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15

Dec

Happy National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day

by Meredith Mullins on December 15, 2020

Chocolate covered strawberries, showing the cultural traditions of Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image © iStock/5second.)

Celebrating chocolate in the best possible ways
© iStock/5second

Savoring the Cultural Traditions of Chocolate

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.
—Charles M. Schultz

Have you ever had a craving for chocolate-covered bacon? How about chocolate jalapeños? Could you resist a chocolate-covered mushroom?

Despite the challenges of the year 2020, we should rightfully honor any national day that delivers pure joy. One of those days that rises to the top of the bliss list is National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day (December 16). So, let’s celebrate its cultural traditions.

Boy with a chocolate mouth, showing the cultural traditions of chocolate on National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Someone who knows how to celebrate chocolate
© Meredith Mullins

Just how this accolade came about, no one really knows. And I’d venture to say, no one really cares about the origins when the tribute involves such sweet reward for both chocoholics and chocolatiers.

A chocolate elf workshop, showing cultural traditions of National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Chocolate artisans take full advantage of the holiday spirit
(in this case, a chocolate elf workshop by Paris master Patrick Roger)
© Meredith Mullins

Every Chocolate Has Its Day

Life is good when there’s a day when you can dip anything you want in chocolate and drizzle or cover familiar and unconventional edibles with the “food of the gods” (which is how chocolate has been known since its early days in Olmec/Aztec/Mayan civilizations when it appeared as a spicy drink).

hot chocolate, showing the cultural traditions of National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image from PxHere.)

From Mayan spicy cocoa to the souped up American version of today
Photo courtesy of PxHere

There are other national chocolate days that try to compete—at least one every month. For example:

  • Chocolate-Covered Cherries Day (January 3)
  • Chocolate Soufflé Day (February 28)
  • Chocolate-Covered Raisins Day (March24)
  • Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day (April 21)
  • Chocolate Mousse Day (May 2)
  • Chocolate Pudding Day (June 26)
  • Milk Chocolate Day (July 28)
  • Chocolate Chip Cookie Day (August 4)
  • Chocolate Milkshake Day (September 12)
  • Chocolate Cupcake Day (October 18)
  • Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day (November 7)

It’s fitting to give each of those days justifiable attention, but only the egalitarian Chocolate-Covered Anything Day embraces diversity and welcomes experimental pairings of all kinds. There are no rules. You have a blank canvas. Chocolate anarchy.

Brownie covered in chocolate sauce, showing cultural traditions of National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image by PxHere.)

There are no rules about chocolate on chocolate.
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Dipping Favorites

The most common “anythings” to be dipped in chocolate are favorites, such as ice cream, donuts, and things that are already chocolate, like brownies or the enigmatic morsels in the traditional chocolate box where speculative theory and intuition about what is hidden inside often lead us astray. (How do you put the dreaded toffee back after you’ve taken a bite?)

As Forrest Gump learned . . .

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

A box of chocolates, showing the cultural traditions of National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image from PxHere.)

Life’s eternal mystery—what lies within
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Gaining favor at reception chocolate fountains and chocolate fondue parties is the fruit world. Just about every fruit works well with a little chocolate coating—from everyday apples, oranges, and bananas to exotic kiwi, mangos, and watermelon.

chocolate fondue and fruit, showing cultural traditions of National Chocolate-covered Anything Day. (Photo © iStock/margoullatphotos.)

Chocolate fondue with fruit—a healthy trend
© iStock/margoullatphotos

Some food historians say that chocolate covered cherries were the first fruit to be enrobed in chocolate. This innovation arrived in the 1700s, when the French covered cherries with chocolate and kirsch (cherry brandy).

chocolate-covered cherry, showing the cultural traditions of chocolate for National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image from PxHere.)

Sweet chocolate-covered cherries, with a bit of cordial as an added bonus
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Chocolate lore gives a Chicago woman credit for the first chocolate dipped strawberries—in the 1960s. The two main ingredients were imagined aphrodisiacs, so it’s no wonder they became popular right away (and remain so today).

Chocolate-covered watermelon, showing cultural traditions of National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Photo © Meredith Mullins.)

When in doubt, try chocolate-covered watermelon.
© Meredith Mullins

Opposites Attract

As in human nature, odd pairings often make the most interesting experiments. Partnering sweet chocolate with salty and crunchy friends works well in taste and texture.

