The Rebel Palate

(Click here to jump to the recommended song, Comu si Beddra by Angelo Daddelli & i Picciotti!) Ciao, ribelli. Gangster media is a staple of American pop culture. Everybody knows about The Sopranos, The Godfather and Goodfellas. Sometimes we sympathize with Mob characters or fantasize about being in their shoes. They have just about every status symbol- money, power, and ways of showing their money and power. Plus people have a morbid fascination with crime. But at the end of the day, we don't want to catch ourselves thinking we like the Mafia. In real life, they're real trouble. And forget about joining them- even the movies can tell you it's not a good idea. The victims are real, but in Sicily, they're taking a stand. Addiopizzo (or "Goodbye Pizzo"), is a nonprofit organization based in Sicily. They have a travel service and an online store . They partner with local businesses that refuse to pay the pizzo, or...

I've been confused about this for four years: WHY is maple syrup a fall flavor?! It's harvested in early spring! Well, I SORT of get an answer. (Click here to jump to the recommended song, Minnie The Moocher by Cab Calloway!) Howdy, rebels! Today I set out to answer a question nobody asked. In 2017, I noticed sudden mentions of maple syrup as a fall flavor. This confused the crap outta me. "But maple syrup is for early spring! Why is it a fall thing all of a sudden?" I asked. Now that this blog exists, I set out to find the answer, which turned out to be a lot of answers. Mostly guesses. We'll get to that. Prior to any research, I assumed it was something to do with location and availability. Since maple syrup is high in sugar, it keeps well and is available year-round. Perhaps leaf peepers come up here and buy maple syrup in fall, then associate the flavor with the season. I'm not satisfied with that answer...

Happy Labor Day, rebels. In the first part, I found out not only are Biggy Iggy and Chewy Louie still around, they’re at Richmond Market of Richmond, Vermont. (Click here to jump to the recommended song, "The Swag" by Link Wray and his Ray Men!) Happy Labor Day, rebels. In the first part, I found out not only are Biggy Iggy and Chewy Louie still around, they’re at Richmond Market of Richmond, Vermont. And that using Google instead of DuckDuckGo and just letting the store’s website load would have gotten me that information much faster. The Biggy Iggy is a whopping seven ounce, 530 calorie ice cream sandwich that brags about its “premium vanilla ice cream” between two chocolate-chip cookies that stay chewy right out of the freezer. They also get a lot of hype by the people who have had them before. According to the Flash Microsite, one convenience store cashier said “Biggy Iggies sell like flapjacks on a cold morning in Wisconsin.” The people of Massachusetts...

(Click here to jump to the recommended song, Pickpocket by Brian Setzer!)   Howdy Rebels, Kat here with an important update on The Quest For The Biggy Iggy. The mission is a go! My family and I are going on a road trip to Vermont to get our hands on the fabled ice cream sandwiches. I will post my review on Monday, September 6th, AKA Labor Day. You may have read Part One and wondered, "Why go all the way to Vermont when you can order them on Richmond Market's website ?" An excellent question, dear rebels. As Wordgirl's best villain, Dr. Two-Brains so eloquently puts it:     The linear way feels too easy. Sure I can order the Biggy Iggys online, but so can anybody. I wanna make it a journey. Plus, conventionality gives me hives. I've also found the .swf file for the Biggy Iggy and Chewie Louie microsite!   Here's a video demonstration.     I also uploaded the .swf file to my Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KO7Jssdg3lEuYQGvU8f5k1hTNcYvMMb5/view...

(Click here to jump to the recommended song, the Sam and Max Office Theme by Jared Emerson-Johnson!) I leaned back in my chair with my feet on my desk and my fedora over my face. I was contemplating the disappearance of someone well-known in his neck of the woods. Went by the name of Biggy Iggy.  He was the face of a line of ice cream sandwiches, a big hit in Massachusetts and Vermont. He was a big fella with a big smile, great hair and a winning personality.  He was often seen with his kooky partner in crime, Chewy Louie, but for some unknown reason the two of them vanished. Just disappeared off the face of the earth. No goodbyes- and the craziest part was, no one seemed to notice. I saw a picture of Iggy once, on a wrapper to one of his fine products. Found it on the side of the road in ‘17 or ‘18. But I threw it away when I got home. Never saw it again. It was a shame. Something about him really clicked with me. Maybe it was his old-school style. Woulda liked to meet the gu...