As a chef, ratatouille is probably one of those dishes that looks simple on the plate but actually takes a lot of effort behind the scenes. People think it’s “just vegetables,” but that’s exactly why it’s tricky—you don’t have anything to hide behind. Every single ingredient has to be fresh, balanced, and cooked just right. First, it’s all about prep. You spend a ton of time slicing zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers into perfect, even rounds. That’s the not-so-glamorous part, but it matters. If one slice is too thick, it won’t cook evenly. If it’s too thin, it might burn. Chefs are kind of obsessive about stuff like that. Then there’s layering. You can’t just throw the vegetables into a pan. They have to be arranged in this spiral pattern that makes the dish look gorgeous before it even goes into the oven. Honestly, it takes patience, steady hands, and an eye for color. A real chef would see it like painting—zucchini green next to tomato red, eggplant purple blending with yellow pepper. It’s art, but edible. Finally, the cooking. Ratatouille has to bake slowly so the vegetables soften without turning into mush. The olive oil, garlic, and herbs infuse everything, so when it comes out, it smells amazing. The end result isn’t just food—it’s proof of discipline, timing, and respect for ingredients. That’s what makes ratatouille so “chef-y.” It’s humble but elevated, simple but technical. To pull it off, you need patience, precision, and a love for vegetables. Honestly, I admire chefs who make it look effortless, because behind that perfect plate is a ton of practice and care.
Author: baronmedianetwork
A Week in Digital Media with Joey R
By: Joey Robertson
The Actual First Blog (guess I wasn’t supposed to do the one last week)
Anyways…
Tuesday:
Started off by filming some footage of the cafeteria as B-roll footage, getting shots from all angles, inside and outside, and with and without students eating inside. Filming was quick and smooth. It probably only took about 15 minutes, maybe 20 at most. Afterwards, I returned to the classroom and began uploading all of the footage to my Google drive, which had some technical issues of its own. While that was finalizing, I worked on organizing the google drive into a series of folders so everything wasn’t everywhere, and I would be able to find what I needed later.
Wednesday:
I was at camp Bob Cooper with all the other seniors, so I wasn’t able to get any other work done unfortunately. But I did check to make sure the editing software on my computer still worked.
Thursday:
Once I got into class, I immediately got to filming the A-roll footage, although maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick and unobservant. I decided to film all the footage outside on one of the tables with the phone recording propped up against the laptop I would be reading off of. That’s when the trouble started unfortunately. I ended up going through 3 different microphones, wasting about 10-15 minutes, before deciding i had had enough, and just used the built in microphone to finish. There were still more accidents and errors unfortunately, like having to stop a take midway on account of people walking by, or me accidentally deleting a video here and there. After everything was finished, I quickly uploaded it all. Later when I got home, I got straight to work editing the video on my own computer, using all kinds of fancy music and tricks and the like. After about 30 minutes of that, it was all finished
Clemson vs LSU Postgame Breakdown
By: Griffin Jones
On Saturday August 30th, 2025 the number 8 ranked LSU Tigers traveled to Memorial Stadium to take on the number 4 ranked Clemson Tigers in a highly anticipated matchup. There was an unbelievable amount of hype coming into this game as this was the first time the 2 teams faced off since January 13th, 2019 where LSU topped Clemson 42-25 in the National Championship. While the two teams have played formerly, LSU leading 4-1, this was the first game inside of either team’s stadium which are both labeled as “Death Valley”. The high rankings along with the possible revenge lead fans to call this game the battle to be the “Real Death Valley”.
Coming into the game the spread was Clemson favored by -4.5 as they returned 81% of their offensive talent and 75% of their defensive talent, this combined with a great offseason and a home field advantage led many to believe this was Clemson’s game to win. LSU however returned 65% of offensive production and 59% of defensive production losing much of their offensive line and receiving core. However, using the transfer portal LSU was able to instantly replace their positions of need with equal or similar talent.
