31 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi

Review: Farmer's Pride Pickled Bologna

To contact us Click HERE
Late last week, I got a heads-up from Steve Wood, who writes Connecticut Museum Quest, a top-notch Connecticut blog that is about so much more than just museums. He alerted me to a new product at Ocean State Job Lot: Farmer's Pride Snack Bologna (which just so happened to be featured in OSJL's "internet coupon" selection.)
Holy shit, pickled bologna! How could I resist?
Lynnafred found the jars at our local Ocean State. She picked one up - it was the size of a largish peanut butter jar - and peered at the "bologna" within: they were in the form of huge, fat Vienna sausages (and according to the ingredient panel, they're composed of pretty much the same stuff.) The jars were plastic and sealed with soft plastic lids, and as Lynnafred looked through the brine at the bologna she said, "Eww. These are grey. Are they supposed to look like that?" After looking at a dozen other jars, and finding all of them containing somewhat greyish weiners sealed within, we concluded that the answer was probably Yes, they are supposed to look like that. The coupon said that there was a limit of 12 jars per family, but we curbed our enthusiasm and held ourselves to the purchase of a single jar which, at $1.20, seemed to be a fair price.

Let me start the actual review by saying that I can not believe that Farmer's Pride pickled bologna is a regularly-produced consumer good. Every single component of this product screams "DISPOSE OF CHEAP SHIT!!"  The jars are flimsy plastic, the lids seem to be made of the same quality plastic as imported dollar-store toys from China, the labels look like they were run off on a laser printer. Most of the jars at the store had sticky label residue clinging to the non-labeled areas, telling me that these snacks were probably rejected by the company which originally contracted them, leading the manufacturer to hastily peel the original label and rebrand them for the "remainder market" (i.e. dollar stores and job lot joints like OSJL.) And then, of course, there is the actual bologna itself:

That is one nasty-ass piece of tubesteak right there. Check out the gradations of coloring, from a kind of brownish-grey at the ends to rather pinkish in the middle. I swear I used no filtering or image manipulation to change those colors - that is exactly how they come out of the jar. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the true beauty of the grey lines that run from tip to tip on the wieners, especially where the meat was in contact with the sides of the jar. These things are truly ghastly to look at.

At least when we cut into the wiener we found that the grey color doesn't go all the way through - once you get a little way into the surface, everything kind of turns pink again. I guess that means that they're okay to eat. Honestly, eyeballs are all we have to go by for safety, because there are absolutely no olfactory cues here. No scent of spices, no aroma of meat - nothing at all except the pungency of strong vinegar stabbing at our nostrils like fleets of aromatic daggers. The manufacturer (Monogram Meat Snacks LLC, USDA EST 795) could not possibly have made the brine any more unpleasantly sharp.

And the wieners are just as unpleasant to eat as they are to look at. The texture is firm and smooth, but there is little flavor beyond the powerful vinegar brine, which is so acidic that it actually produces a burning sensation in the mouth and throat. And - worst of all to me - the meat leaves a disgusting tallowy film coating the mouth and tongue. These things are grossly misnamed - they should be called "Farmer's Shame."

As with so many other oddball snacks we've tried over the years, Farmer's Pride Snack Bologna proved to be pretty popular with the dogs, though I didn't dare give them all they wanted due to the acidity of the pickle (the last thing I want to do is spend an afternoon scrubbing dog puke out of the dining room rug.)

So there you have it. Cheap, shitty, only marginally edible, and obviously close to the end of its shelf life - Look for 'em at a dollar store near you - and pass them up in favor of almost anything else you find.




.

Out of the Can: Senora Verde's Beef Tamales

To contact us Click HERE

The pale- and incredibly foul-looking cylinders of evil pictured above are the contents of a can of Senora Verde Beef Tamales,  directly as emptied onto a paper plate. Some of them retained their paper sleeves as the can was tipped, others slipped from them like vile giant larvae shedding their outgrown skin. They were supposedly packed in "sauce," but that proved to be merely a watery tomato-flavored bile with a thick film of bright red grease floating on top. The "sauce" was easily disposed of, but globs of the grease stuck sort of randomly to everything else (including the plate, my fingers, and the walls of the microwave when I heated up this mess at work.)
Fast and cheap beef tamales don't have to be bad. I've picked up packages of them at the dollar store that were pretty decent. But these...things...were hideous.
Despite the illustration on the label showing a thick meaty center surrounded by a layer of corn, the tamales that actually writhed from the can were much more heavily maize-based. It was difficult to tell exactly where the cornmeal stopped and the meat began, but it was immediately apparent when I cut through the center of one that the beef filling was little more than a thin line running down the middle of each flaccid cornwobble. 
Sometimes I get a product that looks terrible, but then redeems itself with an enjoyable flavor. Not so with these tamales. Eating them only made the experience worse. The texture was disgusting - slippery and about as resilient as melty gelatine - and the greasy globs that clung to everything gave a tallowy coating to the roof of my mouth. The tallow carried through in the flavor, but there were also backnotes of rancid corn and slightly "off" canner-grade beef with the overall sourness of tomato sauce that has just started to go bad.  I managed to eat two or three bites before tipping the whole pile of shit into the bin, which is two or three bites more than anyone should ever have to eat of these goddamn yellow turds.


.

