Capuchons chasing chickens

photo credit: backyardchickens.com
(note: this chicken/rooster looks like a really good runner...watch out, if he's on a chicken run--but am guessing it might be they go for the hens for a gumbo on a Courir de Mardi Gras...)

Country Mardi Gras
would be Capuchons Chasing Chickens

If you can't make it out to the small towns outside of Lafayette, LA
then you can go to Vermilionville in Lafayette to see a mini-chicken run
or a Courir de Mardi Gras

Thanks to the Basile Krewe on Sunday for putting on the run
complete with the 2 fake chickens & the 1 real chicken

Then there was Gumbo, while there was music
you besides the sound of bells all over (as it's traditional to be covered in bells)

I say all this but I missed the main event & came at the tail end
I got gumbo, I heard the band, I heard the bells
I had a chicken run prank pulled on me

Was going up the steps to exit thru the giftshop
When I saw the last straggler group going up the stairs too
Asked them in general--Do you make your costumes?

There was a girl in big baggy cotton Saints (as in none other than the New Orleans Saints) pants with black fringe up & down the sides of the legs & a black either motorcycle bandana or welding bandana on her head & there were 2 men, 1 in a colorful matching top/bottom with cotton fringe & decorations on both--no one still had their mesh wire masks on or pointy hats called Capuchons & the other one was in white with reflective white strips all across it, he had the biggest loudest bells strapped on his wrists with leather straps...

One or both or all of them answer me--Scrubs
I said Yea Yea & they answered me in unison--Yea Yea (being funny)
They all looked tired & were moving slowly after running all morning
And yes they make their own, the 1 colorful top/bottom guy tells me it takes about a day & he lays it all out & sews it on--which I didn't expect, I would of thought a wife sewed it (but like Cajun Men who can Cook with the Best of Them I'm guessing they can Sew a Country Mardi Gras Costumes--because for one thing it is 'not' a Ball Gown?!) Still he did good...

Well while I was listening, I feel a tug on my arm, my hand, 1 of my 2 brown bags full of gumbo/ potato salad/ french bread roll/ rice from Mamman's Restaurant inside Vermilionville (if I'd missed the chicken run I wasn't going to miss out on the gumbo & was taking 2 orders home...)

I look at my bags & see a big leathery glove pulling on them & I hear on the other side a chicken noise, behind me, when I see the doggie/kitty kat carrier in front of me with the real chicken in it by one of the guys in costumes I was just talking to--so I know it's not the real chicken

Then I turn to my other side & see part way down the steps a full out costume for a chicken run--he has his capuchon on, his wire mask (that's painted kinda like a face) & there are bells somewhere...it's all blue & white...and he's made that very realistic chicken sound, he's begging like they do on the runs for food/money--I've read this before...too funny, I smile--then I tell him "What didn't they feed you some gumbo?" and then something like "You can't have my husband's gumbo, sorry--he would be mad I come home empty handed?!"

They all laughed & started moving on to the door, one of them held the door open for me--I saw his giant bells strapped on his wrist & he said something about the weather this January...it's been exceptionally warm, so in all these costumes & accessories I'm guessing all worn over their clothes too that they're really hot under all that, which wears you out more than running--but they were still smiling & joking around, they'd done a good deed for the day to come bring their chicken run to Vermilionville for all the town folk or tourists & not the usual country folk/farms/houses they go to on Mardi Gras

There were a lot of kids too in costumes I saw leaving, they had the whole get up on--capuchons on their heads, masks on their faces or were carring them or pulled up onto their capuchons (just like the grownups do) & their matching tops/bottoms with bells on somewheres...I especially liked the girl in her all red crawfish print & another girl sitting on the bench with her fake chicken--asked her "Did you catch that?" She said she had & she'd won--it looked like styrofoam with brown feathers glued all over stuck on a wood block...

Later I would see a Vermilionville staff person taking another such fake chicken off to a side building & asked her about them--she said there were 2, this 1 she was going to repair the tail feathers with some more glued on ones...but that there was another real chicken the Krewe from Basile had brought over by the building where there was dancing & music playing--I didn't see it then though until the stragglers at the end of the run were leaving, going up the stairs & for all I know they were probably the leaders of the pack/the Krewe

I can see why this would be fun--I've heard a lot of stories now about the real out in the Country Country Mardi Gras Runs or Courir, but have never gone...one of these years I will, maybe on a horse or a flatbed truck?!

Did hear there's an all girl Krewe, but that they're tough--someone said they'd never be able to keep up with them & for sure not with their beer drinking...as they'd seen a whole freezer full on the back of a flatbed truck that was going to follow something like 30/35 girls (you know I say girls but I mean women--there are 'not' beer drinking girls on Courir de Mardi Gras runs that I know of, even in Louisiana, in the country...)

