Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An Italian Water, and a Scatological Story

      Today I'll be discussing some water from the Acqua Panna brand, which is bottled from a spring in Tuscany, Italy.  And actually I bought and drank this water like two years ago.  I kind of forgot about it,  and/or whenever I remembered it the time wasn't right for a post, because I'd just done something about Italy recently, or of another non-alcoholic beverage.  Anyway, today's the day.  Additionally, I'll wrap this up by including a somewhat related tale from my time working as a field archaeologist.

     The area where the Acqua Panna spring is was bought by the hugely powerful and wealthy Medici family back in the early 1400's.  The date on the bottle and website is 1564, so that's evidently when the spring was first discovered and utilized.  However, it was fenced off and just used by the family for centuries, until the property, and spring were acquired by others.  The water wasn't bottled and sold until 1880.  In 1957 the operation was purchased by San Pellegrino, which in turn is currently owned by the giant Nestle corporation.  As for a few more tidbits about Acqua Panna, this water is actually alkaline, with a pH of 8.0.  It's also designated as a spring water rather than a mineral water.  I didn't feel like looking this up, but presumably the distinction is the amount of minerals occurring in the water.  If you're one of those conspiracy theorists that think that fluoride is some mind control drug or some such nonsense, you can rest easy, as Acqua Panna contains none of this substance.  I was a bit amused to see a "Serving Suggestions" part in the FAQ section on the official website.  Yes, they advise that you imbibe your water at a temperature of 12-18 degrees Celsius (or 53-64 degrees Fahrenheit), with neither ice nor lemon.  They also suggest some food and wine pairings for your Acqua Panna.  So some pretentiousness to go with your water, I suppose.  (Maybe I'm being a little harsh here, but c'mon, it's water.)

Acqua Panna spring water:  Like all non-polluted water, I guess, this water was clear and had no odor.  The taste was okay.  A little odd, though--it somehow tasted a little like it was carbonated, even though it wasn't.  So overall it was decent, but I wasn't dazzled or anything.  I certainly wouldn't pay its higher price or anything.  Perhaps my palate has been destroyed from years of drinking mostly tap water.  So unless you live in an area where the local water is unsafe to drink, or is significantly foul-tasting, I've never really seen the point of buying any bottled water.  And Acqua Panna hasn't changed my mind.  

     On to the work anecdote which, again, will be a little earthy and crude.  Back when I was digging full time, we obviously had to work in the extreme heat of summer--sometimes even in raw temperatures well over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (or 35 degrees Celsius) with heat indexes that were even higher.  Meaning we had to drink copious amounts of water, as well as consuming sports drinks for electrolytes, etc.  Anyway, one crew member was legendary for his foolishness in this regard.  I did not actually meet this person, so this story is second or third hand.  (Although these sources were people I knew and trusted, so I believe them.)  He told people that he "didn't like the taste of water."  Not the particular water in the area we were staying, but all water, across the board.  Really.  Instead he drank carbonated soft drinks all day--if memory serves, Dr. Pepper.  (Which, for folks who don't know is pretty much the worst kind of beverage you can drink in these circumstances, short of chugging alcoholic beverages.)  During long field days in the American South, in the summer.  Not shockingly, he got sick.  To the point of crapping his pants.  So, lesson learned, right?  Nope, not our guy.  After this he stuck to his stupid guns, and continued to avoid water for Dr. Pepper....but he did bring an extra pair of underwear, for the inevitable later rounds of bowel incontinence.  He didn't last long as a field tech--which is probably good, since he presumably would have eventually died from his stubbornness.  These actions prompted a nickname, clearly.  I can't recall this man's real name, but I do definitely remember his nickname--Brigadier Poopy Pants.  He had other annoying habits, too.  Like a lot of new field archaeologists, he was extremely into machetes.  Some guys (and it's almost always guys) regard machetes as more than just practical tools occasionally needed for brush clearing, and bring them along even when not needed because it makes them feel like a badass.  Ol' BPP tried to wear one into a restaurant at lunch, reportedly, before the supervisor made him leave it in the field vehicle.  He also had a vanity license plate that referenced coprolites, presumably "COPRLTE."  (Again, for those that don't know, coprolites are fossilized feces.)  Which I actually find kind of funny, but other folks didn't enjoy.  So. long story short, one of my coworkers was too stupid to drink water, even after doing something that most people would consider to be the most humiliating thing you can do.  I made some mistakes in the field about heat safety, but I'm proud that I didn't join his club, so to speak.  Hopefully BPP learned his lesson finally, and started forcing himself to choke down some water if he wanted to continue to work outside in the summer.  I'm also curious if he ever found out that his revolting exploits lived on in our company stories for decades after he left.  Was he capable of shame?

