#pepper and pestis

[momwithdog]

11 Tried and Tested Remedies for Preventing Fleas in Dogs

If there is anything that pet owners dread and loathe in equal measure, it is fleas. These nasty insects thrive on the blood of mammals, and dogs who love frisking about and rolling in grass become susceptible hosts to these blood-sucking parasites. Once they find their way to your pet’s skin and into your home, getting rid of them can be an arduous task. That’s why you must teach yourself about preventing fleas in dogs.

The adage prevention is better than cure couldn’t ring truer than it does for keeping your pet flea-free. But how exactly do you do that? Here is a complete guide on flea control for dogs to help you get started.

How to Check Your Dog for Fleas

Even with the best flea control measures in place, you cannot rule out the possibility of these pesty little creatures finding their way to your dog’s skin and latching on. While one-odd flea on your dog’s skin isn’t typically a cause for concern, as long as you have effective preventive measures in place, it’s still important to keep an eye out for their presence.

So, along with trying to figure out “how to keep fleas off my dog”, you also need to ask, “How do I check my dog for fleas?” Here are a few ways:

Look for physical signs of flea bites: If your dog is scratching more than usual, has red, inflamed bumps on their skin, you notice bald patches in their fur, or pale gums (a sign of anemia), pay attention. These are all symptoms of flea infestation and warrant further investigation

Inspect your dog’s body and fur: A thorough inspection of your dog’s fur becomes imperative if you notice any of the above-mentioned symptoms. But even if you don’t, it’s advisable to examine your pet’s coat from time to time. To do so, run your fingers through your dog’s fur, moving against the grain of hair. Since fleas move fast, you may not be able to catch them if it’s only one-odd, but you may be able to feel bite marks or bumps on the skin. However, if it is an infestation, you may actually be able to feel the fleas in your dog’s coat with your hands

Use a flea comb: Whether you discover a few unusual marks on your dog’s body that warrant further investigation or uncover a nasty infestation, the next order of business is to get those blood-sucking parasites off your pet. Flea combs are your best ally in this quest. Manually searching for fleas can be tedious, time-consuming, and a little gross, but these fine-tooth combs make the job much easier. Just comb through diligently, covering every inch of your pet’s coat, and repeat for a few days to make sure you get them all

Look for tell-tale signs around the house: Flea dirt — tiny black specks that look a lot like ground black pepper — caught in your dog’s hair or falling off it, flea eggs — tiny white granules that look a lot like grains of rice — in places where your dog typically sits of sleeps are also tell-tale markers of an infestation. To confirm your suspicion, you can set a light trap at night — leaving a dish filled with soapy water near a night light. Once it gets dark, fleas will jump toward the light and fall into the water dish. The next morning, you will have conclusive proof of whether or not your dog has a flea problem

Tried and Tested Ways of Preventing Fleas in Dogs

Now that we’ve covered the importance of flea control for dogs and ways to ascertain whether you need to take steps in that direction, let’s talk about how to do it right. From natural flea control for dogs to accessories that repel these pesty insects and flea and tick medication, there are lots of different ways to protect your pet from this nuisance.  

How to prevent fleas on dogs naturally – Home remedies

If you’re looking for the best flea prevention approach, several home remedies can prove effective. Let’s take a look at how to prevent fleas on dogs naturally:

Note: Please consult your vet before using any of these home remedies for preventing fleas in dogs to make sure you don’t end up doing more harm than good.

1. Essential oils

Essential oils of eucalyptus, tea tree, rosemary, citronella, and peppermint are excellent for natural flea control for dogs. However, since these oils are highly concentrated, you must dilute them appropriately. This is particularly crucial when using essential oils like tea tree, which in its original form can be immensely toxic to dogs. The right way to use essential oils is to add a few drops to about 400 ml of water. If your dog is comfortable with it, you can use a spray bottle to drizzle this solution all over your pet’s coat and let it dry. It’s advisable to check with your vet before using this solution if the problem is already aggravated and your pet is suffering from flea allergy dermatitis.

2. Apple cider vinegar and sea salt spray

How to keep fleas off my dog for good, you ask? Here is an effective remedy you can try: apple cider vinegar and sea salt spray. Apple cider vinegar is effective in balancing the pH levels of your dog’s skin, thus making it an unsustainable host for fleas. To make this spray, add four cups of water in six cups of apple cider vinegar, and top it up with a dash of sea salt. Use a spray bottle to get it all over your dog’s coat, moving against the grain of hair to get to the skin. Avoid contact with eyes and ears. 

3. Lemon bath

Lemon bath is a front-runner for natural flea control for dogs. To make a lemon bath, squeeze half a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and dilute it with two cups of water. Then, mix it with your dog’s shampoo and apply it. Who knew a readily available kitchen ingredient could be the key to keeping your dog flea-free?

4. Rosemary flea dip

Another simple answer to how to prevent fleas on dogs naturally is a Rosemary flea dip. Steep fresh rosemary leaves in a pot of boiling water, strain the mixture, and then either allow it to cool or add some water to it to bring down the temperature. Then pour the solution over your down and let it dry.

5. Neem oil

Neem oil, which acts as a natural insect repellent, is a great choice for topical flea prevention that few pet parents know about. Although it is native to sub-tropical regions like India and Sri Lanka, it’s not hard to find packaged multi-purpose neem oil online or in large department stores anywhere in the world. You can apply this oil directly to your pet’s coat, make a spray out of it by diluting it with water, or mix it in your dog’s shampoo, et voila! There couldn’t be a more effective natural flea control for dogs.

6. Coconut oil

Among the natural ways of preventing fleas in dogs is the elixir of oils — coconut oil. Rub it directly on your dog’s coat, making sure it seeps down to the skin, to repel fleas and their pestier cousins, ticks. You can even add a teaspoon of virgin coconut oil to your dog’s food to not just prevent fleas but also internal parasites. Given its antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial properties, coconut oil can contribute immensely to promoting good health.

7. Brewer’s yeast

Accessories for tick and flea prevention

While natural remedies for flea prevention are effective, they may not be everyone’s cup of tea. If you’re wondering, “How to keep fleas off my dog without homemade flea dips, sprays, and solutions?”, there is a wide variety of packaged products you can choose from. Let’s take a look at some of the most effective ones, so you don’t spend hours staring at an endless array of products, wondering how to choose the right flea-prevention product for your dog:

8. Flea collar

Flea collars are one of the most effective and popular choices for preventing fleas in dogs. These are made of polymer matrix and infused with active ingredients — imidacloprid for fleas and flumethrin for ticks — which are consistently released to disorient insects and make them stop feeding on your pet’s blood. If you’re looking for a single solution for flea and tick prevention, a collar can be a great choice. These are known to reduce flea count by up to 95%.

9. Flea comb

If despite all preventive measures, your pet does come down with a flea problem, a flea-comb is the most recommended method of dealing with it. This fine-tooth comb effectively removes fleas and their eggs from dogs’ coats.

10. Flea shampoo

A flea shampoo is also a popular way of preventing fleas in dogs. These shampoos contain active ingredients that form a layer form a protective layer on your dog’s skin, killing fleas on contact.

