The Adventures of Connor & Abby: Part 14

Jenny, Connor, and Abby were sent to investigate a garden this week. 

The ARC had gotten a call about a strange growth on one of the plants. Since the plant appeared to be a giant sunflower, the team wondered if perhaps it had been infected by something from a future anomaly.

Fortunately, though, the plant proved not to be harmful--it wasn't even an early stage of the fungus from Episode 3.5. The team settled down for a break in one of the garden's chairs, relieved that it had turned out to be a false alarm.

Orion Skin Care: Chocolate Mint Bathing Bar

You may or may not have gathered that, post-graduation, I am no longer in the Phoenix area. I will possibly return there; I will possibly not return, either. But for now I am in slightly more northern regions of the state. This, in turn, brought me to New Frontiers, which is sort of the main natural food store in Sedona. Sedona, the land of beautiful Red Rocks and a helping of hippie and/or New Age mindsets. The soap that I picked up at the store is by a Sedona brand, Orion Skin Care. I figured that if it was a Sedona brand, it had to be truly a natural product and not a pretend natural product. And it was chocolate mint soap, so. 

In the spirit of Sedona, I photographed the soap on a backdrop of quartz crystals, which are currently resting on a prettily-tarnished silver plate where I'm also keeping my perfumes. The packaging is a simple white box, accented with green, gray, and black. It's distinctive, but not chaotic. Although this was one of the lower priced soaps at New Frontiers, it is 100% organic. All seven ingredients are organic, and the bar has its NSIO (New Standards in Organics) stamp. The chocolate part comes from cocoa powder, and the mint from peppermint essential oil--there is also vanilla powder. It isn't an overwhelming aroma of chocolate mint, but it's fresh and pleasing. 

The plain, unmarked bar is a rich brown color--it came with a slight white coating that disappeared after I wet the soap. The soap does go on with a slight brown coloring, but it washes off like normal. It has tiny grains almost like exfoliating ingredients; I'm not sure which ingredient gives it that. Whereas the occasional natural soap likes to fall apart in water, this one maintains its shape. I used it once or twice on my face and didn't notice it having any negative effects, though I'll probably keep it more for a hand or body soap. I would buy this soap again; I'm just not sure if I will buy it again. It's local and uses good ingredients and smells nice, which makes me like it. But if it had a richer chocolate scent, then I would love it. 

Out of Africa

You can call Out of Africa wild; you can call them crazy--but just don't call them a zoo. At least, that's what their ads say.

I first visited Out of Africa Wildlife Park when they were still in the Phoenix area, years ago. Then about eight years ago, they opened up a new (replacement) location closer to home, in Camp Verde, which I visited again last weekend. Out of Africa was founded by Dean and Prayeri Harrison--with complete respect for the animals, hence the "not a zoo" thing. The park is founded not only on giving people an opportunity to see these wonderful animals, but also to give them the care they need and to understand how to form relationships with them. You can see it in the way the animals respond to and interact with any of the park's team. They're not putting on a show; they're living their lives and letting us in to participate. 

When you visit the park, besides walking around, you get to take a "safari"--there are longer versions available for an additional purchase. You board a bus-like, open vehicle and your guide takes you inside the gates of the safari area. So you're right up against animals like this little zebra:

As you board the bus, they hand you a carrot, which you feed either to a giraffe or camel. Almost right away, our driver stopped us by a giraffe that was disinterestedly standing away by a tree. But he called out to Pilgrim, and sure enough, Pilgrim eventually sauntered over in hope of snacks. Standing up, pretty much everyone got to feed Pilgrim. While I've fed a giraffe in a different park, leaning over the edge of a lookout to pour feed onto a giraffe's tongue just isn't the same as feeding it this close up--the group dynamic helps, too. You watch as everyone else in the bus reaches their hands out, some getting more "tongue" than others and then giggling about the sliminess. 

What's great about this location, they say, is that certain of the plants and such are similar to the kinds in Africa. And the minimal amount of "manmade" scenery in the park means that you can get pictures that do look like you're out in the middle of nowhere. (Of course, it just looks like home to me, but you get the idea.)

