Glibertarians.com 2018 Archive

Category: Entertainment

  • Comixology Unlimited – One Guy’s Opinion

    A few months ago a few other Glibs suggested I check out Comixology Unlimited when I incorrectly complained that there was no good comic books subscription service.  Turns out, there is a pretty ok comic books subscription service. After subscribing for a few months, here are my thoughts and a list of books I enjoyed reading.

    Comixology is, by their own account:

    ComiXology, an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary, is a revolutionary, cloud-based digital comics service. With content from over 125 publishers as well as thousands of independent creators from around the world, comiXology provides an unrivaled library of comic books, graphic novels, manga and bandes dessinées. The company’s first-in-class innovations include the exclusive Guided View technology which provides an immersive and cinematic reading experience and a monthly subscription service. ComiXology is based in New York City, with operations in Seattle and Los Angeles.

    Comixology Unlimited is a $5.99 a month service that allows you to read an unlimited number of comic books from a limited catalog of books.  And that’s the nut. If there’s stuff in there you want to read, it’s a good price that lets you drink from the fire hose. If it is $5.99 for access to crap you don’t want, it is a waste of time and money.

    The reading experience took a while to get used to, but that’s mostly my fault.  I’m reading on a Google Pixel 2, which has a 5 inch screen. Trying to fit a full page on this isn’t going to happen.  I’ve found that you can read in landscape mode with the page set to screen width and scroll down, and that works pretty well for most pages.  But if there is a big splash screen or something interesting in the lay out, it’s a bit of a hassle.

    The Comixology app tries to solve this with something called a Guided View, where you are transitioned from panel to panel.  Again, this is ok, but fails to give you an overview of the whole page. I found that this is really important for me, so I didn’t use Guided View for a long time.  But last week I decided to see if I could get it work. Under settings, there’s an option to show the whole page on enter (or exit if you want,) and I found that gives me the experience I like.  I can see the whole page and then it feels like I”m zooming in on the panels. Between that and aggressively rotating my phone between landscape and portrait orientation, I’ve got to say that the reading experience is pretty great.

    The Guided View with my preferred settings is “better than free,” that is, I’d pay for this even if I got PDF’s of the books for free.  The ability to whip out my phone and read a few pages while waiting at the bus, standing in line at the bank, or when my kids are trying to talk to me at dinner is nice and I’m glad to have it.

    The selection is really the life taker or heart breaker of this service.  So what did I find? Lots of good, and a little bad, as long as you have a reasonable expectation.  I knew that the publishers wouldn’t want to cannibalize new sales, so I expected to only find old stuff.  By and large, that’s been true, so I’m happy with that. Some publishers, and I’m looking at you Dynamite, only like to put the first trade of a series on Unlimited to entice you to pay the per-book price to buy the rest of the series.  More on that later.

    So you’ll have to look at the Unlimited catalog for yourself to see if it has enough to get you to shell out six bucks a month.  For me, there is more than enough to keep me entertained. Marvel and DC have taken all their goodwill with me and lit it on fire   Not the SJW stuff – that’s always been a part of the big 2 publishing houses. It’s the stories. I have no interest in reading books that are going to last two years, maybe, and that are going to get jerked around to fit the latest and greatest cash grab event.  But the backlog from the big 2 and indies is large enough to keep me going for a long, long time. Here’s some good stuff on Unlimited that I’ve been reading:

    Super Dinosaur!!! This book is a wonderful, earnest story about a kid-genius and his best pal that happens to be a dinosaur.  Lots of awesome stuff happens and it’s all innocent, crazy fun from a guy that we know can write serious, brooding stories like the Walking Dead and Invincible.  But this is a book for your inner seven year old. I didn’t even write those exclamation points, they just showed up on their own.

     

     

    Atomic Robo & The Fightin’ Scientists of Tesladyne The honest to God, true life documentary story of that one time Nicola Tesla invented a nuclear powered robot in 1932 that went on all sorts of zany pulp adventures.  HP Lovecraft shows up. An insane dinosaur mad-scientist shows up. Carl Sagan shows up. There are lightning guns. There are cowboys. More fun for your seven year old self.

