another crucial character (spoilers – see below!). Other than the fact that they spent time together as children, I feel like I know nothing about Luna’s backstory – I don’t know why she and Noct were separated, how she became the Oracle, or literally anything about her other than she loves Noct (though even this is debatable!) and that she can talk to the gods. And that’s by the end of the game! Watching Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV helped with this, but really I shouldn’t need to watch a film in order to understand the plot of a separate game, even if it is in the same franchise. In regards to Aldyn, I had to actually look up his backstory to know the motivations behind his actions, and all I know about Iris is that she is fond of Noct and has a good relationship with her brother. There’s also a crucial (apparently) character called Cor Leonis, who is the King’s Lord Commander and helps you along the way, but I had completely forgotten about him halfway through the game and was confused when he returns just before you board the boat to Altissia. I really appreciate that the bromance of the four comes before the romance between Noct and Luna – a welcome change from most storylines where the love story takes precedence – but even so, I feel like more cutscenes are needed to properly explain the background of all of these characters in order to get a more in-depth story throughout.

Combat

Many other RPGs, and really all types of games, have loosely related characters to stand by the side of the protagonist, but are never really developed as much as the main character; you feel like the protagonist could hold his or her own if these support characters went off for a bit. But there are several times in the story where one or more of the characters have to go on their own missions or are separated from the rest of the group, and I really felt that I wasn’t as powerful or supported than when the whole gang were together. All four are crucial to the story, and all four bring their own necessary aspects to a battle. Ignis can heal, Gladio is strong with a load of HP to stay alive long enough to help bring down those particularly difficult enemies, and Prompto can shoot accurately from any range and it only depletes one section of the tech bar, giving Noct time to get out of a tough spot at frequent points in the battle.

In fact, having your allies with you means that you can perform other Link Strikes as well as character techniques in battle, all of which will bring your Finesse score up at the end of each encounter. These are performed by having a member of your party near you, either by parrying or by attacking an enemy from behind, called a Blindside Link Attack. These are really useful, as not only can it get you out of being completely overwhelmed by a bunch of creatures using your buddy to outmanoeuvre them, but they are also more powerful than your standard moves, meaning that you are more likely to get out of the fray unscathed.

While many believe that the combat is quite simple, as attacking and blocking are as simple as holding down buttons, Noct’s own abilities make battle a lot more exciting. He can warp (teleport), either to high-up vantage points to get out of the immediate battle and restore MP (Magic Points), to improve speed and agility in the battlefield, or to Warp-Strike enemies, which increases damage done (more so the further you are from the enemy) and uses MP. The weapons are great, and Noct can have 4 equipped at any one time for easy weapon changes. It’s great that you can give powerful weapons to your team, and they fight and change their moves and weapons very intelligently, and seem like they’re often your equals in battle with their abilities to take down enemies and bring each other back from the brink of death.

However, the Royal Arms, or Armiger Weapons, which Noct collects through quests and various locations throughout Eos, while powerful are a real hindrance in my opinion. They’re a cool addition as Noct has to seek out ancient tombs of past kings from his lineage to collect them, but they drain your HP steadily and so should be handled with care. Personally, I don’t use them as I have found that other weapons are just as powerful, and the reduced HP is annoying, especially when fighting the tougher beasts that can take you down in one hit.

Spells are also well worth having in one of your weapon slots. While they seem limited as: you can only cast in the realms of Fire, Ice and Thunder; there is a cool down, limiting the amount of times you can use your spells; and in order to craft the spells in Elemancy you need to find elemental deposits or take down specific enemies to absorb the energy to use. However, they are definitely worth it as they can do mass amounts of damage to several opponents, and you can also mix and match the spells when you craft them to be a mixture of two or of all three, and you can add items to give extra perks such as allowing the user to heal or to poison the target. The only issue with the spells are that, when you cast them, chances are your buddies will also be in range. While this put them out of action for five seconds or so whilst they twitch on the ground from electrocution or shiver after being blasted by your Blizzard attack, they still seem to hold their own and get back into the fray in a jiffy. In order to avoid this completely, try to get Ignis to Regroup and heal everyone so that they are out of the way when you then cast a spell afterwards.

The weapons and spells are used in conjunction with an interesting feature I’ve never seen before, which they dub ‘Wait Mode’. When an enemy has spotted you, as long as you have Wait Mode on, the game freezes and the Wait Timer starts to go down, where you can focus on one enemy and learn what their weaknesses are. For bigger monsters this can take quite a long time, but it’s worth the payoff of knowing what spells or types of weapon are effective or weak against particular enemies – for the more powerful ones, having an effective weapon really cuts down the time you are spent fighting the enemy, especially as the really big enemies take ages to take down with or without an advantage. This makes some of the weapons’ secondary effects, such as Thunder or Fire damage, particularly hard to navigate, as a creature with a weakness to greatswords but an advantage against fire would have a neutral weakness to the weapon, which means you might have to change your Blade of Brennaere to something else. I only had one problem with Wait Mode, and only had to turn it off once in my play through of the game – I had to warp up to a specific ladder in a dungeon and make sure to stay up there until the battle had ended, as the warp spots only appear in combat (a poor design choice, IMO). The problem was, staying stationary to make sure I didn’t fall off the scaffolding meant that Wait Mode kept cropping up and pausing the combat as I wasn’t actively fighting the daemons present. It was a rare moment, but brought up a couple of issues particularly with warping – without warping to this ladder in combat, there was no way I could get to this spot without allowing the daemons to respawn by leaving the dungeon and calling the enemies back with my whistle.

Lastly, I found that items were invaluable in battle, especially as you can encounter some very high level creatures very early on (I had to run away from a Level 54 Midgardsormr when I was below level 20!), or even some that are a lower level than you but can still take out with one hit. I always made sure I had Hi-Potions, which restore your HP, Elixirs, which restore not only your MP and HP but also allowed you to regain your Max HP, which could deplete and not return until after the dungeon or encounter had finished, and Phoenix Downs, which restore you to life with full health once knocked out of the battle. This depletion of Max HP was very annoying, and I still don’t know why it goes down in some battles and not others, so if anyone could shed light on this that would be amazing.

The Experience

As with most Square Enix games I’ve played, the scenery and animation is absolutely stunning. The people are beautiful – as a heterosexual girl, I found all of the boys gorgeous, as well as many of the secondary characters, especially as they’re anime and thus naturally good-looking – and, as I’ve said before, I’ve found that Square Enix have always done the most realistic character animations. I also didn’t mind driving around in the Regalia on lengthy trips, even though others complained that this essentially created unnecessarily long loading screens as you don’t need any skill to drive the car. The horizon and the beautiful sunsets and the incredible beasts and stretches of countryside to explore made me want to go on the long drives (although after a while, the fast travel did become useful when I wanted to get somewhere quickly).

This brings me onto travel: in general, this is quite tricky at the beginning as it is dangerous at night, and I had to make sure I knew I was near a campsite (haven) or outpost so that I wasn’t caught out in the middle of the night by daemons ready to attack you. After night falls, Ignis refuses to drive, and even if Noct takes over, quite often you are pulled over by a level 30 Iron Giant or the like in the middle of the road, creaking out of the floor, and so when you’re first starting out the only option is to take to foot and go in the other direction. Not helpful if you want to get anywhere at all, as even off road daemons are likely to find you. After you reach level 30, Ignis is willing to drive, but the dangers still stand.

