Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} So Far Behind by Peggy Randall-Martin Fargo Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Rhinoceros. Great Caesar's ghost! Another phenomenal installment of Fargo is behind us, and to borrow another probable word from Karl Weathers' endless word bank, I am positively verklempt that we only have a measly four episodes remaining of this spectacular season. Fargo Season 2 Episode 6 dealt with the immediate fallout of the butcher shop kerfuffle that took place during Fargo Season 2 Episode 5 – Ed was arrested for meat-cleavering Virgil in the skull and the Gerhardts went on the direct offensive as word spread that Charlie had been arrested for attempted murder. "Rhinoceros" opened on Lou carting a passive Ed down to the precinct, as Peggy flipped out about it. Simultaneously (I think – timeline is unclear), Bear got the call from Charlie, telling him what had gone down in Luverne and that he was in jail. From there, the episode split into two "Luverne sections," for lack of a better term – one focusing on Peggy/Hank/Dodd, the other on Ed/Lou/the precinct/Bear. Hank remained behind with Peggy after Ed's arrest, to watch over her (and, in all likelihood, to prevent her from doing anything idiotic). This led to one of the most fantastic, unexpected scene partner pairings of the series so far. Ted Danson's soft-spoken Hank Larsson is really wonderful. He's so unflappably calm, cool, and collected, which made it a real delight to watch him play off of Kirsten Dunst's skittish, air-headed Peggy Blomquist. There is definitely something off about Peggy, and it was quite validating to hear Hank voice that opinion. It occurred to me that she was acting extremely Lester Nygaard-ish throughout "Rhinoceros." Specifically her mannerisms, and the way that she was speaking to Hank. Lester did this very distinctive thing during Fargo Season 1 where he would go off on a spiel, ranting/raving, and start to sound like he was reciting something from memory – insistent, but vacuous. Peggy did exactly this, when she spoke about having "plans," and not seeing the world in quite the same way that everyone else did. And cue the empty Life Spring platitudes about life being a journey. It was all very, very Lester. God bless Hank for breaking through her ditzy haze, laying out the facts for her. Said facts being: she isn't going anywhere, and they are about to get a "fistful" of evidence so she ought to just come clean about the Rye thing. And come clean she did! Unfortunately, that was just seconds before the Gerhardts showed up, led by Dodd and Hanzee, guns a-blazin'. This has been a season of amazing, tense, beyond nerve-wracking stand-offs. The Dodd/Hank stand-off was a prime example. It was equal parts humorous (Hank poking fun at Dodd's intelligence) and genuinely terrifying (I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who thought Hank was a goner). No one could possibly have been more surprised than I when Hank came to on the porch, still alive. Peggy was undeniably clever down in that basement. Thanks to her library of old hoarded magazines, she managed to knock one of Dodd's men unconscious. As luck would have it, Dodd was startled and, made trigger-happy, accidentally shot one of his own men. This culminated in Peggy cattle-prodding Dodd into unconsciousness, which was perhaps the most cathartic scene of the season so far. Dodd really got what was coming to him, twice – once from Peggy, and earlier, when Bear beat the snot out of him. Two fantastic scenes. Of course, we have no idea what happened to Peggy after knocking Dodd out. Hank got up and immediately drove towards the precinct rather than checking on her. Odds are, Peggy probably took off. I doubt she stayed behind in that house, and it wouldn't shock me that she left Hank behind. What is strange is that we didn't see Hank check on her. Who knows whether that was an "OK, so much for this chick" thing or a "Hank is disoriented and forgot" thing. Meanwhile, back at the precinct, Lou tried to get the truth out of Ed as Charlie sat alone in a cell. Ed is trying my last nerve as much as he is Lou's. At first he was sympathetic, but now he is behaving like as much of a dolt as Peggy. It's unclear, now, what he thinks he stands to gain from withholding the full truth from Lou and demanding a lawyer. Does he seriously still think law enforcement is the bigger threat when he was just forced to take a meat cleaver to a man's head in self-defense!? Regardless, Ed was the least important part of the precinct section of "Rhinoceros." As much as Hank was the star and MVP of the Blomquist house scenes, Karl Weathers was far and away the MVP of the precinct scenes. As soon as we saw the deputy retrieve an obviously-hammered Karl from the veterans' association, intending to take him back to the station so he could commence his representation of Ed, it became clear that this would be a Nick Offerman showcase episode. And my oh my, it certainly did not disappoint in that regard. I could hardly even bring myself to pick just one quote to highlight here, so you'll have to check out our Fargo Quotes, where I had to actively restrain myself from transcribing every single line of Karl's dialogue. Offerman's performance was fantastic and banished every single fear I had about his casting being a gimmick. He ran the gamut from fearful to drunken to cocky to voice of reason and back again. And he