Well I was there for research--we are going to try & make us some Capuchons for the Country Mardi Gras Costume Sale at Cite des Arts...there will be photos coming & of the sale too, so many old costumes from last year that the Krewe de Andalusia had stores & were going to toss--the theater got wind of this, came to the rescue with a trailer & loaded all the boxes up to bring to Cite des Arts & the unpacking began, then the hanging up, then the sale (then a spray or two of Frebreeze--stinky, after who knows how long stuffed in boxes in a room over a restaurant I think it was...) But a year later they are all aired out & not all sold & ready for some colorful combinations/creations for this year's Mardi Gras on Feb 12th aka Fat Tuesday :oD

~~~~
link to what Wiki has to say about Capuchon's...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchon



Wiki Commons Description for photo on Wikipedia...
en: Courir de Mardi Gras in en:Savoy, Louisiana 2010
17 February 2010
Own work Herb Roe www. chromesun. com
author: Heironymous Rowe

Tee Courir de Mardi Gras...a painting by Herb Roe - who took this photo...from the Faquetigue Courir de Mardi Gras - near Eunice, LA in 2010 - he mentions Tee = Little in Cajun French...
http://www.artwanted.com/imageview.cfm?ID=1059365&IRV=1

The Cajuns & Mardi Gras: Pulse of the Planet...
http://www.pulseplanet.com/pulsepicks/mardigras/
(note: there are more fun photos here...and the Blogger went to Basile too, so he may have been talking to one of the Krewe that I saw at Vermilionville on Sunday--it's a small world in Cajunland?! so Watch the Video for the Basile Mardi Gras Run & their own special Song...)

The Costume
"Says Potic Rider, capitaine and president of the Mardi Gras Association in Basile, Louisiana: "The part of our costume that comes from the old country is our hat, the capuchin. It's based on the dunce's hat. In the old country, the Mardi Gras would make fun of the king and queen and high-society people. They would try to make them look like dunces.

'From what my parents used to tell me, they used to have different costumes when they came down from Nova Scotia. Once they got here, they incorporated an Indian design. The suits have tassels hanging down the legs. ...We start preparing our suits from the end of the last Mardi Gras. Sometimes it takes all year, and they're still not finished!' "

 

The Basile Mardi Gras Run"There are a few old-timers in Basile who have refined the tradition of ritual begging into an art form. The idea, say veterans Potic Rider and Vories Moreau, is to change your costume every year, and disguise your voice and your gestures so that even your neighbors won't know it's you. When I interviewed Vories a day before Mardi Gras, he assured me that I wouldn't recognize him when he "begged me" the next day – and he was right!

I was told that a good Mardi Gras will always try to extort as much as he possibly can from a potential donor, but he always knows when to stop. Likewise, a Mardi Gras' antics walk a fine line between the hilarious, the unexpected, the embarrassing, and the naughty. If they go too far, the capitaines are there, whips in hand, to set them straight. In Basile and elsewhere, this give and take is part of the entertainment, as Mardi Gras climb roofs and trees and feign running off with barbecues, bicycles, and small children.

Although the Mardi Gras are enjoined to keep their masks on throughout the entire day, in Basile at the end of a visit to a household, a few Mardi Gras runners will sometimes linger, take off their masks to reveal themselves to their neighbors, and sing a verse from their song.

From dawn until midday, Basile's Mardi Gras run goes from the town to the outlying countryside, tarrying for a while for a big gumbo lunch at Mrs. Edna Redlich's house before forming a triumphal procession back to town for a street dance. Around 5 p.m., everyone goes home to rest and to change costumes. The celebration reconvenes around 7 p.m. at the town barn with a gumbo dinner, a grand march, a dance, and a competition. Prizes are given in several categories, including most innovative costume and most (intentionally) ugly!

Potic Ryder says that "running Mardi Gras is like letting the air out of a balloon. We wait for this all year. When it' s over, it's a relief, 'cause you're really worn out."

At the end of the day, there's an exhilaration mixed with the exhaustion, as if you and the whole town have made it through a rite of passage, the collective cathartic tickle known as Mardi Gras."

 

(note: I think I love this Country Krewe from Basile--they sound very kind hearted, like all the Cajuns I've ever met...and really don't have a clue if they care to be called Cajuns or not...now am feeling badly--I didn't have a coin to give the begging chicken runner at Vermilionville...it was kind of them to come out for an extra run there for the town folk/tourists/the kids...so next year I'll know better?!)

~~~
Link to a YouTube of the Basile Mardi Gras dancing on main street...
I love all these costumes...check out the dancing, even with go cups...LoL...
http://youtu.be/98sUOr3qR0k
~~~


Reference to a book I'd like to find now...
Carolyn and Carl's book, Cajun Mardi Gras Masks, published in 1997 by University Press of Mississippi
Link to Amazon.com where you can buy the book--for $30...sigh...
http://www.amazon.com/Cajun-Mardi-Gras-Masks-Artists/dp/1617031348
Link to the University Press of Mississippi & more summary about traditional maskmaking...
http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/90


~~~



Wiki Commons description...

