rorqualmaru

@noxillio @hanaamurakami Stupid is as stupid does. Hi, I’m stupid. Nice to meet you.

@hanaamurakami My stupid ass thought this was a poll and tried hitting Yes like 8 times

@tanpukunokami Large pepperoni pizza, a pitcher of root beer and MTV on the big plasma screen in its heyday. Times were good and so was Shakey’s.

Forget Pizza Hut. Forget Domino’s. There’s an American pizza chain that almost died in America — but is still thriving in Japan, more than five decades later. It’s called Shakey’s. In 1954, a man named Sherwood Johnson opened the first Shakey’s in Sacramento, California, with his college friend Ed Plummer. His nickname — “Shakey” — came from nerve damage he suffered after contracting malaria during World War II. He had tremors. His hands shook. They named the chain after that nickname. It became the first franchise pizza chain in U.S. history. Pizza Hut came four years later, in 1958. By 1974, Shakey’s had grown to about 500 stores across America. Live jazz. Banjo players. Pitchers of beer. Friday nights after high school football. Then came Pizza Hut. Domino’s. Papa John’s. By 2026, Shakey’s USA had collapsed to fewer than 50 locations — almost all in California. Basically dead in America. But here’s where it gets weird. In 1973, Shakey’s landed in Japan — through a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation and Kirin Beer. Japan barely knew what pizza was. Shakey’s didn’t just sell pizza. They introduced something Japan had never seen at affordable prices: The lunch buffet. All-you-can-eat pizza for the price of a regular meal. And then it got weirder. Shakey’s Japan started inventing their own pizzas. Mayo Corn. Mentaiko. Sweet Potato. Chocolate Banana Dessert Pizza. And one trademark side dish that, somehow, became more iconic than the pizza itself: Mojo Potatoes. Thick-sliced russets, seasoned breading, deep-fried to a golden crisp. Ask any Japanese person who was a teenager in the 90s or 2000s about Shakey’s, and they won’t talk about the pizza first. They’ll talk about the Mojos. I went to Shakey’s a lot in high school. Honestly, more than I should have. Tests done? Shakey’s. Date? Shakey’s again. Hanging out with the guys with no real plan? Yeah, Shakey’s. The pizza was fine. I’m not going to pretend it was the best pizza in the world. But the Mojos. Man. We’d just keep ordering them. Like, plate, then another plate, then another. At some point one of the staff would walk by and kind of look at us. Not say anything. Just look. I think we’d talk about stupid stuff. School, girls, who knows. I really don’t remember. But the Mojos I remember. So here’s where we are today. Shakey’s USA: under 50 stores, fading. Shakey’s Philippines: nearly 300 stores, booming. Shakey’s Japan: about 20 stores, still serving the same crispy crust they introduced in 1973. A chain nearly forgotten in its homeland — still loved in another country — half a century later. Anyway. If you’re in Japan, Shakey’s is still around. Mojos are still good. Funny how that works.

@SandyofCthulhu Charles Stross’ Laundry Files series is an example of how it works in the modern day. Always one step away from Armageddon.

For those who don't know, I am the original author of Call of Cthulhu the roleplaying game. I run my games in the modern era, not the 1920s. Sometimes people ask me how to make games scary nowadays. They have an idea that with cellphones and the internet, the bad guys don't have a chance. This looks at things backwards. The cultists have cell phones too. More to the point, modern technology is far more horrific and dehumanizing than the 1920s. I'm certain the King in Yellow has a TikTok feed. Our easy communication is a vulnerability - a means to doom humanity. In The Shadow From the Steeple, Robert Bloch tells us Nyarlathotep is behind the Manhattan Project. Because of course the Great Old Ones WANT us to have nukes. In Lovecraft's tale The Dunwich Horror, Wilbur Whateley's plan to destroy the world is thwarted because he can't get his hands on a complete versiuon of the Necronomicon. But today, the Necronomicon would be on Project Gutenberg. Every kook and psychopath on Earth would be trying out its formulae and the good guys would be completely overwhelmed.

@antitardUSA @faptuary They bathed, people bathed. Even commoners. This is a myth. The streets did stink though. Modern sewage wasn’t a thing yet and horses and humans were the engines of society.

@faptuary Once you realize how bad people smelled in antiquity, medieval Europe, during the renaissance, the old west or really any time prior to 1900, none of this shit is sexy. 😆

Uma Thurman had a spectacular pair

@yknngsnom Ramen here averages about 3500¥ for half the portion.