injected much-needed humor and levity into an episode that was extremely tense and violent. Thanks to a combination of Lou's quick-thinking and Karl's ability to talk his way out of any mess, there was zero bloodshed at the precinct. A stark contrast particularly against the messy chaos that went down at Casa Blomquist. This just served to highlight that Bear is the smarter and more admirable of the two brothers, I think. At the very least, Bear cares deeply for his son Charlie. As soon as Karl started insisting that Bear and his men retreating was what was best for Charlie, I knew that Bear would turn tail and head home. The conversation between Karl and Bear is one of my favorite scenes of the season so far. Karl's distraction allowed Lou time to escape and get Ed out of there. They conveniently ran into Hank, who was en route to the precinct from Peggy's following Dodd's attack. Ed, showing more initiative than I would have expected, took the opportunity to take off running. Both Hank/Lou and master tracker Hanzee were separately on his tail. Finally, back in Fargo, Mike Milligan took advantage of Simone's idiocy to storm the unprotected Gerhardt farm. I'll admit I didn't see that siege coming. Even as we saw Milligan and his men prepare for battle (set to the phenomenal Bokeem Woodbine's voiceover recitation of Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem "Jabberwocky," and intercut with split-screen scenes of the Gerhardt faction also heading into battle) I was fully expecting them to turn up in Luverne. Of course, once it happened, Milligan's attack on the vacated Gerhardt farm made all the sense in the world. It's been increasingly clear that Milligan does not care for Simone in any kind of significant way. He has attention to spare her only when she's useful to him. I can sympathize with and understand why Simone's reaction to her father berating her and calling her a whore was to attempt to sic Milligan on Dodd. That said, it was pretty damn foolish to think that she could control Milligan like that. Floyd revealed that she knows Simone has been duplicitous, to some degree. Immediately before Kansas City shot up the place, she lectured Simone about the need to be a leader and the need to definitively choose a side. Too little, too late. That's what Floyd gets for trying to play the understanding grandma in the middle of a mob war, I guess. I wish there was a Gerhardt younger female worthy of Floyd's advice and her leader speech. Simone is certainly not that person. Stray Observations: The episode title "Rhinoceros" isn't as thematically clear as past episode titles. If I had to take an (admittedly outlandish) educated guess, I'd say that Ed is (figuratively) the rhino. A tremendous beast, but largely passive in nature. By all means, though, please share your better interpretations! Oh, Ed, bless your heart for utterly misinterpreting the meaning of the myth of Sisyphus and what Noreen was trying to explain about Camus' whole point. Speaking of which: love how Lou just rapidly ran out of patience with Ed's bufoonery. He really did try to get through to the younger man, to his credit. I really enjoyed Bear talking to mute/non-responsive Otto about his dead older brother Elron. It was a sweet, poignant moment, particularly as Bear wondered how things would be if Elron, the oldest and proper heir to the Gerhardt business, were alive and running things instead of Dodd. The character of Bear continues to be a pleasant surprise among the scores of despicable Gerhardts. I was iffy about the split screen device in the early episodes of the season, but they are wonderful. This season is on par with season 1 in most respects, but I think it surpasses season 1 in terms of how visually interesting it is. Specifically referencing the way the screen was split during Lou and Karl's discussion about the plan in the precinct. So damn cool. What did you think of "Rhinoceros"? Were you as impressed with Karl Weathers as I was? Who will find Ed first – Hanzee, or Lou and Hank? Remember to watch Fargo online here at TV Fanatic and chime in with your thoughts by commenting below! Meet Tudor Petrut, The Algebra Teacher Who Plays ‘Peggy’ In The Discover Card Commercials. If you’ve watched television at any point in the last year, you’ve likely come across “Peggy,” a hirsute, vaguely Eastern European man in a holiday sweater who runs the fictional USA Prime Credit help center in the ubiquitous Discover card commercials. But you probably didn’t know that the man behind Peggy is Tudor Petrut , a high school algebra teacher who landed the role on his first American acting audition. Petrut, a native of Romania (his mother is from a township right in the middle of Transylvania, “not very far from the alleged Dracula’s castle.”), had won his country’s equivalent of the Academy Award before moving to the United States 20 years ago to marry an American and focus on writing scripts. “Hollywood has no rules,” Petrut, who speaks with a Romanian accent, explains, laughing. “I was fortunate enough to be part of one of the most successful and famous Romanian movies [ The Graduate ] twenty-something years ago, during the Communist regime. It was a romantic comedy and it was very rare that they ventured to make a movie that was not propaganda, or historical. The five of us, the main characters, we all received the yearly Romanian film award. At that point, Hollywood was so far away. So far, far away… and