Mayophiles
We Americans love our mayonnaise. We eat tons of it and put it on everything in thick fatty layers. It may seem quintessentially and embarrassingly American, but it's not just us. According to this article, mayonnaise has become quite popular among Japanese youth in recent years:
Its consumption has continued to rise, and there has recently been a marked increase, particularly among young people, in the number of fanatics who cannot help adding mayonnaise to everything they eat, including cooked and complete dishes. They are called mayora...
Wow. You have to really like mayonnaise to define yourself by it. To call yourself a mayora is like saying that your love for mayo is the most important part of your identity. It's who you are. Mayo is who I am. Don't judge me, love me.
While it's pretty hard to believe that anyone identifies themselves based solely on their love for a condiment, I did find some evidence of the Japanese obsession with mayo. Exhibit A:
It's a delicious mayo pizza! With crab and shrimps! Those little rolls around the edge are filled with mayo and shrimp. Hot mayo and shrimp bursting in your mouth!
Exhibit B:
It's a super kawaii condiment cup, specifically made to hold your mayo. You can spread the mayo with the little plastic banana. God knows you'd never want to be caught without mayonnaise. This is perfect for those emergency situations.
Exhibit C:
It's a refreshing mayo cocktail! It's called a Mayoty Dog and it's like a Salty Dog but with mayo around the rim instead of salt. You can get a Mayoty Dog and lots of other mayo-enhanced treats at the Mayonnaise Kitchen in suburban Tokyo.
Mayora of the world unite!
2007-10-31 10:58:52 UTC
High School Perfect Afternoon
When I was in high school, there was no better way to spend an afternoon than going to my favorite thrift store with my best friend and then out for cheap greasy snacks. God, that thrift store was awesome. It was the best thrift store I've ever been to in my life. Everybody called it Amvets since it was owned by the American Veterans. The prices were ridiculously low and the selection was huge.
Dresses, shirts, and sweaters were anywhere from $.20 to $2. You could even find jeans for as low as $.45 and they were never more than $3. I remember finding an old pair of levi's once for $.90! There was none of this "retro/vintage" pricing that the Madison thrift stores use where they'll charge $6 or $7 for a used shirt if it has a vintagey appearance-- even if it was sold last year at the Gap. Madison thrift stores really suck.
Amvets was filled from floor to ceiling with stuff that would be categorized as "retro." I guess nobody in the south suburbs of Chicago wanted this kind of stuff at the time (early 90s). Most of it came from the closets of recently deceased (super stylish) little old ladies. It was my high school heaven: scarves for a dime, polyester dresses for a quarter, vinyl clutches for 50 cents, and fake fur coats for a buck. Oh, and they always had a bunch of those pretty little hats with the delicate veils attached for a dollar or two. We never left disappointed.
Being high school girls, the crazy low prices didn't stop us from switching price tags. See, straight up stealing from a thrift store would have been too easy and slightly unethical, but switching tags was fun and morally acceptable. The cardboard tags were stapled onto the clothes, so we would carefully take the higher priced tag off and slip a lower one on. We would sometimes talk about bringing a stapler and a staple remover with us to expedite the process but that was just talk.
Amvets actually had a concessions stand that sold things like nachos, hot dogs, cotton candy and popcorn, but we never ate there. Have you ever heard of a thrift store that sold concessions? I mean, it seemed a little weird. Amvets smelled like most thrift stores: a rich bouquet of must, body odor, and mothballs. Not an ideal environment for dining. So we would always go out for food afterwards. Our favorite places to get post-thrifting treats were Little Caesar's and Long John Silver's. The only thing we ever got at Little Caesar's was the Crazy Bread, which was like $1.35.
I found a recipe for Crazy Bread here at this website that has compiled a whole bunch of copycat recipes from different chains.
When we were really broke, we'd go to Long John Silver's and order hushpuppies ($.15 for two), water (free), and a box of crispies (free). What are crispies, you ask? Crispies are the leftover bits of breading that fall off the actual food in the fryer. So, basically they're garbage. They're definitely not food. I have no idea how we started ordering them and I can't believe we used to eat them by the box-full. A full meal of four hushpuppies, crispies, and water would set me back 30 cents. I found a recipe for the delicious hushpuppies here.
So in total, we'd get a full meal and a bag of cute clothes for less than $5. Throw in a bottle of Boone's Farm, and we're talking utopia.
2007-10-30 15:14:12 UTC
Leaving for Ecuador
Just so you know, my posting may be a little erratic over the next couple of weeks because Noah and I are finally leaving for Ecuador! We leave in three days! Since we'll be there for at least three months, we have a lot of preparations to make. We'll be staying in an apartment in Otavalo which will be our base of operations. Once we're there, I hope to be able to post regularly like I did last time.
Since I have some time before I get into the thick of packing, I hope to post a few entries today.
2007-10-30 10:26:47 UTC
A Bollywood PSA
This short film might very well be the greatest story ever told... from a condom's perspective. Watch as dancing men in condom costumes sing about how they are our condom friends.
While it's tempting to just laugh at the silly Indians, this is actually an incredibly progressive educational film. Much more progressive, in fact, than what passes for sex education in American classrooms. The condom-men assume people are going to have sex and they don't moralize. They sing, "you desire for sex with multiple partners" and "gay people also need to use me." They don't use guilt; they appeal to reason.
And they can dance!
Via Weird Asia News
2007-10-27 11:04:55 UTC
The Tablecloth Trick
Haven't you always wished you could do that trick where you pull the tablecloth out from underneath an elaborately set table? Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to put that on your resume? Well, here are the step-by-step instructions.
For a visual aid, please refer to this video from a Japanese program in which four people (including one man dressed in nothing but a speedo and a bowtie) compete in a Table Cloth Challenge:
It's surprisingly intense. And you definitely want to see what the speedo guy does.
Via Japan Probe
2007-10-26 20:40:01 UTC