Is Videocasting the New Podcasting?

Recently a billion people more or less have started videoblogs, videocasts, Youtubecasts, or whatever they may end up being called: a video online made by people like you and me. Well, not exactly like you and me. There be some sick puppies out there. (See here.)

But my question is, is making a videocast going to be the new podcast and will videocasting cripple TV like podcasting is crippling terrestrial radio? What, exactly, do people want from a videocast that they can't get from a TV show? With podcasts it's all about niche - you can find a podcast about goldfish training if you want. (See here.)

Videocasting is moving in the same direction. Did you know there is a videocast about toenail art (here)? You certainly won't find that following Sixty Minutes (here) on the CBS line-up any time soon, I think. Do we really want to watch each other's home videos? Me, Me! I can answer that! I can answer that! (See here.)

Thanks for reading and, hey, let's be careful out there.

Two More Reasons to Update Your Blog

Late last night or early this morning I updated another blog and got a comment really, really fast. Of course it was unabashedly spam but, hey, if I hadn't updated the blog I wouldn't have gotten even the spam, right? Right. That goodness for spam or I'd have no email at all. So, here are two more reasons you should update your blog regularly.

2. The cost of gasoline is rising, the cost of airline tickets is rising, the frequency of full body searches just before you get on the plane is increasing, the cost of doing anything in the Real world is rising, so, hey, what have you got to lose? You can't go anywhere without spending a small fortune And pollute the environment And get frisked by Elmer the banjo player from Deliverance with the teeth missing, so why not Update your blog and see what happens. It's free, at least. At least for now.

1. Your reader (perhaps your mom, perhaps your dad, too, if your mom tells him about the update) will be happy. Maybe. Unless you're writing one of those Mommie-Dearest blogs where you drag all your family's dirty laundry through the blogosphere on the mistaken thought that it will make you feel better. It won't.

Bless you all and to all a healthy vegetarian raamen. Thank you and good night.

Two Reasons to Update Your Blog Regularly

Another quick blog post. What am I doing? Watching re-runs of Mayberry RFD and sipping Orange LeHi with my cousins sitting on a couch with no legs on the front porch or writing a blog about raamen and other assorted gooky things? Well, evidentally, I'm on the couch.

Let's see. Why should you update your blog regularly?

2. So you can remember from one year to the next what the heck you think you're blogging about! That's why! you lazy blog-fader!

1. So your favorite free blog-provider won't delete your blog because they went bankrupt 23 friggin' years ago and now in 2032 the heirs Want Their Money Back!!!

Thank you for listening.

Hisashi-buri

Hisashiburi. I just realized it has been nearly the gestation period of a human since my last post and I was in a quandry. Should I post now or wait another month so that I could speculate about the growth of a fetus and my latest post but then I came to the stark-raving realization that I shouldn't be writing about fetuses and food items in the same blog/paragraph/sentence.

Hisashiburi, by the way, is not a food item nor is it a raamen item. We have to make these distinctions, eh? Hisashiburi is how one would say "Hey, I haven't seen you in a age." If you were living in Japan or speaking Japanese to a Japanese person who you haven't seen in a age.
i.e. long time no see.

About raamen. Well, good news and bad news about raamen. One, I'm cutting down on my consumption of said food product because I'm leaning heavily to port. I mean, portly. I mean, veganism. I have found several vegetarian raamens and even two vegetarian raamen shops (in Tokyo. Kichijoji, to be more specific. Near Kichijoji station, in actual fact.) But I don't live in Tokyo so I won't be going to either of them, I suspect, in the near future.

Veganism - not for my health but for the health of the little critters that give up their lives so that I might have a double cheese with bacon burger that I forget about in a matter of minutes. Why should they have to live in creepy places and be slaughtered just for my momentary pleasure. I suppose if my pleasure were greater I wouldn't switch?Hard to say.

In any case, I'm going to say, "I'm not a vegan because I love animals, I hate vegetables" rather than say I'm a vegan because veganism upsets so many meat-eaters. I don't know why. Why do meateaters get so pissed off when they find out you don't eat meat? Guilt?

The bad news is I'm not going to be writing much about raamen anymore - please, please, keep your weeping, crying, and rending of clothing for later (as if hundreds of people are reading this dormant blog). The good news is... I'll still write. This is good news? I've written before? Yeah, like EIGHT MONTHS ago. What kind of writer writes once every eight months? A lazy one, that's for sure. We'll see. Mata ne. (Another Japanese linguistic unit. It means something but then, who wants to know what it means, eh?)