     The moral of this story is don't be like BPP--if you're working outside in the heat, drink plenty of water and sports drinks.  Even if you're a weirdo and don't really enjoy them.  It's much better than the alternatives.

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--American/South American/Central American Banana Snacks

      I took a slight chance for this week's topic.  As I've mentioned previously, traditionally I haven't been much of a fan of bananas.  At least fresh ones, out of the peel.  Their taste is okay, but not great.  Also, it seems that I have a mild allergy to them, as after eating them my throat is a tiny bit sore, and sometimes some mild stomach discomfort occurs.  (Oddly, cooking or other preparations seem to solve this.  I enjoy cooked plantains (which are a subtype of bananas), and plantain chips/crisps.)  But, I tried two varieties of banana snacks from the Barnana brand--their original, plain banana bites, and the banana bites dipped in peanut butter.  Since peanut butter is my second favorite food, I clearly was hedging my bets with this latter choice.

     The Barnana company was birthed in 2012 by a man named Caue Suplicy, although a Nik Ingersoll is listed as a co-founder.  Suplicy was born in Brazil, and grew up enjoying the dried banana pieces that his father created using a device made from an old window pane.  Suplicy also found that dried banana chunks made for convenient and tasty food while competing in triathlons.  (Triathlons are a particularly grueling sport, usually consisting of swimming, biking, and running large distances back to back to back.)  At some point Suplicy had relocated to Los Angeles, California, and decided to go into business producing these same dried bananas, and later dried plantain snacks as well.  The company has flourished since, and is currently sold in such huge stores as Whole Foods, Costco, and Target, among others.  The major philosophy of the company (besides, presumably, making a good amount of money) is environmental sustainability.  The bananas and plantains used for Barnana's products are "upcycled," meaning they're from fruit that was going to be thrown away and wasted due to being overly ripe, scuffed up, and/or not in aesthetically pleasing shapes.  Instead these imperfect bananas and plantains are dried, processed, and sold.  The Barnana business is also reportedly fairer to the farmers in Central and South America which grow their fruit, in that they pay them 30% over market prices.  So, all in all, Barnana appears to be have its heart in the right place when it comes to minimizing environmental problems and not exploiting its workforce.  Alternate products include chips (crisps), nuggets, and scoops made from plantains, banana bites dipped in peanut butter cups and chocolate, and dried bites made from mango goldenberries and coconut.  Pink salt and lime are common condiments used on their banana and plantain products, too.  Not shockingly, given the company's other reported values, their wares are proudly touted as being free of GMOs.  Some, but not all of their products are Paleo diet-appropriate, and some are also vegan and Kosher.  For allergy sufferers, though, some of the Barnana items are made in facilities that also process things like peanuts, tree nuts, etc., so to be safe they should check each individual product before consuming.

Barnana original banana bites:  These kind of looked like chunks of brown bread.  The pieces weren't quite uniform--some were less than an inch (about 2.5 cm.) long, and some were a little bigger.  They were chewy, and alright tasting.  Not great, but they kind of grew on me.  They also didn't give me a sore throat or any stomach issues, so that was a plus.

Barnana banana bites, dipped in peanut butter:  Same size and shape as the previous ones.  But, there was one crucial difference--each piece was covered in a shiny brown coating, which reminded me a little of chocolate-covered raisins.  These were chewy underneath the coating.  The taste was better, because of course peanut butter makes pretty much everything better.  So overall a pretty good snack.  I would consider buying this kind again.  These had more calories than the originals, and had some fat in them, so they're not as healthy, clearly.  But the tradeoff for this is a significantly improved flavor.

     Just to cap this off, if you're curious about the name of the brand and company, Suplicy changed it to "bar"nana reflecting his belief that bananas are one of nature's energy bars.  The employment website LinkedIn had some more personal information about Caue Suplicy, too--maybe too much?  It reveals where Suplicy went to college, and how many languages he speaks.  Alas, this last bit isn't anything interestingly obscure, such as he's fluent in Esperanto, or even Klingon.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Canadian-Made Kinds of Swedish Fish

      A month or two ago I was in the candy aisle at my alternate Shop-Rite, and discovered something a little strange.  Both the original Swedish Fish, and a low sugar version of Swedish Fish made by a different company are made in Canada.  So a competition was natural.  I bought both, and decided to see which was best.