to be honest with you, it still is.” Petrut, who lives outside of Los Angeles, in Orange County, eventually decided, after 20 years out of the acting business, to audition for a commercial — his first American audition for any role — that was looking for a non-descript Eastern European. “I think they saw all the Russian actors in L.A., but they wanted something that was much more generic,” he explains. “I was lucky enough that I can do an accent that is not exactly Russian, that is not exactly Romanian, that is not exactly Polish, or whatever. So I went to the audition and it was a match.” What transpired was a joint effort between Discover’s marketing team, the Martin Agency, and Harvest Films. The character would be named “Peggy,” and he would be spectacularly apt at being purposefully inept. After the first couple spots turned out to be hits, the companies called Petrut back to do more. And then more. “I do a couple at a time,” he says. “They have to call a couple weeks in advance to make sure I grow out my beard. Remember, in my civil life, I’m a high school algebra teacher, so I can’t be Peggy at work.” His students, though, try their best. They give him rundowns of when his commercial pops up on TV. And some will answer questions by doing impressions of USA Prime Credit’s manager. “They try to be funny,” he says, adding that he will sometimes do a quick ‘Peggy’ for the kids. “I have very few absences.” People outside of the classroom seem to be just as excited to see Peggy in the wild, recognizing Petrut at sporting events and restaurants. “I am a picture favorite,” he says, adding that it can sometimes get a little weird. “Imagine this,” Petrut explains. “You go to a sports bar to watch the game, then, out of nowhere, the commercial plays there on the screen. On several screens. On all the screens. Now imagine if you’re sitting down at a table, trying to eat dinner, and everybody’s looking at you. ‘Okayyy yep, it is me. Hello. I’m eating.'” Petrut laughs off the sudden attention, arguing that it’s proof that the campaign has touched a nerve with people who like the message and who can relate to not being able to get something done over the phone. “I don’t think I’m good looking, I don’t think I’m good enough to be an actor — even though I’ve been a film star back home. Hollywood does this to you, you know?” He does take pride in the work, saying that, “it’s really, really hard to do something memorable in 30 seconds.” He counts Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice Guy) and Jonathan Goldsmith (the Most Interesting Man In The World) among two of his fellow commercial actors who have made great impressions in the small window, as well. So what’s next for the man whose first job in Hollywood was as a language consultant on Bram Stoker’s Dracula ? He’s still enjoying being a teacher, and, although the offers are piling up for more on-camera work, Petrut says that he’d like to get back to what he came to Hollywood 20 years ago to do: write. “I was concentrating on my script writing and different ways to conquer Hollywood — acting was not on my list. This just happened,” he says. “It was match made in heaven.” Enjoy some of Petrut’s work as “Peggy” below, courtesy of Discover: Here’s What It’s Really Like to Be a Contestant on ‘The Voice’ Former contestants and other insiders share their thoughts on the spinning chairs and Adam and Blake’s bromance. Spinning chairs. Battle rounds. Blake Shelton. These are just some of the reasons The Voice has powered through 10 years and 19 seasons (so far). Since its inaugural season, the show has breathed fire into the careers of Cassadee Pope, Will Champlin, Dia Frampton, and others while giving additional screen time to the likes of Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, and, most recently, Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys. Cosmopolitan.com spoke to five past contestants about the realities of competing on The Voice and then, just for good measure, scoured the interwebz for other juicy behind-the-scenes tidbits about the show. Keep scrolling for all the intel, including what the deal is with those spinning red chairs and whether or not Blake and Adam’s bromance is just for show. 1. The Voice does not hold stadium-style auditions. Unlike American Idol and other competitive programs, show producers take a more intimate approach, reaching out to contestants individually to recruit them for the season. As Vicci Martinez (season 1) recalls, The Voice producers were “really persistent” in having her meet up for an audition. “What I realized is they wanted to make it a show that had real artists, people who were serious about doing music and not just people who sing in the bathroom.” Fellow season 1 contestant Frenchie Davis, who previously competed on Idol in 2003 and was disqualified because of topless photos from her past, was approached by a casting director for The Voice eight years later. “She was like, ‘I don’t think you were given a fair chance on Idol ,’ and wanted me to consider auditioning.” Season 6 contestant Kat Perkins adds that without this auditioning format, she never would have been on the show. “I would have never auditioned standing in line; it just wasn’t on my bucket list.” 2. There is a long training period before the Blind Auditions—traditionally the first episode of each season—is even filmed. According to Kat (season 6), five months passed between her first audition