Netflix Weekly: Supersize Me, Thriller: A Cruel Picture

[Scrivener]

Supersize Me - After seeing this documentary I don't think I'll ever eat fast food again. Scared the bejezus out of me. Basically, McDonalds is more deadly than cigarettes. Time to start looking up those vegetarian recipes. The movie is, fortunately, really funny as well -and reveals some of that capitalistic two-faced hypocrasy that makes America to great (italics for sarcasm). Definately recommend. 10/10

Thriller: A Cruel Picture - An old exploitation movie from the 70s, this serves as the inspiration for such films as Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs. It shows it's age, and it's very - um... unrated... but it's a fun look at pulp exploitation cinema. 8/10

[Guest]

You dont need to become vegetarian. The public just needs to get off their lazy asses and learn how to cook.

Its not only fast food thats bad. Frozen and ready to eat food (aka hot pockets, canned food, etc) is just as bad. Anything that has a company put chemical additives to preserve the product (and yes, even frozen foods have it) is bad.

I lived for 3 months in Japan back in '00 or '01 (i forgot now.. bah im getting old) and one of the things that *really* surprised me was the food.

No, I dont mean it was supertasty (it was), but that it was all literally home-made.

You went to a convenience store to buy something to eat or snack on and it was all fresh stuff. Most of it was made in the very store or hand-made and delivered to the store early in the morning.

One of my favorite snacks was the Onigiri..literally a rice ball wrapped seaweed. I had to go to catch the train to go to my school very early in the morning, so I had to wake up around 3 am and walk 10 blocks to the train station and wait about half an hour until the trains started running..then it was 2 hours of train riding to get to the school. Anyway, on the way TO the train station I went by a family ran 'factory' ..they supplied all the onigiri to shops around the area. When I reached the train station i would always see their midget trucks unloading trays of the stuff to the store. And this happened all over Tokyo with almost every foodstuff you could buy. Even the Bentos ('lunchbox'..rice with some sushi and sashimi on it) were hand-made and delivered to the stores.

I was on a homestay program like the other guys in the study program, and we all were amazed at how people just didnt buy or eat 'junk' foods. No cheetos, no hot pockets, no proccessed foods.

When I came back from there i had actually lost weight and returned ..well, i would say healthier. After that trip I never again looked at hamburgers or store-food (beef jerky, donuts, etc).. it just doesnt look appetizing any more. I eat those and feel slightly sick.

[Kevin Trotter]

I stopped eating traditional fast food after reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It is a modern day version of the Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I went from eating Wendy's and Burger King to an occasional chicken burritto from Baja Fresh. VERY occasional. I also searted doing most of our shopping at Whole Paycheck..I mean Whole Foods. BTW hey Tac where can I get me some Aji-mirin? every since my buddy Shinji moved back home i've been missing it! That and the dried squid snacks..I know to those who nver ate them they sound nasty but trust me they are tasty.