     

     

    Rebels The honest to God, true life documentary story about Seth Abbot and the Green Mountain Boys.  Ok, this historical fiction is actually about real people. There are no lightning guns or dinosaurs.  This isn’t a story for my seven year old self. But I love the Revolution. Its fascinating, and I think every American should buy into the myth of America.  And oh look, its written by a guy who calls himself an almost-socialist (before it was cool to do so) who also thinks that the Revolution was fascinating and that a myth that every American should buy into.

     

    Lumberjanes Yeah yeah, it’s a book by SJWs for SJWs and it passes the Bechdel Test.  I don’t care. This is a good book. A bunch of girls at summer camp solve a bunch of Scooby-Doo level supernatural mysteries.  The characters are fun, the story telling is tight, the jokes are plentiful, and the politics are on the back burner if they are in there at all.

     

     

    Hellboy Man, what can I say about Hellboy if you don’t already know about him?  Ok, here’s the premise – Hellboy is a demon born on earth due to a WWII occultist’s summoning.  He is prophesied to bring about armageddon. And.. he’s got the personality of a blue-collar dude that just want to live a normal, humble life.  But he’s stuck working for the government as a paranormal investigator. He’s a wonderful, lovable character living in a world of geek-porn. There are Nazi’s, Rasputin, his best friend is a fish-man, his lady-friend keeps setting things on fire with her brain, etc.  And the story is long, but the author has balls and is actually telling the story of the end of days that Hellboy was prophesied to bring about.

     

    Valiant Everything (the new one) I came of age reading Jim Shooter era Marvel and Chris Claremont X-Men, were writers has years to weave dangling plot strands into a complete tapestry.  I watched Terra break Beast Boy’s heart and I watched Nathan Summers fly off into the future only to come back years later as Clint Eastwood. The new Valiant is telling those same kinds of stories with slow-burning arcs and identifiable, consistent personalities.  I’m in Act Four of the reading order, and so far everything has been on Unlimited.

     

     

    Magnus, Robot Fighter (the new one, no newer than that, the Dynamite one)  Magnus is cool – he punches robots. But now he’s infused with Super Dad Powers, which, as a Dad, I approve of.  I really, really enjoyed the first trade, but it is the only one on Unlimited. They want me to pay for the other trades… well, the problem is my BATANA is to just pick up another book I really like from Unlimited so that’s not going to happen.  Too bad. Maybe I’ll blow $5 on the next trade at some point, but I don’t think I will. Too many fish in the sea.

     

     

    Usagi Yojimbo Don’t let the fact that it’s a bunny fool you, this is a great samurai epic.  Usagi is one of the great comic book characters of all time. Love. Duty. Pain. Sacrifice.  Loss. Intrigue. It has everything you could ever want in a samurai story.

     

     

     

    Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Man Or Monster? Some of the old Marvel titles are really hit or miss.  Pro Tip – don’t go reading old Iron Man stories. But early Hulk was a lot of fun. There are a fair number of silver age collections, and I enjoyed re-reading this one.

     

     

     

    So there you have it.  Comixology Unlimited – Try it for the 1 month free trial, and you should know within a week or two if it is right for you.

  • I Fucking Love Astrology: The Horoscope for the week of September 23

    I’ve been a scientist since joining the undergraduate research teams (think grad students for grad students) but it’s only in the last decade or so that I’ve noticed other people seeming to notice.  Sure, it’s one thing being invited to speak at conferences, or being on the board to select SEMI standards, but you know how you really have made it in the industry?  Junk mail.  Although I don’t get junk mail actually related to my official, professional endeavors, I get them in reference to more, shall we say, recreational scientific pursuits:

    Mad Scientists get THE BEST junk mail

    And sometimes these are actually helpful

    Maybe it shouldn’t be, but obtaining the right clone IS a hassle.

    But you don’t care about that.  So, on to the horoscope!

    Not a whole lot of good news up there, at least not of the “wholesome” variety.  The BARCO Sol-Venus-Mars that is crossed with Terra-Venus-Jupiter indicates success in conducting extramarital affairs, but with one major caveat — don’t do it on/near water.   If you attempt unsanctioned nookie on a boat, you will get caught.

    This pass through the year is especially good for Virgos, so enjoy it while it lasts — Mercury never hangs out in a sign for too long (unless it goes retrograde).

    Aquarius, in addition to it’s seemingly unending strife from Mars, gets an extra instability whammy from the Moon.  I hope that Rufus has some antibiotic ointment handy, those little bastards can bite.