Participants of the 2011 Faquetaigue Courir de Mardi Gras in Savoy, La on horseback. The figure wears the traditional capuchon, a pointed hat meant to mock the nobility.
9 March 2011
Own work Herb Roe www. chromesun. com
author: Heironymous Rowe

Link to Wikipedia about the Courir de Mardi Gras--where this photo can be found & more about the "chicken run" as many will call it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courir_de_Mardi_Gras


Faquetaigue Courir de Mardi Gras

"The Faquetaigue run was started in 2006 by a group of local musicians in a small town outside of Eunice as an alternative to the main Eunice courir. The group, which included Joel Savoy (local music producer and former member of the Red Stick Ramblers) and his brother Wilson Savoy (of the Pine Leaf Boys), felt that the other local runs had gotten too rowdy and lost too much of the authentic traditions. No beads or bead throwing are allowed at the event nor are radios, as all music is played on instruments. Another requirement is that everyone must participate by wearing costumes and dancing, singing, begging and chasing chickens at each of the stops along the route. The majority of the participants are musicians or dancers and it has become one of the most musically based on the various runs. The Faquetigue Mardi Gras route takes it to the cemetery where Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee and his wife Gladys are buried. The group stops at the gravesite, where a local priest says a prayer and musicians play songs while grouped around the headstone. The characters played by Steve Earle and Lucia Micarelli in the HBO series Treme attend the Faquetaigue mardi gras during the seventh episode of season two.^"

(my note: I think I've met someone in this Krewe--they were at the Fabric Store buying items to put together or add to their Capuchon...he said the name of the town or the run & it sounded like this, something I couldn't pronouce or spell at the time--now I'm thinking this looks like it sounded?! 

He was the most helpful/polite young man--he had started a basket & I was talking to another lady across the table who was looking for Mardi Gras print fabric...she was telling the salesgirl that this was her first country run & she was making her & her daughter a costume--I said we were trying to make Capuchons at the theater to go along with the Country Mardi Gras Costume sale...then the young man told us he was making one & he was going to run in this "F" named town/run & then he went thru what was in his basket...

Bells
Safety Pins
Fabric Glue
Cord roll
Grommets (he had a grommet gun)
Push/Pull plastic piece for a neck strap

It seems he was going to safety pin the bells onto the fabric, rather than trying to glue them or sew them--clever & I said I was going to try that too...

Then he was going to put grommets on either side of his hat/his Capuchon to pull the cord thru & tie it on either end so it would go thru the push/pull plastic piece (I haven't a clue what to officially call it) which would make it like a cowboy hat or a garden hat & would be easy to put on/take off...rather than a fabric tie or using the cable to tie into a bow...the mask he said would have elastic on it & not the capuchon--which I thought at first it would & had picked up colorful elastic in purple/green (2 of the Mardi Gras Colors--of purple/gold or yellow/green...) Again I thought this was very clever, though I don't think we'll go to all that trouble/expense to make quick hats at the Mardi Gras Costume Sale...

And again, here's a guy, at the Fabric store, shopping for materials to make his Capuchon & more than willing to tell us all his secrets to make one & to invite us all out to his town/his run--which he says is small, only a six or eight houses I think he said...but if he's with this group of musicians & dancers it must be more than enough to have an excellent day of fun/laughter/community highjinks?!)

~~~






















photo credit:
Light from the Bottom of the Boot - Blog
Lucius A. Fontenot

Poster from 2009 Faquetigue...which looks like it was the 4th running of the Courir de Mardi Gras...
http://www.artwanted.com/imageview.cfm?ID=1059365&IRV=1

~~~

note: more photos coming soon... ;o)

~~~

My First Capuchon...

(all I have to do is figure out how to add the elastic chin strap now & it's done/ready to be sold at the Vintage Mardi Gras Costume Sale at Cite des Arts...what kinda price do you put on your First?!)

 

 



 

 

~~~



 

My Second Capuchon...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

note: more people tried this beauty on than any other

- then finally a girl bought it for the run in Savoy I think she said

but it will look different as she's going to add her costume fabric

to it so there will be more fringes - still I'm gonna miss this Capuchon?!

 

 



 

 

...and there was a mask to match

with diamond eye holes, of course

 

 

~~~

 



My Third Capuchon...

is there something to that saying--3rd time is the charm...

 

 

 

Step one...a long often more confusing one than you'd imagine

first you have to make a cone with a pointy top & that at the bottom fits on your head

(or in my case let's guess whose head it might fit on, so maybe bigger than mine...

I wondered during these attempts if knowing some more Math might help me out -

say how do you take a flat rectangle & roll it then to make a cone shape...hmmm...)

 

 

 

after fabric glue the material then you add fringe

in this case to match, but again with the new neon colors

and this time switching to the handy hot glue gun

 

 

 

 

 

fringe done

bells safety pin'd on

feathers hot glue'd to top

 

 

 



Capuchon w/Mask

it's funny how the Mask looks so much better up against your face

(it was so very clever how they figured out you could mask your facial

features by drawing/painting on the mesh wire but that you could also have air

as it's Southern Louisiana you need to be cool as often & in as many places as possible)

 

 

The Traditional Mask Making or at least my First Attempt to go with this Third Attempt Capuchon...

(see also the next post with more crafting of Capuchons/Masks)

 

 

After drawing on the facial features realized Dali may have been an subconscious influence...

(just saying)

 

Supplies:

window screen cut into rectangle

black duct tape sides, double strips - so front & back

fake fuzzy hair fabric for beard/eyebrows

punch holes with hole punch on sides at edge of eyes

tape ends of elastic to pull thru the holes to the fronts to tie

(tie one end then pull thru the other, put on head & adjust the other side to be snug & then tie that knot...or in the case of making for others, I left it long so they could adjust & then cut it to their head size or comfort zone...)

draw on facial features with black permanent marker

add red lips with red marker

add eyeball color with whiteout

(or as another Crafternoon participant did--use red paint,

for bloodshot eyeballs...of course, it's Mardi Gras?!)

 