Try potato chips, pretzels, biscotti, French fries, peanut brittle, coffee beans, and pickles with a coat of chocolate. Nuts are a no brainer. They are perfect as a chocolate-coated treat.

chocolate-covered pretzels, showing cultural traditions of chocolate for National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image from PxHere.)

Partnering sweet and salty can be a successful friendship.
Photo courtesy of PxHere

As part of the creative culinary chocolate path, rubbing chocolate on steak or creating a chocolate wine sauce for beef is surprisingly good.

Mexican cultures have always used chocolate in their cooking, for example in the delicious molé sauce that combines chilies and chocolate. And don’t forget your daily servings of vegetables.

Chocolate-covered vegetables, showing cultural traditions for National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Sampling all food groups in chocolate-covered experiments
© Meredith Mullins

Although we let National Chocolate Covered Insects Day (October 14) slip by without much fanfare, we can add crunchy ants, scorpions, and crickets to the mix, since they clearly fall into the category of “anything.”

Skewered scorpions, showing cultural traditions of chocolate for National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image by PxHere.)

These scorpions are just begging to be dipped in chocolate.
Photo courtesy of PxHere

If all this insect talk has made you hungry, you can order your own chocolate covered insects from several online suppliers. My favorite is Educational Innovations (a teacher supply site) that offers edible, farm-raised, chocolate-covered insects to give brave students (and you!) a taste of another world.

Chocolate covered insects, showing the cultural traditions of National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image courtesy of Educational Innovations.)

A tasty spread of farm-raised (edible) insects
Photo courtesy of Educational Innovations

International Flare

While the idea of “national days” is associated with U.S. culture, that doesn’t stop other countries from experimenting with chocolate coverings—from chocolate-covered edamame and chow mein noodles to a range of Kit Kat chocolate bar flavors in Japan, including adzuki (red bean), hojicha (green tea), and roasted corn.

Pancakes with chocolate sauce, showing cultural traditions of chocolate for National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image by PxHere.)

Start National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day with a breakfast drizzled with chocolate.
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Celebrating the Day

Chocolate is not only versatile, but can provide health benefits. It can introduce manganese, copper, and iron into your nutrition regimen and, some experts say, can relieve stress and supply antioxidants.

So, in the spirit of the holiday season and for chocolate lovers everywhere, why not celebrate National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day in style.

Chocolate and holiday boxes in a store window, showing the cultural traditions of chocolate on National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

In the spirit of the holidays . . .
© Meredith Mullins

Sit back with a chocolate rimmed margarita and decide what inventive creations you can smother in chocolate on this special day—to pay tribute to old and new cultural traditions.

Even the chocolate carving is smiling.
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Oh, I see. With a “food of the gods” and a treasure that some say releases the same chemicals as happens when falling in love, what have you got to lose?

For ten fun chocolate facts, see the OIC chocolate story here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here. 

 

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/USA/Worldwide Sites

01

Dec

Can Art Change the World? Artivist JR Has the Answer

by Meredith Mullins on December 1, 2020

Portrait of artivist JR Artist, showing cultural diversity, social awareness, and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

French artivist JR (artist/activist)
© JR

JR’s Monumental Portraits Spark Social Awareness

There are hundreds of motivational quotes about how one person can make a difference . . . or shake the world. One person can be a revolution.

We know it’s true. There are people throughout past and recent history who changed the world—sometimes for worse . . . but mostly for better.

French artivist (artist/activist) JR is one of those people with an instinct for the positive side of change—a street revolutionary, a shaker of the world—with a simple goal of better understanding what makes us human.

His photographic projects and documentaries spark connections in a diverse world and heighten social awareness—all with his driving force of respecting differences, seeking the best of humanness, and valuing unity.

Can art change the world? JR is living proof.

Wrinkles of the City in Shanghai by Artivist JR Artist, showing social awareness and answering the question can art save the world. (Image © JR.)

JR’s Wrinkles of the City project honored senior citizens in Shanghai, Cartegena,
Havana, Berlin, Istanbul, and Los Angeles.
© JR

For People To “See” and “To Be Seen”

Although JR prefers to remain relatively anonymous (JR stands for Jean-René . . . no last name), his work has been recognizable from the start.

He is unique—from the tag he used as a defiant teenage graffiti artist (Face 3) in the early 2000’s to his first “exhibitions” pasted on the public walls of Paris and the banlieue with spray painted frames, to the now famous world-sized “pastings” of black-and-white photos on buildings, rooftops, bridges, cargo containers, trucks, and trains.

