Category Culture

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Praxis makes perfect.

The Real Green River

Mar 17, ’11 7:03 AM

Last night Aunt Colleen brought home this seasonal Chicago treat and suggested Grandma Rosie and I might like to make little dinner cocktails with it. They were the perfect drink to toast St. Patrick’s Day eve.

WHALE OIL BEEF HOOKED!

I had my first bottle of Green River at the old Bear Trap Hot Springs in Montana, outside of Bozeman. As I remember it, Bear Trap’s dingy back-bar was lined with the most exotic pops and beers in existence. My dad spotted a bottle of Green River, ordered a round for my sister and I and told us of the age-old and firmly Ozian tradition of dying the Chicago River in honor of St. Patrick, who is well known for hating all other colors of river.

My dad also told us the literally unbelievable true fact (see also: metaphorical middle finger) that the dye goes into the river a vibrant orange:

If you were watching this for the first time you would think this is a mistake or a bad joke. You see the dye is orange and its initial color on the surface of the river is orange and you would think to yourself what heathen would do something like this. After a moment or two you then see the true color magically appear.

Source: GreenChicagoRiver.com

I didn’t see the river go green this year. They dump the dye on parade day, which was this past Saturday. My excuses are boring though. I was apartment hunting, it was cold and I was reluctant to follow the tottering pub crawlers. But getting to taste just holding the bottle more than made up for missing the other real green river.

Sláinte to you, wherever you end up tonight!

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What Makes HF&J So Great

Oct 13, ’10 8:45 PM

A tour of the level of detail that goes into Hoefler & Frere-Jones’ fonts.

In the middle of Gotham, our family of 66 sans serifs, there is a hushed but surprising moment: a fraction whose numerator has a serif. So important was this detail that we decided to offer it as an option for all the other fractions, a decision that ultimately required more than 400 new drawings. Why?

As you’ll read below, it’s something that we added because we felt it mattered. Even if it helped only a small number of designers solve a subtle and esoteric problem, we couldn’t rest knowing that an unsettling typographic moment might otherwise lie in wait. We’ve always believed that a good typeface is the product of thousands of decisions like these, so we invite you to join us on a behind-the-scenes look at some of the invisible details that go into every font from H&FJ.

Aspirational.

From Kottke.org

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Some Garapan Signs

Oct 12, ’10 8:01 PM

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Biba Santa Remedio

Oct 10, ’10 8:16 PM

Open Fire Rotisserie

In preparation for the Tanapeg fiesta peter and I “helped out” spit roasting a young cow. All the real work was done long before we arrived, so our “helping out” was only witnessing it take place. The small roasting fires had been lit at 5 AM just before the small cow (from a San Roque farm) was wired onto the skewer and put in place. Tedious hours of “turning the key” followed the constant rotation made slightly easier by a car’s steering wheel attached to one end of the spit.

By the time we arrived in the early afternoon it was almost cooked through. The last of a mixture of meat tenderizing salt, vinegar and spice was dabbed over the meat. (A stick with a tee-shirt tied around one end was the basting brush.) Some one collected some huge flat banana leaves and spread them on the serving table just as dinner was pronounced “done” after a few clean jabs with a sharp stick.

The long spit was heaved off it’s supports and carefully carried by several practiced hands to the table where it stayed balanced as others went to work clipping and untwisting the wires that held it centered. Just before the spit was carefully removed the roast was turned on it’s back and with a silver and black Buck knife a pair of choice strips were taken from the inside of it’s lower back. (Any amateur butchers know that cut’s name?) These were sliced up and shared, but no one close to the work resisted picking and tasting little bits. (Imagine little fingers dipping into a frosted cake and you have the image.)

A few meters of aluminum foil were taped around the roast and we all heaved to get the table up and secure into the too small truck bed. As you can see we never really got it into the truck bed, more around the truck bed but it worked well enough.

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The Betel Nut

Aug 26, ’10 4:30 PM


Introducing the betel nut.

The Chamorro name for this acorn sized palm nut is Pugua, known world wide as the betel nut. It’s widely popular on Saipan and is sold alongside all it’s “mix” in every grocery store at the check out counter. It ranges in price, but a dollar will buy you from 5-10 of the green pods. Two varieties are currently in season. Saipan Red, preferred for its softness and sweetness, daily delivered from local farms (“it’s our money tree”) to the grocery store, and Yap. Yap is mostly imported from the isle of Yap, though a few people on Saipan grow this woodier variety.

Bite the cap off of it, and split it open with your teeth to reveal a woody meat with a pale pink center. (If its too juicy, it’s not so good, call it paska.) Swipe a tiny amount of mineral lime out of its container with your pinky and transfer it to the center of the betel nut, close it up and you’re good to go. You can stop right now pop it in your mouth and chew it up. You’ll feel your face go flush and depending how much lime you have used you’ll probably get a head rush.

Or, like most people, you will opt for a more flavorful mix. You may like your betel nut wrapped in a special peppery leaf (delicious but turns your spit red!) or with a cardamom pod, tobacco, or some other spices before chomping away at it. (The finished bundle, betel nut and mix, is called the the mama’on.)

Dentists here hate that people use it. The mineral lime is harsh and can toughen the inside of your cheek and stain your teeth. It may be related to some mouth cancer. Probably worse is that kids as young as seven can start chewing. Stores won’t sell it to kids but it’s everywhere–heck it grows on trees!

If you ever get a chance to try it, do! It’s definitely not something I’ll make a habit of using, but I’m glad I tried it.

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