I’ve written about Ancient Romans and their eating habits with things like stuffed dates and a disdain for eating butter. But what did they drink? Let’s look at what the internet says!
Corinium Museum mentions a drink called “posca” (not to be confused with the pens), a beverage made from diluted vinegar and mainly drunk by soldiers and enslaved people. This was in comparison to the wines consumed copiously by the elite. It’s believed that Jesus was given this drink while he was on the cross.
Were there any significant cultural or religious rituals associated with drinking in ancient Rome?
You may have seen GIFs of Black African-Americans pouring liquor on the ground in honour of a dead friend or relative (known colloquially as “pouring one out“). This derives from an ancient ritual called a libation where people would pour drinks in the name of gods and that’s exactly what the Romans did with their wine. Festivals like the Bacchanalia and the Saturnalia also involved wine-fueled celebrations.
You have the easiest job in the world ahead of you! This woman owns her own home, runs her own farm, and has the most incredible matched cardigan skirt sets that I’m positive are carded cashmere. And all she wants to do is bring you scrambled eggs in bed, tell you that you’re the greatest writer in the world, and never to be reminded of her occasional black bouts of memory-obliterating rage! You can do this!
I’ve yet to watch Misery but I’ve seen the final scenes which made me laugh and oddly soothed in parts. What do you mean that sounds sadistic? Kathy Bates deserved her Oscar.
Hard Drive’s 10 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2023: “Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Aw Fuck Me, That’s Not Bad Actually’” sounds amazing. “RuPaul’s Regular Race With People Driving Cars Around” sounds like Carpool Karaoke but would be better with drag queens and without James Corden.
A long time ago, I wrote about why Betamax lost. 2 months ago, Phil Edwards made a video on why VHS won which you can watch above. I also recommend that you read the video description as Phil has added a list of links to follow, examining the difference between VHS and Betamax which might explain further why VHS won out in the end.
When I saw John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx with the Blackest hairstyles imaginable in a sci-fi film about cloning and the government, I was immediately in. They Cloned Tyrone will be available to stream on Netflix on 21st July.
Another case of falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole and finding something new and interesting. In this case, it was LOTR meme > Christopher Lee > Boris Karloff > The Terror, a 1963 horror film starring the British actor alongside Jack Nicholson. Besides the fact that it was one of Karloff’s last films and he starred with Jack Nicholson (which seems like an odd pairing on paper), it’s the part where Nicholson played a French Napoleonic officer. In an American accent. But who am I to split hairs, it’s a horror movie about a lost soldier who gets seduced by a shapeshifting devil.
Roger Corman (A Bucket of Blood, The Little Shop of Horrors, X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes) directed the movie but there were also uncredited scenes filmed by Francis Ford Coppola amongst others. While the film wasn’t well received (if you take Rotten Tomatoes seriously for that kind of thing), it is in the public domain which is nice. And Nicholson didn’t hate it:
I had a great time. Paid the rent. They don’t make movies like The Terror anymore.
EVERY PUNK SHOULD HAVE A MOTHER- Adam West IS Batman In Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
Adam West’s portrayal of Frank Miller’s Batman from The Dark Knight Returns is chilling. Dude had RANGE and I respect it. Hell, he formed a large portion of my early Batman exposure when I was a kid so I have to stan.
Sheer yakh is an ice cream dessert from Afghanistan, traditionally made with milk, sugar, and various other flavourings such as vanilla, rose water and cardamom. While it appears similar to an Indian kulfi ice cream, the preparation is different.
Sheer yakh is usually topped with chopped nuts like pistachios, almonds and served in small bowls.
José Carlos Grey-Molay, also known as Carlos Greykey, was a Black man from Spain who was one of the only Black Holocaust survivors. A documentary was made about his life, narrated by his daughter.
Inspired by a “nostalgia” for old family photo albums and described by its creators as a “small tribute to all the Spanish republicans who passed through the concentration camps”, Enric Ribes’ engrossing documentary 5124.GREYKEY uses retro techniques, recreated home movies and personal/archival photography to visualise a daughter’s memories of an enigmatic father. Parents are often mysterious creatures for their children, but for Muriel a series of small discoveries lead her to understand the troubled past of her father José Carlos and to finally understand why he always wore a shirt and trousers to the beach.
As one of the only Black men known to have been imprisoned at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, the life of José Carlos Grey-Molay has, for decades, been of interest to historians of the Second World War and the Holocaust. The historic archive contains two pictures of the young José Carlos dressed in formal-looking attire at the camp, as well as stories of a Black man from Barcelona – described as ‘not only handsome but also cultivated’ – who confused the prejudices of his Nazi captors, but little else was known about him.
Hanna Phifer created a guide to bell hooks and her work – There is something both singular and communal about hooks’ writing. She was a writer whose books brought the experience of being a Black feminist to the forefront.
Spider Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Movie Review)
Our favourite film critic Dom Griffin reviewed Spider Man: Across The Spider-Verse. I watched this after seeing the film myself and our opinions were similar, particularly about the visuals (good lord, they were good) and the ending (good lord, that was frustrating).