     Starting with the elder statesman, Swedish Fish were developed by the Swedish company Malaco in the late 1950's.  (I know this detail is a bit vague--I couldn't find out who invented it, and exactly when, or a lot of other historical background information anywhere online.)  Malaco teamed up with the large British confectionery company Cadbury to distribute this candy to the U.S.  For those that are curious, no, the candy is not made using actual fish.  It's just that Sweden was, and presumably still is associated with fishing, so it seemed appropriate to mold the candies into a fish shape.  The original Fish were red, and the flavor was cherry-ish.  Swedish Fish were enormously successful in my home country.  At some point (again, details are frustratingly absent), the mammoth Mondelez International Group entered into a partnership with Malaco, and Mondelez now makes and distributes the candy in North America.  (Although oddly, some of the candy intended for Canada and American consumers is also made in Turkey.)  Malaco still exists, and still makes Swedish Fish, and other candies, for European customers.  I did learn that Malaco is abbreviated from "Malmo Lakrits Compani," and began in 1934.  Also, there is a slight difference in Fish made for North Americans, and those made for Europeans.  The former have "Swedish" embossed on each individual candy, and the latter have "Malaco" on them.  Moreover, in 2008 Swedish Fish got a jokey slogan--"A Friend You Can Eat."  (Technically, of course you could potentially eat any and every friend, but unless you're in extreme starvation conditions it's not usually socially acceptable, or legal.)

     The "new kid on the block," so to speak, is Smart Sweets Inc.  Again, it was a bit difficult to track down, but the founder appears to be Tara Bosch, who started the business in 2016.  If there was one thing I took away from the various articles and information about Smart Sweets, and Bosch, is that she, and her company seem to hate sugar with an all-consuming passion.  (I'm exaggerating a little, but still.)  Smart Sweets' candies avoid sugar, and even sugar alcohols, whatever that means.  Instead, the company uses stevia, and allulose to flavor its wares.  Their biggest selling brands currently are their Sweet Fish, Peach Rings, Sourmelon Bites, and Sour Blast Buddies.  Somewhat surprisingly for a health-conscious company, their products are not Kosher, and some are not even vegan (they use gelatin in some cases).  Their manufacturing facilities may process peanuts and tree nuts as well.  Moving on, Smart Sweets has succeeded enormously in its short life, and its products are sold in over 130,000 stores, and generated millions of dollars.  A business website listed its total employees as being between 51-200, and its base in in Vancouver, B.C.  Plus, for those that care, reportedly 80% of Smart Sweet's employees are female, although the CEO as of late 2021 is listed as being a Douglas MacFarlane.

Malaco traditional Swedish Fish:  The individual pieces were fish-shaped, clearly, and about 2 inches long by .75 inches wide (or about 5 cm. by 1.75 cm.), with "Swedish" embossed on them.  The fish were facing left.  My box had 4 kinds--the traditional red, orange, yellow, and green.

Red (cherry):  Chewy, familiar cherry flavor.  As good as I recall.

Yellow (lemon):  Not as good.  Same texture, lemon flavor not as tasty.

Orange (orange):  Nearly as good as the cherry--nice texture, and orange flavor.

Green (lime):  Probably the best.  I tend to like lime flavor best, in general.  Sweet, chewy, and tasty.

Smart Sweets Sweet Fish:  These were similar to the regular Swedish Fish, although there were subtle differences.  The fish were facing right, and were slightly smaller--1.75 inches long, and .5 inches wide (or about 4.5 cm. by 1.25 cm.).  The color was red, but slightly duller than the Swedish kind.  And "Smart Sweets" was embossed on them.  Compared to the Swedish originals, these had a softer texture, (although the Swedish Fish box I bought might have been older), not quite as chewy.  The taste was good, but not quite as good as the Swedish ones--the sweetness was noticeably weaker, and different.

     Therefore, gun to my head, I'd say the original, Malaco Swedish Fish taste a little better, but it's close--the Smart Sweets ones were decent.  And clearly many customers really like the kind with much less sugar.  So if you're looking to cut back on sugar in your diet, but still want the occasional serving of fish-shaped candy, the Smart Sweets' ones seem like a good alternative.  Finally, I should say it was a coincidence that I did a post about Canadian candies the same week the smoke from all those wild fires covered much of the Northern U.S.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Three Flavored Vodkas, and a Piece About the Ending of "Dawn of the Dead"