At last, a humourous vegan video instead of the usual sanctimonous crapola you get when google "not slaughtering mammals and masticating their dead flesh".



How long will it be before the amazon.com books on raamen change to vegan cookbooks?

Missles for Raamen

I ate at a raamen shop the other day that had the biggest piece of gristle this side of Norway. I mean, it was huge. It sort of sat in the bowl of dashi and raamen like the proverbial 800-gorilla: I couldn't ignore it. Fortunately, the soup and the noodles were good so I could try to ignore it. But in the end I failed. I had to flip it unceremoniously into an overstuffed ashtray. The ambience of the place was one of hand-made two by fours so that might've been a clue as to the gristle to a more enquirying mind. But not mine. All-in-all the quantity was good, the quality was okay, but the gristle on the pork just, hmmm, tipped me over the edge. No more gristle, please.

Speaking of messing up your day by pretending not to see an 800-pound gorilla, what do Israel and Hizbullah (this is the Christian Science Monitor's spelling, not mine) think they're going to accomplish by killing babies? Does it help that the titular leader of the free world doesn't think Israel should stop? This is the same leader who taunted terrorists with "Bring it on." Of course Israel should stop! Of course Hizbullah should stop! They're killing children here. Children! And babies. I can't believe That Leader doesn't see the dead babies. Is he as isolated as Kim Il Jong?

By the way, I heard an Iranian woman talking about the time frame that some Islamic mullahs and others think. She said the West, especially the temporary leaders, think in terms of five to ten minutes. Maybe a year. But the past is the past. History, Henry Ford said, is bunk. She said some mullahs and other Moslems think in terms of centuries. For example, X happened in 1427, so I can't talk to you because your ancestors were on the other side. History, she said, is very much alive for these people. So, will our great-great grandchildren be sending their grandchildren off to Iraq and Afghanistan to protect democracy?

Raamen for Peace

Moving Raamen and Missiles

First, let me say that I was going to flash a few quicktime movies on this site about raamen and raamen-ya I have been to. Wow: lights, movement, excitement. But then I found this site and videocast:

Zero-Raamen

Which has not only movies but is updated, according to the person who made it, everyday. Everyday! A new one to two minute movie of a different raamen EVERYDAY! My goodness, who wants to compete with that. Also, his or her website and the iTunes link to his videocast is in Japanese but the few movies I have watched have no spoken language; just music and some writing which isn't important. Check this place out if you're interested in raamen.

Second, North Korea. What can I say? They test fire a few Scuds and a ICBM that blows itself up a half dozen seconds into flight. Everyone's worried. Everyone's upset.

My question is, what do the people of North Korea want? From what I've seen, they want food. And maybe some education and decent housing. But mostly food. How does Kim justify spending billions on missiles when his own people don't have even noodles to eat? If Kim even knows his people are hungry (Is this kept from him while he lounges in his compound?), how does he justify their hunger? Is it for the good of the fatherland? Is the money diverted from food, medicine, clothing, and housing to missile construction a good thing in his mind?

Do you think it would be possible for the powers of the world to send more food to North Korea now that Kim has launched his missiles? Doesn't he realize that Japan, China, the US, and Russia have to "punish" him for his missiles?

Noodles for Nukes. A fair trade.

Concentration

In the last couple of weeks I've had a vegetable raamen at the same place twice. Both times the noodles were too soft and the vegetables overcooked. Plus, the TV was too loud and obnoxious. However, it was showing the news of the hour and being depressed by the murders and war fatalities took my mind off of the food. Which is a pity. I think when we are giving nourishment to our bodies we should concentrate on the project at hand rather than allow our minds to wander off in uncharted and unproductive side streams. In fact, if you will.... Perhaps we should concentrate always on what we are doing at the moment. Concentrate on the now, rather than dwell on the past or contemplate the future.

That doesn't mean we ignore the travesties brought on other people; we can't ignore the war dead or innocent people being murdered in the streets. We should do what we can to help all that we can. We should do what we can to help the end of a war (Peace isn't always bad, is it? I mean, blessed at the peacemakers? Isn't that a quote from some book?). No, we can concentrate all of our efforts supporting and nourishing those around us and hope, by a ripple effect, that others will help and help and eventually killing and wars will not be all diplomats and and murderers can think of.

