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Animated Meat

Junk Drawer of the Universe
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Huy Fong Foods Outside

Huy Fong Foods Factory Tour

November 7, 2019

According to a recent report by CNN, the golden era of manufacturing jobs in America occurred during the 1970’s.  1979 was the high water mark when almost a quarter of working Americans picked up a paycheck in exchange for spending their waking hours in a factory. Despite all our Commander in Chief’s bluster, only about eight percent are employed in manufacturing. How times have changed.  Where have all of the factory jobs gone? Some have moved overseas, some have been lost due to automation, and still others have been automated overseas. The grim reality of the economy of the twenty-first century is that the types of jobs that gave rise to the American middle class are gone and will not be coming back.  Because the workplace is so different in the twenty-first century, the average American seeing the inside of a factory has become as quaint as picking apples or dipping tallow candles.

Family at Huy Fong Foods
Hairnets

Dedicated to seeking out novelty, Animated Meat’s opportunity for a factory tour came courtesy of some nasty local politics.  Huy Fong Foods, parent company of Sriracha sauce has called Irwindale, California home since 2010. One can only speculate what lead up to it, but company owner David Tran to run afoul of the city council and found himself in a good old fashioned pissing contest with the powers that be.   Rather than caving into their demands, the powerhouse behind Sriracha sauce chose to take the city council on and open his factory to the public. By allowing the curious see how their favorite condiment is produced, he pulled a public relations maneuver that caused the city council to back off and made them look like shameless politicians shaking down a local business owner.  

Family and Mr Tran
Lions

Tours go on all year long, but Animated Meat was lucky enough to secure a visit during their annual chili grinding festival.  Once a year, they take delivery of their chilis and grind their entire supply until the next season. After donning a hair net, we filed in behind a few Chinese lions and hundreds of devoted Sriracha fans.  Maybe because of the sheer volume of the drummers combined with the grinding equipment, the company did not employ a blazer clad tour guide to fill our heads with company propaganda. As a result, we were able to experience the factory on our own terms and make our own judgements.  The bottom line is that Huy Fong Foods is a massive operation and like any other manufacturer in America, the steady creep of automation is everywhere.  

Matilda and the roller
Big

For the time being, Huy Fong Foods still employ human workers to do the manual labor required to produce Sriracha sauce. There they were, running pallet jacks overflowing with red jalapeno chilis and pounding lids onto blue barrels full of chili paste.  These are people who are trading their time and labor in order to provide for their families. However, the majority of the production could be done in the dark. No human hands touch the bottles as they rocket down the line to be fitted with a trademark green lid, boxed, and packed onto a pallet by eager robots who never ask for time off to attend parent-teacher conferences.  

Loading the chilis
The last human factory workers

Despite the lions and the drummers, it became difficult to determine exactly what we were celebrating.  While our visit had all the trappings of an event that seemed doggone festive, one can’t happen to wonder about the fate of the last American workers who find their way into a factory job.  How long will it be before the last American factory workers are sent home once and for all and an army of robots produce everything from Sriracha sauce to Chevy Tahoes?

All robots from here
Jacque and the machines


This post was based on a visit on September 28, 2019.

Huy Fong Foods

4800 Azusa Canyon Road

Irwindale, CA 91706

626 286-8328

Are you interested in other incredible food experiences? Pay a visit to Tio’s Tacos in Riverside.





In travel Tags animated meat, ed richter, irwindale, california, southern, southern california, san gabriel valley, huy fong foods, david tran, sriracha, sriracha sauce, factory, factory tour, chili grinding
Audrey and matilda

Madame Tussauds Hollywood

September 28, 2019

Just a few winters past, the pathway to fame was paved with years of hard work and dedication to a dream.  While fame was elusive, those who managed to achieve it did so by acquiring a skill that set them apart from the crowd. It used to be that famous people could actually do something worth commanding attention. However, as we close out the beginning of the twenty-first century, the American Empire awakes to a morning where fame no longer has the scarcity it once did.   Alarming as it may be, the traditional mechanisms that served as a vetting process to claim one of those coveted spots on Hollywood Squares have broken down. Technology has transformed fame into a commodity as readily available as a pack of Tic Tacs.  Anyone with the ability to speak into a cell phone can command the eyes of millions. It would appear that as the polar ice caps melt, so to do the restrictions required to earn the title of celebrity.  

Matilda and judy
Matilda and john

On demand attention creates a problem.  If notoriety is as cheap and readily available as it has come to be, how will the people of these United States make a distinction between those who are merely well known and those who are real, honest to god celebrities?  If the ability to be recognized by strangers on the street becomes available to everybody, how will our super stars set themselves apart? As our great civilization stumbles into the immediate future, it is entirely possible that the one last status symbols will be frozen in wax at Madame Tussauds.

