Get Clogged up
"Snowclog" sounds like an oxymoron. Clogs don't cover your heels,
and snow often hits above the knee. But this footwear item is currently
a hot seller. Introduced in the fall by Salomon,
which makes skis, hiking boots, in-line skates and other gear, the snowclog
(about $69 at REI, 1798
Jantzen Beach Center, 283-1300; or Walking Co., Pioneer Place, 700 SW
5th Ave., 223-9535) is designed as an après-ski slip-on. Think
about it: You wear flip-flops after swimming at the beach, but what do
you put on after an exhausting day on the slopes? Snowclogs come in orange,
black, brown and tan and have a heavy tread to make walking on ice a little
easier. They're not just for sub-freezing weather--last week's snow may
have been fleeting, but rain can be slippery, too. (CM)
Chewy New Year
The Asian financial crisis isn't the only thing that Japanese
folks have to worry about as the new year rolls around. They're also
in danger of choking to death on mochi, a culinary treat (or
threat) included in the traditional first meal of the year. Mochi are
made by boiling glutinous rice and then pounding it into a paste that
is surely the stickiest organic substance on earth. Though it would
undoubtedly make a good patching compound or non-toxic glue, it is cut
into balls or squares and served in soup (regional variations include
chicken stock with soy in Tokyo and white miso in Kyoto) along with
other so-called "good luck" foods. Give your favorite party host a crack
at these rather bland glue balls (10 for $3-$5 at Uwajimaya,
10500 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, 643-4512; or Anzen
Importers, 736 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 233-5111). (JW)
Dye Your Own
Dogs
When Monica Lewinsky clutched a diamond-collared poodle to her
overexposed bosom in the December issue of Vanity Fair, readers
may have wondered more about the pink pooch's hair than about the infamous
intern's. Pet dyeing, which was briefly popular in the '80s,
is back in fashion. According to a recent article in The New York
Times, cats and dogs can get their fur colored with safe vegetable
dye at a Manhattan pet salon for $45 to $85. The trend is slowly moving
westward. Only one local pet groomer contacted by WW 'fessed
up to performing the occasional dye job ($50 includes grooming and color
for a small, light-haired pet at Christa Grooming, 2425 SE 26th Ave.,
235-7180). But you can always do it yourself: A staff member at Rose
City Veterinary Hospital remembers one recent patient--a pink poodle
with a Mohawk that had been coiffed by its owner. (MM)
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Willamette Week | originally
published December 29,
1998
|