Support the Prince of Peace

Life Recycling

This isn't to make people concerned or anything, but I think vegetarian raamen without a pork base is better for the world than a pork-based soup. Am I wrong here? There are a gazillion sources online (some true) that show how a lot of grain is used to feed pigs so we can eat the pigs. But, of course, the pig farmers add a lot of chemical junk to the pig's feed. If we eat the grain instead of the pig, we get the health benefits of the grain and skip the chemical junk. Of course the pig will have to die of old age after watching Arnold on "Green Acres" in his declining years, but doesn't that beat gathering all the chemical junk in our bodies? Just wondering.

Which brings me to this week's post: A vegetarian/vegetable raamen I had for about $4.00. It was okay in that it didn't have pig flesh, but the noodles had been cooked too long. The ambience of the raamen shop was pretty bleak, too. Industrial lighting and institutional seats (plastic). All together, not a good place to eat good food. If they could upgrade the ambience, boil the noodles a little less I think they'd have a winner. And it's near a university. A winner all around.

Simple Life/Simple Raamen

There's a new trend called 'slow life' creeping around Japan on little cat-like feet ready to pounce and the gist of the movement is that people should, as Joni Mitchell sang all those years ago, "get back to the garden." This has resulted in lots of people doing things themselves (Do it yourself-ers) and moving to more isolated places in Japan instead of slaving through the rat race in a concrete oven that's jam-packed with other race-ratters. (Is that a word?) One other result? More people more aware of what they eat and that, my friends, leads us to 'healthier' raamen. Yes, there is a trend away from your college-crowd snack food and back to food that doesn't required a chemistry degree to make. I.e. buckwheat noodles, water, homegrown veggies, and a little soup stock. You can be it takes a lot longer to make than the boil-water-three-minutes-uncover-consume raamen, but it's definitely better. And that has resulted in more raamen shops with 'healthy' raamen (trying to compete with the homegrown breed, I guess.)

Raamen: The Last Bastion of Homegrown Peace

Going Unilingual

Ate raamen the other day that left a bit to be desired. It felt old and grumpy, if you know what I mean. I won't mention the name of the place because a) you may never be in the area and b) finding a bad raamen shop is half the joy of finding good raamen shops.

One reason it felt old was that the shop only sold one kind of raamen, which is getting to be more common. In the last oh, five - six years raamen shops have been 'specializing' in a single type of raamen: miso, shio, or Hakata raamen for example. This is making for pretty boring shops. No variety.

America is tilting in that direction: uni- everything. One language, one religion, one political thought. I live in a country that is all that plus one basic ethnic group. It can be, and this is a warning America, extremely booooooooooring. Whenever I trip back to the States I enjoy the cacophony of languages and ideas. It feels vibrant and alive. It feels great. It feels like a symphony of the world! But if your less-than open-minded politicians have their way we will all be humming the same tune at the same time of the day. They will consider this a 'good' thing. I consider it the death of America.

If you don't want a boring raamen shop specializing in miso raamen, then you've got to encourage diversity where and when you can. I, personally, like my miso mixed up with my shio raamen bowls. My Hakata nestled next to my Sapporo. My TopRaamen snuggling upagainst the Nissin.

Keep the Raamen Open

VIR (Vegetarian Instant Raamen)

I didn't keep the package or take a picture of it, but I had vegetarian instant raamen the other night in the confines of my little abode deep in the darkest recesses of the night (when hunger strikes). It was delicious. Tasty. Sparkling with briming-over taste. I didn't read the instructions, of course, so I neglected to add extra, my-choice, vegies. Ah, well, all was not lost. The noodles were done right - not too soft - and the soup was just this side of spicy. Near spicy, I guess you'd have to call them. Like near-beer only better.

On the other, third, hand, I have learned how to play for hours and not accomplish much with Audacity, GarageBand, and iWeb, for those who enjoy bashing their heads against a wall for no apparent reason other than to ease the pain of learning. No, seriously, I managed to make a small audio file using Audacity and GarageBand and then I uploaded it nicely to iWeb. Can't find the damn file now, but, hey, what's a learning curve if you can't lose control, careen like a madman, and wrap your head around the proverbial telephone pole of life?

