deerstalker

https://www.blackenterprise.com/lifestyle-eso-artisanal-pasta-the-food-network/

A television network competition offer was needed to help revitalize an entrepreneur’s fledging business.

According to Scripps News, AJ Sankofa, a New Jersey chef, was notified via his Instagram account about The Great Food Truck Race competition. The Food Network asked him if he and his company ESO Artisanal Pasta would like to audition for a spot on the show. The rest, as they say, is history.

That opportunity helped the business in a way that can only be measured by including Sankofa and his company in the competition. He and his wife, Kristin Gambarian, appeared on the 15th season of the show in 2022, and it was the spark they needed to stay on level ground.

After being invited to audition and surviving through several rounds, their team, which included their friend Matt McFadden, was accepted into the competition. The trio was given their own food truck to go up against other teams of chefs in the competition. None of them had experienced working within the confines of a food truck, so they learned as they went about the competition. Until then, they didn’t realize that it isn’t as easy to fix artisanal pasta in a tight space. ESO was the first team to serve pasta on The Great Food Truck Race.

After being flown to California and competing between February 2022 and April 2022, the team came in third place in the competition, and from there, business took off!

ESO Artisanal Pasta can be found on a side street in Morristown, New Jersey. The shop is only open two days a week, on Fridays and Saturdays. This is due to the couple cooking and hosting parties throughout the week. They rent out a commercial kitchen at a restaurant 45 minutes away to make their products. They also make their money doing private parties as well.

Appearing on The Great Food Truck Race has helped their online business. Their customers and fans of the show can order home kit pasta that sells in the $150 range so they can serve an artisanal meal at home.

Now that business has picked up, and they are doing well, Sankofa and Gambarian plan to save to buy a home and open their own restaurant business.

https://nerdist.com/article/crayola-is-launching-crayola-studios-to-make-tv-shows-and-films-for-kids-and-families/

On the heels of Barbie and the impending Mattel Cinematic Universe, another major company is getting into the entertainment business. Crayola, known for producing top-tier art and school supplies, is launching Crayola Studios to make content for kids and families. Once again, this is news that wasn’t on our BINGO card. As Deadline reports, Crayola is teaming with MIMO Studios to develop its first project, The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian.

The series will be based on a Gen-Z Media podcast by Jonathan Messinger about an 8-year-old boy on a space station. He goes with his friends to explore new planets and help aliens. So, unlike Barbie, Crayola Studios content will actually be for kids of all ages. But, as we all know, a lot of kid content usually has some nuggets thrown in there for adults. Crayola Studios will partner with IP owners, animation studios, and other production companies for future offerings. 

“Crayola is synonymous with kids and color and we are so excited to collaborate with them to bring these beloved journeys to life through world-class animation and artistry” said Zarghami, MIMO Studios leader and former Nickelodeon chief. “We have been cultivating The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian since we first identified it and immediately saw the great potential and opportunity to tell rich stories in video the way Gen-Z Media did in the podcast. The combination of great characters, creativity, adventure, and information is something we can’t wait to bring to audiences worldwide.”

So there you have it. There will be a Mattel Cinematic Universe and maybe a Crayola TV series and film empire too. The crayon makers may not have Wishbone and other cool icons, but maybe we can get a box of crayons on an adventure. I’d watch it. The 2020s continues to be a wild decade.

The post Crayola Is Making TV Shows and Films appeared first on Nerdist.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/lifestyle-eddies-barbershop-asbury-nj/

A Black woman inherited a family business back in the 1960s. If not advised by her father, the business may not have lasted long enough to become one of the oldest Black-owned businesses in the community.

According to NJ.com, Eddie’s Barbershop owner Valerie Roberts was handed the family business and felt that the neighborhood of Asbury Park would need more time to be ready for a woman barber who can cut just as well as the men. She didn’t want to go through the difficulties that people in the city may not be prepared to see a lady barber in the neighborhood. But, due to some advice from her father, she stayed.

“I told my father I was going back to New York because this city isn’t ready for a lady barber,” said the 80-year-old Roberts. “He told me if you run from difficult situations, I’d never make it in life.”

That and her resilience have kept her in the neighborhood where the business still operates today.

Roberts’ father, Edward Hilton, opened the barbershop on Springwood Avenue near Dewitt in 1940. After running the business for over 20 years, his health started to fail, so she took over Eddie’s Barbershop.

As with any business, Roberts had to survive during rough times. She said the business was almost lost due to race riots in the 1970s.

“That Fourth of July was one of the scariest days I can remember,” she recalled. “Cops stood on the track with rifles ready to shoot anyone trying to cross over into the nicer part of Asbury.

“A friend of mine helped me remove everything in the shop during the looting and hide it in his grocery store,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t easy, but we survived.”

Eugene Berry has been getting his haircut at Eddie’s Barbershop for over 20 years and plans to continue that tradition.

“Val is an example of what Asbury Park should be,” said Berry. “She’s a living example of perseverance and the only one I’d let touch these curls.”

Now, Roberts wants to continue the legacy and hand the business down to her grandson.

https://nerdist.com/article/ahsoka-tano-timeline-of-most-important-moments-star-wars-clone-wars-star-wars-rebels-mandalorian/

Ahsoka Tano has been making waves in the Star Wars galaxy since her first appearance in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. The young Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka changed what we thought we knew about the character. As she grew up, learned from Anakin, taught Anakin, became a Jedi in a time of war, left the Jedi, helped the Rebellion—she’s stayed busy. With Star Wars: Ahsoka on the horizon, we looked back at a timeline of Ahsoka’s most important Star Wars moments and the many ways she’s impacted the galaxy.