~~~

 

 

 

 



En Kongelig Affaere - A Royal Affair

Danish, Swedish, German or Czech while I'm reading subtitles in English
and still I loved it as a historical drama/foreign film, about a time/part of the world I knew very little about...all the court costume, daily life, intrigue - not to mention details in the streets, mud/rats on the curb as the royal carriage rides by kind of thing...you cannot imagine how you can have empathy for anyone behind castle walls, but you do/you will...

En Kongelig Affære
Danish



per Wiki Commons...
(poster) May be found at the following website:
http://www.movieposterdb.com/poster/5dab7a93
no surprise read under Wikipedia description that it's based on an erotic novel

Official Movie Webpage...
http://www.magpictures.com/aroyalaffair/
4 yrs in the making? who can afford to do that?!
Good thing they're up for Golden Globe/Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film
as well as being previously at the Berlin Int'l Film Fest...

About The Film

"ROYAL AFFAIR is an 18th century historical drama four years in the making, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, screenwriter of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the film is an epic romance about the love triangle between a German doctor, the queen of Denmark, and her deranged king. The film was produced by Louise Vesth, Meta Louise Foldager (Melancholia) and Sisse Graum Jørgensen (In a Better World) for Zentropa Entertainments."

Cast:
Mads Mikkelsen
Alicia Vikander
Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Directed by:Nikolaj Arcel

Produced by:Louise Vesth
Meta Louise Foldager
Sisse Graum Jørgensen


Wiki Link...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Royal_Affair
I guess they've had at least 4 yrs to work on a Wiki entry or two...

IMDb Link...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276419/
photos and videos

YouTube Trailer Link...
http://youtu.be/FGXNQu3fpP8



A Royal Affair - Facebook page...
http://youtu.be/FGXNQu3fpP8
hmm...does everything everywhere have a Facebook

YouTube - DP/30 @ TIFF - Interview Director/Co-Writer...
http://youtu.be/gJVjioCfiZw
Toronto Int'l Film Fest
33 min's so you have to be really interested in this

"it was creepy back then"
16 y/o queen/bride
19 y/o king/groom
38 y/o doctor/lover

Facebook - Cane Fire Film Series - A Royal Affair - Lafayette, LA...
https://www.facebook.com/CaneFireFilmSeries

The Cane Fire Film Series brings exclusive first-run independent film to Acadiana.



from Cane Fire Film Facebook page - link to a YouTube of CGI work in A Royal Affair...
http://youtu.be/yAFnsJUEPHo

"Postscript for A ROYAL AFFAIR - Check out the CGI work, that I'm sure you didn't know you were seeing.....In Danish, but just watch the visuals!"

Soundtrack from A Royal Affair...
http://youtu.be/bI0_0OPiON8
37 min's - that's a lot of soundtrack

Link to the dance scene between the Queen & her King's Doctor in A Royal Affair...
http://youtu.be/8Cm1f5EAjl4
if I were British I suppose I might call this clip or this whole entire movie: Lush - to hear it's not a big budget film, it's lovely what they did with what they had...in this clip it also doesn't much matter it's not subtitled, or not to me after having watched the movie once on the big screen (or so far...)

so far it's been a Nominee for a Golden Globe & an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film - Winner of a Satellite Award for Best Costume...

Int'l Press Academy - Satellite Awards 2012...
http://www.pressacademy.com/project/a-royal-affair/

A Royal Affair

Manon Rasmussen — WINNER
Costume Design
Project: A Royal Affair
Distributor: Magnolia Films

Denmark
Motion Picture, International Film
Project: A Royal Affair
Distributor: Magnolia Films

Niels Sejer
Art Direction & Production Design
Project: A Royal Affair
Distributor: Magnolia Films

A review of A Royal Affair - by AO Scott - NYTimes...
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/457047/A-Royal-Affair/overview
if one more person writes it's also a "bodice-ripper" I'm going to demand it be a phrase to go on the Word Ban List?!

Rotten Tomatoes gave En Kongelig Affaere/A Royal Affair an 89% on the Tomatometer...
(86% of Audience Liked It)
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/en_kongelig_affaere/

A Royal Affair is a lavish and sumptuous costume drama with a juicy story to back it up.

