"*" "*" "Chaubier, France." "Raw cow." "Each washed rind by Cleo seems to be a variation on a theme held together by the notes of regional citrus present in the character of all his work." "La Ventana curado, Spain." "Raw goat." "Created in the 16th century by a community of Benedictine monks." "The goats grazed the base of the volcano at La Ventana." "*" "Le Guise, France." "Raw cow." "Washed daily in the traditionally prepared bath of salt water and pumice wine, from grapes hand-picked by the sons of the house of Guise." "*" "At the age of 23 a world of possibilities had been narrowed to just two." "I could return to the typist position at my father's gallery, or I could follow Frederick to the farmstead, where I would spend every day in the sun learning to make wheels of reblochon." "I came to my decision rather quickly." "I took the position as a typist." "(liquid bubbling)" "(squeaking)" "Compound A." "Dilutions of three to one, two to one, and one to one." "Compound A." "Pork and beans." "One to one, wafting." "One-to-one, wafting, pork and beans." "Whoo." "That'll singe your nose hairs." "(bottles rattling)" "One-to-one elimination due to acrid smell uncharacteristic of target material." "Nose hairs." "Two-to-one, wafting." "(buzzing)" "It reveals no acrid smell." "Uh, uh" "The two-to-one wafted." "Tasting." "(buzzing)" "Tasting compound A, two-to-one, target material pork and beans." "Elimination due to overtly pronounced bean characteristic." "Overly pronounced" "Overtly." "Be pronounced." "Overtly pronounced bean character." "Wafting three to one." "(buzzing)" "Three to one." "None." "Uh, three to one wafted." "Tasting." "Tasting compound A, three to one dilution, target material pork and beans." "Eh, the beans are less intrusive." "Uh, unobtrusive beans." "I have pork character." "You have poor character." "Pork character." "Pork character." "Compound A.3-1 cleared." "To the next sampling groove." "A.3-1 cleared." "(buzzing)" "Orange juice." "Orange juice." "My orange juice." "Oh." "Yes, sir." "(bottles clinking)" "(gargling)" "(spitting)" "(sighing)" "Mm." "*" "The woman who worked to my immediate left seemed to derive a great deal of pride and satisfaction from her typist position." "The same could not be said of myself." "*" "(car horn blowing)" "(engine puttering)" "*" "I began to lament my day-to-day struggle as if I were reading it in poor fiction, a pitiable character put upon by circumstance." "(engine puttering)" "*" "Is, uh, this small business loans?" "That's Debbie now, starting today." "Thanks." "*" "You're leaving?" "Oh, yeah." "I got placed back" "Can I have your chair?" "Um" "It has armrests." "Can I have your chair?" "Hey, that's mine!" "Um, I'm not leaving just yet." "Ooh, that's perfect." "Uh, no!" "Hey!" "I brought that from home!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "*" "Is this small business loans?" "(sighing)" "That's Debbie now, starting today." "*" "(sighing)" "(clock ticking)" "(horn honking)" "*" "(engine puttering)" "*" "*" "(goat bleating)" "(engine puttering)" "*" "*" "Here we go." "*" "(laughing)" "Mrs. Aldrich lived two miles from my father's summer home in Normandy." "She made fresh neufchÃ¢tel with milk from her two does and served it with parsley and new onions." "It was from those afternoons that I did fall so deeply in love." "(groaning)" "You ready?" "Yes." "(laughing)" "Go on." "Go." "Okay." "Okay." "Oh, my" "This is like the one I had in my summer abroad." "Gosh." "I wish we had walnuts." "We had camembert and wal" "I know." "(sighing)" "I looked for this everywhere when I got back!" "You can't get it here." "It's unpasteurized." "It's from raw milk." "Hm." "It's illegal here." "Illegal?" "Mm-hmm." "Where did you get it?" "Um, I know people." "*" "*" "(siren wailing)" "(dog barking)" "(cart crashing)" "(engine clicking)" "Look." "*" "Look at this." "(goat bleating)" "Look at this." "Be careful." "It's a goat." "It could be dangerous." "(groaning)" "(goat bleating)" "(laughing)" "Hello, my name is Artois." "If I am alone, I am lost." "Please make return of me to address." "Farm Road 60." "(goat bleating)" "Do you think they'll come back?" "I don't know." "Maybe we should take him" "Where'd be go?" "(goat bleating)" "Hey, baby, I found it." "I had to process this thing today, this application." "A married couple about