    For those of you in a formalized relationship, things are still good with Venus and Jupiter doing their thing in Scorpio.  It won’t last, so make whoopie while you can.

    The grim reaper is still riding a goat.

    This is what Saturn in Capricorn looks like

  • The Hat and The Hair-Animated Episode 9: Resist

     

  • I’m a little Preocupied: The Horoscope for the Week of September 2

     

    Goodbye Leo, it was fun, but now it’s Virgo’s time to shine.

    There’s a BARCO alignment of the Earth with Venus and Jupiter.  These are really great planets to be aligned with, what with peace, love, joviality, strength, power, majesty and whatnot, but the alignment is of really poor quality.  So the vector direction is great, the magnitude is crap.  There will be a nudge towards everything working out, but don’t expect it to overcome any significant obstacles.

    Even though Leo no longer has the Sun, there is still Mercury spinning around up there, indicating great change coming.  I wonder how the stars knew I’m supposed to close this week?

    Venus spends her last week in Libra, enjoy the peace while you can.  I can only hope that this means the the closing and subsequent moving will go smoothly.

    Mars in Capricorn.  See, this is exactly what you don’t want to see when you’re moving.  Stubbornness and violence?  The movers are going to be dicks?  My shit’s going to get broken?

    Jupiter in Scorpio.  This influence has been pretty solid for weeks now, so independently it just means status quo.  When combined with the current alignment, it indicates successful endeavors in pest control.  Surely I don’t need to worry about exterminators yet?

    Saturn (retrograde) in Capricorn.  Now this one is tricky.  It indicates a loss of money, which is pretty much going to be happening if the wire transfer for my closing costs actually goes through (how the fuck do you put a typo in your own goddamn routing number, bank who shall remain nameless?  The next transfer time is all of three hours before my closing time, so surely that’s nothing to worry about).  But Saturn also goes station direct on Wednesday (the day I’m moving) so inasmuch as Saturn can ever be a good sign, this is it.  It is a great day for making endings, so “see you later” rental unit!

    And lastly, the moon is in Taurus.  So we’ve got change matched with strength and patience.  Be strong, be flexible, things will work out.  It often seems like astrologers speak in clichéd platitudes.  But you need to remember, the stars spoke first, and the platitude makers ripped them off.

     

     

  • I Fucking Love Astrology: The Horoscope for the Week of August 26

    Pretty good week, just like the stars said.  Lots of work to do, lots of work got done.  Except some mirrors I ordered on the 11th which broke during shipment on the 13th, re-ordered on the 15th… still aren’t here.  Today they gave me some UPS tracking numbers which don’t actually correspond to anything.

    Anyway, what’s up? (Get it?)

    Bupkis.

    MERCURY RETROGRADE is over.  No alignments.

    But… things are starting to shift back to more harmonious conditions.  In addition to Mercury having gone station direct, Mars has done so as well.  The early part of a transition is especially auspicious so with Mars being in Capricorn, those of you who are competitive will not only win, but win money in your competitions.  If you’ve been putting off a haircut, this is now a good time to get one.  I’ll probably get one on Sunday.  Venus in Libra brings success in juggling both your primary partner and your side piece(s).  Leo gets good news, the weather will be hot.  Good yields from gardening (Capricorn has that Mars transition mentioned before, but it’s conjoined with Saturn (retrograde) so “bounty unending.”  Low probability of stings when you’re working in the garden, thanks to Jupiter controlling Scorpio.

    There is a major water-influence going on with the Moon in Aquarius.  Expect something big happening with the ocean.  Good surfing?  Floods?  Hard to say.

    Remember: quiet stars mean happy people.

    Apropos of absolutely nothing, unless you want to talk about those covers which are better than the original, and maybe get OMWC to tell the story about how he once had a Four-way with the Andrews Sisters:

     

     

  • Disney and Marvel king and queen pimp of copyright kingdom.

    This article is inspired by the many mentions on this site of Star Wars, Marvel, Disney and how their SJW leanings  may be hurting their business. I have a theory that centers on trademark and copyright law about how in the cases of Marvel many of these crazy SJW stunts are actually evidence of Disney playing the long game and in the case of other properties such as Star Wars and The Muppets show that the company is largely being propelled by a few divisions while the rest coasts or bumbles around aimlessly.

