My favorite Super Bowl 50 Ads

It's kind of surprising that Super Bowl 50 would be the event that dragged me out of my blogging rut, given that it was probably the most boring Super Bowl I've watched in many years. I'm the first to admit that I don't watch many football games, but I don't think I've ever seen more uncompleted downs (is that the correct term?) in any game. This time around, I don't think anyone could argue that the highlights of the event were Lady Gaga singing the Star Spangled Banner (those nails! those eyes!), the halftime show (and all the Coldplay memes that followed!), and the ads.

Once again, this year's ads were a mix of good (funny! celebrities you don't usually see in ads! heartwarming!), bad (boring! everyday, run-of-the-mill!), and ugly (bad CG! dumb humor!). Here's a list of my best and worst:

Winners

Taco Bell: Bigger Than...

In this ad, Taco Bell compares their latest product, the Quesalupa, to some of the hottest trends around, like man buns, drones, and hoverboards. The best part is when they say the Quesalupa is going to be bigger than football.... then show Neymar kicking a soccer ball, closing with, "The Real Football". BURN! Neymar in an American football ad!

NFL: Super Bowl Babies

I thought it was adorable when the first ad showed babies presumably conceived on Super Bowl night (dressed in fan gear of the winning Superbowl team), but it got even better with their follow-up ads, where the "babies" got older and older, showing how fans "celebrated" Super Bowl wins over the past 50 years! The final ad was the best, because you got to see 50 years of Super Bowl Babies being serenaded by Seal.

Jeep: Portraits

I'm a sucker for a cool vehicle, gorgeous portraits, and a "through the years" theme! Jeep is celebrating their 75th year, so their ad tied in perfectly with Super Bowl 50's milestone celebration. The ad featured photos of Jeeps through history and the people who drove them (including famous faces like Marilyn Monroe, Jeff Goldblum, BB King and Aretha Franklin).

Heinz: Weiner Stampede

I'm not an animal lover, but even I couldn't help melting at the sight of all those daschunds dressed as hot dogs, scampering (is there anything cuter/funnier than daschunds running?) towards the Ketchup Family (a family dressed in Heinz products costumes). Best of all was the adorable little girl dressed as a ketcup packet!!  Aaaargh! Cuteness overload!!

Intuit: Never A Sellout

I thought it was brilliant that Intuit managed to get the great actor Anthony Hopkins to star in their ad, and even more brilliant that they got him to poke fun at himself for "selling out", by insisting that he wasn't selling out even as he plastered himself (and his dog) with Intuit ads!  

Funny story: when I took to Twitter praising the ad, they gave me a throw pillow! I swear, I liked the ad even before I won and that's not why I'm including it here. I don't even like the pillow, but I'm going to tell myself this pillow was one used in the Anthony Hopkins ad.

Honorable Mention:

Snickers: Marilyn

Because Willem Dafoe was dressed as Marilyn Monroe.

Hyundai: Ryanville

Because Ryan Reynolds was in it... playing pretty much everyone (#eyecandy). Actually, all the Hyundai ads were pretty good!

T-Mobile: Drop the Balls

Because  Steve Harvey poked fun at his Miss Universe announcement disaster.

Coca-Cola: Hulk vs Ant-Man

Because I'm a sucker for Marvel's Avengers. If only Mark Ruffalo and Paul Rudd were actually in it!

Audi: Commander

Because it was a tribute to fathers and sons, and to David Bowie.

Losers

Mountain Dew: Puppymonkeybaby

That Puppymonkeybaby was just hideous. Call me an old fogey, but it was just plain dumb. The CG was really bad, with the baby's legs looking all wrong. It looked like I could have done a better job pasting the creature together... with Microsoft Paint.

Acura, Quickenloans, BMW

I don't even remember what went on in these ads. You know why? Because they looked like ads we see on the TV every day.

Doritos: Ultrasound

The rest of the family loved this, but I thought it was horrible. Seeing a fetus acting like a trained dog, salivating over a Doritos chip -- and seeing the dad treating his kid like one -- was just distasteful.


Which Super Bowl 50 ads did you like? Which ones did you hate?