Matilda and alfred
Robert, paul, and matilda

Madame Tussauds is an institution that has been immortalizing the revered since the time of Marie Antionette.  The Hollywood location sits in the heart of Tinseltown, right next to Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Inside are actors and directors from the golden area of film along with a scattering of pop stars.  Built for the people, the museum provides plebs with an opportunity from a thrill and a picture with the stars. As one of the last temples of celebrity in the modern world, Madame Tussauds is filled with replicas of entertainers who achieved the title in the old fashioned sense. 

Matilda and demi
Matilda and beyonce

In celebration of their storied achievements, each wax figure requires four months worth of work from a team of twenty artisans. The process begins with a series of careful measurements of the star and then progresses through casting. From there, it’s off to hair, makeup, and costuming.  Finally, the celebrity’s doppelgänger is ready to go out on display and be worshiped by legions of adoring fans. The fact that so much goes into the production of one of these figures makes it seem unlikely that in the short term, the same resources involved would be devoted to celebrating an Instagram model or some twenty-year old dude who produces prank videos on YouTube.

Matilda and kiley

However, do not think for an instant that the huns will forever be held at bay.  Posted just outside the entrance stands Kylie Jenner, a young lady who earned her ticket to fame by being a supporting member of a basic cable ensemble.  She’s gathered enough likes to get the star treatment at Madame Tussauds, but is technically not inside yet. She stands vigilant near the entrance, ready to jam a Jimmy Chu in the door and open the place up for the inevitable wave of YouTubers and Instagrammers who will follow. She waits patiently for her moment when she can crack the gate for her mob and displace the collection of Hollywood icons interred inside.

Bela and matilda
Sly and matilda
Matilda and jennifer


This post is based on a visit to Madame Tussauds Hollywood on June 26, 2019.

Madame Tussauds Hollywood

6933 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

323 798-1670

Interested in the cult of celebrity? Don’t miss a visit to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

In travel, museum Tags madame tussauds, hollywood, wax museum, museum, photo opportunity, california, southern california, southern, ed richter, animated meat, celebrity, cult of celebrity, hollywood boulevard, hollywood and highland
Big rabbit

Bunnyhenge

June 18, 2019

Perched on a clearing high above the Newport Beach Civic Center reside a collection of white magician’s rabbits. Carved from stone and arranged in a circle, locals have taken to calling the attraction Bunnyhenge.  While a rabbit hardly seems to be the kind of creature capable of striking fear in a person’s heart, these bunnies have a history of striking discord among those to have had the courage to visit them. How could carvings of one the most benign creatures on the planet be so divisive?  While not one to succumb to superstition, it would appear that there is some powerful magic occurring on the lawn above Newport’s city hall.

The view from above

Prior to visiting, I was under the impression that Bunnyhenge was an art installation.  However, after conducting some preliminary research, I was not able to determine a specific purpose for their existence.  According to some reports reviewed, it appears that the good people of Newport Beach opted to have the rabbits installed in the clearing as opposed to purchasing off-the-shelf tot lot.  This would seem to suggest that Bunnyhenge is actually a one-of-a-kind playground.

Magic circle of rabbits

Yet, even that description does not entirely encapsulate the purpose that they serve.  One consistent thread that is echoed throughout the reports by publications both big and small is that they came with a staggering price tag.  Apparently, it costs a pretty penny to have fourteen vigilant rabbits standing guard over Newport Beach’s seat of power. Knowing the cost actually drove one local politician to his breaking point.  In a disturbing video, former city councilman Scott Peotter went as far as to promise his constituents that he would blow them up if elected. Thankfully, Bunnyhenge has been able to outlast the misguided Mr. Peotter’s career in politics.  While the majority of those who have vocalized their displeasure in the cost of the project do not arrive at the extreme end of the spectrum where he resides, it would indicate to some, that Bunnyhenge is nothing more than a government boondoggle.  

Another view

The fact that the rabbits defy description begs the question, what is Bunnyhenge?  Is it art? Is it a playground? Is it nothing more than an overpriced city project?  After seeing it first hand, I can say tell you it’s all of those things. And, at the same time, it’s none of those things.  I return from Newport Beach to inform my dear readers that it is so much more. Quite remarkably, Bunnyhenge is a Rorschach test.  Anyone daring enough to look into the circle of white rabbits will have his own biases echoed back at him.