Despite both teams returning diverse numbers of talent, they each came into the season labeled to have a top five skilled rosters in the country. All of this skill along with a Heisman hopeful quarterback on each team excited some to the point where they were saying this would be the “Game of the Year”.
Entering the game LSU players were greeted by 80,000+ Clemson fans who were starving for a big win. A 7:30 kickoff time only fed into the excitement of the roaring fans. Clemson won the coin toss and decided to defer and the game was under way.
The first play from scrimmage LSU’s star sophomore running back Caden Durham shook off a tackle and ran for a gain of 24 yards leaving them just shy of Clemson territory. The Tigers gained 1 more first down getting to the Clemson 40 but after that stalled, leaving out at a 3 & 11. As this was the biggest play of the game at this point the fans were deafening during a huge third down on the first drive. This caused Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier to call a timeout due to the screams. The rest of the first half was filled with many unsuccessful with LSU’s offense looking superior throughout. Despite this, Clemson’s lead in the turnover battle along with a strong drive in the second quarter helped them head into the half with a 10-3 lead over LSU.
However, this lead would be short lived as LSU’s dominance of time of possession, Clemson’s inability to establish the run game, and an interception thrown in the second half turned things LSU’s way. As they tied the game 10-10 with a Caden Durham touchdown and took the lead with a 1on1 endzone ball to 6 ‘7 receiver Trey’dez Green. Once LSU claimed the lead they never let it go, despite Clemson’s best effort on their final drive they came up just short of forcing overtime. As Klubnik was pressured into a poor throw on 4th down from LSU’s 15 with just under a minute left.
I believe that these are two playoff teams who have a lot of potential this year if they reach their full ability. Although Clemson lost, I think Troy will help them get some confidence and hopefully bounce back in the future and figure things out in what seems like a strong ACC this year.
Why Lanorris Sellers Could Win the Heisman
By: Cooper Hill
Going into his second year as a starter for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, Sellers is a serious contender for the Heisman. As a redshirt freshman, he threw for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns, while rushing for 674 yards and 7 more touchdowns. Lanorris proved himself early on last year taking Carolina to a bowl game and going 9-4. With receiver weapons, Nyck Harbor, Mazeo Bennett Jr. and true freshman Donovan Murph, Sellers could see a lot of success. All receivers have extremely good potential to have breakout seasons due to Sellers. Not only can Sellers sling the rock, but he is a serious weapon on the ground. Defensive coordinators are going to have a time trying to prepare their team for the dual threat passing and running. Lanorris also has a connection with the new offensive coordinator, Mike Shula, due to the fact that he was the offensive analyst for the Gamecocks last year. In the week one game where the Gamecocks beat the Virginia Tech Hokies 24-11, Lanorris completed 12 of his 19 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 25 yards and another touchdown. These stats are not eye catching, but the 25 yards on the ground are physical, hard runs that got the Gamecocks first downs to win the game. He also had a huge touchdown pass to the former track star, Nyck Harbor. Also, with many quarterbacks, such as Arch Manning and Cade Kulb Klubnik, who were in the preseason Heisman watch, not performing well week one, it gives Sellers an edge to win it. Lanorris just needs to be himself the rest of the year, and keep the mistakes to a minimum. Sellers is for sure a dark horse to win the Heisman trophy this year.