      Today I decided to work on my post for this week, about some flavored vodkas from Truly.  I'd tried the vodkas a few months ago, so that was done, and started to research the beverage, and the manufacturer.  After that, though, I had some twinges of doubt, so I went through my old catalog of posts.  And discovered that I'd already covered some Truly products, in an article about some of their hard seltzers back on September 22, 2018.  This happens.  When you've done over 500 total posts, and probably at least 300 about weird foods and drinks, some repetition is inevitable--I can't always recall if I've tried something while  I'm standing there in the liquor store or grocery.  But, it wasn't a complete loss, as these drinks were at least not the same exact type I'd sampled before.  However, I won't repeat myself, so if you're curious about details of the Truly Distillery, or about the company that acquired the brand (Boston Beer Company, best known for brewing Sam Adams beer), head on over to that September 22, 2018 post.  Otherwise, I'll report on the Truly vodkas, and then move on to my comments on the ending of the original 1979 version of "Dawn of the Dead."

Truly pineapple mango vodka:  This one had a orange-yellow color, and fruity odor.  Its alcohol content was 30%, and it contained 5% juice.  I could detect the pineapple and mango tastes.  The actual juice probably helped with this.  I'm not a huge vodka fan in general, so the flavoring surely helped.  It was alright.  Not great, but okay.

Truly wild berry vodka:  Had a yellowish-orange color, and berry-ish smell.  Same alcohol content and juice content as the previous.  Kind of similar to the first one.  Okay, nice berry flavor--not too strong, not too weak.  Not awesome, but solid.

Truly strawberry lemonade vodka.  Same amount of booze and fruit juice.  Pinkish hue.  I could taste the advertised flavor.  (Which was okay, since I like regular pink lemonade alright.)  Nicely tart.  Maybe a bit harsher than the other two.  Still, not to be a broken record, but once again this was good, but not great.

     The fact that I liked, but didn't love these is actually quite a compliment.  Considering my very negative opinion of the Truly Hard Seltzers.  Which makes sense, since in general I like some vodkas (and especially some vodka-based cocktails), but have no appreciation for any seltzer.

     I did a trivia dive on the original, 1979 version of "Dawn of the Dead," (see my post on October 30, 2021), and have surely mentioned it a few more times.  With good reason--it's one of the very best zombie movies ever.  If it's not at least in your top 5 zombie films I deeply question your taste in living dead movies.  Anyway, if you haven't seen it, I couldn't possibly recommend it more.  But there will be many SPOILERS about the movie ahead.

     Being an obsessive fan, I've learned over the years from documentaries, and articles, that the original ending of the movie was different.  In it, Roger and Stephen expire as they do in the eventual version, but Peter and Fran die as well.  Peter by shooting himself in the head, and Fran by standing up and putting her head in the moving helicopter blades.  And I found this potential ending to be quite poor.  In the eventual version, Peter does contemplate suicide with a gun, but snaps out of it at the last moment and runs up to the roof and joins Fran as they fly away.  So if Peter did kill himself I wouldn't really like it, but it's not totally out of character.  But Frannie--Hell no!  Not my Fran!  In the earliest viewings of "Dawn" as a teen I liked all four main characters, but my favorite was Roger, as he was competent, but endearingly childlike and enthusiastic.  But the more times I've seen it, I've switched to appreciating Fran the most.  She has the biggest character arc by far.  She starts out as a television station employee, possibly a producer or something like that.  Or, essentially, she has no relevant skills in the living dead apocalypse.  She clearly has no weapons or fighting experience--she hadn't been in the military, the police, and she didn't possess any other survival skills.  She's a liability at first--Peter and the guys forbid her from joining them down in the zombie-strewn mall, because she can't be of any use.  Fran is almost killed by a single zombie (the Hare Krishna one) that manages to make it to their upstairs hideout.  But, critically, she learns.  She practices, and learns how to shoot, and also picks up how to avoid the zombies.  After a time she helps Peter and Stephen block up the four mall entrances to secure it.  Better than Roger does, as his carelessness results in his being bitten and doomed early on during this process.  And, very importantly, she's the only one to learn how to fly the helicopter, even though her boyfriend Stephen is clearly not very pleased to teach her.  Good old practical minded Fran realized that survival in this world required people to be as versatile as possible, and to be self-reliant.  Also, she's pregnant.  I don't see her going through all the travails and difficulty associated with this for 7-8 months only to decide to chuck it and commit suicide near the end.  In short, I don't think that Fran would commit suicide--she's too much of a survivor.  She seems like the weakest of the bunch at the start, but clearly she's the strongest of them, mentally at least, by the end.  Roger was fatally careless, and it costs him his life.  Stephen lets his greed for the mall and its contents cloud his judgement, and he engages the bikers, which results in his death, and revival as a zombie.  He could have just stayed quiet, and hidden, and he would have survived.  Finally, Peter was strong, psychologically, but as I mentioned before, committing suicide doesn't seem completely unrealistic.  But Fran would keep fighting.  Maybe she would eat a bullet if she was bitten, or hopelessly surrounded by a zombie horde (to protect herself from an agonizing death, and to protect others), but not if there was a possible escape.  Moreover, "Dawn" is an incredibly depressing movie.  Society has basically ended, and just about everyone appears to be dead (but not gone!).  The audience deserves a tiny ray of hope.  I'm not against bleak endings, wherein everyone dies, across the board (as in Romero's earlier "Night of the Living Dead"), but not this character, and Peter.  That would be too much.  Also, it's not like the eventual ending was some ludicrously happy ending--Fran and Peter have very little fuel left, so they might not survive much longer anyway.

