Bryan Berg, a 34-year old American, just broke his own record for the highest free-standing card structure. His latest masterpiece? A 35-foot replica of the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel. The real hotel spans 1.2 million square-feet and is the world’s largest resort hotel. Berg spent 44 days stacking 218,792 cards to create the elaborate structure. Impressive, but talk about having too much time on your hands.
Trained as an architect, Berg has a master’s degree from Harvard Graduate School of Design and told CBS News that he’s taken enough structural engineering “to be dangerous.” It seems as though he just can’t help figuring out how to build things, even when he’s just playing around with cards.
Watch this funny Thai commercial and see what lengths women will go through for beauty. Pretty scary to know what really lies beneath. Be very afraid guys!
It’s pretty amazing how American fast food giant KFC became the leader of the restaurant industry in China, a country known for its culinary arts. Warren Liu’s ‘KFC in China: Secret Recipe for Success” gives us an in-depth glimpse of how the fried chicken heavyweight captured the market share from its inception in 1987. Liu was the previous business development vice president of Tricon Greater China, KFC’s former parent company. KFC is currently under the Yum! Brands umbrella which include the likes of Taco Bell.
I reviewed a fascinating company profile on Medill Money Mavens, a business news blog run by graduate jourmalism students at Northwestern University. Here are some interesting tidbits I picked up from the book:
“There are several elements of KFC that makes it appealing to the Chinese. The colonel mascot resonates with a country where respect for the elderly is a large part of their culture. Another example is that excluding pork, the Chinese prefer chicken over all the other meats.”
This is totally making me crave fried chicken by the way.
This isn’t the first time that Eri Yoshida has made an impression–last year the 5′1″ 18-year old became the first female to be drafted into a professional Japanese baseball team. But on Tuesday, Yoshida received the chance to pitch with her childhood idol, Boston Red Sox’s Tim Wakefield.
“I’m impressed,” Wakefield told ESPN.
As a kid, Yoshida watched videos of Wakefield and mastered his infamous pitch–the knuckleball.
“It’s an honor to have somebody carry on a knuckleball tradition,” Wakefield said. “And somebody that’s doing it because she likes what I do. It’s pretty cool to have someone come over to the States from Japan.”
So what exactly is a knuckleball? Basically, it’s a special baseball pitch that’s known for it’s very erratic and unpredictable motion. Depending on the pitcher’s style, a knuckleball can change direction, and even corkscrew, in mid-flight. As you can imagine, this makes a knuckleball incredibly difficult–and some would say impossible–for batters to hit. In fact, it’s such a crazy pitch that even catchers have a hard time catching it!
I think it’s so inspiring to see how Yoshida has broken through the gender barrier and succeeded among all-male competitors. Go Eri Yoshida!
I don’t even know how the Japanese think of these things, but it looks like there’s now an innovative way to clear stuffy noses. For those of you dreading spring fever, check out the “Hana Sukkiri Melody” (literally, “cleared up nose” Melody) ringtone. The resonating sounds are apparently capable of shaking out the pollen in your nostrils! Just hold the phone beneath your nose when someone calls, and say goodbye to hay fever.
It seems like everyone and their mom is using Twitter, and the Tibetan spiritual leader is no exception. I think it’s great that he’s open to new ideas and is exploring the world of social networking sites. In the case of the Dalai Lama, his tweets are disappointingly impersonal. However, I guess it’s a good way to keep up with his whereabouts and official announcements.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could read tweets like this:
DalaiLama “Just found out who Tiger Woods is thru interview w/ @AssociatedPress. Adultery. Not cool.”
Started in Feb 22, the account has already tweeted 26 times and built up a following of about 137,016 Twitterers as of today.
Wow, not only does Singaporean coffee, or kopi, taste damn good, but it apparently has desirable health benefits too. A study by the University of Minnesota has found that drinking two cups daily will help stave off advanced colon cancer for smokers.
Sabrina Peterson from the University of Minnesota says:
“Singapore Chinese prepare coffee in a way that likely preserves the putative chemoprotectants, cafestol and kahweol, that have been the primary focus of basic science investigations of coffee and cancer prevention.”
Ever been suspicious of your date shaving more than a few years off his or her age? “These aren’t age spots. They are just large freckles!” Sound familiar? Well the Japanese have come up with this $10 gadget that will detect the age-liars; a perfect addition to your dating arsenal.
The age prediction machine releases a high pitched frequency “mosquito tone” that will separate the young from the old. You’ll be able to tell what age range your date belongs to judging by the tones they are able to hear. Just discreetly press the button and watch them smack the air for imaginary mosquitoes. There are four different age groups that range from teenagers, twenties, thirties to the above forties group. Now you won’t need find an excuse to tug their toupe-looking hair!