And what Blu-Ray has to say about A Royal Affair in Blu-Ray...
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/A-Royal-Affair-Blu-ray/52214/

Local newspaper article - The Ind - Cane Fire Flares with Danish Intrigue - Walter Pierce...
http://www.theind.com/a-a-e/arts-a-entertainment-stories/12531-cane-fire-flares-with-danish-intrigue

Other Local newspaper - Times Pick - A Royal Affair: Saturday...
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20130110/ACADIANA01/301090337/Times-Picks
mentions bad guy from Casino Royale actor - who plays doctor in A Royal Affair

LITE Center - Lafayette, LA - showing Cane Fire Film Series - A Royal Affair...
http://www.lite3d.com/News-events/Cane-Fire-Films-1?&Sort=&Archive=

annoyed note:
Nowhere does it mention, until you're up at the desk trying to pay for a ticket right before the show that they Only Take Cash - if you didn't happen to notice there was no card machine on the table...so you have to go back to the parking lot, get in your car, pull up Navigator on your smarty - thankfully - cell phone to tell you how to get to an ATM/Bank Machine & pronto - or would that be Touts Suite - so you can like Not Miss the One & Only Showing of this Foreign Film in town...

Whew--I made it just by the hair on my chinny chin chin...after watching it Before the Golden Globes I realize how very lucky I am that I got to see it on the big screen at all--because we'll see if, as a foreign film, (winner or not) it will return to little ole' Lafayette, Louisiana...Oh, I did mention my annoyance (& have e-mailed the LITE Center's Events & Tours to ask someone to kindly add a Cash Only note) at having to do all that in order to pay at the table getting my ticket just in time & not knowing it was a Cash Only operation until I got there (which may or may not continue to be how business will be done in future...but Now I Know to have enough Cash?!)

Happy Hens Living Alfresco

Happy Hens Living Alfresco



aka Happy Hens Living Outdoors

From the Recyle Egg Carton I read...

At Alfresco Farms we emply the most sutainable, natura farming methods possible.
For us, this means our girls outside on lush green pastures where they live and forage outside in fresh air and sunshine. The respect we pay the birds is returned to us through the most delicious eggs you'll ever taste.

Certified Humane - Raised & Handled

www.alfrescofarms.com

Pasture - Raised Eggs
Happy Hens Living Outdoors
AlFresco Farms

Tasty Goodness Laid in the USA

Ethical Eggs

The Real Free - Range

12 Grade-A Brown

From the wee mini newsletter on neon green paper on the inside of the Egg Carton I read...

"Alfresco Farms News
www.vitalfarms.com
Regional Edition
Volume 1, Issue 2

Pasture-raised, Certified Humane eggs from farmers who care.

At Alfresco Farms, we work with nature to create the very best egg possible.
On our small family farms, we treat the land and our ladies with the respect they deservie; this means we never use pesticides or herbicides and we provide our girls with more space per bird than any other egg farms in the country.

Though not USDA Certified Organic, these eggs contain all the benefits of a pastrue-raised lifestyle; they are tastier and more nutritious, without the higher cost due to organic feed.
If eating organic is important to you, try Vital Farms pasture-raised organic eggs.

Our farmers have set the standard for the type of humane, back-to-basics farming that we can all be proud of.
Thanks for supporting our efforts.
(Psst! Don't toss it, share the news with a friend!)

Copyright Vital Farms, Inc.

Tasty goodness, laid in the USA!
Alfresco Farms is part of the Vital Farms network of family farms.

Certified Humane - Raised & Handled"

(note: so I'm doing just that--am sharing the news, only instead of passing on the wee green piece of paper with the mini newsletter on it I've copied this volume/issue onto my Blog...am hoping they won't mind, thank you Alfresco Farms/Vital Farms for being human/humane?!)


Link to Vital Farms - behind Alfresco Farms...
http://www.vitalfarms.com/otherbrands.html



Help Vital Farms Free the Birds...YouTube...
http://youtu.be/TYJxuyjXJmI

Where to find their Eggs in Louisiana...
http://www.vitalfarms.com/findoureggs.php?p=Louisiana
(note: Lafayette - The Fresh Market - where I got mine...
http://www.thefreshmarket.com/ )

Vital Farms (aka Alfresco Farms) has a Blog too...
http://vitalfarms.com/blog/

3 more Chicken Farm Videos on YouTube...



Vital Farms - Whole Foods...
http://youtu.be/18mCJ0keOqA

Link to Whole Foods Market...
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

(note: Louisiana has 1 in Baton Rouge, 1 in Metairie & I think a new 1 in New Orleans...
but sadly, pout-pout, not in Lafayette...though there have been rumors, then there have been more rumors, but still we do not have a Whole Foods Market...we have a Fresh Market, so that is something...something, but not all...until another time...)



