The Breads Roundup No. 102
Nuclear Missiles, Street Food and Mafia Chefs
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Hello Dutch Masters,
Yesterday was April 20th. A day steeped in marijuana lore and tradition. One I do not participate in because of the law. Marijuana is the devil!
Just kidding. It’s not, I’m just a soft boi who can’t handle my weed any more. The last time I enjoyed smoking the devil’s lettuce was my junior year of college and I got way too high and was convinced that whatever I smoked was laced with something else. The reason I know that is not true was because myriad other people smoked the same weed as me and were fine. In fact they went on to play a raucous game of Balderdash together while I just sat in a recliner chair (which was somehow in my friend’s small dormroom?) with my hands on my head unable to move.
The fact that my life felt like it was in a mid-2000s iTunes visualizer led me to the obvious conclusion that somehow, by some act of god, only weed that was burned while I was smoking had been contaminated by some random particles of some other drug and it had been burned off by the time the next person smoked. That of course was not the case and instead I had just gotten way too stoned.
I didn’t think I was going to die but I did think that I was fully melting into the surface I was laying on. I stayed up all night unable to sleep and skipped classes the next day due to my weed hangover. It was never the same after that. Every time I smoked I was just waiting to not be high anymore so I just stopped.
I could use this as a soapbox to tell y’all that sometimes it’s ok to just stop doing something that isn’t working for you, but instead I’m gonna complain about how much it sucks to be not good at smoking weed because it used to be fun and now I can’t do it anymore because I’m mentally weak.
Ok time for the usual linkies. Enjoy.
The Nuclear Missile Next Door
Just Give Me A Synopsis:
This article is all about the people in the American west who live with nuclear missiles under their land. The missiles are kept in bunkers built by the government during the cold war and house weapons significantly stronger than those used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This article mostly profiles one family in Montana… and boy does it seem stressful.
And A Quote From The Article Please:
The missile was called a Minuteman III, and the launch site had been on their property since the Cold War, when the Air Force paid $150 for one acre of their land as it installed an arsenal of nuclear weapons across the rural West. About 400 of those missiles remain active and ready to launch at a few seconds notice in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Colorado and Nebraska. They are located on bison preserves and Indian reservations. They sit across from a national forest, behind a rodeo grandstand, down the road from a one-room schoolhouse, and on dozens of private farms like the one belonging to the Butchers, who have lived for 60 years with a nuclear missile as their closest neighbor.
And Tell Me Why I should Care:
The possibility of nuclear war is just something we will live with as humans until we inevitably wipe ourselves out through, presumably, nuclear war. It's an interesting read that tells the story, from both sides, of the occupation of these lands with missiles. Some people want them because of the jobs they bring to the area and the fact that they find nukes necessary in a modern world. Other obviously aren’t fans of big giant weapons that can kill hundreds of thousands of people at once. Good read from a human interest perspective here.
Welcome To A Glorious Era Of Street Food. You’ll Find It In Restaurants.
Just Give Me A Synopsis:
This piece gives a great rundown on how and why streetfood, or some elevated variation of it, has nearly become the defacto type of dish served in most restaurants. It also explores the complicated rise in popularity with this style of food.
And A Quote From The Article Please:
In 2003, Bourdain’s first TV show, A Cook’s Tour, aired on the Food Network. It was a new kind of travel show, giving an emerging generation of viewers a fresh, food-focused itinerary for travel. If you weren’t squatting on plastic stools, hovering over bowls of bak kut teh in one of Singapore’s hawker centers, you hadn’t really seen Singapore. “Bourdain changed the food culture of New York City and America in general,” says Mehta, who is from New Delhi, but has been cooking Southeast Asian food for over ten years. And certainly, Bourdain provided street foods from around the world a platform to shine.