     So, all in all, that's why I'm glad that George Romero rethought things and changed the ending to the one we know today.  It is amusing to see that the crew was very practical, though, and reused the fake Fran head in another scene.  Specifically, the one early on in the housing project raid, when the crazed Wooley shotguns a guy's head apart.  They just repainted the head, added facial hair, and filled it with a bunch of meat, fake blood, and condoms, and voila!--cool exploding head gag.  To paraphrase the common 1960's graffiti, Frannie (not Frodo) lives!  At least technically, as the movie cuts to the credits.  After that Peter and she may well have died quickly, perhaps a half mile away.  But not by her own hand, if there was any hope of getting away.

Extremely Difficult Trivia About "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981)

      I recently noticed that the 5th Indiana Jones movie was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and is due to be released to the general public in about a month, so I thought it would be appropriate to do a trivia dive on the one that started it all, 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark."  "Raiders" has a special place in my heart for a couple of reasons.  First off, it's a classic movie--great action, cool story line, compelling characters, great directing and top notch production values.  Secondly though, in my early days of college I took an intro to archaeology course largely on a whim, kind of because I like the Indiana Jones movies so much.  So, in a weirdly indirect way, this movie series helped shaped the direction of my life.  (I should say that these movies' depictions of archaeologists are incredibly unrealistic, and Indiana Jones himself is dreadfully unethical in every way.  But, that's often the case with movies, and I love them even with all of these limitations.)  Anyway, let's get to it.  Same format as always--there will be very obscure, difficult questions, followed by their answers.  And many SPOILERS ahead, clearly.

Questions:

1)    In the opening scene, what local tribe is after Indy and his group?

2)    Where, and in what year, is the opening scene set?

3)    What was the name of the competitor/colleague whose body Indy finds in the temple?

4)    What are the names of Indiana Jones' two guides/partners?  (Not counting the local bearers who run away early on.)

5)    What are the designation letters of the plane that Indy escapes in?

6)    What is the name of pilot Jock's pet snake, who scares Indy?

7)    What is written on the back of Jock's shirt?

8)    In the classroom scene, what archaeological site is Indy discussing?

9)    At that site, which chamber was undisturbed?

10)   What days did Jones announce he had office hours?

11)   What was the class's homework reading assignment?

12)   In what city does Indy say is the only place Belloq can sell the idol he stole in the opening sequence?

13)   What university was Professor Ravenwood associated with?

14)   What is Professor Ravenwood's first name?

15)   Before it was stolen by the Egyptians, where was the Ark of the Covenant kept?

16)   According to Indy and Marcus Brody, what Egyptian pharaoh stole the Ark, and in about what year?

17)   What airline does Indy take to Nepal?

18)   What American city does he leave from?

19)   Where does the flight stop (presumably for fuel) during this trip, before reaching Nepal?

20)   What magazine is the German spy tailing Indy reading on this trip?

21)   What is the name of Marion's bouncer/security guy?

22)   How much does Indy offer for the headpiece of the Staff of Ra, and how much does Marion demand for it?

23)   How many associates does Toht bring with him to get the headpiece from Marion?

24)   What airline do Marion and Indy take from Nepal to Cairo?

25)   What two places does the flight stop at during this flight?

26)   According to Marion, how many kids does Sallah have?

27)   What is the name of Sallah's wife?

28)   What is Belloq doing in the bar in Cairo when Indy confronts him?

29)   What does Belloq say the Ark really is?

30)   What is the name of this tavern where they talk?

31)   How many kadams high should the Staff of Ra be?