    I will start with a basic and not at all legally sound explanation of trademarks and copyrights. Trademarks are basically legal claims towards branding, brand names and mascots can be trademarked in perpetuity as long as they remain active. This can be confusing because characters can have works that exist in the public domain such as certain books or films but still be trademarked characters. This is possible because the copyright of the work which features that character can expire without the characters trademark expiring allowing that particular book or film to be reproduced for free while other uses of that character would still be protected by trademark or copyright.

    Copyright is the other half of the equation and the concept is pretty clear from the term, it is the right to copy something. Copyright protects specific works rather than brands the way  trademarks do. The original post colonial copyright in the United States was 14 years with the option to renew for another 14 years; by the early 20th century this had expanded to 28 years with an option for a renewal of another 28 years. In 1976, this was expanded to 75 years for corporate owned works or the life of the author plus 50 years, and in 1998–with a major push from Disney–it was expanded to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication for corporate works or the life of the author plus 70 years.

    The impact copyright can have on media franchises can get very complicated. A great example of this is the Wizard of Oz franchise. Wizard of Oz started out as a media franchise in the early 20th century with books, plays and silent films but it is the 1939 film that has become the definitive version in the minds of the general public. The original wave of books, plays and silent films are all in the public domain which means free of copyright but the 1939 film is still under copyright.

    There are distinct elements to the 1939 film such as songs, plot points and design elements such as the ruby slippers that are not public domain. The shoes were originally silver but were changed to red to showcase the then still novel format of technicolor film. The books status as public domain allows anyone to create a sequel or new interpretation of Wizard of Oz but the copyright protecting the distinctive elements of the definitive version along with the lack of a young Judy Garlands has prevented any of these from becoming seen as legitimate entries of the franchise, including two attempts by Disney. The extension of copyrights benefits almost every media company but  I would argue that this is a major element of Disney’s business strategy and is used to add value to their merchandising and theme park divisions. The affect of this is most notable in the Disney Princess franchise which earns Disney millions from trademarked versions of public domain characters. It is also used recently in their live action film division through the remakes of their animated films.

    The deeper use of the ins and outs of copyright laws hasn’t really expanded to companies they have purchased, such as Pixar and Lucasfilms which is responsible for Star Wars and allegedly more Indiana Jones. The exception to that I would say is Marvel. I think the difference is because of the age of Marvel places much more of the companies value closer to entering public domain. Marvel started in the late ’30s with characters such as Captain America, Sub-Mariner and other members of The All Winners Squad with the majority of Marvels most famous characters from the ’60s or ’70s. Marvel began their version of using the ruby slipper like leverage before they were bought by Disney and it has accelerated since then. I think that a major reason Marvel even still publishes comics is to strengthen their copyrights covering more and more situations making it harder and harder to write a story using their characters without infringing on a copyright. Evidence of this is how their publishing strategy changed after the success of the X-men and Spider-man films.

    Marvel’s top property for decades was X-men to the point where often any book with an X on it would sell better than most of The Avengers solo books. Marvel began to shift the focus of their comics away from the X-men with events such as House of M removing power from many mutants and towards the Avengers adding Spider-man and Wolverine to the line up. This was done without any certainty that the sales of the comics would be maintained. Before this the Avengers were a team of former A-listers who had been surpassed in popularity by Spiderman and the X-men who previously were too valuable to be in The Avengers. This shift took place because the film rights to many of their characters were no longer owned by Marvel, because they were sold off during a bankruptcy. The Avengers film rights were the ones that didn’t sell and adding their star characters to the franchise helped move the focus to the avengers.

    Another example is the comics recent focus on The Inhumans. Marvel intended to replace the mutants with the inhumans because of their loss of the film rights. They did things like making some of the recently depowered mutants inhumans, retconning characters who were assumed-but-not-certain-mutants as mutants, and even in a few cases retconning characters who had previously been retconned to be mutants to cash in on the xmen’s popularity. The Inhumans before this were supporting characters in Fantastic Four who had never sustained an ongoing series more than a couple years. They also had major event series around this time which connected them with all the other ongoing comics. Marvel’s emphasis was no longer on selling comics but using the comics to lay down more copyright, and retrain and test what people think of the characters to prep for future movies and tv shows. They do something similar in the cartoons which feature upcoming characters such as Nova and Amadeus Cho.