Build Peace Through Raamen

Wooden Raamen

Went to a nice place the other day that seats about 30 people but comfortably could probably seat 20. The seats, counter, walls, and bookshelves all looked hand-made. Nice little feeling to the place except for the smokers. If only one person smoked, the whole place ended up with a layer of smog. And a table of four were smoking so I ate with my head just below a thick layer of second-hand carcinogens. Delightful, and I mean that in the worst way.

The place was called Raamen All Japan. Of course it was written in Japanese. ラーメン全日本.

The noodles were done perfectly. I ordered miso (味噌) raamen with extra bean sprouts and I got a ton of bean sprouts. A lot. And the soup was good, too, and I'm not really a miso fan. So why did I order it? Couldn't tell ya, mate. Haven't got a clue. The food overall was good. If there are no smokers, I'd probably eat there again. On a scale of 1 - 10, maybe a 6 ~ 6.5 for the food and a 2 for the ambience so a total of 8.5 overall.

Only problem was the time. Raamen is a fast food for some folks. It took me about 15 minutes to get my food. One reason the smokers were smoking was they had nothing to do with their hands for 15 minutes so they automatically poppled a rolled up stick of tobacco in their face. Fifteen minutes! People eat raamen in less time than it took them to make it.

There was only one waitress and two cooks. That doesn't explain the time problem, though, as both cooks delivered the noodles. Hmm. Next time I go there I'll go after lunch and see if it's quicker. All I can say, thank goodness I bought an iPod Nano.

Seize the Raamen!
(That doesn't sound right.)

Bankrupt Raamen

It had to happen eventually, I suppose, but it's always hard to see and one can only wonder why it happened. A raamen place featured a few decades ago on this site has gone belly-up. Came upon the building yesterday for the first time in a few months - maybe that's one reason, people forgot it was there. Another reason might have been because it was not so tasty, not so clean, and not so customer-friendly. Just guessing here. Here's a shot of the place before it went out of business – Maybe the owner just got tired of making raamen? Or moved to another location? In any case, you can't go here anymore.

On the positive side, if anyone wants to open their own raamen shop, a space is available and it has a parking lot, most of the equipment, and tables and chairs. You could practically move right in.

After I drove past the out-of-business shop I went to a shop that I go to not infrequently. Fortunately, many other people go there, too, so they're not in danger of going out of business. The raamen was good, as usual, and the quantity superb. I had the "Vegetable Raamen" which came with just a hint of pork. Fairly delicious and the noodles were done to perfection. Why don't I go to this place more often? Good question.

Cultivate Raamen Peace

Illegal Immigrants and Raamen

A minor post here. I'm traveling through the southern part of California, not too far from Indio, but, alas, I am raamenless. Lots of vegetarian food, especially Mexican with its bean burritos, but not a lot of Chinese-inspired noodle-based dishes. In fact, the Japanese place across the street has neither raamen nor udon nor any other noodly food. Hmmm. Maybe I have to get closer to LA, before I can find any. This is odd considering the number of Chinese workers who helped build the railroad that clatters past my sleeping arrangements.

It's not the trains that are loud, it's gas-guzzling cars running over the tracks. Then the tracks clank, click, rattle and roll. And I have yet to see a train; I've heard lots of train whistles bleating everytime they get to an intersection, but I have yet to see an actual moving train. You'd think the descendents of the workers who helped build this railroad would've stuck around long enough to build a raamen empire in the Inland Empire for the Empire Builder (name of a train). Come to think of it, this railroad was built by illegal aliens - immigrants - so maybe they split for the coast as soon as they were finished building our infrastructure.

A little historical exploitation:
Chinese workers on strike at the Donner Pass. (and US labor management.)
The Promise of Gold Mountain: Chinese workers in Tuscon, Arizona.

A little modern exploitation:
Chinese Workers Pay for Wal-Mart.
Chinese Workers in Iraq (and the US government's response to them.)

Keep Immigrants Coming!

They Built this Country on Raamen!

Gatsunko

Returned to Gatsunko for a repeat visit. This time I tried the miso raamen while people with me tried the Gatsunko special. The special came with a hunk of meat that would've done any steak place proud: one big slap of pork complete with gristle and fat. My miso raamen was good. Even the noodles were good. I tried both dishes and can honestly say the noodles were good. Did I mention the fat and gristle? Not a problem. Just eat around it. It's big enough not to miss.

I still can't find if Gatsunko is a chain or not. No info on the web about it but I'm still looking. Next time I go, I'll ask. Wow, there's an idea.

Raamenize Your Life!