The Japanese 100 list finally complete, and other things

It took me two whole weeks, but I have finally finished putting in descriptions and links etc. for all 100 items on the Japanese Foods to Try list. If you missed it the first time around, or found it too annoying or obscure without the descriptions (sorry)...take a look! Remember, click the ? to open up the descriptions.

Switching gears totally: for some reason, this ridiculous letter by PETA to Ben and Jerry's has gotten into my email , Twitter, IM, etc several times yesterday and today. I had to really check the date to make sure I hadn't been unconscious for a few months and woken up on April 1st. If indeed PETA is basing this stupid request based on an 'innovative new idea from Switzerland', it's flawed to begin with since the local authorities have banned the restaurant from going ahead, for really obvious reasons, all of which are detailed in the linked article. (For what it's worth, swissinfo is an excellent news site in several languages, run by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), with non-sensationalized news from around Switzerland. Every country should have such a site.)

Of course, none of the non-Swiss outlets who reported the original story about the restaurant seem to have picked up on the anti-climactic aftermath, but that's shortsighted mainstream media for you. Most of the reactions within Switzerland to this whole thing boil down to 1. the restaurant owner probably did it for the publicity, and/or 2. it's just a joke to start with. One comment on the Tages-Anzeiger (a one of the leading Zürich area newspapers) from someone who had been to the Storchen restaurant in Iborg sticks in my mind: he said that he'd had regular cow's milk Zürigschnätzlets there, and it wasn't that good, and he couldn't see it improving much with thinner human milk! Yep, that's dry Swiss humor for you.

Anyway, if PETA are truly serious about that letter, perhaps their female members can help to overcome one of the most obvious obstacles - how to harvest human breast milk - and donate their own. Maybe let Ben or Jerry squeeze it out themselves!

Sheesh.