REVIEW: Mendelsohn's Frozen Lasagna

To contact us Click HERE
Single-serve frozen lasagna is one of my favorite lunches, and I'm always looking for new brands to try. So naturally, I grabbed a couple of boxes of Mendelsohn's Lasagna when I found it at The Barn in Greenfield MA.
This is a very simple lasagna - four layers of noodles each separated by a miniscule sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, topped with a generous portion of more mozzarella, and not a bit of ricotta cheese to be found anywhere.
So basically., this "lasagna" is actually just pasta and cheese with some sauce.  And bad sauce it is, with so much sugar it's like eating candied pasta. Too bad, really, because despite the other shortcomings, I would be inclined to buy Mendelsohn's Lasagna again if it weren't for that awful tomato syrup.
On the positive side, it's the only frozen lasagna I've found which is certified Kosher. I guess you should consider that a warning - if you're keeping Kosher and you're relying on Mendelsohn's Lasagna for lunchtime deliciousness you will find only disappointment.

REVIEW: McDonald's New CBO (Cheddar Bacon Onion) Sandwiches

To contact us Click HERE
A strange thing happened over the weekend: Maryanne and I were out wandering in the car at lunchtime, and found ourselves looking for a quick bite to eat at the very moment that a McDonald's appeared on the road ahead.
Now, you guys all know how much I like McDonald's breakfast and bakery offerings. But you also know I am somewhat less-than-enthusiastic about their burgers. Maryanne kind of half-heartedly said, "There's a McDonald's up on the right," and I think I really surprised her when I replied, "Cool. Let's try out the new CBOs they introduced last week."
We got two sandwiches - one made with crispy chicken, and the other made on an Angus Third Pounder - and cut them in half so we could each try both sandwiches, and added a large fries to share and large coffees.

Out of the two sandwiches, the Crispy Chicken CBO was hands-down our favorite. The cheese and bacon were worthy complements to the chicken patty, and the caramelized onion brought a welcome touch of sweetness to counterbalance the salty bacon (and salty chicken coating.) It reminded us (favorably) of KFC's Double Down, but on a roll.

The Angus Third Pounder CBO was somewhat less successful. For one thing, the patty is far too dry. And because bacon-cheeseburgers have become a fairly standard offering for many a fast-food chain, finding one at McDonald's just isn't that special, even if there is caramelized onions sprinkled atop the patty. (C'mon, there's already an Angus Bacon & Cheese burger on the menu which is almost identical to the CBO.) And though the beef version of the CBO is larger than the chicken, we found it less satisfying because of its ordinariness. When we were done eating, both of wished we'd ordered our own Crispy Chicken CBOs and left the beef ones behind.

A couple of other notes about the ingredients:

  • McDonald's bacon is decent - better than the bacon served on sandwiches at most other chains (I'm lookin' at you, Wendy) but it would be even better if they used thick-sliced bacon instead of standard. 
  • I can't figure out what is so special about their "white cheddar" cheese since it tastes exactly like the orange cheddar that McDonald's uses on every other burger. 
  • The so-called "creamy mustard sauce" is so bland that it might as well be generic Ranch Dressing straight from a supermarket bottle.
My recommendation: Check out the Crispy Chicken CBO (or the Grilled Chicken CBO, for a slightly different take on it) and forget the Angus variety.

.

Review: Dominique's Snapper Turtle Soup

To contact us Click HERE
My only previous experience with turtle soup was the poem in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland:

Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, 
Waiting in a hot tureen! 
Who for such dainties would not stoop? 
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! 
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

So, you can see that I'm totally unqualified to review this stuff in comparison to any other canned or homemade turtle soup (not that that's ever stopped me from reviewing anything else I've found on a grocery store shelf.)
Anyway, as a total Snapper Turtle Soup N00b, I had no idea what to expect. I read the ingredient panel and found stuff like beef stock, celery, carrots, wine, and snapper turtle meat and figured it couldn't be all that bad. So I gambled a couple of bucks and bought a can to give it a try.
Dominique's Snapper Turtle Soup is condensed, so it requires the addition of one can-measure of water before heating. I opened up the can and poured the soup out into a saucepan to find a thick, gelatinous glob the consistency of slightly warming Jell-O, which dropped into the pan with a wet slap. I added the canful of water and stirred with little effect - the brown glue just didn't want to combine with the water. Eventually, I was able to stir it together and put it over the fire. I heated and stirred, but the soup never thinned out. (I've found out since then that snapper turtle soup is supposed to be thick like a gravy, so I guess that's the way it was actually intended to be.)

Mon dieu.
With the soup heated up and ready to eat, I sat down to try it out. It was, in a word, disgusting.

It was thicker than gravy, brown and viscous, swimming with tiny bits of what were probably vegetables, and small squares of spongy, flavorless meat which I think was supposed to be turtle. The flavor was sickening - slightly sour, as though they used the cheapest industrial-cleaning-fluid-grade wine they could find. It took a concerted effort to eat more than the first couple spoonfuls, but it didn't take me long to just give up.

Personally, I would never buy this again. And if this is an example of what snapper turtle soup is like, I'd never order it out, either.

.

27 Aralık 2012 Perşembe

Review: Fire Cider Herbal Tonic

To contact us Click HERE
Fire Cider is a sort of traditional herbal folk remedy. If you listen to herbal medicine enthusiasts, you'll come away thinking that a daily dose of the stuff will turn you into superman.  A quick Google search will reveal a bunch of recipes for whipping up a batch or two...or, if you live close to the hill towns of Western Massachusetts, you can get it from Shire City Herbals in Pittsfield.  The bottle pictured at right is from Shire City. I bought it at The Big E from a pleasant young man who had set up shop on a rainy Thursday night right outside the Massachusetts Building at the fair.