Vital Farms - Winter Pasture...
http://youtu.be/ZR6VXwKQZkA



Vital Farms - Austin, TX...
http://youtu.be/3_37IYIJG7A

(note: just another reason to like that place--Austin, Texas...
why we couldn't of moved there instead of Houston 3 times earlier...sigh...well, nevermind I can still drive on over & visit...not so sure off to the chicken farm, there's so much more there in Austin?!)


And if you want more than the eggs...
Well, there's the broiler hens/chickens too under their Backyard Birds brand...
http://vitalfarms.com/otherbrands.html


~~~

FlyingPigFarms - At Our Farm...
(note: I've never ever seen a pig in the snow,
only in the mud--so this is a treat...
so pigs here are pasture-raised come sun or snow?!)


The first I'd read about Humanely Raised Meat was about a Pig Farm called Flying Pigs Farm - so here's the link if you want to read more about sustainable agriculture in yet another pasture-raised animal or I'll call them Happy Hogs Going Hog Wild in the Woods...
http://flyingpigsfarm.com/

Note: if you really, Really want to get up close & personal--you can go stay down on the farm in their renovated barn...in the Battenkill River Valley...

"Located just 45 minutes from Saratoga Springs, Albany, and Manchester, VT...
The apartment is part of a newly-restored 19th century barn here at the farm..."

http://flyingpigsfarm.com/the-farm/our-guest-house/



~~~

Let there be light--to brew my coffee??

Let there be light--to brew my coffee??

At Carpe Diem Gelato Espresso
My First Ever Siphon/Vacuum/Vac Pot Coffee being made
Carpe Diem House Blend from Cuvee (I want to see Lorenzo do this too?!)


Not the words you think to go with coffee making...

Vacuum
Siphon


Link to Wiki explanation of the Vacuum or "Vac Pot" that begins in Berlin, Germany...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_coffee_maker

What's Old is New (ain't that the truth) in regards to the "Vac Pot" - here's a How To...
http://www.interactivehank.com/docs/images/Dada/VacPot_FAQ.pdf

History of the "Vac Pot" - not just any ordinary percolator...
http://baharris.org/coffee/History.htm

Apparently Bodum has made an electric version or you can still go a different way, tho does that mean non-electric so stove-top or what (must read up on that more - like the mention of it being 'affordable' & the idea that it brews a 'perfect cup'...look up & find $65 to $90)
http://www.specialty-coffee-advisor.com/Vacuum-Pot-Brewing.html

esp like this historical note & now must look up Madame Vassieux & some images of these 'glass balloon' designed double-globe brewers with 'crown' tops from the 1800's...

"Patent filings indicate that vacuum pots were being used in Germany by the early 1800s. The popularity of vacuum brewing spread throughout Europe very quickly along with plenty of notable improvements in design.
Madame Vassieux of Lyons patented a lovely "Glass Balloon" design in France in 1841 consisting of a blown glass double-globe. The lower globe was equipped with a spigot to dispense the coffee. It featured a lovely metal "Crown" on top of the brewer.
The elegance, style, and functionality of these blown glass vacuum brewers quickly removed them from the kitchen. They became prestigious center pieces on dining room tables across Europe, providing delicious full bodied coffee as well as wonderful entertainment for guests and family members alike."

Bodum's Official webpage - products under coffee brewers, vacuum coffee maker, the Bodum PEBO (formerly known as Santos) at $80 plus taxes/shipping as that online price/ordering process goes...
http://www.bodum.com/us/en-us/shop/detail/1208-01/?navid=262

Bodum PEBO

I love it--Steampunk (Retro) Coffee reference?!

http://portolacoffeelab.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/a-steampunk-retro-coffee-explosion/

Portola Coffee Lab Facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/portolacoffeelab

under About they have listed--a whole bar of Syphon coffee pots (aka "Vac Pot")...

Hario Halogen-Heated Syphon Bar

(note: yes, of course, I have "liked" them & will be "follow" ing them elsewhere too if they're over on Twitter or Instagram or ?!)

photo credit--from the article above...

Steampunk Retro Coffee Explosion - tho they say this is not their bar, as in Portola Coffee Lab

(note: but they don't mention what bar it is, so how to credit them...if they find this, please don't be mad - make a comment & will add where the photo came from - thanks?!)

Some more beauties...lots of gleaming copper...only $500 & what--then there's gold ones too, Oh nevermind...

http://gizfactory.com/article/siphon-coffee-maker----history-of-style-and-imagination/

...history of style & imagination--I'll say?! Thank you Giz Factory for the best steampunk idea yet?!

like the silver/steel one on the left--but this full out Jules Verne/Steampunk version on the right is incredible--I'd love to see that one work & taste that coffee...

(note: we sooo need one of these for the next Steampunk Festival at Cite des Arts in Lafayette, LA... I would never leave, I'd be sitting in front of this coffee machine the whole time I think - ah now how to make a steampunk costume to go with steampunk coffee making...hmm...must work on that idea?!)

yet another coffee article/blogger My Coffee Pro on brewing in a siphon/vac pot/coffeemaker...curious how things come explosively into the (coffee) consciousness--when today is the 1st day I ever remember seeing one & for sure tasting coffee from one...this dated Dec 2012...

http://www.mycoffeepro.com/2072/brewing-methods-siphon-coffee-maker.html

Step 1, 2, 3...from Bellina it says on My Coffee Pro page, if you scroll over image...