our age." "You got a bottle opener?" "Packed." "Already packed." "(sighing)" "I think I have one in my pants." "Um, you know where my pants are?" "Oh, thanks." "They want... over by that pet store at Bit Street." "They want to open a cupcake shop." "Uh, a bakery?" "No, a cupcake shop." "That sells cupcakes?" "Yeah." "She wants to get out of teaching and open a shop selling cupcakes." "That's stupid." "Oh, here it comes." "Don't get any on the mattress." "I didn't." "Okay." "Um... glasses." "I think" "Packed." "Yeah." "(clinking)" "(paper rustling)" "I--I mean, I can make a pretty mean cupcake." "It doesn't mean that I'm--it doesn't mean" "I'm gonna quit my job." "It doesn't mean I think I can make a go of it as a professional." "What?" "Some people are so stupid." "Yeah?" "Still though, I can see us doing something like that." "Like what?" "Like that." "You know, open a place." "You could make the cupcakes or whatever." "I could do the books." "We could go to work together every day, you know?" "(laughing)" "Yeah." "I--if you're gonna do it, if--if you're gonna do it right, you don't just serve cupcakes." "Hm." "I would serve coffee and tea." "Create a place where people can read, work, whatever." "(laughing)" "Make sandwiches." "You could serve wine in the evening!" "I don't" "Yeah!" "Hm." "If you're gonna do it, you gotta do it right." "I agree." "Yeah." "And as for the people, the couple, did they get the loan?" "No." "It was the denied." "(sighing)" "Yeah." "Some people are so stupid." "Yeah." "*" "(growling)" "(laughing)" "(sniffing)" "(groaning)" "*" "*" "(slurping)" "*" "They're watching me." "This I am now certain." "Who?" "Your Food and Drug Administration." "Your fascism and Drug Administration." "(laughing)" "Right." "Three days." "Three days I have seen this man in the same spot." "*" "I am pretty sure he's homeless." "(trash rattling)" "Well of course, he looks like he's homeless." "What's with your face?" "What's with your face?" "Uh, your--your glasses." "Oh, yeah." "Artisanal Market." "*" "*" "(siren wailing)" "(cart slamming)" "This is very special." "One of the last in the world." "*" "Whoa." "So, you like?" "*" "What is this?" "*" "Notes on the Production of a Superior Goat Cheese, by Eva Verrane." "Translated into 12 languages since 1945." "Eva Verrane." "The chÃ¨vre diving, French." "Raw goat." "From legendary cheese maker Eva Verrane." "She's dead now." "This is from the very last season." "I'll wrap some up for you." "*" ""All that I am is born from my work." "Nothing is equal, nor is anything more essential than the joy that is knowing this is mine, I created it, and it is good."" "But is it internally flawless or externally flawless?" "That's what they don't tell you, and if it is internally flawless, how do you know?" "Did you get a second opinion?" "After Chesterfield proposed to me," "I had this ring rated by three different jeweler's by week's end." "Isn't that right?" "Right, right." "Three." "Wonderful." "(laughing)" "And of course, Angie will be my maid of honor." "So, do you two still plan on making a go of this?" "(laughing)" "Yes." "Of course." "How?" "Mom." "We'll talk on the phone, and I'll go up there and-- sometimes, and she'll come down here sometimes." "Mm-hmm." "And how long do you think you can keep that up?" "Virgil brought something!" "Just for us." "Yes." "Yes, yes." "He brought something." "It is an aged goat." "There's actually a very interesting story behind this cheese." "In France" "Uh, no thank you." "I'm not eating dairy." "We're not eating dairy." "Right, right." "So, Angie, in Detroit during your internship, were there a lot of men there?" "Boys your own age, I mean." "(coughing)" "Oh, uh, so, I don't know if you remember a little thing we worked on about, um, three months ago, flavor 242-240." "Not specifically." "Target material was raspberry sorbet." "I--no." "Wrap your eyes around this, my friend." "Seven-hundred and thirty-two dollars." "And nine cents." "Your contractual percentage of the sale of 242-240." "Uh, raspberry sorbet." "Confederated out of Michigan bought it up." "Thank you." "(laughing)" "You're welcome." "Don't spend it all in one place." "Oh, uh, in a related matter, I'm sure you'll be delighted to hear that you'll be going to Detroit after all." "What?" "Detroit, the transfer you put in