My favorite World Cup 2014 commercials

Football is not a sport that lends itself easily to commercial breaks.  The clock never stops, not for time outs, not even for injuries, and certainly not to switch from offensive to defensive to special teams.  Sponsors have to content themselves with signage on the field, on player jerseys, and on-screen placements beside the match score.  Fortunately, the payoff is enormous; the 2010 World Cup final was seen by over 1 billion people, so it's worth spending the time and money to create a memorable World Cup ad. With YouTube, Facebook, and social media, companies don't even have to buy ad time to get their message across. If an ad resonates, it will go viral.

Companies have been scrambling to take advantage of World Cup fever, with dozens of soccer-themed commercials airing since the beginning of June.  Even those who are not official sponsors of the World Cup have joined the bandwagon -- their ads don't mention the World Cup or show the official, FIFA World Cup logo, but their intent is clear.  As a soccer fan, I'm loving all of it!  Here's a list of my 5 favorite World Cup ads (so far), as well as a longer list of World Cup ads that are worth watching:

My favorite Superbowl XLVIII ads

The Super Bowl is probably the only show I ever watch where I don't fast forward through all the commercials.  In fact, I pay more attention to the ads than to the game!  The fact that it was such a one-sided contest this year (Well done, Seahawks!  If you had to beat the Forty-Niners, then I'm glad they lost to the Super Bowl Champs, not the Super Bowl Chumps) made the ads even more important as a source of entertainment. That being said, there were so many ads, I had a hard time keeping them straight!  By the time the game was over, I had forgotten many of them.  A few did make an impression, and I wanted to list them down.

This year's ads had the usual share of hotties (David Beckham!), humor (bodybuilders stampeding to a tanning salon!), and heartstring-pulling (full-blown parades for one guy!).  And they had their share of the Good (Budweiser Best Buds), the Bad (Soda Stream), and the Ugly (66 year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 70's tennis outfit).  Here are my five favorite Super Bowl 2014 ads (along with three runners-up):

I'm a fair weather Forty-Niner. And that's okay.

When I first came to the US, I knew nothing about American football.  Almost twenty years later, I've improved a lot.  I know how the game works.  I know what fumbles and spot kickers are.  I   understand phrases like "second and five" and "two point conversion" and "Gatorade shower".  I know the difference between a pass play and a running play.  I even know there's such a thing as a dive running play and a draw running play!

Back to the Couch

With all the traveling we did, this summer was relatively tv-free . But the fall tv season is upon us, so I'm setting my timers and dusting off my spot on the couch. There are a ton of new shows -- NBC's Paul Reiser Show, CBS's Hawaii Five-0 remake, ABC's No Ordinary Family (and speaking of which, check out my BlogHer Superhero post!) -- and I might watch an episode or two to see if they're any good, but these 5 are on my Must See TV List:

1) Alfie might disown me for admitting this, but I'm a certified Gleek, and I can't wait for the new season to start tonight! I've always been a fan of Broadway musicals, and I love the way Glee has brought this genre back to mainstream culture (although I'm glad the choir aspect gives characters the excuse to sing, so they don't just break out into song the way they did in Oklahoma or My Fair Lady). Glee is witty and campy and fun. Sue Sylvester, you can paint a big fat L on my forehead anytime!

2) I've always had a soft spot for House, because Hugh Laurie, as you know, is actually Alfie in disguise (yes, he does show tapings on those evenings when he gets home late). After all the romantic tension between House and Cuddy last season, I'm hoping things don't get all lovey-dovey boring now that they're together -- or worse, turn into a romantic soap opera.

3) Okay, I'll admit, I watch Grey's Anatomy for outrageous plot twists. And the eye candy (McSteamy, not McDreamy. Every time I see Patrick Dempsey on screen I think of him in Can't Buy Me Love, so he's more of a McDorky than a McDreamy to me). At least this candy is sugar-free and fat-free.

4) I love watching Real Time with Bill Maher, really I do, but for some reason I always fall asleep about 30 minutes of the way through. It's not that I'm bored; on the contrary, I think it's one of the most interesting programs out there. I love his humor, his cut-to-the-chase honesty, his willingness to criticize both Republicans and Democrats, his appeals to intellect and reason, not rabid emotion (yes, Glenn and Rush, I'm looking at you!), his insightful guests. But I always end up snoozing. Maybe my brain is overtaxed (notice my other preferred tv shows aren't exactly hard on the intellect), but I'm going to try extra-hard to stay awake for the full hour of Real Time this season!

5) Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 8 doesn't come out till 2011, so technically it's not part of the Fall Season, but I have to reserve a spot for it on my Must See TV list because this show is so f-----g brilliant. No other show makes me laugh, gasp and cringe so much as Curb Your Enthusiasm, and it's truly one of the the best shows on TV. Larry and the gang are heading to New York in Season 8, so it's going to be fresh and new and fun, and I can't wait!

Worst Movies of 2009 (that, *shhhhh!*, I enjoyed)

For every "Best of" list, you can bet there's going to be a "Worst of" counterpart. For instance, right on the heels of this year's Oscar nomination list comes the Golden Raspberry Foundation's Razzie award list, with nominations for worst actress, worst actor, worst picture and so on. I agree that some of those movies should never have seen the light of day -- Land of the Lost, get lost! -- but one man's meat is another man's poison, and there are many times when critics and I don't see eye to eye. I have to admit I've watched and enjoyed more than a few movies that have made it onto one or more "Worst of 2009" lists floating around in cyberspace. Here are five of them:


1) Angels and Demons
The Da Vinci Code was one of those books that I just couldn't put down (as in, I read it in the shower with one arm outstretched, holding the book, and the other arm awkwardly soaping my body), and I enjoyed everything they were able to cram into the movie. I yearned to immerse myself in more of Professor Langdon's adventures, so how could I not watch Angels and Demons? True, all that rushing around the Eternal City looking for clues, trying to prevent murders felt like a rehash of the original movie, but I pretended the first movie had never happened (and strictly speaking, it never had, since Angels and Demons is actually a prequel to the Da Vinci Code), so I still managed to enjoy all the thrills and chills.


2) Marley and Me
I'm not a dog lover, I don't think fart jokes are funny, I think Jennifer Aniston movies are silly, and I can't look at Owen Wilson's nose without wincing and wondering why he doesn't get it fixed. So why in the world did I find myself glued to my seat, unable even to go to the bathroom? When Marley, the main characters' big, dumb, stinky, loyal, lovable dog, finally kicked the bucket after 15 years of living with them, I wept like he was my own kids' dog (and we don't even have a dog).


3) The Ugly Truth
Critics trashed this movie because they say it's nothing but a string of romantic cliches, but I say that's what makes it so much fun to watch. Independent feminist who secretly just wants a man? Cynical, misogynist ladies man finally falling for the one woman who won't have him? Mutual hatred masking mutual attraction? A couple falling in love without even having sex first? It's like the Mills and Boon romances I swooned over when I was a teenager! I wasn't looking for anything too serious anyway, so I really enjoyed reliving my girlish notions of love and cheering when the boy got the girl. In fact, the only thing I didn't enjoy was Scottish Gerard Butler faking an American accent.


4) Whatever Works
I was completely shocked to see that Yahoo critics gave this movie a C+. I suppose it's because no one in the audience could stand the main character, a bad-tempered, self-centered, social misfit named Boris Yellnikoff who makes Oscar the Grouch look sweet. He's constantly complaining about having to share the same universe with a bunch of idiots (i.e. the rest of humanity) and insulting everyone he comes in contact with, yet somehow he ends up happy and fulfilled, with all his old friends, a bunch of new ones and a girlfriend to boot. I loved watching Larry David star as Boris -- this role is almost identical to the one he plays on his TV series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, which always leaves Alfie and me in stitches. Maybe the real reason people don't like it is that the insights into human character sometimes hit a little too close to home -- come on, admit it, aren't there times that you feel just like Boris, except you're just too scared/diplomatic/socially conditioned to admit it?


5) Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers 2 actually leads this year's Razzie contenders, with 7 nominations, but it was also a huge moneymaker so someone must have enjoyed it. I'm siding with the majority and thumbing my nose up at the critics. Yes, they put in every kind of action scene imaginable. Yes, the whole thing was absurd. But how is Transformers 2 any more absurd than, say, Sandra Bullock's breakout movie, 1994's Speed? At least in Transformers 2 it's pretty clear that we're in fantasy land. Anyway, it's not about the storyline anyway, it's about the eye candy. Stick to enjoying the eye candy -- both robotic (love, love, love that sound the Transformers make when they transform!) and human (I'm not a teenage male but even I think Megan Fox is hot) -- and you'll have a grand time with this movie!


