The greatest thing since, well, sliced bread

Last week, I finally bought a toaster. Why did I wait this long? Well, the biggest reason was that I just couldn't really find anything that fit both my demanding tastes and my cheapskate nature. Toasters are somewhat of a luxury item here (I saw some that were $300) so there weren't a lot of cheap options. Second, I don't have any counter space in my apartment and I took a long time convincing myself that I could rearrange things so that I wouldn't have to leave it on the floor. And finally, every time I found one, I either gave up on the purchase because my arms were already full of groceries, or I just didn't have the patience to wait in a ridiculously long line -- electronic stores in Lausanne seem to be chronically understaffed. Anyway, a price/convenience nexus formed at the store near my apartment the other day and I decided to pick up this winning model.

Fig. 1: I've tried the "Crusty Normal" and let me tell you, it's a piece of crap compared to the "Crusty Plus". Do you think a "normal" toaster would have a defrost or reheat setting?

Although the price (19.90) was awesome, I have to admit that I probably would have paid twice as much just for the name alone. How could I go wrong?

Once I had the toaster, I had to have the toast. As traditional European bread is not particularly well suited for toast making, I had to make a run to the supermarket for a loaf of (what I would consider "normal") sliced bread. Fortunately, there was a wide variety available.

Fig. 2: I for one am proud to see the American flag on this product. Frankly, there are a lot worse things that we could be associated with than delicious, pre-sliced bread that does not go stale within two hours of purchase.

Things to note: this is allegedly "XXL" toast for "BIG" sandwiches -- please. Also, note the patriotic packaging -- this wasn't even the only brand to feature an "American" theme for its sliced bread. From what I have noticed, "American" branding is used to sell sliced bread, peanut butter, and pop corn. I guess if I were forced to come up with a list of distinctly American food items (not obvious brands, like Coke or Spam), these would be near the top, maybe I would add pre-sliced cheese, chocolate chip cookies, and BBQ sauce. One final linguistic note: notice how the loaf of bread is labeled "toast." Of course, it's not actually "toast" until you put it in a toaster, but I guess in French it's "toast" whether you toast it or not. Oddly enough, in Italian, "un toast" refers to a sandwich that has been made on sliced bread and then toasted. Maybe it's just me, but I find it kinda funny that the word was borrowed by both languages and then the definition kinda floated in different directions over time. Anyway...

---

In totally unrelated news, a few weeks ago, I went to Zurich for a concert and as my plans were somewhat last-minute, I had to make hotel arrangements the night before and thus ended up in a place called the Zic-Zac Rock Hotel. It certainly wasn't the best smelling hotel I've ever stayed in, but I have to admit that it did have some charm. For example, all of the rooms were themed on a different rock group. Here's the list:

Fig. 3: I guess with so many rooms, the Zic Zac Rock Hotel was bound to have a couple of less than rocking rooms. Foreigner? Heart? Bryan Adams? At least there isn't a Winger room.

Each room was filled with posters, fake gold records, and even custom-made paintings of the band. I guess for certain bands, this would be pretty cool. In my room though, the theme was Prince.

Fig. 4: Can't sleep, Prince will eat me. Can't sleep, Prince will eat me ...

I dare you to go to sleep with that thing staring in your face.