the bird on fire

If I Got Sucked into a Time Portal and Went to the Middle Ages

September 13, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

When asked to illuminate a historical period, Levi opted to time travel back to the Middle Ages. His reasons are less . . . humanitarian in nature.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By Levi Kassinove

Some people want to go back in time to kill Hitler, others to their favorite time in history, but I think that the Middle Ages is the best time period to go to. Imagine how fun it’d be to mess with people who don’t know science. I would, however, need to take careful steps to avoid getting burned at the stake.

Part 1: Bringing my Phone

There are many things to do with a phone in the Middle Ages, as long as it’s not directly shown to the people. If someone sees me on my phone, they will think that I can create moving pictures, and therefore burn me at the stake for witchcraft. The best thing that I can do is play ghost sounds and hide the phone underneath some hay or in my pocket as I walk through the streets at night. I could also trick them into thinking I’m an absolute genius by being omniscient, such as knowing when an eclipse would happen and being able to predict when some person of interest would get assassinated. Google is my friend during the Middle Ages. I will be a god.

Note: I will bring a bag of portable chargers, and, since I have time travel technology, I will use an Einstein-Cell-Service-Time-Bridge that gives my phone wifi in the Middle Ages.

guiaviajesvirtual.com

Part 2: Immortality

In my rampage of destroying all medieval logic (and modern logic), I will also cease to be affected by the common causes of illness. Water will not give me dysentery because I will boil it, nor will I do anything stupid like eat mercury or whatever they were doing back then. Certainly I would inspect the bread, as it could be infected with ergot, a fungus that can kill you and cause nightmarish hallucinations. I will also protect myself against wound infections by using high-alcohol beverages as antibiotics. I will outlive my peers and therefore be hailed as the immortal genius god emperor. I will need to feign illnesses so as to not raise suspicion, which I will do by coughing occasionally and talking about how bad my diarrhea was last night.

Part 3: Inevitably Getting Burned at the Stake

Not only will I talk completely differently than everyone, but I will also behave much differently. One slip of “dude” and I’m on fire. Plus, I will probably forget to wash my noble’s sheep, which will result in a brutal execution (bustle.com).

allthatsinteresting.com

My unknown memories

September 8, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

I tasked the blog staff with bringing to life a historical period. Penny chose to return to the earliest moments of her life, to those moments she was too young to recall. After doing some research with her mother, she pieces together what those moments might have looked like to an older “Penny” who visits and observes.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By Penny Andreas, Middle-School Blog Correspondent

December 31, 2009

The hallways were quiet. I walked down the maroon hallway, the floor creaking underneath. I heard laughter. I heard a mother, with a sweet and caring voice. A father, speaking with pride. As I walked through the hall, a door appeared. I slowly walked up to it. I held the cold bronze door handle, connected to the dark oak door. I opened it, finding a small room with a couch, table, TV, and a bookshelf. The mother was sitting on the floor, holding her child. And the father, sitting on the couch reading. I walked around the room, noticing small things. The fish bowl. The one chair in the corner. The stack of cards on the table. My mother. I walked up to her and sat down. She sang to the baby, “Hush little baby, don’t say a word. Momma’s gonna find you a hummingbird.” I immediately recognized the song. She sang it to me every night. My small crib. My blankets. My walls painted purple. My dark brown desk. My fluffy blue carpet.

My father takes the baby to sit on the couch and turns on the TV. He plays a show. It’s black and white, with many characters. He looks at the baby, and says, “Penny.”

December 27, 2011

I’m walking down the hallway again. The floor is not wood, but concrete. This time, to my left is the door, and it’s light brown with a copper handle. I open the door, but this time I’m in a different room. It’s big, and open. There’s a small bed sitting in the corner, along with a nightstand. There are numerous drawings hanging on the walls, obviously made by a toddler. At the window, there’s a girl seated, playing with toys. The curtains are open so light comes through. She talks to herself, perhaps solving a conflict. I walk towards her and realize she does not see me. Instead of talking to her, I sit next to her. I start to understand what she’s saying. “The princess is locked up in the tower! Someone must save her!!!” I laugh to myself, amused by her emotions and such enthusiasm. Then I look at her face, and realize…it’s my face.

