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Adventures of the Elders Alberta Will there be a buffet?

Mountain Sapphire On Tour

Had two good gigs yesterday in Consort and Hanna. These are not necessarily cowboy towns, more like farmer towns. The biggest industry in each is John Deere. We stopped for lunch in Coronation – the only place we could find was a saloon. Good food but definitely a rowdy place on Friday nights, I’m sure. […]

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Curated Absurdity History Oh, Grow Up! Will there be a buffet?

The Conclave Buffet and Why It Matters

One of the Elders asked why we spend so much time discussing the digestive systems of the Cardinals of the Conclave. This topic actually has great historical significance. Elder DZ and I have discussed this many times. Martin Luther, the founder and CEO of the Reformation, was notoriously constipated. The entire arc of western history […]

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Adventures of the Elders Food Will there be a buffet?

Good Eatin’

Fav Food Survey: Elder JJZ’s Email of 4/15/25 Gentle people – I would like to nominate the Chicago Style Hot Dog as the favorite of food choice of WLBOTT – I prefer to leave out the sweet relish but highly like the poppy seed bun and peppers on top. Would appreciate a WLBOTT list of […]

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Food Turkey

Elder JJZ Desires a Real Life (part II)

In Turkey , where Elder JPZ and I lived (1966-1967) on a NATO base (I’m sure the Turkish government was not paying their 2% of GDP to NATO and the US was likely flying U2 missions from this base to spy on Russia), we lived in a modest ranch style home on the base. I […]

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Adventures of the Elders Food Texas Turkey

Elder JJZ Desires a Real Life (part I)

I really need to get on to real life, watch SNL, and what looks to be an exciting finish of the Masters tomorrow. But back to Quonset huts. As a structural engineer, Q Huts were an ingenious solution to providing shelter with pre-fabricated components that could be assembled remotely with no crane or foundation. So […]

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California Scholarship/Erudition Will there be a buffet?

Cheese Gate

An esteemed Elder was…. steamed. Celebrating the beginning of a new semester, the faculty threw a mixer. Our Elder summarized the event in two words:“Cubed Velveeta.” Let’s step back and look at the UCSB Chancellor, for ultimately, he is lactose-responsible. Let’s put all these numbers in context. Let’s assume Prof. Yang works 40 hours per […]

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Agriculture China Food WLBOTT Corporate

Mystery Pods and Fungal Research

At the WLBOTT Ag Extension Station, we’re trying to solve a mystery today. Recently, Elder MJ noticed these semi-spheres on a concrete pad at the WLBOTT Rodeo Fairgrounds near our central Texas HQ. You will notice that there are also some snail shells mixed in. There may or may not be squirrel involvement. Google image […]

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Agriculture Domestic Tranquility Food Tess Twinehart Work-Life Balance

Detasseling A Tangled Situation

Dear Tess, I write to you from the edge of my sanity—and the edge of our cornfield. My name is Mabel H., and I am the wife of a third-generation corn farmer here in northwest Iowa. My husband, Virgil, is a man of few words but many routines. Every summer, like clockwork, he begins what […]

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Agriculture Food History Japan Texas The Lowcountry

Texas Rice and the Influence of Japanese Immigrants

From Elder JJZ: On a more serious note[1], really interesting connection between Japan and the establishment of the rice industry in Texas. We know many of the people or descendants mentioned in this article . They put up with a lot of bad stuff in the 1900’s but aren’t bitter, made a good life for […]

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ENGin Food Ukraine

Bread Spread, Ukrainian Style (3/3)

We continue our look at Bread Spreads, focusing on Salo (Ukraine’s national dish). Again, thanks to Elder KM for the suggestion. al Jazeera has a nice introduction to his pork product: Museum of Salo Apparently the Salo Museum is a popular destination for bachelorette parties. A Life of Luxury Salo – pig fat – has […]