Furthermore, once you reach the Chocobo outpost, you get an adorable bird creature, sort of like a fluffy ostrich, which you can rent by the day and ride over the rough terrain that doesn’t allow your Regalia to encroach. They’re great (and adorable), as they’re much faster than travelling by foot, and after levelling it up a bit, it starts to have increased stamina, higher jumping capabilities, and even learns techniques to use in battle, such as giving the team a stat boost or kicking a monster in the face for you. You can also race them for medals against the three other boys, and it’s adorable at camp when Noct sleeps on his Chocobo in front of the fire. However, you have to make sure that your Chocobo rental period lasts if you’re planning to go out into the open world far away from roads and your Regalia. It is so frustrating to embark on a quest and then have to run across the never ending plains, Noct’s stamina running out every 10 seconds unless you hit the L3 at just the right time. Be prepared.

The music is also brilliant, and aims to (and succeeds at!) really affecting you emotionally. You can tell that the soundtrack is trying to make something exciting, scary, action-packed, or devastating when necessary, and the music gets particularly exciting when you fight a creature that is particularly big, powerful, and downright epic. This most often occurs in the ‘boss’ battles in dungeons, but I was also recently fighting a giant buffalo-like creature called a Kujata, for example, and the epic music came into play, which really makes it feel like you’re defeating something special. Although, it was funny in Gladio’s random sidequest where he wants the perfect cup of noodles, and so you have to fight a giant lobster for its meat – such epic music seemed a bit out of place in such an unimportant sidequest (though I’m sure Gladio would disagree) but I found it amusing.

When you stay at havens, you get to sample Ignis’ very appetising-looking meals, the recipes of which he makes out of gathering ingredients and putting them together to make something delicious, or by viewing or trying food other cooks have made. These are great, as they give various boosts to Noct and his friends for their adventures the next day, and can often make a difference between spending hours fighting foes and using up your whole stock of potions and elixirs, and defeating them easier with increased attack, HP, magic, resistance to poison, or a whole other manner of effects that come from eating that delicious grilled trout that Noct caught the other day.

There are a lot of similarities with another game that I have reviewed in the past: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This mostly comes from both games being an open-world RPG of course, and the fact that I loved Skyrim was always going to be an important step into also loving FFXV, but honestly I loved this game even more than Skyrim due to the sentimentality and the characters, despite the rushed linearity of the story after chapter 8. I agree with critics that it finished far too quickly, but the storyline was so epic, so heartbreaking, that I loved it… more about that later (spoilers below). Another factor that both games share was their technique levelling system. While Skyrim simply calls theirs Skills and Perks, FFXV calls it Ascendance, which I feel is fitting for the game as the whole journey centres around Noct ascending to his rightful place as King. By gaining AP points from resting at camp, travelling for long periods of time, having successful conversations, and by defeating enemies, you can use these points to improve certain skills, such as Techniques, Combat, Exploration, Teamwork, and Recovery, which affect all four of the boys. While this is useful depending on how you want to play the game, giving you a sense of autonomy, it can also be stressful if you aren’t sure which skills would be best to improve and thus how to use your points wisely.

Creatures

I’ve already talked about the adorable Chocobos which you can rent to ride around the landscape, but there are hundreds of other creatures that roam the world in the wild, which are all fascinating and beautifully designed. All across the world you have a different assortment of creatures of various levels, from cat-like creatures, to rhinos, to giraffe-deer hybrids, to creatures you can barely describe, such as the giant Catoblepas, which tower above you in a lovely lake near Alstor Slough and sport pig-like faces and giant necks like diplodocuses.

You can explore the world engaging these ‘enemies’ as you please, or go to tipsters (normally these are the ones also willing to give you food at restaurants, cafes etc) to get Bounty Hunts. These are a variety of levels which can range from the lowest to level 110 (being level 64 currently, I haven’t tried these yet!) and require you to seek out certain creatures and kill them for whatever reason, and to get a reward in return. They are similar to a side quest, but are also classified by rank. Noct starts at rank 1, and the more bounties he undertakes, the more he can undertake – you cannot do a certain bounty hunt by the tipster at Hammerhead until you are rank 4, for example. These are fun, and allow you to find creatures all over Lucis that you may have overlooked, to explore some of the areas you may have also missed, and also results in opening up some creatures to combat that wouldn’t have engaged you before (such as the Catoblepas).

The other creatures that roam Eos can also be fought in Bounty Hunts, but only come out at night. These are daemons – the creatures of the dark that Noct and his friends must defeat in order to save the realm and keep the light in the world. As you go through the game, the nights get longer as the daemons get more powerful, and they are particularly active in dungeons (where, annoyingly, you cannot save!). They are particularly annoying creatures, and some are very powerful, knocking you out with one hit.

There are also the MTs – Magitek Troopers – and soldiers that fight for the Imperials. The Imperials are Niflhiem’s army that seek to take over Lucis and the whole realm of Eos. They follow you around in giant airships and try to attack you throughout the game, which can get really annoying if you’re trying to do some sidequests and they keep getting in the way. Thankfully, you can simply sprint as fast as you can away and normally you can get away from them, but they’re also useful to get EXP out of, and aren’t too tough to take down, until you get further into the game that is and level 45 assassins and MA-Xs (big robots) come to destroy you.

The Storyline (WARNING: spoilers ahead!)

Now to what I really wanted to talk about: the storyline, and in particular, the ending.

I spent a lot of time in the first few chapters doing the sidequests, as that’s what I like doing in an open world game – I hate leaving quests, and so I took my sweet time, exploring and having a great time around Eos. But as the game progresses, things start going down. And I really mean down!

The characters become more developed, for a start. What began as a journey for four closer-than-close friends (that’s not an innuendo…but very well could be with how close they are!) starts to sour, particularly after the massive battle with the Leviathan, and the death of Lunafreya.

After this point, Noct becomes even more moody and angsty than normal (quite understandable really, considering his father and beloved had both died recently) but Gladio isn’t having that, telling Noct to stop moping around and to take his place as King to restore the light to the world. I thought this was quite harsh from Gladio, but of course, this is the stereotypical ‘tough guy’ way of dealing with pain – get angry, and get even. This was where I first started to really get emotionally invested in the game, when the threads that keep this lovely quartet together begin to unravel. Especially when you learn another reason why Gladio’s so pissed off with Noct – for caring more about himself than caring Ignis, who was blinded during the fight with the Leviathan. All of this, as well as Prompto being more subdued from then on, trying half-heartedly to raise all of their spirits with jokes but failing miserably, is so sad. Blind Ignis actually turns out to be very annoying, as there’s one bit where you can choose to leave Ignis behind when you go into the mine at Tenebrae (which I didn’t do) and Gladio makes you walk at a really slow pace to wait for Ignis. Fine, that makes sense, but it was really frustrating in game.

And who had killed Luna, to start all of this angst and infighting off? We had seen Ardyn throughout the game, as a weird shady character on the side of the Imperials but, strangely, seemingly dedicated to helping Noct out. For example, he saves the boys from one of the massive gods, Titan, and only shows his true colours when he kills Noct’s beloved. I did like the uncertainty of who the main antagonist was, although others who had actually seen the trailer beforehand said it was obvious as he was in the trailer acting like the primarily antagonist anyway. He really did play the part brilliantly, with his powers allowing him to taunt Noct in his head and to use a rift in time to cause Prompto and Ardyn to swap forms, tricking Noct into throwing Prompto off the train they are riding across Eos. This was very clever, as I didn’t see it coming – and again, threw me into greater despair at the fate of all of the boys, particularly as Prompto is the delicate one always vying for Noct’s affections and approval. It really made me want to kill Ardyn, and so along with the unnecessary death of Luna, Square Enix really succeeded in creating an effective and hateful baddie.