call and her first day of the Blinds. In the month before filming, contestants are trained for every possible situation: fainting, getting sick onstage, reacting to however many coaches would turn around. Kat says contestants also received voice lessons from teachers hired by the show. “We also had social media and interview training by professionals who were brought in by The Voice to teach us skills for living our lives ‘out loud’ on social media, radio, print, and red carpet platforms,” she says. “We never got any of that,” Frenchie recalls, and fellow season 1 competitor Dia Frampton says the only instructions she got were about where to stand and where to exit. “They just said, ‘Good luck,’ and then you’re on your own.” 3. The Voice is your life 24/7 until you get eliminated or win. Jessie Poland, who competed under the name Charlotte Sometimes in season 2, put her New York apartment up for sublet while the show filmed in L.A. The demanding show schedule made it nearly impossible to do anything else, like a part-time job: “I couldn’t make a ton of money. And even though I worked as a film writer and played shows, I couldn’t do that while I was on The Voice . I couldn’t really work. No one can work.” Personal relationships are affected too. Vicci Martinez (season 1) ended a relationship while competing. “I was engaged to someone at the time and we had to break up because of [ The Voice ]. I had just bought a house in my hometown [Tacoma, Washington], and I actually just ended up giving the house away and staying in L.A.” 4. The spinning red chairs are not all they’re cracked up to be. When a coach turns around and presses the red button during the Blind Auditions, there is no “whoosh” sound—according to Kat (season 6). “It’s in postproduction! You almost don’t notice it, especially when you’re focusing and singing to the crowd that’s in the studio.” 5. The food is. . Jessie (season 2) says she was really well fed, so much that she gained weight during her season. “It was fucking sweet. It was basically like being an adult without having to be one. Once you’re on the show for a while, you got money [a stipend] to go out and catering was really great. I ate really well.” Vicci (season 1) and her fellow contestants were also treated like royalty in the food department. “They had a Starbucks there with snacks all day. It was annoying because a lot of the girls were worried about watching their weight. It was anything you wanted.” Dia (season 1), meanwhile, stuck to the hotel restaurant. “I remember [having] really delicious oatmeal with blueberries. I ate that almost every day.” 6. Sometimes you run into Rihanna backstage. Vicci (season 1) says she still keeps in touch with the crew from The Voice , and during season 9, when Rihanna performed on an episode, Vicci had a brief encounter with her. “I was dating somebody who worked with her, so I got to go back and meet her. [The coaches] were all there just hanging out. She was so sweet. She had her own spot and area.” 7. Contestants have little say on the songs they want to sing. This is standard, especially for the Battle Rounds. For Frenchie (season 1), even though she won her round with Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” she never understood why producers and coaches chose the song. “It’s always hysterical when the judges say, ‘I don’t think that was a good song choice for you,’ and I’m thinking, You picked that song .” Frenchie says for her and so many other contestants, song choice was a constant frustration. 8. A coach is only a text or email away. Dia (season 1) says her coach Blake Shelton always texted her back “whenever I was worried or uneasy about something.” Jessie (season 2) also had his number: “It was a different time.” For Kat (season 6), Adam Levine was available by a Voice - specific email and phone number that led to his assistant. “I could email Adam literally 24/7 and he was really great about responding and making sure I felt comfortable, even during the night before.” 9. Blake Shelton’s house is always open . For the early seasons of the show, Blake often invited the cast and crew to the house he shared with then-wife Miranda Lambert. Vicci (season 1) remembers being invited to Blake’s house for parties. “Adam would be there, Christina would be there. You’d see them all bonding. You got to see them be friends and Blake was really good at breaking the ice.” Jessie (season 2) also had a similar experience during the show: “Blake had us over at his house when we weren’t filming. We drank and barbecued.” 10. Blake and Adam’s bromance is real. “It was ridiculous,” recalls Vicci (season 1), who says that even Blake’s and Adam’s assistants and makeup artists got along right from the get-go. “It was cool to see Adam’s tribe and Blake’s tribe [together]. Adam and Blake are genuine. Adds Frenchie (season 1): “I never questioned it, and I wasn’t even on their team.” 11. As is Blake’s personality . “I didn’t know if his witty stuff was written for him and if he was manufactured, but he was exactly what you want him to be,” says Kat (season 6). “He’s so warm and so funny.” Dia (season 1), who worked closely with Blake and went on to tour with him after the show, says he always fought for her. “I was expecting an untouchable superstar, but he was the most grounded, most down-to-earth, friendly person I’d ever met.” 12. Adam may be a bro, but he’s a nice bro. According to Kat (season 6), Adam would