    I also believe that much of their SJW recasting of their characters is Marvel woke-proofing their franchises. Peter Parker’s adventures will eventually become public domain even if eventually is a long time from now (especially if it counts as 70 years after Stan Lee’s death) but Marvel can keep the trademark of Spider-Man in perpetuity and they just have to change who the public thinks of as Spider-man. They have tried this with several characters but the only major character they have made significant progress with is Spider-man and the upcoming animated film starring Miles Morales (a half black half Hispanic alternate universe character) Into the Spiderverse will reinforce this.

     

  • Cut the Cord! Vive la Révolution!

     

    Cord cutting is a very libertarian movement. It’s all about the individual choosing what they want to watch and when they want to watch it. It’s about giving your money to targeted companies and not subsidizing those you disagree with. It’s about the end of intrusive commercials. This started off as a younger generation trend, but has been rapidly picking up steam and the cable companies are hemorrhaging subscribers across all age groups. While a few dinosaur CEOs are still holding out, other television companies sense the impending death of the bundled cable model and are trying to develop their own streaming services.

    In its purest spirit, cord cutting does not include ‘TV-lite’ streaming packages like Sling. I view these as being similar to methadone for the heroin addict. You still have to abide by the set viewing schedule, have commercials, and have to financially support channels you don’t watch. Just let it go. You won’t even know it’s there after a week. I usually bring a Roku with me when I travel because I can’t even stand to watch cable tv in hotels anymore.

    If you still want to watch traditional TV after cutting the cord, you’ll need to buy a package like Sling. I’ve heard PlayStation Vue is the best of these, but again, that’s like saying a can of Boyardee is better than a gas station hotdog. Shift out of that mindset entirely and get yourself a steak. I also know there will be questions about sports packages. I don’t watch sports so don’t really know the details here. I believe MLB, NASCAR, and NHL have their own packages, and ESPN is creating one. They all eventually will.

    What you’ll need

    High speed internet- At least 8 Mbps. More is better, especially with multiple devices.

    Streaming platform device- My opinion is that Roku is the best. They give you access to the greatest number of apps (called channels) within the platform. Both Apple and Amazon used to (and may still) restrict major competitors from their streaming platform. Roku doesn’t have this conflict of interest in their business model. There are also other options that include a Smart TV or gaming console. Make sure that the device is capable of handling 4K and HDR if your tv has this capability.

    Subscription Apps or Channel Services- These are what you use to watch content. Content services are usually purchased on a monthly basis. Three different channels provide more content than a person can ever watch. Unlike with traditional Cable companies who drag you through the ringer, it’s extremely easy to cancel and add these channels online with a single mouse click, so some people even cycle through different services as new content is added. Some channels will make every episode in a season available at once to let you binge (Netflix), while others post new episodes as they air on traditional TV (Hulu, HBO Now).

    Netflix– This is the staple in most streaming households. There is an incredible amount of programming available for $10/month. Most of the licensed content is so-so, but their original shows are quite good.

    Amazon Prime– Meh. Their content is subpar and probably the worst value of all the major streaming channels. Definitely not worth it for $10/month. If you already have this for free-shipping and Prime Music, then it’s worth checking in every now and then.

    Hulu– About $10/month for the commercial free version. This one depends on what you like. Hulu is the original joint venture of several traditional TV channels and their programming reflects that. There’s a lot of reality shows, dramas, and sitcoms that have new episodes available the day after they are broadcasted. It’s not something I would keep, but my wife really enjoys it.

    Premium Channels HBO Now/ Showtime/ Starz/ Cinemax– It’s worth keeping at least one of these and they are easy to cycle through. Prices range from $8-15/month, though you can get discounts too. We have HBO Now and enjoy the original programming (Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones) and movie selection.

    Vudu– Vudu is my favorite and probably most underrated channel. It’s a movie streaming service that lets you keep your own library of movies online to freely access from anywhere in the world. If you have a dvd collection you can actually add these to your streaming library. Adding regular dvds are $1 or upgrade to the high definition version for $2. They also have great deals on movies to purchase and add to your library. You can also rent 4K versions of new releases for a few dollars. Vudu does not have a service fee.