He was offering small samples of Fire Cider in little plastic cups. I sniffed at it tentatively and it seemed safe enough, so I tossed it back like a boss.

It was an experience.

You see, Fire Cider is based on organic apple cider vinegar, in which various aromatic and allegedly medicinal herbs have been steeped. Like horseradish, garlic, and hot peppers.  Shire City also adds honey, which helps take the sharpest edges off of the vinegar.

Anyway, that little shot kicked me in the face, but at the same time I kind of liked it. I have an affinity for strong flavors, but I also could recognize that this stuff has potential for kitchen use as well (more on that later.) I bought two bottles.

As a medicine or a tonic or a panacea, I'm undecided. I'll be honest, I don't put a whole lot of belief in many herbal remedies. It's not that I don't think any of them work - I know that a lot of them do - it's just that I'm really leery of the almost fanatical enthusiasm that true devotees often display, especially on line. It reminds me of Frank Zappa's Cosmik Debris
The mystery man got nervous
And he fidget around a bit
He reached in the pocket of his mystery robe
And he whipped out a shaving kit
Now I thought it was a razor
And a can of foaming goo
But he told me right then when the top popped open
There was nothin’ his box won’t do
With the oil of aphrodite,
and the dust of the grand wazoo
He said you might not believe this, little fella
But it’ll cure your asthma too
I will say one thing about the possible medicinal properties of Fire Cider: I had a nasty sore throat and took a shot of the stuff, and it totally kicked that sore throat's ass, like a good folk remedy should - just like the common lemon-and-honey home remedy I'm sure everybody's heard about.

But not surprisingly, I'm more impressed with the culinary uses I've found for Fire Cider.

It makes a great basis for a barbecue mop. Very tasty, especially with the horseradish and ginger in there.

A jigger of Fire Cider in a vinaigrette salad dressing really kicks it up a couple of notches.

It's really good in cole slaw dressing - just a splash really wakes it up.

I've only started experimenting with Fire Cider, and I expect I'm going to find a bunch of other ways to use it. I doubt I'm going to toss back a shot of it every day as a preventative tonic, but you never know. I'm open-minded enough about it that when flu season starts up in earnest, I might just start tossing down a daily dose.

Link:

Shire City Herbals' website is www.firecider.com

Pumpkin Spice Invasion At ALDI

To contact us Click HERE
It has come to pass that the fall season is now synonymous with pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavoring in foods and beverages. What started out as a trickle of specialty products a few years ago has become a flood, and it's not limited to coffee shops and full-service supermarkets any more - even discount supermarkets like ALDI are riding the gravy train.
On a recent trip to ALDI, I rounded up a selection of pumpkin products for review. Unless otherwise noted, all of the brand names mentioned are ALDI house brands. All, if not most, of these products should be available in your local ALDI through the autumn season:
Clockwise, from top left: Pumpkin Spice Milk, Pumpkin Cider, Pumpkin Spice Bark, Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee, Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows
Friendly Farms Pumpkin Spice Milk: Practically indistinguishable from eggnog, except for a slight pumpkin flavor added and, of course, orange coloring. Even the ingredients (cream, egg yolk solids, etc.) are identical to most other commercial eggnogs. Sweet and thick. Good as a vehicle for rum or brandy or as a coffee creamer, but if you are not a nog fan you're not going to like this stuff.
Nature's Nectar Pumpkin Cider: This is one of those sick products that make shopping at ALDI an adventure. Put up in resealable ceramic-cork beer bottles for extra coolness points, Pumpkin Cider is made of sweet apple cider, pumpkin flavoring, ginger, and spices. It tastes rather like ginger ale made with a cider base and a hint of nutmeg. Unfortunately, they also add a ton of sugar so it's sickeningly sweet. They would have a much better product had they simply allowed the apple cider to provide the sweetness.
Specially Selected Pumpkin Spice Bark: Thick slabs of white confection swirled with orange coloring and sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. The makers want to evoke white chocolate here but there isn't any cocoa butter to be found, leaving us with bars of what is basically solid white cinnamon/nutmeg flavored frosting. Pleasant enough in it's own bland way, but not very exciting.
Beaumont Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee: Beaumont bottled iced coffees are very high quality and stand up well to the pricier Starbucks versions they are intended to imitate. This Pumpkin Spice version is mild and smooth, with decent pumpkin flavor and well-proportioned spice flavors. Lynnafred, a fan of bottled ice coffee, thought this Beaumont flavor was very good.
Baker's Corner Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows: They're soft and squishy and they taste like oversweetened pumpkin pie - fairly typical for marshmallows, actually.

.

REVIEW: Mendelsohn's Frozen Lasagna

To contact us Click HERE
Single-serve frozen lasagna is one of my favorite lunches, and I'm always looking for new brands to try. So naturally, I grabbed a couple of boxes of Mendelsohn's Lasagna when I found it at The Barn in Greenfield MA.
This is a very simple lasagna - four layers of noodles each separated by a miniscule sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, topped with a generous portion of more mozzarella, and not a bit of ricotta cheese to be found anywhere.
So basically., this "lasagna" is actually just pasta and cheese with some sauce.  And bad sauce it is, with so much sugar it's like eating candied pasta. Too bad, really, because despite the other shortcomings, I would be inclined to buy Mendelsohn's Lasagna again if it weren't for that awful tomato syrup.
On the positive side, it's the only frozen lasagna I've found which is certified Kosher. I guess you should consider that a warning - if you're keeping Kosher and you're relying on Mendelsohn's Lasagna for lunchtime deliciousness you will find only disappointment.

