josh pincus is crying

The new illustration challenge on the Monday Artday website is “strange food”.

To break up the monotony between shots of sun-tanned tourists on cruise ships and Anthony Bourdain’s smoke-filled excursions to out-of-the-way gourmet eateries, the Travel Channel debuted Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern  in 2007. Andrew is a chef, a food critic and, most important, a daring gourmand. He’s a likable and entertaining guy and, for a time, I enjoyed watching the show.

The premise of the show is simple. Andrew travels to a specific country, meets some locals, gets them to cook up a batch of native specialties and Andrew eats ‘em — no questions asked. And let me tell you, Andrew has eaten some pretty weird shit in the show’s five seasons. In early episodes of the show, Andrew happily scarfed down balut  (a fertilized duck egg with a duck embryo inside), a still-beating frog’s heart, fermented whale blubber, lamb’s tongue and eye, assorted insects and various internal and external parts of chickens that are usually dropped down a garbage disposal. As the seasons rolled on, a pattern seemed to develop. I became very aware of Andrew’s affinity for the reproductive organs of masculine members of the edible animal kingdom. It was very obvious that Andrew loved a good pair of cojones  at chow-time. On outings to local marketplaces, Andrew always questioned butchers about the availability of Rocky Mountain oysters  or, as they were called in the episode filmed in Spain - criadillas. Extended segments of subsequent shows featured a smiling and anxious Andrew stuffing bollocks  into his maw like movie popcorn. Happy waitresses or humble farmers would present platters overflowing with steamed and deep-fried delicacies — like calf’s brains or jellied moose nose — but Andrew, although grateful, would eye the kitchen, hopeful for a big bowl of balls. Soon, Bizarre Foods got boring.

The novelty of Bizarre Foods  eventually wore off and I started looking elsewhere for entertainment from my cable television provider. Frankly, if I wanted to watch a guy visit Taiwan and gobble testicles for an hour, I’d watch gay Asian porn.

Welsh actress Rachel Roberts appeared predominantly in British cinema, earning critical acclaim opposite Albert Finney in the 1960 British New Wave film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.  Her role in The Sporting Life, with Richard Harris, was recognized with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Rachel was regularly cast as women of questionable character, as in the black comedy O Lucky Man.  Director Peter Weir cast her against type as a teacher in his mysterious Picnic at Hanging Rock. Through the 60s and 70s, Rachel acted in television movies and guest roles in several series, including two seasons as Tony Randall’s irreverent housekeeper in The Tony Randall Show.

Rachel married fellow actor Rex Harrison in 1962. The marriage lasted ten years and ended in divorce in 1971. Devastated over the divorce, Rachel became depressed and turned to alcohol. She moved to Hollywood in an effort to forget her time with Harrison. Her alcohol consumption grew, especially after an unsuccessful attempt to win back Harrison in early 1980. Overcome by insecurity and depression, Rachel overdosed on barbiturates on November 26, 1980. She ingested an unidentified caustic substance in addition to the drugs. The acidic reaction propelled her body through a decorative glass screen. She was found by her gardener, in a negligee on her kitchen floor — her body cut to ribbons amongst the shards of shattered glass. Rachel was 53.

In 1948, actress Carole Landis took her own life over an ill-fated affair with Rex Harrison. What was it about Rex Harrison that drove two women to suicide?