Chefs
Is my profession worthless in the gulch. I create things of value and probably put in more effort per dollar than anyone but is it value for value and a commodity to me or does it simply serve decadence. I always thought it was the most useful skill as I can fishmonger and butcher but shouldn't everyone be able to prepare their own food making me excess x
If we require, or even imagine, a Gulch in which everyone grows their own corn and hunts their own deer we are doomed to shed the technology we have gained over the last 5000 years. We desperately need chefs, gardeners, and mechanics. We need professional farmers and ranchers. We need programmers and engineers and doctors.
What we do not need is to carry the burden of bureaucracy and the weight of the willingly unproductive on our backs whilst we are trying to run briskly into the future.
If I have not made it clear enough: WE NEED CHEFS!
Jan
1. Why do you think everyone should be able to and want to make their own food?
2. Regarding "excess", there's nothing wrong IMHO with excess if that means more than we need. In pre-industrial times, we knew we needed to produce more food, clothing, and shelter. Now we have more than enough of those. Most of the economy is geared toward things in "excess" of what we "need", which IMHO is a good thing.
.
putting Rachmaninoff to shame, on his own work -- it's
amazingly easy, it seems. . May The Chef Be Praised!!! -- j
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PKLL...
-- j
.
You reminded me of an event in my life that I think you'll appreciate. When I was a student at Wayne University in Detroit, it was about a mile down the street from the Masonic Temple Auditorium which was where the Detroit Symphony performed as well as guest orchestras, ballet companies, and other cultural events. I had a job ushering there one weekend per month. I didn't get paid but got to see & hear all the great performances that happened on my weekend. Toscanini and the NBC Orchestra was going to perform there and I mentioned to my English Prof. who was a young guy, that I could probably sneak in to the rehearsal since everyone knew me and no one would stop me. Toscanini was known never to allow anyone into his rehearsals. That never stopped me, either. So picture this: My Prof. and I crawling down the carpeted aisle of the plush auditorium, and squeezing in to the raised seats so only our eyes and top of heads were visible in the darkened auditorium. They were rehearsing Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov. I never realized that Toscanini was so small. He was barely 5 feet tall and he wielded a baton almost as big as himself. The trumpet player missed his entrance. Mr. T. glared at him and said, "Again." The trumpet missed again. T is barely controlling his fury. "Again." By this time the trumpet player must have been flustered and he missed the note. Toscanini exploded. Standing on his tip-toes, he pointed the baton at the poor trumpeter and shouted, "If those valves were on fire, wouldn't piss on them!" Of course, me and my friend burst out laughing. Toscanini turned and looked into the auditorium. I swear lightning was flashing from his eyes. "Out! Out!" he shouted. and we sheepishly exited as quickly as we could without running.
and must have had some amazing stories of his own --
and he was about 1 1/2 feet taller than Toscanini, it appears.
your story reminds me of a general foreman in our big
machine shop at the manhattan project k-25 plant who,
on a morning when it had snowed heavily, remarked,
"They ain't enough people here to piss out a match."
he was a card. -- j
.
this is delicious::: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9QLi...
-- R with Reiner --
Rubinstein is definitely gentler with the piano than H, but his phrasing
and accuracy is wonderful. . I wish that I could find a Horowitz recording
of Rachmaninoff's pc2 to compare, side-by-side. . I have another
rendition . . . . . where;;; who??? . it is spicier.
.
pianists study style and fingering and speed and a zillion other things
which blend into "rendition" for the rest of us -- another great
story, sir!!! -- j
.
Horowitz was superb. 2nd only to Artur Rubenstein, but I'm in pretty rarefied atmosphere and which performer is a better performer is up for grabs.
piano his instrument of passion, his tool of instruction and
destruction -- the potential in the machine came out in its full glory!!!
Rubinstein, in comparison, was a mild-mannered piano servant
who entertained with plinks and plucks ... he never made the thing
work for him, it seemed to me. . In My Humble Opinion. -- j
.
I won't try to compare them, but Rubenstein's phrasing and exposition are a revelation, that was adopted by many who came after him. However, I am not one to judge. It's like trying to compare Mozart and Beethoven, Both great, but very different.
and I thought that -- given the stressful times in AS -- that
Horowitz' drive to totally dominate the piano and wring
the full range of legitimate sounds from it was that of
a Richard Halley-type performer. . projection, I know --
totally my fault. -- j
.
Russian and make a mastery of English, but she was a rare one
in that and a few other regards, I believe. . I bought a steel
guitar, having always loved perfect pitch and the "bell" sound
of a well-played steel. . hard to move into artistry on one of those,
I am here to tell you!!! -- j
.
like Rand, though, I fell for H when I first encountered him
and have never strayed. -- j
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsePs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Svm_...
-- j
.
If you were one of a thousand choices of "chef" in the Gulch, you'd have to be pretty damned good to stay in business... but the odds of having that many tough competitors is probably pretty slim.
Lately, as an aging retiree, I look at my wife's and my preferences for food and I see a Baby Boomer shift possible... to Easy-To-Prepare simple meals and Good Restaurants for great Dining Out.
Undoubtedly, many Gulchers would enjoy preparing their own meals... we've got several family friends who are wonderful at that! But our grocery store purchases have come to include a LOT more frozen veggies, and NOT the Family-Sized bags, either... even good leftovers get boring after a while :) .
So we'll let you know whether you're 'excess' or not... :)
I'm an engineer, but not the craftsman sort. When I lay hands on tools, the effort can be catastrophic, worthy of Tim the Tool Man. My "skill," such as it is, is having an instinctive insight into whether or not a design is going to work properly, and advising how to make it work as intended. I've been told I think of engineering more like an artist than a "real" engineer, since I don't pay attention to the math, focusing on principles and the entire system, rather than concentrating on details. Would there be a place in the day to day activities of the Gulch for someone like me?
My only saving grace is that I'm a pretty good shot.
One of my co-workers once put it this way...
Alan, you're great at deciding "which hill to take," and I'm great at "taking the hill you point to.... but I HATE deciding Which Hill To Take and you're lousy at Taking A Hill."
He was spot on... we'd have been a wonderful team if our company and organization could have let us operate that way. They couldn't.
He quit and went elsewhere. I hung on for a while, then retired.
Life in The Big City...
before the numbers are crunched are few and far between!!! -- j, mechanical PE, retired
.
Thank you, sir!
"Chefs" don't just cook food. Not the real ones. They create a "Culinary Event" that in and of it self is a true work of art.
is well respected here. . Welcome, and bon appétit!!! -- j
.
this personal chef occasionally treats myself and my wife
to extraordinary culinary treats. . what a value this is,
and decadence is well deserved!!! -- j
.
Five distinct courses, each one preceded by a unique wine selection and followed by a unique 'palate-cleansing interlude.'
Absolutely fantastic, and we're very lucky we could even Walk Home after all that wine!
There is No Way we could have repaid them in kind, although later, when we did have them over to our house, I discovered that of the four of us, three of us self-identified as "libertarian."
That was a fine dessert, right there!