Why Clemson lost to LSU
By: Ben McLaurin
To begin, Clemson was favored going into the game, but for some reason Clemson decides to the game. We were not expecting our star receiver to get hurt on the 2nd drive of the game. LSU does not breed star players, they get them in the portal like Mansoor Delane was a locksmith all night for LSU as a Virginia Tech transfer. Antiono Williams fell with a hamstring injury and he was expected to be Cade’s number one target all night. Clemson’s corner Ashton Hampton played a disappointing game with 3 Pass Interferences, but one was a horrendous call around the fifty-yard line which not only led to a first down on 3rd and 11 but led to a touchdown that put them ahead 17-10. Clemson’s 2nd half and run game was pathetic with 31 total rush yards all night with constant costly penalties that led to drive killers for the Tigers and extenders for LSU. Clemson had a hot start to the 2nd half with a drive until Hauser missed an important kick to extend the lead which fell wide right. The Clemson o-line was experienced and failed to execute unlike LSU’s young o-line that had an effective run game with well over 100 yards. Tj Parker and Demonta Capehart, two projected first round picks, put up 2 total tackles made by Tj Parker which led to 1st year starters like Ronan Hanfan to step up with 12 tackles followed by Sammyn Brown’s 11. In all, Clemson did play a poor game and the ref’s were no help for Clemson. Even without the bad calls, Clemson just played a bad game and were not prepared especially on Garrett Riley’s part with a sorry game plan. Especially in the beginning, instead of getting Cade easy completions he tried to have him read deep concepts against a star studded secondary.
Sonic Pickle Slush Review
By: Hannah-Grace Hagood
Right off the bat, the Sonic Pickle Slush looks like toxic waste. It has pickle boba pearls, pickle slush, and a slightly spicy pickle on top (which is gross). When I tried it I immediately gagged because of the texture and the sour, bitter taste. Then I tried the boba and it was neon green, the taste was 10 times worse than the slush. It was like someone infused boba with pickle juice and let it marinate for a few days. Then here comes the pickle on top, first of all why would you put a pickle on top of a slushie? It was slightly spicy and I don’t know why, no one told me it was SPICY!! Like what? Overall the slushie was awful and I will not be getting it again, 0/10.
Is it Better to Own a Cat or Dog?
By: Madison Grace Hansen
The common question, “is it better to own a cat or dog” circulates through social media at least once a year. Addressing this topic, I personally believe that it is better to own a dog rather than a cat because dogs are easier to clean up after, they can be trained easily, and they are better companions.
Dogs are easier to clean up after because most use the restroom outside and do not require cleaning because they are in the yard. Cats use the restroom in a litter box which is messy and constantly needs cleaning. Although litter boxes have been introduced to society, they are extremely expensive, therefore cat owners purchase the cheaper, messier litter boxes. No cat owner actually enjoys sweeping up the small litter box remnants.
Also, dogs are kinder pets than cats. Cats are not easily trained and they like to scratch and bite which is not good for the owner. Dogs can be trained quite easily if they are trained at a young age. When a dog is trained they can do a multitude of tricks like sitting, spinning, shaking, rolling over, and so much more. Cats do not do tricks, or at least no cat that I have ever seen.
Finally, dogs certainly make for better companions. Although cats can be cute and cuddly, dogs do not get nearly as aggressive as cats and tend to enjoy getting scratches and rubs. Dogs will go on walks and runs with their owners while cats enjoy being lazy around the house. Dogs are also great pets to have if you feel lonely because they are wonderful companions. Once your dog trusts you, they will be your furry companion forever.
All in all, dogs will forever be better pets than cats because they are easy to pick up after, they can be trained effortlessly, and they are amazing companions. Although cats have their own strengths as well, they will never reach the same level as dogs.
NCAA Top 5 Week 1
By: Burns Bateman
To start off with, I will be ranking my top five for the 2025 NCAA college football season. Starting at number one, I have Texas. All eyes for Texas are on Arch Manning. I feel like he will have a breakout season with having a top receiver core in the country. Also having the star running backs like CJ Baxter and Quintrevion Wisner. On the defensive side, they have the top returning defensive unit in the nation. Their defense allowed the third fewest points and yards per game in division one. Coming in second is the Ohio State. With first year quarterback Julian Sayin leading the team, they will have some struggles but he will work it out to lead his team to a top spot in the season. With top receivers like Jerimiah Smith and Quincy Porter, it is going to be hard for other teams to keep up with the Buckeye offense. Number three is the Clemson Tigers. Top defense in the country with players like Sammy Brown, Ashton Hampton, Peter Woods, and TJ Parker. With a defense as strong as Clemson’s, opposing quarterbacks are going to scrambling for their life. They tiger offense is also top tier. Cade Klubnik is going to have a heisman run this year. With Adam Randall running the ball there will be some major rushing yards put up on the board this year. Coming in at number four is Georgia. Kirby Smart always has a strong team and you can never go wrong with putting Georgia in the top five. Gunner Stockton will be a demon on the field this year and with the strong defense backing them up.
