Month #5 - Israel Snacks

Israel... the Holy Land. Usually I start with some facts about the particular country. Paradoxically, Israel is so full of history, it's difficult to come up with anything. Therefore I will default to some some cursory, superficial "fun facts" from the packaging.

Israel asked Albert Einstein to be President in 1952. He declined.

The world's first underwater museum is in Caesarea. Visitors dive underwater to see remnants of lighthouses, anchors and pedestals from ancient Rome.

Israel's #1 export is cut diamonds.

There is a Jewish phrase "eats movies" which describes someone being overly dramatic.

And now the snacks...

1) Tik Tuk - Corn Flavored Snack - Hot and Sour

Review:

These have the general form of your "American Cheetos":

But they are different.

Instead of the crunch of Cheetos, these are softer. And obviously the taste "Hot and Sour" is not cheesy. But what is it? Hard to describe. Combine the corn and MSG flavor of Cheetos with some heat and some tangy.

That's the best I can do. 

A slight thumbs up from me.

2) Fluffy Marshmallows

Review:

Breaking News: The marshmallows taste like marshmallows!

These come in white and pink. The white are purported to be vanilla and the pink to be strawberry. The difference is ever so slight. The pink/strawberry tastes ever so slightly like Frankenberry. 

More interesting than the marshmallows is that mascot. Is he supposed to be Willy Wonka or a legally-distinct Willy Wonka lookalike? There is no mention of "Willy Wonka" on the package so probably the latter. Regardless, he looks like a creep!

3) Honey Mustard Smash Pretzels

Review:

Hard pretzel fragments that have been coated with honey mustard flavoring.

I don't have too much to say, the description says everything. And, though highly favoring soft pretzels, I do like the occasional hard pretzel. These are good but they do taste pretty much exactly like Snyder's Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel Pieces. So if you want to know what these taste like, you can just buy those.

Good but unremarkable.

4) Bissli Falafel - Flavored Wheat Snacks

Review:

Looking at these, you'd think they'd be bland cardboard, like the snack equivalent of Grape-Nuts or something...

And yet they're anything but bland. I was shocked to find they taste like a soy-saucey or tangy bbq. Descriptions fail me but that's the best I can approximate. If this is always what falafel tastes like, my review is certainly stupid but I don't know if this is falafel plus other flavors or just the norm. And it's falafel made with chickpeas rather than fava beans, if that makes a difference.

Visually and texturally they are as bland as you'd expect but, yeah, the taste is a surprise. Pretty crazy. An unexpected Thumbs Up from me.

5) PesekZman

Review:

This is a chocolate bar but it's a bit unique. It's white chocolate on top and regular chocolate on the bottom and they both sandwich a light vanilla wafer. It's good. But despite the unique construction, I couldn't escape the feeling that it basically tasted like a Nestle Crunch Bar.

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It seems to me this edition is pretty lackluster. I can only conclude, given only this set of snacks, is that the Israeli cuisine is so similar to the American one, that there isn't much novelty to speak of. So not much to day this month, we'll see what happens in the next one.

Popcorn in Bed - Rocky Balboa

 

Well it's here, we've reached the end. How does a discussion of "Rocky" turn into a discussion of "Gilmore Girls?" More importantly, how do I move on from here? What now?

Stand Up Comedy Robot

 

Lyle The Intern: A Retrospective

 We were all waiting for the complete history of Lyle The Intern to be told in documentary form and it's finally here.

An ALF Easter Egg

 Apparently the ALF DVD has a most unusual, most unexpected Easter Egg. This is maybe slightly NSFW... perhaps.

And so instead of embedding it, here is the link.

Late Show - Ball, Get Out of My Nachos

 

Popcorn in Bed - Major League

 

Too much fun.

Notes on Chicago (The Band)

 There is a certain melody played by brass instruments that I remember from the 1980s that I can't place. Last night before going to sleep I added a todo list item "chicago hits."

