Bean

Bean (/Ë?biË?n/) is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (alternately Leguminosae) which are used for human or animal food.

Terminology

The term bean originally referred to the seed of the broad or fava bean, but was later expanded to include members of the New World genus Phaseolus, such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus Vigna. The term is now applied generally to many other related plants such as Old World soybeans, peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), vetches, and lupins.

Bean is sometimes used as a synonym of pulse, an edible legume, though the term pulses is more correctly reserved for leguminous crops harvested for their dry grain. The term bean usually excludes crops used mainly for oil extraction (such as soy-beans and pea-nuts), as well as those used exclusively for sowing purposes (such as clover and alfalfa). Leguminous crops harvested green for food, such as snap peas, snow peas, and so on, are not considered beans, and are classified as vegetable crops. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization the term bean should include only species of Phaseolus; however, a strict consensus definition has proven difficult because in the past, several species such as Vigna angularis (azuki bean), mungo (black gram), radiata (green gram), aconitifolia (moth bean)) were classified as Phaseolus and later reclassified. The use of the term bean to refer to species other than Phaseolus thus remains. In some countries, the term bean can mean a host of different species.

Beans (Looney Tunes)

Beans the Cat is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons from 1935-1936. Beans was the third Looney Tunes cartoon character star after Bosko and Buddy. He is voiced by Billy Bletcher and occasionally by Tommy Bond.

History

When the cartoon animators/directors Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising left Leon Schlesinger's studios in 1933, they took their main creation, Bosko, with them. Schlesinger had to rebuild his animation studio for Warner Bros. without so much as a marketable character to draw audiences. In Bosko's absence, Buddy was introduced.

In 1935, animator Friz Freleng attempted to jumpstart the studio with his Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat. Its cast consisted of cute animal characters with funny names; e.g., Ham and Ex, Porky and Beans, Oliver Owl, and Little Kitty. Schlesinger hoped that some would catch on with audiences and become bankable stars.

The short was a success. Warners retired Buddy and began to push Beans the Cat as their next cartoon star. In 1935, Beans starred in his first solo Looney Tunes film, A Cartoonist's Nightmare, followed by Hollywood Capers. Beans then began appearing with characters from the cast of I Haven't Got a Hat, most frequently Porky Pig. However, after a number of Porky and Beans outings, it became clear that the character audiences were talking about was Beans's stuttering sidekick, Porky Pig. Beans was voiced at first by Billy Bletcher and sometimes Tommy Bond, and later by Will Ryan.

Beans (rapper)

Beans (born Robert Edward Stewart, II) is a rapper from White Plains, New York. He was a member of the underground hip hop group Antipop Consortium. He is a founder of the record label Adored And Exploited.

Style

With his distinctive, fast-flowing and poetic style, Beans amalgamates witty, thoughtful lyrics with his own productions of "Chunky psychedelic electro-hop." According to the Pitchfork Media review for the album Thorns, "The MC is simply good at what he's good at, putting together bushy, crooked beats with rhymes that are both confessional and evasive."

History

Beans has released two LPs and one EP on AntiPop Consortium's former label Warp Records since launching his solo career in 2003: Tomorrow Right Now, Now Soon Someday EP and Shock City Maverick. The third solo album Only was released on Thirsty Ear Recordings in 2005, followed by the fourth album Thorns on Adored And Exploited in 2007.

In 2011, Beans released the fifth solo album, End It All. on Anticon. It features productions by Four Tet, Sam Fogarino of Interpol, Clark, Tobacco, Fred Bigot, Nobody, Son Lux, Ade Firth, In Flagranti, and The Bumps.