Pig in Australia Steals 18 Beers from Campers, Gets Drunk, Fights Cow

Forget crocodiles and snakes, the real animal threat in Australia is wild pigs. At least if you’re camping.

At a campground in Western Australia over the weekend, a feral pig guzzled down 18 beers that had been left out improperly secured. And just like anyone 18 beers in at a rural dive bar, the pig got big-headed and decided to start a fight with a cow, resulting in the cow chasing the pig around a car.

“In the middle of the night these people camping opposite us heard a noise, so they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was, scrunching away at their cans,” said a visitor.

The pig was later reported sleeping his hangover (and shame of trying to take down a cow?) off under a tree.

While feral pigs are considered an invasive pest in many parts of the country, it’s also a reminder to keep food and drink secured when camping. Just imagine if it had been a drunk kangaroo.

Killing The Pig: The Annoying Foodie Obsession With Pork

I’m tired of pork. There, I said it. Pork belly, bacon, pulled pork, pork shoulder, pork terrines, charcuterie, head cheese, roasted suckling pig, porchetta, pancetta. I’m ready for this macho eating craze for all things piggy to finally go away.

I’m a very pork-patient sort of guy. Homer Simpson said it best in expressing his empuzzlement when his daughter Lisa became a vegetarian, asking what she could and couldn’t eat:

Homer: “What about bacon?”
Lisa: “No!”
Home: “Ham?”
Lisa: “No!”
Homer: “Pork chops?
Lisa: “No! Dad those all come from the same animal!”
Homer: “Yeah right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical, animal.”

Homer is right. But it’s time take an electrical prod to the head of this porcine passion. The straw that broke the pig’s back for me was when I noticed last week a restaurant down the street from my apartment in New York’s West Village opened up called Swine. It’s not all pork on the menu but it reads like a farce – a caricature unto itself – of 2012 menu trends, right down to the name of the restaurant itself.

As a nation increasingly obsessed with food our fetishization of pork is holding us back, arresting the development of our palates. Where’s the beef? Let’s go back to boring chicken for a while. What ever happened to tofu?

Oh, there are other food trends I’m tired of, too. See: deviled eggs, Brussels sprouts, bone marrow, beets, anything fried in duck fat, short ribs. I’m even tired of foie gras. And don’t get me started on the insanity that foodies exhibit every spring at the first (or second or third) sighting of ramps at a farmers market or on the menu of a restaurant (it usually goes something like this, “RAMPS! OMG, RAMPS!” and can be found on the social media of your choice.


Food trends ebb and flow – that’s why they’re trends, after all. Tapas was all the rage in New York and other American cities in the last decade, crossing the edible Spanish threshold into cuisines that have no history of serving food on small plates; the most comical I saw was something called “Australian tapas.” But this one, this proclivity for American-ish comfort food, is sticking around like bad leftovers left in the fridge during a long vacation. And it’s starting to reek. We’re in a recession, which means, like the big baby foodies that we are, we need to be comforted and held, spooned by porkliscious byproducts until the euphoric porcine food coma we put ourselves in takes us away.

For the record, I do think the “trend,” or “movement” might be a better word, of sourcing the provenance of our food is a good one. And I hope it sticks around. But do we need the economy to vastly improve before we change our eating habits? I just want this nation of eaters to graduate from what has become the poster animal of the relatively recent obsession with food. Is that so much to ask? In the meantime, I’m going to walk down to Swine to see if it’s still open.

Big in Japan: Drinking pig placenta keeps Japanese women beautiful

Ever wonder why it is that Japanese women are so beautiful? Ever wonder how Japanese women manage to look so young well into their golden years?

What if I told you that there was a simple and cheap remedy for turning back the clock and washing away the visible signs of aging?

What if I told you that this remedy costs less than US$10 a day, and can be started at any time no matter old you happen to be?

Although the secret is slowly spreading to the Western World, for years Japanese women have been drinking blended pig placenta in an effort to extend their youth.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Some Japanese women, on occasion, drink blended pig placenta in a bottle.

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) Gross.
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 pig placenta!

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For starters, the placenta is a temporary organ that develops from the same sperm and egg cells that form the fetus. In placental mammals including humans, the placenta receives nutrients, oxygen, antibodies, and hormones from the mother’s blood, passes out waste and forms a protective barrier around the fetus.

Now, here is where things get interesting.

Placentophagy is the act of mammals eating the placenta of their young after childbirth. Scientifically speaking, the placenta contains high levels of prostaglandin, which helps shrink the uterus, and small amounts of oxytocin, which eases birth stress and causes the mammary cells to contract and eject milk.

Although the placenta is revered in many traditional cultures, and has been an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, very few modern people eat it after the newborn’s birth. Leading obstetricians and gynecologists are also quick to point out that animals ingest the placenta for nutritional reasons, though there is little nutritional benefit for well-fed humans.

However, pig placenta, blended and bottled for your consumption, is sold all across Japan. A 30 milliliter bottle costs approximately US$8.50 (1000 yen), and is available at any corner store or pharmacy here in Tokyo.

Now, 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.

Also, we all know that the Japanese have incredibly healthy diets that are based on rice and fish, compared with the North America propensity for fatty foods.

And of course, I don’t want to discount their genetic predisposition, especially considering that the Japanese tend to age very well, and generally look younger than their Western counterparts.

However, although anecdotal evidence isn’t exactly the most reliable of methods, my Japanese friends swear that a bottle a day gives them energy, and has noticeably improved their appearance.

Here’s the catch.

I can’t stomach it. I’ve now tried on three separate occasions to drink the stuff, and I gag every time the bottle reaches my mouth. As you’d imagine, blended pig placenta tastes pretty much like blended pig placenta, and no amount of added sugar is going to make a difference.

If you’re still interested in trying the stuff, I’m fairly certain that import restrictions in the States prevent the international distribution of this product, though perhaps I’m wrong. With that said, please chime in if you’ve seen this stuff in a health food store near you.

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