for?" "Really?" "Really." "(laughing)" "Oh, God." "Oh, thank God!" "Sorry, sorry." "It just said it would be another year--another year before anyone left the gourmet sensations line." "The what now?" "The gourmet sensations." "Um, this offer didn't come from the gourmet sensations line." "But I--I didn't--I don't think I applied anywhere else, did I?" "It looks like we're headed up there to open up... the sorbets line." "Sorbets?" "No, no." "Sorbitz." "(making Z sound)" "It's got a Z in it." "Confederated pharmaceuticals brings you, Sorbitz." "Registered trademark." "The only cough drop that combines the soothing action of synthetic eucalyptus with the fresh taste of raspberry sorbet." "Flavor 242-240, your work." "It's mine?" "It's yours." "You created it." "*" "Is it good?" "I don't know." "*" "Thank you." "Thanks." "*" "(gagging)" "(spitting)" "(groaning)" "(spitting)" "It's bad." "(crashing)" "I thought of you, I did!" "I can't!" "So, do--don't think that I just" "I don't understand!" "He handed me the pen, and he asked me to choose." "He asked me "yes or no?"" "And I thought of you." "I--I did." "You tried, right?" "You--you told him" "Of course!" "Of course!" "My mother's asleep downstairs." "She is asleep." "Of course." "Of course I--every week, every other day I'm in there," "I'm asking again." "Fitznicholas tells me nothing's changed!" "You said anything!" "If anything opened up, anything" "But this" "But this?" "Not this, then what?" "If we beg, Virgil, if we beg, then we do not choose." "This was the one, the only one!" "Why not this?" "(clearing throat)" "There was this cheese" "Pardon?" "There was this cheese." "Yens gave it to me, and I tasted it." "It was goat." "It was really good, and then this book" "I read this book." "A book." "Uh, this lady in France with goats, she's dead." "It doesn't matter." "Uh, but I tasted it, and it was so good that it made, uh... it reminded me of something that I had forgotten, and then the lady, that" "Dead lady?" "Yeah, France, she said, "You are what you create."" "You see?" "(laughing)" "Like it was a trap." "Like they had planned it this way." "Fitznicholas, he has me taste them, and they're awful." "They're bad." ""You created them!"" "And so, you know, and--you know, I--and I" "(laughing)" "And so you turned it down?" "And--and I--no!" "Okay, no, no." "There's this beautiful and magnificent cheese, and then there are these cough drops that taste like poison, and--and I had to choose." "And so you turned it down, and I am still going to Detroit alone." "No." "Yes." "Virgil" "(sighing)" "Never mind." "I'm sorry." "Virgil?" "I've done a really stupid thing." "I'm sorry." "(sighing)" "What's that?" "This." "Seven-hundred and thirty-two?" "I will use this money to buy you a ring." "An engagement ring?" "I know it's not a lot, and a job." "I'll--forget Fitznicholas and cough drops." "I'll start looking for new jobs in Detroit." "I'll find one." "I will." "What's a Sorbitz?" "I love you." "I'm sorry, and I will make my way back to you." "When?" "Soon." "(wind blowing)" "(beeping)" "Hey, babe." "I hope you're outside." "It's finally getting warmer here." "It's a gorgeous day." "Oh!" "Did you hear anything from Wienerbaum?" "I had a good feeling about this." "Well, anyway, I love you." "I miss you." "Bye." "(beeping)" "(beeping)" "Hey, babe." "I hope you're outside." "It's finally getting warmer here." "It's a gorgeous day." "*" "*" "(gasping)" "*" "(paper crumpling)" "*" "*" "(paper crumpling)" "*" "*" ""I pondered the question for some time before applying." "I knew that my answer would not satisfy the sensibilities of this particular periodical, so I responded simply and honestly." "The greatest cheese I ever tasted was the first cheese I made myself." "*" "*" "I took great care in the selection of my starter culture." "These bacteria will not only sour your milk but will go far in determining how your product ages." "*" "I paid a local butcher to slaughter a succulent kid." "Once dried, we are able to extract from its stomach what is needed." "Hopefully the technologies of our modern age will promise a less distasteful alternative to this rather brutish process." "*" "*" "The digestive enzyme rennin coagulated the liquid milk proteins into solids." "I achieved a clean break after about four hours." "The milk had separated into solid curd and liquid