REVIEW: McDonald's New CBO (Cheddar Bacon Onion) Sandwiches

To contact us Click HERE
A strange thing happened over the weekend: Maryanne and I were out wandering in the car at lunchtime, and found ourselves looking for a quick bite to eat at the very moment that a McDonald's appeared on the road ahead.
Now, you guys all know how much I like McDonald's breakfast and bakery offerings. But you also know I am somewhat less-than-enthusiastic about their burgers. Maryanne kind of half-heartedly said, "There's a McDonald's up on the right," and I think I really surprised her when I replied, "Cool. Let's try out the new CBOs they introduced last week."
We got two sandwiches - one made with crispy chicken, and the other made on an Angus Third Pounder - and cut them in half so we could each try both sandwiches, and added a large fries to share and large coffees.

Out of the two sandwiches, the Crispy Chicken CBO was hands-down our favorite. The cheese and bacon were worthy complements to the chicken patty, and the caramelized onion brought a welcome touch of sweetness to counterbalance the salty bacon (and salty chicken coating.) It reminded us (favorably) of KFC's Double Down, but on a roll.

The Angus Third Pounder CBO was somewhat less successful. For one thing, the patty is far too dry. And because bacon-cheeseburgers have become a fairly standard offering for many a fast-food chain, finding one at McDonald's just isn't that special, even if there is caramelized onions sprinkled atop the patty. (C'mon, there's already an Angus Bacon & Cheese burger on the menu which is almost identical to the CBO.) And though the beef version of the CBO is larger than the chicken, we found it less satisfying because of its ordinariness. When we were done eating, both of wished we'd ordered our own Crispy Chicken CBOs and left the beef ones behind.

A couple of other notes about the ingredients:

  • McDonald's bacon is decent - better than the bacon served on sandwiches at most other chains (I'm lookin' at you, Wendy) but it would be even better if they used thick-sliced bacon instead of standard. 
  • I can't figure out what is so special about their "white cheddar" cheese since it tastes exactly like the orange cheddar that McDonald's uses on every other burger. 
  • The so-called "creamy mustard sauce" is so bland that it might as well be generic Ranch Dressing straight from a supermarket bottle.
My recommendation: Check out the Crispy Chicken CBO (or the Grilled Chicken CBO, for a slightly different take on it) and forget the Angus variety.

.

Review: Dominique's Snapper Turtle Soup

To contact us Click HERE
My only previous experience with turtle soup was the poem in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland:

Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, 
Waiting in a hot tureen! 
Who for such dainties would not stoop? 
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! 
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

So, you can see that I'm totally unqualified to review this stuff in comparison to any other canned or homemade turtle soup (not that that's ever stopped me from reviewing anything else I've found on a grocery store shelf.)
Anyway, as a total Snapper Turtle Soup N00b, I had no idea what to expect. I read the ingredient panel and found stuff like beef stock, celery, carrots, wine, and snapper turtle meat and figured it couldn't be all that bad. So I gambled a couple of bucks and bought a can to give it a try.
Dominique's Snapper Turtle Soup is condensed, so it requires the addition of one can-measure of water before heating. I opened up the can and poured the soup out into a saucepan to find a thick, gelatinous glob the consistency of slightly warming Jell-O, which dropped into the pan with a wet slap. I added the canful of water and stirred with little effect - the brown glue just didn't want to combine with the water. Eventually, I was able to stir it together and put it over the fire. I heated and stirred, but the soup never thinned out. (I've found out since then that snapper turtle soup is supposed to be thick like a gravy, so I guess that's the way it was actually intended to be.)

Mon dieu.
With the soup heated up and ready to eat, I sat down to try it out. It was, in a word, disgusting.

It was thicker than gravy, brown and viscous, swimming with tiny bits of what were probably vegetables, and small squares of spongy, flavorless meat which I think was supposed to be turtle. The flavor was sickening - slightly sour, as though they used the cheapest industrial-cleaning-fluid-grade wine they could find. It took a concerted effort to eat more than the first couple spoonfuls, but it didn't take me long to just give up.

Personally, I would never buy this again. And if this is an example of what snapper turtle soup is like, I'd never order it out, either.

.

20 Aralık 2012 Perşembe

Century 21 Calling - Bell Labs promotional film for 1962 Seattle World's Fair

To contact us Click HERE

Occassionally, people do get the future right, as they seem to have done in this film, Century 21 Calling, made more than 45 years ago to promote Bell Labs at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

Call-waiting, call-forwarding, pagers, auto-dialing, news & weather info retrieval, central computer databases that log all of your private information (so that's where it came from).

Still waiting on that solar battery business, though.

Special mention goes out to the futuristic monorail opener (those never really did catch on, did they?), the perfectly kitsch soundtrack, and the climactic ending where the young couple shoot up the to the head of the Space Needle, as if they were bursting up and out into the future.

Is that Bill Murray singing in the background at the end?

You tell me ...

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Marijuana aka "Marihuana!" - 1930's

To contact us Click HERE


A trailer for a nudie film that masquerades as an anti-'marihuana' morality tale.

Watch wild & reckless youths lose their souls to the devil's weed.

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Amazon - The Gateway to DVD's about Ganja & Classics to catch fire to
Histories about & Studies of the Devil's Weed
Sexploitation films for the purely prurient

The Labor of Thy Hands - ca. mid-1950's

To contact us Click HERE

In this vintage promotional film produced by the Jewish women's group Hadassah, viewers are reminded of the need to develop a skilled workforce in the young state of Israel. Interesting footage of early kibbutzim and Israeli industry are highlighted in this film, with a stress on modernizing the economy and culture, the stress is on becoming an equal in a technologically advancing world.

