New activity – Jelly Bean shopping

Laura: Although there are millions of jelly bean fans, I’m not one of them. Not that I don’t like them, I just wouldn’t go out of my way to get them. But my hubby loves them, so when Barbara and I passed an old-fashioned candy store in McKinney, I wanted to check out their jelly bean options. Bingo! The shop had an amazing selection of, well, everything! I concentrated, however, on these colorful bins of jelly beans:

This shopping experience triggered a curiosity in both of us to find out more about this little bean of distinction. Here are some fun facts:

1. Back in the 1910s and early 1920s, people called a young man who dressed fashionably but had little else going for him a “jellybean.” In fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald published a story about such a man called….you guessed it: Jellybean.

2. In the U.S., fans of the Beatles threw jelly beans at the band, imitating fans in the UK who threw the British candy Jelly Babies at George Harrison, who loved the candy.

3. Ronald Reagan began eating jelly beans to kick his pipe smoking habit. He became so enamored with them, he ordered three and a half tons for his inauguration.

4. There are more than 100 flavors of jelly bean, from normal (cherry, lime) to eccentric (pancakes, maple syrup, ginger ale) to outright gross (vomit, dirty socks).

New movie theme: JAPAN

Barbara: Ever since I graduated from college and went to work for a Japanese company, I had dreams of visiting Japan. Fast forward – I won’t tell you how many years – and I’ve finally planned a trip for 2024. While in the Japanese frame of mind, I thought I’d watch a film that took place there and hit upon the Oscar winner for Best International Film in 2009, Departures. I absolutely loved this movie about a cello player whose orchestra needs to dissolve and who applies for a job that he thinks is for a travel agent or tour guide as the ad mentions “Departures”, but is actually for an undertaker. It provides a bit of humor at first but quickly becomes a drama and by the end of the film I was entranced. What really struck me was how what they call “casketing” was done with such tenderness, while the family watched. It was really quite moving and highly recommended by me.

On that vein I found this lovely (sarcastic) piece of trivia about the burial business in modern day Japan: Japan has the world’s highest rate of cremation—more than 99 percent. Because of the long wait lists at crematoria, a cottage industry of “corpse hotels” has sprung up.

I think I’ll vet my hotels very carefully!