Posts Tagged ‘Mozart’
Chicken, out…
One week from today, millions will gather on couches across America (and the world) to watch the Harbaugh brothers’ teams duel in Superbowl XLVII. And on the coffee tables in front of many– if not most– of them will sit heaping mounds of (now traditional) chicken wings. But this year those mounds will be both fewer and smaller: in all, it’s estimated that Americans will consume 12.3 million fewer chicken wings as they watch the 49ers and the Ravens than they did watching the Giants and Patriots last year.
It’s not that our appetite for these zesty, protein-rich snacks [sic] has diminished. Quite the contrary, said Bill Roenigk, chief economist and market analyst at the National Chicken Council, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
“Chicken companies produced about 1 percent fewer birds last year, due in large part to record high corn and feed prices,” Roenigk said. “Corn makes up more than two-thirds of chicken feed and corn prices hit an all-time high in 2012, due to two reasons: last summer’s drought and pressure from a federal government requirement that mandates 40 percent of our corn crop be turned into fuel in the form of ethanol. Simply put, less corn equals higher feed costs, which means fewer birds produced…”
Consumption is estimated to be 1.23 billion wing segments during the 2013 Super Bowl– as noted above, 12.3 million fewer than last year. Still it’s a hefty number: laid end to end, 1.23 billion wings would stretch from Candlestick Park, the home of the 49ers, to the Raven’s M&T Bank Stadium 27 times over.
Wings have become the most expensive part of a chicken, having risen over 50% in price (to the highest on record at the U.S. Department of Agriculture), while the cost of a whole chicken is up only about 6%.
What’s a poor host to do? It appears that, increasingly, he/she will have to revert to the older meaning of “winging it.”
[For a more substantial look at “how food intersects with public health and the environment as it moves from field to plate,” browse this series of lectures from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.]
Sources of the images above: photo, chart
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As we note that ranch dressing has surpassed the original bleu cheese as the dip of choice, we might spare an avian thought for John James Audubon; he died on this date in 1851. An ornithologist, naturalist, and artist, Audubon documented all types of American birds with detailed illustrations depicting the birds in their natural habitats. His The Birds of America (1827–1839), in which he identified 25 new species, is considered one of the most important– and finest– ornithological works ever completed.
Book plate featuring Audubon’s print of the Greater Prairie Chicken
Happy Mozart’s Birthday!
Mixed media…
Kurt Vonnegut, meet Brenda Walsh… Slaughterhouse 90120 pairs stills from famous TV series with apposite passages from novels of note…
“Fearlessness in those without power is maddening to those who have it.”
― Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life
“Judging the mistakes of strangers is an easy thing to do – and it feels pretty good.”
― Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart
“I wanted to try this new drink: That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Complete Short Stories
Many, many more at Slaughterhouse 90120.
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As we juxtapose radically, we might recall that it was on this date in 1784 that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart bought a starling that sang a passable version of the opening theme of the third movement of his Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K. 453. (In fact, the bird inserted a fermata on the last beat of the first full measure, and sang G sharp instead of G in the following measure. Still…)
Mozart kept the bird as a pet until the warbler’s death on June 4, 1787. Mozart wrote and recited a commemorative poem that he read as the pet was buried in the composer’s backyard.
a European Starling
Mozart’s transcription of the starling’s song
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…
As the regular resort to allergy meds testifies, Spring is upon us; and with it, thoughts of Summer and the sea…
Thankfully, the prudent folks at SimplyBeach have shared “The 15 Deadliest Beach Creatures.” Given the presence of the predators featured there, one simply can’t be too cautious. Consider, for example,
The Marble Cone snail shell looks beautiful but the sea creature inside is deadlier than any other possible beach inhabitant listed here. One drop of venom could kill 20 or more people. Found in warm, tropical salt water, if you find one, don’t touch it. A sting immediately begins showing symptoms or the onset may be days later. The intense pain, numbness, swelling and tingling-feeling can result, in severe cases, muscle paralysis, respiration shut down and vision changes or death. It is fortunate that only 30 people have been killed by envenomation because there is still no anti-venom available. (source)
As we replan and rebook for the mountains, we might recall that it was this date in 1742 that George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah (often incorrectly called The Messiah) made its world-premiere in Dublin. The version debuted then was composed in in the summer 1741. But Handel revised his masterpiece repeatedly; the version with which modern listeners are familiar was first performed in 1754. (In fact, a version orchestrated by Mozart in 1789 was the most frequently heard until the mid-twentieth century, and the return of the “historically-informed” performance.)
1 picture, 1000 words, and all that…
Readers will recall David McCandless and his site, Information is Beautiful, on which he reminds us, day in day out, that good design is “beauty that works”– in his case more specifically, that gorgeous graphics can also be powerful communicators about issues that matter. Consider his recent depiction of relative personnel commitments in Afghanistan:
click here for accompanying graphics
As we cherish perspective, we might recall that it was on this date in 1791 that Mozart’s blissful Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) premiered in Vienna.
Librettist Emanuel Schikaneder performing in the role of Papageno
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