Brooklyn Brainery

The Masters of Social Gastronomy Face the Future

Jen — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:53:30 -0400

Our next MSG lecture is on May 28, and we're talking about the future; read on for details.

Banning pasta in Italy, pre-WW2 molecular gastronomy and high-concept dinner parties: Welcome to The Futurist Cookbook!

Published in 1932 by F.T. Marinetti, it aimed to transform everyday meals from stodgy, sleep-inducing traditions into multi-sensory, scientific experiences appropriate for the modern world.

Join us as we abandon silverware, caress sandpaper, and craftmeat skyscrapers, all in the name of recreating the cuisine of futures past.

The Details:
Tuesday, May 28, doors at 7pm
Public Assembly, 70 North 6th Street, Williamsburg, back room
Free, 21+ (bring id!)

Winding Down in Carroll Gardens

Jen — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:43:28 -0400

Hey everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that we're winding things down at the Carroll Gardens location at the end of May. After that, we hope to see you up in Propsect Heights from here to eternity!

If you're looking to take a class there for old times' sake, check out Typography for Beginners this Saturday, May 25th.

18 Wars Unimaginatively Named After Their Length

j soma — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:34:46 -0400

When you learn that the Peace of Westphalia ended both the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War, you start to think, what other wars are only named after their length? You might also wonder why historians couldn't get a little more creative, but I'm only here to help you answer the first one.

A few were short enough to be named after the number of days - the Six Day War (there were two!), the Ten Day War, and the Thirty Days' War. Colombia takess the cake with the Thousand Days' War.

The single digits years have three sets of twins! There's a Dutch/German Three Years' War as well as a North American one. The Seven Years' War comes in both a worldwide version and one just for Scandanavia (and maybe even more), while for the Nine Years' War you can choose between continental Europe and Ireland

Sometimes you can't get it all done in under a decade, though.

Cuba had a Ten Years' War caused by a sugar mill owner, Poland and Prussia went with thirteen, and since that wasn't quite enough the Holy Roman Empire drew all of Europe into the Thirty Years' War. Burma brings us the Forty Years' War, Spain lost the Netherlands in the Eighty Years' War, and England and France inch up to a century with the Hundred Years' War.

The kingpin of all temporally-named wars is the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War, fought between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly. Despite spanning centuries, not a single person died and not a single shot was fired. The conflict began when a grumpy Dutch Admiral declared war out of frustration, and was unimportant enough that no one cared enough to put together a treaty until a local historian contacted the Dutch Embassy in 1986.

The Great Gatsby: The Map!

Jen — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:16:06 -0400

After watching the 1974 Great Gatsby movie and reading this great blog post by The Bowery Boys on the real "Valley of Ashes," I decided to throw together a quick map of locations from the book. Still a work in progress!