There are two Chicago Greatest Hits-es: one from the 70s and one from the 80s. The 70s one is cool. The 80s one reminds me of every dentist's office, every department store I didn't want to be in, every doctor's waiting room of that era. Although I admire music that can inspire strong reactions, it is depressing. I don't know why they changed.

For reference. The 80s Greatest Hits:

I have done no research into the question of why Chicago's Greatest Hits on youtube includes Guns 'n Roses and Bon Jovi. Man is fallen.

And the 70s hits:

"25 or 6 to 4" and "Make Me Smile" are such great tracks.

In the end, there was no match to my mystery song and so the search continues.

How Many Bunnies Fit in an H&R Block?

 The subject of rabbits came up very rarely on the Late Show as it comes up very rarely in life. But when you multiply over the hundreds of hours, you can come up with a significant sample. One thing I found strange within that sample is that Dave never uses the word "rabbit" but always uses "bunny" instead. Just check out this Stupid Pet Tricks segment.

Similarly, I've seen the same thing with the Red Letter Media guys. Always "bunny" never "rabbit".

To me, this is highly unusual. It's my experience that children say "bunny" but adults say "rabbit." The only commonality between Letterman and RLM is that they're both Midwesterners so maybe it's a midwest thing? Aside from that, it's just one of those things, I guess. 

Donny Benet - Moving Up - Is it Yacht Rock?

 

Is it Yacht or Nyacht?

In terms of the song itself, I'm saying this is strongly in the Yacht column. Donny would do well to get another vocalist, he's not a great singer, his role as lead singer would not last long if Steely Dan are anywhere near the studio. I'm going to say this is solidly in the Yacht Rock category, it's smooth, it has the Doobie bounce, I'm going to give it a Yachtski Score of 70.

Rifftrax - Birdemic Discussion

This is one of my favorite videos of all-time. And yet, as far as I can tell, I never posted it. Is that possible? How is that possible?

The full Rifftrax movie is now on youtube: here.

Conan - An Interview with Nell from Old Timey Baseball

 

Even though this is the most interesting clip in the entirety of Conan's youtube channel, it feels unsatisfying. The character of Nell is such a mystery and it's good to get some insights but every answer just leads to more questions and those questions don't get answered. I mean, there's a time travel group? You play a character for what purpose? Is this a job? And so on.

If you're not familiar with Nell, this is the origin:

Somewhere Conan said this was his favorite skit they had ever done.

Late Night - Harvey Pekar

 

The film "American Splendor" seemed to be a unique era in film. It was a low-budget, "small" movie with little or no advertisement and yet it was a "hit" amongst people in my sphere. It just spread through word of mouth, people talked about it.

In the movie Dave Letterman is portrayed as something of a villain. He's the big star that has the ordinary guy on his show and mocks him for laughs. And although the "betrayal" appearance isn't this one, it's pretty clear to me that that element is pure artistic license. Harvey is a NUT (in the best sense of the word) and Dave is a polite talk show host who only occasionally, and lightly, counter-punches to Harvey's flailing arms assault.

Conan - Behind the Nonsense

Rifftrax - Replica

I thought this one was quite good. Rifftrax covers "Replica," another movie from James Nguyen, creator of "Birdemic." This one came before "Birdemic" so, you know, it isn't as polished or sophisticated.

When the dollar amount came out to be a childishly round number, I stood and clapped.

That Sounds Good, I'll Have That...

 A menu item at a restaurant on DoorDash:

A brief survey asking people whether this is most likely a joke or just bad sense was inconclusive. A number of people didn't know that "Buffalo Chips" meant dried Buffalo poop, so it may be a real mistake.

My sense: around here people use the term "fries" ninety-nine times out of a hundred. I have to assume it's intentional.

Bad Luck with Shipping

 

But what about my Girl Scout Cookies?!

Popcorn in Bed - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 

The blog has become very Popcorn-heavy lately but I welcome it. I assume it won't last forever - there are only so many favorite movies. Just "enjoy it."

"At least try to hide it, Mary."

For my overlong review of Eternal Sunshine, see this post.

JonTron - KFC Conspiracies

 

Definitely Bones.