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

An Online Premium Meat Buyer's Guide

To contact us Click HERE
Buying meat online is a great idea. Whether you are buying Kobe steaks or New York strip steak, or any other kind of meat online, it is a good choice on your part. One of the most obvious advantages of buying meat online is that you do not have to visit the grocery store, or spend time driving there. All you need to do is get on your computer, follow a few steps and you will have your steak delivered to your doorstep not long after making the purchase.

There are a few things that you need to pay attention to when buying Kobe steaks online. The first is that you need to ensure that the meat is certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This means that the meat is good for human consumption and that you will not suffer any negative side effects after consuming the meat.

Secondly, choosing the best quality Kobe steak is a delicate process that requires you to be observant and vigilant. The USDA usually grades Kobe beef according to the quality of the actual product, so this should guide you when making your choice. Make sure that the grading is indicated on the particular piece of meat that you want to purchase. This acts as an assurance of quality once you make the purchase.

All these rules also apply to New York strip steak, if you are looking to get the best possible quality. Furthermore, when buying Kobe steaks or New York strip steaks online, you need to look at the experience that the supplier has in the trade. When it comes to buying meat, experience is everything. Look out for seasoned meat suppliers who will most likely offer you the quality that you are looking for.

You also need to look at whether or not other customers have been satisfied with their purchases. When buying New York strip steak online, the supplier usually has a section for customer comments and testimonials. This also applies to Kobe steak and other gourmet meats. This will give you a good indication as to whether or not you want to use that particular supplier to make your purchase.

If you follow these steps, you will get your quality New York Strip steak online, or Kobe steak if that is what you are looking for. Buying meat online beats going to the butcher or grocery store any day.

What Makes Kobe Beef So Good

To contact us Click HERE

In the Hyogo Prefecture in Japan, some of the bestcattle are being cared for and being prepared for market.  The Wagyu cattle from this region are thesupply for something that is known as Kobe steaks.  These steaks can be found insome of the best restaurants throughout Japan. They command a premium price at these restaurants and despite the high price,the demand is still strong.  Why arepeople willing to pay such a high price for a steak when there are other lessexpensive options available? 
One of the reasons that it is so prized is that it is difficult tofind true Kobe beef outside Japan.  There are manyrestrictions that make it difficult to export. If you can find the real Kobe beef, you will pay a price for it.  The good thing is that the taste that comesfrom the beef is usually worth whatever price you have to pay.
The Wagyu cattle are bred to be tastier than regular beefcattle.  They are fed a special grassdiet and are massaged daily to help keep their muscles soft andrelaxed.  The cattle do not get a lot ofexercise, which also inhibits the growth of muscle tissue.  What is left in these cattle is meat that istender and has the right mixture of tasty fat and meat.  The white streaks that go through the meatare known as marbling and that is what adds the flavor that makes Kobe beefworthwhile.  When the steaks are cookedproperly, they are a melt in the mouth experience.
If you search online, you will find many retailers that say they areselling Kobe beef.  Before you buy these steaks for sale online, read theinformation carefully.  They will oftenbe called Kobe-style beef or Wagyu beef. These steaks come from the same type of cattle that are used in theHyogo Prefecture, but they are not raised in Japan.  The meat from these cattle is similar to thereal Kobe beef, but they are not exactly the same.  When you are looking at the online retailers, keepthis in mind.
The good thing is that although it might be Kobe-style or Wagyubeef, the price is lower than the real Kobe beef.  When you order it online, you can get a steakfor a reasonable price and can actually buy enough for the whole family to havetheir own steak.  Ifyou have never had the chance to try this cut of steak, find an online retailerand get your Kobe steaks.

16 Aralık 2012 Pazar

Flagellants of Nocera Terinese - 1960's

To contact us Click HERE

Every seven years in the town of Nocera Terinese, Italy, a mysterious rite hundreds of years old still takes place to this day.
On Good Friday, Flagellants from the surrounding villages perform the ritual of the battenti.

In this tradition, the participants embed shards of glass in pieces of cork, then forcefully drive the makeshift scourges into their bare legs. Bleeding, they jog the route of the Easter procession, enduring the pain and suffering of religious sacrifice in the name of spiritual cleansing.

Music: Bela Lam & Family - Poor Little Benny (1920's field recording)

To contact us Click HERE

Virginia native Zanddervon Beliah Lamb, renamed Bela Lam by Okeh Records, performs the song Poor Little Benny with wife Rose Meadows.

With Bela’s brother-in-law Paul and son Alva, they became local favorites near the Blue Ridge Mountain region in the 1920’s, eventually being called to New York City to record six songs.

Influenced by the local religious music of the day, Bela Lam & the Greene County Singers, as they would come to be known, are notable for their shape-note harmonies, highly influential during the period

Amazon - Skeets McDonald music found
Amazon - The classic sound of Bakersfield, CA
Amazon - Add some Playboys, Cowboys, & Doughboys to your music collection

Century 21 Calling - Bell Labs promotional film for 1962 Seattle World's Fair

To contact us Click HERE

Occassionally, people do get the future right, as they seem to have done in this film, Century 21 Calling, made more than 45 years ago to promote Bell Labs at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

Call-waiting, call-forwarding, pagers, auto-dialing, news & weather info retrieval, central computer databases that log all of your private information (so that's where it came from).

