Whack-a-Molé
First off, I just want to say that you really ought to go see "The Fountain", which is visionary, desperately romantic, and ineffably beautiful. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I think we should all give director Darren Aranofsky our money so he can keep making movies.
I suppose I ought to say that I really liked Aranofsky's two previous films, "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream", but that I'm not some sort of he-can-do-no-wrong fanboy; I read some reviews and was prepared to not like this, so it was a real shock to me that I loved it so passionately (and that I cried so much at the end--yes, I did). I should also say that my taste in movies isn't everyone's: a friend once punched me in the arm after I convinced her that she really had to go see Atom Egoyan's "Speaking Parts" (which is still one of my favourite movies of all time).
Maybe you'll go see it, and maybe you won't like it; fine. It's not to everyone's taste, that's for sure. But I will say that if, like Richard Roeper, you call it "the worst movie of the year"--and this in a year that contained such gems as "Snakes on a Plane", "The Grudge II", and "Employee of the Month"--then, and there is no nice way of putting this, you are an idiot. You're reading this, so you're not an idiot, of course, unless you're Richard Roeper. Goddamn, he's stupid.
+
Since part of the movie takes place in Central America, how about a fascinating etymology from that general part of the world?
This story from The Consumerist tells of a lawsuit launched against Kraft Foods for their "guacamole", which consists of 2 per cent avocado in a sea of, and I quote, "a whipped paste made from partially hydrogenated soybean and coconut oils, corn syrup, whey and food starch", with food colouring to make it green. That's disgusting, and it sure isn't guacamole, which is basically avocados and a bit of seasoning.
Where do you suppose the word "guacamole" came from? The story linked to by The Consumerist, here, lets it slip:
That's probably not what the Aztecs had in mind when they invented guacamole about 700 years ago. They made a sauce called ahuaca-mulli, which roughly translates to "avocado mixture," according to the avocado commission. The dip was prepared by mashing avocados, sometimes with tomatoes and onions in a molcajete, a Mexican mortar and pestle.
That's interesting, yes? What's more interesting is that second word, "mulli", "mixture". As soon as I saw it I guessed that it must be the source of "molé", which is a sort of complex gravy darkened with chocolate and used in Mexican cuisine. And that's just where it comes from! It's really gratifying to take a stab at something and be right. Yeah, I know: I probably could have looked at "guacamole" and guessed that the second half of it was related to "molé". But I never did, and so I'm making up for it.
I suppose I ought to say that I really liked Aranofsky's two previous films, "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream", but that I'm not some sort of he-can-do-no-wrong fanboy; I read some reviews and was prepared to not like this, so it was a real shock to me that I loved it so passionately (and that I cried so much at the end--yes, I did). I should also say that my taste in movies isn't everyone's: a friend once punched me in the arm after I convinced her that she really had to go see Atom Egoyan's "Speaking Parts" (which is still one of my favourite movies of all time).
Maybe you'll go see it, and maybe you won't like it; fine. It's not to everyone's taste, that's for sure. But I will say that if, like Richard Roeper, you call it "the worst movie of the year"--and this in a year that contained such gems as "Snakes on a Plane", "The Grudge II", and "Employee of the Month"--then, and there is no nice way of putting this, you are an idiot. You're reading this, so you're not an idiot, of course, unless you're Richard Roeper. Goddamn, he's stupid.
+
Since part of the movie takes place in Central America, how about a fascinating etymology from that general part of the world?
This story from The Consumerist tells of a lawsuit launched against Kraft Foods for their "guacamole", which consists of 2 per cent avocado in a sea of, and I quote, "a whipped paste made from partially hydrogenated soybean and coconut oils, corn syrup, whey and food starch", with food colouring to make it green. That's disgusting, and it sure isn't guacamole, which is basically avocados and a bit of seasoning.
Where do you suppose the word "guacamole" came from? The story linked to by The Consumerist, here, lets it slip:
That's probably not what the Aztecs had in mind when they invented guacamole about 700 years ago. They made a sauce called ahuaca-mulli, which roughly translates to "avocado mixture," according to the avocado commission. The dip was prepared by mashing avocados, sometimes with tomatoes and onions in a molcajete, a Mexican mortar and pestle.
That's interesting, yes? What's more interesting is that second word, "mulli", "mixture". As soon as I saw it I guessed that it must be the source of "molé", which is a sort of complex gravy darkened with chocolate and used in Mexican cuisine. And that's just where it comes from! It's really gratifying to take a stab at something and be right. Yeah, I know: I probably could have looked at "guacamole" and guessed that the second half of it was related to "molé". But I never did, and so I'm making up for it.
posted by pyramus | 12:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home