This is an ostrich. Isn't she very pretty? But watch out--her beak is sharp. 

She, however, has no fear around the people she knows she can trust. Our guide got out and gave her a hug and helped her move around the bus so that everyone could see her up close. 

Another shot (I think) of Pilgrim later on, once we had gotten off the bus and were walking up toward the other animals (the safari area is closet to the park entrance; everything else is deeper in). You can take a tram if you don't want to walk, but walking is much nicer (unless you're from out of state and are finding the weather too hot).

While we were stopped out by the hyenas, Dean showed up and began speaking with the crowd about them. At one point, he pet (or should I say cuddled) one of the hyenas through the fence; it obviously enjoyed it. I know a dog with a similar hideously-ugly-in-a-cute-way look that makes the exact same smile. 

Here you can see how big the hyenas actually are--thick, too. In the afternoon, you can follow the feeding truck along the path. This is the time when the lazy cats decide to wake up and you have a chance to see animals that might have been hiding before. The hyenas are my favorite: they stand up against the gate sort of like they are in this picture and make their ridiculous laughing monkey sounds. They're vicious predators, perhaps, but they sound adorable. 

The park does have a main show, Tiger Splash. But it isn't about telling the tigers to sit and stand and jump through hoops. Dean is there, explaining part of his philosophy about building relationships and trust with animals and understanding how their minds work. He has a team with him who bring out different toys to play with the two tigers. Just picture a bigger version of your cat when you're waving its feather wand toy. Sometimes they jump in the water with the toy; sometimes the tigers follow and sometimes they don't. Always you can tell that the tigers are just playing and that they understand not to harm their people buddies. Accidents are of course still possible, but neither one wants that to happen. Here is Liberty relaxing after the show; she was getting full because guests always have the opportunity (for $5) to feed one of the tigers (two pieces of meat) using prongs through the gate. She gurgle-growled a little when I fed her.

It's a wildlife preserve; it's a habitat. It's privately-owned. It does great work for everyone involved. It's Out of Africa.

Harken to the Signature

I'm late; I'm late. 

It was a week ago that I received my signed copy of Harken in the mail. It's a shiny, black paperback with the now-familiar cover image. 

Now I have all three of Kaleb Nation's books, all signed. I can't say that for any other author, so it's rather special. 

Harken (Volume 1)

Freedom Tastes Like Chocolate

When asked where I wanted to go out after my graduation, I jokingly replied, somewhere that has chocolate martinis. I had heard of such things, but never seen them in person--and certainly wasn't expecting to find them in the greater Phoenix area. 

But at The White Chocolate Grill, you can indeed order a White Chocolate Martini. I expected the drink list to be available online with the rest of the menu, so I didn't write down exactly what is in this martini. But as I recall, it has chocolate vodka and Godiva white chocolate--possibly something more, but that's all I remember. I am obviously not a big alcohol drinker; my interest was purely from the chocolate side. And this was in fact my first martini, though it's a bit distant from the ordinary. I have, however, had two kinds of chocolate wine (a review of the second is probably coming in the next week or so), and that is the closest comparison I can make of this drink.

As you can see, it is mainly white liquid, with a drizzle of chocolate around the glass. The longer you let it sit, the more that drizzle will sink into the drink. The alcohol taste isn't completely hidden by the sweeter flavors, but there also isn't a huge chocolate flavor. It is white chocolate, though, so I wasn't really expecting anything more. It's a sweet drink, but not candy sweet or cloying sweet. I won't die of regret if I never taste it again, but it was nice to try for once. 

I always say that you can tell everything about a restaurant based on its dessert. Sometimes you can even tell by reading the dessert menu, but there was little to learn from White Chocolate's descriptions of basic items like apple pie and chocolate souffle. These are the two desserts my table got; I snitched a piece of the flaky, cinnamon pie crust before turning to my share of the souffle. It appears simply. It looks okay, but a more careful or sculpted look to the whipped cream would have helped appearances. The thing that I did notice right away was that this souffle cake tasted like it had been made out of melted chocolate. This not only affects the taste but also the texture, making it moist and rich. It's lighter and less dense than most flourless chocolate cakes. If the white chocolate in the Martini was from Godiva, perhaps this cake used Godiva, too?