Still waiting on that solar battery business, though.

Special mention goes out to the futuristic monorail opener (those never really did catch on, did they?), the perfectly kitsch soundtrack, and the climactic ending where the young couple shoot up the to the head of the Space Needle, as if they were bursting up and out into the future.

Is that Bill Murray singing in the background at the end?

You tell me ...

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Marijuana aka "Marihuana!" - 1930's

To contact us Click HERE


A trailer for a nudie film that masquerades as an anti-'marihuana' morality tale.

Watch wild & reckless youths lose their souls to the devil's weed.

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Amazon - The Gateway to DVD's about Ganja & Classics to catch fire to
Histories about & Studies of the Devil's Weed
Sexploitation films for the purely prurient

The Labor of Thy Hands - ca. mid-1950's

To contact us Click HERE

In this vintage promotional film produced by the Jewish women's group Hadassah, viewers are reminded of the need to develop a skilled workforce in the young state of Israel. Interesting footage of early kibbutzim and Israeli industry are highlighted in this film, with a stress on modernizing the economy and culture, the stress is on becoming an equal in a technologically advancing world.

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

12 Aralık 2012 Çarşamba

Music: Bela Lam & Family - Poor Little Benny (1920's field recording)

To contact us Click HERE

Virginia native Zanddervon Beliah Lamb, renamed Bela Lam by Okeh Records, performs the song Poor Little Benny with wife Rose Meadows.

With Bela’s brother-in-law Paul and son Alva, they became local favorites near the Blue Ridge Mountain region in the 1920’s, eventually being called to New York City to record six songs.

Influenced by the local religious music of the day, Bela Lam & the Greene County Singers, as they would come to be known, are notable for their shape-note harmonies, highly influential during the period

Amazon - Skeets McDonald music found
Amazon - The classic sound of Bakersfield, CA
Amazon - Add some Playboys, Cowboys, & Doughboys to your music collection

Century 21 Calling - Bell Labs promotional film for 1962 Seattle World's Fair

To contact us Click HERE

Occassionally, people do get the future right, as they seem to have done in this film, Century 21 Calling, made more than 45 years ago to promote Bell Labs at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

Call-waiting, call-forwarding, pagers, auto-dialing, news & weather info retrieval, central computer databases that log all of your private information (so that's where it came from).

Still waiting on that solar battery business, though.

Special mention goes out to the futuristic monorail opener (those never really did catch on, did they?), the perfectly kitsch soundtrack, and the climactic ending where the young couple shoot up the to the head of the Space Needle, as if they were bursting up and out into the future.

Is that Bill Murray singing in the background at the end?

You tell me ...

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Marijuana aka "Marihuana!" - 1930's

To contact us Click HERE


A trailer for a nudie film that masquerades as an anti-'marihuana' morality tale.

Watch wild & reckless youths lose their souls to the devil's weed.

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Amazon - The Gateway to DVD's about Ganja & Classics to catch fire to
Histories about & Studies of the Devil's Weed
Sexploitation films for the purely prurient

The Labor of Thy Hands - ca. mid-1950's

To contact us Click HERE

In this vintage promotional film produced by the Jewish women's group Hadassah, viewers are reminded of the need to develop a skilled workforce in the young state of Israel. Interesting footage of early kibbutzim and Israeli industry are highlighted in this film, with a stress on modernizing the economy and culture, the stress is on becoming an equal in a technologically advancing world.

NOW OPEN: The NEW Weirdo Video BETA
Featuring the Lost Stanley Kubrick film
DAY OF THE FIGHT.

After 30 Years, Ethanol's Federal Tax Credit Expires

To contact us Click HERE
Posted: Monday, April 23, 2012

For the last 30 years, The U.S. Federal government has been subsidizing the use of Ethanol, which is mostly produced from corn. Since the tax credits' expiration earlier this year, the issue of renewing the federal subsidy has been difficult for candidates seeking office throughout the Midwest. The Ethanol subsidy, "In the last year, when Congress was preoccupied with deficits and debt, became a symbol of corporate welfare."

Currently, almost 40% of the nation's corn crop contributes to the creation of Ethanol and related products, including animal feed. Over the last 30 years, more than $20 billion in subsidies have been provided to encourage the use of the product. Generally, proponents of the Ethanol tax break accepted the expiration of the tax credit without a big battle. However, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and a leading advocate for the Ethanol subsidy noted that Ethanol is used to reduced retail gasoline prices for America and reliance on foreign oil.

"The end of this giant subsidy is a win for taxpayers, the environment and people struggling to put food on the table" said Michal L. Rosenoer, a policy analyst from Friends of the Earth "Production of ethanol, with its use of pesticides and fertilizers and heavy industrial machinery, causes soil erosion and air and water pollution. And it means that less land is available for growing food, so food prices go up"

Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said; "with record deficits and a ballooning national debt, it was ludicrous to expect taxpayers to pay billions to prop up a mature industry that should be able to fend for itself."

Read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/business/energy-environment/after-three-d
ecades-federal-tax-credit-for-ethanol-expires.html 

11 Aralık 2012 Salı

This Just In: Optimal Diets for Longevity

To contact us Click HERE
From the Huffington Post.  Unfortunately, Dr. Ornish was invited to this seminar.

"The conversation regarding what constitutes the ideal diet for optimal wellness and longevity is an ongoing and exhausting debate. Experts from each respective dietary camp have a plethora of data pointing to their case for why their particular system is the gold standard. But so far, this ongoing debate has not been productive for the general public. There seems to be more confusion than ever before. Perhaps this is because a one-size-fits-all approach does not work.