December 24, 2013

Walking through the hallways again, it’s not plain. The same drawings are on the wall, and photos of that same girl with my face and my name. I stopped abruptly in the hallway. Could that girl have been me? Suddenly I found myself in a hotel room, the great windows showing a view of downtown. The two king-sized beds packed with sheets are in the corner. I see three suitcases. I remember seeing them somewhere. One of them is open, with a gift inside. I find the little girl again, sitting on the floor. She is speaking to someone, with a nervous crack in her voice. “Do you think my mom will be okay? Am I really going to be a sister?” I know who she’s talking to. I know exactly who it is. My grandma. And I know exactly who the girl is. I know exactly who I am.

What should a 9,000-pound electric vehicle sound like?

September 7, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Each Wednesday I challenge the Blog Staff to a creative prompt.
I borrowed this week’s prompt from The New Yorker Magazine’s Instagram:

“A zero-emissions vehicle has obvious benefits for the environment,
but a quiet car is a mixed blessing for the public good.” For
distracted pedestrians, engine sounds signal a car is coming.
What if they can’t hear it? So, electric-vehicle companies are
trying to come up with a sound for their noiseless cars.

Our bloggers answered the question: What should a 9,000-pound electric vehicle sound like?

Here are a few of their responses:

Indy Behr:

Since pedestrians are already used to the roaring sound of a gas engine being a sign that a car is coming, I think that if electric cars had a speaker that simply played the sound of a gas car, no one would have to adjust their expectations. If we had a beep or something like that to signify an electric car approaching many people would take time to become acquainted with this, and during that transition period I imagine more people would be struck by cars. Therefore, the sound of a gas engine would be a perfect solution.

Levi Kassinove:

Option One: Silence. 1 minute of complete silence, interrupted halfway by the faint sound of a child laughing. This is followed by 3 minutes of silence, interrupted for 2 times at random intervals by leaves rustling and a stick breaking. 10 minutes of silence will now go by, followed abruptly by screams of utter horror as the car has now become sentient and is actively trying to make the driver crash. People miss the sound of their gas engines? Well, now they’ll be begging for quiet.

Option Two: Play “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad” by Grateful Dead on repeat.

And the class favorite . . . .

Penny Andreas:

Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom

Do you have a suggestion? Should our electric cars beep? roar? play music? hum? purr? Play along. Leave your contribution in the Comments.

We Need to Abolish the Electoral College

September 7, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

We’re concluding our look at causes. Indiana, who feels strongly about many things, expresses passion for the Electoral College–not for keeping it, but for abolishing it.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By Indy Behr, Junior

What is the Electoral College?

In the United States, Presidential elections are not actually decided by the people directly. They are decided by a compromise made between the Founding Fathers in the Constitution called the electoral college. A candidate wins the election by winning at least 270 of the 538 possible electoral votes. Voters decide how a group of electors vote, and these electoral votes are then certified every four years on a day you may recall, January 6, and the events that transpired on this day in 2021 have led to the Electoral Count Reform Act being introduced in Congress, which would make several changes to the electoral college certification process such as establishing the Vice President’s role in certifying the vote as ceremonial and raising the objection threshold to 20% of both the House and Senate, as opposed to the current system where only one member of each body is required to object.

The electoral college is an antidemocratic institution that allows a minority of voters to determine the future of our country, and it no longer has any use. I believe that America cannot truly be referred to as a democracy until the electoral college is abolished, and until then, serious reform is required.

*Supporters of former President Donald Trump* *storm the US Capitol* *as a Joint Session of Congress is counting the electoral votes of the 2020 Presidential election.*

Disproportionate Representation

If anyone should be upset about the electoral college, it should be us Californians. Wyoming, the least populated state in the US, has 581,000 citizens, according to the US Census Bureau. Due to its size, Wyoming has only one Representative in the House of Representatives and, like all states, two Senators. The amount of electoral votes a state receives is simply the amount of people in their Congressional delegation. This means that in Wyoming, one electoral vote represents 135,000 citizens. California has a population of 39,538,000, and has 55 electoral votes (this will change to 54 in the 2024 Presidential election). Therefore, one electoral vote represents 712,000 people. However, one electoral vote represents just 195,000 people in Wyoming. Yes, you heard that right, a voter in Wyoming has more than three times the voting power as someone in California. Some Republicans argue that Democratic voters concentrated in big cities choosing who wins in the end is unfair, but guess what? That is where the actual people live!

