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This Week Marvin Learns: Bread Making
So I go a little domestic this week as I head to a lovely little place called Fiore Market in South Pasadena, to learn how to make bread. Now anyone who knows me knows that I NEVER spend time in the kitchen. Cooking is just something I never do, and have very little interest in. But bread making, I don’t know it was different. I mean, it’s obviously not “cooking,” it’s baking, and with bread that’s basically just a lot of waiting.
Class by kneading some dough, and I must say, pottery paid of when it came to this part. We went through preparation, letting the yeast rise, and apart from our loaf, also made a baguette and a focaccia for the restaurant tomorrow. The evening culminated with the owner talking more about bread over a bowl of a cantaloupe soup and two great sandwiches.
Though the class wasn’t as hands on/personal as I usually like, I came away with some good basics on bread making; and because of the classes’ method, a process that’s less messy and can be done even in my kitchen.
Where to Learn - Fiore Market Cafe
Cost of Activity - $30
Cost to date - $523.94
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
This Week Marvin Learns: Tintype Photography
Hello everyone, a coworker saved me this week that supplied me with an awesome and free weekly activity. Because before this idea landed in my lap, I was grasping at straws for what to do. So this week I learned a photography process known as Tintype. Tintype is the process of making a photograph directly onto a sheet of metal or glass (known as ambrotype). It was very popular in the 1860’s or so and is used primarily now for an antique look or for art and what not.
The process was quite simple: First you apply liquid film onto the glass or metal. Then you place the plate into a silver bath in a darkroom (which then makes it light sensitive). You then load it, shoot it, develop it in a dark room and then you have a negative. Place said negative into the “fixer tank,” soak/rinse in water then there ya go.
In the end we wound up with a few tintypes of a very handsome man if I have to say so myself. If you’re looking for a different way of capturing an image, I’d definitely say look into someone who does tintyping near you.
Where to Learn - Tin Machina (Follow their Tumblr HERE)
Cost of Activity - $200* (*Free for me!)
Cost to date - $493.94
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
This Week Marvin Learns: Wine Blending
So this week I head north to Agua Dulce to learn wine blending. Now initially when booking this course, I thought it was more about wine “making” and not so much blending; but alas I was wrong. But nonetheless it was still an interesting thing to learn.
We started by venturing to the distillery where we sampled four different types of wine essential to the blending (Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet, and Sangiovese). We talked about the different tastes they’ll give your wine, and keeping that in mind while blending your own.
After some testing and mixing I decided on a blend that was 40% Cab, and 30% Syrah and Merlot. Can’t wait to fully imbibe it.
Where to Learn - Agua Dulce Winery
Cost of Activity - $59
Cost to date - $264.28
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
This Week Marvin Learns: Balloon Animals
Hey, kids and this time when I say kids it’s a little more true than usual; but at any rate this week my good friend Lena taught me how to make balloon animals. Now Lena’s expertise stems from the fact that her (and her boyfriend) formerly worked as clowns and would have to make animals for kids.
Making balloon animals was super easy and she taught me some of the few basics in no time. Dog, sword, flower, etc. basically it telling someone what you’re making, making it look “like” that, then that’s it. Also Tumblr people don’t let me find our images on some looner blog.
Where to Learn - An Awesome Friend or Clown College
Cost of Activity - $10* (cost of balloons and pump vary)
Cost to date - $205.28
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
SUPPLEMENTAL - This Week Marvin ALSO Learns: How to Bottle Beer
Keeping the supplemental action alive, this week I had to bottle my beers that I brewed back in February.
It’s pretty straight forward, boil the caps, clean the bottles, then we took the beer (which smelled delicious) out of the fermentation bucket then put it into another bucket so we could bottle it. In the end we ended up with 51 beers, which is a pretty good haul, and they should be ready to consume in 2 weeks.
Where to Learn - Stein Fillers/Your Kitchen
Cost of Activity - Free* (Price of Bottles/Caps)
Cost to date - $195.28
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
This Week Marvin Learns: Lock Picking (Video)
This is a class I’ve been looking forward to for quite some bit, lock picking. As someone who plays video games (specifically Fallout 3 and Skyrim) the idea of learning how to actually pick locks in real life is just an awesome skill for me to have.
So I arrive at a fairly packed class, and after what seemed like ages of small talk, our instructor finally got into. We went over the various types of picks and their uses and the history of locks and their inner workings. It was a hella short class (2 hours but felt like one) in regards to what we’re learning, and you’d think we’d need more time but to be honest we didn’t. Although I would have liked more one on one time, but that’s the kind of person I am when it comes to learning.
Now initially I was very frustrated with lock picking because all around me people were cracking theirs open while I was not. I was literally the last person in class to pick a lock, but then I realized why. The various locks on the table varied in difficulty, and I just so happened to be trying to pick the hardest one. So I switched over to a 1-pin (easy lock) and picked it instantly.
Oh and did I mention for an added bonus they taught us how to break out of handcuffs too!! It was a cool class and I will definitely be buying some locks of “varying difficulty” to keep at home to practice with while watching TV.
Where to Learn - College of Lock Picking
Cost of Activity - $65.28 ($32 for the class, $32 for lock pick set)
Cost to date - $195.28
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
This Week Marvin Learns: Archery
Hey kids, so bright and early this morning a friend and I rode to Pasadena to learn some archery. As you can see from the pic above, the place was a bit crowded and we barely made the cut. But once we did the instructor made us all rep the Roc to determine which of our eyes was dominant so we could be outfitted properly.
Now I haven’t shot an arrow probably since I was like twelve, but I was quite good (see above); and so was my friend, but to be honest everyone else in our group was pretty bad so take it with a grain of salt. The instructors encouraged my friend and I to come back again, and like all other skills, this is one that you can only get better at with practice. This was an outing that I definitely enjoyed and will be going to again and again.
Where to Learn - Pasadena Roving Archers
Cost of Activity - FREE
Cost to date - $130
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
This Week Marvin Learns: Argentine Tango (part 6 of 6)
So I’m commemorating this last Tango post with a video of myself Tangoing of course. I will blame any flaws in my performance on the fact that my back has been hurting for the last few days. Like life, in Tango you learn something new all the time. One of the last things I got to learn today was that I should always keep my left hand (the one that’s not on her back) at her eye-level as a guide for her for some reason. Look I have a hard enough time keeping up with what I should be doing, to worry about why the lady does what she does.
To finish my Tango post I will leave you guys with this, “doodling with your feet.” That is the phrase of the evening which it seems apparently is what a lot of Tango is for men, so get your footwork Improv down. And for all those bored with 6 weeks straight of Tango, Monday was my last class. So next week I’ll be on to learning something totally new.
Where to Learn - Ballroom Blitz
Cost of Activity - N/A
Cost to date - $130
DO MORE!
-M
See more of Marvin’s Weekly Activity HERE!