always check in with his team even before the cameras were rolling. “He just wanted to know if you were okay, and that was so cool. Every single day, he used his manners and opened doors for people. He said please and thank you. He was super kind.” 13. Rehearsal time is often dependent on the schedule of the famous person you’re working with. Vicci (season 1) says toward the end of her season, she waited until 3 a.m. for then-coach CeeLo Green to show up for filming. The plan was to record three songs to have them ready for iTunes after that week’s episode. “I remember just being so upset because I had to be up for interviews that morning.” Looking back, Vicci says she’s not bitter about it because it made her realize the realities of being a rock star. “If I’m gonna complain about this shit right now…this is what it would be like to be in demand [like CeeLo]. It was practice for what it’s really like out there. That’s why I was able to get far.” (Vicci tied for third that season.) 14. When you’re eliminated, you’re expected to GTFO. You’re literally on the next flight home and getting back to reality hours later. “It was very abrupt,” recalls Kat (season 6). “Even with Blind Auditions, you spend weeks [training] with them and they’re gone. You can’t call or text.” Frenchie (season 1) made the most of her elimination after the semifinals: “The day I got booted off, I flew to New York to sing for New York Pride. I had a blast. I met my ex-partner that night. We were together for almost four years.” 15. The show employs a staff of psychologists to deal with the aftermath of each episode. “It’s emotionally frustrating,” says Frenchie (season 1), who adds that she had to take personality tests before getting the final approval to be on the show. “They know exactly what they’re doing. Every second.” The show’s psychology team is also on hand to smoothen the exit process. In season 6, regular checkups were required for the top 12. “We had to start visiting to check on our well-being. The minute you are eliminated, you walk from that stage and into the psychiatrist’s office for a debriefing. They make sure that you talk about it,” says Kat. “It’s very needed because you’ll never go through anything like it again. It’s traumatic and you’re not really emotionally set up to do something that big that quickly.” 16. Contestants get a wardrobe upgrade after the blind auditions. In an interview with SheKnows , The Voice ’s executive producer, Audrey Morrissey, spilled plenty of behind-the-scenes secrets about the show, including what the deal is with wardrobe. Apparently, contestants are on their own during auditions, but if they get a judge to spin for them, NBC steps in. “We shop for each artist to come up with great looks,” she explained. “Once we get to the live shows, looks are customized for each specific performance.” 17. The main thing contestants and coaches talk about is song choice. Each Voice coach has their own style when it comes to communicating with their team, but according to Morrissey, song choice is the main topic of convo across the board. “Each coach has their own style—some are avid texters, while others email,” she told SheKnows . “All off-camera interactions intensify as the artists move through the competition and the stakes get higher. The number one communication is about song choice.” 18. Some coaches are super hands-on and others…aren’t. While every Voice coach helps their team pick out killer music, some also take a very active role in other aspects of the performance, apparently, like production details. “It all depends on the coach,” Morrissey told SheKnows . “Some love a big production and like working out all the details of the performance. Other coaches mainly focus on the music and arrangement for the performance.” In an interview with the Washington Post , season 6 contestant Ddendyl Hoyt explained that her coach, Shakira, wasn’t super involved in her progress behind the scenes. “We coached with her a few times and then the majority of our growth was left to us on our own,” she said. 19. Sometimes people who audition are rejected—but asked to come back for a later season instead. In her interview with the Washington Post , Ddendyl explained that she actually auditioned for season 5 and made it to callbacks in Los Angeles, only to have the producers tell her, “We’re not going your direction this season—but please come back.” “I said, all right, I’ll give it another try, but whatever,” she explained. “But if this is a no-go, this is the last time I’m doing any of these things, ever.” 20. The blind auditions are loud AF. Ddendyl revealed in her interview with the Washington Post that blind auditions are kind of overwhelming— but in a good way. “The button got hit so fast that I was just trying to have a good show,” she explained. “The whole crowd was on their feet during their audition, clapping with me, and every time I hit a high note, they were cheering. It was amazing.” 