The Video That Changed It All.
Following on from My Vegan Story post that I shared just over a month ago, if I had to pinpoint the exact moment that I first began to question everything and really started looking into Veganism seriously, it would be when I first watched the video clip below.
I stumbled upon this clip by accident in someone else's video, and decided to sit through it when I was told it wouldn't be graphic. It wasn't, but it was probably one of the saddest videos (and still is) that I have ever seen in my life. I remember walking into our bedroom and telling B that I had just watched a video of a baby calf being removed from its Mother (which is standard practice everywhere) and that the baby was loaded into the back of a van and the Mother cow chased after the van as it drove off with her newborn. I couldn't even finish explaining what happened in the video without writhing with tears. I ended up sobbing myself to sleep that night as it was the first time I had ever been made truly aware of the fundamental cruelness of the dairy industry.
This was also the first time I associated the dairy industry directly with the veal industry. Call me stupid, but I actually thought that by boycotting veal I was making a difference. However, as long as humans still consume dairy there will always be veal on the shelves. The only reason we are able to consume dairy products from cows is because the baby cows are taken away from their Mothers almost immediately after being born. They are then fed on milk replacements whilst we as humans drink the milk that was by nature meant for them. It just doesn't make sense.
It overwhelms my heart each day to know that this is reality, but I am glad I am no longer ignorant. Hopefully by writing this post some of my lovely readers will be awakened just as I was.
I stumbled upon this clip by accident in someone else's video, and decided to sit through it when I was told it wouldn't be graphic. It wasn't, but it was probably one of the saddest videos (and still is) that I have ever seen in my life. I remember walking into our bedroom and telling B that I had just watched a video of a baby calf being removed from its Mother (which is standard practice everywhere) and that the baby was loaded into the back of a van and the Mother cow chased after the van as it drove off with her newborn. I couldn't even finish explaining what happened in the video without writhing with tears. I ended up sobbing myself to sleep that night as it was the first time I had ever been made truly aware of the fundamental cruelness of the dairy industry.
This was also the first time I associated the dairy industry directly with the veal industry. Call me stupid, but I actually thought that by boycotting veal I was making a difference. However, as long as humans still consume dairy there will always be veal on the shelves. The only reason we are able to consume dairy products from cows is because the baby cows are taken away from their Mothers almost immediately after being born. They are then fed on milk replacements whilst we as humans drink the milk that was by nature meant for them. It just doesn't make sense.
It overwhelms my heart each day to know that this is reality, but I am glad I am no longer ignorant. Hopefully by writing this post some of my lovely readers will be awakened just as I was.
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Cous Cous Salad Recipe.
This is a delicious vegan variation of a recipe that my Mum was made while she was staying in hospital a few months ago. She made it for me when I last went down to visit her, and since then I have been tweaking it until it tasted exactly how I wanted it. Here is the final version of the recipe.
Ingredients:
250gr pearl cous cous
1 x small butternut pumpkin
1 x large zucchini
small tub of sundried tomatoes sitting in olive oil (Coles deli tubs are the best!)
handful of almonds
handful of pepitas (plus any seeds saved from butternut pumpkin)
juice from one lemon
smoked paprika
balsamic dressing
sea salt
pepper
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
2. Dice pumpkin (save seeds) and zucchini into small chunks and place on a baking tray lined with greased baking paper (I find olive oil spray works well). Roast in the oven for 20 minutes with salt and pepper seasoning.
3. After 20 minutes, toss roasting veggies and sprinkle with the seeds and almonds. Continue roasting for another 20 minutes.
4. Immediately after adding the seeds and almonds, start cooking your pearl cous cous according to packet instructions. Drain and leave in a large bowl to cool slightly.
5. Remove sun dried tomatoes from the tub, keeping the tub and the oil for your salad dressing in a moment. Cut the sundried tomatoes up into smaller pieces for better distribution throughout the salad.
6. To make the dressing, add the following to your tub of olive oil: juice of one lemon, sprinkle of smoked paprika, 1-2 tbsp balsamic dressing. Whisk well with a fork.
