The only fish to win the Booker Prize twice.
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New Yorker Cartoon No. 2 ニューヨーカーカートゥーン第二
19 OctHere’s the second one! The original idea for this came from an actual situation I was in a couple weeks ago. I told Laura about it, and she had another idea for a caption that I thought would be funny, too. I’ve put them both below the cartoon. Please leave a comment to let me know which I should send to the New Yorker!
“Excuse me sir, but could you be so kind as to tell me the way to the nearest public toilet?
Or:
“Excuse me sir, but could you be so kind as to tell me the way to the Ritz-Carlton?”
New Yorker Cartoon No. 1 ニューヨーカーカートゥーン第一
8 OctSometimes, inspiration and time-saving strategies collide in delightful ways. I’ve had a number of good ideas for cartoons recently, but since I’ve been busy working, commuting, and drinking real ales, I don’t have time for the elaborate, colorful illustrations I usually try to do. Then I realized that the gags I’d thought up would be perfect for the New Yorker, and that a simple, black-and-white visual style would be a perfect way to draw them! Behold: my first entry in what will be a series of submissions to the New Yorker*.
* Apparently, the New Yorker no longer accepts unsolicited submissions for cartoons. Well I say, hard cheese; I’m sending it to them anyway via a different department. They should be so lucky.
Kumamoto, Part 3: Aso 熊本の第三部：阿蘇
29 Mar
After breakfast in Kurokawa, we took another lovely bath, then packed up and left for our next stop: Aso. Our perpetually pleasant innkeeper drove us to the bus stop, and just a few minutes after he dropped us off, he was back again, to give us a complimentary tourist map of Aso! What a guy.
Then we were on our way. The bus ride was uneventful, as bus rides tend to be, but the view from the winding mountain road into the sprawling Aso caldera, green with agriculture and encompassed by high, volcanic mountains, was gorgeous. I suppose it’s a shame I don’t have a picture, but I figured one taken through a shaky bus window wouldn’t turn out very well, so I just relaxed in my comfy coach seat and enjoyed the moment.
We had booked a stay at another onsen resort, but before checking in we headed to Moo Moo Farm (formerly Friendly Farm), an establishment that offers hands-on encounters with the rural idyll (plus lots of dogs, for some reason). I don’t remember how I found out about this place – I think it might have been through the official Aso tourism website – but I’m glad I did. They have a restaurant and a rather sad souvenir shop, but Moo Moo Farm’s main draw for me was a series of fun, farmy workshops and experiences (taiken 体験) such as butter making, pony rides, and bread making. Also, there were ostriches, just for good measure. Anyway, we chose to do three activities – calf nursing, cow milking, and sausage making – which we had to reserve ahead of time by phone. (In the summer months, reservations are required only for the food workshops.)
First up was cow-milking. Our coach was a kindly young woman who explained, with wisdom and respect in her voice, the finer points of mother cows and their delicate dispositions. She reminded us that the cow (named Bell, or possibly Belle) is an animal, just like ourselves, and as an animal, we should treat her with respect, and also watch out for sudden… uh, evacuations. Then she showed us the milking technique, which took a lot more finesse than I expected. Then again, I expected it to look something like this: (more…)
Your Guide: Tim Andersøn
Greatest Hits
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The War on MSG
“No MSG.” This self-congratulatory proclamation adorns countless food packages around the Anglosphere. We’ve all seen it, on bags of potato chips or Chinese takeout menus, on instant noodles or those “just add meat and sour cream” Mexican meal kits. Oh thank heavens, we think when we spot it. This food is safe. This food is [...]
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The Fukuoka Beer Guide ザ・フクオカ・ビア・ガイド
This is another article for FukuokaJET.com. Each establishment’s address, phone number, and opening hours can be found at the very end of the post. Please leave a comment if you need directions! In response to comments graciously informing of new beer developments in Fukuoka, I have updated this article on September 23, 2009. Kyushu is [...]
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Soul Food for Thought
On my recent, brief trip to New York to visit family and friends, I had a checklist of specific foods I wanted to eat there; I wanted nothing but good food experiences – nothing mediocre, nothing mundane. To these ends, the trip was beyond satisfactory. Fork-tender Greek-style grilled octopus, colorful piles of Ethiopian curries on [...]
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An Introduction to Ramen (In Fukuoka Prefecture) （福岡県の）拉麺入門
This is an article I’ve been working on for FukuokaJET.com, a resource website made for JETs living in Fukuoka prefecture, especially new recruits. The information here focuses on Fukuoka, but I think it’s a fairly good survey of the major ramen styles for anybody who’s interested. Tonkotsu (Pork Bone) 豚骨・とんこつ Tonkotsu ramen is the richest [...]
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Rebuilding the Japanese Food Pyramid 日本のフードピラミッドを建て直す
The other day at one of the middle schools where I work, a certain poster caught my eye. It advocated “balance” in your daily diet and featured a graphic that reminded me an awful lot of the USDA’s food pyramid:
