Japanese soak in their noodles

France 24 International News Channel ^ | july 14th, 2007 | DancesWithCats

[DancesWithCats]

I enjoyed all the noodle dishes we ate when we were in Japan in the summer 2005.

I love noodle dishes. Got nothin' against noodles.

I've got a problem with the 'we've got ours, scr*w you' mentality of wanton waste. (no pun intended! LOL)

[DancesWithCats]

This is about as serious as a fraternity doing some stunt with a big tub of jello.

Also not an activity that I admire. It's just wasteful and I can't condone it, no matter what country or the foodstuffs involved. If you have the kind of money that it takes to buy a boatload of any sort of foodstuff, good lord, GIVE it to someone who needs it instead of putting on your shorts and rolling in it for the yucks. It just doesn't sit well with me. The world has far too many examples of suffering for some of the most fortunate among us to skip amongst the tulips and do what they will with the banner held high of 'it's my money'. Good timing with Bastille Day and all yesterday ... this topic.

[SergeiRachmaninov]

This was an interesting cultural item, and I was glad you posted it, even though I didn't share your indignation on the food aspect. I read real closely and my impression was that there was no food in the baths, just some bath salts that imparted a peppery smell. Those overhead "decorations" look like they might have been actual giant noodles. It was ambiguous but, as I say, I didn't think they were truly in the noodles.

Yea, I noticed the link mentioned France24, which I watch all the time (although the immediate source was AFP). I regard the French, whom I know something about, and the Japanese, whom I am very interested in but know very little about, to be the two tribes on this earth that have been most obsessed with style and its cousin, art, the Japanese being the clear champions.

The Japanese are so elegant and refined and yet, at the same time, the dark side of their culture is so very dark. The lesson that I take from it all is that human beings need to maintain a connection to nature, to food production, to child rearing, to sweaty work and things of this nature.

When they become too detached from those things and obsessed with extravagances of style and art, they lose their minds. Next thing you know, they are jumping into bowls of (simulated?) ramen noodles or exploring even sillier -- sicker/cruel/perverse -- realms of "aesthetic" experience.

[DancesWithCats]

Ah well. My goof. I should have posted the video right away as it shows the pouring of the noodles and dark sauce into the tubs right away. The article intimates that only a feeling of being bathed in ramen noodles was employed.

I like to see what others think about things that raise my hackles. I like debate. Now when it comes to this particular example, I haven't changed my mind any but I find it interesting that others defend it, even if it does involve real food. I can't understand that viewpoint. I've never been much on 'art' of any kind, though I like nice things around me in my home and have purchased quite a few things that would qualify as 'art' ... so I can't knock art altogether. But when art and behavior mix, I don't care too much for it (puts me in mind of Yoko Ono and her weird screaming naked fits! LOL)

[monkapotamus]

"This reminds me of old Twilight Zone episode. To Serve Man."

[SevenofNine]

Now that scary ROFL

[dfwgator]

“Ramen Noodles is PEOPLE!!!”

[restornu]

how many peed in the water yuck.......

[restornu]

how many peed in the water yuck.......

[magslinger]

Japan was a tougher, meaner place when they worshipped the Emperor, invaded China, attacked Pearl Harbor, and raised havoc until August 6, 1945 (they were working on their own atomic bomb at the time).

Don't forget their planned bio-war attacks on the US.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

College kids of the world, unite!