whey." "*" "*" "I prefer to hand ladle so as to maintain the integrity of the individual curds." "*" "*" "I allowed the press to act upon the curds for a full 12 hours so as to extract as much of the remaining whey as possible." "*" "*" "It is of the utmost importance that the press is left undisturbed during this period."" "(crashing)" "No!" "No, no, no!" "Oh, no." "No." "(crashing)" "(wind blowing)" "*" "*" "(yelling)" "(rubber stretching)" "*" "*" "It is... good." "Hm." "(sighing)" "(laughing)" "You did this with milk from the grocery store?" "Uh-huh." "Hm." "What?" "Teats." "Teats ?" "Teats ." "What?" "Teats." "All great cheese comes from raw milk, not this pasteurized bullshit." "Raw?" "Straight from the teat." "Teat." "Teat." "The problem with teats is that they are usually attached to cows." "I would not know where a fellow like you could find a teat." "(car engine revving)" "(goats bleating)" "Howdy." "Twenty dollars American, and he's yours." "Hey there, guy." "Better watch out now." "He'll piss on you." "Oh." "Ah." "Uh, thanks." "Yeah." "That's my piss rag." "Twenty dollars American." "No, no thanks." "I don't think I have much use for a bull goat." "Buck goat." "For a buck goat." "Not at the present moment." "Uh, that's fine." "I call him Artois after my pawpaw and like pawpaw he's gonna make a great stew." "(goat bleating)" "*" "*" "(goat bleating)" "Virgil, you still there?" "Wh--what?" "Yeah." "Yeah, yeah." "Your birthday?" "I thought I'd come and visit you for your birthday." "Oh, that'd be good." "(goat bleats)" "What was that?" "What?" "Uh" "(goat bleat)" "Who is that?" "Are you alone?" "Yes, of course." "Uh, that was, uh, the radio--the TV." "Okay." "Something wrong?" "No, no, baby, I'm just real busy right now." "Um, got to get some more applications done." "Workin' hard." "Goodnight." "(sighing)" "The unique character of my cheese would result from a confluence of many elements." "Perhaps none more important than the selection of the location of my farmstead." "*" "The land, the terroir, it would be the constitution of this grazing foliage that would determine the character of the milk produced, and consequently, the ultimate flavor and complexity of my cheese." "*" "The land should be glorious and fertile." "Grasses and cloves, alfalfa, wild flowers, and water." "The character of the land is the character of the cheese." "*" "Unexpected new cheeses come from unexpected new places, places that the world has not yet tasted." "*" "*" "Hello?" "(glass breaking)" "*" "(clinking)" "*" "*" "(clinking)" "*" "And I suppose that your company has a great deal of experience in setting up these types of operations?" "My what?" "Your company?" "I--you mean my job?" "Thank you for coming." "But--no, please." "I don't think you quite understand what it is I'm trying to do here." "All right." "What is it you're trying to do here?" "Well, I..." "Thank you for coming." "May the confused steps that brought you across my property carry you doubly quick in the opposite direction" "Wait!" "Yes?" "I'm supposed to go to work tomorrow." "Yes." "I can't go back now." "Do you know how it is that you came to find me here?" "Well, I..." "Basset hounds." "Basset hounds?" "Basset hounds!" "Basset hounds?" "Basset hounds!" "When I was a young lad, not far removed in age from yourself," "I had the firm and resolute intention to become a champion breeder of these most beautiful and noble creatures which scuttled majestically across the earth." "Basset hounds." "Basset hounds." "Oh, I read the books." "I learned the trade, and I decided that just as soon as my time as a claims adjuster had afforded me sufficient financial security that I would go to my brother, resign my position, and purchase attractive land," "not entirely dissimilar to this one." "Took me 31 years to achieve what I have set out to do." "Just a hair longer than outlined in my five-year plan." "Perhaps it would be best if I just" "And then!" "And then I did a very silly thing." "Walked out on my brother, I walked out on my career, on my life, and I spent everything I had on this muddy little corner of nowhere." "It was at this point that I made a rather disheartening discovery." "*" "I don't give a damn about basset hounds anymore." "There is something about pushing a rock up a hill for 30 years that will take all the romance