fact
5 Ways to Prepare for Old Age When You’re Young
It’s not fun to prepare for the inevitable, but it’s important—and you don’t need to be over 60 to start planning.
New Law Aims to Transform Paris Into an Urban Jungle
Citizens are encouraged to grow gardens on walls, fences, and rooftops.
No—you're crying!
October 11, 2016 – 6:05am
October 11, 2016 – 12:45pm
Just about any barista will tell you that you should be grinding your own coffee beans—with a decent burr grinder, no less. But let’s face it, for some of us, that $100 grinder and the extra few minutes of prep time is a bit too much of an investment for our morning coffee routine. Besides, different coffee-brewing methods require different types of grind, and for the uninitiated, it’s hard to eyeball what exactly constitutes an appropriately coarse or fine grind.
Luckily, there are a couple of new ground coffee options that promise to make your home-brewed coffee just a little bit better, even if true coffee snobs will be able to taste that your beans were ground more than five minutes ago.
Perhaps the most highbrow pre-ground coffee you can buy right now comes from Blue Bottle, the Oakland-based coffee company that has a legion of cultish Silicon Valley devotees. The company is so dedicated to the quality of its coffees that its baristas refuse to grind the beans you buy in-store for you, but Blue Bottle recently debuted Perfectly Ground, a line of single-serving ground coffee packets that purport to taste just as good as if the beans were ground seconds before you began brewing. Right after the beans come out of the grinder, the coffee is sealed up in a packet in the proprietary, zero-oxygen environment of a California warehouse Blue Bottle calls “the dome.” The lack of oxygen keeps the coffee from going stale.
Screenshot via Blue Bottle
According to Co.Design, the company eventually wants to sell two- and four-serving Perfectly Ground packages, but for now, it’s all single-serve. Each packet costs $3.50, or $17.50 for a five-pack, meaning that making your coffee at home might be more expensive than getting a cup from your local coffee shop. But if you’re camping or live in a place where you can’t get a third-wave coffee pour-over easily (and that’s the taste you’re after), it might be worth it.
Meanwhile, if you’re a little less neurotic (or a little more stingy) about your at-home coffee routine, Gevalia’s new special reserve coffees are a step up from the rest of the ground coffee you’ll find on grocery store shelves.
The pre-ground, single-origin coffees come in two different grinds to provide a slightly more precise brewing process. The Guatemalan coffee, for instance, is a coarse grind designed for a French press (finely ground coffee can pass through the filter and clog your press). The Kenyan coffee is finely ground for a pour-over or a drip coffee maker. It’s idiot-proof, too—if you see a picture of a French press on the bag, that’s what you should use to make the coffee inside.
Gevalia
Just how much does the technique you choose matter? In a taste test in the mental_floss offices, we made the Gevalia Guatemala coffee using two different processes—the recommended French press way, and using a pour-over. Though both cups were drinkable as a morning pick-me-up, the coffee was obviously better when it came out of the French press. The resulting brew was brighter and clearer, while the pour-over process left the coffee tasting a little bit muddled. It was fine, but it needed milk, while the French press version was delicious on its own.
If you’re a true coffee snob, pre-ground coffee will never live up to the taste of a bean that you just crushed in your burr grinder. But if you can’t stomach the idea of paying more than $50 for a piece of coffee equipment, a slightly elevated version of pre-ground coffee is a solid option.
October 11, 2016 – 12:30pm
Beyond Meat/YouTube
Artificial meat is one step closer to joining the ranks of beef, chicken, and other mainstream protein sources. As The New York Times reports, corporate giant Tyson now owns a 5 percent stake in Beyond Meat, a food company that specializes in meat substitutes engineered from plant products.
Patties sold under the Beyond Meat label aren’t your typical veggie burgers. When slapped on the grill, the exterior becomes dark brown and the inside stays pink and juicy (they’re often described as burgers that “bleed”). They also produce a line of convincing Beyond Chicken strips that have made a believer out of self-professed carnivore Alton Brown.
Unlike other vegan products made with tofu, tempeh, or other meat substitutes, Beyond Meat foods are formulated to mimic texture as well as taste. Ingredients like pea proteins and vegetable fats are folded together to create something reminiscent of the fibrous, toothsome consistency of meat—a quality that’s sorely missing from most vegan products on the market.
The Beyond Burger has already found success at Whole Foods, but this latest investment could help the product reach a wider market. Michele Simon of the Plant Based Foods Association tells The New York Times this is the first she’s heard of a major traditional meat producer taking stake in a plant-based company. Tyson is the largest meat processor in America, accounting for 24 percent of the U.S. beef packing industry in 2014. Their interest in alternative meat indicates a shift away from viewing vegan food as a specialty health item towards treating it as, in Beyond Meat’s own words, a “mass-market solution.”
[h/t The New York Times]
Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.
October 11, 2016 – 12:15pm
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is on the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It is the second of the two “High Holy Days,” following Rosh Hashanah at the beginning of that month.
It is the only major Jewish observance where those over the age of 13 are required to fast for an entire day. As with all Jewish holidays and observances, it begins in the evening and ends 25 hours later. The day is traditionally spent mostly in prayer, with sessions of Bible study and discussions. Pledges are made to each other, and to God, about being one’s best self.
The fast is not only from food and drink, but also from sexual relations, wearing leather, or using perfumes. In Biblical times, these last two items were marks of wealthier people, and so today humble dress, as well as humble attitudes, are part of the observance.
Technically, the name is plural. All the confessions are done as a community, and chanted in the first person plural: “We have sinned.” This public ritual is said to create a supportive and bonding experience.
In the days leading up to Yom Kippur, people have asked for forgiveness from all their loved ones. One cannot ask for God’s forgiveness, the main point of the day’s activities, until one has been forgiven by the humans involved.
There are several lists of sins, all in Hebrew alphabetical order, forming acrostics. In modernity, some very clever writers have translated them into English and largely kept the alphabetical order; for example, a recitation would go along the lines of “We have abused, betrayed, been cruel, destroyed, embittered others,” etc. Almost all of these sins are about the ways people treat each other, not how they treat God: violence, rushing to judgment, lack of compassion, indifference to evil, etc.
In the Biblical era, two goats were chosen by lotteries. One was ritually sacrificed to atone for the sins of the people, and the other, as an act of purification, was driven off into the wilderness, and some say over a cliff. This was, of course, the “scape-goat.”
In addition to fasting as a display of true repentance and to create a less worldly focus, the experience of truly being hungry is supposed to arouse maximum compassion for the poor. It is traditional to make a charitable donation of at least the amount one would have spent for one’s family that day.
This evening service has a special name: Kol Nidrei, which is also the name of the most important Yom Kippur evening prayer. In it, God is asked to annul and forgive all oaths made under pressure. This is a reference to the religious oaths made in eras when Jews were forced to convert, usually to Christianity, or die.
Since the Holocaust, Jews light a memorial candle for the six million who perished, as well as for departed relatives.
It is customary to wear all white as a symbol of purity and of a new start. Even the Torah scrolls have special white mantles (coverings) for the High Holy Days. Traditionally, men (and in modern times, women) wear a plain white robe over their clothing, called a kittel. This is worn again for the Passover seder, and is the garment in which they are later buried.
It is said that in the Biblical era, during the late afternoon of Yom Kippur, the unmarried maidens would dance in the forest clearings, and the unmarried young men would watch, hoping to know which was meant to be his bride.
October 11, 2016 – 12:00pm
You already know Jane Fonda has a fitness empire, but there are a slew of other celebrity exercise videos lurking out there—some of which might surprise you. Give one a shot; at the very least, you’ll be entertained while you work out.
Thanks to her roles as Mrs. Potts, Jessica Fletcher, and Auntie Mame, Angela Lansbury has Tony Awards, Golden Globes, a Grammy, and an honorary Academy Award under her belt. She’s also got a workout video, released in 1988: Angela Lansbury’s Positive Moves: A Personal Plan for Fitness and Well-Being at Any Age.
Want abs like Mark Wahlberg? Well, as he points out in the video, you might not ever have them. But you can give it a shot with his 1993 video Form… Focus… Fitness.
Estelle Getty made a workout video. What else do you need to know?
Want the confidence to wear Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” outfit? You can start with her workout videos. The singer and actress released her first video, CherFitness: A New Attitude, in 1991. It was a big hit, so in 1992, she released another one: CherFitness: Body Confidence.
There’s no doubt about it—for a guy in his mid-80s, Regis looks amazing. And he wants you to know how he did it! This 1993 gem is notable for its guest appearances alone (Kathie Lee and Gelman)!
Capitalizing on her Who’s the Boss fame, then-teen sensation Alyssa Milano filmed a 1988 workout video called Teen Steam. “It was during the time when they started to pull all funding out of schools for [physical education], so there was a need for it,” the actress said in 2015. Milano also sang the theme song for the video.
Julia Sugarbaker can help you limber up with her Unworkout. Even if you’re not into her brand of yoga (check out “The Lion”), you have to admit that any type of exercise is more charming when accompanied by a Southern accent.
Uncle Miltie may have been one of the funniest comedians in Hollywood, but losing mobility and flexibility as you age is no laughing matter. That’s why he released this 1994 video that combines humor (kind of) with a low-impact workout.
Following the success of her remix album Shut Up and Dance, Paula Abdul made her Get Up and Dance workout video in 1995—and it was popular enough to be re-released as a DVD in 2005.
The early ’90s were a goldmine for celebrity workout videos. Step Up Workout with LaToya Jackson was released in 1993—and the three people who have reviewed it on Amazon give it positively glowing reviews.
You may never have Fabio’s luscious locks, but if you follow along with his 1993 video, you could get his rippling muscles. OK, probably not.
The 1990 video Heather Locklear Presents Your Personal Workout was filmed after she found fame on T.J. Hooker and Dynasty, but before her turn as Amanda Woodward on Melrose Place. “I had never taken aerobics before and I was doing an aerobics video,” Locklear told Conan O’Brien in 2013. “They have a little earpiece in your ear, and they’re like, ‘Alright two to the right, two to the left.'”
Among Richard Simmons’ impressive lineup of workout videos is a gem called Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes, geared, obviously, at fitness for seniors. His guinea pigs? Celebrity parents. Among the illustrious moms and dads are Sylvester Stallone and Farrah Fawcett’s moms and Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino’s dads. Watch Richard and a few of his Silver Foxes promote the new video on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986 above.
She can turn the world on with her 1994 low-impact workout, Every Woman’s Workout.
When you’re Zsa Zsa Gabor, you don’t actually have to work out. You just hire “two muscley friends” in tank tops to move your body around in various exercise positions for you while you purr “Dahhhhling.”
You might expect a video by a boxing champion to involve boxing, but you would be wrong. George Foreman’s workout is geared more toward the everyman and invites you to just Walk It Off With George. He adds a little jab here and there, and does something dubbed “the Foreman Shuffle,” but for the most part keeps it pretty low-key.
The former star of All in the Family made a video in 1988 extolling the virtues of walking using the “Balboa Fitness Walking Technique,” a type of speedwalking.
The actress channeled her interest in spiritualism and metaphysics into this 1989 video, Shirley MacLaine’s Inner Workout. (Don’t miss Part 2.)
October 11, 2016 – 10:00am
Tuesday, October 11, 2016 – 10:00