21 . The friendships are real. And contestants really do keep in touch. Jessie (season 2) says she still hangs out with her team members. She works with some of them and goes to yoga with others. “We all find ways to collaborate. Our jobs didn’t stop after The Voice .” from the farther side of beyond (a collection of novellas to keep you up at night): a collection of novellas to keep you up at night Paperback – 10 June 2012. While I wouldn't go so far as to say these stories scared the pants off of me, they certainly did entertain! The stories contained within "From the Farther Side of Beyond" are well written and worth the time. The thing I love most about collections is you can take your time with them, read a story here and there and pick up the book again later to find something new and different. The author, Peggy Randall Martin, has a fantastic imagination and it shines through in her stories. These are the kinds of stories I grew up listening to. These are the kinds of stories that made me want to become a writer in the first place. They have an urban myth / Twilight Zone feel to them that brought me back to my roots. The stories told in Peggy's collection could have fit right in with the stories my cousins used to tell to scare me as a child. I felt as though I was welcoming home an old, albeit scary, friend. From the Farther Side of Beyond is what that old school style of storytelling is all about! Those stories with a hint of truth blended with just enough fantasy to make you wonder, and perhaps even look over your shoulder as you see similarities creeping up from behind you in real life! I remember coming across old reruns of The Twilight Zone back in my middle/high school days. The Sci-Fi Channel (now the SyFy Channel - not sure the reasoning behind the change of spelling but whatever) used to run all day marathons of the Rod Serling classic every so often, and when they did I would snap them up. I remember being amazed at the time that an old black and white television show could tell stories that were not only good, but that could truly mess with your head. The effects may have been dated, but the sheer weirdness was timeless. From the farther side of beyond (a collection of novellas to keep you up at night) by Peggy Randall-Martin exudes that same feeling of wonderful weirdness as those old episodes of The Twilight Zone that entertained me as a kid. This collection contains six fictional works and one true story of a very odd happening in the author's life. While said stories didn't keep me up at night - being a horror author myself I'm pretty hardened to all but the spookiest of spook stories - I was impressed by both the strangeness and the execution of the stories contained in this collection. Peggy's prose is crisp and her dialogue snappy. Her character's are believable and likable, and they seem to spring to life from the pages. The only gripe I had about the writing was a very small one that didn't detract much from the stories themselves - there were times it felt like I was head hopping. That is to say, there were times when it seemed that the point of view shifted abruptly from one person to another. However, most times when I thought that happened, I read a little further only to see there was a good reason for it, as it was either intended to reveal or conceal something about the story that couldn't really have been expressed any other way. And as for the whole concealment thing - often, when the big reveal came, I didn't see it coming. This wasn't due to any lack in the author's ability - in fact, I would say it's a testament to her skill. Her stories kept you guessing right up until the end, and when the reveal did come the utter strangeness of the scenario smacked you straight upside the head, much the same as the very best episodes of The Twilight Zone. You might remember that I mentioned how one story in this collection was a recollection of a strange event in the author's own life, called "For Whom the Phone Rings". The event happened back in 1999, and in her description of the story she challenges "If it had happened to you, would you have answered the phone?" Now, despite the content of this blog, I tend to view myself as a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal. That isn't to say I don't believe - I want to believe, as Agent Mulder on The X-Files would say. That being said, I can't think of any reasonable explanation for the occurrence that Peggy describes in her book. Would I have answered the phone? Having not had the experience, I can sit here and try to say I would, but I think I'd answer differently had I actually experienced what she did! All in all, I found from the farther side of beyond an enjoyable read. It isn't strictly a horror collection - more of a paranormal thriller - but I would recommend it for horror and non-horror fans alike. Why Outspoken Female Chef Peggy Chan Wants More Hong Kongers To Think Before They Eat. We sit down with Peggy Chan, chef-founder of Grassroots Pantry, Hong Kong's leading meat-free eatery, a prolific public speaker, and a key driver of Hong Kong's green-eating movement, to find out how she was able to merge a career built in the city's top Michelin star-studded establishments with her passion for serving the community. Chef-owner of Grassroots Pantry, Peggy Chan is a prolific public speaker and key driver of Hong . [+] Kong's green-eating movement. It is 8pm on a late March evening and we are passing around a plate of beetroot gnocchi in an unlit restaurant. Anywhere else, we might have been hapless diners persisting through a power outage, but this is Hong Kong: in a city flushed with incandescent skyscrapers and neon-lit streets, the lights have been flicked off wittingly - and we have signed up willingly. To mark Earth Hour - a global movement where individuals, communities, households and businesses are encouraged to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol for their commitment to the planet - Grassroots Pantry's chef and founder Peggy Chan has decided to keep not just the dining room of her 60-seater restaurant on Hollywood Road electricity-free for the entirety of two dinner seatings, but most of her kitchen too. So we sup on raw and low temperature-cooked creations such as spiralised-vegetable Thai noodles and a tartare of tuna-like tomato chunks by flickering candlelight and - because the lights never really go out in Hong Kong - under a golden bath of street light that streams in through the restaurant's full-length glass windows. But it is also thanks to this dusky glow that we are able to better appreciate the culinary trompe l'oeil that slowly unfolds before our eyes: butternut squash is enveloped in discs of watermelon radish ravioli so crunchy, they are a mimicry of textbook-perfect al dente cooking; an unagi maki roll fashioned from cashew paste-comprised "eel" slivers and glazed with coconut aminos teriyaki sauce is so flavourful, even the most adamant of carnivores will hardly notice that the meat is missing. Chan, a vegetarian of 17 years, founded Grassroots Pantry in 2011 within a tiny cul-de-sac in the neighbouring Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood with a vision that she's since made her mission. " Five years ago, there wasn’t any restaurant of this sort in Hong Kong. There were easy, hippie-type places but nothing in a finer dining style. This is my way to express the lifestyle that I want everyone to know about," says the Cordon Bleu graduate whose resume is plumped with front- and back-of-house experience in the region's most celebrated names in hospitality. But her elevated meat-free, largely organic menus aren't only designed to change perceptions of taste, there is a more solemn message behind them: "More importantly, I want to highlight the underlying issues in the food system: the overconsumption of meat and overproduction of livestock and how inhumane the slaughter market is. Over 51% of our carbon emissions are derived from livestock production. It’s no longer just the cars and the factories that are causing global warming, it’s us eating meat and us wiping out rainforests and huge pieces of land for livestock or to grow a single crop like palm oil. It just does not make sense." "People didn’t know that even 10 years ago and governments were very good at hiding it. Luckily, now we have social media and nothing gets hidden anymore," she adds. Outspoken as she is on these issues - Chan participates in as many as seven public panel discussions each month - militancy and a hard-sell are not her intent. On the contrary, she recalls, initial marketing efforts for Grassroots Pantry were driven with one brief: there was to be no mention of "vegetarian" or "vegan" in any features. "These terms used to deter people - five years ago, though not so much anymore - from stepping through your doors," Chan explains. "Food can change mindsets; if you can serve people good food, be it with or without meat, that is what will draw them back." How did you get into the vegetarian lifestyle? I stopped eating meat when I was 16. I started with giving up beef, then pork, poultry and eventually fish and seafood. Now I’m vegetarian, mostly vegan. Going vegetarian is not easy when you don’t have the resources to make sure that you are well-fed with nutrients. I was lucky I was living in Ottawa then and it was such a hippie town that I was able to try different grains, like teff, quinoa, bulgur and millet, when no one else really knew about them. I was just eating and trying for awhile and I noticed I was no longer having anaemic issues and dizzy spells, and then I started to think, how do I allow other people like my family and friends to realise that going vegetarian is safe and that you’ll feel just as good, if not better, without meat. Because I was a trained chef, I was able to make it tasty and interesting for them, and my parents and my whole family eventually became vegetarian. You went to Cordon Bleu in Ottawa at the age of 18 - after you stopped eating meat. What was it like undergoing formal culinary training as a vegetarian? Cooking is a very instinctive thing. You can look and touch and smell things, and from there you start to develop an instinct for how much salt to put on how many grams of meat. You don’t always have to taste it. It also helped to get feedback from fellow chefs, who would taste the meat and tell me whether something is too salty or not salty enough and after awhile, you kind of know. Meat-free but not mundane: Hong Kong's Grassroots Pantry serves up organic, vegetarian fare by . [+] Cordon Bleu-trained female chef, Peggy Chan. You've built a pretty impressive resume with stints in the kitchens of Hong Kong's top Michelin-starred restaurants and corporate experience in Asia's top hotels. What were some of your career highlights? After graduating from Cordon Bleu, I worked in several restaurants in Ottawa and Montreal and also in China, to learn Chinese cuisine. I realised that working in a kitchen is not something I could do forever. My body was taking its toll because of my small physique and I also realised that working as a female in the kitchen, it would take double the amount of time to rise up the ranks. B ecause I knew I wanted to open a restaurant some day, I then went to Switzerland to get a degree in business and hospitality management, which really helped with the