32)   According to Sallah, what is the approximate conversion rate of a kadam to an English foot?

33)   When Indy uses the Staff, how high does it appear to be?

34)   In addition to Indiana Jones and Sallah, how many people are in the digging team that uncovers the Well of Souls?

35)   What "Star Wars" characters are briefly seen depicted on the wall above the Ark in the Well of Souls?

36)   What is written on the German crate that the Ark is placed in?

37)   What is the name of Colonel Dietrich's main assistant officer?

38)   Whose garage does Indy head for in Cairo?

39)   How many vehicles are in the German caravan transporting the Ark back to Cairo?

40)   What is the license plate of the truck carrying the Ark?

41)   What is the make of this truck?

42)   What is the name of the steamship that Indy and Marion ride in (briefly)?

43)   And who is this boat's captain?

44)   What musical show does Sallah sing songs from, on several occasions?

45)   In their romantic kissing scene on the boat, where does Indy say it doesn't hurt?

46)   The Ark is opened on an island.  What country is this island a part of?

47)   What is written on the American crate that the Ark is finally put in?

48)   Discounting background characters, 2 people played 2 roles each in the film.  Who are they, and what parts did they play?

49)   Producer Frank Marshall has a brief acting role in the movie.  Name it.

50)   Would it have been better for humanity if Indy and the Americans had done nothing, and let the Germans find the Ark, or at least let them take it from Indy and transport it back to Germany?

51)   On that note, did the Nazis and Belloq intentionally let the Americans steal their original communication about Professor Ravenwood?

52)   Did Indiana Jones commit statutory rape?

Answers:

1)    The (fictional) Hovitos.

2)    South America, 1936.  The film isn't more specific, but supplementary media pinpoints it as Peru.

3)    Forrestal.

4)    Satipo (sometimes rendered as "Sapito"), and Barranca.

5)    OB-CPO.  Presumably a jokey reference to the "Star Wars" characters Obi-Wan and C3-PO.

6)    Reggie.

7)    Air Pirates.

8)    Turkdean Barrow, a real site in Gloucestershire, England.

9)    Chamber 3.

10)   Thursday, and not Wednesday.

11)   Michaelson, chapters 4 and 5.

12)   Marrakech (a real city in Morocco).

13)   The University of Chicago (also a real institution).

14)   Abner.

15)   The Temple of Solomon, in Jerusalem.

16)   Shishak, in about 980 B.C.  (This is the Biblical spelling.  Archaeologists believe this probably corresponds to Shoshenq I.  Also, real archaeologists think Shoshenq actually ruled about 40 years later than this, from about 943-922 B.C.)

17)   Pan American.

18)   San Francisco, California.

19)   Hawaii, Wake Island, and the Philippines.

20)   Life Magazine, the November 30, 1936 issue.

21)   Mohan.

22)   $3,000, and then $5,000.

23)   Initially 3--2 Sherpas, and 1 German, but another large Sherpa joins the fight later for a 4th.

24)   Air East Asia.

25)   Karachi, India (now in Pakistan), and Baghdad, Iraq.

26)   8 or 9.

27)   Fayah.

28)   Smoking a hookah.  (Tobacco, or something else?)

29)   A transmitter, a radio for speaking to God.

30)   The Marhala Bar.

31)   5.  Initially 6, but then 1 should be taken back to honor the Hebrew God.

32)   About 1:1.   As far as I can tell, this is probably a bit inaccurate.  Modern estimates are that a kadam was probably more like 10 inches, not 12.

33)   It's a good foot over Indy's head.  Since Indy is about 6 feet tall, that makes it about 7 feet high, or significantly more than the 5 that they earlier said.  A mistake by the filmmakers.

34)   9.

35)   R2-D2 and C-3PO.

36)   Eigentum der Deutschen Wehrmacht.  Or, in English, "Property of the German Wehrmacht."

37)   Gobler.

38)   Omar's.

39)   4.  The truck carrying the Ark, the lead staff car, a jeep, and the motorcycle with side car.

40)   WH-11294.

41)   Mercedes.

42)   The Bantu Wind.

43)   Katanga.

44)   The 1878 Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera, "H.M.S. Pinafore."

45)   His left elbow, his forehead on the right side, his right eye, and finally his lips.

46)   A fictitious, unnamed island in Greece.

47)   Top Secret  Army Intel. 9906753  Do Not Open!

48)   Vic Tablian plays both Barranca and the Monkey Man.  Former wrestler Pat Roach plays both the giant Sherpa and the First Mechanic (who fistfights Indy).

