Bright Side: The Country Craze Spreads From Texas To Japan

Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week.

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It’s August, which means it’s primo tomato, sweet corn, and summer squash season. (Lima beans, we see you bringing up childhood dinner trauma). But I can already feel pumpkin spice coming on. It’s hard to imagine sweater weather in 90-degree humidity, but my daydreams are sprinkled with crunchy leaves, crisp blue skies, and cozy pumpkin spice lattes. Maybe it will feel fall-ish in the shadow of the total solar eclipse next week? A girl can dream. 

A friend recently shared how her dad gets a PSL on his drive home from his contracting job every day, all year long. Just like when McDonald’s answered our bacon-egg-and-cheese prayers by temporarily serving breakfast all day, his local Boston Dunkin’ offers pumpkin spice flavoring no matter the season. It’s his daily treat and he never skips it. 

Here’s hoping you enjoy life’s little pleasures this weekend! But first, a few more you can add to your list.

Hanging ten with the ulti-mutt surfers

For the record, I will watch dogs do anything. But canine surfers competing in the World Dog Surfing Championships nearly killed me. Bring on the corgi beach bros, I’m already reserving tickets for next year and bringing peanut butter and cheese sticks.

 

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With everyone geared up in life-preservers (with their owners nearby), the pups hit the surf for the 10th annual event in Pacifica, California. Rosie, a 5-year-old lab from Santa Cruz, earned the most awards of the day. But her wagging tail tells me she was only in it for the love and affection from the crowd. 

Sip your way to your most creative self 

I popped by a neighborhood bar on a school night, even though I was tired after work, and the summer weather was dulling my mind like smoke on a beehive. Zzz. But halfway into my glass of happy hour wine, my head suddenly felt clear and chock-full of ideas. Like, all the ideas. It was then that some fired-up synapse reminded me of a study that suggests a mild buzz makes you more creative than when you’re sober. (Say less.)

 

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I first heard University of British Columbia philosophy professor Edward Slingerland talk about this on “The Nerve with Maureen Callahan.” Sipping a tipple just until you’re too intoxicated to drive (.08 BAC) opens up your potential. “Your ability to solve these lateral thinking tasks where you have to make connections between unconnected things improves,” Slingerland explains. It’s all about relaxing your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that does math and gets you to work on time.

“Across the world throughout history, there’s been this association of alcohol and artists, people who create, who think of new things. And there’s good evidence that this is not just a myth,” he says. Anything beyond .08 BAC, and your talents may max out at karaoke “Sweet Caroline.” Cheers to responsibly expanding our minds.  

It’s never too early for cookie season

I’m a Girl Scouts dropout. Well, technically a Brownie dropout because I hated selling cookies so much I never graduated to Scout status. A blemish on my record. But a new movie this weekend could rev up baked goods salesmanship like never before.

“Cookie Queens” follows four Girl Scouts navigating the fast-paced $800 billion world of Girl Scout cookie season. And this Wes Anderson-inspired documentary seems destined to warm the hearts of anyone who’s ever tasted a Thin Mint. (Little Ara pulling her wagon of cookie boxes may be the cutest moment in cinematic history. She also explains that meetings “usually start with a snack and a friendship circle” because, bless her heart, why wouldn’t they?)

Unlike these showbiz cookie families, my parents were savage about not giving me a nepo-baby leg up and taking the cookie sign-up sheet to their workplaces. It seemed like all the other Brownies’ parents fell in line. If Stephanie’s dad works at Kellogg’s Inc. with 7,000 employees, and each employee buys one box of Do-si-dos at $5 a piece, Stephanie makes how many dollars in sales? The answer is $17 BILLION. I remember singing one last round of “Make new friends, But keep the old,” and throwing down my patchless brown sash in a blaze of glory. But FYI, I’m an easy sell if your kids need a target demo. 

We’re not appropriating culture. We’re sharing the love

For the first time ever, country music nabbed the Billboard Hot 100’s top five spots. Led by Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, and Stella Lefty prove that boot scootin’ hits aren’t confined to celebrity bars in Nashville. Artists such as Post Malone, Beyonce, and Lana Del Rey flipping genres to release country records make my case. But just check out this bar in Tokyo, Japan, proving the country trend has gone global.

 

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At Little Texas honky tonk, locals wear pearl snap Western shirts and studded cowboy hats as they glide through line dances and toast frosty beers. Considering how hard the decor goes on the Texas vibe, I expected to spot a mechanical bull just beyond the stage. Owner Takeshi Yoshino, who has always aspired to become a cowboy, explains, “I wanted to open this bar to introduce Texas, country music, and cowboy philosophy and culture to Japan.” After wrapping my head around the concept of American ranch life in the Land of the Rising Sun, I was delighted. What a gesture of love to share another culture’s favorite hang — and totally do it justice. 

Was I supposed to be offended? Because I wasn’t. I loved it. When I mentioned it to my boyfriend, he pointed me toward a Puerto Rican bar in Tokyo that showcases flawless salsa bands singing in Spanish. They even perform traditional Bomba, a 400-year-old music style where the lead musician hits the drum in time to a dancer’s stylish improvisations. We couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful faces — glowing with Boriqua spirit — embodying the joyful soul of another island 8,000 miles away. 

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If you’ve been following along with some of our DW stars this week, you might have burritos on your mind. But the real controversy is about whether potatoes belong in the filling or not. (And are they tots?) Just like hot topics such as pineapple on pizza, we welcome lovers and haters with open arms in the comments or email. Promise your secret’s safe with the internet. See you next week! — Lauren