7. Once vegetables are roasted, add to the cous cous along with the sundried tomatoes and stir through well. Next add the dressing and stir through until well combined.
8. Serve on it's own or as a side dish. Perfect hot or cold.
Serves 2-4.
2. Dice pumpkin (save seeds) and zucchini into small chunks and place on a baking tray lined with greased baking paper (I find olive oil spray works well). Roast in the oven for 20 minutes with salt and pepper seasoning.
3. After 20 minutes, toss roasting veggies and sprinkle with the seeds and almonds. Continue roasting for another 20 minutes.
4. Immediately after adding the seeds and almonds, start cooking your pearl cous cous according to packet instructions. Drain and leave in a large bowl to cool slightly.
5. Remove sun dried tomatoes from the tub, keeping the tub and the oil for your salad dressing in a moment. Cut the sundried tomatoes up into smaller pieces for better distribution throughout the salad.
6. To make the dressing, add the following to your tub of olive oil: juice of one lemon, sprinkle of smoked paprika, 1-2 tbsp balsamic dressing. Whisk well with a fork.
7. Once vegetables are roasted, add to the cous cous along with the sundried tomatoes and stir through well. Next add the dressing and stir through until well combined.
8. Serve on it's own or as a side dish. Perfect hot or cold.
Serves 2-4.
Saturday, 14 November 2015
PLL Theory // CeCe is Bethany (or her twin) + Wilden is Charles!
I posted this theory in my PLL facebook group 'Long Live King Wilden' last night, and it got such a good response that I thought I would share it here as well. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!
-----
During the 6A finale we were shown a scene of Bethany and Charles talking on the roof of Radley, day dreaming about how they might escape one day. The two of them decided that they needed to come up with a really great “story” in order to escape Radley. Next thing you know, we see Bethany pushing Marion off the roof. Is this really what happened though?
I’m thinking that Wilden is really Charles for the following reasons:
- The writers changed Wilden’s age from a graduate of 1996 to someone who went to highschool with Melissa. They dropped his age for a reason. Why?
- He looks like a DiLaurentis. He definitely looks like the little boy version of Charles.
- He was heavily invested in finding out what happened to Alison that night.
- Mrs D attended his “funeral” and sat in the front row. Pretty sure she wouldn’t care for some random crooked cop that much. The front row is generally reserved for very close friends and family members.
As for CeCe really being Bethany:
- In the 6A finale CeCe describes Bethany as having being diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder. I’ve looked this up, and people with IED have behaviours very similar to CeCe’s behaviours as ‘A’.
- CeCe (or Sara) sends flowers to the parents of Bethany Young after it is revealed on the news that it was Bethany’s body buried in the DiLaurentis backyard. If CeCe really hated Bethany, why would she bother doing this? I’m thinking she felt bad for her own parents' “loss” and this is why she sent the flowers.
- Jason saw who he thought was CeCe in a yellow top on the night that Alison disappeared. CeCe denied being the one that Jason saw in the 6A finale, yet in 3x20 she admits to Emily that she was there and that Jason did see her.
- We know that Jessica was asking Bethany to call her Aunt Jessie, and that Jessica was having an affair with Bethany’s Dad. If CeCe is in fact Bethany, it would explain all the flashbacks we have seen where Jessica has been dead set against Alison hanging out with CeCe. It would also explain why she allowed CeCe to date her son. What Mother in her right mind would allow her daughter to date her brother?
- The only person able to corroborate CeCe’s story about being the real Charles is Jessica, and Jessica is dead.
According to Toby in “the first secret” episode, his Mother actually died in 2007. To me, this is a fact, and CeCe’s recount of events was merely a story she made up. The writers are not that stupid to include such a gaping plot hole in the 6A finale without having the intention to rectify the plot hole later on. This theory of mine would most definitely rectify said plot hole.
What I’m thinking really happened is that CeCe/Bethany killed Marion in 2007, as the facts tell us. Wilden, who is really Charles, was the reporting officer on the scene at 20 years of age – four years after his death was faked with the help of his Mother Jessica, when he was given the new identity of Darren Wilden. Having been friends with Bethany during his own time spent in Radley, Wilden covers up her involvement.