Up close

When I went and took a look at Bunnyhenge, I saw a saga of local politics played out on the lawn.  I saw a city council courageous enough to install some white rabbits in an affluent and conservative neighborhood.  The rabbits served no greater purpose than to bring joy to children. Unlike Disneyland, were are no parking fees or admission fees to come see them.  As a result, the rabbits did nothing to broaden the tax base. Any unwashed plebs mobile enough to get to the civic center would be able to see them. As a result, the citizenry of Newport Beach labeled a blight.   To counteract the magnetic draw of Bunnyhenge, the new city council opted to install a real piece of art, one that anybody could understand, not just these New York City types do. The result? A life sized bronze statue of business-friendly, Republican hero, president Ronald Reagan who now stands in triumphant opposition just a stone’s throw away from Bunnyhenge.

Reagan and the rabbits

However, for those of you bold enough to make the trek, I can tell you that after realizing the magic of Bunnyhenge, the spell dissipates and they can be seen for what they truly are;  fourteen sweet white rabbits, arranged in a circle, perched in a park on a lawn, high above the Newport Civic Center.

This post was based on a visit to Bunnyhenge on May, 29, 2019

Newport Beach Civic Center

100 Civic Center Drive

Newport Beach, CA 92660

 949 644-3309

Passing through Orange County? If you want to see something iconic, spend the day at Knott’s Berry Farm. If you’re looking for something more off the beaten path, take a look at M and M Nursery.




In travel Tags orange county, southern california, california, southern, newport beach, bunnyhenge, ed richter, animated meat, bunny henge, scott peotter, newport beach civic center, roadside attraction
Family at sand dunes

Dreamland Safari - Ultimate Kanab Tour

May 31, 2019

The good people of the West Coast pride ourselves on social progress.  We’ve figured out a few things a half-tick faster than the rest of the country and have allowed ourselves to believe that we’re somehow more elevated than our neighbors to the east.  As I see it, the problem is that we have put ourselves in a righteous position that lacks the exact kind of serious self-examination we wish the rest of the country would engage in. The reality is that out west, we are just as guilty of lazy thinking as anyone, anywhere else.  Take for example our liberal use of the term “fly over country” to describe the majority of the United States.

Mouse tracks
Downtime

While not scientifically measured, it would appear that any semi-arid patch of our nation that is not currently hosting a music or arts festival would qualify as fly over country.  Sparsely populated and filled with wide open space, Southern Utah is exactly one of those places that my self-righteous brothers and sisters of the coast would dismiss. This part of our great land is so rugged and unforgiving that it was the last part of the lower 48 to be mapped.  After returning from a recent trip there, I would like to offer a piece of advice to my neighbors who would characterize it so harshly. Keep flying over it.

20190401_102425.jpg
Lots of dirt
Red dirt

Over spring break, we took the kids into Kanab, Utah.  Kanab is a small desert town of 5000 that lies about 200 miles north of Las Vegas.  Situated in the Grand Staircase National Monument and surrounded by BLM land, it is perfectly positioned to use as a home base for any visitor to the area.  Kanab is central to three national parks; Zion, Bryce, and the northern rim of the Grand Canyon. In addition, its proximity puts it and only an hour north of Page, Arizona, home up the Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon, as well as Lake Powell.  Aside from the parks and Instagram famous locations, the town is ringed by some incredibly wild country that deserves further exploration. Thanks to the good people with Dreamland Safari Tours, we were able to do just that.

Mai on the way to petroglyphs
Looking at petroglyphs
Petroglyph
Orion and petroglyphs

We booked a tour with Dreamland Safari based off a recommendation.  It ended up being a great choice because it opened up the land to us.  We would not have seen half of what we did without our guide Orion and his very reliable Suburban.  Satellite phone equipped, his four wheeler allowed us to see places we would have never had access to.  Over the course of five stops, we were able to spend time playing in sand dunes, learn about the formation of sandstone, see ancient petroglyphs, spent lots of climbing, saw two of the steps in the Grand Staircase, and wandered through an empty slot canyon.  It was a wide open wilderness completely devoid of online influencers trying to get that perfect photo.

Throwing rocks in a puddle
Climbing sandstone
Going as high as he can
Mai taking in the view

Our kids were able to have a kind of fun around Kanab that they would have missed out on back home.  Aside from being able to play with plenty of dirt over the course of the day, they also got to have some real world-opening experiences.  Since the majority of the sights we went to were well off paved roads, they were able to travel up sand washes. As we drove from location to location, they were able to spot mule deer zipping across our path.   During lunch in the Ponderosa Grove Campground, they entertained themselves with the unsophisticated delight of throwing rocks into a puddle. At the end of the day, they spent some time searching for fossils.