Link to 185 page thesis on Turkish Coffee Brewing Machines from a Design perspective submitted in 2005 - didn't read it all, but the photos & drawings of all those ancient coffee makers was wonderous to see
(my sidenote: I get an itch to start collecting when I see all these photos/drawings--of old coffee makers or drawings of them, it's a good thing I don't live in Doha, Qatar anylonger or I would be sooo tempted to start scouring the Souks of the Middle East & beyond for them...)

http://library.iyte.edu.tr/tezler/master/endustriurunleritasarimi/T000328.pdf

Note: go to page 62 for the Glass Balloon Coffee Maker History & Patent drawings

Madame Vassieux's glass balloon patent drawing is referenced with this source below on page 65 of the thesis too...

So went to search Amazon.com & found a book title by the source reference author names of Bramah E & Bramah J - so perhaps it's this same book (tho no images) called:

Coffee Makers: Collector's Show-Case by Adelaide Del Sant; E. and J. Bramah(1995)

Or are these siphon/vacuum pot/vac pots just perculators or double glass perculators - as it says in this link to a Free Fiction book (892 pages?? & none of the illustrations show up--what's with that...) called All About Coffee by William H. Ukers (curious last name) - was the design from Europe, France or Germany & then came to the USA, See: Make-Right or Tru-Bru pots or others from the 1900's...
http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/a/20350-all-about-coffee-by-william-h-ukers?start=662

(note: my goodness, this just makes me want to go run out to antique shops in pursuit of a perculator in any form or fashion--but then there is the internet to browse instead, where I am getting sucked in Oh too easily...)


Another link--Good Grief, not only French but a Belgium connection as well...so here under Sorentina Coffee are Bellina Vacuum/Siphon Coffee Makers - mostly with Butane heaters...
http://sorrentinacoffee.myshopify.com/collections/vendors?q=Bellman

from Sorrentina Coffee webpage about $150.00 - so maybe these 'lab experiments' for coffee makers are more affordable than I thought

(note: tho at the coffeeshop today I was told some of the larger commercial beauties can go for 1,000's & up for a whole bar of them even more--say like those in Cali or NYC...sigh...why not LA--not L.A. mind you but LA, as in Louisiana the state...)

I like the Siphon/Vacuum Coffee Bar photo on this webpage--then they bring up Japan & how these are more popular than drip coffee, so another reason yet to go visit Japan or thereabouts in the world (you know for the coffee viewing alone...)

http://www.coffeehomedirect.com/vacuum-coffee-makers

Siphon Bar - is it in Japan? I don't know when pages like Coffee Home Direct don't credit their photos?! Am wondering looking at the photo if the steel containers underneath the glass globes are for butane or some such fire type heaters & not electric...

(note: I'm liking the idea behind the Halogen bulb heated Siphon/Vacuum Coffee Makers--tho does that then become an environmental hazard to dispose of them after their so called efficient use...it's always something--when all I know is I am mesmerized watching one brew coffee this way?!)

Beginning of the You Tube list...

YOU TUBE - Vacuum Pot Brew at Onyx Coffee Bar...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbPlYSM6iU4

note: I would just watch this--they don't sound like any of them know all what they're talking about even when you can hear them & forget that cackling customer...so yea just watch the process...

YOU TUBE - Making the SIPHON Japanese Distill coffee by Rocanini coffee Roasters

http://youtu.be/r4YHvW7QJKw

note: I liked watching the Barista girl make this coffee, it was interesting to see her cool it off with a cloth at the end & then the mention of Physics 101...it is like watching a Science Experiment--only you know you're gonna love the end product that you can drink, because it's super clean delish coffee...

You Tube - Belgium Royal 4C Cafe...a different type of Vacuum/Siphon coffee maker...

http://youtu.be/SbVwvI9P7lU

note: gravity & vapor in action with musical to go along with that ending in a pink cup, lovely presentation...can you imagine this all after a dinner party or any party--tah dah?!

You Tube - BODUM PEBO vacuum coffee maker 1208

http://youtu.be/h4vPG7CPX4g

note: Theatrical Coffee...I'm gonna be all about this kind of Theater--tho now after I've seen the fancy ones I'd rather watch them instead?!

You Tube - then there's Ed & his Cona Vacuum Coffee Maker in Action.mov...

http://youtu.be/5SJ9d7dVYYw

You Tube - Japanese Siphon Coffee Maker with Halogen Beam Heater - HARIO Glass Co., Ltd... 

http://youtu.be/F_T0n00LPNw

note: all in Japanese with Hario glass company at a convention sounds like...so they call it a Japanese Siphon Coffee Maker & describe the Halogen bulb as a Halogen Beam Heater...

which always when I read/hear the word Beam now I think of the famous line: Beam me up Scotty?!

