Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Field Mix - Sgt. Pepper Lonley Hearts Club Band


Album: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Artist: the Beatles
Release Date: June 1st, 1967
RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Ranking: #1
Songs You'll Know: With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds 
Songs You May Have Missed: Fixing A Hole, Lovely Rita

A Little History/Why This Album is Famous: Sgt. Pepper's reputation often precedes it: it might be the most famous album ever made. It forever changed the vibe of the band that forever changed the sound of rock music. It introduced the world to the experimental, psychedelic Beatles. The public had gotten a taste of this side of the Beatles in this album's predecessor Revolver, but Sgt. Pepper's introduced a new mood for rock music. It also showed that the sitar is a way cooler instrument than the electric guitar!


Comments: I must admit I love this album and I have loved it for as long as I can remember. This is the first album I remember hearing as a child. It was often the soundtrack to family road trips and one of the albums in my parents' totally boss record collection. In addition to the sentimental value, I genuinely love this album. I sometimes find myself humming bars of the title track or When I'm Sixty-Four while working. What is it that makes this album great? The songs from track to track are quite unique and varied in style, yet somehow still fit together to make a good album. I think that's a pretty impressive feat.

Though I love this album, it is not flawless. I enjoy all of the tracks, though some rank higher than others. I will admit that Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite, while fun and interestingly scored, is a bit of an odd song amongst the other tracks. Some consider Within You Without You to be a bit of a speedbump and I tend to agree, though I enjoy the use of the sitar greatly.

If you're a Beatles fan and don't own this album, you seriously need to reevaluate your life. It is a must-have, no exceptions! If you own it and love it, leave me a comment and let me know your favorite track. If you don't care for it, let me know why!

That's all for now. Next up is the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds

Arugalater!
Laura 

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Field Mix - Intro to the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Project

Several years ago, I embarked on a lofty journey: to hear and assess the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time as decided by Rolling Stone magazine. It's been an interesting project and is far from over. To compliment listening, I began writing a blog to report my findings. In fact, some people who visit this blog may remember my posts! I wrote entries for the first 20 or so albums and then became disinterested in writing. When considering potential topics for blog entries, I realized that reviving the Rolling Stone project would be a perfect fit for The Lettuce!

Though I stopped blogging, I have continued to journey through the 500 albums. Along the way I've discovered new favorite albums, artists, and even genres. I have also discovered some things that are not quite my cup of tea. It has been an interesting, fun, and educational way to expand my musical tastes. Throughout this new post series, I will discuss each album's cultural and historical impact, my personal opinions about the music, and even some fun facts! So, come along with me! Explore the list and help me decide whether or not Rolling Stone got it right.

According to Rolling Stone, the #1 greatest album of all time is The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Join me next time for some psychedelic fun with the Fab Four!

Arugulater!

-Laura 

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Never Been Lettuced (Glee S2) - Show Notes

Pray to the Grilled Cheesus for a win - The Lettuce Podcast is Nationals bound! Tori hosts this episode about the second season of Glee with Laura and Charlotte as sidekicks. They drown their sorrows about the absurdity of the show by playing a Glee-themed drinking game while recording. Things get intense as they discuss their growing hatred for Will Scheuster, the issue of bullying throughout the season, and the many relationship woes of the characters. Tori is overjoyed to discuss the introduction of her favorite character, Blaine. Laura gets frustrated over the Glee mash-up of two songs meant to celebrate her home state (New York). Charlotte appreciates Kurt's rendition of "Blackbird" by the Beatles, but still hates Kurt. 

Is Glee a comedy? Is Sam the most boring television character in history? Are waffles able to cure the tendencies of a juvenile delinquent? All the questions and more are addressed (and not necessarily answered!) in this week's episode of The Lettuce Podcast.

In addition to the episode-long Drinking Game, the girls play 2 more games. Tori administers a quiz entitled "Class of 2011". She presents a list of Glee characters to Charlotte and Laura and asks them to guess each person's grade (Freshman through Senior) during Season 2. Afterwards, the Alphabet Sentence game is back! The three hosts take turns building a sentence one-word-at-a-time following the order of the alphabet. The end result is truly silly paragraph of sentences all themed around Glee!


The girls paid their respects to Grilled Cheesus by enjoying a grilled cheese bar as their podsnack, provided by Laura. The grilled cheese bar included: cheddar, smoked gouda, brie, bacon, proscuitto, guacamole, raspberries, and sourdough bread. 

Season 2 of Glee features an episode in which Rachel hosts a party and serves wine coolers. In honor of this episode (and as a way to keep themselves from getting too crazy during the drinking game), Charlotte provided Seagrams brand wine coolers for the podtail! 