Forgotten States

Another issue with the electoral college means that during a Presidential election most states are not visited by candidates, and most states don’t even see candidates’ TV ads as there is no point. This is because some states are so partisan that it is near impossible for a candidate to win. The fact that candidates feel that trying to promote their candidacies to voters is a waste of time is incredibly problematic in my opinion, and unfortunately the candidates are indeed making a strategic decision in this case. The electoral college is for the most part a winner-takes-all system, meaning that regardless of how narrow or wide a statewide win is, all electoral votes go to the winner, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska. In 2020, six million Californians voted for Donald Trump, and two million Ohioans voted for Joe Biden. Despite this making up almost 10% of the total popular vote, these people never had their voice heard. Donald Trump never made a single visit to California because he knew that it was simply impossible to outright win the state, meaning winning swing votes would not benefit him. In this model presented by the New York Times, we can see that TV-ad buys in the 2020 Presidential election were concentrated in just a few states. California did not have a single ad! Trump and Republicans spent many millions on ads in Florida and won in the end, and yet he won one million more votes in California than in Florida. In spite of this, California’s winner-takes-all system gave all electoral votes to Biden, and Florida gave all electoral votes to Trump.

Faithless Electors

Though luckily in 2020 we did not see any, in 2016 we saw a massive uptick in what are known as faithless electors, likely due to both major party candidates being relatively unpopular. Many people do not realize this, but electors are actual individuals assigned to vote for one party in the event they win. These electors are selected by the state party of the winning candidate. However, in almost half of the states, electors are able to vote for another candidate regardless of the will of the voters. Trump was expected to win 306 electors, yet only won 304. Clinton won 227 instead of 232. Seven of the 538 total electors voted faithlessly. Do you know who Faith Spotted Eagle is? I didn’t, yet she won an electoral vote in 2016. The late Colin Powell, George W. Bush’s Secretary of State, won three electoral votes. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) won two electoral Vice Presidential votes, one being with Powell, one from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

In 2016, Hilary Clinton won the state of Washington over 500,000 votes, or 15.7%, yet a whopping 33% of the electors voted for candidates who did not appear on the ballot. Though some of these candidates received a small amount of write-in votes, Powell won three votes, or 25% of the total electors, with a grand total of zero votes. In 2004, John Edwards was Democrat John Kerry’s running mate, and yet in Minnesota he received both the Presidential and Vice Presidential nod from one elector. And, because these slates of electors are selected by the victor’s party, these electors are often relatives of politicians or retired lobbyists. Both former President Bill Clinton (D) and his wife Hillary Clinton (D) were Biden electors in New York, as were the New York City Comptroller and the Temporary President of NY’s State Senate. A Florida State Senator, Keith Perry (R), was a Trump elector in Florida. The only disqualifying factors for electors are being an incumbent US Senator or Representative, and since the Civil War, having engaged in rebellion or insurrection against the country.

Faithless Colorado elector Michael Baca casts his ballot in 2016. He chose to support a former Ohio Governor, Republican John Kasich, rather than Hillary Clinton.

Popular Vote Winners Losing

In 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016, the individual who won a plurality, or in 1876, an outright majority of the popular vote, lost the election. The electoral college gives so much more power to residents of smaller states that in 2016, despite winning the popular vote by 2.8 million or 2% in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost by 77 electors. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore defeated Republican George W. Bush by over 500,000 in the popular vote yet lost by five electoral votes in the end, or four if you do not recognize a faithless elector who did not vote at all. In the end, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court forced Florida to end an ongoing recount, and according to CNN, “The studies also show that Gore likely would have won a statewide recount of all undervotes and overvotes, which are ballots that included multiple votes for president and were thus not counted at all . . . . The studies also support the belief that more voters went to the polls in Florida on Election Day intending to vote for Gore than for Bush.”

Florida vote counters try to determine which candidate was selected on a ballot in 2000.

Conclusion

To me, it is very clear we need to abolish the electoral college. However, this would require a Constitutional amendment which has an approximately 0% chance of passing within my lifetime. It would require 67% of both the House and Senate to pass, which itself is completely impossible considering the Senate also has the issue of disproportionately representing smaller states, and it then would require 38 states to ratify it through their legislatures, even more unlikely. So, in the meantime, we are going to have to continue dealing with the electoral college. However, we can support reform so that we can scrap the winner-takes-all system like Nebraska and Maine have done, and we can also support banning faithless electors. But, if you really want your voice heard, your only option is to move to a swing state like Wisconsin.

Though support among Republicans has dropped, most people still support abolishing the electoral college as of 2018.

