Can't handle your life?

KAJITAKU is a company that will provide just about any service from sending a Santa Claus to deliver presents to dispatching a maid to your house every morning to make your bed.



The baby-sitting service disturbed me a bit (see pic). Are mothers really that worried about warm cookies and spilled milk? I suppose if they are, then they're sukkerz enuff to pay money for help.

Under the category "Presents for wife" was this, and I quote, "Husbands have the weekends off but wives do the housework all year round. Once you realize this, why don't you give her a gift and say 'thank you' to show your appreciation?"
And another favorite was laundry service for men who are too pathetic to figure out how to work a washing machine. And again I quote, "I have a date this weekend but I only have cheap underwear left to wear. I need to find a solution before calling my mother!"
Dude - here's a solution: grow the fu*k up!

Mayanists for Obama

Oppressed peoples of the world rejoice! You too can have a coffee mug with Obama's name written in your indigenous language~ ORDER NOW for speedy delivery.

Truth be known, I totally wanna get about 1000 of the stickers and put them up all over Tokyo.

Need a recipe for chutney? Ask President Lincoln/Obama!

This whole Obama/Lincoln image thing is really annoying me. They are both politicians from Illinois and neither were born there. End of similarities. Stop it already with the "I'm just like so-and-so" rigamarole and just be yourself Barack. [rant truncated]

That being said, Lincoln is my fave preznidint (Lincoln, by Gore Vidal, is one of the most moving books I have ever ever ever read) so I am more than happy to bathe in all the 19th century nostalgia.

And in spite of the $150,000,000 being utterly wasted on the inauguration, I'm secretly giddy about the luncheon being based on Abraham Lincoln's favorite foods. Check out the menu/recipes! Who knew Lincoln liked chutney?!?!

Hummus Time!

Creamy hummus drizzled with olive oil and lightly dusted with paprika. Spinach leaves with bright purple cabbage sprouts and sunflower seeds. Tzatziki sauce and a plate of peppers, onions and avacado. We also had grilled tuna marinated in the last of a Moroccan spice mix Helen had sent a while back.

You can't touch this.

May your new year be filled with lovely randomness...

Happy year of the cow (or ox?)!! Our yoga place gave us soap in the shape of this year's Chinese character - it came with decals so I'm guessing it's not for hand washing.

Also, check out the calendar Joy & James gave me... it's in the Mexican Day of the Dead style, but with the Japanese "gaikotsu" written on it. And even more randomly - it's printed on handmade Nepalese paper.

The Yuzu

How to explain the taste of a yuzu? It's lemon-limey with an orange-influenced grapefruity finish. Let them float in your bath or infuse in hot water with some Manuka honey for a healthy winter tonic (thanks Cinny!). Ground up with chili peppers it makes and wonderfully sinus-cleansing addition to ramen. Last night we squeezed it over cod baked in sesame oil.

I'd give anything if they'd let me bring my little 4-year old yuzu bush to Australia.

Product Placement from HELL

I bet you thought America was the worst in the "how many products can we sell through one of our crappy movies" category. Well, Hollywood is king no longer. Here, the tie-ins are so complexly woven together it's difficult to differentiate between entertainment and advertisement. In fact, the only real difference is that the ads are more interesting.

Check this out: the new film "Archipelago of Contagion". It's about some super-flu wiping out the entire population of Japan... and don't forget to buy your anti-virus mask as seen worn by famous actors in the movie! But waitaminit... they all died in the story so doesn't that mean their product is crap???

Kind of reminds me of 9/11 when I was watching the towers falling on Japanese TV and messages kept scrolling across the screen reminding you that Sony and Mitsubishi were sponsors of the program... disaster sells!!!