In regards to the linearity of the storyline, it was certainly rushed after chapter 8, but to me that made sense. People are starting to die (most importantly, the Oracle Lunafreya) and the nights are getting longer, with the daemons becoming more powerful. Ardyn is starting to show his true colours, and the gods are beginning to intervene in human affairs, at the pleas of Noct and Lunafreya. With all of these exciting and action-packed events, and with time running out to save the world, it’s not surprising that the story progresses quite rapidly. However, it is a shame you don’t get to see beautiful-looking cities such as Altissia for very long, and some not at all, in the case of Tenebrae. Some extra side quests and just some more willingness to put time into the game would have made this a whole lot better, given us some more character development in the case of Luna in Altissia, and allowed us to truly appreciate the incredible design – for Altissia truly is stunning, with canals where you can take boats across the city and stunning architecture to admire.

Furthermore, you can use Umbra, the dog that Luna and Noct have been using to communicate in a little book he takes back and forth between the two, to go back to past Lucis and complete some of the sidequests. However, at this point in time I was so into the story and I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the events by going back in time. It felt insincere doing so, going back just to kill a few beasts or run a few errands, when so much was at stake. Besides, I’d already spent hours upon hours doing more side quests than I really should have been, levelling up quite fast, and so it would have been unwise to gain more experience lest the main story quests turn out to be too easy. While I was slightly disappointed the game’s chapters flicked through faster and faster as I wanted the game to last forever, in a way that made it exciting. The climax was coming, and I was racing towards it, hopefully getting rid of the darkness quickly to restore the former might of Lucis.

But then chapter 14 hits, and ten years have suddenly past and Noct has been in some sort of stasis being absorbed by the crystal for all this time, after being told by Bahamut that he must die in order for the darkness to be destroyed for good. He left his friends to a world overrun with daemons, millions have died and there is a perpetual darkness, leaving all to head to Hammerhead or Lestalium for refuge. This really shook me up in the game, more so than anything else. Knowing that the boys had such an intense friendship throughout the game, and then Noct had left them for so long without a trace, broke my heart. I have always hated stories that include lost time, like people being in comas or getting amnesia, and this is exactly what has happened here. Noct travels back by sea to Goldin Quay, and here he finds that everywhere is abandoned. It was a sickly feeling having to go through the restaurant and beach, one of the earliest points in the game, and finding that it was overrun with (incredibly difficult!) monsters, with everyone dead or seeking refuge elsewhere. While obviously this was very effective as it affected me so deeply, I think it would have been better to draw this bit out more and to have Noct have to go to all the corners of Lucis in order to reunite his friends who had decided to fight daemons all over the realm – ten years is a very long time, and they could have been anywhere, doing anything when Noct just happens to return. As it happens, they are around Hammerhead together, and while they don’t always fight together, they are still close. To be honest, this was better than having them grow apart, as I would have found it very sad if they had fallen out or had forgotten each other in that time. Still, it made me really look back on the more innocent times in FFXV before chapter 8 with sadness and nostalgia, as so much has gone wrong with the boys, making me grow up emotionally with them. [NB: how can a game of all things affect me so much, you ask? I’m not sure, as it’s never happened to me before, but having put over 60 hours of my life into this story it’s safe to say I grew attached!]

So after reuniting, Noct, Gladio, Ignis and Prompto prepare to confront Ardyn in Insomnia, the Crown City, where he has taken over. This is where you really appreciate the photos that Prompto has been taken throughout the game. They were becoming more lovely and sentimental anyway, as I was becoming more attached to the characters, but it is particularly appreciated when Noct chooses a particular photo to take into the final battle with him. I’m sure I’m not the only one who took in the first group photo of the boys with me, when they had fixed the Regalia right at the start. The game really makes you want to take in a photo that means something to you, and it’s lovely that a game can make you that sentimental. I’ve read some funny accounts of others who took in pictures of Chocobos or even Cup Noodles in with them, which is hilarious, especially as Luna and Noct (at the end, when they are presumably happy together in the afterlife) have the photo with them, and so having them staring lovingly at a picture of Cup Noodles is brilliant!

The final battle was somewhat easy, I think, if quite interesting as Ardyn can use your warping ability and the Armiger, as he is of the royal Lucian bloodline from years before. Honestly, this isn’t what I remember from the end game. It’s the flashback to the boys’ final night together, where they make camp and eat together just like old times. This was very emotional. Noct can barely get the words out, and after what seems like an age, eventually gets out: “You guys are the best”. I felt complete and utter devastation at this ending. Actually, I can’t believe how empty I felt when the game had finally finished. It was like I didn’t know what to do with myself, as the character I had been playing with for 60+ hours had just died, and so he couldn’t even see the world he had saved recover. In fact, we don’t even get to see the aftermath of his actions, of Lucis being restored and of the light returning, other than a sunrise. I suppose this is poetic, as Noct obviously doesn’t get to see this either as he is dead, and so the gamer shouldn’t be able to either, but it still would have been great to see the few characters that did survive and how they recover after 10 years of perpetual darkness and the horrors they have seen.

What was really disappointing was the lack of backstory and explanation of the lore throughout. Some have said that it was ‘subtly explained’ in the game, but I just got confused. What are Ardyn’s motivations for his evil actions? Why does Noct need 10 years and then wakes up in a prison? What was the backstory behind Prompto being an MT? I ended up having to look all of this up, and while it’s very interesting, it would have been good to have some cutscene flashbacks, to satisfy my curiosity – particularly in Ardyn’s case, as it would have been good to know that he was betrayed by the king thousands of years ago in order to be essentially a container for the darkness and then thrown aside, causing him to want to take out the Lucis royal bloodline in revenge. I think that’s what it all boils down to – I wanted more from this game, to make a more rounded story.

The ending was also incredibly confusing. There seems to be two viable interpretations, the first being that Gladio, Ignis and Prompto die fending off the massive army of daemons just before Noct goes to confront Ardyn in the final battle, and thus are there in the afterlife to help Noct destroy Ardyn once and for all. I choose not to believe this ending, for two reasons: firstly, that they are with Noct just before he calls on the past kings to kill him to take on Ardyn in the afterlife, and so why would they have been there, unless Noct was just imagining them there?; and secondly, I don’t want everyone to die, dammit! The other interpretation is that, when Noct parts with them, they simply live on, knowing that their friend has made the ultimate sacrifice, and that their appearance in Noct’s afterlife is simply an ethereal representation. Considering how close Noct is to all three of them, this makes sense, and dulls the emotional blow somewhat, despite Noct having to sacrifice himself. I wish they’d made it clearer – and I’d like to know what happens to the boys, if only to get closure.

If Final Fantasy XV really is a final fantasy for fans and first timers, then it definitely has become my fantasy, but not necessarily my final one. They are doing a remake of Final Fantasy VII, apparently the most loved of all the games, and so I know I’ll be one of the ones buying that as soon as it comes out. I’ve since watched the movie Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, which explains some of what happened to Noct’s father and how Luna got to Altissia (but has barely any of Noct and his friends in it, sadly), and I’m very eager to watch the anime Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV to indulge in more.

It’s an incredible game, despite its flaws, and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come.