A train in Kenya with the work of Artivist JR Artist, showing cultural diversity, social awareness, and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

A train travels through the Kenya countryside, with the all-seeing eyes of local women—
a vision toward the future.
© JR

The work is not about him. It is about giving people their moment to be seen . . . to be better understood, especially when they have often been overlooked or marginalized. Women. Prisoners. Elders. War Victims. Immigrants. And just ordinary people who feel invisible.

JR started as a graffiti artist, making his presence known on illegal concrete and metal canvases (walls, buildings, and metro cars) throughout the city. His life changed one day when he found a camera left behind on the metro.

He then became what he called a photograffeur (photographer and graffiti artist), traveling with his street artist friends and capturing their fleeting adventures in the Paris area underground, alleys, and rooftops. He showed us what it was like to surreptitiously paint and run.

Artivist JR's Graffiti artist painting on a metro car, showing cultural diversity, social awareness, and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

The acrobatic adventures of a street artist
© JR

His first “exhibitions” of this work included photocopies of the images, with spray painted frames on walls and buildings so that people would be confronted by the images in this outdoor (albeit illegal) gallery—free for everyone.

A gallery on a wall in Paris by artivist JR artist, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

Mon expo à moi (My own exhibit)
JR’s outdoor gallery, free for everyone
© JR

His initial documentary work came with the 2005 riots in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. He photographed the participants who were protesting what they believed to be police harassment/brutality in the poorer housing estates and made huge photos to be pasted around Paris and the suburb cities—so that passers-by would be forced to look into the faces of these disenfranchised youth.

If video does not display, watch it here.

Face 2 Face (Israel to Palestine)

JR’s next illegal project (2007) was an international one in collaboration with Marco Berrebi, where he photographed Israeli and Palestinian people in the same professions with a 28 mm lens.

This close-up approach meant that the taxi drivers, hairdressers, students, sportspeople, actors, musicians, sculptors, and police looked comically distorted. It also meant they were engaged with the photographer. They talked . . . and listened. They connected.

JR then pasted the huge black-and-white photographs in unavoidable places in eight cities in both Israel and Palestine (including on the dividing wall).

The intent and the result was that most people could not tell if the subjects were Israeli or Palestinian. The viewers no doubt smiled at the fun expressions, recognized certain similarities, and engaged in conversation about the project. More importantly, they perhaps focused on the possibility of living together as humans in peace.

Face 2 Face, the work of artivist JR artist, in the West Bank of Palestine, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

Israelis and Palestinians pasted on the separation wall in Bethlehem, Palestinian side.
© JR

Woman Are Heroes

The “Women Are Heroes” project began in 2007 and stretched from Kenya to Brazil, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Cambodia, India, Paris, and Le Havre.

JR met and photographed women who live in the midst of conflict or in challenging climate or economic conditions and who are often targets during war and victims of violence. And yet, they play a pivotal role in family and society.

As in all his projects, he then pasted the large photographs in highly visible places in the cities and villages, so that the women were “seen” and shown with dignity.

One of the most dramatic pastings was in the Morro da Providência favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In this dangerous slum, the faces of the women inside the homes were shown on the outside walls, filling the hillside with haunting eyes and poignant faces. And for one brief moment, the favela was known for something other than drugs and violence.

Women are Heroes photos by artivist JR pasted on houses in the Favela Morro da Providência, Brazil, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

Women Are Heroes in the Favela Morro da Providência, Brazil.
© JR

For the Kenya project, the photos that were placed on the women’s roofs were made of water resistant vinyl so that they would last longer and could protect the fragile houses during the rainy season.

Because many of the women photographed for this project asked that their stories be shared with the world, the photos were pasted on trains and trucks that traveled throughout the countries.

The ultimate journey was when JR pasted a Kenyan women’s eyes on cargo containers that were on a ship leaving Le Havre, France, bound for Malaysia. These eyes went off to see the world . . . and to be seen by the world.

Women Are Heroes photo by artivist JR in Sierra Leone, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

Making the strong women of Sierra Leone visible to all
© JR

This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land

Immigration and “the wall” between the U.S. and Mexico were in the news in 2017 when JR created a project highlighting the border fence near Tecate, Mexico.

He created a giant billboard-like installation of a Mexican child innocently peeking over the fence into the United States. What does this promised land hold . . . or bar? What do we see from this Mexican border town where most everyone passing through tries to be invisible?

