Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, 1st period

[sharp_as_knives]

This week, the class had received handwavy e-mail messages to meet at Portalocity. When they got there, Hannibal greeted them and handed out a list of fruits and vegetables. "Today, we will be covering selecting good produce. The first lesson to buying decent fruits and vegetables is, whenever possible, to buy things which are organic, grown locally, and currently in season. It's healthier and tastes much better. That said, I realize that you may not always have that option. There are some foods that buying organic is more important for than others, due to the amount of chemicals they retain or the types used."( Read more... )

Subcultures 101, Tuesday, Period 3

[living_endless]

( Cut due to mention of RL death. )

101 Ways To Survive In The Field, Tuesday

[suitably_heroic]

Upon entering the Danger Shop, students found themselves facing a large, overgrown ruin. It was completely desolate; the only movement was the grass, swaying in the wind.

"Welcome to Dantooine," Atton said, his foot perched on a chunk of rubble. "This place used to be something - at least, that's what I'm told - but this guy called Malak came in and torched the place to hell and back a while ago. Now this place is mostly grass and giant, deadly animals. Real charming, right?"

He turned around, motioning for the class to follow. Straight into the ruin, through a few corridors, until he reached a small clearing with a large broken tree sitting at the center. "Now, not far from here, you'll find an entrance into the lower levels. Today, I'm going to give you a quick instruction on how to open electronic locks - that'll come in handy down there. After that? Well, there's this guy stuck in a room somewhere down below who won't come out."

He shrugged. "Honestly, it's probably better if you just leave him to rot down there. The guy's a coward. But, say, you want to break him out. There's a bunch of nasty laigreks down there, a bunch of locked doors, maybe some booby traps. You have to be on your guard. Now, what you want above all is this key the guy has on him, but getting him out of there alive probably scores you points or something. How do you handle that?"

He shot the class a curious look. "Well, I'm interested in finding that out this week."

Diplomacy, Relationships, & Tactics: The Art of War, Week 2 [Wednesday, Period 2]

[weetuskenraider]

"We're going to get right into it with P'ien number one today," Tahiri started once it looked like everyone was present. "If you read the text, it's about laying plans. Sun Tzu says that there are five factors you should always take into consideration when you're making plans and getting prepared: the Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, the Commander, and finally Method and Discipline." She'd been moving toward the board as she spoke, and wrote each of the five factors down as a separate column.

"It sounds more obscure than it actually is," Ghanima assured the class as Tahiri wrote. "The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives. Keep in mind that this is ancient China, so serfs do not count as 'people.' Their opinions don't count."

"Heaven and Earth are the physical conditions you may face on a battlefield: Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons, whereas Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death."

"The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness. And by Method and Discipline, it is to be understood that it means the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure."

Tahiri nodded. "He goes on to say that these are the basis for seven considerations you need to make, in order to weigh your chances for victory. Which leader has the advantage of Moral Law, and the loyalty of their followers? Whose general is more capable? Who has the advantage of Heaven and Earth, environment and terrain? Which army is better disciplined? Which is stronger? Which is better trained? Which -- going back to discipline a little bit -- makes a better practice of reward and punishment?"

"This isn't just applicable to armed war," Ghanima pointed out. "The boardroom, the bedroom, ideological war, economic war, wars between the social classes... the five factors can factor into any and all sorts of conflicts, and the ideals hold true no matter the situation."

"You may just have to figure out how they translate into the given situation," Tahiri added with a grin. "And be prepared to be flexible, of course, because circumstances do change. Especially because -- as Sun Tzu goes on to say -- all warfare is based on deception."

If she sounded a little bit like she enjoyed that concept, well. That was one of the Yuuzhan Vong's favorite parts of warfare. "You want to make your opponent believe they've got the advantage. The less real intel they have on you, the less chance you give them to gain any advantage, the better."

As if Ghanima would judge Tahiri for enjoying the deception part -- she was Atreides and Fremen. Anyone who'd gotten to know Ghanima as a person -- or met her brother -- would realize that the twins adored causing chaos and confusion through subterfuge.
"So let us create a war of the words," she said merrily. "Give us some scenarios, real or fictional, and let's argue about how to apply the five factors."

"Get creative with them, too," Tahiri added. "Military scenarios or completely mundane ones, whatever you can think of where these factors might apply."