Politeness is a Waste of Time

September 6, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

The Bird on Fire staff bloggers are tasked with writing about a cause. Here, Levi opts to go after the glue that holds together our society–politeness and small talk. It nearly goes without saying, the opinions of Levi do not necessarily represent the views of The Bird on Fire.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By Levi Kassinove, Junior

Dear Readers, given the comprehensive, semi-scientific post of last week, I feel you deserve a break. It’s time for a lighthearted post about why polite people are living a lie.
— Levi

Recently, on vacation, my friends and I were walking outside at night in the desert. Without giving too many details so as to not embarrass anyone, there were scorpions roaming around, and we needed a UV light to see them. We did not have a UV light. We walked around nonchalantly, accepting our situation, until a lady walked up to us and offered to let us borrow her UV flashlight. One of my friends fought absolute TOOTH AND NAIL for her to not give it to us. My friend repeatedly told her, “Oh you don’t have to, you really don’t have to,” to which the lady responded, “I insist. You guys are children and you should have fun.” This exchange kept going until I interrupted and said that I would like to use the light to see the scorpions. My friend grimaced and told me that I didn’t know how to handle social interaction. We had a great time looking at the formerly invisible scorpions in the night. We took pictures and gazed in awe at their beauty. Personally, I, along with some other people with us, had never seen scorpions in the wild before. It was a cool opportunity. Anyway, the point is that this would have never happened if my people-pleaser friend had successfully shooed the light-lending lady away. The lady had offered us a UV light that she already owned. She insisted that we try it out. So why fight out of politeness? It harms both parties in this case, since the lady seemed to genuinely want us to have fun. This exchange is an example of one of the many reasons why it is a bad habit to be unnecessarily polite, which is that it can prevent people from taking advantage of opportunities.

Small talk, on the other hand, is something that we’ve all had to endure throughout our lives. Some live for it. I’d say that they aren’t really living. You can forget having a real human connection with the person if you insist on rhetorically asking how the other person is doing. If one person simply gives the other a real answer, the conversation will switch and both parties will let their guard down. So, I say just skip the small talk. Everyone would find it refreshing, unless they don’t have anything to talk about beyond the weather. The people that prefer to stay engaged in small talk are not interesting, and not worth getting to know any further. That is, if there is anything further to know.

Perhaps small talk ties into politeness, if enough people feel that it is common courtesy. Ultimately, however, it is an unnecessary and exhausting exchange between people. And, it won’t provide any information of substance to the other person. To be blunt is to be genuine. I would go insane if people were to only engage in small talk.

Consider this guy Bill who’s asking about the weather, when they are both literally standing outside. Bill has no idea how to respond, as this is a nonsensical question. Be more like Bill.

EV vs Combustion Power

September 6, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

When I asked our bloggers to illuminate a cause, I didn’t really expect muscle cars to be of focus. But, I was forgetting Mustang fanatic Luke Sonderman was in the house.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By Luke Sonderman

Electric cars are taking the world by storm with some of the highest performing vehicles on the market for extremely low prices. Are these cars worth getting, or should you ride in style in a classic combustion?

Tesla Model S Plaid

The Tesla Model S Plaid is a piece of straight-up raw performance. With a 0-60 (mph) of just under 2 seconds, a top speed of 200mph, and over 1000 horsepower, the Model S Plaid is the definition of speed (tesla.com). Starting at only $140,000, you will not find a car with these specs in this price range or even at all! Yes, I know $140,000 is a lot of dough, but hear me out. The 2023 Ferrari 296 is one of the highest performing super cars on the market. With a 0-60 (mph) in 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 205mph, this thing is a monster (motortrend.com). With similar specs to the Model S, the 2023 Ferrari 296 starting price is $317,000. I think that anyone could agree that the Tesla Model S Plaid is without a doubt the highest performing car of 2022 and is also the best deal.

Now let’s get into why the Tesla Model S Plaid is not worth your 140 grand. First of all, it is absolutely no fun. The most thrilling parts of owning a high performance sports car is the sound, the look, the interior, and then of course the actual performance. Yes, the Model S passes the performance test, but it’s like driving a really fast golf cart. The interior looks like an Ikea design, and the exterior looks like an Apple Magic Mouse. When it comes to sound, well, there really isn’t any.