If you love or love to hate Glee, join in on the fun on iTunes, Podcast Addict for Android devices, or Stitcher! If you like what you hear, help us reach a wider audience! Tell a friend and/or write us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, or Stitcher! Thank you for your support!
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The next episode of The Lettuce Podcast will focus on the latest installment of the Marvel movies: Avengers: Age of Ultron. Laura dons a cape and tights to moderate this episode as the Lettuce tackles its most current entertainment topic to date! 

Arugulater! 

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Lettuce Wraps - Hummus Edition

Hummus. A gift from the Levantine Gods! Hummus is one of both my and Charlotte's favorite foods. While discussing using hummus as a Podsnack for an upcoming recording session, we decided that it would be both fun and rewarding to learn how to make our own. I don't know about you, but in this modern day my first course of action when I'm seeking out a new recipe is to consult Pinterest. Pinterest is not 100% fail-proof and there are many websites and Buzzfeed articles that will back me up on that. Thankfully, in the case of hummus it did not fail. One quick search brought me to a great info-graphic called The Definitive Guide to Homemade Hummus. This graphic shows 14 different flavors of hummus to suit anyone's palette. They are shown in an extremely easy-to-follow and also easy-to-alter format. If you struggle with reading recipe directions, this recipes writing style might be for you! Charlotte and I browsed our options and selected 3 recipes to try: Greek (which we ended up calling "Spinach & Feta"), Pesto, and Tapenade. We used pita chips to test each flavor.


Hummus #1: Spinach & Feta (Greek). We followed the info-graphic's quantities to a tee. It was very simple: dump all the ingredients into a food processor (I imagine a blender would also work if you don't have a food processor) and blend until smooth. We ended up adding about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to get the creamy texture we desired. I quite enjoyed this flavor of hummus, particularly the cinnamon! Charlotte and I agreed, though, that 2 tablespoons of lemon juice made the lemon flavor a bit too strong.



Hummus #2: Tapenade. We altered this recipe quite a bit. I was not able to find roasted red peppers when I went ingredient shopping, so we decided to just up the amount of olives and make it purely an olive hummus. We also used kalamata olives instead of black olives. We reduced the amount of lemon juice to 1 1/2 tablespoons. We both LOVED this one! If you love olives, this is the mix for you!




Hummus #: Pesto. This recipe was also altered. Unable to find a decent amount of prepared tahini sauce (the grocery store was not my friend that day. :/.), I picked up Tzaziki sauce instead. We added about 1/4 of a cup of pesto as opposed to the 2 tablespoons suggested and about 1 tablespoon of the tahini to lighten the richness of the pesto. Once again, 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice was used. This was another great mix! This was also a favorite when we brought our hummus into work to share the next day.


If you've ever thought about making your own hummus, my advice is to DO IT! It is so easy! If you desire more of a challenge, you can find a wealth of recipes that require more finesse. But if you enjoy the simplicity of dumping a handful of ingredients in a blender and having homemade hummus in minutes, look not further. It literally took us no more than 5 minutes to make each of these  recipes. Once you get the hang of it, you can start experimenting with your own blends of flavors. Each of these recipes also makes a larger amount of hummus than you'd buy from the store, so you'll have plenty to share with friends or serve at a party. If you make one of these recipes, lettuce us know your thoughts! Or if you have a favorite hummus recipe that you love to make, please share it with us in a comment!

Arugalater!
Laura

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Escarole-Back: Mad Men Series Overview (Season 7B)


Here we are nearly a month after the final episode of Mad Men aired and I'm just now getting around to a review. I beg your forgiveness regarding my absence and hope that you understand my explanation: life just got in the way! But now that life has calmed down I'm back and ready to talk Mad Men. I'm not happy that it's over, but I'm satisfied with the way it ended. Even though I think we all hoped that Don would learn and grow personally throughout his cross-country travels, I found it quite appropriate that he ends up back in the advertising world. The whole series is about this guy whose life is steadily falling apart due to his horrible decisions and disregard for most other people. And yet, he always finds a way out of the madness, lands on his feet, and returns to his life as usual. So, that path was a little different for this final season, but he still ended on his feet and went back to the life he knows. Aw, Don, we can always rely on you.

Season 7B had a lot of merits: Peggy and Stan finally finding each other (did anyone else cheer for this??), Joan's experience with office sexism, and the most amazing personal growth from a widely disliked character, Betty.

Episode 13: The Milk and Honey Route
Betty Francis/Draper/Hofstadt is a difficult person. She's emotional, impatient, and deeply troubled. Most of Betty's struggles were based in the fact that she has a hard time expressing herself in a non-confrontational way. Sometimes, her biting tone was necessary, but other times it just made her seem like a brat. So, when she was diagnosed with lung cancer and given about 6 months to live, I think we were all surprised when she handled it with the grace and poise of the Queen. I have never been a huge fan of Betty. Even when she was being horribly abused and oppressed by Don, I still had negative feelings about her character. But I see her in a whole different light now.