out of what is essentially just a floppy-eared dog, and take all the romance out of everything." "All I can see when I close my eyes are rising liability rates in the new year!" "Uh-huh." "*" "You have a girl?" "*" "Pardon?" "You have a girl?" "Yes." "Marry her." "Get yourself a dog and some neighbors, because one thing that you don't want to be is a 55-year old man with-- with what amounts to little more than a 200-acre cemetery plot and no reason to get out of bed in the morning," "save habit... and a desire to figure out where the hell you're gonna spend the rest of eternity." "*" "I haven't slept above ground in so long I can't remember." "(yells)" "Oh!" "I've dug 100 holes all around!" "And it is my firm and resolute intention to put at least one of 'em to good use!" "Okay." "And what I don't intend to do is to allow some mumbling, bumbling child-- to go trembling, scattershot all over my final resting place!" "And certainly not with any goats!" "*" "*" "No!" "(panting)" "Angie?" "Virgil." "Ms. Dickenson?" "Uh, oh, I'm sorry." "I was trying to reach Angie up there." "Just a moment." "It's him." "Virgil?" "Angie." "I got your message." "Is your mother" "She's staying with me for a bit." "She just showed up?" "I called her." "I asked her to come." "I've just been a little lonely lately." "Me too." "You know, I can't wait to see you." "I still have the money, the money for the ring." "About that, Virgil, my mother doesn't think that's such a good idea." "That what's a good idea?" "Your birthday." "She thinks..." "I really should be focusing on my job." "You're not coming." "We'll talk later, okay?" "Bye." "(car swerving)" "Listen!" "(slam)" "Listen." "Listen closely to what's about to be said." "It is my firm and resolute intention to found and operate my own farmstead from which I will produce a superior artisanal goat cheese." "Is that all?" "I may not have capital," "I don't have experience, nor do I have any intention of asking for favors, pity, sympathy from you or anyone else." "What I do have, however, is a sound business proposal." "(sighing)" "I'm listening." "One wheel." "One wheel." "One wheel, two goats." "Two goats." "Two goats." "You permit the grazing of just two goats on the northeastern end of your land, out of sight and out of mind." "How long?" "Not long." "The few months requisite to produce a single wheel of cheese." "Single wheel?" "A single wheel." "Why would I be in any way inclined to accept?" "Because in six months the International Cheese Consortium will hold their bi-annual conference in this city, and I will retrieve for you a contract for the production of goat cheese on this very property!" "For how much?" "$50,000." "How?" "I will." "How?" "I will." "I just need the go-ahead from you." "Where are the goats?" "$731, $732." "(goat bleat)" "(panting)" "Let's talk goats." "(goats bleating)" "Guten Morgen." "Good morning." "Coffee?" "Oh, thank you." "So, this is it?" "(goat bleat)" "Yes, this is it." "(goat bleat)" "What does your Angie think of all of this?" "Angie has stopped calling." "(phone ringing)" "(goat bleat)" "Hello?" "Hey, Virgil!" "Virgil, uh" "(paper crinkling)" "Gurdies!" "Yes, hi." "Uh, this is Ronaldo Reid calling from the Wienerbaum Food Labs in Detroit." "I've got your application here and I was wondering-- we've had something open up and thought maybe we could get you in here for an interview sometime next week." "How does Thursday sound?" "(clunking)" "How about Friday?" "(dial tone)" "*" "After I was relieved of my position with Artisanal Market" "I bummed around Asia for a while." "Through a series of what could, in retrospect, be viewed as poor decisions on my part, I found myself in the indentured servitude of a Nepalese man named" "Wop Sang." "Cruel task master, yeah, but prior to my being liberated by the friars of a nearby Tibetan monastery, he was able to impart to me the ancient techniques of effective vaccimulgence." "*" "*" "The yaks I milked were much larger of course, but the principal is the same." "*" "The grains will keep the beast pacified while I clean and massage the teat." "*" "Are these cheerios?" "Yeah." "They were all I could procure on short notice." "*" "*" "(liquid squirting)" "*" "*" "*" "Einz." "*" "Zwei." "*" "Drei." "*" "Vier." "*" "FÃ¼nf." "*" "Sechs." "*" "Seiben." "Acht!" "*" "Nuen." "*" "*" "*" "It