Friday, Dec. 12, 2008

Where have all the good cartoons gone?

In Korea, chestnuts are snack food. They are sold by vendors (as seen here) on the side of the road to young kids who grow up to love their nostalgic flavor.

To say they have a "nutty" taste is to state the obvious. But once you pop one into your mouth, it's unlike any nut you've ever tasted.

I got some the other day that were roasted over an open flame. They were buttery. They were sweet. They were delicious. Of course I can only imagine they aren't good for a girlish figure, but the hassle of slicing the sides of them with a sharp knife and peeling back their furry skins is portion control in itself.

Similar to clams or mussels, they open up with heat. It was kind of sad to see them split open with their fuzzy inner lining exposed.

Even more saddening is making a gingerbread house, knowing full well that you won't be able to eat it - it's purely decorative.

Chestnuts are on the pricey side, so I probably won't be getting anymore of them for a while. I just spent almost $20 on candy and chocolates for my office candy bowl. Our IT guy came up, nonchalantly snagging a piece, then said over his shoulder:

"I was wondering if you were ever going to refill your candy. I was going to write a blog about it."

During the last Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale, I bought a Santa hat for $3. It's pink with rhinestones all over it. After it arrived in the mail, I thought to myself..."Where the hell am I ever going to wear this?"

I don't have the best taste when it comes to impulse purchases. Quite honestly, I regret them 80 percent of the time.

Something I don't think I'd regret if I had gotten it, is a duck phone. I don't know if they really exist, but I saw one once in the MTV animated series Daria. Instead of ringing, it quacked.

Why do stations always get rid of good cartoons like Daria and replace them with awful ones like SuperJail!? I never understood Beavis & Butthead but my older siblings liked it, so I pretended to like it. You can't speak to any guy my age and older without them slipping a "Uh huh huh huh" at one point in their lives.

It's not that I don't appreciate crude animation, violence or low-budget shows. I love Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I'm in love with Skwisgaar Skwigelf from Metalocalypse. The sexism and androgyny in Frisky Dingo cracks me up. But I can't take seeing a grown man in a skin-tight mole outfit, like on Saul of the Mole Men.

But with shows like SuperJail! and Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, I wonder if this is another era of cartoons that I just don't understand, or if they really are piles of crap. In a way, it makes me feel out of touch with today's youth. More importantly, it makes me feel...old.