Garfielday

I'm having a real Garfield day. I wasn't going to post about him but since I came across more than one Garfield thing... I figured that maybe I should.

When I was a child and young teenager I loved Garfield. I collected all the comic books and loved to draw the characters, and every time I went to Sydney's Royal Easter Show I had to get the Garfield showbag. Strangely I never did get a Garfield plush toy, but my sister did. He was dressed in a red devil's costume, complete with pitchfork. Very cute yet evil. Hehe. I got an Odie dog which had velcro on his big tongue and he came with a plush white bone which would stick on the velcro spot. We also had a small Garfield clip-on toy. I saw a pic of a Garfield phone in a magazine once, as well as a fish bowl and obsessed about having them. Of course I never did get them. I guess I eventually got over that.

When we went to Taiwan my sister and I would get lots of stationery and stickers as in the 80s cute stationery was non-existent in Australia and I'd always collect the Garfield bits 'n' pieces. I have so many fond memories of Garfield and my childhood!

I always said that we had a lot of similarities. OK so I'm not fat, furry and feline but I love sleeping and sleeping in, I hate Mondays and I adore Italian food. I always have and I always will. Plus I liked to kick my sister up the bum as Garfield did to Odie (only kidding!). I remember watching this tele-movie about Garfield's life before he came to Jon's house which was really interesting. He was born in the back of an Italian restaurant, which started his love of Italian food.

So anyway, this morning my sister sent me this link to a Garfield comic site called "Garfield minus Garfield." I thought it would be a funny read but actually I found it quite sad and disturbing.

This is what it says:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

Then I found this article suggesting that Garfield died and I was like, "Wha-??!"

Anyway I shold end on a happy note and post this link. Instructions for how to make your own cute and yummy Garfield (and friends) cupcakes! (mumbles something about not having an oven...)

Breadtalk AnpanMan

I was going to write about this before but I'm glad I've left it till now because I just discovered something new.

It all started when we had been in Shanghai for a few days and were still staying in our hotel (JinJiang on Maoming S. Road). My mother came and met us and the three of us walked to Huaihai Road. We went to the underground supermarket at the basement of Parkson's department store. At the front of the supermarket there was a Breadtalk store (A Singaporean bakery chain I believe).. Mike got an Anpan Man red bean bun because he was attracted to the smiley face.

Many days passed and Mike was on a quest to find every Breadtalk in Shanghai. I found the list of stores but then he made a discovery. If you don't get there before 3 or 4pm, then all the Anpanman buns are gone! And they don't make anymore after that.

So we are always on a quest for the Anpanman.

Just then I found out that it is actually based on a Japanese cartoon character.

According to wikipedia, Anpanman (アンパンマン) has a head of a bun made by Jam Ojisan. His name comes from the fact that he is a man with a head made of bread (Japanese: pan, a loanword from the Portuguese word meaning "bread") that is filled with bean jam (Japanese: an) called an anpan. His weakness is water or anything that makes his head dirty. He regains his health and strength when Jam Ojisan bakes him a new head and is placed on his shoulders. Anpanman's damaged head, with Xs in his eyes, flies off his shoulders once a new baked head lands. He was created when a shooting star landed in Jam Ojisan's oven while he was baking. He has two special attacks called: An-punch and An-kick. When Anpanman comes across a starving creature or person, he lets the unfortunate creature or person eat part of his head.

Here is more about how Anpanman was born:
http://mboogiedown-japan.blogspot.com

Here is someone else who likes to eat him:
http://www.joelwesleyrose.com/2006_07_01_archive.html

And there is even a flickr group dedicated to him!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/anpanmanland/