#final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #square enix #game review #anime #rpg #open world

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blockheadbrands · 5 years

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What’s in Your Stash? Max Montrose: Founder of the Trichome Institute

Sharon Letts of High Times Reports:

When you become the stash, and the stash becomes you.

You might say that Max Montrose has a nose for weed. That his lineage, handed down from beneath his very DNA, in cahoots with spirits of cannabis past, placed him in Denver, Colorado, then waited as the state and the man literally grew into their own.

“The cannabis industry and I grew up together,” Montrose said from his home in Denver, Colorado. “I first started using cannabis from the black market in high school – there was no industry; it was about as mature as I was. While I was in college, the industry medicalized, decriminalized, then we went into legalization and everything became more professional – all of this, literally in my own back yard – and I participated as much as I observed.”

Montrose was a protesting, sign-carrying activist for the plant starting in high school. Beginning in 2007, once in college, he said his only focus was on cannabis.

“College, for me, was a funny situation,” he continued. “I’m a liberal, Jewish, pot-head and went to a very Catholic, Jesuit university in the state of Colorado – Regis University. At Regis, they make you take two classes on every subject – math, science, history. The only thing I studied in any subject, and the focus of most all of my papers, was cannabis.”

Naturalist’s Bachelor’s in Cannabis

Montrose earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology, while working across the street from the university at a dispensary, with his sights firmly set on a career in cannabis. But not just any career. In his case, he let his nose lead him.

“I’ve been asked many times if I’m on the Autism Spectrum,” he shared. “I’ve also been asked more than once if I’m a Super Taster – specifically in terms of identifying good weed by scent. I went to very expensive, special schools because of my learning differences – which are severe dyslexia, ADD, psychomotor agitation – basically, the inability to turn your brain off. I was highly tested.”

According to SkillsYouNeed.com, human behavior specialist Scott Black went one step further with Harvard professor Howard Gardener’s research on learning styles, creating a measured way to determine a person’s overall learning style. Of the categories defined are: Intra & Inter-personal, Logical or Mathematical, Visual or Spatial, Kinesthetic, Musical or Rhythmic, Linguistic, and Montrose’s learning style, the Naturalist.

“Turns out I’m one of the rarest learning types,” he explained. “I’m a naturalistic learner; I learn best by relating to nature. At a very young age I took talking and relating to plants one step further, and it led me right to one of my favorite plants, cannabis.”

As co-founder of the Trichome Institute, Montrose and team focus, not on cultivar types or whether a plant is indica or sativa, but on interpening, as stated on its website, “The art and science of the Cannabis Sommelier: evaluating flower for total equality control, psychotropic effects, and a variety type designation.”

The institute offers an intensive in-house course on interpening, a comprehensive book and an interpening tool kit.

“I’m most interested in changing my own alchemy – the process of taking something in some form and alchemically changing your mind – your mood, attitude – your world view; changing your perception of reality. You can’t say you are the same person when you are under the influence – not just THC, but any mind-expanding plant from the natural world.”

Montrose said the cannabis plant was the first plant that spoke to him at a young age, with its fragrance – which is where the medicinal and psychotropic compounds lie; its tastes, and its ability to change one’s alchemy, allowing him to focus on his purpose in life.

Courtesy of Max Montrose

A Living, Breathing Stash

Montrose is a walking, talking testament to his love of, and scientific interest in, plants that change alchemy in humans, with dozens of his beloved entheogen type specimens tattooed on his body.

“I’m Max from Where the Wild Things Are,” he laughed. “Every tattoo on my body is a drug, or an entheogen – coffee, Ayahausca, beer… and I love reptiles, amphibians. One of my first pets was an Emu. When I was a teenager, after alchemizing with cannabis, I could put myself on that little boat in my mind, leave my parents and my home behind, and sail off to a different world – and I did, often.”

His backyard greenhouse mirrors the plants on his legs with “sacred plants” everywhere, collected from his travels.

“I make my own beer with hops I grow,” he said. “Hops are a cousin to cannabis. One I’m growing now I found while rock climbing in a canyon, hanging over a cliff – I said, ‘gee, isn’t that a wild, indigenous hop?’ I pulled the rhizome from a crevasse, stuck it in my pack and it’s now growing in my backyard, doing nicely.”

The Max of Where the Wild Things Are meets The Science Guy, has laid his stash out on his patio for an impromptu photo op. Not concerned with the simplicity of the display.

“My stash is pretty humble,” he said of the spread. “I added the fresh leaves to represent the NLM and BLM type plants I grow. You can’t call them sativa or indica, none of that is real. They are ‘Narrow Leaf Marijuana,’ and ‘Broad Leaf Marijuana’ plants. I don’t believe in strains, I believe in interpening.”

Interpening, Montrose said, is the only way to break down the myriad compounds that make up the full spectrum of said plant. Is it full of fragrant phyto-compounds? Is it heavy on certain terpenes, you can both smell, yet feel with separate cranial nerves? This is what really determine effect – not just the level of THC, which most lab tests focus on.

Courtesy of Max Montrose

Montrose’s stash – his flower and the tools he uses – put the focus on the lure of the flavor, the seductiveness of scent.

The jar he uses to hold flower for smoking is made by Miron Glass, protecting against harmful effects of light, increasing shelf life, and prolonging potency. Miron has been around since 1995, making its first delivery of violet glass to Spirulina International, for storing the fragile spirulina algae.

“This jar is high-end technology that preserves the herbal material better than anything else, including humidors and two-way humidity packs,” he said. “We sell them on the Trichome Institute website, and is included in the Interpening Tool Kit.

The flower in the jar was grown by Montrose, and the oil in the pen was made from flower he grew; preferring a distillate to hash oil for effect, due to his “higher tolerance.”

Grav Labs is his go-to for glass, with the company sponsoring his top certified Interpening Team for judging, via a full set of glass at each competition they work. A proud moment came when the CEO hand-delivered the now infamous Menorah bong to him the first night of Hanukkah.

“My jewelers Loupe is custom, with my name engraved,” he said. “It has two lights, including UV. Both are also part of the Interpening Tool Kit. A grinder is a must, the lighters are in-house; and I use a Debowler and pokes to open my glass. I only use Raw papers! I love everything about the company and have been a huge advocate for years.”

The answer to the question, what’s in Max Montrose’s stash, is not an easy one to answer. His stash is the world’s natural grow room; with his bounty wherever his trusty nose will lead him.

“If there was a recipe created for who I am and this life I’m leading, the chef couldn’t have whipped up a more perfect combination,” he surmised. “For a guy who can smell and taste ten times greater than the average human, I’m grateful my super powers put me squarely in the right place at the right time. I was put here on this planet to do this work. My stash is my life.

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON HIGH TIMES, CLICK HERE.

https://hightimes.com/culture/whats-your-stash-max-montrose-founder-trichome-institute/

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douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years

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BUT IF YOU DON'T DO IT NOW

They find the VCs intimidating and inscrutable. Which one of these conclusions do you actually believe? Because the list of n things. Nearly every startup that fails, fails by running out of money at any moment. The way you get taught programming in college would be like teaching writing as grammar, without mentioning that its purpose is to communicate something to an audience. My friend Robert said his whole research group at MIT recently bought themselves Powerbooks. Kenneth Clark was a star in his day, thanks to the documentary series Civilisation. The custom of a startup depends on the answer. No doubt Bill did everything he could to steer IBM into making that blunder, and he tells the reader explicitly what they are.