is complete." "*" "You and me will change the bandage on alternate days for the first couple of weeks till the cheese has formed its own rind." "If that's okay with you?" "*" "Come in when you need to." "*" "*" "Be warned." "We see all." "(screams)" "(coins clinking)" "(knocking)" "Hey." "*" "Hey." "*" "(beep)" "Virgil, pick up the phone!" "I was locking up the shop tonight and the man with colorful hair was" "(beep)" "(sighing)" "What?" "Hm?" "You came all the way here." "You wanted me here for your birthday." "Yeah." "What--what--when?" "It's your birthday." "Today's your birthday." "I guess I must have" "(laughing)" "I thought you said" "Hm?" "What about what your mom" "(sighing)" "Things were so busy back then, and I was lonely." "My mother..." "I told her." "I told her that I love you and she couldn't do anything about it." "I tried to call you." "I tried all week." "Oh." "My phone's been giving me some problems." "And I think I need to get a new one." "What now?" "Now?" "Now." "Now we go and..." "I thought you were going to take me to find a ring." "Uh" "*" "(laughing)" "*" "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "It's just such a beautiful day outside." "It'd be a shame to waste it." "Cramped up in a jewelry store all day long." "You know, there's always tomorrow." "Okay." "Yeah?" "Okay." "Okay." "It is a really nice day." "Yeah." "And I know just where I want to go." "Where?" "I feel like I haven't been here in forever." "Yeah, me too." "Great weather." "Yeah, me too." "What?" "What?" "Nothing." "Uh, great weather." "Great weather." "Is anything wrong?" "No." "You seem..." "I don't know, strung out." "I know why you're frustrated." "Working so hard to find a job in Detroit and getting nowhere, filling out all those applications and sending them off." "So many." "And I'm the one putting the pressure on you." "Really, don't beat yourself up about it." "Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have you." "Babe?" "Yeah." "About all that." "Yeah?" "There's kind of sort of somethin' I" "(goat bleat)" "Jesus!" "Baby!" "It's a goat!" "Yeah, it's a goat!" "No, no, no, don't do that!" "No!" "Why not?" "It's an animal." "It could be dangerous." "I think--yeah!" "I think this is the one we saw before." "Really?" "No." "I think that one had more hair." "Virgil?" "Yeah?" "This goat has your name on it." ""V. Gurdies."" "Well, that could be any Gurdies." "Not necessarily me." "What?" "Wow." "Same name as me." "Mm-hmm." "You know, we should look him up in the phone book when we get home." "Speaking of heading home, I'm a little bit tired." "I think we should get heading home." "You know, and that's where I keep my phone book after all, and speaking of phones, I need a new cell." "You think Circuit Center's still open?" "I bet if we hurry we can make it." "Angie?" "Angie?" "You awake?" "(yells)" "(phone ringing)" "Hello?" "Oh, hi." "Sorry." "Uh, I think I might" "I'm looking for a Virgil Gurdies." "No, no." "You have the right number." "He's not here right now." "(door creaks)" "Hey, babe." "Come on cheese!" "I just went to go" "I mean, you ruined the surprise." "Surprise!" "Um, yeah." "I went to the place down the street, the one you like." "Your phone works." "Oh, yeah?" "You got a call from a Ronaldo." "Oh, really?" "Yeah, a Ronaldo." "Wienerbaum Food?" "He says he's been trying to reach you." "Oh, huh." "It may be some good news." "It may be some good news about a job maybe." "Uh, maybe." "I mean, I--I'll have to check I guess." "Shame they didn't send you a letter." "Yeah, seriously." "Did you want one of these?" "Sausage?" "Maybe a letter like this one." "What--what's that?" "It was open." "It was on top of the fridge so I" ""Dear Mr. Gurdies," "Thank you so much for your application." "We would love--"" "What is this?" "Angie" "Why are you lying?" "I--I--Angie, I can explain." "That's it?" "Yeah." "Why?" "I don't remember." "All I..." "I have a lot of time up there." "I have a lot of time." "You know, that apartment is like a little gray box." "I thought I could make it into a home and I waited." "I left you one side of the closet empty." "I know what it sounds like." "I--I know what it looks like." "It wasn't the waiting, Virgil!" "I could handle the waiting because I knew-- because I thought that you were doing everything you could to get back to me." "I