11. Flea prevention medication

Sometimes, despite the best flea prevention measures, you may find that your pet’s coat has been infested. If this leads to health complications such as an allergic reaction, a rash, dermatitis, or in extreme cases, anemia or tapeworm infection, topical flea prevention methods may no longer prove effective. In that case, you need to consult a vet and seek oral flea medication, along with any other treatments the doctor may prescribe, and follow through on it.

How to Prevent Fleas in the House

Along with keeping your dog flea-free, it becomes equally important to ensure that these insects don’t find a breeding ground in your home. Once they start nesting in the furnishings around the house — sofas, beds, curtains, bed linen, carpets, and so on — it can be hard to prevent them from making their way to your pet’s body. Besides, flea bites can be harmful to humans as well. So, while treating your dog for fleas, you must also take measures to rid your home of them. Here is how to prevent fleas in the house:

Machine wash and tumble dry the furnishings: Wash all the furnishings your dog comes in contact with and then tumble dry them thoroughly. While labor-intensive, this is an effective answer to how to prevent fleas in the house

Steam clean what you can’t wash: Carpets, sofa upholstery, etc can be hard to wash or the material they are made of may not be fit for washing at all. In such cases, steam cleaning can help in flea removal from the house

Thorough vacuuming: Follow this up with thorough vacuuming. However, fleas can escape and find their way back into their hiding spots around the house as soon as the cleaning bag of the vacuum cleaner is opened. It’s best to either empty these bags outside or dip them in water so that any fleas trapped inside are killed instantly.  

Try DIY solutions:  DIY solutions such as sprinkling baking soda or salt in the areas where fleas are likely to nest can also be the answer to how to prevent fleas in the house. You can also use a lemon spray — prepared the same way as you would use it on your dog’s fur — around the house to kill and repel fleas 

Set up a flea trap: Another way of ridding your home of fleas is to set a flea trap by leaving a dish filled with soapy water near a night light. Once it gets dark, fleas will jump toward the light and fall into the water dish

Preventing fleas in dogs is always a smarter choice than struggling with the consequences of an infestation. From checking your pet for fleas regularly to adopting preventive measures at the first hint of the presence of these insects, and getting them the right medical attention at the right time in case an infestation takes hold, I’ve laid it all down for you. Follow through, and you and your pet will be happier for it.

Ref:- https://momwithdog.com/preventing-fleas-in-dogs/

[bittybonbon]

Pepper giving a lil’ kiss!

They hope you have a good day/night! 💕

#plague doctor #original art #oc tag #gif #gif warning #pepper and pestis #been trying to use the procreate animation feature more to get used to it #it’s a lil tough without an apple pencil tho

[theinsomniacsteamsafehaven-blog]

Peppers: Chris Messina 

Side Effect: Impenetrable Skin/Unbreakable Bones

Alliance: The Titans; The A-Team; Team Safe Haven

Personality: As the unofficial leader of the Titans, Peppers cares about the safety of his team and will do anything to insure it (even if that means knocking a few of his own out). He is a strong-willed individual that talks from his ego but knows how to put it away when things get serious. Peppers is fond of drama and will often start it unless preoccupied with more important matters. He will 100% put himself in the line of fire to protect those that need help. He is your typical loud mouth hero though he would never call himself such (the hero part, he knows he is a loud mouth). 

To see Peppers in action read more here.

#chris messina #fan casts #super heroes #original work #fiction press #character summary: peppers #the titans #pesty bandit #insomniacs #character study: peppers #character study: the Titans

[hoodoo12]

Hey, is it possible I could request dorklyevil's pestilence with a male reader? Whether it's SFW or NSFW is up to you! Thank you in advance! ❤️

@dorklyevil‘s Pestilence is a nuanced character! This story took some turns because of him . . . 

Thank you for the request! I hope you like it.

Mature. Pestilence/male reader. Established relationship. Angst and care and comfort.

⁂

Calming

Even as you walked in the door, you could tell something was wrong. The only sound was water was running upstairs, and the rest of the place had a somber feel, like a heavy blanket had been thrown over it all, dampening everything.

Kicking off your shoes, you padded through the place. You wanted to call out, but the oppression was so much you felt uncomfortable breaking the silence.

Wandering into the kitchen, you found Death and Famine sitting on opposite sides of the table. Famine reacted to you slowly, but you knew that Death was aware when you entered. He half stood as you came in. Lately he’d been a bit more attentive when you were around. He was a bit creepy, like that.

“What’s going on?” you asked quietly. “There’s a weird vibe here.”

“Red has been sent . . . outside, for a bit,” the Pale Horseman replied, as he eased himself back into his chair.

“Oh?”

“He was causing too much . . . distruption.”

You furrowed your brow. “That’s not so unusual--”

“He placed dead bugs in Pesti’s food!” Famine cut in, to your surprise. For the least reactive of Horsemen to interrupt meant it was a bigger problem than usual. He collected himself after his outburst and continued in a more typical manner, “There was too much food on the plate.

“However, the problem mostly arose because White didn’t discover it until after he’d already ate some.”

“Oh,” you repeated in a much different tone while you winced. You didn’t have to imagine how Pestilence reacted to that; you’d seen it with your own two eyes.

Death lifted his eye to the ceiling. “Our Brother has been in the shower since.”

Famine shook his head slowly. “I told him he did not eat any of the insects, but I could not reason with him.”

“I’ll go up,” you said.

The two Horsemen nodded as one.

“I know it is not the afternoon you’d hoped to spend with him,” Famine lamented.

“It’s fine.”

You lay a hand on the tallest Horsemen’s shoulder, which he covered with his own dry, thin fingers. You knew better than to touch Death, so smiled at him instead. Without another word, you exited and climbed the stairs to the first floor.

The door to the bathroom was shut. You gave it a tap but didn’t get an answer; you couldn’t decide if that was because the noise of the water was too loud or if Pestilence was ignoring it. Carefully, you tried the doorknob. It turned, but steam had made the wooden door swell a little bit, so you had to push it, then use your shoulder to actually get it open.

He must have heard the noise from that, but Pestilence still didn’t react to someone entering.

The entire room was filled with steam, making everything hazy. The mirror was coated, the counter was coated; you could even see condensation that had built up on the ceiling. Quietly, stepping over the cloak and bandages that were scattered and heaped on the floor, you made your way to the shower curtain. You could hear him muttering very softly to himself.

Not wanting to startle him, you said, “Pesti, it’s me. Okay, sweetie?”

The words he whispered didn’t slow, nor did he acknowledge you.

Carefully, slowly, you drew the curtain back a little bit.

Pestilence was standing under the full force of the water spray, with his forehead against the tile wall of the shower. Everything about him looked dejected: from his dropped head and waterlogged hair to his slumped shoulders to the fact that he held his hands not relaxed at his side, but tucked up to his chest but not touching anything. His skin was bright red where the water assaulted it. You could barely stand the heat; it must have been almost scalding and he just stood there, letting it happen.

He was repeating different types of antibiotics to himself. It was his standard spiral of anxiety when he was overwhelmed.

“White, sweetheart . . .” you started to say.

“Go away I’m gross,” he interrupted his litany.