Hackers & Painters. And the startups where they have to be small? The angel investor cheerfully surrenders his board seat. Overlooked problems are by definition problems that most people who got rich by creating wealth did it by developing new technology. Maybe you can be the first generation whose greatest regret from high school isn't how much time you wasted. Though this election is usually given as an example of whatever paradigm might succeed the Standard Model of physics. McCarthy alone bridged the gap.

For example, a seed firm should be able to help with technical as well as money, there's power. Governments may decide they want to watch the news afterward. Now I would guess that practically every Stanford or Berkeley undergrad who knows how to program computers, or what life was really like in preindustrial societies, or how to draw the human face from life. Why can't defenders score goals too? Bear in mind, simply to learn from them again as one might when rereading a book. So if the company is still just an idea. Suppose you are a little, nimble guy being chased by a big, fat, bully. Technology trains leave the station at regular intervals. I was rarely bored. And you can take more risks, because no startup can be the first time in history that a committee has designed a good language. It only lets you experience the defining characteristic of essay writing, when done right, is the technical term.

This was what made everyone want computers. This is an astounding number, because I find new books to read en route. And yet when they started startups, they decided to build recipe sites, or aggregators for local events. Poverty implies you can live cheaply, and this bit of the startup's paperwork would probably be replaced, as if the company were being founded anew. But while the investors can admit they don't know—gives them lots of new ideas. Some angels might balk at this, in part simply by having high standards. This picture is unrealistic in several respects. So being cheap is almost interchangeable with iterating rapidly. If you throw them out, you find that open source operating systems already have a dominant market share, and the living expenses of the founders in a startup hub.

But the students writing them don't realize they're using the same structure as the articles they read in Cosmopolitan. For example, one way or another it will be hard to get into grad school in the fall with all the other seniors; no one regards you as a failure, because your occupation is student, and you don't have them. A lot of the reason VCs are harsh when negotiating with startups is that they're telling the truth: there are just not enough great programmers to go around. They make a new kind of computer called a Sun that was a serious Unix machine, but so small and cheap that you could make your products beautiful just by hiring a great designer to design them. Historically, languages designed for other people to use have been bad: Cobol, PL/I, Pascal, Ada, Visual Basic, the IBM AS400, VRML, ISO 9000, the SET protocol, VMS, Novell Netware, and CORBA, among others, Tim O'Reilly. Bottom-up programming suggests another way to partition the company: have the smart people work as toolmakers. It is true that all they really care about is doing interesting work. If they know they can't fire the founders, he'd lose any unvested stock unless there was specific protection against this.

And yet also in a way that seemed to reflect the personality of the city. Offer surprisingly good customer service is that it proves your initial idea was mistaken. In the meantime founders have to treat raising money as a dangerous process. And I'd be delighted, because something changed, and no particular connection between them. When I ask people what they regret most about high school, I let myself believe that my job was to be a general consensus about which problems are hard to solve, and what constitutes a good solution. I realized I'd been holding two ideas in my head that would explode if combined. Sam Altman, John Bautista, Trevor Blackwell has made a handy calculator you can use this information in a way that seemed to be nothing more than that to make as much money as he has.

Actually this is hard to do on demand, or b use them only to fill up a larger round led by someone else. I'm going to start with what goes wrong and try to trace it back to the root causes. Why? Here is a brief sketch of the economic proposition. Historically metals have been the beneficiary of one of the founders quits. And you don't even get paid a percentage of it. Which means local TV is probably dead. The one universal rule is that the founders will no longer have complete control. On the hacker radar screen, Perl is as big as Java, or bigger, just on the strength of its own merits. Consulting, as I mentioned, the biggest danger right here.

In fact, it's just as well to make the investment in the form of a convertible loan. I'm uncomfortably aware that this is concealed, because what other people thought of it, like music, or tea, but I smelled a major rat. I'm interested in how things feel within the company. The most powerful sort of aptitude is a consuming interest in some question, and such interests are often acquired tastes. The market doesn't give a shit how hard you worked. The suburbs of Pittsburgh in the 1970s. The thing about languages, though, that there would soon be a computer with an Internet connection, b has an incentive to figure out what a subject is to be learned from whatever book on it happens to be controlled by a giant company. Fifty years later, startups are ubiquitous in Silicon Valley in the last 50. So, I think, because they're given a fake thing to do, or know, things you're not supposed to. Seattle owes much of its position as a tech center to the same cause: Gates and Allen had decided to wait a few years down the line. But in her novels I can't see the gears at work. Reading novels isn't.

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culturespotting · 7 years

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First Time Owner Information On How To maintain Chickens

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miamibeerscene · 7 years

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The Rising Tide of Alabama’s Gulf Coast Craft Breweries

Take a tour of Alabama Gulf Coast breweries. (Credit: Melissa Corbin)

July 26, 2017

Alabama’s Gulf Coast fits snugly between Florida’s Panhandle and southern Mississippi. Along this 60 mile stretch of coastline, you’ll find killer orange-pink sunsets, beaches, and a growing appetite for Gulf Coast craft breweries.

Fairhope Brewing Company was the first to take the plunge in Lower Alabama in 2012. They won the thirsty’s heart with their Everyday Ale and The Causeway IPA.

Today, the pioneering efforts of three new independent craft breweries entice beer travelers for a coastal hop Alabama-style.

(READ: 7 Southern Craft Breweries to Watch)

Haint Blue Brewing Company

Haint Blue’s founder Keith Sherrill and head brewer Matt Wheeler (Credit: Haint Blue)

Mobile (not New Orleans) is the birthplace of American Mardi Gras. Walk the downtown streets of this American port city, and the colorful beads drape the trees.

Within sight of Mobile’s father of Mardi Gras, Joe Cain’s final resting place at the corner of Broad and Canal, sits a 90-year-old ice factory that will soon be home to Haint Blue Brewing Company.

“It’s not a set it and forget it industry. It’s a craft,” says Keith Sherrill, co-owner of Haint Blue. His mission is to create community around “the best beer and a small amount of it.”

Raising over $267,000 through crowd-funding, Sherrill is convinced that the people within a community build the community.

(VISIT: Find an Alabama Craft Brewery)

As his brother-in-law, Matt Wheeler, came aboard as head brewer, the duo set out to Colorado for Tom Hennessy’s Brewery Immersion Course.

“Opening the books was a sanity check.” Wheeler explains.

The Haint Blue team has been persistent. A few legal snags have held up the downtown brewery up in construction. So, they’ve teamed up with Lazy Magnolia Brewery to brew their recipes during the interim. Wheeler brewed his first commercial batch at the Mississippi brewery just a little over an hour away this past January, and continues brewing Haint Blue flagship beers there.

Included in the lineup is a saffron saison that holds a special place in Sherrill’s heart from his military days. Sourced from Afghanistan where he was stationed for multiple tours of duty, this saffron is creating new income streams for traditional poppy farmers. These same farmers historically had no other choice but to do business with the Taliban — not anymore, according to Sherrill. He says that when brewing beer, he can’t help but to think he’s helping a community half a world away.

Serda Brewing Company

Serda Brewing Company is also racing the clock to bea founding frontiersman of Mobile’s new craft brewery scene. Just beyond Wintzell’s Oyster House at 600 Government Street, owner John Serda and brewmaster Todd Hicks are building a 30-barrel system that will focus its distribution from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida.

While these guys believe in the theory as Hicks puts it, “every place is your beach,” they plan on focusing on lagers.

“Being on the Gulf, lagers are lighter to drink,” explains Serda. “We want to be the Corona of craft beer.”