Okay, maybe these movies won't win any Oscars. Truthfully, I knew that even while I was enjoying them. I guess I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to movies; it's rare that I find a movie so bad that I will walk out of a movie theatre right in the middle of it. But anyone can make the best out of a bad movie -- just suspend disbelief and lower your expectations. The babysitter is paid for, there's a perfectly good bucket of popcorn on my lap, so why not make an effort? At the very least, you can have fun trashing the movie while you watch it.

Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- Day 5

Day 5 activities consisted of revisiting the Pre Assessment activities that we did on Day 1. As before, 3Po and Jammy were able to do all the activities -- but this time, they didn't have to sound out some of the -ALL words. This may be wishful thinking on my part, but I think it's getting easier and easier for them each time they read. Maybe I'll ask them to do the same activities again in a couple of weeks, once their short-term memory of it fizzles out, and see what happens.

And so ends our little experiment. My babies have graduated from Super Why Camp! It has been well worth the 30 minutes or so we've spent on it every day this week. The boys got their little afternoon summer at-home camp, they got to spend some quality time with their mama, and I got the satisfaction of knowing they're getting good practice with their literacy skills. When I asked them, both boys said they'd like to do more Super Why worksheets.... so this is a Shout-Out to Angela Santomero and all the creative minds behind Super Why -- we want to do another Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- so we need more worksheets, based on more episodes! See, the reward for doing such a great job with extending the learning activities beyond the TV show is getting asked to even more of it.

Staying in this summer? Start your own 5-day Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp! Go to http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/learningwithmedia/superwhy.html to download the 3 Little Pigs episode and all the activities for each day.

Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- Day 4

Day 4 of our Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp featured the show's namesake, Super Why -- so I thought 3Po and Jammy would be all over it. But they didn't really get into the activities today, which were patterned after Super Why's role in changing the 3 Little Pigs story, as seen on the Super Why 3 Little Pigs episode. The Day 4 coloring pages I gave them were too detailed for them to color properly; at the risk of sounding gender-biased, maybe it's because they're boys? Maybe a girl would easily have colored in the drawing? Or maybe our crayons are too blunt. At least that's what The Pea tells me (I think it's all a plot to get me to buy them new markers).

Whatever the case, Day 4 turned out to be more about Alpha Pig than Super Why. During the Add-on Activity, Jammy had fun drawing the 3 Little Pigs and changing his story to turn them into a quartet. And they really got into Alpha Pig's Alphabet Song when they watched today's Super Why episode (Rapunzel).



I guess Super Why's not their favorite character after all.

Staying in this summer? Start your own 5-day Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp! Go to http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/learningwithmedia/superwhy.html to download the 3 Little Pigs episode and all the activities for each day.

Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- Day 3

It's Day 3, Princess Presto Day! Unlike yesterday, the boys weren't too interested in donning a girl's mask (I guess getting in touch with their feminine side doesn't extend to Princess Presto's sparkly pink-ness), but they still tackled the day's worksheets with enthusiasm. Today's activities didn't seem to be too related to the 3 Little Pigs episode, and the kids were getting a bit too intimate with that episode anyway, so I let 3Po and Jammy watch another episode of SUPER WHY (Goldilocks and the Three Bears: The Mystery ) instead.

The activities for Princess Presto Day were centered around phonics: matching letters with their corresponding sounds. It was interesting to see that 3Po and Jammy had no problem at all with the first worksheet (looking at pictures, identifying the beginning sound and circling the beginning letter), but found the second activity (and the related follow-up activity, the Letter Scavenger Hunt) quite challenging. It was kind of the opposite: they were given a letter and had to come up with a word beginning with that sound. They needed a bit of help from The Pea and me, but eventually Jammy really got into it. Our house is now full of letters taped to various objects, including me (I was the lucky recipient of 4 letters: M for Mama, F for Friend, G for Glasses, and A for Ana). My favorite one is the "I" taped to the light switch:

Me: Jammy, why is there an "I" on that switch?
Jammy: Because "L" is for light switch.
Me: But that's an "I', not an "L".
Jammy: But I couldn't think of anything that starts with "I", so I pretended that it was a lowercase "L".

Methinks Princess Presto would be proud.

