A Cannibalistic Legend

Last night, my roommate told me this crazy legend about a popular Chinese breakfast food. She sent me the following information in an email (which I assume is from wikipedia):

The Story of Yue Fei states that after having Yue Fei, Yue Yun, and Zhang Xian arrested under false charges, Qin and his wife, Lady Wang (Chinese: 王氏), were sitting by the "eastern window", warming themselves by the fire, when he received a letter from the people calling for the release of the general. Qin was worried because after nearly two months of torture, he could not get Yue Fei to admit the false charges of treason and would eventually have to let him go. However, after a servant girl brought fresh oranges into the room, Lady Wang devised a plan to execute the general. She told Qin to slip an execution notice inside the skin of an orange and send it to the examining judge. This way, the general and his companions would be put to death before the Emperor or Qin himself would have to rescind an open order of execution.[2] This conspiracy became known as the “East-Window Plot”.[3] An anonymous novel was written about this called the Dong Chuang Ji ("Tale of the Eastern Window") during the Ming Dynasty.[4] When asked by General Han Shizhong what crime Yue had committed, Qin Hui replied, "Though it isn't sure whether there is something that he did to betray the dynasty, maybe there is.” [5] The phrase "unneeded", simplified Chinese: 莫须有; traditional Chinese: 莫須有; pinyin: mò xū yǒu) has entered the Chinese language as an expression to refer to fabricated charges.[6][7] For their part in Yue Fei's death, iron statues of Qin Hui, Lady Wang, and two of Qin Hui's subordinates, Moqi Xie and Zhang Jun, were made to kneel before Yue Fei's tomb (located byHangzhou's West Lake). For centuries, these statues have been cursed, spat and urinated upon by young and old. But now, in modern times, these statues are protected as historical relics.[8] There is a poem hanging on the gate surrounding the statues, it reads: "The green hill is fortunate to be the burial ground of a loyal general, the white iron was innocent to be cast into the statues of traitors."[9] The story of Qin and his wife are also said to be the origin of Youtiao[10]. Folk etymology The Cantonese name yàuhjagwái literally means "oil-fried devil" and, according to folklore, is an act of protest against Song Dynasty official Qin Hui, who is said to have orchestrated the plot to frame the general Yue Fei, an icon of patriotism in Chinese culture. It is said that the food, originally in the shape of two human-shaped pieces of dough but later evolved into two pieces joined in the middle, represents Qin Hui and his wife, both having a hand in collaborating with the enemy to bring about the great general's demise. Thus the youtiao is deep fried and eaten as if done to the traitorous couple. In keeping with the legend, youtiao are often made as two foot-long rolls of dough joined along the middle, with one roll representing the husband and the other the wife.[6] The Fried Bread Stick (Youtiao), a type of cooked wheaten food of long strip, is a breakfast dessert in China. Its surface is crisp and the inside part is soft; it looks golden and tastes dainty. It is a popular traditional food for breakfast in China. The Fried Bread Stick is also called “Youzhahui” or “Deep Fried Ghost (Youzhagui)”. It is said that the Fried Bread Stick was a breakfast food invented by the people of Hangzhou during the South Song Dynasty. In 1142, the national hero Yue Fei was killed by Qin Hui in the Storm Pavilion (Fengbo Pavilion), near which there was a refreshment shop specializing in deep-fried foods at that time; when the boss of the shop, who was frying foods, heard the news that Yue Fei and his wife were killed by Qin Hui, he couldn’t  control his angry and threw two pastes tweaked by him in the shapes of a man and a woman into the oil boiler, while crying:” Come to eat fried Qin Hui!” After hearing this, the surrounding people, who understood his meaning, came to eat and cried with him. Later other refreshment shops followed him, making the whole Lin’an City begin to make “Youzhahui”. Today, although “Youzhahui” is called “Fried Bread Stick” in many regions, it is still called “Youzhahui” or “Deep Fried Ghost (Youzhagui)” in some regions. This legend transformed the ordinary process of having Fried Bread Stick into the process of “eat” the hated man. Actually, The Fried Bread Stick enjoys a long history. The Fried Bread Stick was called “Hanju” anciently. Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once described the shape and production process of the Fried Bread Stick in his poems. The Fried Bread Stick is called “Guozi” in most regions of north China. “Guozi” means dim sum. Due to its popularity, the Fried Bread Stick almost becomes the substituted name of breakfast in North China.  The Fried Bread Stick can not only be eaten in full, but also can be eaten in many ways. For example, it can be torn into pieces and mixed with the soybean milk, be wrapped with rice, or fried or braised with shrimps after being chopped. I don't think that I'll ever be able to eat these knowing why Chinese people created them...

Video links

So I had to watch the Mad Men clip again. This scene alone makes me want to start watching Mad Men. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus

Here's the Iphone vs Evo video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg

By the way, I'm already using what we're learning in class for work stuff. And the Mad Men clip definitely inspired me with some ideas!

Man of Transaction

In John Seabrook’s recounting of his experience at Skywalker Ranch, he professes that “there was no denying that a transaction was involved somewhere along the line. A relationship between The New Yorker’s brand and Star Wars’ brand had developed, and it was in The New Yorker’s advantage to cultivate it.” But as we advance as a more consumerist society, couldn’t every action be considered a transaction? Especially considering the many forces at play behind how brands are established and viewed by consumers, it seems every action we make can be considered a consumption of, an indirect use of, or feedback of a brand. Something of value (and everything can eventually be assigned a monetary value—money allows us a system to reduce “qualitative determinations to quantitative ones”) is always being exchanged. But quantifying everything is part of human nature. Whether it’s money, time, or scientific phenomena, it’s part of our DNA to quantify and one of the reasons we’re such an advanced species on this earth.

