Inspiration/Story ideas

Andy D

Raiders - An Appreciation

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Andy D

Amusement We've probably all got a little bit of Alan Partridge in us, haven't we?

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Pamela Jo

Pamela Jo

Full Member
Oct 26, 2021
Wexford, Ireland
My facebook page is bizarro Pinterest because I'm always finding batshit things I have to share. I thought it might be fun to have a thread for things you run across doing research or just meeting humans and think-Hmm there's a story there. File the Keeper ideas somewhere else, of course. To start off-someone who I WISH I was related to and could count as a lifelong influence: Pteradactyl expert and bat woman, Cherry Bramwell.

 
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Sparkling Red Native American Corn saved by Moonshiners. ittle over a century ago, an ancient Native American corn species made its way from Appalachia to the islands of Charleston, South Carolina.
It was brought there by bootleggers, who encouraged the local farmers to make their own moonshine from it, as its cinnamon-spice flavor like nothing they’d ever tasted before.
Soon enough it was named “Jimmy Red“ after James Island, where it was known to be sold in back alleys.
Up until “the 1980s, you used to be able to go to James Island, and, if you knew the right people, they’d sell you delicious food out their backdoor kitchen and you’d get a jar of Jimmy Red hooch with it,” Glenn Roberts, founder of heirloom seed company Anson Mills, told NPR.
“I knew the hooch, but I never knew the corn.”
The corn was revived in the early 2000’s by High Wire Distilling Co, after the last two cobs on earth were found on the land of the last known bootlegger of the corn.
When he died “the corn almost died with him. Two ears were rescued from his plot and gifted to celebrated local farmer and seed saver Ted Chewning.” NPR reports.
Chewning grew the kernels and shared the seeds with organic growers including Glen Roberts of Anson Mills.
In 2014, Roberts put his goods on display for the owner of High Wire Distilling Co., Scott Blackwell.
Of Roberts’ 50 varieties of heirloom corn, Blackwell wanted to know “which one makes the best whiskey?”
“Jimmy Red,” Roberts answered without hesitation.
“I’ll write a grant check to Clemson University to grow that one then,” Blackwell decided.
And the rest is history.
Clemson University research scientist Brian Ward, who specializes in bringing old seed lines back from near extinction, grew 2.5 acres that year.
“Right away I could tell it was very different,” Blackwell says of tasting his first batch. “Super earthy. Super sweet. Like banana laffy taffy.”
“It doesn’t smell corny at all,” he told The Daily Beast. “It’s got this three-inch oil cap on it, it’s got this purplish red color to it.”
His first 570 bottles of “Jimmy Red” bourbon sold out in 11 minutes.
In 2015, Blackwell grew 14 acres of the special corn. In 2016, he grew 65 acres, and in 2017, he grew 85 acres. He now produces over half a million pounds of Jimmy Red corn per year.
Blackwell and Roberts have since made a pilgrimage to Oaxaca, Mexico to learn more about the origins and genetics of the corn. They learned ancient Native American “dent” corn first arrived in Southeastern North America 2000 years ago. They also learned it’s full of beta-carotene, which gives it its unique flavor. Sparkling Red Native American Corn Saved from Extinction By Bootlegging Moonshiners
 
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Hannah F said:
Of course there are fairies :fairy:
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I found a book written in the late 40's that details contemporary accounts of experiences with fairies In Ireland. Beings you want to watch your step with. When we first came to Wexford I spent about 2 hours taking publicity pictures of horses and riders in different costumes. A few came out with lights sequentially by a certain tree. Cloudy Jan. day-no explanation from my camera. I think they were curious why the Normans had returned.
 

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. Like the Veronica Guerlain story. It's been open season on journalists around the world for about 50 years, tracking the rise of totalitarianism. Jewish reporters whom I know, were attacked in Trump's rise to candidacy as the KKK allied with Europe's neonazis. A good story there.
 
MattScho said:
I'm feeling a little ripped off. the irish weddings I've attended haven't gotten much more organized than the chicken dance
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In Ireland or the US? Americans aren't Irish. The Irish will make that very plain. The funerals in Ireland are much more fun than the weddings.
 
My son is in The North Man coming out in April. He plays the son's bodyguard. All 3 of the men in my family lecture at the Leeds International Medieval Conference mostly about
horses and arms and armour. This review from a Viking archeologist is a sample of the kind of thing I live with. Historical fiction writers have to realise their readers are going to be this detailed in their reading.

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Andy D

Raiders - An Appreciation

  • Andy D
  • Replies: 16
Andy D

Amusement We've probably all got a little bit of Alan Partridge in us, haven't we?

  • Andy D
  • Replies: 2
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