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(10/16/18 10:00am)
by Tt Shinkan
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
Imagine being able to sample warm chocolate pudding from Ireland and then walking over to India to try some Madras red curry. This sounds totally impossible, right? In hindsight it is, but at Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival, this impossible fantasy is a possible reality.
Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival is an annual event starting in late August and runs until mid-November. Every year the dates change slightly, but 2018’s dates are August 30 to November 12. The festival celebrates the culinary diversity of food from around the world with 21 booths from different countries serving up dishes and drinks unique to that area. Additionally, there are another 21 food booths offering unique food items relating to cheese, chocolate, seafood, smoked meats and poutine, just to name a few. All of the booths are located around Epcot but you’ll find most of them, fittingly, around World Showcase.
My sister's fall break landed on the same weekend as mine and my parents decided we should all travel to Walt Disney World for a small vacation. We’ve been to the festival before when I was a freshman in high school and my sister was in 7th grade, so we all knew it was time for us to return to our favorite Disney event. I also just turned 21 this year so I was very excited to try both the foods and adult beverages these countries had to offer. Okay, I was more excited for the food since I’m a huge foodie.
We went to the festival twice. Once on our first night we were there and then once on our last day. My dad is huge on smoking meats, so we obviously stopped at the “Flavors from Fire” booth. This booth played with the idea of fire. This meant the food was either cooked using fire or smoke or had a spicy taste to it. We tried the pork wings with a Korean BBQ and sesame seed glaze. I’ve had pork wings before, but these were, by far, the best pork wings I’ve ever had. They fell right off the bone and were juicy and flavorful.
Other food items we tried were Greek nachos and spanakopita (spa-na-ko-pi-ta), which my grandmother makes all the time and is a personal favorite of mine, from Greece; crispy pork belly with black beans, tomato and onions and Moqueca (moo-kek-a) which is a seafood stew from Brazil; liquid nitro chocolate-almond truffle with warm whiskey-caramel from a booth called Chocolate Studio; Kalua pork slider with sweet and sour DOLE pineapple chutney and spicy mayonnaise and teriyaki-glazed SPAM hash with potatoes, peppers, onions and spicy mayonnaise from Hawai’i; Irish cheddar cheese and stout dip with Irish brown bread and warm chocolate pudding with Irish cream liqueur custard from Ireland; hummus fries with cucumber, tomato, onions and tzatziki sauce from Morocco; beef brisket poutine from a booth called Refreshment Port. How did all of these taste? Amazing!
There were a few items I had to try while I was there. These items were drinks and food that I’ve always wanted to try but never had the chance to. The first one was a lobster roll. You might be thinking that this isn’t that adventurous and that I could get one anywhere. Well, first of all, I’ve always been iffy on trying lobster because I hated the way it was cooked, but after seeing numerous cooking shows and pictures of the famous New England sandwich, it started to seem more and more delicious. Second, living in Indiana, there isn’t a lot of great seafood places around. Chicago has a few, but that’s mostly lake perch or any fish that thrives in a freshwater lake. Lobster isn’t one of them.
The American booth, Hops and Barley, had a New England lobster roll available. This was my absolute favorite food item I tried at the festival. The sandwich (or roll?) was full of flavor. The lobster was sweet and had a garlic taste. The mayonnaise had herbs and added an extra flavor profile that made me love this dish. I guess you could say, I was in Flavortown.
The other two items were drinks. The first was sake (SAH-kay) and the other was mead. I’m a huge fan of trying items that are exclusive to a place. Maybe that’s why I don’t have a favorite food. I love Philly cheesesteaks, Nashville hot chicken, pretty much anything Chicago churns out, so trying sake has been on my list of things to try. And now that I’m 21, I was finally able to try it.
Sake is a Japanese rice wine made by fermenting rice. Unlike regular wine which has a sweeter taste, sake has a more bitter taste which reminded me of a top shelf whiskey. Both my dad and I enjoyed it since we like whiskey and bourbon but my mom wasn’t a huge fan. It’s an acquired taste that maybe a lot of people might not enjoy right way because of the bitter taste. I would have this again, but maybe just one glass.
When I think of mead I think of vikings for some odd reason. Vikings and Norse mythology have always intrigued me so trying a drink that made me feel like a Norwegian viking was something I was all for. The drink is also a wine, but instead of using grapes, it uses honey so this drink is very sweet. A complete 180 from sake. When I purchased the drink from the Ireland booth, I was awed by how golden it was. The drink was as gold as, well, honey. The taste was unique. I was expecting it to taste sweeter than normal wine, but I wasn’t expecting the honey after taste. I really enjoyed this drink. So much so that I actually purchased another one the second day we were there. I highly recommend this drink to anyone who is looking for a unique drink to enjoy and feeling like a fierce viking warrior. I of course also recommend trying this drink if you are 21 and over and to always drink responsibly. That goes for any other drink I mentioned in this story.
The festival is also known for something else besides food and that’s music. Live concerts to be exact. Disney books some notable acts, like Plain White T's, 38 Special, Baha Men, Boyz II Men, Billy Ocean, Mark Wills, Air Supply and many others. We were there for both Mark Wills and Air Supply’s concerts and both had something unique about them. Mark Wills is a country singer most recognizable with the song “19 Somethin.” Since I absolutely love country music, this concert was my favorite. He was high energy and played both slow and upbeat songs.
Air Supply was also fun, but since soft rock isn’t my first choice in music, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Wills’ concert. However, it was still enjoyable. Actually, the number one thing that made this concert so enjoyable was the amount of people inside the small venue. Middle-aged women were standing up from their seats and dancing and singing along to the music. This is what I enjoyed most about this concert. The fact that this band can touch so many people with their music is amazing!
The last detail about the festival I want to include is pretty cool. Epcot has this boat ride called “Living With The Land” which shows and explains to you how humans, plants and animals use this land to produce food and an ecosystem. Towards the end of the ride, the boat takes you into a greenhouse where Disney grows produce for their many on site restaurants and for the festival. Little signs were posted to let the riders know what type of produce it was, but some had a bigger sign with a picture of a Food and Wine item on it. This told us that this particular item was used as an ingredient in one of the many dishes found throughout the festival. I thought this was amazing and a Disney thing to do by utilizing their resources.
Overall, the Food and Wine Festival is my favorite festival Disney puts on. I’ve been to the Flower and Garden Festival and that is also another amazing experience, but something about the Food and Wine Fest always makes me like it more. It might be because of the food, or how it’s in the fall or that I have the ability to try different foods from different countries I might never have the chance to visit. Whatever the reason may be, one thing is clear. This festival is an amazing experience that I believe everyone has to experience just once in their short lifetime. After all, who doesn’t love good food?
(09/25/18 5:10am)
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
(09/25/18 4:26am)
by Tt Shinkan
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
Comic books play a huge role in my life. They’re the reason I love to draw, why I workout, why I try to be the best person I can be. I’ve loved superheros ever since I can remember. Today, comic book movies are just as popular as that stupid Fortnite dance. Everyone has seen at least one Marvel movie and can say they’re a fan of a certain character.
Everyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Wolverine fan as well as an even bigger X-Men fan. I can tell you probably all there needs to be known about the misfit mutant team, but the number one reason why I like them is because they are different. They were born with this unique gift. Every character has this power that makes them unique as well as having something that drives them to be a hero. I feel like I related to them simply because I’m a little different. I’m a girl who enjoys boyish things. Actually, I was a huge tomboy when I was younger. I still consider myself one, but I have since become more “girly” and I really enjoy dressing in cute outfits. Of course I love wearing graphic tees and baseball caps. I embrace the things that make me different, much like these mutants embrace their extraordinary abilities.
