No more gods, no more fairies, no more magic. The dawn of the Enlightenment implied the displacement of religious ideas, superstitions and all supernatural belief. Reason-led scientific knowledge would guide civilization towards progress. Max Weber called this process the “disenchantment of the world,” as its steam engine flattened prophets and goblins alike.

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Hong Kong-born philosopher Yuk Hui was on track to become a computer engineer, but artificial intelligence led him to question consciousness, ethics, and our relationship with technology, ultimately prompting him to study philosophy in London.

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Eudaemonius posted a photo:

A friend is upset because you didn’t “like” a photo from her last trip, but the truth is you haven’t even had a chance to see it. Instead of displaying it on your feed, Instagram prioritized showing you ads for food.

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Caetano Veloso, in a video call from Lisbon, Portugal, speaks slowly with that blend of intellectual clarity and Bahian melancholy that for six decades has turned each of his interviews into something more like a philosophical conversation than a mere promotion of new albums or concerts. At age 83, the celebrated musician from Brazil is embarking on a tour titled Caetano nos festivais, which will stop in Madrid on June 4 and which he himself describes, without drama but with honesty, as perhaps his last visit to Spain. That is despite the close relationship he has always maintained with Spanish culture. There is no monumental nostalgia in his words; rather a physical weariness, a wise resignation, political concern and a bitter — though not yet defeated — view of the present. He speaks, without losing passion, about the military dictatorship his country suffered, about Silicon Valley, The Beatles, contemporary confusion and a Brazil that, in spite of everything, he still believes can “say something to the world.”

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In 2021, Miriam González, a 35-year-old from Murcia, Spain, went to the doctor because she was bleeding from her breast. She was told to relax: everything was normal. But in 2024, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And, shortly afterward, she discovered it was metastatic, at stage four.

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clgkhkrf54 posted a photo:

WPA Photographs of the Great Depression by Dorothea Lange. These images are on file at the Library of Congress under the 8 digit alpha-numeric code at the end of the file name. See: guides.loc.gov/migrant-mother

PETALING JAYA, June 14 — Remember when farm-to-table first burst onto the scene in restaurants throughout the Klang Valley? It’s okay, me neither. 

But then it got a rebrand: now, these restaurants have “seasonal” menus; the produce is “locally sourced” and “sustainable”; and each chef somehow has a personal connection with the farm even though they’re all using the same few suppliers.

Alright, that last remark was a little unfair. You’ll encounter this mostly in fine dining restaurants, occasionally in non-fine dining, but still modern, upscale concepts, and for the most part, I think it’s a good thing. 

Malaysia is blessed with the land and weather to produce great ingredients, and it should be highlighted more. 

Up until recently, it had mostly been a niche thing, restricted to that type of restaurant and that kind of price point.

Enter Reban, a newcomer to Aman Suria, which opened in early May. The name is the Malay word for “coop”, and the restaurant has partnered with Sinisana, a chicken farm based in Ijok, Kuala Selangor, to sell — you guessed it — locally sourced chicken. 

Reban’s ‘Nasi Ayam Kulit Naga’ features chicken sourced from a local farm in Kuala Selangor. — Picture by Ethan Lau

Reban’s signature offering is its Nasi Ayam Kulit Naga (RM13.90), which features a whole chicken leg, air-dried for up to a day, then roasted to order and served with rice and chilli sauce. 

You can see the legs being hung out to dry at the front of the shop, with every bit of moisture pulled off from the tight, stretched skin.

I’ll level with you: it doesn’t really taste like the conventional chicken rice we’re used to. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

For one, this is a proper roast chicken, not a chicken showered in scalding oil. 

It sports a shatteringly crisp skin, bronzed, scaly and living up to the “dragon skin” moniker. 

The air-drying yields taut, firm flesh that remains moist while having a satisfying meaty pull. 

And perhaps the best thing that can be said about this chicken is that it truly and readily tastes like chicken, although the rice leaves much to be desired. 

Most chicken today is a texture delivery vehicle for whatever sauce or seasoning you put on it. 

The flavour has been bred and farmed out of it, optimised for fast growth and high yield. 

This has a deeper, almost gamey intensity without too much fat. If you like high-quality birds and you like your roast chicken with crispy skin and firm flesh, this ticks all the boxes.

Reban’s other offerings include Claypot Chicken Rice (RM15.90), which comes topped with chicken lap cheong, mushrooms and salted fish. 

The claypot chicken rice doesn’t quite show off the full potential of the chicken. — Picture by Ethan Lau

It is a decent approximation of the dish, with a good enough balance of saltiness and sweetness to flavour the entire claypot, and although it never really develops a full layer of crispy rice, some bits did end up becoming crispy.

My main contention is that this preparation doesn’t fully show off the quality of the chicken. 

Nice chunky bits of thigh are used, but I can’t tell them apart from any other type of chicken. 

The best thing about Reban is, without a doubt, the chicken, and if you want proof, the Nasi Ayam Kulit Naga is where you’ll find it. 

Look for the sign a few steps away from the popular Aman Suria ‘dai chow’, Yan Wo Seafood Restaurant. — Picture by Ethan Lau

Sometimes, the best argument for local sourcing doesn’t have to be a tasting menu. It can just be a chicken leg that actually tastes like one.

Reban by Sinisana Chicken Farm

C-G, 1, Jalan PJU 1/45, 

Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya.

Open daily, 11am-9pm

Tel: 014-879 1775

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

* Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.

* Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and occasionally self-deprecating humour.

Aussie~mobs posted a photo:

Written on reverse:
This is a photo of the grave of our ?? worker, name on the cross, he was the only one of our Corps who fell on the Peninsula.

Regimental number - 5939
Place of birth - Adelaide, South Australia
Religion - Methodist
Occupation - Plumber
Address - Jones Street, Nailsworth, South Australia
Marital status - Single
Age at embarkation - 20
Next of kin - Mother, Mrs L R Hill, Jones Street, Nailsworth, South Australia
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll - 16 January 1915
Rank on enlistment - Driver
Unit name - Light Horse Brigade Train 4
AWM Embarkation Roll number - 25/102/1
Embarkation details - Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A19 Afric on 26 May 1915
Regimental number from Nominal Roll - 8883
Rank from Nominal Roll - Driver
Unit from Nominal Roll - 20th Company, Australian Army Service Corps
Fate - Died of wounds 12 November 1915
Place of burial - Shrapnel Valley Cemetery (Plot II, Row E< Grave No. 17), Anzac, Gallipoli
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
Australian War Memorial - 181

clgkhkrf54 posted a photo:

WPA Photographs of the Great Depression by Dorothea Lange. These images are on file at the Library of Congress under the 8 digit alpha-numeric code at the end of the file name. See: guides.loc.gov/migrant-mother