    This right here will be the death of the cinema. My family watched Jurassic World last week on our 65’’4k HDR TV with surround sound. It was far superior in quality to anything at the theater, and we could have our food and drinks. I haven’t set foot in a movie theater in over a decade, and it’s very likely my kids never will.

    YouTube– There is a lot of free content on YouTube that especially appeals to kids. Mine really like this show type called Surprise Eggs which, is pretty much as it sounds…. strangers open eggs with toys inside. I don’t know, I don’t get it, but it’s like crack to them. YouTube also offers a paid subscription model, but I think this is more of a younger generation thing and don’t know anything about it.

    PornHub- Just kidding, this isn’t available as an app. Umm, let me take that back. As I researched this to make sure I was providing accurate information, I learned PornHub does in fact have an app available for Roku. Adult apps are banned from the Roku Channel Store, but it can be added manually using the channel code. Be sure to wipe down the remote after viewing.

    Traditional TV Channel Apps- As I mentioned above, the execs at many traditional tv companies have seen the writing on the wall of the future of cable tv. Their response has been to start innovating their own streaming package. These will be similar to Netflix (i.e., commercial-free and on demand) and not at all like Sling, Playstation Vue, etc. Disney is working on one now that has an anticipated release of 2019 or 2020. There is also a streaming service available now for younger kids called NOGGIN that has shows like Backyardigans, Paw Patrol, etc for $8/month. Scrips (Travel Channel, TLC, Food Network) and Discovery have recently merged companies and are creating their own streaming channel that should be available for $5/month in 2019.

    Digital antenna– This will let you pick up over the air broadcasts. Enjoy it, Grandpa.

    I’ll end this by noting a common criticism of cord cutting is that it becomes as expensive as cable once you start purchasing individual streaming channels. At the cost of Internet plus $30 bucks for Netflix, HBO, and Hulu (plus free Vudu and YouTube), I don’t think this is the case at all. Even if it cost the same amount, so what?! Cord cutting is commercial free and let’s you watch what you want when you want it, so the value is immensely higher even at the same cost. I can’t imagine paying money to watch commercials. You may also hear your friendly Cable Company Rep offer to throw in a TV package for the same price as you’re paying now for just Internet. Don’t believe them. The price will jack up after one year and there will be a large number of add-on fees and taxes applicable immediately.

    Cut the Cord! Vive la Révolution!

  • I Fucking Love Astrology: The Horoscope for the Week of August 12

    This week, we explore new frontiers in how-late-can-I-submit-something-and-still-make-its-slot?

    If I told you exactly how busy I’ve been, I wouldn’t have time to tell you anything else.   Suffice it to say:  Germans.

     

    Fortunately, this week the skies are pretty straightforward, if not particularly happy.  The big indicator is a FIVE (5!) planet alignment of Sol-MERCURY RETROGRADE-Terra-Luna-Mars(retrograde). None of these are good signs in and of themselves, and when you line them all up together you get bad shit happenin’ yo.  Everything is representing bad change, loss, destruction etc.  There is an interlocked alignment of Sol-Venus-Saturn(retrograde) indicating that part of this general shittiness will be the end of a loving relationship, or (possibly) a bit of pleasant novelty in the rump-pumpy aspect of life.

    Sorry.

    There is one bit of good news; Venus is in Libra.  This means that the second interpretation of the the second alignment is more likely.  Thank Bob for small favors.

    Leo, which had been enjoying niftiness is going to have a week of chaos and general shitstorms, what with MERCURY RETROGRADE and the moon causing havoc.  Huh.  Maybe I’m a week behind in my charts, because if next week is more hectic than this one…  well, it was nice knowing you all.  For the rest of you, DO NOT get a haircut this week.

    Rufus’ life remains stable.

    Jupiter really should be doing something about the general state of the skies, but instead is just vaguely helping out chemo patients in Scorpio.  I guess I can’t really bag on him too much for that.

    TW:  Hipster Porkpie, Trilby Neckbeard, 70’s Drummer, Blonde Asian, (((Redhead))), and Brunette Bassist Babe.  God Bless America.

     

  • History with a Side of Food

    Food history shows generally fall into two categories: those that focus on cooking with a side of history, and those that focus on history as told through food. I’d like to recommend three series that focus on history with a side of food.

