Althouse: "First, Mr. Foer was to visualize a large bottle of pickled garlic (whatever that is) standing in his family driveway in place of a car."

March 7, 2011

"First, Mr. Foer was to visualize a large bottle of pickled garlic (whatever that is) standing in his family driveway in place of a car."

"Next, he was to picture 'an enormous wading-pool-size tub of cottage cheese' at the front door and to imagine the model Claudia Schiffer swimming in that tub of curds; and so on down the list, in each case finding as creative and, well, as memorable an image as possible."

11 comments:

Sigivald said...: Is pickled garlic that incomprehensible a concept?

Huh. Must be a New York thing.; 3/7/11, 1:08 PM
Unknown said...: The business with Claudia Schiffer in the cottage cheese sounds like a WI-only wet dream.; 3/7/11, 1:17 PM
Toad Trend said...: "Mr. Foer adds: There are plenty of reasons not to take everything Pliny says at face value (he also reported the existence of a race of dog-headed people in India),"

I'll recall this article anytime some starts talking about 'dog-headed' people.

wv - skupew

Where bar codes pray.; 3/7/11, 1:23 PM
Matt Brown said...: I bet A.J. Jacobs is kicking himself for (a) not thinking about this before Foer did, (b) not doing this before Foer did, and most importantly, (c) not writing a book about this before Foer did.; 3/7/11, 1:34 PM
Triangle Man said...: I agree Sigivald, how odd can picked garlic be? Pickled garlic is wonderful. Even better, garlic stuffed olives.; 3/7/11, 1:40 PM
MikeR said...: Goodness - these techniques were well-known when I was a kid. He wrote a book about them? They aren't new or exciting, and they do work. But for most of us, they're too much trouble to be bothered. We're willing to forget things rather than discipline ourselves that much.; 3/7/11, 1:43 PM
coketown said...: I hate this whole genre of quasi-gonzo garbage in which a journalist takes a stupid premise, inserts himself into it, and writes a book about it. Like that year-of-living-biblically book, it appeals to dullards with shallow intellectual depth who find pleasure in having a broad, esoteric subject spoon-fed to them in an easily digestible format consisting of the author's trials and tribulations in coming to terms with the given subject.

Why read about memory-building techniques when you can read about a douchebag journalist practicing said techniques? Stupid.; 3/7/11, 3:15 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: But but but Claudia Schiffer wasn't on the shopping list. Must have been backup visualization since a gigantic pool of cottage cheese isn't ridiculous enough.

Then there's Claudia Schiffer in the foyer being pummeled by thousands of dozens of chicken eggs covering her entire 50 foot naked body with broken eggs.

Then there's Claudia Schiffer again stepping into the living room which turns into a river of milk causing Claudia Schiffer to swim naked upstream, her breasts flashing seductively with each stroke.

Then the 50 foot Claudia Schiffer is wrapped in bacon from head to toe in the dining room because she's crazy that way.

You probably see where this is going.

Claudia Schiffer grows to 100 feet tall and can no longer fit in the adjoining sun room so must bend over and turns into a gigantic Claudia Schiffer loaf of bread.; 3/7/11, 3:29 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: My first thought when I read...

Damn it, I forgot what I was going to say.; 3/7/11, 3:40 PM
Anonymous said...: I’m late to find this post but wow, this should be great. May not get any better…

audi-parts; 3/8/11, 12:52 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Mr. Foer adds: There are plenty of reasons not to take everything Pliny says at face value (he also reported the existence of a race of dog-headed people in India),"

I suddenly thought of dog killing soldiers in Iraq. Oh wait, this is Jonathan Foer not Franklin Foer (and boss of Scott Beauchamp).

But that may be something the Foers want to forget.; 3/8/11, 7:51 AM