I had to make sure a place called The White Chocolate Grill hadn't been too audacious in its choice of name, and you know, I think they just might be worthy of the title. 

The Hugo Movie Companion

Because The Invention of Hugo Cabret was in such a format that made its pages like film slides, it follows that The Hugo Movie Companion, which is also written by author Brian Selznick, isn't in the typical movie companion format. It is not a slender, large paperback; it's regular book-size. It's in fact around the same size as the book the movie is based on, just much thinner with around 250 pages. 

The pages also aren't glossy. While this was odd at first for the pictures, it does mean no fingerprints and also enhances the idea that you're reading a book--not just looking through a companion to a movie. Brian Selznick also divided the book up a little differently than most companions do. His format emphasizes storytelling and storytellers, giving as many people as possible a mini chapter within the larger chapters. Whereas so many movie companions have you pausing what you're reading and marking your place while you look at a picture or read a box that breaks up the text, this book is much more reader friendly. A page usually ends with the end of a sentence, so you're free to look at everything individually without having to flip back and forth. This may seem like a minor detail, but it always bothers me with other movie companions.

Some of the pictures are illustrations from the book, along with a comparison of the corresponding scenes from the movie. There are also behind the scenes and historical pictures, as well as a page or two of the script. One of the images I found most fascinating was of the dialogue coach's notes about how to pronounce the dialogue with an accent. I've always seen dialogue coaches in movie credits, but I've never heard anyone explain how exactly they do their work.

This book tells not just how the movie Hugo was made, but also where all the people who worked on it drew their inspiration from. It goes into great detail without becoming overly technical. With all the pictures it's a short read. While The Invention of Hugo Cabret is like a film, this movie companion connects film back to books.

The Hugo Movie Companion: A Behind the Scenes Look at How a Beloved Book Became a Major Motion Picture

The Enchanting Cyrano

I'd rather watch a play than read it, not being an actor, director, or designer. But if I were to wait to watch every play, resisting reading it instead, well, I would be familiar with very few plays.

Cyrano de Bergerac is one of those stories I feel most familiar with because of the much-adored (by me) Wishbone. I didn't even know who had written it or when (Edmond Rostand; 1897). And I certainly didn't know that there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, on whom the character is partially based. As I began reading (my aged 1972 edition translated by Lowell Blair that I picked up at Goodwill), I remembered that we also watched a movie version in my high school French class. I believe it was the 1990 production; I remember enjoying it.

So I was already familiar with the story, which I usually find helps with reading a play. And goodness, this is a fun story with witty and pretty dialogue.

The year 1897 makes me think of two other playwrights from around the same era, George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. They may have been British instead of French, but consider that they also were interested in language, perception, and role reversals--and aesthetics. Cyrano de Bergerac fits in very well these ideas. There are so many poets in this play, not even counting Cyrano. There is also the concept of split love since Roxane loves Christian for his face but comes to love Cyrano for his "soul." Rather than saying that this is a theme of the unfairness of Fate that can never pair beauty and wit or of the eyes to see what the soul wants to find, I'm interpreting Christian and Cyrano more in the sense of brothers.

When Cyrano dies, he tells Roxane to continue mourning Christian, but also perhaps to mourn him a little. In this way, Roxane has the ability to unite the positive traits of both men with her love. She need not choose one over the other, the face over the wit, because they are both dead. She never has the opportunity to make that choice. While we might like to hope that she would have chosen Cyrano, it is long after Christian is dead that she would have chosen him. What would she have answered if Christian had not been killed and Cyrano had told Roxane the truth there on the battlefield? We'll never know and it doesn't entirely matter: this is a story, a romance, and it allows for both sides. Like Roxane, the readers/viewers can mourn both Christian and Cyrano.