    First, is The Supersizers (hat tip to Lafe Long), available on YouTube. It seems to be two series, The Supersizers Go and The Supersizers Eat. The hosts are Giles Coren and Sue Perkins. The show is focused on food culture throughout British history. There are a few partial cooking demonstrations (watch a chef sew a bird’s head onto pig’s body), and they do discuss changes throughout time. For example, shifts in food due to the introduction of spices like nutmeg or the increased availability of sugar.

    The hosts eat the diet of a particular era, such as Roman or Edwardian, for a week. Like Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me, the two get checked out by a doctor before and after embarking on their new diet. (What should they expect from drinking all that booze during the Elizabethan era?) They dress in period costumes – Sue Perkins continues to wear her nerdy, black, hipster glasses even when wearing a toga – and sit down to eat a table set in period style. They eat off trenchers (a piece of bread) in a number of episodes because plates weren’t in use yet. The series is silly and fun and full of bite sized pieces of culinary history.

    Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner with Clarissa Dickson Wright is more substantial fare. This three part series is also available on YouTube. Each episode focuses on a different meal and she explores how trade and technology have influenced and changed what and how we ate each meal. As in The Supersizers, the show has little in the way of cooking demonstrations, but we do see what a meal would look like and she gives a more erudite discussion of the culture surrounding food. It defintely kept my interest.

    Food: A Cultural Culinary History is a banquet of information. It is available through the Great Courses channel on Amazon Prime (you can get a trial membership to binge this series). I had never watched a Great Courses series before and I’m not sure what I expected. Perhaps a Ken Burns style documentary with pictures and voice-over, or maybe something more like the History Channel with its badly acted re-enactments. Nope.

    It is just a chubby guy in a suit, standing there talking. And I was riveted. This a survey of the history of the world told through food and culture. It covers the impact of trade and technology on what and how we eat from pre-history to modern times. Ken Ablala is master lecturer. He does throw in the rare, amateur food demonstration; charoset, penitent’s salad, and sushi. If you watch no other series, watch this one.

    So, what did I learn? Well, two things I’d like to share. First, no matter what time period you consider, or what diet people followed, someone will passionately insist it’s wrong. And, not only is that diet physically unhealthy, it is morally unhealthy and anyone who eats that way is a bad person. (Shakes finger.) This, of course, creates an opportunity for the governing institutions of church and state to intervene. For example, during the middle ages, the Catholic Church designated nearly half the year as ‘fast days’ which meant eating fish. Even after England’s break with the church, the government (particularly the Elizabethan government) continued to require fast days – mostly to support the English naval fleet. By fishing, they retained their seaman skills and supported themselves, without the crown having to pay for a navy – thrifty. So, when someone tells you that people used to eat a lot more fish, just remember that it wasn’t necessarily by choice. The weird categorization of things as fish (beaver tails) demonstrates that people were not necessarily excited about eating fish, fish, and more fish.

    Second, I have long considered cooking to be a basic life skill. I confess to being a bit condescending to those who complain about having to cook. To me, its not that hard, and how else are you going to feed yourself? Do you expect someone else to cook for you? Well, actually, for much of history, yes. Most people didn’t cook. Cooking for one’s self or one’s own family is a relatively modern practice. And, as an economist, once the reasoning for why this was dawned on me as I was watching these shows, I felt pretty stupid.

    Abigail Adams by Gilbert Stuart
    Cooking utensils (especially metal utensils) and a hearth designed for cooking (or later a stove) were expensive. The Roman populace couldn’t afford to have their own ovens. They took their grain to the baker, who would mill the grain and bake the bread for them. During medieval times, if you worked for the king, or even a local lord, you didn’t cook. You ate in the hall and someone else cooked for you. Peasants working in the field would bring their grain and vegetables to the field with them and it would be cooked in a communal pot.

    In colonial America, Abigail Adams and her husband were wealthy people. She didn’t have her own bread oven. It was too expensive, and not just because of the capital investment, but because of the cost of fuel. Instead, she took her dough to the baker and rented time in his oven.

    During industrialization, dormitories with eating halls were common for workers. Well into the 1950s, unmarried working people who moved to the city for work lived in boarding houses that provided meals. Even today, we largely expect college students to live in a dormitory and eat in a cafeteria. Mostly due to the cost of renting and furnishing an apartment.

