Dragon’s Breath

One of the hot food fads in 2017 was actually extremely cold. “Dragon’s Breath” is a dessert created by dipping cereal balls in liquid nitrogen. Yes, you heard that right.

The cereal balls are served in a cup. You pick them up with skewers, so you don’t get freezer-burn on your fingertips. Once the frozen treat encounters your warm mouth, it produces billowing vapors that are said to look like a dragon’s breath. I’m picturing something like dry ice in a punch bowl.

This specialty dessert was first created in South Korea and the Philippines during 2015. It  now appears in restaurants and at county fairs all the over the world. Shared videos of the spectacular “dragon’s breath” have no doubt contributed to its popularity.

Naturally, there are some safety concerns. Liquid nitrogen is a hazardous material and has to be handled carefully. There have been scattered reports of burns in the mouth or on the hands while eating dragon’s breath. In addition, having too much nitrogen introduced to a closed area could theoretically create a danger of asphyxiation.

It does sound… well, cool (ha ha)! But I’m not sure I’d be willing to try it.

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Unbelievable

My husband stumbled across a documentary on Netflix a few weeks ago. The Wreck of the Unbelievable detailed the discovery of an ancient shipwreck off the coast of East Africa. Among the items recovered were several statues encrusted with barnacles, coral, and other sea life. The one that caught my attention was a monumental six-headed dragon squaring off to battle an equally large warrior.

I love ruins and relics, so this drew me right in. The film went on to detail conflicts among the crew, the danger of storms at sea, and even African villagers saying how curious they were about what those foreigners were doing out there on their ship.

However, a part of my brain was whispering doubts. Items under water since the 1st Century shouldn’t be so clean. And didn’t that one look sort of like Mickey Mouse? So I went to do a little research. I found out my eyes were wrong while my brain got it right.

The Wreck of the Unbelievable was actually a mockumentary created to build excitement around an exhibition by the British artist Damien Hirst. The “treasures” recovered from the “wreck” were contemporary art, sea life and all. That includes the six-headed dragon and warrior sculptures. It all appeared in a Venetian museum in 2017. You can read arts coverage here.

Now, I have no special grudge against Hirst for creating a mockumentary. As a writer, I spend a certain amount of time trying to build excitement around my own books. Still, this is something of a cautionary tale. I’m glad I did that follow-up on the film I saw. Otherwise, I could have passed off fiction as fact just like any rube who saw a side show at the circus.

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Itsy-Bitsy Dragons

Many kinds of creatures have been named after dragons, but perhaps the most colorful are the Dragon millipedes. Desmoxytes are a family of nearly 40 arthropods found in Southeast Asia. The first of these were identified in China in 1923. New species continue to be found as recently as 2016. In addition to China, they live in Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and scattered through the islands of Malaysia.

Some of this Dragon clan are cave dwellers, while others roam the leaf-litter of jungle floors. It sounds as though they might be fierce predators, but actually most millipedes feed on decaying leaves and fungi. In addition to hiding among forest debris, many species burrow into the ground for safety.

These critters are indeed tiny, with the largest specimens coming in around 3 cm (1.2 inches) long. They are recognizable by their ornate, spiky exoskeletons and brilliant colors, including red and hot pink species. In addition, Dragon millipedes have a chemical weapon — they can secrete a cyanide poison to ward off predators!

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Dragons in Groups, Part 2

Rather than just asking what a group of dragons should be called, it might be better to ask if there would ever be a group of dragons. After all, you seldom find dragon groups in traditional stories and myths. Dragons such as Fafnir and Hydra are distinct individuals, so dreaded and powerful that nothing more is needed for them to be an effective monster. Not to mention that these dragons are fiercely jealous. How likely is it that they’d allow another dragon near their territory and/or hoard?

There are a few names, though, that might capture the danger of many dragons coming together. A “plague,” a “swarm,” even an “invasion.” Interesting that these come from insect groups — locusts, bees or ants, and roaches.

If the dragons in question are of the more intelligent and noble variety, perhaps they would be known as a “council.” Intelligent but evil dragons might form a “congress” or “parliament,” especially if they spend a lot of their time in ferocious arguments.

Well, what do you think? Is a group of dragons a “plague” or a “council?”

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Dragons in Groups

What do you call a group of dragons? The question arises because I recently ran across one of those listings where they give the clever, and sometimes bizarre, names for groups of animals. (A “flange” of babboons?)

In names for dragon groups, the two leading contenders are both from modern literature. Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance series gives a “thunder” of dragons from the sound of their wings.

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books present a more complicated name set. A “weyr” is a group of dragons living in a fixed location (also called a weyr) and mostly related to the queen dragon who lays all the eggs. McCaffrey’s dragonweyrs have a quasi-military structure, with fighting groups known as “wings.” Any other grouping of Pernese dragons is a “flight.”

Also to be noted is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, where the swamp dragons have a distressing habit of exploding under the wrong conditions. A group of these dragons is an “embarrassment.”

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Here Be Dragons

Today I’m sharing an article from Nature Magazine, published in 2015. The authors, Andrew J. Hamilton, Robert M. May and Edward K. Waters, purport to discuss the history of humans and dragons through European history.

Their theory: dragons are quite real, and were well known to people in the Dark Ages. However, climate change drove the creatures into a centuries-long hibernation. During this time, people became more concerned with scientific proofs than fictional tales. Unable to prove that dragons exist, most people came to believe either that dragons were extinct or that they had never existed at all.

However, the authors caution, the world is now warming again. Dramatic global temperature shifts are sure to bring dragons back from their hibernation!

You’ll note I said they purport to discuss these matters. The article is rife with references to J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and especially to Newt Scamander, protagonist of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. A close look reveals that the text was published on April 1, 2015. Obviously it’s an April Fool’s Day article. The Potter references suggest that the magazine was playing up for the Fantastic Beasts movie, which if memory serves was released later in 2015.

Anyway, I hope you’ll read the article and enjoy the faux scientific gravity.

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Dragon Encounters 24

This is a bottle my husband brought home from a visit to a local wine and beer shop.

I’m not such a beer fan, but I’m told it was quite good. One friend said it was so rich it should be called a “dessert beer.”

 

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