Thursday, June 10, 2010

Real Movies & Marmite

Roger Ebert wants to start a campaign for real movies. I'm in. It's fun seeing cheesy big-screen action flicks with the kids, and thank the heavens for the brilliance of kid-friendly Pixar, but I spent most of my early adulthood going to see obscure films made by people with little allegiance to the Cult of Personality that seems to reign today (witness Catherine Keener in Percy Jackson and think back to Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall). I'm sure I'm venturing into Old Codger territory but for the most part movies are booooring and too expensive.

Curious about the effect of plastic in your life? Read this article in the New Yorker.

Finally, yesterday I featured a new campaign involving Marmite and Horrid Henry. It seems that some of my friends are unacquainted with Marmite. Someone (I won't mention names) almost conflated it with Vegemite. The horror!

So in an effort to convince you of the sheer wonderfulness of Marmite, let me feature a picture from my very own house. See, I've even labelled it in case of Potential Loss of Memory down the road. I'll always know what's behind this door.


(what about that obscure font? it might be hard to read. have you thought of that?)









Look! Marmite jars! It's a Marmite spice rack. If you look really closely you can even see the mini-heart Marmite singles from the Marmite Valentine's day campaign they had a while ago.

Big jars, little jars, medium sized jars. It's a Goldilocks cupboard, where everything is just right.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I admit it. I had to look up not only marmite (which I had heard of and once was served as a condiment for breakfast in Asia, but did not partake in...) but also Horrid Henry. Alas, I think I've lost face in my quest to be a true anglophile.

sheila said...

Get thee hence to a library, farrar, and check out some Horrid Henry. I forgot to mention this, but the audio books are read by Miranda Richardson (who is so good in the Harry Potter movies as Rita Skeeter) and she is AMAZING. Henry himself is rather obnoxious but my kids all love the stories and quote them endlessly. Your kids will become acquainted with such mysteries as sweets, pounds and pence, not to mention the silliness of the names.

ipsa said...

We cheer for Horrid Henry and detest angelic Perfect Peter. But I will never, NEVER eat Marmite.

Not today, anyway.

discalec [dis-kah-lik]: n. 1. a place where people go to perform weird, strange, and potentially dangerous dance moves. Brian slipped a disc while bustin' a move at the local discalec.
n. 2. a common condition at tax time.

- R

Anonymous said...

That is a LOT of Marmite jars. We are of course well acquainted with that brown sticky salty stuff in our house, though rarely partake as it is so expensive here. In the past the inlaws have loaded their suitcase with a large jar or two and the kids still like it when they can get it.

sheila said...

Nicola, if you lived here you'd have your choice of 'imported from Britain' jars OR 'manufactured in Canada' jars. Both about the same price. I go to the British shop for the big British ones so I can get the Horrid Henry labels (not to mention the I LOVE MARMITE ones at Valentine's).