was!" "I am." "But maybe I have to do this." "How long until you're done?" "Tonight." "With this, with all of this?" "Look, um, I'm gonna see my mother before I leave." "That's where I'll be if..." "That's where I'll be." "Angie." "Angie!" "Angie, wait!" "Stop, Angie!" "*" "*" "(cracks)" "*" "*" "*" "*" "Ready?" "Ready." "Don't worry." "We'll be back real soon to get the rest of your books and your cooking stuff." "Real soon." "No need." "No?" "No, I think I've got that out of my system for a while." "Let's go." "(train horn)" "*" "Lots to manage, there." "Yeah." "*" "I like it." "Yes?" "Yeah, no, I do." "Yes, yes, yes!" "Do you need a hand?" "No, I got it." "Okay." "I just--never mind." "*" "And then we can billow through your closet." "I can't believe you're here!" "(laughing)" "So, where's the bedroom?" "It's that way." "*" "(bass rumbling)" "(dog barking)" "The first day is always the hardest." "I'm sure you'll fit right in." "I'm only a phone call away if you need me." "I think I'll be fine." "I think I'll be more than fine." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "New job, new place, new town." "I think it'll be different." "Different is good." "Anything different is good." "Bachelors in chem and bio chem." "Two years internship." "Two years apprenticeship." "Everything looks in order." "I'd say we can get you started right away." "Mr. Fitznicholas?" "No." "It's Nitzficholas." "Mr. Nitzficholas, to you." "Compound A, dilutions of three to one, two to one, and one to one." "(sighing)" "Compound A." "Camembert and walnuts." "One to one, wafting." "(police sirens)" "*" "Do you-- is that the brown rice or the white?" "The white." "Oh." "*" "You" "The white." "*" "What's this?" "Cheezewhirl." "Cheesewhirl?" "No, no." "Cheezewhirl." "("Z" sound)" "It's got a "Z" in it." "Cheezewhirl." "New camembert cheezewhirl." "They picked up the flavor profile for their new gourmet international line." "Yeah." "I bet." "Try it." "No, thanks." "(cheezewhirl spraying)" "*" "*" "I'll, uh, hit you up with the details inside." "This is only the beginning!" "Do you know anything about cheese?" "No." "This is what they got us tryin' to tackle next." "Goat cheese." "I can't make heads or tails out of it." "Tastes a bit off to me." "This is supposed to be the good stuff, too, so they say." "ChÃ¨vre d'Eva." "Tastes a bit off to me, but I suppose I can stomach a bit more." "*" "Hey!" "Be careful with that, that's expensive stuff." "Get away." "Give" "Get back!" "You can pry this out of my cold, dead hands because I will not let another ounce of this go down the gullet of a goon like you!" "*" "Why you little-- I'm gonna kill you!" "(gasping)" "*" "*" "(police siren)" "(thunk)" "(groaning)" "(angelic choir)" "*" "(speaking French)" "*" "I'm sorry, I don't speak French." "Is this better?" "Yes, thank you." "A writer writes, Virgil." "A painter must paint." "What, then, must a maker of cheeses do?" "*" "Come back." "Come back!" "It is you who must come back." "*" "Virgil?" "Hey." "I must go back." "I must create something." "Something that is good, and without that, I have no pride." "Without pride there can be no respect." "Without respect-- there can be no love." "I'm going back." "(sighing)" "I can't go with you." "I wouldn't ask you to." "I can't wait for you." "I wouldn't ask you to." "Not without some end in sight, and I can't know that." "No." "No, you can't." "But I will return." "I'll prove to you I'm someone worth loving." "I will." "I'll prove it to myself first." "I'll become something I'm not." "Not yet." "What's that?" "You'll know it when you see it." "I'll see you?" "*" "*" "(gun click)" "(goat bleat)" "No!" "No, please!" "Please!" "No!" "No, please." "$20 American." "Seven" "I've got eight." "No!" "(gun shot)" "(goat bleat)" "(gun shot)" "(creaking)" "I have a plan." "The International Cheese Consortium, do you still have your contacts in the inside?" "Yeah." "The conference, how much time do we have left?" "Three weeks." "That's not much time." "Not enough for a hard cheese." "The cheese press is-- is out of order at the present moment." "Out of order-- what happened?" "That's not important, okay?" "Okay." "Change of plans." "We'll get started right away." "Get started?" "Get started on what?" "I have an idea." "Yens, buy me a bottle of vodka." "Here's some money." "Virgil, I