You nodded as if you expected that response, even though he didn’t see it. You dropped the curtain and went to the opposite end, so you could reach the taps without actually getting the extremely hot water on yourself. You turned them to a more reasonable temperature. While it adjusted, you stripped.

By the time the water was bearable, you stepped into the shower with him. That caught his attention.

“No no no--” he protested.

“Yes,” you disagreed, and stepped closer to him. Splashes water began hitting you too; it was still borderline too hot but nothing like the lava it was before.

Pestilence anemically held up a hand to stop you.

“I can’t get clean, I’ve tried but the bugs, the bugs, the bugs, the bugs got inside me and now they’re in here, they’re in here--”

He gave up holding a hand out to prevent you from coming closer and clawed at his stomach instead. From this angle you could see he’d opened his skin already; there were red tracks criss-crossing him from his fingernails.

You automatically moved to almost grab his elbow, to prevent him from continuing.

At your jerky movement, Pestilence flinched away and lifted his gaze to you. “I can’t get clean,” he repeated pitifully.

You nodded to tell him you understood, and found the washcloth bunched up in the soapdish. You wrung it out to get the cooler water out of it, and then held it under the spray again to fill it with warm. Soaping it up to a thick lather, you asked if you could help.

He could barely nod in agreement, and you could tell it was under slight duress.

Slowly and carefully, you washed him. You started at the back of his neck and worked your way down his spine. You were gentle and thorough, using long sweeping motions. His skin was pock-marked but the water had smoothed the rough patches you knew were present when he was dry. You knelt, disregarding the water in your face, and cleaned his backside as well as his legs, from thighs to ankle.

Carefully standing back up, you re-soaped the cloth and placed it on his shoulder to gently turn him towards you.

He made a small noise of protest, but obeyed.

You started the process again, at his collarbones and shoulders. Pausing what you were doing for a moment, you gently used your washcloth-draped hand to loosen his arms so they hung at his sides, so you had access to his torso. The skin on his thin chest and sunken abdomen was blemished with pocks as well, but it was also marked by the evidence of chronic picking: long red lines where his fingernails dug into his skin. Scabs. Scars too, where he’d dug deeper.

Gently you scrubbed him. You paid special attention to his forearms, because he tended to focus there when he was most consumed with worry. As you wiped him, you told him that he was doing well, that you thanked him for letting you help him, that he was clean, you see?

Pestilence nodded, swiftly, splashing the water under the spray. You repeated what you had done before: kneeling so you could wash the front of his legs, including his feet.

As you stood back up, it was no surprise to you that your gentle bathing aroused him.

You smiled, which he sheepishly returned, then made a show of applying more soap to the washcloth. Your eyes watched his face while his were locked on your hand and the cloth as you reached for his groin.

You expected him to twist away, to back further away under the spray of water, but Pestilence stood still. Frozen, perhaps.

You washed his pubic area too, just as you had the rest of him. He opened his mouth and moaned, quietly, as you stroked him. You took that opportunity to step closer. When Pestilence realized how close you were, how close you were to having contact with him, his eyes widened.

“Wait, w-wait!” he stuttered. “You’ll, you’ll--”

You dropped the washcloth. It landed with a sodden thump on the tiled floor.

That spurred him into action. Pestilence flinched, started to reach for you, then held his hands up and away in a panic. He also found there was no further place to back away too; he was against the corner of the stall.

“You’ll get infected!” he whispered.

The distress in his voice hurt you, but it didn’t stop you.

“It’s okay, White,” you soothed, touching him intimately with one hand while taking his upper arm with the other. “You can’t infect me twice.”

With that logic, you kissed him.

It was slow and honeyed. It was his instinct to resist, to pull away, but this was familiar too and in only a second his lips softened, accepting you, and he finally, totally relaxed against you.

His tongue found yours, and there was a gentle exploration between the two of them. Pestilence was never demanding; he was always grateful and appreciative anytime you were more intimate with him. You had to break that barrier each time, you had to remind him that it was okay that you touched him and he touched you, but once it crumbled, it was sweet.

He gasped as you used your hand to pleasure you both. His hips rutted against yours and his thin fingers held onto your waist tightly. Standing so closely, his moans and your gasps mingled in the space between your mouths. You caught his lower lip, playfully, and he peppered you with kiss after kiss.

The warm cascade of water, the feel of him against you, his tongue touching yours and then darting away again, your hand stroking the two of you in tandem, it all added to the overall sensation of pleasure. It built in your gut, and from the urgent noises Pestilence made, it was growing within him too.

He had to pull away a bit, dropping his head to watch your hand, his thin chest rising and falling with quickened breaths. His voice hitched, and cracked, and his pleasure peaked.

You stilled your hand. The water washed away the result of your caresses, and in a moment, Pestilence slumped again, but with a more sated, relaxed feel. You pressed a kiss to his temple, and smiled. You also reached around behind him and twisted the taps, ending the shower.

The room was suddenly quiet.

He looked up at you, and that mild alarm was back on his face.

“You didn’t--you weren’t finished! H-here, let me--”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” you mollified him, as you gently maneuvered out of his suddenly desperate groping. “I don’t need that. This was about you feeling better. It was just a bonus for me!”

You took his hands and kissed him again. Then you shoved open the shower curtain, and as steamy as the room was, chilly air seemed to rush you both. You grabbed a towel from the warming rack and wrapped it around him. The other one was a little small, but you made do with it.

“Besides, there’s plenty of time for you to make it up to me!” you said with a tease.

Pestilence muttered something under his breath. You cocked your head and asked him to repeat it.

Instead, in a bold move, he kissed you again. It held the same sweetness and some urgency, and something else underlying. You’d call it sadness, if that wasn’t out of place during such a nice kiss.

When he broke it off, he smiled at you. His smile also held an air of melancholy, and that puzzled you.

“What is it, sweetheart?” you asked.

He shook his head as he carefully stepped onto the rug. “You’re so good to me,” he told you, instead of answering. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

You smiled, because that seemed appropriate. You exited the shower too, and you both dried off. You helped him re-wrap his bandages. It made you happy that he let you, and didn’t flinch away or worry that you touched him.

Just as you yanked the door open again--it had stuck in the frame once more--Pestilence caught your arm.

You turned back to him. He cupped your face in his hands and kissed you again. His tongue found yours, deepening the kiss, making it sweet and loving and taking your breath. That same sad smile broke it again.

“I hate that Death steals away all my partners,” he whispered.

“No he doesn’t! I like you, Pesti!” you laughed immediately, before you could process his words.

“Not quite yet,” he agreed quietly. He continued with a note of resignation in his voice. “But it always happens. Everyone leaves me. Brother Death is very charismatic, and he takes so many lovers.”

You had no reply to that. Pestilence took your hand, threaded his fingers through yours, and led you back downstairs.

fin.

[oonasvegankitchen]

Pasta salad | Pastasalaatti

Recipe in English and Finnish | Resepti englanniksi ja suomeksi

A pasta salad is super easy and quick dish to prepare for lunch to work, for a brunch or to a lovely spring picnic in a park. It’s perfect for every occasion and the best part is, you can put pretty much anything into it. 

This pasta salad was put together from whatever I had left in my fridge. 