When I asked him if there’ll be limes in their thirst-quenching beers, Serda opines, “Oh, there will be none of that.”

(BEER TRAVEL: Find Dozens of City Guides)

Back in the day, Serda and Hicks attended the same high school. But it wasn’t until their career paths crossed at Port City Brewery that they would become friends. At the time, the two brew friends avidly brewed at home. Yet, Serda’s professional journey took a different path.

Ask any Mobile local about the Serda name, and they’ll most likely point toward John’s Serda Coffee Company on Royal Street. Here there’s an aroma of small-batch Costa Rican roast permeating the air. Still, Serda contends the best place to find a good brew is his house. But, he also frequents The Haberdasher which is only steps from his Mobile coffee shop.

Hicks has a long history of beer in the Southeast. Cutting his teeth on the likes of Port City Brewery in the early 90s, he also once trained under a former Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu brewer. Since those days, he’s tucked away quite a few recipes for German lagers and ales.

“I make lagers because no one’s doing them,” he says. To this day, his brewhouse designs pepper the Gulf Coast. So, when it came to designing the Serda brewhouse in the old Goodyear store, the seasoned brewmaster says he had no hesitations.

“I designed this place to produce lagers and could probably brew by myself, if I had to,” he says.

Design isn’t the only star of efficiency in this future Mobile mecca. Hicks says that the municipal water supply is pulled straight out of the reservoir which is extremely soft water, ideal for pilsners.

Serda Brewing Company opens this summer and their Hook, Line and Lager-Pilsner will be tapped and ready to beat the heat in their pub-style taproom. Be on the lookout for Serda to hit Southeastern shelves, sooner rather than later.

(LEARN: 75+ Popular Beer Styles)

Big Beach Brewing

Just an hour’s drive east and you’ll be in beach heaven. Most folks come for the 32 miles of white, sandy beaches made from quartz grains washed down the Appalachians thousands of years ago. But, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach is also home to the state’s southernmost brewery, Big Beach Brewing Company, located at 300 E 24th Ave in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Big Beach Brewery opened in Gulf Shores, Alabama, in 2016. (Credit: Melissa Corbin)

When Jim and Julie Shamburger travel, they always seek out mom-and-pop breweries and visit with the locals.

“With 5-6 million visitors per year, we felt we could be successful opening a brewery here,” Jim says. “It got bigger than I thought it would be.”

Big Beach opened last fall with a 10-barrel system that is literally tank to tap. The barrel lines go straight to the taps from a big iron pipe that cools the beer to 36 degrees.

“Once it’s moved into the bright tank, folks can drink the beer. You don’t get much fresher than that,” explains brewmaster Rod Murray.

Murray started brewing in 1994 during his military career by taking a brewing course. While in Germany he fell in love with hefeweizen, but then stepped into the world of cream ales for which he’s become known for.

(COOK WITH BEER: How to Make IPA Fish Tacos)

Hailing from Public House Brewery in Rolla, Missouri, Murray is excited for one of their brewers to join him for a bit this summer to “fire up a lager together.” He actually has several summer recipe plans that include a taste of Alabama farms such as the peach wheat made with Alabama peaches. Beekeeper Matthew Green hauls his local honey to the brewery which goes into the blonde ale. Also, the satsumas for the satsuma white come from right up the road.

“Anytime we can source something local, we do,” Murray tells us. “This is our first year. I’m always feeling like I’m chasing myself. Once we get to this fall, I’ll know the normal rotation.”

Enjoy the breeze in the front yard swing, cozy up by the fireplace, or grab a seat on the northeast deck (complete with views of the Intracoastal Waterway). Four-legged friends are also welcome at Big Beach. And if music is the ticket for savoring the flavors, this is the place for you.

“Julie and I like music. We like to go to places that offer an easy vibe so that we can sit and talk about the beer. We want to become one of the premier music venues of Gulf Shores,” Jim says. Check out their events calendar for an act that pleases your palate.

The folks at Big Beach Brewing Company aim to create an environment with comfort in mind, while adding an educational component. Murray says anyone is welcome to come back and take a look at the process. In fact, he works in somewhat of a fish bowl setting.

“There’s nowhere to hide,” he says of the brewhouse surrounded by glass. Garnering a multitude of national awards, Murray doesn’t need to hide. “Rod is a very modest person. He’s won national awards … but, he’d never tell you about that,” says Jim while Murray chuckles, responding: “Nope!”

Melissa CorbinAuthor Website

Melissa Corbin is a Nashville-based freelance journalist telling the stories of folks who care about their world’s future. Published by Travel Channel, Edible Communities, NPR, USA Today and Nashville Lifestyles, she’s also the producer of Corbin In The Dell- a travel podcast about folks in food, farming and drink with a local music influence. Read more by this author

The post The Rising Tide of Alabama’s Gulf Coast Craft Breweries appeared first on Miami Beer Scene.

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instantdeerlover · 4 years

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Who Will Save the Food Timeline added to Google Docs

Who Will Save the Food Timeline

The internet’s most comprehensive archive of food history — a passion project of one dedicated librarian — predates Wikipedia. Now, it needs a new custodian.

In the long timeline of human civilization, here’s roughly how things shook out: First, there was fire, water, ice, and salt. Then we started cooking up and chowing down on oysters, scallops, horsemeat, mushrooms, insects, and frogs, in that general chronological order. Fatty almonds and sweet cherries found their way into our diet before walnuts and apples did, but it would be a couple thousand years until we figured out how to make ice cream or a truly good apple pie. Challah (first century), hot dogs (15th century), Fig Newtons (1891), and Meyer lemons (1908) landed in our kitchens long before Red Bull (1984), but they all arrived late to the marshmallow party — we’d been eating one version or another of those fluffy guys since 2000 B.C.

This is, more or less, the history of human eating habits for 20,000 years, and right now, you can find it all cataloged on the Food Timeline, an archival trove of food history hiding in plain sight on a website so lo-fi you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a GeoCities fanpage. When you look past the Times Roman font and taupe background, the Food Timeline happens to be the single most comprehensive inventory of food knowledge on the internet, with thousands upon thousands of pages of primary sources, cross-checked research, and obsessively detailed food history presented in chronological order. Every entry on the Food Timeline, which begins with “water” in pre-17,000 B.C. and ends with “test tube burgers” in 2013, is sourced from “old cook books, newspapers, magazines, National Historic Parks, government agencies, universities, cultural organizations, culinary historians, and company/restaurant web sites.” There is history, context, and commentary on everything from Taylor pork roll to Scottish tablet to “cowboy cooking.”

A couple of years ago, I landed on the humble authority of the Food Timeline while doing research on bread soup, a kind of austerity cuisine found in countless cultures. The entry for soup alone spans more than 70,000 words (The Great Gatsby doesn’t break 50,000), with excerpts from sources like Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat’s A History of Food, John Ayto’s An A-Z of Food and Drink, and D. Eleanor Scully and Terence Scully’s Early French Cookery. Before long, I fell into the emotional condition known as an internet K-hole, following link after link after link for hours on end. From olla podrida to hodge podge to cassava to taro to Chex Mix to Johnnycakes, the Food Timeline covered everything. Did you know that mozzarella sticks go as far back as the Middle Ages, but back then they called them “pipefarces”? I bookmarked the site and returned to it time and time again, when I was researching, writing, or just bored and hungry.

