Category: Roo-ing the Day

A Bit of a Roo-ed Shock

Kangaroos are back in the Kangaeroo limelight

Kangaroos have always taken center stage in this blog (which I started almost 13 years ago to try to tap into the then recent introduction of Australian English into TOEIC testing), so it was a bit rare yesterday when I had the chance to write about roos but didn’t (albeit giving prominence to quokkas, another member of the marsupial family).

Yesterday, the Kangaeroos had a wonderful time at the Saitama Children’s Zoo, which has an Australian animal area., and attracted us because Mrs. Kangaeroo wanted to see its quokkas.

I know a lot of people aren’t too keen on zoos, but I love them, even though I feel for the poor captive animals.

I always console myself by saying that they are at least being freed form the savagery of life in the wild, even though that is the ideal reality and we should be looking to preserve ecosystems.

Anyway, enough of my pontificating.

Today, the macropodidae are front and center again, but kangaroos are back in the limelight.

Here’s a gallery of animals we saw at the zoo.

オズのアホ使い

 考えRooの母国であるオーストラリアでは、国名を省略して「オズ」と呼ぶことがある。

 偶然に、考えるRooの生き方は馬鹿な言動が中心となっていた。

 つきましては、「オズのアホ使い」と呼ばれても全然問題ないと思う。

 具体的なことを言えないが、分かる人は分かる。いくらでも成功する機会が与えられ、裕福になれてもおかしくない過去があった。

 しかし、貧乏で終わって、キャリアも何もならなかったというかキャリア事態はなかったというほど達成感がない。しょうがない。

 それはそれでも変えられない。このもんだ。それでも十分。というか、これで満足しています。「オズのアホ使い」らしい生き方をして、最後までもそうだろう。

 結局、考えRooはもう少し考えるべきだったかもしれない。

Beauty, Athleticism Driving Boom in Sales of Kangaroo Meat in Japanese Convenience Stores

Kangaroo meat is selling like hotcakes in Japanese convenience stores.
Sales of protein-related products are skyrocketing against a backdrop of growing fascination for weight training.

All protein-related products grew 40% year on year at Natural Lawson convenience stores from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2019.

And September 2019 sales increased 70% YoY, with kangaroo meat being a prime driver at the chain’s 143 stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Tokyo-based Vasel Inc. sells kangaroo meat under the RooMeat and Paroo brands throughout Japan, including the roo jerky selling strongly at convenience stores.

“Kangaroo meat is the pinnacle of red meats. Its saturated fats are 20 times better for you than beef and kangaroo meat is really popular among women with a strong awareness of beauty,” a Vasel spokesman recently told the Japanese media.

Vasel’s targets are those seeking an athlete’s diet of high-protein, low calorie foods, and women with a strong awareness of beauty and maintaining a healthy weight.

Kangaroo meat is not produced by keeping roos as livestock, but by capturing wild kangaroos and processing the meat. Vasel has imported kangaroo meat into Japan from Australia since the 1980s. Demand has grown significantly in recent years and it now imports 50 tons annually.

“There’s growing interest in red meat. Game is becoming increasingly popular within the dining industry. Women and athletes who are concerned with their health are eating kangaroo. We have focused on branding the meat as RooMeat since 2014, and the robust sales we’re seeing now are probably reflecting that,” the Vasel spokesman said.

Thwack! Roo Taking No Nonsense From Paraglider

An Aussie paraglider copped a shellacking from the national symbol recently, going global with a video showing a kangaroo attacking him as he landed near Canberra.

The paraglider offered a warm welcome to the ‘roo only for the mean marsupial to pounce at the intruder and let loose with a couple of decent whacks.

The kangaroo bounded off, leaving the paraglider unharmed except for a case of hurt pride and footage that has not gone viral.

My Goodness, Guinness…It’s a Kangaroo!

For much of the 20th century, Irish brewery Guinness used kangaroos for its advertising.

There was apparently no particular reason that advertiser John Gilroy selected kangaroos for a famous series of ads featuring exotic animals that the brewer used from the 1920s through to the 1960s and still common today.

The kangaroos in the ads were notorious for sneaking away a pint of stout in their pouches.

In addition to posters, the kangaroos featured in early TV ads, adorned coasters and were used for Carlton Ware figurines and even a salt-and-pepper shaker.

The advertisements ran under such copy as “Guinness is Good For You,” “My Goodness, My Guinness” and “Ask for a Baby Guinness.”

Guinness even ran a competition to name a joey born at Adelaide Zoo.

Archive Fact Sheet: Gilroy and Animals
How the Guinness Toucan Became the Brewery’s Most Iconic Mascot