I used to be a huge fan of the Simpsons, when it was still funny until a couple of years ago, but stopped watching the show altogether when I tried to give it a chance but it was honestly too painful. I loved the fact that it had 2 (main) levels of humor. The “funny fat guy stupid” Homer that rednecks and censors can watch and feel it is fine for all audiences, and the “look at yourself” Homer that intellectuals and artists can appreciate. Meanwhile, the children of rednecks and censors everywhere would get the message little by little and perhaps recognize themselves and the world around them, and hopefully get exposed to a subversive message. But the writers who joined recently must have not seen there was a second level, and the show has become a joke within the joke, a parody of itself like the parody of showbiz that Krusty represents. In short, I loved it when it was original and clever. But the people making it now thought it would be easier to just make it easier and more mainstream so that it can compete with reality TV and such.

And then there is the Simpsons Movie coming out next month. I want to hope it will good. I know it will not be as good as I wish, or as it could, but I really hope they waited all this time to make something of high standard, and it is not just the rights holder who finally gave up and accepted Fox’s check… Why am I dubious about Fox? Have a look at this promo page: at the bottom, it says both “Host me on your site” (with appropriate HTML code) and “All rights reserved. Property of FOX. Private use only. Sale, duplication or other transfer of this material is strictly prohibited”… Sounds precisely like what the Simpsons used to make fun of.

Because I love the Coen Brothers, I love Steve Buscemi, and I have fond memories of the Parisian metro…
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I often bitch about Tokyo, and I intend to keep bitching more and more until I leave, but I have to say when it comes to food, this place is always amazing. It’s very rare, exceptional actually, to be served something that isn’t good. Most places, including chains, including cheap ramen shops, spend a noticeable effort in making things right. Ingredients, even on the cheap side, are almost always respected as such, and therefore even if the recipe is simple and not so good, even if everything here lacks spices according to many foreigners but I often disagree, the preparation cannot taste bad in the end.

Anyway, if Japanese people still don’t understand that there is a world outside their islands, when it comes to food, they are open to as much from everywhere as humanly possible. Everything is imported anyway, except for rice, daikon, and citrus fruits, so why not import just about everything? The other day, I had a craving for mozzarella di buffala. I went to the food court in the basement floor of the nearest department store (Tokyu) and found 3 types. Of course, it wasn’t cheap, but it was available (and genuine).

Found on National Geographic, an article on the disastrous conditions at Taiwan Zoo. Don’t mess with Nature…