Despite the Food Timeline’s incredible utility, few people I spoke to had ever heard of it. Those who had always marveled at its breadth. “Oh my god, it’s nirvana,” Taste of the Past podcast host Linda Pelaccio said to herself when she first stumbled onto the Food Timeline. Sandy Oliver, a food historian and fellow fan, was stunned by its completeness and simplicity. “It was one of the most accessible ways of getting into food history — especially if you were a beginner — because it was just so easy to use,” she told me. “It didn’t have a hyperacademic approach, which would be off-putting.”

When Oliver learned that the thousands of pages and countless resources on the Food Timeline were compiled and updated entirely by one woman, she couldn’t believe it. “Oh my lord,” she thought. “This is an obsessed person.”

The Food Timeline, in all its comprehensive splendor, was indeed the work of an obsessed person: a New Jersey reference librarian named Lynne Olver. Olver launched the site in 1999, two years before Wikipedia debuted, and maintained it, with little additional help, for more than 15 years. By 2014, it had reached 35 million readers and Olver had personally answered 25,000 questions from fans who were writing history papers or wondering about the origins of family recipes. Olver populated the pages with well-researched answers to these questions, making a resource so thorough that a full scroll to the bottom of the Food Timeline takes several labored seconds.

For nearly two decades, Olver’s work was everyone else’s gain. In April of 2015, she passed away after a seven-month struggle with leukemia, a tragedy acknowledged briefly at the bottom of the site. “The Food Timeline was created and maintained solely by Lynne Olver (1958-2015, her obituary), reference librarian with a passion for food history.”

In the wake of Olver’s death, no one has come forward to take over her complex project, leaving a void in the internet that has yet to be filled — and worse, her noble contribution to a world lacking in accurate information and teeming with fake news is now in danger of being lost forever.

It isn’t often that we are tasked with thinking about the history of the food that we eat, unless it shows up in a Jeopardy! question or we ask our informal family historians to detail whose mother passed down this or that version of pound cake. But there are plenty of reasons to pay close attention: for curiosity’s sake; for deepening an appreciation of and respect for cooks, food, and technique; and for gathering perspective on what came before us. “Very few (if any) foods are invented. Most are contemporary twists on traditional themes,” Olver wrote on the Food Timeline. “Today’s grilled cheese sandwich is connected to ancient cooks who melted cheese on bread. 1950s meatloaf is connected to ground cooked meat products promoted at the turn of the 20th century, which are, in turn related to ancient Roman minces.”

The problem is that these days we’re overloaded with bad information that can be accessed instantaneously, with few intermediaries running quality control. “I think it’s a little too easy to turn to the web,” Oliver, who was also a longtime friend of Olver’s, told me as we talked about the legacy of Food Timeline. “What I worry about is that people aren’t learning critical thinking skills. Once in a while I run into someone who has never used a primary source — wouldn’t know it if it hit them on the head. Libraries are where you’d find that stuff. It’s not the same as using a Wikipedia page at all.” Or, if not a library, a mammoth resource compiled by a certified reference librarian herself. Whenever a reader would write in asking a question, or when Olver herself would become interested in the provenance of a certain food, she’d turn to her personal library of thousands of food books, and her litany of professional resources and skills, and write out detailed answers with sources cited on her website.

As Olver emphasized proudly in a 2013 interview on Pelaccio’s Taste of the Past podcast, when you Google “food history,” the Food Timeline appears first in the search results, even though she never “paid search engines for premium placement, solicited reciprocal links, partnered with book vendors, or sold advertising.” Over the years, thousands of emails poured in asking Olver for help finding the specific information they were looking for, like the history of a weird cheese or a grandmother’s pie recipe.

“One of my favorite groupings of people are those who are looking to recover family recipes,” Olver explained to Pelaccio. “I love that! As long as you can give me a little bit of context, then I have some direction.” She would often cook the recipes people sent her so she could gain a better understanding of the legacy of certain foods. Occasionally, she would struggle to come up with an answer to readers’ questions. “If anybody out there knows the answer to this, please let me know,” she began on Pelaccio’s podcast. “I’ve been asked repeatedly over the years for a recipe for ‘guildmaster sauce.’ It is mentioned on some of the old railroad menus and on fancy dining car menus, but we are not coming up with a recipe or other references.” She never got the answer.

“One of the reasons she wanted people to learn about food was for the simple basic fundamental fact that it kept people alive,” Sara Weissman, a fellow reference librarian at the Morris County Public Library and occasional Food Timeline collaborator, told me. “It was that simple. There was no pretension about it.” Olver found food to be a universal subject of interest — everyone had something to share and everyone had something to learn.

“Yesterday I took the entire day off from work because I wanted to research seitan wheat meat,” Olver told Pelaccio. “My whole site is really driven by my readers. What is it that they want to know?”

The Olvers’ former family home is a modest colonial that sits on a shady suburban street in Randolph, New Jersey, about 10 minutes from the Morris County Public Library, where Lynne worked for more than 25 years. It is fastidiously clean and welcoming, and Olver’s library was still the focal point of the house when I visited a little more than a year ago. As she amassed primary sources to build out the Food Timeline, the sitting room filled up with bookshelves to house her more than 2,300 books — some dating to the 17th century — as well as thousands of brochures and vintage magazines, and a disarrayed collection of other food ephemera, like plastic cups from Pat’s and Geno’s and a tin of Spam. “One of 10 top iconic American manufactured foods, SPAM holds a special place on our national table & culinary folklore,” Olver wrote on the Timeline.

Despite Olver’s intense fondness for it as an object of inquiry, Spam did not hold a special place on her palate; she never tried it. A picky eater, she detested lima beans, pistachio ice cream, calamari, slimy textures, and anything that even edged on raw. When she was in high school in the early ’70s, her favorite dish to make was something she called “peas with cheese,” which is as simple as it sounds. “She would take frozen peas and she’d melt cheese on it, mostly Swiss,” then cover the messy pile in Worcestershire sauce, Olver’s sister, Janice Martin, recalled. “We called Worcestershire sauce ‘life’s blood.’ It was coursing through our veins.” (Sadly, the Timeline does not include an entry for peas with cheese.)

Making peas with cheese as a teenager was the beginning of what would become a lifelong interest in food for Olver. Libraries also captured her attention early on: At 16, she took her first job as a clerk in the Bryant Library in Roslyn, New York, shelving books in the children’s department. There, she was mentored by two older librarians, whom she loved. “She was an introvert,” Olver’s sister told me. “When it came to research, she was fascinated by ferreting out information that nobody else could find.” In 1980, she graduated with a degree in library science from Albany State University, where she also worked as a short-order cook, making sandwiches for students and faculty at a university canteen.

“Libraries are where you’d find that stuff. It’s not the same as using a Wikipedia page at all.”

Olver and her future husband, Gordon, met at Albany State and married the year after Olver graduated, in 1981, after which they worked in Manhattan (Lynne at a law library, Gordon in reinsurance), then Connecticut. They eventually had two children — Sarah and Jason — and settled in New Jersey in 1991, where Olver found a job as a reference librarian at the Morris County Public Library, eventually becoming the head of reference, and finally director of the library.

It was during Olver’s time as a reference librarian that the seed was planted for the Food Timeline. It began as an assignment to explain the origins of Thanksgiving dinner to children, to be published on an early incarnation of the library’s website. Around the same time, Olver was asked to write a monthly print newsletter to share library news, which she named Eureka!. One section of the newsletter was devoted to “Hot Topics,” as Olver and her colleague Sharon Javer wrote in the first dispatch. “Each month, this lead feature will focus on a particular theme: holidays, New Jersey events sources, census data, and so on. Included in this sizzling section will be answers to arduous questions, practical pointers and many marvelous morsels of information.”

Eureka!, in a sign of things to come, began to take over her life. “I remember one time saying to her, ‘How come we’re buying all this colored paper?’” Gordon, her husband, told me. “The library wouldn’t pay for the paper, so she was buying it on her own. When the library realized it was taking so much of her time, they asked her to stop. Meanwhile, she had put so much time and effort into it that she said to them, ‘Just pass it over to me, I’ll take it.’”

When the family got a Gateway computer in the late ’90s, Olver began teaching herself HTML, and by 1999, she was combining her interest in the Thanksgiving dinner project and the Eureka! answers column into a hybrid website she called the Food Timeline, where she could focus on providing well-researched food history on her own time. An archived version of the 1999 Food Timeline http://gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food.html" rel="nofollow">still exists and looks — unsurprisingly — more or less the same as the one now. “We still hand code html & today’s readers comment the site is ‘ugly,’” Olver wrote under the site’s “Market Strategy.” “We acknowledge: what was cutting edge in 1999 is now stale. Conversley? [sic] FT looks so old it’s become vintage.”

Olver wrote everything on the Food Timeline with a royal “we,” including her responses to readers’ emails, despite the fact the project was largely hers, with an occasional assist from others. “‘I don’t want anyone to know that it’s just me,’’’ Sarah recalled her mom saying. “She wanted people to believe that it was a network of volunteers,” because she felt that it lent the site more credibility.

“We acknowledge: what was cutting edge in 1999 is now stale.”

While Olver worked at the county library by day, by night she was creating an online resource for anyone who wanted to know more about Johnny Appleseed or chuck wagon stew or the origins of Sauce Robert. By the website’s first anniversary, Olver was already spending upwards of 30 hours a week on the Food Timeline, compiling and posting all the information she was digging up and answering readers’ questions about the origins of their grandmothers’ crumble recipes. “If you came in the house and you wanted to know where she was, and she wasn’t cooking, she was in the office on the computer,” Gordon recalled.

Eventually, even the cooking fell behind. Olver’s children came to expect burnt grilled cheese sandwiches at meals Sarah said. “She would be like, ‘I’ll leave these [on the stove] and go do my work,’ and then she would forget because she was so into what she was doing.”

Over time, the audience for the site expanded, and Olver’s subtle form of fame grew with it. She was named a winner of the New York Times Librarian Award in 2002, and, in 2004, Saveur put the Food Timeline on its Saveur 100 list of the best food finds that year. In the mid-2010s, she was asked to contribute to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and consult for America’s Test Kitchen.

Sarah and Jason recalled taking their mother to a cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan during that time period. “She was so excited about the teacher of this class because she had heard of her through her research,” Sarah told me. “When we got there, the teacher was like, ‘I’m looking at my roster of students and I see that Lynne Olver is here. Where is Lynne Olver?’ Mom kind of timidly raised her hand, and this chef was like, ‘I’ve been dying to meet you!’” The chef who left Olver starstruck was just as starstruck to meet Olver.

For years, Olver lived something of a double life. As the director of a mid-size suburban library, she was known to hand out PayDay candy bars to her staff on pay day and shovel snow from the building walkway during snowstorms, while as the founder of Food Timeline, she brought her computer on vacation, dutifully responding to readers’ food history questions within the promised 48-hour window. “I think she started on the internet as a way to reach a lot of people,” her sister said. “A lot of people who wouldn’t go into the library.”

The night before her wedding, in September 2014, Olver’s daughter, Sarah, noticed that her mom wasn’t acting like herself. While the family was sitting all together in the living room, Olver got up to go to the bathroom; minutes later, she was in the throes of a seizure. Sarah called 911, and Olver was taken to the hospital. The family stayed with her until doctors sent them home in the early hours of Sarah’s wedding day. The wedding had to go on, though Olver was too sick to attend. Doctors diagnosed her with leukemia the next day.

Olver had known for a while that she was sick, but didn’t want to ruin the wedding, so she had put off telling anyone. “She’d be like, ‘I’m dying, but let me put everyone else first,’” Sarah said. Olver was kept in the hospital for two months, but fought hard to be home for Thanksgiving. “It was my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner because she wasn’t feeling up to cooking — and I ruined it,” Sarah said. “The turkey shrunk off the bone. That was one of the only things that made her laugh in a really long time.”

“Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge is the best.”

When she was diagnosed with leukemia, Olver used the Food Timeline’s Twitter account to grumble about the food in the ICU at Morristown Medical Center, where she stayed until she was transferred to specialists in Hackensack two months later. “It was a chicken cutlet with some kind of sauce on it,” Gordon recalled; the post has since been taken down by the family. “She said, ‘This sauce, I don’t know what it is, I’m not eating it. It doesn’t look very good. It’s not a natural color.’”

Following her stay at the hospital in Hackensack, Olver returned home to wait for a bone marrow transplant. “She had to use a walker because balance was a problem, but very shortly after getting back from the hospital, she was walking around and doing all of her Food Timeline stuff again,” Gordon explained. She was responding to emails, diving back into her research. “On her birthday, March 10, she said, ‘I had a glorious day.’”

The reason? “Someone had written in with a question that she liked.”

A little over a month later, Lynne died of leukemia, only one year short of her retirement from the library. She had been planning to spend her retirement working on it full time: Earlier that year, she had renewed the Food Timeline domain for 10 more years.

A year after Olver’s death, her family began to discuss what would happen to the Food Timeline and who could take it over. “What we know is that we couldn’t do it justice ourselves,” Sarah said.

To anyone willing and able to maintain Olver’s vision of an ad-free, simply designed, easy-to-access resource on food history, the family members say that the website and her library are theirs, for free. A couple of people have put forward their names, but the family felt that their hearts weren’t in the right place. “One woman had shown us what she had done with her website and it was just full of banner advertisements,” Gordon said.

“It has to uphold her vision,” Sarah added.

Olver’s book collection — if a price were to be put on it — would be worth tens of thousands of dollars, Gordon estimates. So far, there have been no takers for either the books or the task of keeping the site going.

“The Culinary Institute of America initially expressed interest,” Gordon said. “But three months later, they came back and said, ‘We don’t really have the ability to take that volume of texts and dedicate [the task of updating the site] to a specific person. I said they were missing the point; I wasn’t looking to give them the books unless they wanted the website, too.”

The Food Timeline was — and still is — a great democratizing force. “I think Lynne liked that the internet was for everybody and by everybody. Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge is the best,” Lynne’s sister, Janice, told me. “If you hold the knowledge and you can help everybody get it, that’s where it’s at.” Lynne Olver, an award-winning reference librarian, wanted everybody to know exactly what she knew.

“I would second anybody who says that they want Food Timeline to be brought up to date, who know how to keep that valuable digitized information where people can get their hands or their minds on it,” Sandy Oliver told me. “I’d hate to think Lynne had spent all those hours doing all that work and have it just slide into oblivion. I’d love to see it continue in whatever useful form it can.”

Dayna Evans is a freelance writer currently based in Paris. She last wrote for Eater about the rise of community fridges across the country. D’Ara Nazaryan is an art director & illustrator living in Los Angeles.

Fact checked by Samantha Schuyler

via Eater - All https://www.eater.com/2020/7/8/21271246/food-timeline-lynne-olver

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