外国でラーメンっていくらくらい？ 日本はこのラーメンが麺300ｇで1000円

@Layyenne That’s not a lady’s arm. Why’d they use a man as the Lady of the Lake?

Merlin fans are still defending this criminal ending

@flowerdrums @sereneObscurity They have most of Juzo Itami’s film on the Criteriin channel, these included.

@sereneObscurity Criterion needs this + A Taxing Woman tbh

she’s giggly, energetic, has a strong work ethic but most importantly she has an amazing hairstyle and even amazing sweaters. this is my superhero film ‘supermarket woman’ (1996)

The “potential unauthorized activity” was me activating my account and adding it to my Apple wallet. That was a week ago. Your fraud department is completely useless. I’ve been waiting on a code in the mail for a week now and they will not verify me any other way. What is this? The Seventies? Unacceptable.

@HausOfVenus Hi! I saw your message and wanted to help. Please send us a DM with your account type, country the account was opened in and any details about the issue or concern. For privacy reasons do not include any account numbers or PINs in your response. ^Donnie twitter.com/messages/compo…

@love_channnn What’s up with this particular style of acting. It seems to have traditional roots in Japanese cinema.

帰ってきた最強の女😂✨✨

@hoshizorarock Rice is life.

アメリカ人のためにチーズ警察がご飯を作ってあげました。 さぁ、アメリカ人よ🇺🇸 たくさん食べなさい。

@afrocosmist Red Dwarf is pretty weird and an institution.

cant think of a weirder sci-fi show than Farscape. grotesque alien puppets, a living ship who has a baby, surreal acid-trip scenes/episodes detailing the growing insanity of a human marooned in some random part of the universe. its amazing that it even went on for 4 seasons

@berberbell @masksmith00 Shiro Waki, he had an exhibition in New York in 1981

@rorqualmaru @masksmith00 こうゆう作家や。 栃木県に生家を利用した小さな美術館がある。

キチガイだから独学で仮面作って生活してます。

@berberbell @masksmith00 It’s perfect…ly disturbing. I love it!

@masksmith00 これ思い出した

@nikutaberuru Kobo Abe

親愛なるアメリカ兄貴たち このポストが見えていますか？ あなたが知っている もっとも有名な日本人の名前を 教えて下さい。

@LCW_mofu We eat mostly chicken and enjoy a good steak when we can afford it.

「イギリス人だけど労働者は朝から晩まで紅茶飲んでてヌン茶とかしねえ」みたいなコメント読んで笑ってる。そりゃそうだよ日本人だって毎日スシテンプラ食ってねえよ (ﾟωﾟ)えっアメリカ人は毎日ステーキ食ってんの？

Some of us old heads enjoyed manga like Tensai Bakabon even if we never found English translations. There were old copies of Weekly Shonen lying around as I was growing up. As I got older I “read” and enjoyed Kinnikuman and Gantz. Japanese groceries offered subscriptions that they brought from Japan. I had a sheaf of about 12 magazines including Shonen Jump, Non-no and Fruits I picked up every week.

Why do people buy my books even if they can't read them? I think I'm truly happy.

@kzaway @YUIKO00 This would be perfect.

@YUIKO00 X上で許し難いゴミが現れた時に日本のオタクたちを召喚するハッシュタグほしいですね 自動翻訳で防壁にも攻撃型ファンネルにもなりますよ日本のオタクたちは

@47QTYxAveg57230 It's witchcraft!

この前の週末、粘土によるアメリカの牛肉料理作りに再度チャレンジしました！ 今回は「プライムリブ」を再現してみました。切り身一枚はお皿に盛り付けました。 アメリカの友人達、今回は焼き加減いかがでしょうか？ 念のため、これはフェイクフードです。私の指と25セント硬貨を一緒に写してます。

@hotahotasa45082 Here are my faves

海外の皆さんへ 好きな日本食はありますか？

@DaTa_jp That second helmet getting stabbed in the visor would fit right in with Angine De Poitrine if we slapped some enamel paint on it.

なお西洋甲冑というと「あら、矢だ⁉️」ネタとか、スリットや継ぎ目などが弱点だとされていますが…… 実際は兜に鏃は弾かれるし、隙間をナイフを刺そうとしても阻まれます。 鈍重なのは事実ですが、無敵に近い防護力を持つプレートアーマー……それが騎士の防具なのです