Tales of the Jedi

Ahsoka Is Born

36 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin)

Pav-Ti and Nak-il Tano welcome a baby, Ahsoka, on the Togruta homeworld of Shili. She shows Force abilities at a young age during a ritual hunt, during which she befriends a massive sabertooth-like beast.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Plo Koon Discovers Ahsoka

33 BBY

Jedi Master Plo Koon discovers a three-year-old Ahsoka on Shili. He can tell she is sensitive to the Force and takes Ahsoka to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Ahsoka Becomes Anakin’s Padawan

22 BBY

The Clone Wars begin while Ahsoka is a Padawan. Yoda assigns her to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker months after the war begins. Ahsoka reports to her new master at the Battle of Christophsis, though Anakin isn’t thrilled about having a Padawan. He starts her training immediately, noting her reckless tendencies.

Ahsoka Dies on Mortis

21 BBY

Ahsoka travels the galaxy with Anakin, and often Obi-Wan Kenobi, fighting in skirmishes against the Separatists. On their way to rendezvous with Captain Rex, they inadvertently travel to Mortis. The mysterious realm is a vergence of the Force with avatars of the dark side and light side of the Force in the former of the Son and the Daughter. Their Father represents balance. Here, Ahsoka dies at the hands of the Son, but the Daughter sacrifices herself to bring Ahsoka back to life.

Ahsoka Teaches Saw Gerrera and the Onderon Rebels

20 BBY

Constantly forced to walk political lines, Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan travel to Onderon to teach the rebels how to fight occupying Separatists without outright helping them. Here, Ahsoka meets the Onderon rebels’ leader Steela Gerrera and her brother Saw Gerrera. Saw later goes on to employ the guerrilla tactics he learns from Ahsoka as a Partisan fighting against the Empire.

Ahsoka Leaves the Jedi Order

19 BBY

As the Clone Wars near their end, a bombing occurs at the Jedi Temple. The person responsible, the Jedi Barriss Offee, frames Ahsoka; the Jedi Council and a Republic court fall for it. They imprison Ahsoka and the Jedi expel her from the Order. Eventually she proves her innocence and the Jedi pardon her and invite her back to the Order, calling what they had done a “trial.” The incident gives Ahsoka perspective, and she decides to walk away from her life as a Jedi.

Ahsoka Leads the Siege of Mandalore

19 BBY

Just when she think she’s out… a series of events lead Ahsoka back to Mandalore, specifically to help Bo-Katan Kryze and her Nite Owls remove Maul from the position of power he has claimed. She reunites with Anakin, who gives her back her lightsabers, before leading the clone troopers (a more pressing issue pulls Obi-Wan and Anakin away) to Mandalore. Ahsoka and her allies eventually capture Maul, but very soon after, Chancellor Palpatine issues Order 66. In the ensuing chaos, Ahsoka helps Captain Rex remove his inhibitor chip and Maul escapes.

Ahsoka fakes her death and goes into hiding.

Tales of the Jedi and Ahsoka novel

Ahsoka Leaves Hiding and Helps Bail Organa

Approximately 18 BBY

Ahsoka stays off the radar in the wake of Order 66, limiting her use of the Force. But it’s Ahsoka. She helps others; it’s what she does. Her activities put her on Senator Bail Organa’s radar. He put Ahsoka’s skills to use in his burgeoning, secret rebellion against the Empire.

Star Wars Rebels

Ahsoka Reveals Herself as Fulcrum and Reunites with Captain Rex

4 BBY

In her work for Bail, Ahsoka operates in the shadows and goes by the codename Fulcrum. She organizes missions for the Spectres and eventually reveals herself to the Ghost crew. Through openly working within the Rebellion, Ahsoka soon reunites with Captain Rex.

Ahsoka Fights Darth Vader on Malachor

3 BBY

Darth Vader confronts Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger after his Grand Inquisitor fails to capture them, and this leads his path to cross Ahsoka’s. She forms suspicions about Vader’s true identity and confronts her former master on Malachor. Ahsoka initially displays anger towards the Sith Lord but eventually her compassion shines through. They duel with Vader nearly killing Ahsoka but…

Ezra Saves Ahsoka from the World Between Worlds

1 BBY

Ezra gains access to the World Between Worlds and sees many moments in time while there. Morai, Ahsoka’s convor companion who is reminiscent of the Daughter who once resurrected Ahsoka, draws Ezra’s attention to a portal. The portal shows Darth Vader and Ahsoka in their duel on Malachor; Vader is about to deliver a lethal blow to Ahsoka when Ezra pulls her through the portal, saving her life.

The Mandalorian

Ahsoka Meets Grogu

9 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin)

Din Djarin finds Ahsoka thanks to a tip from Bo-Katan. She is on the planet Corvus, looking for information about Grand Admiral Thrawn, who disappeared along with Ezra. Din presents his foundling to Ahsoka, looking for help, and she discovers the child’s name: Grogu. She advises Din to take Grogu to the seeing stone on Tython.

The Book of Boba Fett

Ahsoka Visits Luke’s Jedi Temple

Approximately 11 ABY

Ahsoka is with Grogu the next time we see her. She is visiting the youngling on Ossus, where Luke Skywalker is building his new Jedi temple. Ahsoka departs and tells Luke she might see him again one day.

The Rise of Skywalker

Rey Hears Ahsoka’s Voice

35 ABY

Many years later, Rey Skywalker calls upon the Jedi to help her as she fits Darth Sidious. Among the voices of departed Jedi, Rey hears Ahsoka.

Ahsoka will undoubtedly add more important moments. The show premieres on Disney+ on August 23.

The post A Timeline of Ahsoka Tano’s Most Important STAR WARS Moments appeared first on Nerdist.