Ford Mustang Mach-E GT

One of my least favorite electric vehicles that is rising on the charts is the 2022 Mustang Mach-E GT. This hunk of junk has 480 horsepower, a 0-60 (mph) of 3.5 seconds, and a top speed of 124mph. The specs aren’t nearly what the Model S Plaid’s are, but this car starts at $65,000 so don’t expect a supercar. Still, a 3.5 0-60 is very quick, and it is still a high performance vehicle.

The real reason I hate this car so much is because they named it a Mustang. The name Mustang has been reserved for Ford’s muscle cars since the 60s. Mustangs are my favorite cars, and I was so disappointed when they made this ugly EV SUV a Mustang when it is not. It looks very, very weird on the exterior, but the interior is alright. Is it worth $65,000? Absolutely not! Get a REAL Mustang GT. A loud piece of muscle.

Chevrolet Corvette C8

As a Ford fanatic, I hate to give Chevy any credit for anything… but the 2022 C8 Corvette is a pretty sick car. This 8-cylinder monster comes equipped with 490 horsepower, a 0-60 (mph) of 2.9 seconds, and a top speed of 194mph (stingraychevrolet.com). Corvettes are known for their lightweight body and power-packed engines that make them so fast. Starting at only $61,000, this car is definitely the best bang for your buck when it comes to sports cars (roadandtrack.com).

Now, this car not only has the performance of a supercar, but it has a fighter jet style interior. If I bought a sports car, I would want it to look like a fighter jet. Now the exterior is cool, don’t get me wrong, but I favor the older model exteriors such as the 2017. When it comes to what I’m looking for in a sports car, it has the noise, it has the performance, it has the interior, and it has the coolness factor. When it really comes down to it, I would probably spend my 60g’s on a Mustang, but if you are looking for a speedy, quick car, then I would totally go with the 2022 Corvette C8.

(thecarconnection.com)

Mustang Shelby GT-500

Now the car I have been waiting for… the Mustang Shelby GT-500. This is definitely my favorite car, and I believe it is the coolest car on the market. This supercharged 5.2 liter 8-cylinder muscle car comes packed with 760 horsepower, 180mph top speed, and a 0-60 (mph) of 3.5 seconds (guideautoweb.com). I know what you’re going to say…. I know it has way more horsepower than the Corvette, and it is still a bit slower. But, this car is a powerhouse. The wow factor of this engine will blow your mind. It is loud, powerful, and very pretty. As a muscle car, Mustangs have a generally heavier body than most every sports car, which is why they tend to be slower than cars like Corvettes and Teslas. But the power you feel under the hood of a 2022 Mustang Shelby GT-500 is nothing like a little Tesla or 400-horsepower Corvette.

Of any of the cars on this list, this one would be the one I would get. The GT-500 has everything I look for in a sports car. It has impeccable performance, a crazy engine, a very loud exhaust, and it has a beautiful interior and exterior. Although I may be biased as a Mustang owner, I believe that this is the best car money can buy. Starting at $70,000, the GT-500 is the epitome of style, power, and fun.

(motortrend.com)

In the end when it comes to gas vs. electric, I would go with gas. I’m a junkie for speed, noise, style, and power, and electric vehicles do not have all of those characteristics. If all you care about is a minimalistic aesthetic and a quick little golf cart, then I would get a Tesla. But if you want some real power and muscle, go with a Mustang.

Удалять*

September 1, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Junior Remy Haring continues with his second installment of his serial fiction inspired by The New Order–a mod for Hearts of Iron IV. If you recall, Remy visits an alternate dark history here, where, in WWII, the Axis powers have won.

Zeya, Amur, the Russian Far East, January 23, 1962

Rodzaevsky was sitting at his mahogany desk in his office. Behind him two flags flanked him — horizontal, yellow, black and white tricolor with a double-eagle grasping a bundle of sticks on each. To his left was an ashtray; to his right was a pile of photos of dissidents. Some had a red X drawn over their faces; others didn’t. Their occupations ranged drastically from those of lowly citizens to bureaucrats to the most trusted officials of his own cabinet. One photo in particular stood out to him.

It was an old black and white group photo from the beginning days of the Russian Fascist Party (RFP). Rodzaevsky was in the center with Grigory Semyonov on his left and Mikhail Matkovsky on his right. In each of their hands was a raised shot glass of vodka. None of them had a red cross marked over their faces. The photo was marked, “Harbin, Manchuria, September 13, 1932.” As Rodzaevsky was looking down at this photo, he heard a knock at his door.