And Tell Me Why I should Care:
I like this article because it very neatly lays out a cultural phenomenon and paints the picture of how it has come to pass. In this case, how streetfood is no longer just streetfood. Our dining experiences have never been more global than they are now and once lowly street foods are now being elevated to levels of haute cuisine, which raises all sorts of other issues surrounding crack downs on the (mostly) immigrant populations still selling their food on the streets just trying to make a living.
The Life And Confessions Of Mob Chef David Ruggerio
Just Give Me A Synopsis:
Chef David Ruggerio was part of the Gambino crime family and then became a famous chef with Food Network shows and three star New York Times restaurants, while also still doing mad mafia things, and then got arrested for credit card fraud and lost it all. A story of crime and regret.
And A Quote From The Article Please:
But the restaurant was still in bankruptcy. Ruggerio said he conspired with Moneypenny, who died in 2007, to rig the auction and buy the restaurant for $100,000. “The cellar alone had half a million dollars of wine in it,” Ruggerio said. The plan was simple, according to Ruggerio. Legally, Moneypenny needed to advertise the auction in a newspaper. So he advertised it in the Staten Island Pennysaver, where few buyers would see it. However, a day before the auction closed, Ruggerio learned a guy in the garment district offered $150,000. Ruggerio said he sent three “friends” to reason with the bidder. Ruggerio got the restaurant.
And Tell Me Why I should Care:
This doesn't really say anything deep about the world but I love food and crime and this combines the hell out of the two of them. It's almost too on the nose to be real but it is. Just further proof that you never know who is actually a mafia don. Could even be your own damn mother.
Other Interesting Things You May Or May Not Care About
$87.50 For 3 Minutes: Inside The Hot Market For Videos Of Idling Trucks
New York City has a program in place where citizens can report trucks that idle too long and then get a cut of the fines. Very few people do it because it is a maze of bureaucracy and a lot of work, but those who do consistently make a lot of money… like hundreds of thousands of dollars.How South London Became A Talent Factory For Black British Footballers
Really cool piece about how the diaspora of black immigrants in south London has led to generations of great footballers. It also tells the story of community and the complex association with national identity for immigrants and their children. Great read.It Took Us Less Than 24 Hours To Order An Endangered Tiger On Facebook
Coincidentally through this article I found out that people who sell things on the dark web (drugs, weapons, passports, private data) generally think that those who sell wildlife are scum. Instead animals are sold on the clear web, where authorities and the likes of Facebook can't really enforce it well because there is so damn much of it. Please don't buy a tiger or bear cub because of this article you found through me, I'm begging you.A Visual Essay About The Famous Figures Who Represent Today’s Currencies Around The World
The Pudding always makes very dope infographic filled articles about very random things. This one is all about the people on money around the world and it turns out (from this representative cross-section) that writers are the top people represented on currency, even more than politicians proving once and for all that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Maybe someday my face will even be on US currency adding double meaning to getting that bread.Looking Back At The Absolutely Unexpected And Totally Wild Origin Of 420
Do you even do weed if you don't know about 420 bro? It turns out the term didn't actually come from police code for marijuana but rather some good old fashioned cali bros who used to meet at that time to get high and then started using the term. It also involves the Grateful Dead and other wild stuff.
Listen To This If You Want To Live
I recently found the YouTube channel called My Analog Journal which I’ve been listening to non-stop for the past few days. It is a mix somewhere between tiny desk concert and boiler room where DJs from all over the world spin vinyl from all across the world in themed sets. It’s world music that you’ve probably never heard before. The sets have titles like Brit-Funk and Street Soul with Laani or Records from Sierra Leone with Nadeem or Japanese Jazz from the 70s. Sets are usually about 45 mins and you’re sure to discover some gems. Highly recommend.
Let’s Just Looks At Art Because Reading Sucks
Marcia Resnick’s Offbeat Portraits of New York’s Most Influential Artists
Maggi Hambling’s Visceral Abstractions Reflect Environmental Destruction
A Berlin House Is Bold, Colorful, Avant-Garde, And Full Of Fun Murals
Lists Are What The Internet Was Made For!
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