"novelty" news and stories

It is safe to say that  when the word "drumstick" is uttered, several things might come to mind. For a musician, that first thing could be the sort of drumstick that is used to, well, play the drums. The more common thought is that of a piece of poultry, also known as the drumstick. This drumstick is the lower part of the leg the fowl. Composed of dark meat, the drumstick is easy to eat with your fingers because of a protruding bone and is quite popular for snacking, as it has a high skin-to-meat ratio.

Another type of drumstick is an Asian plant. These drumsticks are long, thin pods that grow on Moringa trees and get their name from their hard outer casing. Inside that casing, however, is a soft interior which tastes slightly of asparagus. The pods are often prepared in a similar way to green beans, getting chopped into small lengths and tossed into stews, curries and noodle dishes. The seeds inside the drumsticks are edible and are about 40% oil, which can be extracted and used for cooking.

The final type of drumstick is my favorite and has been since I first had one as a kid.

Most American diners don't associate Asian foods with dessert. They think about sushi and spring rolls, maybe even pad thai. Sweets are limited to a fortune cookie and a milky Thai iced tea, though there are many sweet offerings in the countries that have inspired these foods. One treat, as an article in the SF Guardian pointed out, did achieve success: boba (bubble) tea, though its heyday seems to have passed and there are no longer a dozen joints a day springing up in college towns.

Two companies think that they can continue the trend and bring their Asian treats to mainstream America. One is Beard Papa, a chain that sells only cream puffs and has become very popular not only for its high quality puffs, but for its novelty. They have done very well so far, and more locations are opening all the time.

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Yesterday's San Diego Union Tribune featured an article about several new offerings from French winemakers who are taking aim at the low-end wine market in the U.S. XL Wines' Jet Lag comes in 8.8 ounce screw-top bottles that look like shampoo or cologne and are meant to fit in a carry-on bag. Sounds pretty close to a hip flask. According to the article, other XL offerings include bottles with no names, only clock faces and times of day on the labels. Then there's Los 3 Bandidos, a Pancho Villa-inspired French wine with advertising mired in bullet holes and tales of Mexican revolutionaries. Most are expected to sell for $8-$10.

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I recently found these chocolate thongs (his and hers) on Cool Hunting. Much like the person that posted about them over there, I'm not really sure there's anything I can say about these things that's any funnier than what can be thought by just looking at them.

They're available for sale on BoysStuff.co.uk for £4.95. Looking at the site now, however, it appears that both models are out of stock. It looks like you can pre-order though. "Share a sweet treat with the thong you can eat," say the poets over at BoysStuff. They also claim that these are made from good quality Belgian milk chocolate. I think the caliber of the chocolate kind of goes out the window once it's been attached to ass-floss, however.