The Olmec, Movie, and Mead, Homeschooling and Lifestyle Blog, New Digital Art and Photography
The Olmec and Mead
The West End Farmers Market is up and running again. Good news and bad news. The best part of the market is often the local brewers, distillers, and vinters tasting opportunities. There are a lot of great artisanal libations available.
I ended up getting 4 cans of beer. Beer is not usually my thing; so you can imagine how good they were. I am not big drinker, and so they may sit in my fridge for a while before I open them and have a good long drink.
There was also an amazing bitter and sweet vermouth that made me crack and get yet another bottle. It will be my sub in for Campari. I will also think of some good food combinations. I'll give a more detailed account and photos then.
I also got a can of Bee Knees Mead, Green Tea and Lim Leaf. So good but a tad bit too heavy for my taste to drink straight. I mixed it with some lime soda water, and the combination was sublime, very earthy, but also quite bright and good contrast to fat. Went lovely with a steak if you can believe it.
Makes me want to learn meadery myself. Maybe one day. Anyone know any handsome beekeepers? Anyone else thinking of Nicolas Cage.
We have started studying another ancient civilization, this time the Olmec.
From our studies ...
According to this World History Encyclopedia production, the Olmec civilization lasted between 1200 BCE - 400 BCE in ancient Mexico. They built monumental pyramid structures and massive stone sculptures. They played ball games and drank chocolate. They worshipped animal and nature gods.
The Olmec are the first known large Meso-American civilization. Olmec was the name given the civilization by the Aztecs. It meant rubber people. Many of their statues had elongated heads, seemingly made of rubber, but they also traded in rubber. We don’t know what they called themselves.
Much of their history, culture is still a mystery because of a lack of archaeological sites, but we do know that sometime between 300 and 400 BCE, many of their sites were damaged. Using symbols upon stone, the Olmec did record some of their religious beliefs and practices that involved a priesthood, cave rituals, and sacrifice. They had an awe of mirrors.
Their prosperity was initially based on the fertility of the coastal land in and around the Gulf of Mexico. The grew corn and beans and had an agricultural surplus. They gathered aquatic foods as well.
Around 1200 BCE, significant urban centres, such as San Lorenzo and La Venta, developed. The Olmec traded in obsidian, jade, serpentine, mica, rubber, pottery, feathers, and mirrors.
The Olmecs carved massive stone, portraiture heads, possibly depicting rulers. They were carved in basalt. Some were nearly three meters high and weighed almost eight tonnes. The massive stones would have been transported as much as 80 kilometres, perhaps on balsa-wood rafts.
There may have been a belief that only the head bore the soul among the Olmecs. The Olmecs often buried the stone heads.
I forgot to mention the movie we saw. Katak, the Brave Beluga. It was a very beautiful movie with regards to its animation. Very Beautiful. Story-wise, it leads a little to be desired. The narrative is clumsy, and the viewer asked to make emotional leaps that the script did not prepare us for. Finding Nemo, it is not. Finding a dead-beat grandfather, we have never met, it is. There is also a very disgusting, snotty-nosed sturgeon, and you are left thinking why didn't someone tell them that's just gross, not funny. But it is still worth a watch.
So that was my Saturday. Yes, I know it is Sunday. I don't go to a Monday to Friday or a Nine to Five, but I still keep track of the days. I will admit however to needing a second opinion and often.
What was your weekend like? Feel free to share details in the comments.
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All these flowers looks so beautiful and your beer looks so tasty.
Thank you:)
Super!
I have some beer in the fridge that is waiting for Just The Right Day. They're all 12+ % alcohol, and nothing I'm inclined just to down with dinner. But I do love a good beer.
And interestingly, I am going to visit the local meadery next week. A number of us folk from the community theatre are meeting up. They have a spiced mead they call "Grogg", and serve it warmed as a desert with whipped cream and a ginger snap on top. Oh yes. I think I've proposed to each of the wait staff who have ever brought me one.
I'm not terribly familiar with the Olmec, which is a shame, since they seem to have been quite a successful civilisation. Thank you for sharing that!
OMG ... that does sound amazing.