Thursday, August 1, 2013

News & Media Round-Up, July 16 - August 1, 2013

CANADA 

The Beaverton (satirical news site)
- Parrot removed from Montreal Biodome after learning too much English

The HillTimes
- Ironically, economy may turn out to be one of the Harper government's biggest failures

Huffington Post (Canada)
- How Harper Uses Psychology to Peddle Myths
- Ontario's McLobster Dreams Have Come True

Toronto Star
- Suspension of EI whistleblower sets dangerous precedent, critics say

Winnipeg Free Press
- Slurpees & Winnipeg: A love story 
- Winnipeg sucks! Slurpee king again


JAPAN

ak47: tumblr
Poor Pikachu! (my caption)

enRoute (Air Canada)
- Inside the Nebuta House Wa Rasse Museum

Japan Pulse
- The last of the McDonald's Jewelry
- Limited-edition burgers, ep. deux
(- A Tale of Two Limited-Edition Burgers: Lotteria's Twin and McD's Gold Ring - July 9)


Japan Times
 - Mount Fuji fee charged, but signs in Japanese
- Plant by numbers

Kotaku.com
- Unique Japanese Mail Boxes Are Wonderful in Rain or Shine
- How a Japanese Radish Became an Internet Hero
- Ferrari Lovers, This Anime Stunt Might Horrify You

WORLD

The Beaverton (satirical news site)
- Kate Middleton gives birth to beautiful, healthy news story 

Kotaku.com
- How Chinese Ingenuity Destroyed Salad Bars at Pizza Hut

 Geekologie.com
- Man Caught Driving With Pliers For A Steering Wheel
  The White House
- President Obama: Trayvon Martin Could Have Been Me

ART/STUFF/DIY

Geekologie.com
- Just What I Always Wanted!: Raw Meat Gift Wrap Paper

imgur
-15 Over-Used Movie Poster Clichés

Kotaku.com
- How To Turn Your Cat into Totoro
- Act fast and you can snag this hilarious Mario warp-pipe cat complex from CatistrophicCreations on Etsy

TAXI
- Crisp Illustrations Of Creatures From Japanese Folklore

VIDEOS

BuzzFeed
- Japanese Animator Films Mesmerizing Lightscapes in Downtown Tokyo

Jezebel.com
- Rad Kids React to Racists Freaking Out About the Cheerios Commerical
- The Daily Show's Zimmerman Coverage Is as Rage-Filled as It Should Be

Entertainment Weekly
- PopWatch: Here's what happens when 280 movies are edited together to sing Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby'

YouTube 
- Shut Up & Sit Down, Season 2, Episode 12 - Introduction to Board Games

- YANIS MARSHALL "SPICE GIRLS" Directed By FERNANDO DE AZEVEDO Feat ARNAUD BOURSAIN & MEHDI MAMINE

Friday, July 5, 2013

More easy summer veggie recipes

(See the original "Easy summer veggie recipes" post from last year for two super easy dishes that only require one type of vegetable plus some seasonings.)

Although I hate the heat and humidity of summers in Japan, the one good thing about summer is the abundance of fresh and delicious vegetables. (Living in a rural area means these veggies are also cheap!)

So here are a few refreshing and simple summer recipes:

Easy Zucchini Side Dish 
(Source: www.justapinch.com/recipes/side/vegetable/easy-zucchini-side-dish-bonnies.html)

Ingredients:
Zucchini *– 2 medium-sized
Olive oil – 1 TBSP
Sesame oil – 1/2 tsp
Toasted white sesame seeds – 3 tsp
Parmesan cheese (from shaker) – 2 TBSP
Garlic salt/powder – 1 tsp
Cayenne pepper (一味唐辛子 ichimi tougarashi)– 1/4tsp

*I used 1 green and 1 yellow zucchini

1. Wash and trim the zucchini, peeling about half and leaving the rest with the peel on. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise into two pieces and then slice each in half (lengthwise) again. Cut each of the four pieces into 1/2-inch (12.5mm) slices. Make as uniform as possible.
2. Take a sealable plastic bag (Ziploc, etc.) and put the zucchini and everything else into it. Press the air out, close the bag and knead the zucchini and oil and seasonings until all the zucchini slices are covered evenly.
3. Pre-heat oven (toaster oven also works just fine!) to 200ºC (400ºF). Line a cooking sheet/baking tray with parchment paper. (Don’t grease it.) Spread the zucchini in a single layer on the parchment paper.
4. Bake the zucchini in the oven for ~20min. (After 15min check every 2min until it is to your liking.) Delicious warm or cold!
(Optional: Add 1 small tomato, diced, to the zucchini and toss before serving.)