However, I can remember a time in my life when comic movies and comics in general weren’t as popular as they are today, and I was actually pretty embarrassed to like them, since girls my age weren’t typically into them. For that, we’re going to have to take a trip back to 2009, back when this girl was just starting the most awkward time of her life: middle school.
Okay, let’s face it, middle school isn’t the best three years of any of our lives. We’re still figuring out who we are as an individual, not to mention puberty. And with those things comes the need to fit in much like how at first, newly fledged mutants want to be normal. Middle schoolers are mean little creatures; they’ll make fun of those not “popular” and “different”. I was one of those “different” girls back in middle school. In elementary school, everyone knew I was into superheros and that I loved Wolverine, but now that I was in a school that contained kids from all three Munster elementary schools, there were a lot of people who didn’t know me. And much like a mutant kid hiding their powers from everyone, I then had to try to hide something that I loved so much. Something that makes me, me. And let me tell you, it was hard.
I felt really weird wearing a simple superhero T-shirt around school because I was afraid people would think I was weird. People already thought I was a bully simply because of my athletic body type. Of course that quickly ended after everyone learned how friendly I was, but me trying to build up enough courage to embrace my comic book love took some time. After tests and during study hall when I didn’t have homework to do, I would read one of my graphic novels. X-Force was my favorite series at the time because it included two of my favorite heroes: Wolverine and X-23. I would bring in one of the hardback graphic novels to school, but take off the cover because I didn’t want anyone to see me reading it. All of this sounds stupid right? Well, it was, but because I felt so weird being a girl who liked something that was meant for boys, I felt like I needed to hide it. I was essentially hiding my mutant power from the world.
But just like Professor X confronted new mutants and took them to the X Mansion, I too, had my own X Mansion: art class. Art class allowed me to be myself. My teachers, much like the Professor, encouraged me to draw what I wanted, and what I wanted to draw were superheros. My 6th grade art teacher even bought a Marvel calendar because she knew I would like it. Most of my projects incorporated some form of comic book related subject matter. Did the kids in my class make fun of me and mock me for it? Sorta. Did I care? Nope! I was finally in my element and I was finally able to embrace what made me, me.
I was put into Honors Art for the rest of middle school, and the teacher for it was a huge advocate for my superhero-inspired artwork. Much like a veteran X-Men helping a new student with their powers, he would help me with the different projects we had to do and figured out ways to incorporate a hero element into them. Today, I’m thankful for both of my art teachers for allowing me to come out of my shell.
By 8th grade everyone knew about my love for comic books and no one cared anymore. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was just starting to become mainstream, and more and more people were getting into comics. In fact, people would ask me about the characters featured in these movies. And by high school, I felt like a fully fledged X-Man. Showing off my powers to a world that treated me as their equal.
Looking back at this experience, I’m glad I experienced it. Much like every great origin story, a hero has to overcome an obstacle in order for them to become someone everyone instantly feels safe as soon as they arrive. I’m not saying that everyone feels like that whenever I show up somewhere, but everyone does know that they can truly be themselves around me, because I’ve known what it’s like to be different. I know it’s impossible to be an actual X-Man, but I like to think of my experience as a real life comic book origin story. I embrace the things that make me different, and I have comic books to thank for that!
(06/28/18 11:17pm)
by Tt Shinkan
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte’s editorial board.
Ever since my freshman year of high school, I’ve always wanted to visit Nashville, Tennessee not because I love country music, but because I wanted to see and learn the history of what makes this city “Music City”. After five years of waiting, I was finally able to go, and my experience was nothing short of amazing. Not only did I learn a little bit about the history and evolution of country music, but I felt like I learned a lot about myself as a person as well. So with that short introduction, here’s what it’s like to experience the music culture of The Music City!
(05/23/18 5:16pm)
Marvel has already left us in a pretty bad state after the events of Infinity War, but what better way to wipe those tears away than with the release of Deadpool 2? The sequel to 2016’s Deadpool has already introduced us to a slew of brand new characters and put together a new team of mutants called “X-Force”. But who exactly is X-Force? Well don’t worry because I read a lot of X-Men comics growing up and consider myself an expert on that universe. So here’s a list of who’s who in Deadpool 2.
