After signing a 10-year lease and spending more than $80 million on a site envisioned as the United States’ diplomatic hub in northern Afghanistan, American officials say they have abandoned their plans, deeming the location for the proposed compound too dangerous. Read full article > >
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U.S. abandons consulate site in Afghanistan, citing security risks
5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe. Has a non-cookbook ever sent you scrambling kitchen-ward? For legendary and James Beard award-winning chef Norman Van Aken , literature often beelines straight from his brain to his stomach. He says of the delicious bond: “The strands of fate and history pull us in circles we may never fully comprehend, but they are there. And why I’m a chef is moved, most surely by all of the ‘levers’ moved by the pencils, pens and typewriters of these artists and many more.” Five Non-Cookbooks that Influenced My Cooking: Norman Van Aken 1. “ Why We Eat What We Eat ,” Raymond Sokolov “On September 26, 1991, I bought this little book and it changed the way I was looking at my food in major ways. It made me appreciate how greatly the ramifications of history change our way of eating and how my location in America (for me, South Florida in particular) was shaped by what writer Ray Sokolov was referring to as 'The Columbian Exchange.' The phrase was not his, but his way of making it so darn fascinating sure was. I might have snapped up the book on the strength of M.F.K. Fisher’s prominent endorsement on the back cover alone. She is one of my favorites of all time. The book remains extremely relevant. Here’s an example. The Spanish had also opened up a regular trade with China from their base in the Philippines. Food and food ideas flowed freely between Seville and Asia on the same ships that carried goods from China and the Americas to Europe, and on the return trip brought European necessities for the colonists. The so-called Manila galleons took five months to make the passage across the Pacific to Acapulco. Their cargoes were transported overland to Veracruz on Mexico’s Gulf coast, reloaded on shipboard, and sent on to the mother country. 2. “Oliver Twist,” Charles Dickens “Charles Dickens's classic story of duality and life’s twists (the title character is named as such) struck a major chord with me growing up. I can still remember the first time I held the book and turned the first page. It was as if I turned a door on its hinges. I felt outside the world at times (though what child doesn’t?), but when you are going through it, a book like this comes along and just saves you. You realize that you can identify with others who, though from distant places, are very much like you in the dizzying, twisting, road of life. When young Oliver loses a contest and must represent the other hungry inmates of the workhouse they live in and asks on behalf of all: 'Please, sir, I want some more.' He is another human suddenly, and defenselessly, caught up in the cross-hairs of social injustice in the hope for a better world for many, including his very young self. Reading that book again at age 20, I had no idea that becoming a cook would let me have access not only to food but a place where I could find a community and kindred spirits. And while that may not be everything it certainly is a lot.” 3. “ Culture and Cuisine ,” Jean-François Revel “I purchased this book at a shop on Fleming Street in Key West in mid-February of 1988. I was part owner of my first restaurant. It was called MIRA. I was also in the middle of a huge amount of culinary self-analysis as to what I was going to do with cuisine. I’d cooked my way around French, Italian, various regional American cuisines like many of my generation. After reading this book, I sat down and over the course of about two weeks wrote a paper I titled 'Fusion.' I wrote the paper only for my own personal understanding; I had no intention of publishing it. Iin the Fall of '88, I was asked to join other chefs on stage in Santa Fe for a symposium on American Cuisine to describe why we cooked the way each of us did. The other chefs that day on stage with me were Tom Douglas, Lydia Shire, Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter. My definition of fusion refers to fusion between haute cuisine – or aristocratic-styled 'restaurant' cuisine – with the more down-to-earth, rustic home cooking. Later, by others, it also came to mean the 'fusion' between various cultures and countries. Fusion cuisine can and does take place in almost every continent. Jean-François Revel states: 'There is gastronomy when there is a permanent quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns and when there is a public both competent enough and rich enough to arbitrate this quarrel.' I think that fusion is the mother of all of the different types of hyphenated cuisines. Like me, other chefs across the globe are finding that there is a combined power in what I named 'fusion cooking.' In my cooking, I create an interplay, a fusion, between regionalism and technical know-how. My cooking is the result of coupling our native regional foodstuffs like conch, black beans, plantains, mangoes, coconuts, grouper, key limes, snapper, shrimp and the folk cooking methods intrinsic their preparation, with my self-taught classical techniques. 'New World Cuisine' is the term I came up with to describe the fusion occurring in Florida and the immediately surrounding areas.” 4. “ In the Night Kitchen ”, Maurice Sendak “Maurice Sendak wrote and illustrated this controversial book about a young boy’s nighttime ‘voyages’ in 1970. Our son, Justin, was born in 1980 and by 1986, I’d probably read it to him 100 times. I’ve no doubt that we both were captivated by the wondrously surreal dreamscape that Sendak conjured up. As the young boy, Mickey fell out of his clothes and into cake batter where he was met with a city made out of a baker’s stock and trade tools. Mickey proclaims, 'I’m not the milk and the milk’s not me!' That made us both wonder what existential intent that meant – and I still don’t know. The story confounds, captivates and liberates – which essentially all art (and the art of cuisine) seeks to do. This year Justin and I wrote our first cookbook together. The bond was forged in mythical storytelling as well as in blood.” 5. “On the Road,” Jack Kerouac 'On the Road' starts with this classic first sentence, 'I first met Neal not long after my father died.' And that is when I first 'met' the work of Kerouac, just after my father died. So many characterize Kerouac as a ‘free spirit,’ when in fact, he was almost never free from the hurt of his brother Gerard’s early death when Jack was 4 or 5 years of age. Jack is a seeker and my friends and I were as well. We too hitchhiked around America with rucksacks slung to our hungry frames. Kerouac’s book 'Desolation Angels' might be my favorite of his, but it was 'On the Road' that got me started. I didn’t know until much later that he wrote the famous 120-foot scroll version in an apartment on West 20th Street in New York. I wonder how close it was to my own family’s home in two preceding generations. My maternal grandfather lived at 252 W. 20th when he was a boy. My great-grandfather lived at 312, and my grandmother and grandfather lived at 400 when my mother was born.” Do you feast on non-cookbooks as well? Share your favorite titles in the comments. Is there someone you'd like to see in the hot seat? Let us know in the comments below and if we agree, we'll do our best to chase 'em down.