The End of YOU TUBE list...
as I am slowly getting addicted to watching Vacuum/Siphon pots at work in You Tube videos...it's way/Way/WAY more fun/interesting/fascinating to watch it going on in person?!

image from Wiki Commons via Flickr
(see link below)

Link to Blue Bottle Coffee - that I'm told is in Cali & NYC with an extensive Vac Pot/Siphon Bar...
http://store.bluebottlecoffee.com/

Blue Bottle Coffee little Siphon prep drawn guide...
http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guide/siphon/

Blue Bottle Coffee Book Trailer (I know it's another YouTube) - note at :57 is the Siphon Bar in use...
http://youtu.be/gFUadBsWOzk

note: Dec 2012 the book went on tour...sigh...too bad was not in San Fran to attend & what was that mention of an espresso martini?? (really I don't understand that--no alcohol in my coffee thank you very much?!)

there's even a Wiki link for Blue Bottle Coffee Co...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bottle_Coffee_Company

~~~

And where may you ask can you watch such a thing in lil ol' Lafayette, LA??
None other than Carpe Diem Gelato Espresso downtown - Thank you Eric/Silvia!!

Link to their webpage...
http://www.carpediemgelato.com/

Link to their Facebook page - where it's the best place to keep up...
https://www.facebook.com/carpediemgelatoespresso

note: go to their page to keep up with the gelato flavors & the coffees & all the events going on there downtown at Carpe Diem - I love our Coffee Culture in Lafayette, thanks Y'all?! ox ox

~~~

Physics of Siphons/Fluid Dynamics...
because--as ever--I was curious...
(perhaps I've been watching too much Big Bang Theory)

First the Wiki explanation...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon
(note: there is a diagram of a siphon coffee pot...)

Siphon coffee

Main article: Siphon coffee

Siphon coffee brewer: when warmed by a heat source (A), vapor pressure increases in the lower chamber (B), forcing the water downwards (C) and through the central pipe into the upper chamber (D) where it is mixed with the coffee grounds. When the heat is removed, the water flows back down.

"While if both ends of a siphon are at atmospheric pressure, liquid flows from high to low, if the bottom end of a siphon is pressurized, liquid can flow from low to high. If pressure is removed from the bottom end, the liquid flow will reverse, illustrating that it is pressure driving the siphon. An everyday illustration of this is the siphon coffee brewer, which works as follows (designs vary; this is a standard design, omitting coffee grounds):

• a glass vessel is filled with water, then corked (so air-tight) with a siphon sticking vertically upwards
• another glass vessel is placed on top, open to the atmosphere – the top vessel is empty, the bottom is filled with water
• the bottom vessel is then heated; as the temperature increases, the vapor pressure of the water increases (it increasingly evaporates); when the water boils the vapor pressure equals atmospheric pressure, and as the temperature increases above boiling the pressure in the bottom vessel then exceeds atmospheric pressure, and pushes the water up the siphon tube into the upper vessel.
• a small amount of still hot water and steam remain in the bottom vessel and are kept heated, with this pressure keeping the water in the upper vessel
• when the heat is removed from the bottom vessel, the vapor pressure decreases, and can no longer support the column of water – gravity (acting on the water) and atmospheric pressure then push the water back into the bottom vessel.

In practice, the top vessel is filled with coffee grounds, and the heat is removed from the bottom vessel when the coffee has finished brewing. What vapor pressure means concretely is that the boiling water converts high-density water (a liquid) into low-density steam (a gas), which thus expands to take up more volume (in other words, the pressure increases). This pressure from the expanding steam then forces the liquid up the siphon; when the steam then condenses down to water the pressure decreases and the liquid flows back down."


Then another argument for an addition to clarify...

Someone asks: Constant Velocity in a Siphon?
And someone's answers here...
http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/16914/constant-velocity-in-siphon
(why someone just doesn't do this over on Wiki I wonder)

"...It is basically enough to say conservation of mass together with constant cross-section and the incompressibility of water lead to constant velocity. Someone should definitely add this on the Wikipedia page..." Noldorin Nov 13 '11 at 21:39

Thank you 'Noldorin' on The Physics Stack Exchange for the clarification (tho you're speaking to a non-science major...woulda loved to have majored in Micro-Biology tho, or now it's more popular to go for Genetics--or is it ??)

Or on Physics Central you can Ask a Physicist...

How does a Siphon work?

http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/askaphysicist/physics-answer.cfm?uid=20080512104921

Their answer starts with... "water seeks its level"

(note: I like that kind of simplity?! and further I did not know that the siphon effect stops at about 30 feet or 10 meters...so little wonder there's not a 30 foot siphon coffee pot right?! now am thinking there should be a place for Physics Phunnies & this siphon coffee pot joke made to see how many folks 'get it' - LoL... but then how many folks don't get Big Bang Theory humor either, especially dearest Sheldon...although I'd rather listen to his "friend that's a girl" Amy...)

~~~