Friday, October 19, 2007
What's Edible
Eating, well, really NOT eating, has been on my mind lately. Since a Trader Joe's opened up in our area, we, along with the other new food stlings lemmings in our area, streamed off the cliff to their only store in the First State. Along with the various coffee offerings we were intrigued with the Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds, Greek style yogourt and frozen vegetables and frozen berries. After the recent lead 'n' toy related news came out, we started reading our food purchases' packaging more closely. Turns out the frozen green beans we'd purchased from Trader Joe's came from China. Now, most folks know that water pollution in China is pretty much an accepted thing. With minimal environmental controls and ludicrously low penalties for any violations, manufacturers can preach that they're following the laws as regards pollution and not be lying. Unfortunately, while these lax laws are one of components in keeping the cost of manufacturing low in China these laws have a direct effect on the agriculture grown there. Irrigation source water is this same, by US and European standards, polluted river water.
So, we threw out all of the frozen green beans one day. Thinking back, I hit myself in the head. Why didn't we just take all of the stuff back to TJ's? It has their brand name on it; it's not as if they could say we bought it elsewhere. Unless there's an underground market for Trader Joe's foodstuffs...
Eat Less. Pay more. It's as simple as that.
Other things I won't be eating any time soon would be Polh Stew, a delicacy in certain parts of Europe, including Slovenia.
Polh, you ask? What is it? It is this,the humble dormouse. In Italy, some folks are serving jail time for having poached these furry little things.
Thanks to Michael over at Glory of Carniola and Piran Cafe for some of the dormouse-related links. Dobar Tek!
Labels: Effluvia, Only in America, Slovenians
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Cinematic Rantings
On April 15th, usually a day of annual anxious madness but one which the IRS deemed to soften by adding 2 additional days for those us deeply into prolonging our pain, an article in the NYT appeared regarding one Mr. Slavoj Zizek .
To quote some quotes within the article, Mr. Zizek opines that:
"I am too emphatic,"he said emphatically. "Too expressive. I don’t think this works on screen. Even if I state something totally obvious, I say it with this intensity, as if I am saying the last truth."
Regarding a movie that he stars in, he emphasizes that cinema is "the ultimate pervert art.” As he puts it: “It doesn’t give you what you desire. It tells you how to desire."
"Out of the mess of me talking, talking, talking — you know, my friends call me Fidel — Sophie (the movie's director) somehow had to introduce order in the total chaos."
Elsewhere in the piece, "He’s also an engaging, if exhausting, conversationalist. During a 45-minute phone call, topics ranged from Darwin to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to his defiant admiration for "300" to the "incredible Stalinist classical musicals" he had just discovered on a Moscow trip."
All this has to do with a movie, Pervert's Guide to the Cinema, that will be playing in NYC at the Museum of Modern Art from Wednesday April 18 through April 23.
Not since his fellow countryman, Martin Strel, who is also afflicted with a peculiar Slovenian version of reality, climbed out of the Amazon after his 3,274 mile 66 day swim from its source to its end, has a Slovenian come to America's attention.
So, if you're planning on being in the Big City in the next week, you may wnat to stop over at MOMA to catch Slavoj Zizek in full tilt boogie mode.
To quote some quotes within the article, Mr. Zizek opines that:
"I am too emphatic,"he said emphatically. "Too expressive. I don’t think this works on screen. Even if I state something totally obvious, I say it with this intensity, as if I am saying the last truth."
Regarding a movie that he stars in, he emphasizes that cinema is "the ultimate pervert art.” As he puts it: “It doesn’t give you what you desire. It tells you how to desire."
"Out of the mess of me talking, talking, talking — you know, my friends call me Fidel — Sophie (the movie's director) somehow had to introduce order in the total chaos."
Elsewhere in the piece, "He’s also an engaging, if exhausting, conversationalist. During a 45-minute phone call, topics ranged from Darwin to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to his defiant admiration for "300" to the "incredible Stalinist classical musicals" he had just discovered on a Moscow trip."
All this has to do with a movie, Pervert's Guide to the Cinema, that will be playing in NYC at the Museum of Modern Art from Wednesday April 18 through April 23.
Not since his fellow countryman, Martin Strel, who is also afflicted with a peculiar Slovenian version of reality, climbed out of the Amazon after his 3,274 mile 66 day swim from its source to its end, has a Slovenian come to America's attention.
So, if you're planning on being in the Big City in the next week, you may wnat to stop over at MOMA to catch Slavoj Zizek in full tilt boogie mode.
Labels: Slovenians