“Enter,” Rodzaevsky ordered.

A Blackshirt entered the room. His uniform was pristine, all black snow gear with the only splash of color being his medal of the double-eagle grasping a bundle of sticks.

“The dissident Vlodimir Kozlov has been eliminated,” reported the Blackshirt. “He was hiding out in a forested neighborhood a few kilometers away from Zeya. He was… difficult but has been pacified. Given the remote area and that I was under the cover of night, I doubt anyone saw.”

Without another word, Rodzaevsky dismissed him with a wave of his hand. After the door shut, Rodzaevsky took a red marker from his drawer and crossed out the face of the most recent victim. Kozlov had been a middle–aged woodsman and a father of two. It was his youngest child who had reported him for the crime of freemasonry.

Rodzaevsky leaned back into his chair and turned on the radio:

“This morning, at 4:00 a.m. CET, the Swiss Seismological Service detected a seismic event from southern Burgundy that reached a 4.6 on the Richter scale before suddenly ending with no aftershock. The Swiss government has come to one terrifying conclusion: the SS State of Burgundy has successfully tested its first nuclear device.”
Radio Free Alps

*Purge

That Feeling

September 1, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

The Blog staff’s second assignment was to “Find a cause” and share it with us, The Bird on Fire readers. Some student bloggers chose to champion their own causes, explain causes going viral, or causes brought about through environmental, political, or social change. Penny, in verse form, chose to illuminate the importance of reaching out to another.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By 7th-Grader Penny Andreas

The school bell rings

Kids come out of the doors

I sit there waiting

Thinking had anybody come

I come back to my house

Nobody wondering if I am okay

Nobody even noticing

I sit alone with my doubts

I take a walk

By myself

Thinking would anybody notice

If I was gone

Next day I consider not waking up

Still I come to school

Then she walked up to me

And said she wanted to talk

My classmate guided me out to the hall

She asked if I was okay

I started to cry

I started to bawl

I told her everything

My struggles at home

I told her the feeling

Of being alone

At first she just looked at me

Then took my hand

She said it would be okay

And she understands

She helped me to my feet

And said she was sorry

She said I have felt that feeling

Of feeling solitary

I will forever thank her

For getting me to my feet

For listening to what I said

For accepting me

For somehow seeing

That feeling

Succ it up

August 31, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

In our last post on hobbies to consider, we look at Penny’s newly adopted hobby of growing succulents. This is a perfect activity for our desert landscape.
–Blog Advisor Zachik

By Penny Andreas, Middle-School Blog Correspondent

Through these months of a very hot summer, I’ve done pretty much nothing but stay inside all day. I eventually (it took me three hours of sitting on the couch on a long summer day) came up with an idea of a hobby to keep me busy. I did a little research, and I found an interesting little plant called a succulent. There are over 60 species of succulents and about 1,000 different colors, textures, and sizes (ftd.com). Many succulents grow happily in the desert such as Graptopetalum paraguayense, or the ghost plant, and the pencil plant, which mainly grows in high drought landscapes. One of my favorite succulents is the Apus echeveria. which is pictured here.

Apus echeveria rely on a lot of sunshine, so they like to live near a window. If they are not getting sun, they will grow towards any light they see, and that will lead to a weak stem and poor growth. Make sure to give a succulent the right amount of water; if they are overwatered, their leaves will start to look like shriveled fingers that have been in a hot tub for too long. If they don’t get enough water, their bottom leaves will start to shrivel, so pay attention just in case your succulent starts to die. Apus echeveria can live anywhere as long as three years up to a couple decades! Hobbies are very important, so go find one yourself!

Why Making Coffee is My Favorite Part of the Day

August 30, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 4 Comments

By Junior Indy Behr

The top shelf has my kettle, grinder, Chemex brewer, scale, and filters. On the bottom is my V60, moka pot, and a collection of single-origin coffee beans.
Indy Behr

I am a coffee fanatic. I believe making coffee is a form of art, and I think you might feel the same way by the end of this. The brewing of coffee is a blank canvas for creativity. There are so many variables that change the outcome of what ends up in your mug, including grind, roast level, and temperature. I think that when you get your coffee just right, there is no longer a need for additions like sugar, cream, or pumpkin-spice syrup.

There is a whole world to explore in the brewing of espresso–which is the base for things like lattes, cappuccinos, and flat whites,–but that is an incredibly expensive hobby for true purists. Classic drip coffee is a great starting point that requires a much smaller investment. Though some may prefer to stick with their electric brewers, I enjoy brewing by hand. There are many methods that I enjoy, but I have narrowed it down to two.

Why I Love Making Coffee

I first began enjoying coffee several years ago, and it has been one of my favorite hobbies since then. A lot of my motivation for making coffee at home was my observation that there were not any great coffee shops near my house, and making coffee at home was cheaper anyway. Over time, it has almost become a mindfulness technique for me. It is a time where I can focus simply on pouring technique or grind level, with no distractions from the outside world being present. It is undoubtedly one of the most peaceful parts of my day. It takes a little trial and error sometimes. Some days my grind is a little too fine and my coffee is a little bitter; or sometimes my water is too hot. However, once I mess with the variables a few times, I consistently end up with delicious coffee.

Bean Purchasing and Storage

When it comes to coffee beans, some good sources are Verve Coffee, Square Mile Coffee, Blue Bottle Coffee, or just visit your local coffee shops, almost all of them will sell you whole beans. I really enjoy single origins, meaning it is one type of bean from one region rather than a blend of multiple beans, and my preference tends to be lighter roasts so unique flavors won’t be masked by an ashy flavor. Personally, my favorite coffees are Ethiopian-grown coffees as they often have a very strong scent and flavor that resemble several types of berries. I always make sure to put my beans in an airtight container to maintain freshness. Roasted coffee can get very stale very quickly when exposed to air for long periods of time.

AeroPress

When it comes to brewing, one of my favorite brewers is the AeroPress. This device is incredibly fun to use. It is also very popular among people who camp regularly due to its portability and light weight; however, coffee enthusiasts who have dedicated their lives to this craft appreciate it as well, and in fact there is now a World AeroPress Championship that occurs annually, and all winning recipes are viewable online. There is also a whole world of third-party modifications that people use to make their AeroPress better for their needs, such as metal filters and devices that increase the brewing pressure. The only change I make is one that I found from several AeroPress Championship winning recipes, and that is using an Aesir brand paper filter, which is thicker and does a better job of catching fine grinds compared to the filters made by the manufacturer.

The recipe I often use is the AeroPress recipe by Square Mile Coffee owner James Hoffman, which I like because it does not use very much coffee. This was a major issue for those who wanted to deviate from the very basic recipe included in the user manual, as most specialty recipes used an obscene amount of grounds to increase the amount of coffee extracted from the water. This was so criticized in the coffee community that the AeroPress Championship recently capped the amount of coffee a recipe can use. For example, the 2019 winner used 35 grams of coffee, when most other methods use around 10g for a cup. This got very expensive for AeroPress fans as specialty coffee beans are not cheap. Hoffman uses 11g and 200 milliliters of water, almost a cup. A very simple recipe, all I have to do is add the water, add the plunger to create a seal, wait two minutes, stir the liquid, and then you press the plunger pushing the coffee through the filter directly into your cup. You get a delicious, smooth cup thanks to the Aesir filter, and it took almost no effort.

Hario V60

A Hario V60 in clear plastic is one of my favorite gadgets, and it costs only $9. This device is so simple yet so functional. It is my most commonly used brewer, and it has made some of my favorite coffee. It is one of the most iconic of what are known as pour-over brewers, likely because of its low price and simple cone shape. In short, this method involves the user manually pouring hot water on coffee grounds with a special type of kettle which then filters into a cup below.

I have tried many recipes for this method which can be found online. I have tried barista trainer Scott Rao’s method, James Hoffman’s method, and several others, yet my favorite remains YouTuber Sprometheus’s V60 recipe. Coffee brewing is often done in ratios, generally grams of coffee per liter of water. For ideal pour over brewing, a scale is needed, but these can be purchased for very little on Amazon or even at Target. Filters designed for this brewer are available on Amazon, and I have found that many small coffee filters in stores work almost as well. Sprometheus uses 18g of grounds and 288ml of water. When he puts the grounds in the filter he makes a spiral, a Japanese coffee method called kubomi, or depression/hole. This results in a more even extraction. First he adds 50ml of water for 30 seconds, to bloom the coffee, which releases any excess carbon dioxide from the beans. You will see the coffee bubble as you do this. Then, you pour 123ml of water over the next 45 seconds in a circular motion, and then pour 115ml of water directly into the center for just over a minute longer.

There you go, a perfect cup of coffee.