Tofu Salad
くずし豆腐と野菜のサラダ (kuzushi tofu to yasai no sarada)
(Source: 手間なし、カンタン!得ごはん (Tema nashi, kantan! Toku gohan) No hassle, easy and cheap meals by Orange Page, p.56)

Ingredients (serves 2):
Momen (coarse-grained) tofu – 1 block (300g)
“Whole” (kernel) canned corn* – 100g
Tomato – 1 large
Dressing:
“Salad” (vegetable) oil – 2 TBSP
Vinegar & soy sauce – 1 TBSP each
Pepper – a dash, to taste

*You can also use fresh corn, boiled and removed from the cob.

1. Drain the canned corn. Remove the stem and cut the tomato into 6-8 wedges. Drain the tofu.
2. Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl.
3. Put the tomatoes on a plate, crumble the tofu over it and put corn on top. Pour on dressing and serve.


Salad Udon
Ingredients (serves 3):
Udon noodles - 3 packs (mine came as a pack of 3 packs of 200g each)
Bagged salad* - ~100g
Mentsuyu (bonito-based noodle sauce) - ~2 TBSP

*I find it cheaper and more convenient to buy pre-packaged, bagged salad (usually I get one with a couple of kinds of lettuce, radish, red & yellow bell peppers, carrots, onions) but of course you can make your own salad using whatever vegetables you like—even just shredded cabbage will work.

1. Boil water in a pot and cook udon noodles according to package directions (usually 2-3min). Drain and rinse thoroughly under cool running water (to remove the starch).
2. Put udon in a bowl and top with salad.
3. Dilute mentsuyu in an approximately 1:3 ratio of mentsuyu to water (so 2 TBSP mentsuyu, 6 TBSP water--or to taste). Pour mentsuyu over salad udon and serve. (Optional: Top with mayonnaise, sesame salad dressing, soft or hard-boiled egg, fake crab meat, etc.)

Friday, June 28, 2013

News & Media Round-Up - June 20-28, 2013

Here is some stuff I've read/watched online recently:

Geekologie.com
- Move Over, Wonderbread: Superman Logo Sandwich Bread
- Animated GIF of All 151 Original Pokemon As Cats

HuffingtonPost.ca 
- 25 Of the Most "Canadian" Words
- 10 Reasons Why Calgarians Love Nenshi (or, How to Be a Leader)
- Mitch Joel: Don't Turn Off Technology -- Turn Off Your Bad Habits
- Elizabeth May: 10 Reasons Why Harper Isn't Really Canadian
- Jeff Rose-Martland: Why the Governor General Should Remove Harper (actual petition to the GG to remove Harper at http://www.change.org/petitions/the-right-honourable-david-johnston-governor-general-of-canada-stop-harper-now#)

Kotaku.com
This Is "Tank Sushi"
- Japan's Amazing Rice Paddy Art Continues to Dazzle (note: most of the pictures of rice fields using classical Western (Napoleon) or Japanese (samurai, etc.) imagery are from Inakadate, Aomori Prefecture!)
- Toronto Mayor's Crack Scandal Lands Him His Own Video Game

Uniqlo
- (Baskin Robbins) "31" Print Underwear for Women (Japanese)

YouTube.com
- Convos with my 2-year old (About this series: "Actual conversations with my 2 year old daughter, as re-enacted by me and another full-grown man." Particularly love episodes 2 & 3!)
Extra Credits, Season 6, Episode 16 - Not a Babysitter (About this series: "
- Shut Up & Sit Down, Season 2, Episode 07 - 1812, The Invasion of Canada (About this series: ")