On-camera at Jar with Suzanne Tracht today. P.S. False eyelashes are my new favorite thing.
“There’s an audacity that comes with any creative enterprise. I mean, I don’t think I would have written my first spec script if I had known how unlikely it was to get a writing job. And I don’t think I would have tried creating ARRESTED [DEVELOPMENT] if I really thought “look at the data of what’s already been developed. they won’t make this.” but I should have – that was the evidence that existed. I don’t think I would have included all the stuff about Saddam Hussein in Season 1 if I’d done the math on the likelihood of getting through an entire season to reveal the punchline. And I think that everyone has to jump off that cliff and make that assumption in their own work – because the truth is, even if it doesn’t happen, you have a more interesting life if you’re to sit down and write a novel than doing the math on the likelihood of it getting published.” —
Mitch Hurwitz. (via twiststreet)
Well, dang.
This article says everything I’ve been trying to say about superfoods for a long time. Here’s an excerpt:
“Worse than superfoods’ origin myths, though, are their effects on the people in their native regions. In 2009, at the height of the açaí berry hype, Bloomberg News reported that the fruit’s wholesale price had jumped 60-fold since the early 2000s, pricing the Amazonian villagers who rely on it out of the market. In the Andes, where quinoa has been cultivated since the time of the Incas, price spikes have turned a one-time staple into a luxury, and quinoa monocrops are crowding out the more sustainable traditional methods.
If that doesn’t faze you, perhaps this will: Quinoa may deliver a complete protein—all of the amino acids you require—in a compact package, but rice and beans together actually do better. And like goji berries, blueberries and strawberries are packed with phytochemicals. The only problem is that lacking an exotic back story, food marketers can’t wring as exorbitant a markup from these staples: The domestic blueberry, for example, is periodically (and justifiably) marketed as a superfood, and in 2012, products featuring blueberries as a primary ingredient saw their sales nearly quadruple. But they only raked in $3.5 million—less than 2 percent of açaí-based product sales.
Yes, the food industry’s hawkers have a tough job—and you can make it even tougher. The real superfoods are lurking exactly where marketers don’t want you to look: in produce sections, bulk food aisles, and backyard gardens. Not quite as exotic as the Himalayas. But then again, neither are those industrial plots in China where goji berries actually come from.”
Emphasis mine.
(via urbanfoodie)
Blackadder, which debuted on June 15, 1983 - 30 years ago today…
I think about this show all the time. I’m due for a re-watch of the entire series.
I find it fascinating how a wonderfully made blog with meticulous citing like bohemea’s was just deleted for content violation, but disgusting, dehumanizing filth like creepshots and other blogs with just as reprehensible content are still up and running, despite the outcry from the Tumblr community. It just goes to show you where Yahoo’s priorities lie.
Yikes. So what platform are people moving to?
A slide show of photos by Ami Vitale of a Montana cattle drive: http://nyr.kr/10cT7hU
Look at them.
The Essential First-Time Chicken-Keeper’s Checklist
You know you want chickens. You’ve checked your city municipal code, and your zone is in the clear. Now it’s time to spend the next few weeks preparing for a flock of chickens that will call your house home. Bringing home chickens is a lot like bringing home a new pet (but in this case, a few new pets!). Not only do you need to decide which breeds you’d like to raise, you also have to consider where they’re going to eat, sleep, play, poop, and how you’re going to take care of them. Where to start?
#1 Breed selection. Chickens come in standard breeds, heritage breeds, exotic breeds, and bantam breeds. Many factors come into play when selecting the appropriate breed for your backyard: egg-laying capacity, temperament, size, or even just looks alone (if you prefer more of a show bird than a production bird). Some breeds are friendly and like to be handled, while others are aloof or aggressive. Some don’t mind confinement in a small run, while others do best when they’re allowed to forage a large yard. Consider your household situation carefully before you pick your breeds.
See the rest of the tips here!
CHICKENS.
Local and Seasonal: Blueberry Crumble
If it weren’t for an entrepreneurial woman named Elizabeth Coleman White, we might never have had commercially cultivated blueberries. Elizabeth was the oldest of four daughters born to Mary and Joseph White, Quakers who lived on a cranberry farm in New Jersey during the early twentieth century. She took an interest in the wild blueberries growing on her family’s land and throughout the surrounding pine forest. At the time, blueberries were thought to be impossible to cultivate, but Elizabeth had ambitious ideas.
Read more about the fruit’s history, and get the crumble recipe, here.
[video]
“Women like grilling things too, of course, but at this point in history, grilling, like crying about sports and being a Fortune 500 CEO, is firmly located in the domain of Dude.” —
Something Bon Appetit actually, unironically, really, for real published today. (via baddeal)
I really do believe that the vast majority of writers (including myself here) should avoid even attempting satire. Or sarcasm. Or whatever the hell the above is. (My point!)
(via baddeal)