49)   He was the pilot of the plane that Marion and Indy blow up.

50)   It appears likely, since the original plan seemed to be to fly it directly to Germany, meaning it probably would have been opened, and killed Hitler and many other high-ranking Nazis, probably resulting in World War II and the Holocaust never happening.  True, the Nazis might not have gotten the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, but they had already uncovered part of the wall of the Well of Souls, so they would have probably discovered it and the Ark shortly afterward anyway.

51)   It sure seems like it.  They didn't know where Professor Ravenwood was, but figured Indy might.  They were clearly following Indy, since they had a spy on the plane.  It was certainly Belloq's practice to follow Indy around, and then swoop in and steal relics from him.

52)   Alas, it's almost definitely "yes."  In the very early versions of the story George Lucas had Marion as only being 11(!), with baby teeth even, when the relationship with Indy began.  Later he increased it to a still too young 15 years old.  Spielberg and others wisely removed all references to an actual age.  Marion does mention that she was "a child," but this could be interpreted as an exaggeration or a reference to her maturity level, while she was biologically 18 or 19.  I don't know why Lucas wanted to include this creepy plot point.  The story of Indy and Marion's forbidden love affair still works if she was a legal 18-20--Professor Ravenwood still would have regarded this as a betrayal, but at least Indiana Jones wouldn't be a sex criminal.  Lucas seems to include some weird sex things in his movies, like Luke and Leia's creepy quasi-incest, and Padme Amidala's romance with Anakin after having known him as a small child.

   

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Another Spanish Cheese

      I know, I know, it's been barely 3 months since I last did a post about a Spanish cheese.  What can I say?  The only new-to-me cheese I've seen recently was another kind from that country.  Specifically, some soft sheep's milk cheese called Wooly Wooly, from the Mitica line, produced by the Central Quesera Montesinos SLU company.

     Central Quesera Montesinos SLU, or CQM as I'm going to abbreviate it for the rest of this article, started in 1978, and is based out of the community of Jumillo, which in turn is located in the Spanish region of Murcia.  Currently the business's products are exported to over 20 countries worldwide, including China, Australia, Israel, Latvia, Portugal, the U.K., and, obviously, since I bought some without using my passport, the U.S.  CQM specializes in goat milk cheeses, but also makes and markets those made from the milk of cows and sheep.  Their other products are various fresh cheeses, cottage cheeses, sour cheeses, processed cheeses, blended milk cheeses, and something called "horeca and IQF," (which appear to be mostly goat milk cheeses in a rolled shape).  CQM is distributed by an American company called Forever Cheese, out of New York.  This company imports foods from mostly Mediterranean nations, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Croatia.  It mostly deals in cheeses, but also handles cheese accompaniments, such as nuts, dried fruit, cured meats, rice, sauces, jams, vinegars, honey, and chocolate.  Forever Cheese was begun in 1998, by Michele Buster and Pierluigi Sini.

Mitica Wooly Wooly soft sheep's milk cheese:  This was a short log shape, white in color.  As advertised, the texture was very soft.  Reminiscent of cream cheese, as it was also easily spreadable.  I had some plain, and then some on a sub roll with ketchup.  The taste was very good.  Rich, and nicely sourish.  I think I liked it slightly better on the roll, but plain was more than decent, too.  So, this was another triumph, and another food to highly recommend.  Speaking of cream cheese, as I was earlier, I bet this Wooly Wooly would be a fine topping for a bagel, among other things.

     Murcia isn't one of the larger Spanish regions, but it has produced a few notable people.  Francisco Rabal (1926-2001), born in Aguilas, was a famous actor, mostly in Spanish productions.  Highlights of his career include roles in "Belle de Jour" (1967), "Los Santos Inocentes" (1984), "Goya en Burdeos" (1989), and two horror movies I've seen--the so-bad-it's-good quasi zombie movie "Nightmare City" (1980), and the sincerely effective Lovecraft-inspired story "Dagon" (2001).  The Totana-born Barbara Rey also acted, probably most famously in the 1976 television show "Palmares," but also in movies like "The Girl in the Red Cabaret" (1973), "Zorrita Martinez" (1975), and "...And Give Us Our Daily Sex" (1979).  Also in a movie I've seen, and even briefly mentioned in an earlier post, the third "Blind Dead" movie "The Ghost Galleon" (1974) (see my post on March 21, 2020).  Additionally, two guys from this region became tennis pros.  Nicolas Almagro, now retired, finished with a career record of 397-278.  He won 13 singles titles, and reached the quarterfinals of 4 majors (3 French Opens, 1 Australian Open).  His peak rating was #9 in 2011.  He was born in the Murcian town of Murcia.  Carlos Alcaraz is already looking like he'll be an eventual Hall of Famer.  Only 20 years old, he's already won 10 singles titles, including the major 2022 U.S. Open.  He also set the record for being the youngest male player to be ranked #1 in the world, at the age of 19 years, 4 months, and 6 days (eclipsing Lleyton Hewitt) in September of 2022.  Currently he's "fallen" to the #2 ranking in the world.  His career record is 120-34, although this will obviously change drastically.  Alcaraz was born in the town of El Palmar.

