Godzilla Eggs

Here’s a great way to sell fruit to kids… repackage it and call it something cool. Check out this japanese site for more cool ways that fruit vendors sell watermelons.

Jamie Oliver email is a hoax … or … a clever way to sell new book

This email hoax from about two years ago is doing the rounds again and has just arrived in my inbox. It reads:

Cook book = $50
Ingredients = $25
Getting sacked for “accidentally” releasing the new Jamie Oliver cook book to the entire planet before it even hits the shelves = PRICELESS!

The story is that someone at Jamie Olivers publishing Company sent a word document version of his 2nd book to one of their mates this morning and it’s now zooming around the internet – again.

It turns out that this email and the attached word file is a fake… true it does have real recipes in it and food photos but some further investigating showed that the recipes weren’t that new and Jamie’s lawyers were on the case trying to track down the originator of the email.

But what a fantastic way to MARKET a new cook book (Penguin says Jamie didn’t have a new book due for release btw)… spread a fake copy, generating a huge amount of interest and then deny it to the public but point out that the REAL cookbook is on the way. Hmmm … we have the new Spirit House music CD about to be released … might have to call the marketing people.

Read more about the Jamie Oliver email is a hoax.

One thing I have to say to Mr Oliver… “Dude, your Thai chicken curry recipe sucks! No fish sauce, palm sugar, shrimp paste – and virgin olive oil? – what are you thinking?”.

Land mines or Life Straws?

The situation in New Orleans has us thinking. People are suffering because they don’t have water to drink. Yet they are surrounded by water and for $2 an ingenious invention called the ‘lifestraw’ could be given to the people thus eliminating dehydration and water born diseas. This incredible device filters and purifies water as you suck water through the straw.. it removes all sorts of bacteria and waterborn pathogens etc. What’s more it can filter around 700 litres of water… which is enough water for someone to live on for a year! The lifestraw was invented in Denmark to help the millions of poor people who die of water born diseases each year. What amazes me is that a landmine costs around a few dollars (the USA is the largest produces of land mines) and there seems to be no problem distributing those to the poor countries/people of the world. I just wish you could buy lifestraws in the hundreds and donate them to communities… find out more from the Life Straw website

Customise your own beer

Is the Spirit House brewing it’s own beer?

Here’s a great idea just in time for Christmas and summer too. An Australian company called brewtopia are a boutique beer brewery and have created a fantastic online application that allows you to create your own beer labels so you can customise your own beer. They will brew your beer, stick on your labels and deliver it to your door. Check there website out to

customise your own beer.

Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena

Stare at the cross in the middle of the image above and the dots will disappear – how cool is that?
Here’s a great site full or more Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena.
viaboingboing

Killer Crochet

Wouldn’t you love a cool Grandmother who could crochet you cool stuffed toys like the bunny being impaled on his carrot above?

Patricia Waller would have to be the coolest crocheter on the planet. Check out her gallery of uniquely grotesque crochet work.

Great Vietnamese food blog

Murray has just sent me to a great site/blog by an Aussie living in Vietname blogging about all his bizarre Vietnamese food experiences. A great source of knowledge if you’re thinking about travelling to Vietnam and want to eat like a local.
Stickyrice

Strawberry Milk flavoured fish sausages- yum

What do you do when your sales of fish sausages start to slide? Add strawberry juice and milk to create a taste that appeas to kids. These guys expect to do $2 million in sales in the first year! Apparently the sausages taste close to regular fish sausages but have a nice strawberry after-taste… yum!

Link via: MSN-Mainichi Daily News: National News

water wastage propoganda

I have a friend who works for the government on our water shortage problem. It turns out that only 8% of water consuption is for domestic use… 92% of our water is consumed by industry. It seems to me that taking shorter showers or drinking recycled waste water isn’t really an answer and just a ploy to get politicians elected and boost ratings for tv news. Water is used in the weirdest ways.

My friend was telling me it takes tens of thousands of litres of water to make a car and coal mining consumes heaps of water. In fact one crisis we face is getting water to our coal mines as the drought takes hold, because without water then coal production stops. Restaurants use heaps of water too… that’s why we have installed new caroma toilets – the basin is on top of the cistern, when you flush, the tap flows allowing you to wash your hands and the waste water drains into the cistern ready for the next flush.

Food Anomalies

Looks like there’s a buyer for everything. The pretzel in the picture above- said to look like the virgin mary holding baby jesus- sold on ebay for $10,600. So while I start working on my ‘religious iconography’ pretzel making machine, check out other food that looks like stuff at hantula’s

museum of food.