Caveat: Robohamlet

[broken link! FIXME] ImagesCan you tell I'm a political news junkie? I found a really interesting study into the father-son dynamic between George Romney and his son the Mittbot, and how the latter seems to somehow be a Hamlet-like reaction to the traumas of former's parabolic political career. I think it's obviously just speculation, but it's quite interesting.

Note that George Romney was probably farther left in the late 60's than Obama is now, in all kinds of ways, but the subsequent evolution of the Democratic and Republican parties since the 1960's means that he was perceived as being rightish back then while Obama is perceived as leftish now. Also, somewhat interesting, is the fact that Romney the Elder was born in Mexico, yet no one seemed to really question his eligibility for the presidency in 1968. How did things change such that Obama's Kenyan father is a problem now?

"When you want to win the hearts and minds of people, you don't kill them and destroy their property. You don't use bombers and tanks and napalm to save them." – George Romney, while campaigning against Richard Nixon in 1968 (he was talking about Vietnam, of course).
[broken link! FIXME] DownloadThere's this funny quote about Romney's 1968 campaign, too, in the wikithing article: "Watching George Romney run for the presidency was like watching a duck try to make love to a football." – Jim Rhodes, once governor of Ohio. Perhaps one could view the current Romney presidential aspirations as being the unholy spawn of that weird fly-by-night romance between duck and football.

Caveat: 옛날 구수한 누룽지

Food 001I wrote [broken link! FIXME] once before about the Korean flavor called “누룽지” [nu-rung-ji = scorched rice] It was a time when I went through a short-time obsession with scorched-rice-flavored candy. Recently, I was wandering the aisles of my neighborhood supermarket, and beheld the product shown in the photo at right: “옛날 구수한 누룽지” (yet-nal gu-su-han nu-rung-ji = “old time savory scorched rice”]. It was on the same shelf as the multitudes of instant soups and ramens, so I adduced it was an instant product in the just-add-hot-water variety.
In the time since having scorched-rice candy, a little over a year ago, I have also had the experience of having “real” nurungji. Here’s how it works. Cooked rice is often served in heated stone or ceramic bowls – sufficiently heated that it burns onto the sides and bottom of the containers. This is “scorched rice.” Once you’ve managed to eat all the rice out of the heated bowl, you pour boiling water into the bowl and use a spoon to scrape and stir everything around unsticking the scorched rice from the bottom and sides of the bowl. Rather than throw this away (as might be done in the US), this soupy substance eaten as a delicacy.
I guess the flavor grows on you. It’s kind of porridgy. And I’ve always liked porridges of various sorts. I like that it’s sufficiently esteemed in Korea to have turned into an instant food. I bought some, and had it, and it’s grown on me. Little packets of dried out, pre-cooked, scorched rice. You add hot water, and it’s a delicious snack.
Reading the ingredients, it consists of nothing but rice (product of Korea!) and salt (not over-salted, either). I’ve bought this product several times, now. I eat it just as you might eat a bowl of hot oatmeal. Sometimes I Americanize it into a true breakfast-style porridge, by adding butter or brown sugar (I’m sure this would utterly horrify Koreans). Other times I have it with a side of kimchi and drink oksususuyeomcha (corn-tassle tea), more Korean-style. 
Welcome to the world of Korean comfort-food.

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