Photographer and artist Francesco Capponi’s “Pinhegg” creation is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time. Capponi said he had a strong desire to create a special camera that took only one image: “The purpose was to sacrifice the camera in the process of photo creation—I wanted the camera to become the photograph.” The images within the eggs are not only haunting and beautiful, but the end result makes you wonder “How the hell did he do that?”
If you’re curious how Francesco Capponi made his “Pinheggs,” there’s a step by step post on how to build and use one here.
English Russia has a DIY recipe for the “Green Goddess.” Apparently it’s the real deal—not the absinthe-in-name-only stuff you can buy at a liquor store. I remember drinking some absinthe once, but to be honest I didn’t experience the decadent Baudelaire-style head trip I was promised. Maybe it was because I wasn’t drinking this hooch?
Stage One. Infusion.
Ingredients: Alcohol 80% and herbs (the most common bought in the chemist’s, in grams per 1 liter of alcohol):
Herbs:
Wormwood: 100 g
Fennel (fruit): 50 g
Anise: 50 g
Mint: 15 g
Melissa: 8 g
Chamomile: 3 g
Cumin: 10 g
Angelica: 10 g
It would be nice to add 5-10 g of hyssop, but it is difficult to find. The substance should be kept in a dark place at room temperature for 7-15 days. You can certainly speed up the process, infusing the substance for 24 hours at a temperature of 40 C, but this will worsen the result.
The craft of making absinthe ain’t easy, there are a few more steps and ingredients involved—you can follow all of ‘em here.
“Life,” as Forrest Gump’s Momma used to say, “is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Which suggests (as may have been the intention) that Mrs Gump was either illiterate or just too damned lazy to read the chocolate box menu card before cramming a fistful of soft centers into her gob.
Well, this enlightening little film, How Do They Put the Centers in Chocolates? shows exactly how those tasty surprises Mrs Gump favored so much are added to every box of chocolates.
Chocolate is produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. In 2007, archaeologists at a site in Puerto Escondido, Honduras, uncovered the oldest known cultivation and use of cacao dating back to around 1100 to 1400 BC. Mayans used cacao to make a rather frothy drink, and it wasn’t until the Spanish invaded South America did rich Europeans first get a taste of the delightful stuff.
Cacao was a luxury, and it wasn’t until 1847, that Englishman Joseph Fry invented the modern chocolate bar when he mixed cacao butter with Dutched chocolate, added sugar and made a chocolate paste that could be molded. Roald Dahl that fabulous writer and connoisseur of chocolate believed such historical events were more important than the tiresome facts of battles and kings taught at school:
“Never mind about 1066 William the Conqueror, 1087 William the Second. Such things are not going to affect one’s life ... but 1932 the Mars Bar and 1936 Maltesers and 1937 the Kit-Kat - these dates are milestones in history and should be seared into the memory of every child in the country.”
Europe still consumes around 40% of the world’s chocolate, with Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom making up the top 5 of the per capita chocolate consumption table. The USA is 12th, ahead of Australia, Italy and Canada.
The Jacket Lunch Box is a Japanese blog dedicated to turning album covers into bento boxes. He’s done so many of them. This enterprise looks time-consuming. All hail our arts and crafts otaku overlord!
I could not care less about the Internet’s fascination with cutesy cakes, cupcakes and cookies. But I think I’m going to have to give in here because this Tyrannosaurus Rex cake made by Charm City Cakes blew my mind! Wow!
Jack’s Bar Mitzvah was last weekend. He wanted a big, scary, menacing T-Rex cake for his celebration. And boy did he get one. The whole team worked on this huge cake and personally I think it’s one of our best ever.
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Jack’s one lucky kid.
See more photos of the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex cake here.