business side of running Grassroots Pantry. In 2007, I came back to Hong Kong, and because I’ve always been introverted, I wanted to learn how to speak to people and manage people so I decided that I would work in the front of house. I was a big fan of Joel Robuchon and they hired me to become a server. I was trained by some really tough female captains there. I was there during peak Christmas season, and their menus are 12-courses long and each one has a different wine pairing and a different glass, and people are opening HKD300,000 bottles of wine. It was marble everywhere and I had to polish glasses by hand till three in the morning. It was quite the experience - no server really starts at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant! One day I was serving the director from the Four Seasons and shortly after, I was head-hunted as their first management trainee. There, I rotated through restaurants like Caprice and Lung King Heen, the latter during the year they won their third Michelin star. I learnt so much in my 2-and-a- half years there: I was the receptionist, the dish washer and also took care of in-room dining for over 500 rooms. I then did a stint at the Peninsula Hotel Tokyo, where I learnt a lot about myself and my management style and that hasn’t changed to this day. After Tokyo, I came back and had an "Eat Pray Love" moment - I was lost and went to India and Bali to find myself, as they say. I wanted to devote my life to a non-profit but I also have a career built in food and beverage, so I started to think: how am I able to make both meet? How do I service the community but still do what I love to do? That was how Grassroots Pantry came about. The Scandi-inspired interiors of Grassroots Pantry on Hollywood Road. And how has your business evolved over the years? When we first started in our original location in Sai Ying Pun, it was meant to be a hole-in-the-wall type of cafe with simple food and a workshop space where I could teach people how to cook without meat. But within 3 months, we were constantly full and trying to meet the demand. There was a lot of press, mostly because we were one of the few women-run establishments back in 2012, and it was also the year the green movement really took off in Hong Kong, with initiatives like the Island East Markets, a farmer’s market where we first started selling our nut butters. We had a long table upstairs for workshops, but as more people came but we started seating people there for dining, which was not licensed for that. So we eventually opened Prune Deli in the unit next door. It was more casual than Grassroots Pantry, and we used it to showcase ingredients like acai berries, raw cakes and vegan baked goods that have been folded into our main menu when we moved to Hollywood Road in 2015. We’ve also started a catering arm, the Alternative Caterer, and we do a few events monthly, for clients like skincare and fashion brands. We are now able to feed a high-end and wider range of clientele, and not just the people who are interested in green food. While we had mostly ladies come in before, now it’s everyone from a younger, hip crowd to businessmen in suits. That’s how I had wanted Grassroots to evolve. We try to make it more approachable so people don’t feel like they’re coming in to eat vegetables, and it’s no longer a barrier for diners. Over 80% of our clientele are not vegetarian or vegan, but maybe they want a healthier lifestyle or they go meat-free three days out of the week. The Scandi-inspired interiors of Grassroots Pantry on Hollywood Road. Is that what prompted you to start The Collector’s Table? We were doing solid, high-end vegetarian food, but we found that we weren’t quite on the same level as the other restaurants. People see vegetarian food as a cuisine that is so easy to prepare, because “it’s just vegetables”, and even I was viewed differently from other chefs. Chefs who cook with meat are regarded as “real chefs” but a chef who cooks vegetables isn’t. So we started The Collector’s Table dinners, a series of collaborative dinners with other chefs around Hong Kong, to get other chefs to start thinking about putting stuff that is meat-free on their menus. We challenge them to cook meat-free, hopefully egg-free and dairy-free as well - with our help. At the same time, these chefs could align their brand with ours on the same path to conscious, eco-friendly eating, and vice versa. We’ve collaborated with four chefs so far - Richard Ekkebus of Amber, Vinny Lauria of Linguni Fini and Posto Publico, Joey Sergentakis of Swire’s The Continental and Mr. & Mrs. Fox, and Nathan Green of Rhoda - and for the next one we want to do something Spring-themed and maybe with a female chef. What else are you working on for 2017? I’ve never been the type of chef who wants to open many restaurants or different concepts. I just want to do Grassroots Pantry well and share our philosophy - this is our core ethos. I do a lot of panels, talking about our food waste issues and why we should reduce our meat consumption. I’m very vocal because as a chef, I feel that it’s our responsibility to not just run a restaurant and cook; we have a voice and we need to use it to our advantage, to serve the community. I also want to launch a cookbook soon. My ultimate goal, though, is philanthropy, I want to do more education, and I wish I could peel myself away from operations to do more workshops and maybe start an NGO at some point.