Note: If Bethany was 17 on the night that she escaped Radley in 2009 (the night Alison first disappeared), this would have made her 15 the night she killed Marion, and roughly 20 years old on the night of the 6A finale. We know that CeCe attended college (assuming this is even true), so some might argue that she wouldn’t have been old enough to have been attending college in 2008 when Alison was friends with her. However, given that she was a patient at Radley (and most likely a genius) I’m guessing they were able to make an exception for her and gave her early admittance under special circumstances.
So do I still think it was CeCe/Bethany who hit Alison over the head? Well, yes. If her motive was to hurt Jessica for sleeping with her Father, then killing her daughter would be a pretty good way to do that. It would make sense that Jessica would cover for CeCe as Bethany too, because she wouldn’t want her affair with Bethany’s father getting out. It would make even more sense if Jessica really was CeCe's/Bethany's Aunt, meaning that Jessica was having an affair with her brother-in-law, and that CeCe/Bethany was her niece (unbeknownst to CeCe/Bethany at the time of course or else she probably wouldn't try to kill her cousin).
But what about Garrett saying he saw Wilden at the DiLaurentis house that night? Well, what if Melissa, when she was talking to CeCe/Bethany (her friend from horseriding), found out that CeCe/Bethany was there to kill Alison? Maybe Melissa knew that Wilden was really a DiLaurentis (or not, it would work either way) and this was why she was calling him that night (“do I have to call 911 to get your attention?”). CeCe/Bethany told us in 3x20 that Melissa took the photo of Wilden/CeCe/Alison on the boat in Cape May. It is possible that Wilden and Melissa were much closer than we have been lead to believe.
So did CeCe really kill Wilden? Well, if Wilden really is Charles, that would be a pretty boring storyline now wouldn’t it? What I’m thinking really happened is that Melissa set up the meeting at the lodge as a huge distraction so that she, along with the help of Mrs D, could fake Wilden’s death. Melissa may have worn a blonde wig and pretended to be CeCe. The reason I think Mrs D is involved is because she returns to Rosewood in the very next episode, attends his funeral and sits in the front row, yet doesn’t seem upset in the slightest. She has no reason to be upset of course because she knows he isn’t really dead. She also sits in the front row, despite this looking very odd, because she needs to make sure that everything is going to plan and that Wilden still "appears" to be dead.
Now, back to Cape May.. Do I think Wilden was beach hottie? Of course not! Well, not if beach hottie was sleeping with Alison anyway. If he was just a guy she had a crush on then sure, why not? I’m thinking that Wilden was just catching up with his old friend CeCe/Bethany and trying to spend time with his long lost sister.
Another reason I think that Wilden/Charles and CeCe/Bethany were old friends from Radley is the way they interacted with each other in 3x20 when Wilden finds CeCe on the side of the road and drags her into his police car. To me this scene is about Wilden being mad at CeCe for spreading rumours that he got his sister pregnant, and rightfully so. I think this is the real reason why Wilden was so upset about these rumours. He was disgusted by them.
So whose body was really buried in the DiLaurentis backyard? Well, that sounds like a pretty good storyline for 6B, don’t you reckon? ;) I mean, it couldn't have been that hard for CeCe as Bethany to plant some of her DNA on the body. She has achieved much more complex tasks in the past after all.
But what if Bethany Young really is dead?
If if turns out that Bethany really is dead, then to go along with the above theory, I'd like to think that perhaps CeCe is Bethany's twin. It would explain why Jason saw CeCe in the same clothes that both Bethany and Alison were buried in "that night". CeCe wanting to become 'A' could all be explained by her digging up what she thought was Ali's body from the cemetery in 3x1 only to find out that it was really her twin Bethany's body that was buried.
To add to this theory even further, I would even be willing to let go of Wilden being the real Charles, and having Wren be the real Charles instead. Either of those handsome lads I'd be more than happy with! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment