We do it #ForTheCultrs
Wanna know how Pizza Hut was in 1990s Britain, from a trainee perspective? Well, VHS Wonderland has kindly uploaded a training video from 1991 showing new recruits how to treat customers, prepare food, and organise deliveries. It’s cheesy (pun absolutely intended) and so 90s and I love it.
Last month, a volcano in southwest Iceland erupted and the above video shows drone footage of the eruption on its second day. Reports say the eruption spewed lava over 100m into the air which meant the town of Grindavik had to evacuate due to seismic activity.
A New York sour is a cocktail almost identical to a regular whiskey sour apart from one key difference: a float of dry red wine. But according to Liquor.com, the New York sour originated in the late 1880s in a different city:
The New York Sour updates the Whiskey Sour recipe (whiskey, lemon, sugar, egg white) with a float of dry red wine. The wine lends its aromatic qualities and deep red color to the drink. Reports trace the New York Sour back to the 1870s or 1880s, although it operated under other names during this time, including the Continental Sour. It’s possible that the New York Sour was created in Chicago, but in time, the New York label grabbed on and never let go.
That’s a bold claim, so I had to look for sources and I found a recipe from Difford’s Guide which shone a bit more light on the Chicago origin story (I can’t quote it for copyright reasons but it’s said to have been made by a bartender in Chicago and gained popularity when a New York bartender started serving it).
And some more from Dishes Delish:
I guess it wasn’t called the New York sour back then, but rather, the ‘continental sour’ or the ‘southern whiskey sour’. Chicago barkeeps started to refer to it as the ‘claret snap’ because of the added red wine.
The idea of the added “claret snap” is shared by a number of other sources. Let’s just say the New York sour being a Chicago creation isn’t a big secret.
With the origin story out of the way, here are the ingredients you’ll need to make an official IBA New York sour
Enjoy and please drink responsibly.
Cocktail related: a Christmas tree in a cocktail, Mountain Dew-flavoured cocktails, punches, and shooters, Moose Milk: the Canadian military cocktail, and an original clarified milk punch
(“New York Sour” by Malmaison Hotels shared with CC BY-ND 2.0 Deed licence)
For The New Arab, Zoe Lafferty examined Israel’s cultural genocide of Palestine and how we must resist it:
Erasure of Palestinian history and identity allows Israel to label with ease the people it occupies as “human animals” as global governments call for their murder as if it’s a sport.
The silencing of Palestinian perspectives leaves misinformation on front page headlines to go unchallenged, helping justify Israel’s attacks.
[…]
For decades Palestinian artists have been arbitrarily detained by Israel without charge or trial. In the last few weeks the destruction of cultural heritage buildings in Gaza, a war crime under international law, has been unprecedented. As has the killing of an unimaginable number of writers, poets, theatre-makers and journalists.
In a powerful act of global mobilisation, artists around the world are sharing testimonies and poetry to amplify Palestinian voices.
Most recently when much-loved poet, writer and academic Dr Refaat Alareer was deliberately murdered in Gaza, people rose to the challenge he penned in his last poem: “If I die, you must live to tell my story”.
The poem has been translated into 160 languages, and performed at vigils and Palestine solidarity rallies around the world.
People will try and tell you that “genocide” is overrused and the “wrong” word for what is happening. They are liars. What is happening in Palestine is an attempt at obliterating everything about the nation—its people, their cultures, and existence—and it goes beyond the land they claim is theirs.
Free Palestine.
Atlas Obscura opened my eyes to some “hidden in plain sight” facts about the world map, including how more than 60% of Canadians live south of Seattle and Greenland is more north, south, east, and west than Iceland
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Colossal on ‘POKÉMON X KOGEI | Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft’: On view at Japan House Los Angeles, the exhibition showcases more than 70 sculptures and installations that recreate the fantastical animated characters from Squirtle to Pikachu in ceramic, metal, fiber, and more.
Al Jazeera on “afro-dabke”, a cultural fusion dance between Cameroon and Palestine: The energetic tempo, the stomping, and the ancient traditions. Dabke has a lot in common with various African dances, so Palestinian choreographer Sharaf DarZaid decided to combine the two.
I haven’t seen Godzilla (the 1998 movie, starring Matthew Broderick and featuring a kickass Jamiroquai soundtrack) so I had no idea that the kaiju literally stepped foot on Jamaican soil. He also went to the Caribbean island in the animated series, Godzilla: The Series (in S1E1 and S1E2).
There’s also this cool VFX fan-made video by HollywoodScotty (not canon, unfortunately).
Godzilla related: A Dr Pepper commercial in 35mm, starring Godzilla
Firstly, happy new year to you all. I hope 2024 is even more prosperous than 2023. If you’re a creative or a lover of the arts, today’s events might help with that.
1st January is Public Domain Day as I’ve documented in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. This year, that means that certain works of art from 1928 become free of copyright in the US and available to the public to do what they want with it and without permission.
The most notable piece of work to enter the public domain is Disney’s Steamboat Willie (there’ll be links explaining why this is so significant).
Below you will find a list of works from 1928 you might find interesting. As always, check works from any years prior to 1928 to make absolutely sure you follow any licence requirements (if there are any), particularly in other countries or regions (e.g. the EU) where copyrights may have been extended (notably, a lot of the news around public domain properties focus on US works). And happy hunting!
Back for a third year, I’ve compiled the top 10 posts published this year (see last year’s if you’re interested and 2021’s edition). I’ve actually published music less this year (226 vs. 358) but life happens!
Anyway, here’s the top 10:
And an honourable mention to 30 facts about Palestinian culture which missed the cut by 3 page views! Free Palestine!
![May yule-tide give you of its best and your own heart supply the rest. Postcard sent to Mrs J. Moore, Bishop's Bridge, Farley, West Maitland, [n.d.]](https://cultrface.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/11990283354_bac47b01bd_c-648x410.jpeg)
Yule (also called Yuletide in England) is a 12-day holiday celebrated predominately in Germanic countries which takes place on 21st December–1st January.
Although the modern version of Yule incorporates Christian traditions, the original holiday related to Scandinavian traditions such as:
It’s important to note that Yule and Christmas as different festivals even though they are both 12 days long, have Pagan roots, and overlap between 25th December and 1st January. However, in popular culture, Yuletide is used almost like an alternative synonym (citation needed lol).
No doubt you will have seen some famous Yule traditions such as the Yule log and the Yule feast but there was also the Sonargöltr (or Yule boar) which we see in the modern Christmas ham, a Yule goat related to Thor’s goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr.
Now that I’ve got some of the basics out of the way, I recommend you follow some of the links below to learn more about Yule.
If you’ve played the Spider-Man games from PS1 to PS5, you’ll have seen the significant improvements in Venom’s design. Steven Richter decided to marry the PS1 and PS5 Venom’s in one half-and-half sculpture and it’s truly a masterpiece. I never knew why they opted for blue for the PS1 Venom but I lovd Steven’s recreation as well as the attention to detail on the PS5 Venom side.
More from Steven Richter: a Mr. Freeze sculpture timelapse and another Venom sculpture timelapse but with Eddie Brock on the other side
Grubik’s Rubik’s Cube Solver is a godsend when you buy a Rubik’s cube for your son and he gets despondent when he can’t solve it. I’m hoping it’ll help me practice too.
![Casino (1995) Theatrical Trailer [4K] [FTD-1331]](https://cultrface.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FAIRRDirf4KY%2F0.jpg)
Shout out to FT Depot for uploading the theatrical trailer for Casino (1995) in 35mm 4K. I enjoyed Casino when I watched it in regular SD but 35mm 4K would have been perfect.