Betty is smart. She, though often frustrated by it, understands her place in the world and sees the value of her life. I think she understands that even her worst day would look like a vacation to those less fortunate. Betty is quick to accept her fate and decide to press on with what is left of her life with as much courage and fervor as she can muster. She continues to study psychology and attend her classes. When Henry questions why, she says "Why was I ever doing it?". It was such a clear admission from her that studying was something she did for the sole purpose of satisfying herself. It didn't need to make sense to anyone else. And that was when I understood every choice Betty ever made. The approval of others was not a priority. Once she found her voice, she realized that she could make choices to satisfy her own desires. You go, Betty! 

The flipside of this episode found Don stuck in a no-name town where the people were about as trustworthy as he is. His car breaks down and the town mechanic/motel owner takes his sweet time to get it up and running. While Don waits, he gets roped into repairing several of the motel's belongings (Including a Coke machine! Bet that corner office with a window isn't looking too bad now, huh?), gets robbed by the male maid, and unwillingly attends a Veteran fundraising event. When the money from the fundraiser goes missing, the motel owner and his buddies assume Don stole it and beat his face in with a phonebook. Don who, as far as I could tell, has been charmed by small town life on his road trip quickly realizes that slimy people aren't quarantined in New York City. Though it takes him another episode and a cliff side hippie retreat to get there, I think this is the first instance where Don starts to consider moving back to New York. But before he does, he gives his Cadillac to the maid and sets out to hitchhike or bus the rest of his trip. Don gets a chance to live by the hobo code that so interested him as a child back on the farm. If you're going to choose to continue living the destructive life you've already established, you might as well exhaust all over options before committing, right?

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What are your thoughts about the final episodes of Mad Men? I personally loved Joan's arc for this half season (no surprise, I'm sure) and would love to share thoughts with some Lettuce Heads! What was your favorite storyline? Was anything left in a disappointing place for you? Leave a comment and let me know!

Arugalater!
Laura

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Kill, Marry, Pity Date - HP4 Edition

It's time for another round of our favorite game: Kill, Marry, Pity Date! Who would you choose? Play along with us! Here are all of our choices from our Harry Potter and the Goblet of Lettuce episode!


Tori's Choices
Kill: Professor Sprout, Fleur Delacour
Marry: Professor Flitwick, Cedric Diggory
Pity Date: Professor McGonagall, Viktor Krum


Charlotte's Choices
Kill: Antonin Dolohov, Madame Maxime
Marry: Evan Rosier, Professor Karkaroff
Pity Date: Augustus Rockwood, Barty Crouch Sr.


Laura's Choices
Kill: Bertha Jorkins, Roger Davies
Marry: Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum
Pity Date: Frank Bryce , Cho Chang


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Do you agree with our choices or do you think we're totally wrong? Do you have three characters you would like to pose to Tori, Charlotte, or Laura? Leave a comment and lettuce know!

Arugalater!

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Show Notes

The Triwizchard Turnipment is underway! Episode 6 of The Lettuce Podcast brings Laura, Tori, and Charlotte to the 4th book in the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! The three girls take a Portkey to the Quidditch World Cup, practice their dance moves for the Yule Ball, and face the Dark Lord upon his return. Laura shares why this is her favorite book in the series. Tori gushes about the presence of a pre-Doctor Who David Tennent in the movie adaptation. Charlotte points out some fun foreshadowing elements that give a taste of what's to come in the future. All three hosts are excited to see real development of a shared favorite character: Neville Longbottom! Among the discussions, several questions are raised. Why is it possible to submit another person's name into the Goblet of Fire? Why aren't the consequences of breaking a magical contract explained to the reader? How is Neville better at getting a date than Harry?

Laura puts Tori and Charlotte to the test again in a homemade quiz titled "The Harry Potter Numbers Quiz". Each question in the quiz had an answer involving a number and was based on information Laura recorded while reading the book. As usual, the girls ask each other to "Kill, Marry, Pity Date" as the final game in the Fun & Games section.

The Triwizard Tournament is all about encouraging international wizard relations! To celebrate the true intention of the event, The Lettuce Podcast enjoyed several international delights as their Podsnacks and Podtail!


 Desserts from around the world: Cannoli, German chocolate brownies, and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans!

 Ireland won the Quidditch World Cup! To show support for the Emerald Isle, the Podtail was Grasshoppers!

Join us on iTunes, Podcast Addict (for Andriod devices), or Stitcher to listen!
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The next episode of The Lettuce Podcast returns to the television show Glee! Tori hosts this episode about the show's 2nd Season where we meet her favorite character from the show! 

Arugulater!