For the melting pot called America, it's nice to have a plethora of cultures to partake in and enjoy. For me personally, I am most involved in the food and music cultures. What I mean by food culture is the experience of new foods. For example,
molecular gastronomy has been developing more and greater techniques at creating different foods. While I was in San Diego, I visited a restaurant that uses molecular gastronomy called "Plan Check". Here, they turn regular old ketchup into ketchup leather. The creation tastes just like ketchup but feels like a fruit leather/fruit roll-up in your mouth. These kind of new food tastes, textures, cooking techniques, and experiences are what I love the most about the food culture in America. On the other hand, I enjoy all kinds of music. My favorite genre is rock, but I have an appreciation for the other genres as well. One element I find interesting in the music culture is the blending of genres. For example, taking a look at an infamous rock band (and my favorite one at that) Linkin Park, while they have their main albums of rock, they also create remixes of their albums featuring popular DJ's and rappers such as Pusha T, Killsonik, and Jay Z. When genres collide, I love it. That's why I'm always keeping my eye out for any up and coming artists that might be flipping the music stereotypes that America has created over the years. Overall, just based on these two cultures, I would say that anything that is new and not very culturally accepted is what draws my attention. I'm always ready to try a new experience.
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(Linkin Park with Jay Z)
(Left: Chester Bennington, Middle: Jay Z, Right: Mike Shinoda) |
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(Chef from Plan Check holding
a batch of Ketchup Leather) |
While I only really consider myself to be a consumer of the food and music cultures, there is one particular culture that interests me. The culture of philosophy (which sounds philosophical in its own right) has always made me think hard, in a good way. I would like to know how philosophers get all of their ideas and how past and current philosophers were/are so successful in presenting their theories and ideas. I've studied a few philosophers in the past, but I could never really figure out how they could create such insane and radical ideas that actually become reality. If I could come up with my own philosophy and gain a following, I could die at that exact moment...that way I wouldn't have to face any opposition that would look to disprove my theory. Philosophy sounds like a harsh discipline full of people that just want to be proven right.