On November 16, the Center for Obesity, Assessment, Study and Treatment (COAST) at UCSF hosted the leading scientists on diet and longevity to try a new approach. While the traditional format has been a debate-style panel discussing the best diet for health and longevity, COAST sought to identify the common thread between all these different diet styles, and further, to explore the influence lifestyle changes have on longevity.

The discussion kicked off with Dr. Lynda Frassetto, internist and kidney specialist at UCSF Medical Center. Frasetto focused on the benefits of a low-acid diet, consisting of vegetables, some fruits, nuts, and lean meat, as a beneficial solution for people with Type 2 diabetes and for optimal kidney health. She presented her research on the benefit of a low-acid Diet (Paleolithic-like), concluding that even short-term consumption of a Paleolithic-like diet "improves blood pressure and glucose tolerance, decreases insulin secretion, increases insulin sensitivity and improves lipid profiles without weight loss in healthy sedentary humans."

While some may consider the phrase "healthy sedentary human" to be a bit of an oxymoron, the study found significant changes in health markers without the intervention of exercise. During the Q&A period, she acknowledged that the diet she studied in her research on the Paleolithic diet contained no red meat, even though meat features prominently in most Paleolithic diets. 

The second presentation was by Dr. Stephen Phinney, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at UC-Davis. Dr. Phinney presented his view on "The Art and Science of Nutritional Ketosis." Phinney defined the meaning of true nutritional ketosis as your body reaching a state of utilizing ketones for fuel in the brain and muscles instead of carbohydrates. This diet trend has become popular with a number of high-performance athletes and ultra-marathon runners who become ketoadaptive and burn ketones as their primary fuel source. Phinney's research on low-carbohydrate living showed that a very-low-carbohydrate diet had two major effects: (1) a reduction in plasma-saturated fatty acids despite a high intake of fat, and (2) a decrease in overall inflammation. According to Phinney, both of these results are beneficial for prevention and reversal of metabolic syndrome.

The third and final speaker was Dr. Dean Ornish, founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and clinical professor of medicine at UCSF. Dr. Ornish emphasized "lifestyle changes," including diet, for longevity and disease prevention. The Ornish program emphasizes a plant-based diet high in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and very low in animal products and refined carbohydrates. In addition to dietary changes, the program incorporates exercise, stress reduction, mindful eating practices, and community support. Dr. Ornish's Spectrum Diet allows you to personalize a way of eating and living that's just right for you -- rather than a one-size-fits-all. 

Dr. Ornish is renowned for the success of his program in reducing not only biomarkers such as cholesterol, but also actual prevention and reversal of heart disease. He also directed the first randomized controlled trial demonstrating that comprehensive lifestyle changes may slow, stop or even reverse the progression of early-stage prostate cancer. The Ornish program is the first lifestyle program to be covered by Medicare- - a huge win for the wellness, nutrition, and preventative medicine communites. 

In his lecture, Dr. Ornish emphasized the importance of scientific studies that actually measure the degree of heart disease, not just risk factors like cholesterol and blood pressure. He cited a study from the New England Journal of Medicine reporting that mice fed a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet showed significant blockages in their coronary arteries; those fed a typical American diet had moderate blockages in their arteries; and those fed a diet similar to one recommended by Dr. Ornish had essentially clean coronary arteries. 


Another interesting point that was made was the notion that how you eat your food is just as important as what food you eat. This practice, often called "mindful eating," focuses on eating with more pleasure, which can result in fewer calories consumed. This is a popular area of study for COAST, with a recent study finding that the more mindfulness around eating increased and stress went down, the greater the decrease in abdominal fat among women.

The takeaway, summarized by Ornish, was that all three speakers agreed that a whole-foods diet low in sugar and refined carbohydrates is optimal. However, Dr. Ornish added that an optimal diet is also rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and soy products in their natural forms. "There are hundreds of thousands of protective substances in these foods -- what you include in your diet is as important as what you exclude," he said. 

The seminar was video taped and will available to view in January."

That so-called "optimal diet" filled with fruits, grains, and soy is exactly what's making the good doctor look like a Shar-pei--have you seen this guy's neck?  The exact same nutrients he raves about in these foods is also found in organ meats--no carbs there!

This Just In: Eliminating Mouth-to-Mouth Boosts CPR

To contact us Click HERE
From HealthDay News.  Now that the fear of AIDS is dealt with...

"Bystander CPR saves more lives when just chest compression is performed without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, a new study from Japan shows.

Followed by use of easy-to-use publicly available defibrillators, chest compression alone kept more people alive with good brain function than traditional CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) with mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing, the study found.

"We would like to suggest that compression-only CPR should be the standard and conventional CPR with rescue breathing the option," said lead investigator Dr. Taku Iwami, a senior lecturer in the department of preventive services at Kyoto University School of Public Health.

When someone suffers cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating. Experts say the findings are welcome news because many people don't want to perform mouth-to-mouth breathing or are unable to perform chest compressions and rescue breathing at the same time.


For the study, published Dec. 10 in the journal Circulation, Iwami's team looked at the medical records of more than 1,300 people who suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from 2005 to 2009.  In each case, the arrest was witnessed, and bystanders gave CPR and shocks from an automatic defibrillator (AED).

Almost 37 percent of the victims received only chest compressions, while the others got traditional CPR -- chest compressions and rescue breathing.

