PicoBlog

I wasn’t planning on writing this week’s newsletter on pepper but I fell into an internet deep hole of pepper hand harvesting videos in Vietnam. I had just foraged Alexandra (a pepper alternative) which got me really thinking about pepper in general. I obviously then decided I had to know EVERYTHING about this spice. Common in most cuisines, pepper accounts for 20% of the world's total spice trade. The pepper flavor punch is due to the presence of the chemical piperine in each little fruit.

One of the reasons Coke is “The Real Thing” is that it doesn’t mess with its identity too much. Well, there was that fiasco of New Coke in 1985, but it’s worthy of note that Coke used that imbroglio to double down on its iconography with its Coca-Cola Classic rebrand of the original formula. Right about now, you might be asking, “Isn’t this post about Pepsi?” It is indeed, but you can’t do a post about Pepsi without tackling its relationship with Coke, and their forever rivalry, once a heated weapon dance at the height of the 1980s Cola Wars.

❤️ Did you know that if you hit the HEART at the top of this post, it makes it easier for people to find this newsletter? (And makes my day!) Pure maple syrup adds a rich, cozy flavor to homemade maple scones. Buttery-crisp on the outside, and tender in the middle, these scones are absolutely perfect! This recipe is available for supporting members. If you haven’t already, please consider upgrading your membership.

Upon being presented with a blotter doused in Tom Ford Vanilla Sex, the correct response is to recoil in confusion. I am delighted to report that this was precisely the response displayed by the long-suffering Madame Persolaise. However, she went one better and, when told what she was sniffing, stated, “That isn’t vanilla. It’s just the smell of making marzipan.” ncG1vNJzZmickae2tr%2FHmqOarpljwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89op56qlqq6pnnRnq2inadiwbC5jJ%2Bmq5xdq66vtculmGarla0%3D

I’ve never dreamed of writing blog posts two days in a row, but something massive dropped that people reading my previous post about the murky situation surrounding open-source language models should be aware of. A day earlier, Perplexity AI released an open-source large language model they’re calling pplx-70b. It is completely uncensored in its outputs and does not engage moral judgments or limitations. Anyone can go to Perplexity Labs and use the model—no login required.

The Kamoshida arc was about Kamoshida, a villain-centric story of how his cruelties have hurt the other characters. The Madarame arc was kind of about Madarame, but it was just as much about Yusuke, so as a result Madarame lacked presence by comparison. The Kaneshiro arc is all about Makoto. She has a cogent emotional arc from her introduction up until her awakening to her Persona. Makoto faces high expectations as student council president, not to mention the younger sister of a respected public prosecutor.

Penn Hinds Sueoka Yee Chirasha Hullo there, I hope you enjoy these poems. I was going to write something about them, about journeys and silence, and knowing when to speak - but, that being the case, I think it’s best just to invite you to read them. With warmest wishes, Chrissy PERVERSE Editor (FYI if you are reading this on a mobile phone, it may be best to turn the phone sideways.

I can’t cook. But one of the few things i can make that’s not bread, is pesto. Homemade pesto is wildly different from the salty store brought kind that comes in a tiny jar and costs £4. Not only is it incredibly easy to make (just throw all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and churn for a few minutes), it’s also incredibly versatile. You can really use any combination of nuts, cheese, oil and leaves (whatever you can find) and adjust the ratios to how you want the consistency.

A few weeks back, I decided to work on a pesto recipe that would have broad Spin It options for various different herbs, nuts, and greens, as you wish. I did not expect to land on a recipe that would give you, my dear humans, the ability to create pestos using any mix of nuts, cheese, herbs, and oil that your hearts desire. Yes: ANY. This is body autonomy for the mortar and pestle set.