Corporations have midlife crises too. McDonald’s is reputedly dumping the McRib sandwich after 25 loyal years to chase after a younger, fitness conscious female market. So farewell, McRib, you boneless pressed porkwich. Hello slim sexy Asian salad!

Or is it possible that the “Save the McRib” petition is just a poorly disguised ploy to harvest gullible McRib lovers’ email addresses? Perhaps the site’s images of iPods and tattooed young people are an attempt to reposition the old porker as a hip, teen-savvy object of desire?

There’s a photo gallery on the McRib website where consumers can submit photos of themselves from their cell phones. Though I have to believe the fetching young people wearing McRib logo tees are paid models, Carl’s Jr has a similar web promotion, where seemingly real people submit unflattering photos of themselves on the Burger Slayer of the Month website.

Welcome to corporate food marketing aimed at the MySpace generation. I wonder if teens are buying this, or as on MySpace, if they can spot a balding, middle aged marketing man on the other end of the screen?

A camera crew from the History Channel taped footage at last April’s BBQ’n at the Autry contest, and I wondered to myself why History Channel was taping a food show, and not FoodTV.

In recent years, the Food Network progams as much substantive food education as BET broadcasts hockey, so I’m relieved and excited that the A&E Television Networks (which owns History Channel) is picking up their slack.

As it turned out, that Autry contest coverage aired in an episode of Modern Marvels: “BBQ Tech,” a show on the history and technical innovations of this uniquely American style of cookery. This show rebroadcasts again tonight and tomorrow (Sept 19 & 20) so set your Tivo’s! My BBQ team had our 1.5 seconds of fame. Screenshots are posted on the BBQ Junkie’s site.

American Eats is another History Channel show I’ve watched with great enthusiasm. Like their sister show, they focus on one food item (pizza, ice cream, cookies, barbecue) that Americans love and delve into its place in our nation’s history. Most episodes are well researched and employ known subject experts. Check the link for upcoming shows, and tune in.

“Bathed in beer” ordinarily describes a way to cook bratwurst. According to today’s NY Times travel section story (free registration required), several breweries in Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic offer spa treatments where one soaks in beer baths for healthier skin. Presumably, dilated blood vessels and an elevated pulse spur a wicked beer buzz.

I especially like the beer taps installed tubside. Suddenly, the idea seems less white trashy (well, except for guys who take their toddlers drinking) but sensible, desirable, and obvious in a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that way. But the taps also indicate what’s wrong with America these days. While Austrian engineers were quietly solving the thermodynamic contradiction of chilled beer served from hot tubs, the marketing geniuses at Anheuser-Busch spent millions developing a caffeine, guarana, and ginseng infused beer that nobody asked for. Misguided “innovation,” if you ask me, and another example of European brewers kicking our asses.

Roland Schlager for The New York Times

Hilarious video on YouTube.com shows um, “proper” sushi etiquette. Not.