In the month after their cardiac arrest, about 46 percent of those who received chest compressions alone were still alive, compared with about 40 percent of those who got traditional CPR, the researchers found.

Moreover, of those given chest compressions alone, more than 40 percent retained good brain function, compared with around 33 percent of those given compressions and rescue breathing, they added.

One expert supported the findings. 
____________________________________________________________________

Wench's note:  this is probably because we breathe in OXYGEN, and rescue breathing blows CO2 in, or exhaled air.  This may be the difference.
____________________________________________________________________

"This is very encouraging because it shows that simple actions like starting CPR with just chest compressions really made a positive difference and saved lives," said Dr. Michael Sayre, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Since 2008, the American Heart Association has recommended that when someone sees a person go into cardiac arrest, chest compression alone should be started. But Iwami said the matter was controversial, and the study was conducted to determine whether chest compression alone is effective. 

Sayre said that if chest compressions are started almost immediately, there is enough air in the victim's lungs to supply oxygen to the body.

Availability of an automated external defibrillator (AED) -- a portable device that delivers an electric shock to restart the heart -- is crucial to the patient's survival, he said. AEDs are available in public areas in the United States and in other countries including Japan.

"It's the combination that makes a big difference," he said.


"Doing something is always better than doing nothing," Sayre added. "So, if you see someone collapse, start pushing hard and fast on the center of their chest." 

Another expert, Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that the majority of the people who suffered bystander-witnessed cardiac arrests during the study period did not receive any type of CPR or public access defibrillation.

That highlights "the critical need for global improvement in individuals trained and willing to perform chest compression-only CPR and increased access to automatic external defibrillator devices," he said. 

Iwami agreed. "We should implement programs to increase the number of lay rescuers who can at least perform chest compressions and use an AED," he said.

However, in certain cases, traditional CPR is still preferable. For infants and children, for instance, the American Heart Association still recommends CPR with a combination of breaths and compressions.

Iwami said further studies are needed on whether bystanders should perform compression-only CPR on children."

This Just In: Surprise! New Health Insurance Fee in Health Care Overhaul

To contact us Click HERE
From Yahoo Health.  Yep, we're all going to be paying an extra $63/year to cover the cost of Obamacare.  I thought that was what the penalty was for!


"Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.
Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.
"Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, (companies will) be hit with a multi-million dollar assessment without getting anything back for it," said Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary.
Based on figures provided in the regulation, employer and individual health plans covering an estimated 190 million Americans could owe the per-person fee.
The Obama administration says it is a temporary assessment levied for three years starting in 2014, designed to raise $25 billion. It starts at $63 and then declines.
Most of the money will go into a fund administered by the Health and Human Services Department. It will be used to cushion health insurance companies from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden from turning away the sick as of Jan. 1, 2014.
The program "is intended to help millions of Americans purchase affordable health insurance, reduce unreimbursed usage of hospital and other medical facilities by the uninsured and thereby lower medical expenses and premiums for all," the Obama administration says in the regulation. An accompanying media fact sheet issued Nov. 30 referred to "contributions" without detailing the total cost and scope of the program.
Of the total pot, $5 billion will go directly to the U.S. Treasury, apparently to offset the cost of shoring up employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees.

The $25 billion fee is part of a bigger package of taxes and fees to finance Obama's expansion of coverage to the uninsured. It all comes to about $700 billion over 10 years, and includes higher Medicare taxes effective this Jan. 1 on individuals making more than $200,000 per year or couples making more than $250,000. People above those threshold amounts also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on their investment income.

But the insurance fee had been overlooked as employers focused on other costs in the law, including fines for medium and large firms that don't provide coverage.

"This kind of came out of the blue and was a surprisingly large amount," said Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, a group that represents large employers on benefits issues.

Word started getting out in the spring, said Young, but hard cost estimates surfaced only recently with the new regulation. It set the per capita rate at $5.25 per month, which works out to $63 a year.
America's Health Insurance Plans, the major industry trade group for health insurers, says the fund is an important program that will help stabilize the market and mitigate cost increases for consumers as the changes in Obama's law take effect.

But employers already offering coverage to their workers don't see why they have to pony up for the stabilization fund, which mainly helps the individual insurance market. The redistribution puts the biggest companies on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.

"It just adds on to everything else that is expected to increase health care costs," said economist Paul Fronstin of the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The fee will be assessed on all "major medical" insurance plans, including those provided by employers and those purchased individually by consumers. Large employers will owe the fee directly. That's because major companies usually pay upfront for most of the health care costs of their employees. It may not be apparent to workers, but the insurance company they deal with is basically an agent administering the plan for their employer.

Note that the amount has doubled from the start of FY2010 to FY2014.  When this thing gets going, the cost will undoubtedly double again, making Obamacare cost nearly as much as our budget deficit!
The fee will total $12 billion in 2014, $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. That means the per-head assessment would be smaller each year, around $40 in 2015 instead of $63.

It will phase out completely in 2017 — unless Congress, with lawmakers searching everywhere for revenue to reduce federal deficits — decides to extend it."

Count on it becoming an ongoing thing, like the Spanish-American War debt charge on all our landlines up until about 2000 or so.  They'll set it and forget it, or worse:  index it to (future) inflation or the CPI.

We're already contributing to Medicare to mitigate the elderly medical costs, and we're already paying for Medicaid through regular and religious overcharges from hospitals and doctors.  Now we're expected to cough up starter funds for Obamacare and the exchange system (which we wouldn't even need if people took better care of themselves)?