Tomorrow is Halloween, and many of us will be dressing up in costumes, eating candy, carving pumpkins and bobbing for apples. We don’t always think about the holiday’s spiritual and cultural origins, but we understand it as part of our lives that we’ve grown up with since we were kids.
But with all of the fun and games comes a creepiness that hard to ignore. Spooky decorations of witches and spiders line houses and hallways and send chills down our spine. During Halloween time, we face our fears- of the unknown, the supernatural, and the creepy crawly. While these sorts of fears differ from person to person, there are nationwide similarities in fear that characterize our nation.
Top 5 Personal Fears:
Walking alone at night
Becoming the victim of identity theft
Safety on the Internet
Becoming the victim of a mass/random shooting
Public speaking
The study also found that we’re not always rational in our beliefs, or at least informed well enough. The majority of Americans believe that crime has stayed at level rates over the past couple decades, when in fact it has been steadily declining. And even though Americans fear natural disaster, 70 % of Americans don’t have the basic supplies needed for surviving them. It will be interesting to see the survey evolve over the next few years, especially since this year’s was conducted before the global Ebola scare (34% of Americans expressed a pandemic as their #1 fear of natural disaster).
There are much more data available here, but what we can deduce is that fear is inevitable. As Mark Twain once said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” This fear can be overcome when we confront it head on. Whether that involves dressing up as zombies or running through haunted mazes, or less seasonal activities like skydiving or trying new foods, by facing our fears we can open our eyes to new perspectives and become stronger individuals. (You can even try more unconventional methods like letting yourself crash face first into the ground, like The Great Reed Perkins once did in epic fashion).
So go out tomorrow and get spooked and scream your head off- tackle your fears in the name of Halloween. Just don’t eat any sketchy powdered candy and open lollipops.
The Language of Food & It’s Predictive Social Media Power
The foodie culture is infiltrating cities throughout the nation. People are jumping on board the “food truck”, looking to explore the realm of food art and culinary innovation, and they’re taking their experiences to social media.
The strategically placed snapshots of pumpkin spice lattes and acai bowls that fill our feeds do more than just rack up “likes” and make our mouths drool, they give us insights into our society’s culture, habits, beliefs, and health status. A group of researchers from the University of Arizona collected over 3 million food related posts from Twitter to understand how food language can predict regional and national tendencies.
Ideologies can also be guessed by analyzing food language- vegan, yum, brunch, and bacon tend to come from Democrats, while lunch, airport, after work, and delicious tend to be used by Republicans. Food language is commonly associated with geographic location as well. The Midwest sees posts with promotional words like free and off, the Northeast likes using brunch and words about group dining, the South loves their chicken and baked foods, and the West is home to foodporn and Mexican food.
As for the future of food language, the researchers want to be able to predict individual behaviors and potential health risks using social media data. On a commercial scale, such food language analysis may also improve businesses targeted marketing efforts and help put food brands in front of interested and hungry consumers.
So keep on sharing your food art with the world- it might just help to make our a society a healthier, and more understandable place to live.
Welcome to our first edition of Tuck’s Beer of the Month. We feature craft brews that are hitting the scenes at both the national and local level. Craft beer has exploded in the past few years and it’s time that we embrace the craftsmanship of these fine beverages. Our goal is pass to our viewers a new perspective on craft beers and some exceptional recommendations for you to enjoy. As a writer, I like to take a perspective that is simple and refined for those that are new to the craft beer experience.
The beer I'm featuring this month is the Ruski Noir- a flavor blasted Russian Imperial Stout that’s brewed by Beach City Brewery, in my own hometown of Huntington Beach, California. It's a flavor blasted brew that's described by its makers as, “A beer so big that its like the Tsar himself is invading your palette.” As I drink it, it's hard for me to even taste any of the alcohol present in this beverage- that’s how strong the flavor is in this beer. If you are a fan of Imperial Stouts, this is a beer for you.
It starts out smooth with a smoky, creamy, chocolatey taste but leaves with a little bitter bite as it goes down your throat, begging you to ask for more. The ABV is at 11% so this beer may put you on your ass if you plan on drinking the 22oz bottle, so buck up. This is a beer to savor and enjoy, not to abuse and take its high ABV for a reason to get drunk.
It’s the perfect beer for the fall season with its heavy weight and full taste, especially on a night that you may spend with a close group of friends. This is a seasonal beer so go out and get your bottle of Ruski Noir while supplies last. Overall, the brew is impressive- artfully crafted by experienced brewers that take pride in providing a flavorful and consistent beer.
