Last CallLast Call is The Takeout’s online watering hole where you can chat, share recipes, and use the comment section as an open thread. Here’s what we’ve been reading/watching/listening around the office today.The Taco Bell Drawing Club
The most recent issue of the New Yorker includes a quick profile of The Taco Bell Drawing Club, a somehwat ad hoc group of artists and not-artists who have met weekly for years at a Taco Bell in New York City. “I totally can’t draw, but this provides a way to focus on doing one thing, which is nice,” says one member. This sounds lovely, I think, like a modern-day Gertrude Stein salon, but with chalupas. Sign me up. Though on second though, I’d probably just get Fire sauce all over my masterpieces. [Kate Bernot]
Hey, why did this orange turn purple?
This is the kind of thing that would send me straight to the ER, no questions asked: An Australian mother was concerned after she sliced an orange for her 2-year-old son. He ate a few slices, and then the remaining slices turned purple.
Although no one fortunately suffered any ill effects, still, what a food mystery! Thankfully, science has revealed the truth to us, according to the BBC. Test “results revealed that anthocyanins—a naturally occurring antioxidant in oranges—had reacted with iron particles from the newly sharpened blade” in the knife. Thanks, science! Good to know in case you also ever come across some strange rainbow-shaded fruit. [Gwen Ihnat]
DISCUSSION
We started doing a Monday night figure drawing session every other week in my office and it’s great. I didn’t realize how much I missed figure drawing until we started doing it and it’s as much for the reason Kate quotes above in the article as for getting practice. Ten years ago, when I was a student, we didn’t have smart phones and it was much easier to just focus on what you’re doing in the moment. Now, for better or worse, we’re all reprogrammed to be optimal multi-taskers with a pathological need to check our email, Instagram, whatever. Focusing on one thing for 5-20 minutes at a time is surprisingly soothing- I recommend figure drawing to anyone, regardless of level of experience or proximity to Taco Bell.