    Education should always change us and my foray into culinary history has made me even more willing to ignore the ever changing diet advice. It has also tempered my attitude toward those who don’t cook. In the big picture of history, not cooking isn’t that odd.

  • I Fucking Love Astrology: The Horoscope for the Week of July 29

    I have a technician who is just a rock:  solid, dependable, inflexible, brittle, and completely incapable of learning new things.  So here I am in my third hour of unpaid overtime today (yay exempt status!) while Rocky goes off on their third break having failed to learn the procedure they were supposedly practicing for the last five weeks and I have been endeavoring to teach since 3:30.  In their defense, I am a terrible teacher.  Perhaps some stargazing will calm me down.

    Well well well… that’s interesting.  We have Mercury(retrograde) aligned with Venus and Jupiter.  An extremely auspicious alignment, particularly with Jupiter being in Scorpio and Venus in Virgo.  If Mercury were station direct and had the Sun been in the mix, I’d tell you to expect a surprise invitation to the joint afterparty held by the various modeling agencies and AVN.  In this case, while we still have Peace, Love, and Joy (with special emphasis on the breasts and genitals (I swear I am not making this up, go check out the body:constellation correlation charts available at literally every “spiritual” bookstore anywhere)) we have Mercury being station retrograde (chaos, bad news) in Leo (heart).  Again, if Mercury were direct with these planets in these constellations, this would be the absolute perfect day to begin a honeymoon.  But Mercury is retrograde, in Leo.  This doesn’t negate the rest of the construction, but does indicate some negative consequences or unforeseen complications.  For example, you could have a red-hot quickie with the hottie from a few cubicles over… and get busted by HR.  Or you could be giving your partner the best banging they’ve ever had, and slip a disc.  Actually, that latter scenario is more likely, since there aren’t any signs re: financial loss.  Even more likely, based on the alternative interpretation of Leo as referring to the mane/hair, you will be having a fantastic bit of whoopie, and someone’s wig will come dislodged at an inopportune time.  These things happen.

    AAAAHHHH!  MERCURY RETROGRADE! PANIC IN THE STREETS!

    So yes, we are back in the infamous time of MERCURY RETROGRADE.  I don’t think I’ve explicitly mentioned the station direct/station retrograde dichotomy, so for those of you who weren’t taught the quadrivium, here’s what that all means.  The heavens are perfect, the earth is flawed.  It has been ever thus since the morning star fell.  A sign of being perfect is to be unchanging — can’t get any better than perfect, after all.  But there is a bit of a gradient; a bird doesn’t become an angel just because it can fly.  The moon is obviously imperfect since it changes all the time, it must therefore be closer to the Earth than to the heavens.  The sphere of fixed stars is perfect since they never change.  The planets change less than the moon, but they aren’t completely heavenly either.  The planets wander through the heavens most of the time in a particular direction (corresponding to the overall celestial motion) when they are doing that, they are acting as they are supposed to.  This is direct motion.  Every now and then, the planets cease moving and begin moving backwards.  This is retrograde motion.  When the planets are moving retrograde, they are acting contrary to the celestial design which means that their reversed and/or malign properties become dominant.  This also means that they backtrack through the zodiac, spending more time in a given constellation than they would have had they just spent more time in Sunday school.  Even more so as when they go back to direct motion they pass through a certain constellatory space for a third time.

    This leads to situations like the one we are currently in:  Mercury (the messenger, news, tidings, change, rumor) has been in Leo (royalty, government) so we’ve been in a period of increased political news.  But instead of passing on through and heading into the next constellation it’s going to reverse, go back, and basically fuck around keeping the news monotonous.

    Speaking of Leo, that’s where the sun is.  Leo is the lion, lions are in Africa, and Africa is hot, so it’s no surprise that for the next few weeks the weather will be warmer than the rest of the year.  I won’t say that astrology is part of the IPCC forecasting process, but I won’t say it isn’t either.

    Left to right: Krypton, Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson
    IPCC Scientists (not pictured)

    Scorpio, Capricorn, Aquarius — Same Stars, Different Day.  If you want to break out of a rut, the heavens aren’t going to help.  Life should be chill for Virgos.  Fishing will be sub-par again.

    Leo music: