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‘What Is It?’ of the Week: The Giant Isopod
‘Woodlice’ [a.k.a. - 'Pill Bugs,' 'Sow Bugs,' 'Potato Bugs,' 'Roly-Polies'] are a common sight in piles of moist rotting wood, and are perhaps the most well known examples of an Isopod [an order of...
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‘What Is It?’ of the Week: Aroniaberry, Açai, and Dragonfruit
[Technically, this is a "what are they?" - three relatively obscure fruits that are now making appearances in American food products] Aroniaberry (Aronia melanocarpa) – This berry is more commonly...
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‘What Is It?’ of the Week: Santa Claus and His Evil Servant
The modern American Santa Claus is the result of a huge mess of practices and figures that have collided at high speed throughout the ages. Here is a brief synopsis of the origins of the modern...
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What Is It? of the Week: The Rum Cannonball
Today I was watching “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” At the monsoon-destroyed ruins of Hotel Citroën on the island of Little Ping, Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) notes: “What a shame. They had a...
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What is It? of the Week: A Rat King
[Given that it is now the Chinese Year of the Rat, I thought this appropriate.] A Rat King is not the King of Rats, despite what certain dippy ballets and Dungeons & Dragons geeks would have you...
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What is It?: Bug Fighting
This sport is common throughout several east and southeast Asian cultures, usually involving the large horned beetles of the Rhinoceros beetle subfamily (Dynastinae), whose members include the awesome...
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What Is It?: Skyfish
Skyfish (also known as “rods” or “solar entities”) are a fairly recent cryptozoological phenomena – since the beginning of affordable video cameras. They appear as small semitransparent rods with...
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What Is It?: The Hobo Nickel
Though the art of engraving designs onto metal currency pre-existed “Hobo Nickels,” when the American “Indian Head Nickel” was released in 1913, the art form took off. Given the large size and...
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Who Is It? – General Tso of “General Tso’s Chicken”
(chicken image by Rick from Holyoke, Wikimedia Commons) Every time I order Chinese Food, the question arises: “Who the hell is General Tso of General Tso’s Chicken?” For those of you inexperienced in...
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What Is It? РF̦ren Branz
Foreign branding is the art of making a brand name sound attractively foreign. The formula for making an ice cream/frozen yogurt name: • Two words. • First word two syllables, second word one...
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