Thursday, August 08, 2013 

Miso Hungry

Sushi Wraps and Rice Bowls coming to the vacated space of the old Jack's Bagels on Upper State.



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9:39 PM | |

Saturday, July 03, 2010 

Ric O'Barry of The Cove

and Save the Dolphins (Japan) will be in Santa Barbara at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum this upcoming Thursday (July 8 @ 7:00 p.m.) for a special showing of the movie and for Q&A. Suggested donation (to benefit Save the Dolphins) - $10.00

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9:18 PM | |

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 

Sideways... Not lost in Translation to Japanese

Wain wa ikaga desu ka?
Remember the enormously successful and slapstick, funny movie, “Sideways” (which boosted sales of pinot noir and all but destroyed sales of merlot)? Well, anyway, a Japanese version of the film, featuring three of Japan’s most famous actors, has been shot in Calistoga. The plot involves a trip to California’s wine country by the principal actor to attend the wedding of a friend, just as in the plot of the original “Sideways.” .... The film is scheduled for release in Japan sometime in the fall of 2009. - St. Helena Star, Variety, DougWilder and Cinematical.
The Japanese are going gaga over the wine picks of their favorite national sommelier. Oh, did I mention he's a cartoon character?
Entire 20,000-bottle shipments of burgundy sell out within hours in Tokyo if he so much as looks at a glass, South Korea's biggest film star is lined-up to play him in a TV drama and he has converted thousands of Asian women into the most discerning oenophiles.

In the rarefied world of superstar sommeliers, there may be none greater than Shizuku Kanzaki. The only snag is that he is a cartoon. - TimesOnLine

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11:34 AM | |

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 

Do cookies have a "fortune" in film?

Seems that fortune cookies are having their day in the sun on the red carpet in San Francisco during the Asian American Film Festival and in the bookshelves with the forthcoming book "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles." Oh, and forget about what you may "think you know" about those fun little folded snappy, crumbly delish deliveries of fortunes...they are NOT Chinese. They are more than likely a creation of Makoto Hagiwara, a landscape architect and creator of the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco, 1909.
Another revelation is that there are no fortune cookies in China. "In China, it's an exotic item. A fortune cookie company from New York opened up a business in China in 2002, but it closed down in two years," Shimoda says, noting that the label said "genuine American fortune cookies." - SFGate
The film by Derek Shimoda - "The Killing of a Chinese Cookie" and the blog for the book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. If you are in the Pasadena area on the 27th of March, stop on by one of my favorite bookstores, Vroman's, and see the author of the book, Jennifer 8. Lee discuss the book and her findings.

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8:15 PM | |

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 

I'm not going to try it....YOU try it!



I'm not going to try it...Hey, let's get Mikey....he won't eat it...he hates everything!

The thoughts meander back to that old Life cereal commercial when I ran across this story.
Cucumber-Flavored Soda Sold in Japan

Japanese are staying cool as a cucumber this summer with "Pepsi Ice Cucumber" - a new soda based on the crisp green gourd.

The soft drink, which hit stores here on Tuesday, doesn't actually have any cucumber in it - but has been artificially flavored to resemble "the refreshing taste of a fresh cucumber," said Aya Takemoto, spokeswoman of Japan's Pepsi distributor, Suntory Ltd. - Detroit Free Press

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9:09 PM | |

Sunday, April 08, 2007 

Happy Hana Matsuri (Happy Buddha Day)

According to legend, Prince Gautama (known to us as the Enlightened One or Buddha) was born on April 8th around 446 BC. The story goes that when he was born the earth shook as sweet nectar and flowers fell from the heavens. Soon after his birth he is said to have pointed to the heavens with his right forefinger, to the earth with his left, and proclaimed; “I am my own lord throughout Heaven and Earth!” This day has since been celebrated as Hana Matsuri, the “Flower Festival.”

Images of the naked infant Buddha, proclaiming the essence of the Buddhist doctrine and pointing skyward, can be seen all over Japan every year on his birthday and posters of the precocious Buddha-child are always pasted-up in every neighborhood weeks earlier, calling the people to come to their local temple for celebrations on April 8th. On that day small statues of infant Buddha, some of them ornate and quite old, are placed in the center of a tray filled with sweet tea in miniature shrines, looking like small Buddhist temples covered in various flowers are called, accurately enough, hana mido or “flower temples.” These flower decked shrines are said to represent the garden of Lumbini in Nepal where the Buddha was born. In earlier times twelve flowers were specifically used to decorate them, each representing a different month of the year.

The sweet tea that surrounds the statue and which sits in a pot next to it is called amacha. This liquid, supposedly the same nectar which fell so long ago from heaven, is brewed from the leaves of the hydrangea bush which grows in the mountains. It is interesting to note that before sugar was introduced into Japan, amacha was boiled down into a thick syrup and used as a sugar substitute.

Bob May has some exquisite photos of Japan and more.

Namaste.

and now...your moment of zen.


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11:00 AM | |

Monday, February 19, 2007 

Day of Remembrance

dayofremembrance.org
Manzanar
Ansel Adams at Manzanar (Library of Congress) and
Traveling Photo Show
Born Free and Equal
Farewell to Manzanar
Heart Mountain Mystery Rocks
442 Regimental Combat Team - "Go for Broke"
Strawberry Days a book by one of our favorite "spyhopping" bloggers, David Neiwert.

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8:58 PM | |

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