Pastasalaatti on todella helppo ja nopea ruokalaji valmistaa luonaaksi töihin, brunssitarjoiluksi tai ihanalle puistopiknikille. Se on täydellinen jokaiseen tilanteeseen ja parasta on se, että voit laittaa lähes mitä vain siihen. 

Tämä pastasalaatti on koottu kaikenlaisista aineksista, joita minulla oli lojumassa jääkaapissa.

Ingredients: 

1 desilitre of beluga lentils

200 grams of pasta

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 Yosa oat block herbs or seasoned tofu

150 grams of cheery tomatoes

1 medium cucumber

1 red onion

1 bell pepper

The juice of a half of a lemon

1 tablespoon of Balsamic aceto di Modena 

Couple of handfuls of arugula

Fresh basil and parsley for serving

Salt 

Pepper

Method: 

Measure 1 decilitre of beluga lentils to a strainer. Rinse and boil them in vegetable stock according to the instructions on the package. Also boil about 200 grams of pasta also in vegetable stock. Let the lentils and the pasta cool. 

Take the Yosa oat block (or tofu) out of the package and press it with a kitchen towel to get rid off the extra liquid. Cube the oat block or the tofu to the size of a sugar cube. 

Wash and chop the vegetables. Tomatoes should be halved, cucumber and bell pepper cubed and the red onion either cut into rings or half of rings. Add the veggies and the oat block or the tofu into a large bowl. 

Add the cool pasta, lentils and washed arugula to the mix. Mix well. 

Add the juice of half a lemon to the mix and a bit of balsamic. Mix well. 

Decorate with some herbs such as fresh basil or parsley. Season with salt and pepper. 

Ainekset: 

1 dl belugalinssejä

200 g pastaa

2 kasvisliemikuutioa

1 Yosa oat block herbs tai maustettua tofua

150g kirsikkatomaateja

1 keskikokoinen kurkku

1 punasipuli

1 paprika

1/2 sitruunan mehu

1 rkl Balsamico aceto di Modena

Pari kourallista rucolaa

Tuoretta basilikaa ja persiljaa tarjoiluun

Suolaa

Pippuria

Valmistus: 

Mittaa siivilään noin 1 dl belugalinssejä. Huuhtele ne vedellä ja keitä pakkauksen ohjeen mukaan kypsiksi. Mausta keitinvesi kasvisliemikuutiolla. Laita noin 200 grammaa pastaa myöskin kiehumaan. Mausta keitinvesi kasvisliemikuutiolla. Anna linssien ja pastan jäähtyä.

Ota Yosa oat block (tai tofu) ulos paketista ja painele sitä talouspaperilla, jotta saat ylimääräisen nesteen pois. Kuutioi kaurapala (tai tofu) noin sokeripalan kokoisiksi paloiksi. 

Pese ja pilko kasvikset. Tomaatit kannattaa puolittaa, kurkku ja paprika kuutioida ja punasipuli pilkkoa joko renkaiksi tai puolirenkaiksi. Lisää pilkotut kasvikset ja kaurapala tai tofu isoon kulhoon. 

Lisää joukkoon jäähtyneet linssit, pasta ja pesty rucola. Sekoita hyvin. 

Lisää sekoitukseen noin puolikkaan sitruunan mehu sekä loraus balsamicoa. Sekoita hyvin. 

Lisää päälle koristeeksi yrttejä, esimerkiksi basilikaa ja persijaa. Mausta vielä suolalla ja pippurilla. 

#vegan #pastasalad #pasta #vegaani #vegetarian #lentils #linssit #belugalentils #tofu #yosa #whatveganseat #veganrecipe #veganrecipes #veganfood #vegaaniruoka

[stag28]

"before 1492 CE the world was divided into two sections, two hemispheres. One part consisted of the Americas — North, South, and Meso-, representing maybe a hundred million people in 1491. The people there had bell peppers, syphilis, tobacco, and turkey, but no measles, onions, or beef. The other part consisted of Afro-Eurasia, an enormously diverse series of societies linked in agriculture, trade, diplomacy, and disease all the way from Iceland to Japan and New Guinea. These people had wheat, rice, millet, garlic, peas, and aubergines, but before 1492 none of them had ever seen a tomato. They also had a lot of diseases the other lot didn’t have, most of them acquired through sustained and intimate contact with domesticated animals unknown in the Americas. [..] this way isn’t entirely accurate: Australia wasn’t part of either segment, nor was highland New Guinea or Polynesia, and the border between the two worlds in Alaska and Siberia was freely crossed by speakers of Eskimo-Aleut languages; and Polynesians picked up the sweet potato from South America centuries before Columbus, and Scandinavians settled in North America for a little bit in the eleventh century. [..] Within only a few decades of Columbus’ first voyage, everyone everywhere was eating new foods (potatoes in Europe, peanuts in tropical Asia, cassava in Africa, sweet potato in China, chicken in the Americas); dressing in fabrics made of new fibres (‘Egyptian’ cotton came to Egypt, sheep’s wool to America); and perishing from new diseases (smallpox/Yersinia pestis/measles/flu; syphilis). New ingredients were relished and incorporated everywhere almost immediately, meaning that any pre-Columbian cuisine not preserved in cookbooks is now lost to the ages. Millions died and different millions were saved from death by new crops and imported technologies. Some languages spread and others vanished at frightening speed, many of the latter likely unrecorded in any form. Much of this pre-Columbian world is therefore lost. It is alien in a way the post-1492 world isn’t. It’s not that Columbus’ voyages or the Columbian Exchange were apocalyptic, although in some sense they were. It’s more that the human propensity to swiftly incorporate novelty meant that the Exchange of goods/ideas/people between and throughout the hemispheres happened too rapidly to have been captured in writing, resulting in a great loss of heritage at the same time as the diversity of human life was beginning to become more visible to more people around the world. Many parts of the world were described in writing for the first time in the decades after 1492 [..] This makes the fifteenth century CE the most interesting time in human history. It’s the eye before the storm, the last station of the pre-Columbian cross. It’s a time before the Columbian Exchange that we can investigate using the full range of humanistic and scientific methods. We’ve got a much better written record for the fifteenth century globally than for earlier pre-Columbian times, based largely on European ethnohistories combined with insights from historical linguistics and archaeology. Entire human worlds can be reconstructed from the triangulation of this evidence — leaving tantalizing gaps but ultimately giving us access to much that is otherwise lost. [..] It’s also an interesting century in its own right. Enormous changes occurred in the fifteenth century anyway, even before Columbus attained Castilian backing for his first voyage. These changes included the Islamization of Indonesia and the development of movable type in Germany, as well as the linking-together of the Indian Ocean by Chinese ships under the Muslim admiral Zheng He in the first few decades of the century. The fifteenth century is when the Mexica and Inka were flourishing (by militarily and culturally dominating their rivals and neighbours) in the Americas, when maize agriculture had made its way as far as Ontario and Maine, when the Caribbean was knitted together by probably-Arawak-speaking peoples with contacts in South, Meso-, and North America. It’s when the Indian Ocean briefly became almost (not quite) a Muslim lake — before any Western European powers intervened (and before those powers were powers). It’s when the spice/luxury trade from eastern Indonesia was at its pre-Columbian peak and when Arabic looked set to become a lingua franca uniting coastal East Africa and much of Asia. Indeed, when Columbus set out on his first voyage he brought with him a converso who knew Arabic in the belief that Arabic would be useful once the ships reached Asia [..] Gunpowder, too, spread throughout the Afro-Eurasian world in the fifteenth century, even into corners of this cultural super-continent we wouldn’t expect to possess it — like Java, where guns are recorded in fifteenth-century texts (as in Bujangga Manik). The first fortifications built specifically for cannon were constructed in the fifteenth century, representing an inchoate military revolution that changed just about everything about how wars were fought and soldiers were armoured, principally in Europe but really throughout the world. Actually it seems rather futile to list the changes and developments in all spheres of human life that took place in the densely settled parts of the Earth in the fifteenth century. A lot changed. It’s all very interesting. It doesn’t matter where you look. In Indonesia today the peanut and chili are ubiquitous and tobacco kills more people than any other cause. Manioc is the (very) poor man’s staple and maize has replaced millet nearly everywhere (but especially in eastern Indonesia). Peanuts, chili, tobacco, and manioc were all domesticated in Amazonia. Maize was domesticated in Mesoamerica, alongside squashes and tomatoes. None of these foods were known in the Majapahit kingdom (1292–1520s) or the Sultanate of Melaka (~1400–1511). [..] Medieval Indonesian food, like much pre-Columbian human culture, is lost.“

