June 15, 2003
My birthday came to pass last month. Huzzah! I'm now 28.
My honey had a rather nice birthday surprise ready for me, by the way. Very thoughtful of her, but I won't detain you with the details... well, maybe I'll get around to describing one bit.
I had my birthday dinner with Haruna and a bunch of friends at a rather nice restraunt. Someone handed me a dish with several thin slices of extremely dark red meat arrayed on it. I thought it was steak tartare. I put a bit in my mouth- and it tasted like very soft and tender beef.
"Oishi! Kore wa bifu desuka?" I asked. (Delicious! Is this beef?)
Someone shook their head. "Kujira."
"Oh. Very nice. What's that?"
Haruna whispered in my ear.
"Whale."
Oh.
Presumably a peice of minke whale, but I have no way of knowing if that's what it really was. I don't think minke whales are considered endangered anymore, but I lack knowledge on such matters. Apparently, whale meat has been eaten in Japan for many centuries- as well as by many other north Pacific peoples. The industry is highly controversial-- a certain quota of whales are caught for 'scientific research' (such as measuring the levels of toxins concentrated in certain organs). The meat gets sold-off- and this causes a variety of international criticism. I'm not really sure what to think.
At any rate, I began to feel very divided. I always like to try new foods at least once-- but I wonder about the morality of eating a species of animal that might one day become extinct.
(Still, it tasted pretty good IMHO...)
Oh, the other day I had a quick gander at the Miss Universe website. Check-out the American national costume!
"Ah, that fashion consultant was worth every penny!"
When I saw this image, I almost gagged on a chocolate-covered coffee bean!
You know, some people think that America is a cultural wasteland. But our girl really proves them wrong, eh?
Please tell me she did not actually wear this!
Hmmph. I guess she actually did. Wow. A real forehead-slapper, isn't it? Dear GOD.
I mean-- compare that Linda Carteresque get-up with the stately, sublime hanbok of Miss Korea:
Seriously, you have to admit that the hanbok is far more fetching by about a league or two.
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