Canned tomatoes, canned peaches, and canned pears can last for three years inside your kitchen cabinet before it begins to spoil. I have proven this already when I decided to open one of each mentioned a few months ago out of curiosity, as they were only gathering dust anyway - all twenty of them. Then I made a beautiful fruit salad out of them; except for the tomatoes. My neighbor would have liked it, but I didn't give 'em any.They were sent to me along with other pasalubongs from the US in a balikbayan box on Christmas '02. Now to prove my point: a week ago, when I opened one of them (the peaches) I discovered I couldn't have them anymore as they had this bad smell already. So, I threw them away.
It was sad I had to let it go. I will miss the poor can (and contents). I bade her goodbye and no sooner than that it was already in Trash Heaven among other foul-smelling empty sardine cans (the garbage dude made his weekly route on the same day, can you believe that?). What a waste (pun intended) to lose one of your kitchen's fixed assets, one with an amazing shelf life.
Speaking of shelf life, does anyone agree with me that on the average, restaurants and bars will last one full year, before it either lasts yet another year or closes down? There are many reasons, though.
I know a bar that I used to visit frequently where Valentine's Day is celebrated everyday by not removing heart-shaped balloons and cardboards (and everything associated with Valentine's like cupid, red colors, etc) that had been hanging on the walls and ceilings of the place since 1991 and get away with it. It must be the affordable beer or the Teriyaki burgers with that special sauce that keeps me going back.
By now, we all have learned that even leaders have a shelf life of their own. Anyway, my imported canned goods remind me of that famous Andy Warhol painting of those Campbell soup cans that are stacked on top of each other everytime I open that darn cabinet of mine.
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Art Linkletter loved interviewing children. He authored books about them in the sixties. I read one of them while in grade school titled "Kids Sure Rite Funny" while looking for a worthwile read from my father's mini-collection of Harvard classics. I thought it to be odd actually that the book was included in the set, but I was glad that I chose to read it.
Linkletter also had a television show with kids as stars called "Kids Say The Darndest Things."
It was an offshoot of the book, I guess. Anyway, comedian Bill Cosby revived that show in the late nineties with practically the same format as Linkletter's original - with the hosts asking the kids different questions (or anything interesting under the sun). Although I find the original better, of course.
Here are some of my favorite lines by the kids from the book:
"Inside matter are millions . . . of adams," according to a five-year old boy when asked about matter and its components.
On Politics:
"John F. Kennedy is my favorite 35th president of the United States," said a boy from Alabama.
Linkletter: "Who is the first lady?"
Little girl: "Eve."
One boy even went to explain on length about a phony man trying to impersonate the most famous bard in history, trying to articulate his theory by saying "Whether or not the William Shakespeare we know is really the real Shakespeare he claims to be is still a mystery. It is believed that another man by the name of William Shakespeare is . . . the real one."
But this is my favorite: "The ancient Egyptians all wanted to become mommies. It usually killed them." I scribbled this one on the blackboard during a Philosophy class. Not a soul reacted. Since then, I never took my classmates seriously anymore. Many of them flunked the subject.
(Note: not all text are written verbatim, except for the ancient Egyptians thing)
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