#colombianexchange #1492 #anthropology

[eatmorecolours]

I briefly went over why Jackfruit is one of the healthiest and versatile fruits you can eat when I made the ‘Jackfruit carnitas on corn tortillas’ (see recipe HERE). Jackfruit promotes hair growth, clears skin, decreases wrinkle production, builds immunity, increases energy levels, improves digestion, maintains blood pressure, regulates blood sugar, improves eyesight, relieves asthma and prevents cancer, night blindness and ulcers. It doesn’t stop there Jackfruit also aids in bowel regularity, thyroid health anemia, colon cancer, prevents bone loss and lowers the risk of heart disease. You can find out more about the benefits of jackfruit HERE but you can find out how to make delicious dishes out of jackfruit here on this website! 

Jackfruit whether cooked or uncooked is extremely delicious and nutritious. Although quite an odd looking fruit the flavor of jackfruit has been said to taste like juicy fruit gum and vice versa. The reasoning for the similar flavor is likely due to the chemical ‘Isoamyl acetate’ which is sometimes referred to as banana oil or essence of pear. That chemical is extracted from ripened fruits and then commonly used in bubble gum to give gum that salivating juicy flavor. So in essence ripened jackfruit is just as satisfying as gum but it doesn’t have that pesty aspartame like most gums have. It may be hard to come across fresh jackfruit at your local grocery store because it’s a tropical fruit, also known as the national fruit of Bangladesh. Try international markets or farmers markets. It’s more common to find canned, dried or packaged jackfruit. You can find them in some health food stores and online. The Jackfruit Company makes prepackaged jackfruit in a variety of flavors and you can do a store locator to find one near you HERE. Overall, jackfruit is used to make tuna melts, pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, crab cakes, meat balls and pizza toppings! The fresh jackfruit is tasty in tropical smoothies with banana, pineapples and coconut milk or dried as a snack. Once you try this recipe you will never go back to animal sandwiches. I PROMISE.  

BBQ Pulled “Pork” Slider w/ Homemade Chips

Recipe Ingredients:

1 can of “Native Forest Organic Young Jackfruit” or any organic canned jackfruit in a brine

1 tbsp lemon juice 

2 tbsp vegetable stock 

1 tbsp diced white onion 

1/2 tsp minced garlic and serrano or jalapeno pepper

1 tbsp cracked pepper & smoked paprika 

1/2 tsp onion powder, garlic powder, ancho chili powder or chipotle chili powder

1/8 tsp smoked salt or sea salt

2 drops of Liquid Smoke Natural Mesquite 

1 tbsp smoked olive oil or olive oil

12 mini slider buns 

1/2 ripened avocado 

1 cup broccoli slaw

1/4 cup “Tessamae’s Organic Creamy Ranch” or any Vegan Ranch

2 tbsp “Annie’s Vegan BBQ Sweet & Spicy Sauce” and or “Famous Dave’s Devil’s Spit BBQ Sauce”

BBQ Chips

Recipe Ingredients:

2 potatoes sliced 1/8-inch (Yukon Gold or Idaho Potatoes) 

1 tsp corn starch 

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt & black pepper

Pulled Pork Directions: Open canned jackfruit and drain. Pat the jackfruit dry to absorb any liquid. Once dry cut off the hard base of each jackfruit. When the bases are cut off, use a fork to press down on the jackfruit, they should then look like a pinkish form of shredded beef. Set aside your shredded jackfruit. In a bowl add your dry ingredients. Cracked pepper, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. In a separate bowl add your wet ingredients. Lemon juice, vegetable stock and hickory liquid smoke. Dice up the garlic, onions and pepper. Add oil to a skillet set on medium to low heat then transfer the onions, garlic and pepper. Cook for until fragrant.   

Transfer jackfruit to skillet, toss and cook for 1 minute before adding liquid ingredients. Let the liquid absorb into the jackfruit as it’s cooking. Add the dry seasoning and continue to toss and cook jackfruit. After 3 minutes of cooking jackfruit add your vegan BBQ sauce of choice. Continue to toss and cook until the sauce sticks to the jackfruit. You can add more BBQ sauce when plating the sliders for a extra burst of flavor. For the slaw simply add broccoli slaw, vegan ranch and mashed ripened avocado together then mix. Toast the mini bun sliders in an oven set to 325 degrees. Drizzle olive or coconut oil on the flat side of the bun and toast for 2-3 minutes.

BBQ Chips Directions: Thinly slice potatoes (1/8-inch). Add potatoes to a bowl of water and let sit for 5 minutes. Soaking the potatoes will remove the starch so the potatoes with be more crispy! You’ll start to see a white film over top the water and potatoes. Drain and wash the potatoes then pat them dry to absorb the water. Drizzle olive oil on both sides of the potatoes and then sprinkle the corn starch on both sides. Lastly, season both sides of the potatoes with salt and pepper. Add them to a lightly oiled pan and pop them in the oven on 400 degrees for 5 minutes on both sides (10 minutes total). You can add any flavoring you’d like. Maybe make some smokey BBQ chips with smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, chives and a dash of cinnamon. Once done add some more seasonings on top!

Tokyo_CHOP----

#Jackfruit #yum #vegan #vegetarian #what the health #whatthehealth #recipe #recipes #DMV #Pulled pork #sliders #BBQ #Foodie #photography #art #delicious #yummy #no meat #chips #potatoes #asthma #thyroid #heart disease #clear skin #acne #hair growth #vitamins #nutrients #fruit #sandwiches

[timtamtalestakestwo]

Diving into December

Following our last post, we both had a couple of busy weeks of work- I had a very busy set of nightshifts which were fairly horrible. Had, from what I can gather, a record number of medical admissions overnight on the first night and was just flat out admitting for the whole 12 hours- thankfully the ED was full of snacks to help me on my way as I didn’t have any time to leave all night.