Artivist JR's pasting of a child looking over the USA Mexico border near Tecate Mexico, showing cultural diversity and social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

What is Kikito thinking as he peeks over the border fence into the USA?
© JR

To celebrate the day when the installation had to be removed, JR organized a picnic on both sides of the fence, with a table that was half in the U.S. and half in Mexico and a “tablecloth” that presented the eyes of a DACA dreamer.

Everyone brought food to share. Music wafted through the fence, with half the band in the U.S. and half in Mexico.

JR thought the border patrol would stop the celebration, but the party was allowed to continue. Everyone was reveling in a rare moment of unity.

Artivist JR organizes a picnic on both sides of the border fence near Tecate Mexico, showing cultural diversity and social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

An impromptu celebration of unity at the border fence between Mexico and the USA
© JR

Giving Voice to Prisoners

From the disenfranchised youth of JR’s home in the suburbs of Paris to the California Tehachapi  maximum-security prison, JR focuses on making us see those we have made invisible.

For his 2019 project at the prison, he photographed prisoners, guards, and former prisoners—one by one— from above, so that when they were combined into one mural on the concrete floor of the yard, they would appear to be looking outward. Each man was also videotaped telling his story. There was no judgement. JR just wanted to listen . . . and for others to listen.

Artivist JR's pasting at the Tehachapi Prison, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

Prisoners, former prisoners, and guards at the Tehachapi Prison come together
in JR’s mural pasting and look out toward . . .
© JR

The prisoners were part of the team that pasted the photos to the yard—one team building something together. The mural was ephemeral, like many of JR’s works. The pasting disappeared in three days with the normal activity of the prisoners in the yard.

 

If video does not display, watch it here.

As an epilogue to this project, JR returned in 2020 and pasted photographs of the Tehachapi mountains on the prison wall, making the wall disappear and morph into a mirage of freedom.

Artivist JR pastes a mural at the Tehachapi prison yard and wall, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

A mirage of freedom—making the prison wall merge with the mountains
© JR

Oh, I See: Turning the World Inside Out

JR, the artivist, is prolific. His projects are too numerous to mention in one story. He has turned the Louvre pyramid into 3D time travel (2019) and has honored the elderly of the world in a project called “Wrinkles of the City” (2008-2015).

Artivist JR's installation at the Louvre in Paris in 2019, showing social awareness and answering the question can art change the world. (Image © JR.)

JRs 2019 3D optical illusion at the Louvre pyramid in Paris
© JR

He continues to expand our social awareness and invent creative ways to shine a light on those who need to be more visible in the name of fairness and equality.

Can art change the world? JR’s foundation of that name hopes so.

One thing is certain. JR believes that art can change the way we see the world and the amazing humans that inhabit this planet. He will continue to open our eyes so that we can see and be seen. Onward . . .

See also JR’s 2017 film with Agnes Varda entitled Visages/Villages (Faces/Places) and his organization Can Art Change The World.

Thank you to JR and Agence VU.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here. 

 

Cultural Diversity/The World's Photography/USA/Worldwide Sites

17

Nov

Gaining Perspective in a Chaotic World

by Meredith Mullins on November 17, 2020

Time to shake things up?
© Meredith Mullins

The Rewards of Seeing from Varied Angles

How often does your perspective change these days? Can you think of times when you expanded your view of a situation or of the world just by changing your point of reference?

  • Perhaps when you summited a mountain and the 360-degree vista expanded exponentially while distant objects became flattened miniatures that suddenly seemed small in the grander scheme of things?
  • Or, when you looked down and found a detail in the street that you’d never seen before even though you’d walked over it a thousand times?
  • Or, maybe when you crawled through that narrow opening between cave rocks and discovered a cathedral ceiling of stalactites in an underworld worthy of Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Hidden treasures through just a crack in the rocks
Photo courtesy of PxHere

Changing how you see the world is important whether you’re traveling with eyes and mind wide open or sheltering in place during a pandemic.

A constant shift is the key to gaining perspective in a chaotic world. As French writer Anaïs Nin said, “We do not see things as they are, but rather as we are.”

What do you see here?
© Meredith Mullins

The Time Is Right for Gaining Perspective

The timing could not be more urgent for gaining perspective. We are living in stressful times—a global pandemic, domestic and international terrorism, and elections with significant consequences in a divided USA.

It might be time to shake things up . . . to explore some examples of how to change one’s view, such as turning the world upside down and varying your points of reference.  There are many interesting ways to gain perspective as we travel through these chaotic times.