Staying in this summer? Start your own 5-day Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp! Go to http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/learningwithmedia/superwhy.html to download the 3 Little Pigs episode and all the activities for each day.

Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- Day 2

Today was Day 2 of the SSS (Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp), and it was Wonder Red day. 3Po and Jammy cut out their Wonder Red masks (surprisingly, no gender issues there, I'm happy that my boys are in touch with their feminine side) and happily settled down to watch the SUPER WHY 3 Little Pigs episode once again. Here's a video of them interacting with Wonder Red as she sounds out the words TALL and BALL:



The kids are supposed to watch this episode every day for the 5-day period (because all the activities are based on this episode), but I can tell that with my kids (and most older preschoolers), this might get a bit old. They clearly remembered all the words from yesterday and were starting to act a bit know-it-all-ish ("Oh, I know that already, that's so easy!") . Tomorrow I might have to mix it up a bit and show them another epidose, then see if they can still do activities based on the first episode.



The activity sheets for Day 2 were great! 3Po and Jammy really had to use their reading skills by adding the beginning letter to the ALL-family word that matched the picture. Some of the pictures were actually quite confusing -- SMALL was a tiny bug, CALL was a girl on a phone, and don't even get me started on the pictures for HALL and MALL. But I gave 3Po and Jammy less credit than I should have, because they worked it out.

Stay tuned for Day 3....

Staying in this summer? Start your own 5-day Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp! Go to http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/learningwithmedia/superwhy.html to download the 3 Little Pigs episode and all the activities for each day.

Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp -- Day 1

Hooray, it's summer! And this is the summer that 3Po and Jammy are going to learn how to read. Thanks to Alfie's dedicated bedtime reading program (and a few choice bribes), they're actually doing quite well; they've gotten the 3-letter words down pat, and are coming along nicely with consonant blends and words with a silent e at the end. What they need now is practice, practice, practice. Right now they see words all around them, words they are perfectly capable of reading -- on street signs, on buildings, on TV -- but they never actually read them because they only read when they're sitting beside their dad and sounding them out. I want them to be able to recognize the words they see in books outside in real life, and hopefully be able to sight-read the simpler words quickly, without having to sound them out.

Inspired by the success stories I heard at last week's PBS Kids presentation to mom bloggers, I've decided to help the boys get some reading practice in a structured, but fun way by running my own little summer camp this week: Our Superwhy Superreading Summercamp (SSS). The activities are based on the PBS Kids SUPER WHY Learning Activities, a 5-day curriculum of activities that build upon the skills that kids are learning when they watch SUPER WHY's 3 Little Pigs episode.

To get things started, yesterday we did the Pre Assessment activities to see where 3Po and Jammy stand with preliteracy skills. The Pre Assessment activitise consist of simple letter recognition, spelling, rhyming and comprehension activities. After glancing at the activities, I fully expected 3Po and Jammy (age 5) to be able to all of them, and they did. Since they can easily sound out 3-letter words, my main goal this week will be to increase their sight-reading vocabulary (i.e. without sounding out), especially words in rhyming families like ALL, BALL, TALL or PIG, DIG, RIG.

Moving on.... today, Day 1, was Alpha Pig day. The boys donned an Alpha Pig mask and watched the SUPER WHY 3 Little Pigs episode for the first time (In the episode, Alpha Pig's friend Jill is knocking down his block towers, so the 4 Super Readers enter the 3 Little Pigs storybook to figure out how Alpha Pig can get his friend to stop). They really enjoyed it, and I was surprised at how much participation the show enlicited from Jammy. I think he was really surprised and proud that he could read the words he saw on the screen. After the episode ended, they did some letter recognition activities. I wasn't too impressed with the Day 1 worksheets -- the coloring page is so detailed that no kid under age 8 will be able to color it in properly -- but the boys seemed to enjoy doing them. I think the biggest source of excitement for them was the notion of a 5-day SUPER WHY camp, with tv, activities and crafts.

Stay tuned for Day 2.....

Staying in this summer? Start your own 5-day Super Why Super Reader Summer Camp! Go to http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/learningwithmedia/superwhy.html to download the 3 Little Pigs episode and all the activities for each day.