We’re now at the end of black history month, and we thought it would be nice to talk about an African American who made a huge splash in Japan, changing the face of Japanese music history forever: Jero. I remember first hearing Jero’s debut single, Umiyuki, two years ago and being immediately blown away by it. If you close your eyes and listen to his music, you’d have no idea he was actually born and raised in America, and that his only claim to being Japanese was through his maternal grandmother. Jero had apparently sang Enka ever since he was six and dreamed of becoming a celebrated Enka singer because of his grandmother’s influence. His dream came true in 2008 — he won the best new artist at the 50th Japan Record Awards.
Enka is a type of Japanese traditional music that the older generation is very into. Before Jero entered the Japanese music scene, Japan’s younger generation wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the genre. Youngsters would groan whenever their grandparents tuned into it on TV (I know I did). Then Jero came in, and pretty much overhauled our perceptions of Enka. He made it hip. It’s interesting to see him fuse the worlds of hip hop and Enka through his streetwear fashion and funky dance moves.
I’m now an Enka addict and my grandma always makes fun of me for this sudden 180 change. I remember how much she laughed when she found me in my bathroom blasting Enka music while I was primping for a night out.
Last night, I was chatting with Suzie and a few friends over drinks when the topic of sporks came up. Initially I thought it was just a fobby slip of the tongue. But no, I did hear right. Sporks actually do exist! Apparently, this ingenious utensil is deeply enmeshed in American culture… and I’ve been completely unaware. My friend’s girlfriend Nadia told me that while she was that growing up, the spork was her must-have lunch box utensil.
So for you fobs that are clueless about this American phenomenon: a spork is a hybrid between a spoon and a fork. It’s pretty handy for those too lazy to switch between spoons and forks.
Its origins are a bit hazy, but Wiki says sporks have apparently been mass manufactured since the late 1800s. Samuel W. Francis issued a US patent for one of the earliest forms of the spork in 1874.
For spork fans out there, I found a Facebook fan group that celebrates the genius of Spork. Join it today!
(Thanks to Lu who inspired the spork discussion! It’s apparently the only cutlery he has in his house.)
We created Absolutely Fobulous as a light-hearted embrace of all things fobby, whether it’s news from the motherland, profiles on famous fobs or quirky anecdotes of our immigrant adventures. Email us at absolutelyfobulous@gmail.com for tips and suggestions!
It’s pretty amazing how American fast food giant KFC became the leader of the restaurant industry in China, a country known for its culinary arts. Warren Liu’s ‘
This isn’t the first time that Eri Yoshida has made an impression–last year the 5′1″ 18-year old became the first female to be drafted into a professional Japanese baseball team. But on Tuesday, Yoshida received the chance to pitch with her childhood idol, Boston Red Sox’s Tim Wakefield.
I don’t even know how the Japanese think of these things, but it looks like there’s now an innovative way to clear stuffy noses. For those of you dreading spring fever, check out the “Hana Sukkiri Melody” (literally, “cleared up nose” Melody) ringtone. The resonating sounds are apparently capable of shaking out the pollen in your nostrils! Just hold the phone beneath your nose when someone calls, and say goodbye to hay fever.
It seems like everyone and their mom is using Twitter, and the Tibetan spiritual leader is no exception. I think it’s great that he’s open to new ideas and is exploring the world of social networking sites. In the case of the Dalai Lama, his tweets are disappointingly impersonal. However, I guess it’s a good way to keep up with his whereabouts and official announcements.
Wow, not only does Singaporean coffee, or kopi, taste damn good, but it apparently has desirable health benefits too. A study by the University of Minnesota has found that drinking two cups daily will help stave off advanced colon cancer for smokers.
Ever been suspicious of your date shaving more than a few years off his or her age? “These aren’t age spots. They are just large freckles!” Sound familiar? Well the Japanese have come up with this $10 gadget that will detect the age-liars; a perfect addition to your dating arsenal.
We’re now at the end of black history month, and we thought it would be nice to talk about an African American who made a huge splash in Japan, changing the face of Japanese music history forever: Jero. I remember first hearing 
Last night, I was chatting with Suzie and a few friends over drinks when the topic of sporks came up. Initially I thought it was just a fobby slip of the tongue. But no, I did hear right. Sporks actually do exist! Apparently, this ingenious utensil is deeply enmeshed in American culture… and I’ve been completely unaware. My friend’s girlfriend Nadia told me that while she was that growing up, the spork was her must-have lunch box utensil.