Is quantifying such a terrible thing? I guess we could all theorize on where the world will end up. On an optimistic note, maybe our ability to quantify everything and to break down our world into basic units and transactions will allow us to live our lives more responsibly. We could put a price tag on every action we make. Maybe we would feel more accountable for our actions and the effect we have on this world. But then again, humans are more reactionary—we don’t have the best record in correcting our behavior to be more preventative—and this will probably catch up to us someday. (Wow, that sounded preachy. That’ll probably cost me a few seconds of a potential reader’s attention, which could range between a few cents and few dollars).

Consumers in Focus Groups

I saw this commercial three times this afternoon before I saw the connection between it and our most recent class. I'll bet you can do better.

Peanut Butter Snickers

Confession

I may actually have to re-evaluate my opinions on The Simpsons. That study done by Alters put me in the uncomfortable position of seeing my own hypocritical views on the show through those two families. Then again, maybe I would just like the show better if it wasn't a comedy... but then it wouldn't be The Simpsons, would it? Perhaps there are unresolvable conflicts of interest.

On a tenuously related note, did anyone think that the two families that Alters did her case study on were similar to the families in Wife Swap?

"I Am": Cannibalism, Neo-Liberalism, Consumerism, and More!

I just wanted to post this while it was fresh in my mind.

In Leonard Maltin's class tonight we watched a documentary called "I Am" directed by Tom Shadyac that sets about asking the questions 1. What is wrong with the world? and 2. How can we fix it? The bulk of the film is concerned with exploring how cooperation, compassion, empathy, and love are integral parts of the human experience and should be employed to build a more sustainable, better world. However, something that really caught my attention and immediately made me think about some of the issues we have been talking about came in the opening third of the film where Shadyac diagnoses what he refers to as "the sickness" of our culture. In this segment, Shadyac hints at the forces of consumerism, neo-liberalism, and cannibalism, among others, that have created a culture that has moved away from caring about people to a culture that is committed to caring about consumers and the satisfaction of the needs of the individual above all other concerns.

I found the film extremely thought provoking in all respects and wanted to urge you all to see it when it opens in L.A. on March 11. Perhaps we would be able to analyze how the film examines some of the topics we've encountered.

End of plug. More academic posts to follow!

Hermione Granger as Feminist Role Model

http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=182205

http://www.blogher.com/hermione-granger-feminist-role-model

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/socialstudies/archive/2010/11/16/hermione-is-modern-day-wonder-woman.aspx

http://www.helium.com/items/713838-character-analysis-hermione-granger-in-harry-potter

http://geekswereright.com/2010/02/13/bellavshermione/

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Potter+Hermione+Granger+culture+anomaly/3834224/story.html

Food Inc. and conversation with creators tomorrow night

http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/32/event/879135

The best-selling authors talk about the industrialization of food and its devastating impact on personal health and the environment.

Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, authors of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, respectively, are two of the country’s leading voices on issues of food, the food industry and sustainability. Their groundbreaking work has started a revolution in how Americans think about what they eat. Pollan and Schlosser both appeared in the Academy Award–nominated documentary Food, Inc., which Schlosser co-produced. Join us as they come together for an important, fascinating conversation.

The event will be moderated by Evan Kleiman, KCRW radio host, best-selling cookbook author and chef/owner of Angeli Caffe.

A reception will follow.

For the past 20 years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs and architecture. He is the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, winner of the James Beard Award, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which was named one of the 10 best books of the year by both The New York Times and The Washington Post. His book The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World was also a New York Times best-seller and received the Borders Original Voices Award for the best nonfiction work of 2001. PBS created a two-hour special documentary based on The Botany of Desire. Pollan’s most recent book is entitled Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. A contributing writer to The New York Times magazine since 1987, Pollan has received numerous awards for his writing, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series; a John Burroughs prize for his book Second Nature; the QPB New Visions Award and Reuters-IUCN Global Award for environmental journalism for his reporting on genetically modified crops; and the Humane Society’s Genesis Award for his writing on animal agriculture. In 2009 he was named one of the top 10 “New Thought Leaders” by Newsweek magazine.

As an investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser explores subjects ignored by the mainstream media and gives a voice to people at the margins. Over the years, he has followed the harvest with migrant farm workers in California; spent time with meatpacking workers in Texas and Colorado; told the stories of marijuana growers, pornographers and victims of violent crime; gone on duty with the New York Police Department’s bomb squad; and visited prisons throughout the United States. His work defies categorization, earning praise not only from liberal publications like The Nation, but also from Fortune, the Financial Times and the National Review. Schlosser’s first book, Fast Food Nation, has been translated into more than 20 languages and remained on The New York Times best-seller list for two years. His second book, Reefer Madness, also a New York Times best-seller, looked at America’s thriving underground economy. Schlosser has also worked in the film industry, serving as co-producer of the award-winning documentary Food, Inc., in which both he and Pollan appear. He was also an executive producer and co-writer of the feature film Fast Food Nation, directed by Richard Linklater. The screenplay was named one of the best of that year by New York Times critics A.O. Scott and Mahnola Dargis.

Evan Kleiman is host of the weekly radio food show Good Food, which is heard each Saturday morning on KCRW 89.9 FM. She is also the renowned owner and executive chef of one of L.A.’s favorite restaurants, Angeli Caffe, and best-selling author of numerous cookbooks, including Cucina Fresca and Pasta Fresca. She was the founder of the original Slow Food chapter in Los Angeles and ran it for eight years. She served on the Board of See-LA, the nonprofit which runs the Hollywood Farmers Market, and currently serves on the Stewardship Council of Roots of Change, an organization creating linkages to attain a sustainable food system in California by 2030.