The weekend was action packed – we headed down to Swansea to dive under the bridge. I had chosen to do a refresher dive as it had been almost 2 years since I’d last been underwater – it was reassuring to build confidence again with some skills in the local pool and then head in for a relatively shallow dive which Tom tagged along for. The visibility wasn’t great being low tide but we saw an octopus, lots of rays and enormous fish! 

It was also a busy weekend for my choir with Advent Carols – a slightly special event for me as 4 years ago, that was the final thing I did with the choir before I flew back to England at the end of my exchange, so brought back lots of emotional and precious memories and was nice to not have to think about leaving them any time soon this time round!

Advent carols 4 years ago below!

Tom headed up to sweaty Queensland on the Monday with his boss to do some exhaust temperature testing on a train – a flight from Newcastle to Brisbane, another flight to Mackay and then a drive to Nebo- all of that to *just about* be in another state- we would have crossed about 6 countries had that been back home! It was, as expected, significantly hotter up there (in the 40s!), and by the sounds of it, very challenging to be labouring under the strong sun for more than an hour at a time especially when it involved being dressed from head to toe in bright orange PPE! The testing went pretty smoothly and thankfully the week became less labour intensive compared to day one!

The house felt very quiet that week so I tried to keep busy, going round for dinner with my friends over here from Poole and buying and decorating a Christmas tree in an attempt to make us feel more festive! Not quite the same without the smell of pine needles and mulled wine wafting through the room but with some Christmas carols playing in the background we are just about adjusting and now have lots of presents under it to look forward to opening!

A sunny weekend called for a trip to the Hunt and Gather Markets by the beach with some friends, and a celebratory birthday Sunday lunch/picnic for the twins’ (The Two Veronicas as my family refer to lovely Emilie and Veronica!) on the bank of Lake Macquarie at Toronto. 

That night we had the dive club Christmas cruise on Lake Macquarie which was a beautiful evening- we ended up getting to know a couple from Liverpool who came travelling here for 3 months…and 4.5 years later they’re still here! No idea how that can happen…no idea…(I have every idea.)

We had Tom’s work Christmas do last week at The Grain Store – a 7 course menu with a beer paired with each course! With neither of us being big beer-drinkers as such, I think we managed about 2 out of courtesy before politely declining. The food was fantastic though and a great comedy act in the middle who had us all crying laughing! It was also really lovely to meet some of Tom’s colleagues who’d I’d heard lots about!

I did my Nitrox diving theory exam the following morning which I passed despite feeling slightly furry-brained. Also got taught how to calibrate and measure the nitrox mix in a cylinder and how to work out the operating depth depending on the percentage mix!

We had yet another party that night which was my choir Christmas party- thankfully a fairly low-key BBQ affair but lovely to catch up with friends and Tom to meet a few more of the crowd! He became the hero of the evening after eventually completing one of those tricky metal puzzle things (where you have to disconnect various pieces which don’t appear to be disconnectable despite hours of pulling and prodding) which no-one had ever completed before. We made a swift exit before he was asked to put it back together again!

We had a very early wake-up call the following morning at 04.30 to drive down to Terrigal on the Central Coast to be ready to dive HMAS Adelaide at 06.30 with some people from the club! It had almost been called off due to the large swell – it’s a 15 minute boat ride out to the wreck which was VERY lumpy. All was ok whilst the boat was motoring with the wind in our face, but once the boat moored up at the buoy above the wreck it felt fairly hairy, and having to get all the kit on whilst trying not to be sick wasn’t the most pleasant of things. We knew the feeling would go as soon as we got under so we threw ourselves overboard and once we were 5 metres or so down it was calm and clear! We descended down the line and arrived at one of the helicopter decks. The visibility was fantastic at about 15 metres! HMAS Adelaide is 138 metres long by about 15 metres wide and was used during the Gulf War, and in East Timor, before it was sunk in 2011 to form an artificial reef where it now lies in 32 metres of water. It was amazing to swim through the bridge with all the phones and controls still there. There was plenty of sea-life to see as well as all the ins-and-outs of the ship! It soon came time for us to ascend back up the line nice and slowly. We hit about 8 metres and paused for a little bit – the swell was starting to become apparent at this shallower depth and I started to get the seasickness giddiness…I started swimming further up with the swell worsening the shallower I got and could feel myself retching. As my head emerged above the water, my regulator came out and the contents of my stomach very quickly became food for the fish. I felt slightly bad as I was aware Tom was not far below me and was therefore probably getting a face of it..but then he soon emerged and did exactly the same thing!! The first diving vomit for both of us! We went back to shore for the surface interval and with our stomachs feeling slightly delicate decided we might just take it easy and do an easy shore dive for the second one rather than heading back out into the swell! Apart from the latter part, it was a fantastic dive and we’d love to go back again (perhaps when it’s slightly less lumpy!).

(Not us as we failed to get any footage, but just so you can see!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PinUz48DXJw 

A very inquisitive pelican thinking Tom was about to feed it fish is about to be severely disappointed...

We’re both in our final week of work before a week off over Christmas for me (and a lot more than a week off for Tom. I’m not bitter at all.) Then only a few more weeks before Tom’s parents arrive which we are both really looking forward to!!!

We are looking forward to experiencing our first sweaty Christmas and hope to we can speak to you all back home at some point to share part of the day together!

Merry Christmas to you all! We miss you all very much and sending all our love across the oceans!

PS. Quick plant update. We now have 4 sunflowers (although some pesty caterpillar appears to be eating the leaves!), a micro pineapple, some mini peppers and some tomato plants yet to bear any fruit...

[thrashermaxey]

Frozen Pool Forensics: Bounce Back Candidates – Part 2

  In continuation of last week’s piece covering players with potential for bounce back campaigns in 2018-19, let’s look at another six players across the league who I feel stand a great chance to reward those who invest in coming drafts.

  Jakob Silfverberg

Despite only falling nine points short of 2016-17’s 49-point campaign, Jakob Silfverberg let us down in 2017-18 falling short of the 45-point plateau. He was a locked-in top-six winger receiving 18 minutes per game and second unit power play duty, he could not exceed last season’s 23 goals and 26 assists. Playing with pesty Ryan Kesler and speedster Andrew Cogliano consistently before Kesler’s injury, the 27-year old Swede could not ascend to the 25-goal plateau. Again, not in an attempt to belittle the solid winger who’s been in the 40-point vicinity from 2014-15 onward, but some of you like me may have been thinking last season was the setup for 50 points in 2017-18. Silfverberg is in a scenario for success though and should retain his top six spot next year with nobody to contest his job. Patrick Eaves returning is the only thing one could foresee being the monkey wrench in Silfverberg’s wheel, alas with his health woes he may never return. Silfverberg fell below 200 shots on goal for the first time since 2014-15 with a resultant a one percent drop in shooting percentage which can more or less translate going from 23 to 17 goals. Like Simmonds, whom I covered last week, Silfverberg enters 2018-19 looking for his most lucrative contract he’ll ever sign in the heart of his prime. Bank on his yearning for a pay day to see him cross the 20-goal plateau once again and perhaps finally hit the 50-point mark.

