Sunday - 2008-0525-1700 - Rain - London Street; Mirror-world; Kroger - Chicken Quorn; Kroger - Cat Food and Unit Pricing

Rain - London Street Larger Image A image from the grab bag of older ones. My first thought on seeing the spire in the upper left of the larger image was an association with Harrods. But as this image Harrods shows, there is no such spire. And there is no rain canopy cross the street at Harrods.

The brilliant William Gibson in his superb 2003 novel "Pattern Recognition" deals with the ventures of "Cayce Pollard, a 32-year-old marketing consultant who has a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols," but who possess a unique skill to be able to unerringly "judge the effectiveness of a proposed corporate symbol." A skill, in this age of logos and signage, of invaluable worth. (Also see "Pattern Recognition (novel)".)

She flies to London to examine the "new logo for the world's two largest manufacturers of athletic footwear."

With her heightened sensitivity, she notes that so many things in London seem slightly off, and she coins the term "mirror-world."

As I glanced at the larger image of rain on a London street, my reptilian brain came up with the idea that the double-decker buses were on the wrong side of the street. Then my mammalian brain screamed "mirror-world." Of course, they are on the left-side; it is the customary and difficult to ignore "rule of the road." (Unless, you're George Michael.)

Another of my treks Monday was to Kroger, "currently the second-largest grocery retailer in the country by volume and third-place general retailer in the country, with WalMart and The Home Depot filling slots one and two.' Since WalMart has discontinued their rose may and thyme-flavored chicken breast, I've been seeking a replacement.

Although the stores sell "fresh" chicken breast, I don't want to go through the of seasoning them. Plus they are not a microwavable item. Also there are packages of breasts but unflavored. Next are the "packaged" chicken patties, strips and formed breast. But these are manufactured items layered or formed together with a high sodium content as a preservative and to disguise the artificial flavour.

I've avoided the "dish" packages such as chicken and noodles or chicken and pasta, against because of the VERY high sodium content (80+%) of the recommended requirement. And the artificial flavor.

However, at Kroger, I was able to find genuine chicken breast seasoned with pepper and lemon. A tad spicy and a wee bit dry, but eatable.

The true find was Quorn chicken patties - "meatless and soy-free." Main ingredient is mycoprotein - "generic term for protein-rich foodstuffs made from processed edible fungus." Well, of course, the brand is not without controversy - see What's in Those Nuggets? Meat Substitute Stirs Debate". Obviously, any new product with "peculiar" ingredients is bound to stir debate.

This is all very strange considering that the mass of Americans know zilch about the origins of their daily input. Or the manner in which the animals are slaughtered or processed. Read one of these articles, and you will immediately turn to fruits and berries. And there's no guarantee there.

I've tried two of the Quorn "chicken" patties and found them excellent. I fear much of this deals with the expectations of customary taste. I use to offer people on Miso Soup, and they were yelling for EMT van in nanoseconds.

I've been buying the cheapest canned cat food at WalMart for years. But suddenly, the cats have lost all interest. So this was another one of my reasons for visiting Kroger's. The supply was far more limited than I expected. However, there was enough to fill part of the cart with a substantial mixture.

In my entry of contours provocations journal - 2008-0429-0830-tue, I made a couple of comments about the unit pricing at WalMart. Sponges - "They were priced as follows: six for $5.97; three for $2.97; or two for $0.97."

As I idled through the cat food sections, I can across a section that was $0.41 per can or two for $0.48. WTF!!!! And I'm sure many a demented shopper thought that was a fabulous buy.

(In Sunday - 2008-0525-1700 / Out - 2008-0525-2300) This entry was written in multiple settings.

Pax! Erin go braugh! Je accuse...