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5@5 – Non-cookbooks for food enthusiasts
The feeding patterns of seabirds around the UK coastline can be used to help identify the location of possible Marine Protection Areas, a study says.
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Feeding areas key for conservation
This might pose a problem to the U.S. and Pakistan’s new joint counterterrorism plan. The U.S. has given Pakistan the location of insurgent bomb-making factories several times in recent weeks, only to have the insurgents learn their cover had been…
A Lake District mountain rescue team finds an injured climber after they are sent a photo of his location.
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Lake District fall man found after texting photo
Next up: The Washington Post is reporting that the soldiers who killed Osama bin Laden also discovered intelligence materials that might reveal the location of Ayman al-Zawahri, al Qaeda’s Egyptian deputy and bin Laden’s most likely successor. “That’s…
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Zawahri’s Location Discovered?
An up and coming French photographer talks his way into subjects’ homes for striking eccentric portraits By Isabelle Doal A once aspiring Jazz bassist, Baudouin has found his calling as a photographer. His portraits are all of strangely familiar French characters and he has gained notoriety by creating ironic collections like “Friends,” “Unknown But Nice” and the “The Parisian Ladies.” I recently spoke with Baudouin to get some insight on his process—he confessed to having a systematic, almost ritualistic method, following a strict set of rules every time he shoots. In his work the process isn’t just as important as the result, it is an inherent part of it. Baudouin explained that the whole process begins by picking a girl on the street, usually from a terrace cafe. The next part is the trickiest, convincing the subject to let him into her apartment. Each photo takes anywhere from one to four hours, the ritual begins immediately upon entering the location. The camera is always the same distance from the subject, always the same angle and focus. Baudoiun shoots on medium format film which forces him to put more thought in each photo. Baudouin’s lighting is equally deliberate, avoiding shadows and dramatic intensity, he works to make the subject blend in to the background. The natural looking setting is contrasted by the disturbing or eccentric poses he coaxes his subjects into. Baudouin is more concerned with composition, with the graphic aspect of his set ups as opposed to catching a moment or telling a story. In this regard he is a portraitist but also an interior photographer, using the subjects as a platform to construct what he calls “nice pictures.” Baudouin refers to his photos as, “a momentary interpretation” and advises not to take any of it too seriously, “after all, it’s just a picture,” he says. And Baudouin’s photos don’t aim to be anything more than just that, which in itself can sometimes tell a story. Baudouin is currently working on finishing his series “Parisian Ladies,” once complete he will be publishing the collection as a book.
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Baudouin: Serial Photographer
The virtual Easter egg has been around for more than three decades now. Coined — as far as anyone can tell — by Atari’s Adventure , which was released in 1979, the virtual Easter egg is a hidden message or in-joke built into a computer program, icon, or video game. Apple has been playing along since the very beginning, building small Easter eggs into many of their most famous icons. Earlier this week, Electricpig called attention to many of the secret messages hidden inside the icons, sparking a series of follow-up posts on other websites and blogs . But they got some things wrong — “Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet Etiam” is not Latin for “Hello world! Etcetera,” but rather a Latin-esque string of nonsense that’s been used as a placeholder by designers and editors for years — and guessed on others: Does the Find My iPhone app actually show the location of Steve Jobs’ Manhattan apartment in the San Remo building? Here, we pulled together nine Apple Easter eggs that were definitely added to the icons on purpose and one that has been a mystery for years: Apple’s calculator icon displays the number 12374218.75. In putting this story together, I spent a considerable amount of time looking for an explanation, a reason this number is the default. It must mean something, right? All of Apple’s other dates and icons have been carefully chosen. At least a dozen forums and message boards pose the question, but none seem to point to a definitive answer. One discussion on the official Apple support forum dates back to September 11, 2006: ”Curious minds want to know… what is the significance of Calculator’s icon having 12374218.75 as the number?” Any idea?
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The Secrets Hidden Inside Apple’s Most Famous Icons
Julian Assange is hiding in Britain after a Swedish judge indicted him on multiple charges of rape and sexual assault. Assange’s lawyer confirmed that he’s in the U.K., but refused to give any specifics about his location; Sweden is preparing to issue…
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Assange Hiding in U.K.
The government announces the location of the rural areas that will pilot super-fast broadband, part-funded by the BBC.
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Rural broadband to survive cuts
Private Bradley Manning is currently in prison for the largest leak in military history. While his motives are complicated, perhaps his hometown of Crescent, Oklahoma predisposed him to look favorably upon leaking: It was the location or a prior
A Madonna fan arrested for scrawling messages outside the star’s New York home is ordered to stay 10 blocks away from the location.
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Fan must stay away from Madonna
Prosecutors say Faisal Shahzad, the 30-year-old Pakistani-American suspect in the failed Times Square bombing case, carefully selected his location as a highly populated target, and intended to strike again if he wasn’t caught the first time.
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Officials: NYC plotter eyed 2nd attack
Facebook’s location-based service Places is launched in the UK, allowing users to list their location and see where friends are.
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Facebook’s Places launches in UK
Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck comes under fire for scheduling a rally at the location of an iconic 1963 civil rights demonstration.
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Beck under fire for rally plans
U.S. abandons consulate site in Afghanistan, citing security risks
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