  Kyle Okposo

Long gone are the days of riding shotgun with John Tavares in Long Island and it shows in Okposo’s point totals since leaving the Islanders for western New York. Okposo hasn’t so much as sniffed the 60-point plateau he crossed in his last campaign with the Islanders, though he’s been incredibly consistent in Buffalo with 44 and 45-point campaigns respectively. The Sabres are a new-look team, adding Rasmus Dahlin in the draft, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund in the Ryan O’Reilly deal, and Casey Mittlestadt essentially now being thrust into second line center duty. Okposo should be in the top six once again and seeing time on what figures to be a dangerous primary power play unit with Jack Eichel. Always considered a product of his surroundings, Okposo deserves more credit in his own right for the player he is. Yes, there are some health/injury concerns in the past couple years, yet he’s still managed to play 220 of a possible 246 games in the past three campaigns. The addition of Dahlin in my opinion is going to do wonders for this Buffalo squad and stark improvement in their record could come to fruition as early as 2018-19. Okposo is going to be counted on to be a major contributor, with exposure to Dahlin and Eichel easily giving him the means to once again hit 50 points. Take a flier on him late in drafts as he is sure to fall after two mid 40-point campaigns on a squad nobody perceives as a contender.

  Milan Lucic

Plain and simple anyone who sees time with Connor McDavid in my book is worthy of bounce back consideration. Dropping below 40 points for the first time since 2012-13, many are fearing Lucic’s decline is here playing the power forward style he does. Now 30 years of age, it is clear he has lost a step but who can honestly keep up with McDavid. Lucic shot an astoundingly low 6.8% in 2017-18, five percent below his career average, while his PDO was below 1000 for the first time since 2011-12. Prior to this Lucic was the model power forward and one must attribute at least some of his misfortune to his team’s shortcomings overall. Because of his relatively consistent production since 2010-11, I can look at last year as a blip on the radar and look to 2018-19 with high probability for a rebound. Only 30 years of age with that low of a shooting percentage, you can expect at least some regression towards the mean next year as far as goals are concerned. Lucic is guaranteed in the Oilers top six being paid the amount of money he receives year to year. Erase 2017-18 from your memory and capitalize on his essentially guaranteed drop in market price for coming drafts/auctions, especially in multi-cat leagues.

  Carey Price

You can only go up from the Montreal Canadiens previous year and Carey Price stands to be the one to lead the charge. With a campaign nothing close to what we’ve come to expect from Price, he only managed 16 wins after the season prior’s 37. Despite the dumpster fire that was Montreal’s campaign, he still managed to have a .900 save percentage but his GAA went from 2.23 in 2016-17 to an ugly 3.11 in 2017-18. Some of this is his fault but much of it is the spotty defensive effort before him. Seeing almost 1500 shots in just 49 games played speaks to how often Price was being peppered every game. Shea Weber is unfortunately out until mid-December, per reports, so the likes of Jeff Petry need to fill the void. Petry put up a career-best 42-points in Weber’s absence keep in mind for drafts. Be honest with yourself and know he will not have a career year with the team he has deployed in front of him. To trust Price as your number one fantasy goaltender is not advised but he is still worth taking on as your second option in the crease based on his personal talent alone. Many are going to steer clear of Montreal in coming drafts as they stink of non-contention but that does not mean savvier owners cannot capitalize on the relevant pieces they have in the fantasy world.

  Kyle Palmieri

Not here because his performance was underwhelming last year but Kyle Palmieri may sneakily fly under the radar because his slightly lesser production overall will be ill perceived. Only playing in 62 games total, the American winger posted an impressive 24 goals and 20 assists on the top line with MVP Taylor Hall. Palmieri’s solid production may not get the love it deserves in Hall’s shadow and the fact he fell below the 50-point plateau for the first time in his three seasons with the New Jersey Devils. Despite this, he posted the highest points per game of his career at 0.71. Do not be the one to look at his 44-points total and write him off as a letdown. In his last 13 games that counted towards the fantasy postseason, Palmieri scored six goals while setting up four to go with 33 shots, 18 hits, and 14 blocks. He is quietly one of the most solid all around multi-cat wingers in the game and surely will go below his value in coming drafts. Seemingly locked in on the top line at even strength and ample time on the primary power play unit, be the savvy owner that locks up his services in your draft(s) and reap the fantasy fruits.

  Vladimir Tarasenko

In my readings so far this summer, it’s alarming how often I have seen writers throwing out the term decline when discussing Russian sniper Vladimir Tarasenko. All of 26 years old, it would seem his two years of declining goals since his 40 tally 2015-16 campaign warrant this. Yes, whilst concerning to see Tarasenko fall to only 33 goals in 2017-18, everyone needs to heavily consider that it was year one of Mike Yeo’s head coaching regime. Not every coaching change translates to offensive proliferation right off the bat so I’m willing to give the Russian a pass on the first go. Even so, the past year was basically what you expect to be his floor, 30 goals/30 assists. Though the scoring was lower, he had a career-high 306 shots on net and his highest ATOI ever at over 19 minutes per game. Tarasenko may not be the best all-around player on the St. Louis Blues these days (Jaden Schwartz when healthy) but he’s far and away the most dangerous goal scorer. Possessing one of the deadliest releases in the game, he has the ideal scenario to rebound to the 70-point plateau in 2018-19, especially after the moves made on St. Louis’ end, the team is stacked at forward. Shooting at a rate equivalent to his rookie campaign falling below 13% for the first time since said inaugural year, expect statistical correction in the coming season.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/frozen-pool-forensics/frozen-pool-forensics-bounce-back-candidates-part-2/

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

September 5, 2017

 50 Years Ago, The Winds Changed

By Stephen Jay Morris

©Scientific Morality

During the British invasion (1964/1965), one of my favorite English imports was a band called “The Animals.”  Unlike the Beatles, who were doing kissy-kissy pop, the Animals stuck to their R&B roots with a little Rock n’ Roll thrown in. The lead cracker, Eric Burdon, had a more authentic blues voice than Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.  What I liked about the Animals was how understated they were; they weren’t really into the publicity thing like other British bands of the time.  With them, it was all about the music.  I liked that.

Then, the band broke up in 1966 and Eric Burdon hired new personnel.  There was Vic Briggs on guitar and keyboards, John Weilder, guitar and violin, Danny McCullock on Bass, and Barry Jenkins on drums.  This new ensemble was comprised of serious musicians and artists.  Their first release was the single, “When I Was Young,” released in late 1966.  Most artists were experimenting with new sounds.  The first note of the song, which came from a distorted fuzz guitar, indicated that the Animals were venturing into new territory.  John Welder’s violin gave the song this unusual flavor.  And the lyrics were actually Eric Burton writing poetry.  I couldn’t wait for their next record!