Another championship run incoming for the Georgia football team. Lastly, at number five is Notre Dame. Jeremiyah Love is going to be the reason this team stays in the top five all year. The Irish always have a standout defense. That will be the top five for the first week of college football.
Why Contrast Training is Beneficial for Athletes
By: Ford Wilder
The first question you may be wondering is, what is contrast training? Contrast training is pairing a heavy strength movement with a high-velocity, explosive exercise. For example, I might do a heavy squat set and then follow it with a set of box jumps or short sprints. The idea is to use the heavy lift to activate my nervous system, then immediately jump into the activated state to improve power and speed through the explosive plyometric or speed movement. As an athlete, the weight room should not be used for just strength purposes. It should be used to become faster, get more explosive, jump higher, and be a better overall athlete. Training for pure gains and aesthetics will lead to injuries within one’s sport. Also, lifting for only strength will cause one to develop stiff and inflexible muscles. Lacking the necessary fast-twitch fibers and coordination that you need to be a great athlete.
I began contrast training at the beginning of my junior year. I knew it was necessary because of the heavy workload of playing a big role in three different sports throughout the year. I also knew I was going to have to make athletic plays on the court and field. Which would be hard to do if I stuck to my old training habits. As the year went along, I stayed in great shape, got stronger, and did not overly fatigue myself with this new way of training. Contrast training elevated my performance on the football field, basketball court, and track.
Many people believe the main goal in the weight room while in season is to maintain strength without becoming fatigued. I believed this until I began contrast training myself. Through this method, I become faster, stronger, and more explosive throughout the whole course of the year while still being able to perform to my capabilities in game. This allowed me to peak during the postseason of each sport. I played some of my best games/track meets near the end of each season.
Ultimately, I believe once an athlete becomes comfortable and trusts this way of training, they will see their performance skyrocket. Being an athlete is not just about doing sport-specific work. Putting in work in the weight room is where athletes separate themselves from the average. Contrast training is the new and improved best enhancer for athletes
South Carolina v Virginia Tech Preview
By: Benson Elmore
On Sunday, August 31, The Gamecocks travel to Mercedes Benz stadium to play the Virginia Tech Hokies, so here is a breakdown of how I think this game will end up going.
In this game, Carolina is the heavy favorite here by seven and a half points, which I think is pretty valid. I think that Carolina’s offense will be very hard to stop with Heisman candidate Lanorris Sellers, stud wide receivers Nyck Harbor and Mazeo Bennet, and new transfer Rahsul Faison. Also defensive studs like sophomore Dylan Stewart, Jalon Killgore, and Brandon Cisse are going to give Virginia Tech a very hard time moving the ball.
With Mercedez Benz stadium being closer to South Carolina then Virginia, I think that more Carolina fans will be in attendance than Virginia tech. I think the energy will not be as high as a normal college football game, since the location is at a neutral site, and I do not think that this game will be entertaining at all if you are a Virginia Tech Hokies fan. I seriously think that Carolina is going to light Virginia Tech’s defense up and I do not think that Virginia Tech will move the ball well against Carolina either.
Now, a little bit about why Carolina’s stud QB Lanorris Sellers could win the Heisman this year. Lanorris Sellers has a real shot at winning the Heisman this year. He’s got everything you need like crazy arm strength, fast legs, and the ability to make big plays when it counts. Sellers can make all the throws, but what sets him apart is how he moves in the pocket, avoiding pressure and creating chances out of nowhere. He’s a dual-threat QB, so defenses can’t just focus on one thing. If he keeps putting up big numbers and leads his team to wins, he could definitely be in the mix for the Heisman this season. He’s got the tools to be special.
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