Embrace Matanozoki

Matanozoki is the Japanese word for peeking between your legs to turn the world upside down. A creative way to change perspective.

One of the premier viewing spots for ultimate matanozoki is the isthmus of Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture.

Matanozoki viewing near Kyoto, Japan. Can you see the dragon reaching toward the heavens?
© iStock/bee32

When you look between your legs, the sky becomes sea and the pine-tree covered sandbar looks like a dragon reaching to the heavens. (Granted, to see said dragon, you have to let your mind wander imaginatively . . . but, why not?)

Turn the world upside down from time to time.

Turn the world upside down for a change in perspective.
© Meredith Mullins

When in Doubt, Climb Things

A favorite way to change perspective is to go aerial. Climb things. Fly over things. See the forest rather than the trees.

An aerial view in Iceland becomes an organic abstract.
© Samuel Feron

Travelers love to climb things or to rise above ground level to see the “bigger picture,” to take pride in summiting, or just to make sure that they have the best selfie that adventure can buy.

The Empire State Building. The Eiffel Tower. The Seattle Space Needle. The Sydney Harbor Bridge. Mount Kilimanjaro. Mount Everest. The Great Wall of China. Angkor Wat. Machu Picchu. Christ The Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro. Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

All of these places provide a new perspective, worth climbing to the top to see the world on high.

The tallest building in the world: Dubai’s Burj Khalifa
Courtesy of PxHere

Give Ugly (Different?) a Chance

Speaking of tall things that monopolize a skyline, structures like the Eiffel Tower in Paris were not always popular. When the Eiffel Tower was first built, artists and writers called it “a truly tragic street lamp,” “an ungainly skeleton,” and “the metal asparagus.”

Writer Guy de Maupassant ate lunch every day at the tower because, he claimed, it was the only place where he couldn’t see the offensive structure.

An ungainly skeleton or Paris icon—what do you see?
© Meredith Mullins

As we now know, most have accepted the tower as a Paris icon and a striking, long-lasting piece of structural art. Time heals wounds.

Another such structure in Paris is the Montparnasse Tower, completed in 1973, with most everyone wondering who gave permission for a 59-story monstrosity to be built in the center of the romantic City of Light.

The monolithic Montparnasse Tower
Courtesy of PxHere

I doubt if many people will ever come to treasure the appearance of the Montparnasse Tower. It rises like an angry giant and can be seen from just about every Paris neighborhood. When you photograph the Eiffel Tower from the north, the Montparnasse Tower is always lurking in the background.

However, once inside, at the restaurant Ciel de Paris, the views are breathtaking. (Ciel in French can mean sky or heaven. In either case, it seems to be true.)

Do the ends justify the means? You be the judge.

The view from the Montparnasse Tower
© Meredith Mullins

Look Up

As life-changing as being “at the top of the world” might be, you can also learn from hitting the ground and looking up. We are used to observing at eye level, so remembering to alter viewing perspective or to look up from time to time often offers rewards.

Experiencing autumn from the ground up
© Meredith Mullins

Like improv comedians or jazz musicians, it’s important to build on the possibilities of the moment. Pushing the boundaries and varying the view works well to see things more completely.

A new perspective: under a bridge looking up
© Meredith Mullins

See the Details

Whether you believe “The devil is in the details,” or the original quote, “God is in the details,” the point is well taken. Noticing details is rewarding, but you have to slow down and change your perspective in order to really see.

The beauty of the “up close and personal”
© Meredith Mullins

Try On Different Shoes

No, this isn’t an ad for the ample shoe closets of the Sex in the City characters. This is a call to occasionally put yourself in the shoes of others.

Become a child again. Feel the freedom of reckless abandon or the pure joy of skipping down the street. Let imagination run wild.

A new perspective: unfiltered joy
© Meredith Mullins

Empathy is also a key way to gaining perspective. What exactly is the other person saying or thinking? How might understanding their perspective change your own point of view?

After the U.S. election, several key figures suggested we put ourselves in the shoes of our political adversaries, in the hope that it might help to unify the divide. The time is right for this kind of healing. (But if you read some of the twitter threads in response to these suggestions, you probably noted that some challenges lie ahead.)

Seeing details from afar
© Meredith Mullins

Gaining Perspective from Einstein

As we think about how to adapt during these challenging times—Einstein’s words seem a timely message.

You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that was used to create that problem.

Oh, I see. The time is right to shift our points of reference—to change the way we see. Gaining perspective in a chaotic world is key to a brighter future.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

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