The Grinch has stolen Christmas

by Jerry Guo on

Are you drunk right now? Chances are, you’re not, according to an article in the Economist about how high prices for hops and barley are threatening Christmas debauchery. The price of beer has skyrocketed this holiday season, and in some cases (God forbid), your favorite micro-brewed beers might have completely disappeared off the shelf.

There’s crop failures all over Australia and Europe, so if you’re sampling the pubs there, don’t expect them to be in a generous holiday spirit. The folks stateside aren’t faring any better. What’s happened is many Pacific northwest farmers have switched to growing corn, instead of hop (what gives beer its unique taste). Corn can be made into ethanol for biofuel, and that’s a booming market right now. Unfortunately, the decrease in hop production, estimated at 50% in the past decade, has led to prices shooting by up to five times what they were. Bigger breweries, like your neighborhood Anheuser-Busch, have it a little better due to long-term contracts, but their six-packs have still increased in price.

On this note, have a merry Christmas everyone, and stay safe. Use a designated driver.

Where have you spent Christmas overseas?

by Brett Atkinson on

I’m spending Christmas in New Zealand with family this year, and Auckland’s weather has dawned fine so it promises to be a day of wearing shorts and flip-flops around the barbecue. For northern hemisphere readers that probably sounds pretty exotic, but down here it’s just what we’re used to.

More exotic have been a few other Christmases that I’ve spent on the road.

  1. In the Vietnamese port town of Nha Trang and attending midnight mass on Christmas Eve at the local Catholic cathedral – all the familiar carols like Silent Night but sung in Vietnamese
  2. In the Indian city of Panjim in Goa and being entertained on a karaoke disco riverboat cruise by scores of locals wearing fake Santa beards
  3. Christmas night in Penang in Malaysia, trying to find Fairytale of New York by The Pogues at a karaoke bar. The following morning we felt the earthquake that caused the Boxing Day tsunami and saw the wave roll into Penang’s beaches

What are your memories of Christmas in a foreign country?

Absinthe now legal, no longer cool

by Aaron Hotfelder on

The United States recently approved the sale of absinthe, and many people around the country are just now getting their first experiences with the potent, anise-flavored spirit. Absinthe, famous for supposedly inspiring creativity in the likes of Hemingway, Picasso, and Gaugin, has been banned in the United States since the early 1900s, but a version of the drink was approved for sale earlier this year.

Over at Salon, a new article debunks some myths surrounding absinthe, just as the New York Times did almost a year ago.

From my own limited personal experience in Prague, I can attest that the author of the Salon article is being very kind when she says absinthe is an “acquired taste.” I found that even after following the traditional sugar cube/slotted spoon ritual, it felt like downing a glass of very bitter rubbing alcohol. And no, I didn’t see any green fairies.

I didn’t meet anyone in Prague who drank absinthe on a regular basis (though I’m sure some do), and in general, it seems to be consumed for the sake of novelty (as in my case) more than anything else.

For more first-hand reports of experiences with absinthe, go here.

(Kids, take note: Drugs are inferior to hugs, and stay in school.)

Czech Christmas, Part V: Must eat exotic fruit

by Iva Skoch on

Blogging about Czech Christmas this week made me realize how much of the so-called Christmas tradition is related to our experiences–or traumas–from communism.

To give you an example…Czechs love to eat exotic fruit around Christmas time – pineapples, oranges, kiwis, plus more things that I can’t identify by name and that certainly don’t grow in this latitude. This clearly comes from communism: exports from non-communist countries were not allowed. Only around Christmas time, the stores would get special shipments of bananas, oranges and nuts, and it was a big treat! (Come to think of it, I wonder where those special shipments came from back then…Santa Castro?)

There were a couple of problems with the concept. First of all, the lines went out the door when the word got out: “They have bananas!” There was also a strict limit on how much one family could buy. I think it was about two pounds per family. Of course, the Czech are sly people so they would have multiple family members dispersed throughout the line to “fool the system,” and buy more stuff.

To this day, Czech still eat exotic fruit on Christmas, although now the stores are chock-full with bananas, oranges and kiwis any time of the year. Old habits die hard.

Big in Japan: Turmeric keeps Japanese women fit and beautiful

by Matthew Firestone on

Ever wonder why it is that Japanese women are so fit and beautiful? Ever wonder how Japanese women manage to work endless hours without visible signs of aging?

What if I told you that there was a simple and cheap remedy for staying healthy and energetic regardless of how hectic your life may be.

What if I told you that this remedy costs less than US$3 a day, and can be started at any time no matter how busy you happen to be.

Although the secret is slowly spreading to the Western World, for years Japanese women have been taking turmeric extract to stay fit and beautiful.

Yes. You read that correctly.

A good number of Japanese women take daily doses of turmeric, that rare and exotic Indian yellow spice that is most often used to color curries.

Seriously. I am not making this up.

Now, I guess at this point in the post you are probably thinking one of the following:

a) Why turmeric?
b) Does it work?
c) What does it taste like?
d) Where can I buy some?
e) Some or all of the above.

Well, keep reading and allow me to explain the powers of this magical Indian spice!

In Tokyo, you can buy a 100 milliliter bottle containing 30mg of dissolved turmeric. The suspension solution also contains several vitamins and minerals and a pinch of sugar to make the medicine go down.

And remarkably, you don’t even have to go to a health food store to buy the product.

Instead, just simple walk our of your apartment, head into the first convenience store you see, and give into your vanity for the price of a couple of dollars.

As I’ve commented so many times before on this blog, I know that it’s easy to be skeptical about health and beauty products, especially since the next big thing is always being touted on late night infomercials across North America.

But, there exists a decent sized body of scientific evidence to suggest that turmeric might actually have positive health effects.

For instance:

– In traditional Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric has numerous medicinal properties, and is readily used as an antiseptic.

– In several Asian countries including Japan, turmeric is taken to alleviate stomach problems and other related ailments.

– According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal, turmeric is being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, liver disorders and depression.

If you live in North America, and you’re interested in trying turmeric extract, your best chance is to check out a health food store near you.

Or, you can simply find the nearest Indian supermarket and just buy a pound or so of the stuff and add it to your morning OJ.

Anyway, if you’ve ever taken turmeric before, or know anything about its health effects, please chime in and let all of us know!

** Turmeric photo sourced from the Wikipedia Commons Project. And yes, the girl at the top of this post is in fact Maria Ozawa. **