don't think that's very constructive." "Just get me the bottle." "I'll get started here." "Get started on what?" "I'm gonna pick blackberries!" "*" "(goat bleat)" "*" "Notes on the production of a goat cheese." "The goats are walked daily through the same sections of the northern meadow, so that they may forge through the blackberry bushes." "It is from the terroir that the milk and consequently the cheese will be given uniquely regional characteristics and complexities." "*" "(liquid squirting)" "*" "*" "The layer of carbonized ash reduces the acidity of the cheese, permitting the growth of mold to ripen and develop the flavor." "*" "Time constraints have forced us to shift from a hard, aged cheese to a soft, fresh Neufchatel ." "As such, we will set the milk at a lower temperate so as to maintain the larger, softer curds." "*" "The wild blackberries, native to the land, are integrated at this early stage to allow the flavor to develop fully into the curd." "*" "*" "This is it." "This is it." "This is it." "*" "I give to you the blackberry chÃ¨vre." "This is mine." "I have created it." "And it is" "(crash)" "(gasps)" "What's goin' on?" "What the hell is goin' on?" "No, no, no!" "No, no, no, no, no!" "Be careful!" "Are you Yens Berlin?" "Was?" "Are you?" "Yeah." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "I'm Agent Brown with the FDA and you're under arrest for conspiracy to import and distribute illegal, unpasteurized cheese." "Oh, my God." "Shizer." "Yeah, yeah." "I told you-- told you they were watching me." "Take 'em away." "(gasping)" "I told you they were watching me!" "No, no-- I'm sorry." "Yens!" "Yens, Yens!" "You wouldn't listen!" "Oh, God." "Confiscate everything." "Take that cheese." "No, no!" "Give it." "(yelling)" "No, my cheese!" "Don't forget the goats." "This operation is goin' down." "What--no!" "No, no, wait." "Yens had nothing to do with it." "This is mine!" "I--I created it!" "It's mine!" "Save it." "No!" "You can get it all back after we finish with the legal proceeding." "How long will that take?" "About six months." "No--no, no, no." "I--I need it." "I need it!" "Everything depends on it!" "We're outta here." "(helicopter taking off)" "(goat bleating)" "Artois." "No!" "Oh, my God, no!" "No." "(goat bleat)" "(sighing)" "God." "(goat bleat)" "The Pecorino Clermont." "Its unique aging process originated in the 8th century A.D., when the township of Clermont was set upon by marauders." "Refusing to give in to the marauder's demands, they buried their wheels of cheese beneath the ground so that even if their lives were taken, that which they held most dear would remain untarnished." "I must pause here to remark that upon first encountering this story," "I could not help but draw the obvious parallels." "My first attempts at the making of reblochon had failed." "I was faced with the prospect of returning to my position as a typist at my father's gallery." "As I sat at the train station, ticket in hand," "I considered, was my cause any less worth fighting for?" "Had I given up the fight without unsheathing my sword?" "Would I prefer my position as a typist to death?" "My struggles seemed so trivial compared to theirs, but sure enough, the township of Clermont was able to repel the marauders, though not without some loss of life on both sides, and when they exhumed their precious wheels of pecorino," "they rejoiced in their discovery that the process of being aged underground had imbued them with a unique and wonderful character and complexity." "So from that day onwards, each season in the last 1,200 years, they've buried their cheese beneath the ground to uncover them on the anniversary of the day they repelled the onslaught and won their future." "Virgil?" "Are you listening?" "Yes." "Go." "It is your destiny." "*" "(thunder clapping)" "*" "*" "(ground crumbling)" "Angie?" "There's someone here to see you." "Miss Angie?" "Yes." "I have special instructions." "I am to deliver this in person." "Yes?" "(thunder clap)" "*" "*" "(yelling)" "*" "*" "(angelic choir)" "*" "Is this small business loans?" "*" "It is." "I have an application." "A guy about my age, he wants to make cheese." "*" "(sniffs)" "That's stupid." "Yup." "*" "*" "*" "*" "(singing in French)" "*" "*" "(singing in French)" "*" "*" "(singing in French)" "*" "*" "(singing in French)" "*" "*"