It was late in August 1967 that the Animals released their ode to the Summer of Love, “San Franciscan Nights.”  This song would influence me with my not-so-successful musical career.  This song was not a psychedelic song; it was more a folk ballet.  That being stated, the arrangement was sound perfect and it had an intro.  Because of my love for this song, all the songs I wrote in 1979 to1982 had intros. The one in this song was kind of humorous.  Their guitar bass line was similar to the theme of TV’s “Dragnet.”  Then Eric Burdon, in his broadcaster-muted voice, gives his dedication to the people of San Francisco.  The melody was played with a 12-string guitar and a nicely done Spanish guitar lead.  I don’t know which band member, in particular, was responsible for that.   You might say this was a minimalist folk song.  On the single’s flip side, however, there were sound effects and a full band along with a string chamber orchestra.  The song, “Good Times,” was about regret of wasting time, partying.  The ragtime piano reminded me of Kinks songs.  I saw the single at Save-on Drug Store.  It had a picture sleeve, which was the same cover as the album, “Best of the Animals, Volume 2.”  I hung it on my wall, where it remained until 1971.  As a teenager, I had a collage of 45 singles’ covers on my wall.  My room was a Rock n’ Roll museum.

When I got my first record player in March of ‘67, I was not going to be abnegated.  Fuck that noise!  If I’d had a million dollars, I would have had bought every record for sale at Norty’s on Fairfax, Los Angeles, California!   I had a sententious passion for Rock music!  It was the next great thing next to masturbation and junk food!  I’d go into my room and lock the door, where I’d have a religious experience like a Guru in meditation, and I didn’t want any disruptions from uncool squares!  It all started with the Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s,” an experience that inspired me to focus completely on every album that followed.  I would lay on my back on the floor of my room, my head on a pillow, with the ceiling as the screen of the theater of my mind.  

Then in September of that year, my second year of junior high school, an album by Eric Burdon & the Animals was released. I saw it at Norty’s Records, on the “new releases” rack.  It was titled, “The Winds of Change.”  It had text about Hindu spirituality on the cover and a depiction of an old book, dilapidated with age.  The words didn’t make sense to me at all, like Bob Dylan’s poetry had, but I wasn’t buying the album for the printed words; it was for the music!  The cover was a bi-fold, like Sergeant Pepper’s. Many bands of that era were designing their album jackets that way.  I was a skinny kid back then and could ride my bike really fast!  Before I knew it, I was on my bedroom floor, listening to the album.

The album begins with sound effects from a windstorm, and the title track opens with a repetitive violin riff by John Weilder. Eric recites a brief history of American music, which he must have had done in one take; he flubs one word during his recital, then corrects himself.  Mistakes are made because of time limitations and expensive studio time. I made one in my very first recording and never fixed it.  Often, mistakes can be very entertaining.

Then the next song segues into a hardcore psychedelic number called, “Poem By the Sea.”  This song featured gongs and backward masking, plus echo-plex.  I think the song was about an Acid trip.  They inserted a Flanger sound effect on Eric’s vocals.  Like Sergeant Pepper, the album tracks bleed into each other.  You’d think the album is going to sound like that, but it doesn’t.  The next song is a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.”  John Weilder violin solo is well-worth the listen.  Eric adds a talking part in the middle of the song; he does a lot of that on this album.  

The next track is a spoken word composition called, “The Black Plague.”  It has monks chanting that add a Gregorian ambiance to the sound.  Vic Briggs plays a church organ, which has a very gothic sound to it.   The theme is about the 14th Century pandemic, Yersina Pestis Bacterium, other wise known as “The Black Plague” or “Black Death.”  It recants how the aristocrats remained hidden in their castle as the peasants were dying outside its impenetrable walls and moat. Eric recites it in his compelling British accent and the story’s morality is fierce.

The last track on side one was this Acid Rock jam with fuzz tones, “Yes, I Am Experience.”  It was part of rock tradition to have answer songs.  This answered Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?” I think of it as simply Eric ribbing Jimi, since they were really good friends.  

Side two starts out with “San Franciscan Nights,” and then goes into what could be referenced as the earliest carnation of Rap music, “Man-Woman.”  Eric raps about infidelity with the accompaniment of rhythmic drums and bongos.  You could say this song was influenced more by 1950’s Beat poetry than Afro-Poetry, which, in 1967, was in its infant stage.  Now, we come to a blues ballad called, “Hotel Hell.” It has a trumpet solo in heavy reverb, which is very effective, along with the haunting sound of a distant siren.

Next is a Folk Rock ballad called, “Anything.” This 12-string guitar song is way too corny for its own good.  The lyrics are reminiscent of a Hallmark greeting card. It seemed as if, at this point, they got lazy.  The final song is a Rocker about white singers doing black music, “Its All Meat!”  You could say it’s a protest song.  I think Eric was pushing back on those Rock critics who said that he was misappropriating black music for himself.  It’s just my theory.  Over all, it’s a cool album and I liked it a whole bunch!

This album was recorded just a mile and a half from my childhood home, at a place called TTG Studios; located at 1441 North McCadden Place, in Hollywood, California.  It was the only studio with an 8 Track recording system!  So what did TTG stand for?  “Two Terrible Guys!”  I never learned the reason behind the name, but I know that there were a lot of assholes in the music industry back then.  As it turned out, though, this studio recorded many famous bands there—like Frank Zappa, the Doors, just to name a couple.  This album was recorded in just two weeks, in March 1967.  In those days, projects were on a tight schedule and had to be recorded as cheaply as possible; record company accountants demanded it!  If the Animals would had spent more time on the project, it could of have been a monumental body of work. But alas, it turned out to be “just another Animals’ album.”

#60's music #baby boomers #poets on tumblr #stephenjaymorris

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Happy Pride Month from your fellow plague doctors! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️❤️

Be proud of who you are and remember you’re loved hope y’all are having a good pride :)

Pepper is (technically) nonbinary and still questioning their sexuality

Pestis is ace and happy to support y’all

#pepper and pestis #pride #nonbinary pride #ace pride #pride 2021 #oc tag #plague doctor #original art

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“Are you the plague? Because I fell for you faster than 1/3 of Europe did.”

#plague doctor #plague doctor oc #original art #pepper and pestis #this was for a school assignment but I changed it up a bit #i forgot how much fun Pestis is to draw hehe

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Happy Easter from Pepper and Pestis!

#plague doctor #original art #plague doctor oc #pepper and pestis #im a little late but oh well lol

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Happy New Year’s to 2021!

This year was really hard for me and probably everyone else too- but I’m so happy to have found these characters and their stories this year. I love and cherish them so much and can’t wait to make more art of them all. 💖💕❤️

#god of war #doom eternal #ac valhalla #happy new years #kratos #atreus #eivor #pepper and pestis #doomguy

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Concept designs for Pestis’ outfit. I’ve been playing around with Pestis’ design since Pepper got a new look for their ref sheet and thought Pestis deserved that too for his ref sheet. I wanted to make sure Pestis wouldn’t have a wild design but wouldn’t blend in with any average plague doctor with a brown mask. I think for the most part I’m going with the one in the top right.

Color scheme concepts will be next

#plague doctor #plague doctor oc #original art #pepper and pestis

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Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! 🎄⛄️

I hope everyone had a great Christmas or day! Pepper and Pestis sure did

#merry christmas #original character #plague doctor oc #plague doctor #oc tag #pepper and pestis