Mai in the slot
View from below

After taking the tour with Dreamland Safari, my knee jerk reaction would be to go out and convince my fellow coastal elites to get out of California and take a look around.  However, the more prudent position would be to let them keep their limited outlook, The countryside is so pristine that bringing narrow minded people in would be a waste of time.

Kids in the slot
Family in the slot

This entry was based on a visit to the area surrounding Kanab, Utah on April 1, 2019

People interested in visiting should contact Dreamland Safari.  We took the Ultimate Kanab Tour.

4350 E Mountain View Drive

Kanab, UT 84741

435 644-5506

Can get enough dust? When in Nevada, visit Valley of Fire State Park.







In travel Tags utah, southern, southern utah, ed richter, animated meat, grand staircase, blm land, kanab, zion, bryce, dreamland safair, slot canyon, sandstone, fly over country, desert, hiking, petroglyphs
Portrait of the artist forgetting about landscape mode.

Portrait of the artist forgetting about landscape mode.

USS Iowa - San Pedro, California

March 8, 2019

Despite the blue skies and the warm weather, a visit to the USS Iowa is hardly a care-free trip to the seaside. Billed as a floating museum, the decommissioned battleship serves as a sobering reminder of the real cost of being a free country.  At first glance, the ship seems massive as it rises high above its dock and lords over the harbor. Even in peacetime, the Iowa was intended to be a dramatic show of force brandishing no less than nine, sixteen-inch guns. Once a part of United States diplomacy, battleships were the big stick that Teddy Roosevelt was referring to.  Moored in San Pedro, California, it now serves as a permanent display and a reminder of the sacrifices people have made to uphold the ideals upon which the United States was founded.

Jacque on the gangway
Sixteen inch guns

Before climbing aboard, the Iowa seems mountainous.  However, its size becomes unbelievably small when one moves through the tight spaces and steep staircases.  Cramped and unwelcoming, the warren of walkways really help to provide a context for the daily demands a sailor faed that a history book cannot.  The reality of what it means to serve became all too evident when touring the ship.

A hell of a shell
Jacque looking nautical

Sailors on the Iowa sacrificed comfort and any level of personal autonomy.    At 800 feet long and 100 feet wide, this ship was everything to them. This is where they ate.  This is where they slept. This is where they stood watch and fought. This is where they dreamed about being back home.  This is quite possibly the place where they had the best and the worst moments of their lives. Sailors woke up, stacked three high in their bunks.  From that moment on, they did not have a second of personal privacy. During World War II, a full crew was more than 2000 people strong. It is clear that to serve on a battleship would mean being jammed in shoulder to shoulder. Creature comforts like personal space and privacy we non existent as they put themselves deliberately in harm's way as they pushed back against Fascism and Imperialism.  Far from home, sailing through the dark nights, being tossed by rough seas as they pursued their enemies, there was no guarantee that they would ever see home again. The Iowa saw combat all through the Pacific, even managing to survive two kamikaze attacks. The level of trust those crews had to have for each other is staggering to consider. The only way that any of them would be able to get home would be if each and every one of them did his job.  

Going inside
Captains quarters

The mission of those first crews wasn’t much different from many of those sailors who followed.  Peacetime service did not mean any less danger. In 1989, the Iowa became one of the worst non-combat disasters when 47 sailors died, killed by an explosion in one of the turrets.  Despite the risks of personal safety, the hope of any of those crews was that their sacrifice would help preserve the security of their home, a place where the citizens created a government dedicated to preserving their freedoms.  The fact that the democratic experiment continues to exist for almost 250 years is in large part because of the men and women who are willing to put their lives on hold and to criss cross the globe in an attempt to help generations of people who they would never meet.

Gun

Considering the human cost, it's no wonder why when coming aboard the USS Iowa, every visitor is asked if he or she served.  Service members have their names and dates of service announced over the loudspeakers. It is a welcome home and a small gesture of thanks to others who have given years of their lives to be in similar situations. While it may be a small thing it did not go unnoticed.

Iron clad
On the bridge
A bite to eat
Jacque and teak

This post was written after a visit to the USS Iowa on August 12, 2018.

USS Iowa

250 S Harbor Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90731

877 446-9261

Looking for other places with big machinery? When in Sacramento, pay a visit to The California State Railroad Museum.

In travel Tags san pedro, uss iowa, ed richter, animated meat, california, southern california, southern, museum, navy, world war ii, battleship
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