Foreign branding is the art of making a brand name sound attractively foreign.

The formula for making an ice cream/frozen yogurt name:
• Two words.
• First word two syllables, second word one syllable.
• Have at least one Z or S.
• The first word should end in N.
• Put a diaeresis ön top of ëvery third vöwel.

Häagen Dazs – An American ice cream company, founded in the Bronx in 1961. Neither word exists in any Scandinavian or Northern European language.

Frusen Glädjé – An American ice cream company, founded in 1980. Unsuccessfully sued by Häagen Dazs in 1981 for “stealing their fake Scandinavian idea.” Surprisingly, “frusen glädje” (without the accent) actually means “frozen joy” in Swedish.

Yogen Früz – An American frozen yogurt franchise founded in 1986. Neither the word “yogen” nor “früz” exists in any Scandinavian or Northern European language.

Freshëns – A frozen yogurt and smoothie franchise based in Atlanta, Georgia. Also known as “Yogurt Ventures U.S.A., Inc.” The word does mean “fresh” or “freshen” in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, but still sounds like a Scandinavian feminine hygiene product.

Lïnk:
A nice Clicknation article on foreign branding by Bruce Campbell.

Tötali Reläted:
The Blogadilla Swedish Furniture Name Generator

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(chicken image by Rick from Holyoke, Wikimedia Commons)

Every time I order Chinese Food, the question arises:

“Who the hell is General Tso of General Tso’s Chicken?”

For those of you inexperienced in the ways of General Tso’s Chicken – it is a deep fried chicken dish, usually spicy with a sweet sauce, and a near universal of American Chinese Food restaurants.

General Tso is actually General Zuǒ Zōngtáng – a military general of Qing Dynasty China and a native of Hunan Province. In 1860, Zuǒ served as a military leader during the Taiping Rebellion and is accredited for driving the Taiping rebels from Hunan and Guangxi Provinces.

According to Wikipedia, General Tso’s Chicken does not exist in General Zuǒ’s hometown of Xiangyin, nor in the Hunan province capitol of Changsha. Also, descendants of Zuǒ still living in Xiangyin report that they have never heard of this dish.

This dish first appeared in the American Chinese restaurant pantheon sometime in the 1970’s and may be a creation of American restaurants.

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Though the art of engraving designs onto metal currency pre-existed “Hobo Nickels,” when the American “Indian Head Nickel” was released in 1913, the art form took off. Given the large size and relative low cost of the nickel, this became the canvas of choice among hobos – often adding a hat and scruffy beard to the Indian portrait, making him into a hobo.

The Original Hobo Nickel Society (OHNS) is doing its best to keep this odd artform alive – take a look at their gallery of newly crafted Hobo Nickels.

(via Garry)

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Skyfish (also known as “rods” or “solar entities”) are a fairly recent cryptozoological phenomena – since the beginning of affordable video cameras. They appear as small semitransparent rods with ridged lateral membranes [top right and left photos, artist's reconstruction bottom left]. According to enthusiasts, they can only been seen through a video camera – they dart through the air at such a velocity that they are unseen by the naked human eye.

The reality: There is no record of anyone ever catching a skyfish, though a Chinese effort to catch them (in 2005) revealed ordinary flying insects. Given that all skyfish evidence comes from video footage – and first-hand observations from skyfish enthusiasts/idiots – the answers to the mystery are obvious: frame-rate, motion blur, birds, and insects. The combination of the slower frame-rate of most video cameras (50-60 fps) and the frequency of ‘wing-flap’ of insects and (small) birds in flight produces a blurred/elongated body with multiple wing-flap cycles within a single frame set. A similar effect can be seen in high speed footage of birds and insects in flight [bottom right photo].

How to Catch a Skyfish:

Bonus Round:
The stick used to catch skyfish is called a “spoodle.”

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This sport is common throughout several east and southeast Asian cultures, usually involving the large horned beetles of the Rhinoceros beetle subfamily (Dynastinae), whose members include the awesome Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) and the Atlas beetle (Chalcosoma atlas). The large “horns” of the males are used for territorial fighting, where they will wrestle in an attempt to topple one another, until one submits, retreats, or is knocked-off a perch. Fighting these beetles is a popular gambling sport throughout Asia, from Thailand to Hong Kong (another link).

In Japan, collecting and fighting these beetles is common among boys – Rhinoceros beetles are easy pets to care for. These fighting pets are common enough in Japan that one can even buy Rhinoceros beetles from streetside vending machines (photo from the Photomann gallery of Japanese vending machines), and there are many Japanese toys and models that relate to Rhinoceros beetle collecting. Also, this practice is the likely origin of the Japanese game Pokémon, which gained world popularity in the late 1990’s, and which focuses on the collecting, husbandry, and fighting of supernatural creatures.

There are also dire “blood sport” forms of bug fighting, involving more dangerous insects, arachnids, and crustaceans – as seen on the website Japanese Bug Fights! (sadly, sometimes the matches end in fatalities).

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[Given that it is now the Chinese Year of the Rat, I thought this appropriate.]

A Rat King is not the King of Rats, despite what certain dippy ballets and Dungeons & Dragons geeks would have you think. A Rat King is a mythological creature composed of a mass of rats, stuck together by knotted and intertwined tails. This phenomenon is said to occur when rats nest together in large numbers and their tails somehow naturally tangle together. They are reported to move about as a single entity, running amock and scaring the sh!t out of everyone. This phenomenon/myth appears to be of European origin and the oldest report of a Rat King may date to 1564.

For examples of preserved (hoax) Rat Kings: Linkety – Link – Link

Perhaps only worse than a Rat King is the dreaded squawking Chihuahua King.

(via Susan)

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Today I was watching “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” At the monsoon-destroyed ruins of Hotel Citroën on the island of Little Ping, Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) notes:

“What a shame. They had a bartender here, Kino, made the best Rum Cannonball I’ve ever tasted.”

The question comes to mind: Is this a real drink, or something invented by Wes Anderson? From internet discussions and references, it’s hard to tell if this drink actually existed before the movie. Based on an average of posted recipes, I made a Rum Cannonball (actual photo).

The Rum Cannonball
•1 part white rum
•1 part gin
•1 part orange juice
•1 part pineapple juice
•1 part lemon-lime soda
•1 part strawberry soda
Serve over ice with a key lime, pineapple, or tropical orchid garnish.

What does it taste like?: Not bad . . . fruity fizzy booze.

An alternate recipe also exists:
•2 oz rum
•Top-off with orange juice
•4-5 dashes of Angostura bitters

What does it taste like?: Not bad . . . rummy spicey o.j.

Bonus Round: Drink one while wearing a Hotel Citroën t-shirt.

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