(05/21/18 9:59pm)
Editor’s Note: Rictor is not in the film, instead it’s Zeitgeist. At the time of writing this feature, the author had not yet seen the movie and was unaware of the character being in the film.
By Tt Shinkan
Marvel has already left us in a pretty bad state after the events of Infinity War, but what better way to wipe those tears away than with the release of Deadpool 2? The sequel to 2016’s Deadpool has already introduced us to a slew of brand new characters and put together a new team of mutants called “X-Force”. But who exactly is X-Force? Well don’t worry because I read a lot of X-Men comics growing up and consider myself an expert on that universe. So here’s a list of who’s who in Deadpool 2.
(04/01/18 6:25pm)
by Tt Shinkan
Continuing with Byte’s Culinary Heritage Month, I decided to share a traditional Eastern European dish that is enjoyed by my family and many others.
Growing up in a Romanian/Serbian household, you’re introduced to a world of culinary dishes. One of my favorite dishes is the stuffed cabbage with tomato juice or what it’s commonly referred to as, “Sarmale” in Romanian and “Sarma” in Serbian. Both are basically the same and enjoyed by young and old alike.
This meaty dish is commonly eaten during Christmas and Easter in the Shinkan house. My dad spends months fermenting the cabbages in our garage to get it to perfect sourness. We like to pair our Sarmale with sour cream to add a little bit of cool and creaminess to the warm and meatiness of the dish.
The following recipe is taken straight from a Romanian Orthodox cookbook and enjoyed by many families:
(03/19/18 4:00am)
Even if you’re not from Chicago, you’re probably familiar with one its most famous pieces of art. The magnificent statue called Cloud Gate, or what’s commonly referred to as The Bean. Built in 2004 by Indian-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor, the statue stands right in the middle of Millennium Park, a few feet away from the Art Institute of Chicago. Since it’s unveiling nearly 14 years ago, The Bean has been a hub for tourists and locals alike, standing next to it’s mirror-like exterior trying to snap that perfect selfie telling the world, “Look at me! I’m in Chicago!”
(03/18/18 4:15pm)
by Tt Shinkan
Even if you’re not from Chicago, you’re probably familiar with one its most famous pieces of art. The magnificent statue called Cloud Gate, or what’s commonly referred to as The Bean. Built in 2004 by Indian-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor, the statue stands right in the middle of Millennium Park, a few feet away from the Art Institute of Chicago. Since it’s unveiling nearly 14 years ago, The Bean has been a hub for tourists and locals alike, standing next to it’s mirror-like exterior trying to snap that perfect selfie telling the world, “Look at me! I’m in Chicago!”
Growing up just a half an hour away from the city, I never saw the appeal of The Bean. I even have this running joke among my family and friends that I even despise the structure, which honestly, isn’t far from the truth. I believe my disliking of it started my junior and senior years of high school when my prom group wanted to go see the statue the day after prom both years. We grew up in a small Indiana town a half hour away, we’ve seen The Bean before. There’s even a picture of me in front of it last summer with an unamused expression. If I’m being honest, I can write a whole book about why I don’t like The Bean, but this feature isn’t about my dislike for Cloud Gate, actually it’s more of a story of irony. You see, back last October, I created a Facebook event dedicated to The Bean that went viral.
(02/12/18 11:44pm)
by Tt Shinkan
With Valentine’s Day coming up, there are two things I’m looking forward to: half-priced chocolates and the trailers for Fifty Shades Freed to finally end. By now, everyone all over the world has heard about this series, whether they’ve read it, seen the movies, or just saw it online somewhere. Either way, everyone knows about this BDSM-themed romance.