Learning with PBS Kids and SUPER WHY

I've always maintained that watching TV can be a positive, educational experience for children. Actually, make that: "watching PBS is a positive, educational experience for children". There's a lot of good quality programming on many kids' networks these days, but as far as I'm concerned, PBS sets the gold standard in educational TV. A lot of it has to do with my own experiences; I learned to read watching the two original PBS Kids programs: Sesame Street and The Electric Company. And because they're noncommercial, airing on nonprofit stations, I really get the sense that they put kids' interests first. I've put absolute trust in the PBS Kids brand: if it's a PBS show, I let my kids watch it.


The Silicon Valley Moms bloggers were recently invited by PBS Kids to learn about the thought and research that goes into all the media (tv shows, online, books, licensing deals, etc..) that PBS Kids develops. I was happy to see that the whole non-commercial, nonprofit vibe extended to this event as well: I didn't get the sense that this was some kind of marketing ploy, because it was actually a two-way discussion. The PBS executives were genuinely interested in hearing from us how PBS shows have influenced our children and how they can work more effectively to reach parents.


By the way, this is totally unrelated, but did you know that Alfie and I held our wedding reception in this very same room? We drank champagne and fed each other wedding cake right about where Citymama (in the sunny yellow jacket) is sitting.


Back to the subject....that's Angela Santomero, creator, executive producer and head writer of SUPER WHY, a PBS Kids tv series. Angela spoke to us about the extensive research process that goes behind each SUPER WHY episode, and all the success it has had in increasing pre-literacy skills in preschoolers. I feel like I should have asked for an autograph, because in my mind she's a bit like a female Jim Henson -- she's also the creator of Blue's Clues, one of my kids' favorite shows when they were younger, and in my mind, one of the cutest preschoolers' shows ever. She's two for two with SUPER WHY; my iPod is filled with SUPER WHY episodes for the kids to watch when we're on road trips or plane trips. And from the independent studies Angela was quoting from, it sure sounds like SUPER WHY is helping kids gain the skills they need to learn how to read, in the same way that Sesame Street and The Electric Company helped me.

We were sent home with a backpack filled with a week's worth of activities to maximize the educational value of SuperWhy. I'm guessing (or hoping) these activites are patterned after their highly successful SUPER WHY Reading Camps, and I'm eager to do the activities with 3Po and Jammy. Call it our very own Super Summer Camp, if you will. I'll be blogging a bit more about the activities as we plow through them, and you can download the same activities we received and try it along with us. Hey, it's free, and your kids will learn something besides making macrame potholders.

In which the spirit of Andrew Zimmern posseses my kids

I remember when The Pea would eat nothing but macaroni and cheese. And when the boys would eat nothing but meat. Alfie and I persevered, serving a variety of foods and insisting they try, try,try. And baby, we've come a long way. Case in point:

See these little insects? They're crickets. See the orange dayglo substance on their little chests? That's cheese powder. Yup, these are Bacon-N-Cheese flavored crickets, all nice and crunchy for you to munch on. Not ground up so you don't know what they are; these are the real, whole deal (okay, a couple of legs and wings did break off in transit).

The Bizarre Foods show on the Travel Channel sent us a couple of boxes of edible crickets to try. I thought the kids would run screaming and call social services, but they surprised me. I think the spirit of Andrew Zimmern must have been in the box along with the crickets. Actually, it was his DVD of Bizarre Foods season 3 (Season 4 airs its penultimate episode tomorrow night; you should watch it). After watching it and seeing all the stuff that Andrew eats, everyone was eager and willing to try the crickets.


Yes, even when their beady little eyes stared at us and pleaded to be given a decent burial, or at least be added to a bug collection like most other normal families would do.

That's my little omnivore! And if you think they're just faking it, watch the video:



Do you want to win some of these edible crickets to serve at your next cocktail party? Or to share at the office? Go to my Bizarre Foods giveaway post on Bonggamom Finds. Bon Appetit, y'all.

The Soap Nazi

Last Friday the boys and I dropped The Pea off at a birthday party. The party was held at a quaint little soap shop, full of dainty sweet-smelling soaps. On the way out we passed by a basket filled with small bits of soap and the sign "Free, take one". I knew the boys were bummed at not being invited to the party (tough luck, kids) so I told them to choose a piece. 3Po and Jammy had been quarreling, so when Jammy grabbed the biggest chunk, 3Po immediately tried to block him, saying in his best commanding voice,

No soap for you!

