Incite Full

The worst part about a blog is having nothing to say.

I mean, I have thoughts everyday that are shareable. Today’s would probably be my idea for scratch and sniff food magazines. Sure, reading them is enough to tempt my tastebuds and make the corners of my mouth water (like when you smell Frank’s Hot Sauce), but smell is such a strong factor in, well everything. I remember hearing studies about smell being linked to memory, and I think it’s true. I wish I had more information, but there are certain smells that bring me back to a certain time in my life. One occurred after a car accident, and the dry, powder covering the airbags filled my coughing lungs with such a terrible odor.

A more pleasant example can be found here. the part I’m referring to is as follows:

Marcel Proust, the French novelist, described a vivid memory brought to his mind by the smell and taste of a small piece of cake (a madeleine) dipped in tea. On Sundays as a child, his aunt used to give him a piece of madeleine dipped in her tea. Many years later, when he did the same thing, “immediately, the old gray house on the street . . . rose up like a stage set,” Proust recalled. “The entire town, with its people, and houses, gardens, church, and surroundings taking shape and solidity, sprang into being from my cup of tea.”

While Proust said it better than me, the idea remains the same. I think it’s why dentist offices have such a peculiar smell (the smell of dread), and food taste less appealing when we have a cold.

It’s endlessly frustrating trying to cook something when I’m sick. I can’t for the life of me motivate myself to make food when I’m not really going to taste it. Sure, cooking is very Zen-like in that the process and the act of cooking is far more refreshing and filling than the end product, but let’s not get carried away. I would never cook a steak or BBQ pulled pork if I had a cold,  and it’s probably why I think canned soups are terrible: the smell reminds me of being sick.

That’s hardly revolutionary. Our tongue can only sense 4 + umami “tastes,” so our identification is supplemented somewhere else, otherwise everything would taste like chicken. As an aside, when did chicken get the ubiquitous moniker for “bland?” Chicken is terrific, and if you are tired of it, try another bird like squab.Interestingly, if you type “why is chicken considered bland” into Google, it thinks you mean “blind”. I think rice has the ability to be bland much more easily than chicken, that is as long as it’s not simply boiled chicken.

The thing about smell is that it, to a certain extent, it’s run its course. We developed unique senses of smell to aide in hunting and gathering, and also to avoid spoiled meats and foods so that we might stay healthy. Aside from sniffing the milk carton once and a while, I am not sure I need my sense of smell. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy and relish it, I’m not advocating this is the correct choice in a bizzare game of “would you rather.” But it doesn’t really do much for me on a day to day basis that I don’t think I could live without.

I’ve met several people in my life who had no sense of smell. One lost it from chemotherapy, another simply was not born with the ability.  The former I met while putting dog food away at Target, and was bitching about the smell when he dropped the “I had brain cancer and can’t smell anymore” bomb on me. I felt like an ass. The point is he and my other friends seem to be doing quite fine. I’m sure someone will say “what about pheromones” and what not, but those are sensed differently than smells, and we’re not even sure if a human pheromone exists and/or how the alter human behavior.

But I digress, I’d love to get a copy of Bon Appetit with scrath and smell photos for things like desserts and those salatious thanksgiving issues would be simply to die for. I can almost taste the stuffing.

Until the advertisers got a hold of it…

It’s been a while since I cooked something new. Of course, even when cooking the same old things, I rarely use the same recipe twice. Things are always thrown in or tossed out, based on what i have handy or what i feel like at the time. It’s a nice creative outlet for me.

Right now, i’ve got a chicken roasting in the oven, and I hope it’s absolutely delicious. It was originally supposed to be a sage roasted chicken, but the store didn’t have any of it, so i had to make due with some garlic and thyme. I’m pretty sure it will be fine, but it’s always a bit of a crap shoot to be honest. Although thyme+chicken+garlic is a pretty standard combination. I just hope that Italian Red Onion that I shoved up the bird will add a bit more earthiness to that bad boy.

Later tonight I might make some chocolate chip cookies, because i’ve wanted to cook a lot lately, and, well, they are damn tasty.

Apart from cooking, one thing that has been bugging me is the fact that people, upon being asked for scary movie recommendations, like to throw in “Aliens.” Alien is a horror movie, Aliens 3 is hardly a movie at all, but Aliens is an action movie. It’s a damn good action movie, but it’ still not horror. I suppose I can forgive people for this transgression because it’s not a big deal, and it does frighten people at times, but c’mon people- if aliens is what you think of when you want to see a scary movie…

Also, I’m very partial to undead/supernatural horror movies. Slasher movies, or movies with a human villain are generally too stupid or mind numbing to be good. Granted zombie movies aren’t the ground breaking or riveting experiences that they could be, but they are scarier.

I think the only slasher movie that I ever really enjoyed was Friday the 13th, with Jason vorhees mother being the killer- that was both a twist and a scary movie. Ever since, we’ve been given garbage like I know what you did last summer, etc etc. Scream was pretty much the only good slasher in the past decade, and that was mostly because it refused to take itself seriously.

The reason I’m discussing this is because I watched REC again, with friends, and everyone thought it was pretty scary. Dan actually jumped a few times, and jokes were kept to a minimum save for an awesome “that’s what she said” reference. Oh, and a paris hilton reference. But I implore anyone who might ever read this, see the movie. It scared the shit outta me when I watched it alone. Watch it, and realize that a movie doesn’t have to do anything new to scare you, it just has to do it well. And I don’t think any of it was off limits.

I’m rambling now, so i’ll let y’all go. But i need to see a few more scary movies- it really would make my day.