With its popularity, has anyone ever stopped and wondered “how exactly did this popular, erotic book series start out?” Probably not, but luckily for you, and unfortunately for me, I researched the internet to learn about Fifty Shades of Grey. From starting as just a piece of fan fiction about another popular book series and ending up as one of the most talked about books of the decade. I bring you, the History of: Fifty Shades of Grey.
It’s common knowledge that that Fifty Shades started out as Twilight fanfiction. In the early 2010s, author E.L. James finished reading the Twilight series and was inspired to write her own take on it. The first known draft of the story was published on Fanfiction.net, a website for writers who are fans of a particular movie, television series, game, or in James’ case, book, who write fictional stories about the characters in that particular fandom. She published her story under her username: Snowqueens Icedragon.
Because of the suggestive themes of the story and copyright issues, James was forced to remove it from the website. Steven Hechter, an employee for British magazine ‘Times Higher Education’ told LA Times that “copyright issues are at the core of fan fiction because using the characters and fictional worlds of commercial authors to create fan works is an arguable a violation of the law from the outset.” This drove her to not only create her own platform to host the story, but to pursue a career in writing. So, 50shades.com was born.
Originally called ‘Master of the Universe’, the story followed a handsome, mysterious rich CEO, Edward Cullen, and a pretty but clumsy girl, Bella Swan. This story generated a huge following which eventually led James to rewrite it into the iconic story we know today. In 2011, the first book, Fifty Shades of Grey was self-published under The Writer’s Coffee Shop, a small former-writers community, in May 2011.
In March 2012, she “signed a seven-figure contract with Random House’s Vintage Books” according to Business Insider. Because of that, the book sold roughly 70 million copies worldwide, produced nearly 30,000 e-book downloads and was translated into 52 different languages. The film adaptation premiered on Feb. 13, 2015 and made $94 million on its opening weekend.
From fanfiction to a movie trilogy, the history of Fifty Shades of Grey is surprisingly inspiring. How one person can be inspired by something they love and create something equally successful, no matter the subject, is amazing. Whether you love it or hate it, this once Twilight fanfiction shows the world that even the most unlikely of projects can become successful, which to me, is oddly enlightening.
If you want to see mine and Matthew Yapp’s opinions on the second movie in the movie trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker, check out our video review of it below!
Sources: Business Insider, The LA Times, GalleyCat
Images: everythingfiftyshades, Pinterest, Twilight Cupcake
(02/12/18 10:05pm)
With Valentine’s Day coming up, there are two things I’m looking forward to: half-priced chocolates and the trailers for Fifty Shades Freed to finally end. By now, everyone all over the world has heard about this series, whether they’ve read it, seen the movies, or just saw it online somewhere. Either way, everyone knows about this BDSM-themed romance.
(01/25/18 6:44pm)
(09/26/17 2:00pm)
Matt and Tt talk discuss Brett Ratner’s comments on how Rotten Tomatoes is affecting the movie industry! Is the tomatometer to blame for low box office numbers? Or are bad movies the cause?
(09/21/17 11:54pm)
Matt and Tt are back with Checkpoint to give you the latest updates in the entertainment world! Trump recently took to twitter once again to bash the Emmy awards for having less than stellar ratings this past weekend. Also, Donald Glover and Julia Louis Dreyfus won Emmy's as well, so it's not all bad!
(07/29/17 12:00pm)
June Foray, the voice behind Rocky the Flying Squirrel from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and Granny from most Looney Toons cartoons. She passed away Thursday at age 99, just eight weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She’s considered the “First Lady” of voice acting with a career stretching almost 71 years in film and television
(04/20/17 10:00pm)
A few years ago augmented reality seemed like only a dream, or achievable inside a science fiction movie, but just recently Snapchat has released a “world lenses” feature which will allow you to put a filter on anything. Now you can add filters to the world around you and not just your face! Just tap the screen while your camera is on the rear-facing side and these features will appear. You can then move the lens around the screen and place them wherever you want and they’ll behave as if they are a part of the world around you.