I couldn't help laughing. Maybe love of Seinfeld reruns is hereditary.

Maybe Andrew Zimmern ought to go into politics

I love Andrew Zimmern. Who else would say clotted tissue tastes like nuts? I heard that he's got new episodes of Andrew Zimmern: Bizarre Foods coming up on the Travel Channel this week, so I went and watched this teaser video. It's just two minutes long and already he's drinking fresh, WARM cow blood.....ulp. Be still, my stomach.

The guy will eat anything. Any part of any plant or animal, in any state. Anything. Even though I'm Filipino, and we do put a lot of things in our mouths that other cultures would throw in the trash, I am a culinary wuss. I don't like eating kidneys and liver and oxtongue (yes, I have tried these time and time again, I don't care for the texture) -- so I really admire his sense of adventure. I want to be like him and eat without regard for preconceptions and prejudice. Maybe it's not even possible. You know how Lance Armstrong is a superhuman freak when it comes to athletic abilities? Well, Andrew Zimmern might be one of those statistical outliers when it comes to digestive capabilities. Sometimes after he's eaten something particularly slimy and squiggly (live worms, anyone?) I expect to see some kind of gag reflex from him, but all he'll give is a thoughtful foodie analysis like "gamey" or "gelatinous".

But what I really love is how Zimmern respects other cultures and shows no hint of surprise or distaste or any hint of condescension towards the friendly people who are offering him a taste of their local cuisine. No wrinkling of the nose or involuntary shudder. No attitude of, "I'm an important American chef and I'm here to try your weird foods so I can show my viewers that I can eat anything". Just interest, and a desire to try new things.

Time and time again I hear people say "Do you know that people in China eat dogs? Ewwww!" or "Oh, I could never eat fish with the head still on it". Even, "Sushi, raw fish, yuck!" and "Rice for breakfast, how weird". I find comments like this a bit ignorant in this day and age, as though these people think that chicken and fish should only come in hygenic shrinkwrapped packages in the supermarket. Shows like Bizarre Foods are great because they show mainstream Americans how the rest of the world eats (albeit in a sensationalized way). You don't have to like everything people eat, but you have to make the shift from labeling things as "weird" (or "Bizarre", for that matter), to "different". Because different is okay.

It might seem like a big leap to go from food to politics, but this makes me think of Sarah Palin and the number of blank pages on her passport -- and more significantly, the number of people in this country who think it's no big deal for a potential vice president to have such a passport. I think that being open to new cuisines is a great first step towards becoming more open to new cultures and new ideas. In politics, like food, wouldn't it be great if we tried different things from different countries (Would you like to try some live worms? Or how about a nationalized health system?) Maybe we could learn a thing or two, and maybe get rid of some misconceptions and prejudices. And maybe even find something we could use back home. So all you potential politicians, take a page from Andrew Zimmern's book and go on your own journey of travel, discovery and learning!

Quitting American Idol

I missed the premiere of American Idol. After 7 straight years of devoted watching, I think I'm going to try and give it a rest. Here are some reasons why:

* I've already got several shows I like to watch -- House, Grey's Anatomy, Little Britain USA -- and I don't need another TV time-sucker.

* The show has gotten progressively more boring each year. I'm tired of Paula's rah-rah platitudes, Randy's "Dawg" lines, Simon's tight shirts and the audience consistently booing Simon's honest critiques. It's so predictable.

* Even though they're supposedly minimizing the "Bad Auditions" segments this year, they're just not funny anymore, because they're not deluded, just attention seeking. Why should I waste my time watching people who obviously are not serious about auditioning, and just want a few seconds of fame?

* Nigel Lythgoe has left the show as producer. He may be as mean as Simon and have the worst set of false teeth ever, but I love him on So You Think You Can Dance. I have a sneaking suspicion that the show will go downhill now that he's gone.

* I'm tired of no-talent, delusional skanks like Katrina Darrell getting picked over real talent (which the TV audience probably even never got to see).

Just about the only fascinating thing left to watch was Paula's strange behavior. But now that new judge Kara DioGuardi has arrived, Paula might be motivated to shape up. So there goes that. So just like the Idol Gives Back episode, I think I might take a little break. I think. AI is a bit like junk food -- you know it's bad, but it's hard to stop bingeing on it.