Brief Bio About the Worst MLB Player Ever, and Info About May Issue of InD'tale

     Obviously, when you're considering which player was the worst ever in Major League Baseball, there's more than a little subjectivity here.  But, after I explain some of the parameters of this conclusion I think that most readers will probably agree.  First off, anyone who plays in a Major League game, even only 1, is by definition a fantastic baseball player, one of the very best at that time.  Plus, many players were terrible major league players, but because of this their careers were very brief.  But the man I'll discuss had a decently long career--11 years, from 1901-11, with the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Superbas (who later became the Dodgers) of the National League.  Anyway, catcher Bill Bergen was by all accounts a better than average defensive player.  Even now, over a century later, he's 8th all time in guys caught stealing (1,034), and 9th all time in assists as a catcher (1,444).  (It's true that player during his time attempted to steal far more often than in any other era--but this is still respectable.)  Using modern stats, Bergen's lifetime defensive WAR was 14.6, which is very good for an 11 year career.  

     So why, you might be asking, am I then labeling him as the worst player ever, since he was admittedly a stout defender?  Because his hitting was utterly, shamefully awful.  In 947 games, 3234 plate appearances, and 3028 at bats, he accumulated 516 hits, 45 doubles, 21 triples, 2 home runs, 193 rbi, 138 runs, and 88 walks.  Or, put another way, his lifetime batting average was .170, his lifetime on base percentage was .194, and his slugging was .201.  Only a handful of players have had lifetime batting averages of below .200 with over 1000 at bats (with Ray Oyler being next closest at .175), but no one else is below .200 after having over 2500 at bats.  And yes, this was known as the "Dead Ball Era," since baseballs didn't travel very far, they were used continuously until they basically fell apart, and pitchers could legally apply substances like saliva to the ball, but still--no one approached Bergen's ineptitude at the plate.  Using more advanced stats, such as WAR are even more unkind to Bergen.  There are two main organizations that determine WAR (Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference), but both have him as the worst (-16.2, and -6.9, respectively).  (If you're curious, some other contenders include Doug Flynn (-8.3 and -6.9), Dan Meyer (-5.5, -6.4), Tuck Stainback (-5.0, -5.9), and Andres Thomas (-4.6, -5.7).)  As for OPS adjusted (100 is average), Bergen's lifetime total was 21.  21!  Even the other worst hitters are at least in the 40's or 50's, such as Dal Maxvill (58), Hal Lanier (50), Ray Oyler (48), Rafael Belliard (46), and even the infamous Mario Mendoza (41).  All in all then, the defense rests.

     Sadly, Bill Bergen's personal life had a terrible tragedy, too.  His older brother Marty preceded him to the Majors, playing catcher with the Boston Beaneaters (later the Braves) from 1896-99.  Unfortunately, Marty was clearly suffering from a severe mental illness, which went almost completely untreated in those days.  Always prone to depression, anger, and paranoia, it got progressively worse after Marty's son died from dyptheria in 1899.  On January 18, 1900, Marty killed his wife, son, and daughter with an axe, and then committed suicide by cutting his own throat with a razor.  Sorry, I guess this got depressing, but I thought it added some further context to Bill Bergen's odd career.

     Switching to my writing, this month sees another one of my articles, about writer rejections from publishers, in the May issue of InD'tale.  Other article contributors include S.L Carpenter, Tamara Cribley, Maria V. Snyder, and Ignatius Fernandez.  Plus there are two interviews of writers--one with Amy Daws, and another with rising star Marc Sanderson.  So, as usual, I'm grateful to the staff of InD'tale, including Publisher/Editor-in-Chief TJ Mackay, and Executive Editor Katy Nielsen.  And don't forget about InD'tale's usual round of book reviews.  The magazine's address is unchanged, or:

                                    http://www.indtale.com

     Stop on by--it's even free!  The cover is below: