Americans celebrate a national symbol as the Big Mac turns 40
By Rachel Shields
Published: 25 August 2007
It's up there with the dollar bill and the Statue of Liberty as one of the great symbols of American culture, so it seems only fitting that the Big Mac's 40th birthday be marked in style this week, with the opening of its own museum.
Fans of the world-famous burger can now immerse themselves in its history and play Big Mac games at the museum in Pennsylvania, which calls itself "the most tasteful in the world".
The triple-decker sandwich - with its two beef patties, sauce, lettuce, a sesame seed bun, and a distinctive middle layer of bread - was an instant success when it was invented by a McDonald's franchise owner, Jim Delligatti, in 1967.
Quickly becoming the most requested dish on the menu at Mr Delligatti's three restaurants, in less than a year the Big Mac was sold in McDonald's branches all over the US.
Miraculously, the current obesity crisis has done little to dent the popularity of Mr Delligatti's creation, despite becoming the focus of much bad press. The most notable of this was Morgan Spurlock's 2003 documentary Super-Size Me, in which the film-maker existed on nothing but McDonald's meals for 30 days in order to illustrate the damaging effects of fast-food. In recent years the company has attempted to shake off its unhealthy image, introducing low-fat, nutritious options such as salads and fruit alongside the burgers, chips and high-fat drinks for which it is famed. Although these adjustments may have helped the public perception of the company, the chain's healthier options are unlikely to ever rival the popularity of the gut-busting Big Mac, which contains a whopping 540 calories and 29g of fat.
And now at the age of 89, Mr Delligatti is behind the opening of the new museum, which pays tribute to both burger and chef with a 14ft-high Big Mac and a life-size bronze bust of its creator.
Originally on sale for only 45 cents, the Big Mac still retails at only $2.75 (£1.90), its low price encouraging sales of more than 550 million per year in the US alone. The all-American snack is now available in more than 100 countries, with the famously health-conscious Japanese consuming nearly 150 million annually.
This humble sandwich spawned numerous imitators from rival restaurants, and is widely credited with sparking both a global fast-food craze and fondness for jumbo portions.
Indeed, the burger's global presence is such that in 1986 the respected weekly news magazine The Economist introduced the Big Mac Index as a way of comparing the value of foreign currency against the US dollar. The Economist explained that it hoped to "make the exchange-rate theory that bit more digestible", and continues to use the system today.
While the health risks associated with such foods may be well-documented, the Big Mac has become such a pop-culture phenomenon that it has a place in the hearts (and probably the arteries) of most Americans.
A Texan architect, Matt Fajkus, explains: "It's a little bit embarrassing that this is the sort of thing that America is known for, but it is a part of our culture and as such should be celebrated. I grew up with Big Macs, as did almost everyone I know. I'm also glad that after all their efforts at rebranding and launching salad and yoghurt lines, McDonald's is finally proud to admit what they are famous for."
Clearly it was this fondness and sense of national pride that prompted hundreds of Americans to queue around the block for this week's opening of the museum. And the must-have item in the gift shop? A Big Mac Christmas bauble.
Five Mac facts
* With each Big Mac containing 29g of fat, Americans eat an astonishing 17,582 tons of fat from Big Macs each year. That's roughly the weight of more than 40 fully loaded Boeing 747 passenger jets.
* There are about 178 sesame seeds on a Big Mac bun.
* In India, the Maharaja Mac is made with chicken, while in Greece the Greek Mac uses the pitta bread and yoghurt from a traditional "souvlaki" sandwich.
* The Big Mac is not the biggest burger McDonald's sell. The truly ravenous can order a Mega Mac, made with four patties and an extra slice of cheese - but not in England, where it has been deemed too unhealthy.
* Of all the McDonald's burgers, the Big Mac is the hardest to prepare but it's a skill that former employees Sharon Stone, Shania Twain and Pink mastered.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Can we do anything right?
Taliban Push Poppy Production to a Record Again
We spent $600 Mil to get less drugs & we got more drugs? Someone has this bass ackwards...
We spent $600 Mil to get less drugs & we got more drugs? Someone has this bass ackwards...
Friday, August 24, 2007
Is Coletti reading LoC?
Dodgers designated RHP Brett Tomko for assignment and signed fathead David Wells for the remainder of 2007. Tomko, in the second year of a two-year, $8.7 million contract supplied by GM Ned Coletti (brilliant, Ned!), went 10-18 with a 5.24 ERA in 30 starts and 44 relief appearances during his time with the Dodgers. He'll probably never get that kind of money again. Prediction: but someone will sign him by Aug. 31st.
New Low in Celebrity Pathetic-ness
LONDON, England (AP) -- A British newspaper splashed photos of singer Amy Winehouse bloody and bruised across its Friday edition after she allegedly had a fight with her husband.
Amy Winehouse rides with a friend last week. Recent photos appeared to indicate she'd been in a fracas.
The photos, supposedly taken early Thursday morning, showed Winehouse wearing blood-soaked ballet shoes, with bruises to her neck, bandages on her arms and makeup smeared down her face.
A gossip Web site reported that Winehouse had said her injuries were self-inflicted.
Police confirmed they had been called to an incident at a London hotel by a concerned member of the public but said no charges were filed.
The singer announced Tuesday that she was postponing her upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour dates after she canceled August performances due to "severe exhaustion."
Britain's Press Association said the couple were staying in the hotel after leaving a drug rehabilitation clinic in Essex, east of London.
The Daily Mail also published photos of Winehouse together with her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, after the alleged fight. His face and neck were covered in scratches.
The gossip Web site perezhilton.com said it received text messages from Winehouse explaining the incident and denying Fielder-Civil was responsible for her injuries.
"Blake is the best man in the world. We would never ever harm each other," the Web site quoted Winehouse as saying. "I was cutting myself after he found me in our room about to do drugs ... and rightly said I wasn't good enough for him. I lost it and he saved my life."
"Also, I had four drugged Guatemalan street urchins with me I had also drugged and was about to do a Wiccan ritual over to detoxify my soul. I am just such a pathetic example of celebrity excess. Please give me the LohanHilton treatment with a little bit of Pete Daugherty and Kate Moss thrown in to boot. Because I am just so so lost and you should all care and judge me and tell me what a bad girl I am."
"Please, it's much more important than thinking about anything else. Especially all the war stuff and America's quickly crumbling infrastructure or fantasy sports. It's just so much more important. I'm going to cut myself to raise your awareness. Ok?"
Amy Winehouse rides with a friend last week. Recent photos appeared to indicate she'd been in a fracas.
The photos, supposedly taken early Thursday morning, showed Winehouse wearing blood-soaked ballet shoes, with bruises to her neck, bandages on her arms and makeup smeared down her face.
A gossip Web site reported that Winehouse had said her injuries were self-inflicted.
Police confirmed they had been called to an incident at a London hotel by a concerned member of the public but said no charges were filed.
The singer announced Tuesday that she was postponing her upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour dates after she canceled August performances due to "severe exhaustion."
Britain's Press Association said the couple were staying in the hotel after leaving a drug rehabilitation clinic in Essex, east of London.
The Daily Mail also published photos of Winehouse together with her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, after the alleged fight. His face and neck were covered in scratches.
The gossip Web site perezhilton.com said it received text messages from Winehouse explaining the incident and denying Fielder-Civil was responsible for her injuries.
"Blake is the best man in the world. We would never ever harm each other," the Web site quoted Winehouse as saying. "I was cutting myself after he found me in our room about to do drugs ... and rightly said I wasn't good enough for him. I lost it and he saved my life."
"Also, I had four drugged Guatemalan street urchins with me I had also drugged and was about to do a Wiccan ritual over to detoxify my soul. I am just such a pathetic example of celebrity excess. Please give me the LohanHilton treatment with a little bit of Pete Daugherty and Kate Moss thrown in to boot. Because I am just so so lost and you should all care and judge me and tell me what a bad girl I am."
"Please, it's much more important than thinking about anything else. Especially all the war stuff and America's quickly crumbling infrastructure or fantasy sports. It's just so much more important. I'm going to cut myself to raise your awareness. Ok?"
Ted Nugent: The Deadest of the Brain Dead
Ted Nugent curses out Hillary, Obama, Feinstein and issues threats with Machine Guns
Of course, he talks tough but he's actually (shockingly!) a draft dodging, sissyhawk:
"He claims that 30 days before his draft board physical, he disavowed personal hygiene. The last ten days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and with a week to go until the physical, he stopped using the bathroom altogether. When the big day came, he had been living in excrement-caked and urine-stained pants. Always the hero, however, Nugent reassured the Free Press, “But if I would have gone over there, I’d have been killed, or I’d have killed all the Hippies in the foxholes. I would have killed everybody.” (Detroit Free Press, 1990)
Of course, he talks tough but he's actually (shockingly!) a draft dodging, sissyhawk:
"He claims that 30 days before his draft board physical, he disavowed personal hygiene. The last ten days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and with a week to go until the physical, he stopped using the bathroom altogether. When the big day came, he had been living in excrement-caked and urine-stained pants. Always the hero, however, Nugent reassured the Free Press, “But if I would have gone over there, I’d have been killed, or I’d have killed all the Hippies in the foxholes. I would have killed everybody.” (Detroit Free Press, 1990)
you guyz gonna gotst one of dese??
Dere's supposed to be a total lunar eclipse here on Monday.
Well, do ya, punkz?
Well, do ya, punkz?
here's a shocker
French won't extradite wanted suspect
The French government has notified U.S. authorities that it will not extradite Hans Peterson, the man who allegedly confessed to killing a downtown dermatologist in 2006.
The French government has notified U.S. authorities that it will not extradite Hans Peterson, the man who allegedly confessed to killing a downtown dermatologist in 2006.
Now with a matching helmet!
Back-to-school goes ballistic
Parents have a new item to add to their kids' back-to-school supplies list: the bulletproof backpack. Just in time for the new academic year, Massachusetts-based MJ Safety Solutions has unveiled My Child's Pack, described on the company's website as the first "full size, lightweight ballistic protection backpack that is affordable and practical."
http://www.mychildspack.com/
Parents have a new item to add to their kids' back-to-school supplies list: the bulletproof backpack. Just in time for the new academic year, Massachusetts-based MJ Safety Solutions has unveiled My Child's Pack, described on the company's website as the first "full size, lightweight ballistic protection backpack that is affordable and practical."
http://www.mychildspack.com/
S#i+ Blowing Up
Adam Eaton (shoulder) will throw around 40 pitches in a rehab start for Double-A Reading on Friday. Eaton expects to be activated from the disabled list and start Tuesday's game against the Mets.
skilly's report
Mammoth storm Thursday; possibly one of most expansive here
Tom Skilling
August 24, 2007
The Chicago area is no stranger to powerful thunderstorms. But the expanse and breadth of Thursday afternoon and evening's outbreak was enough to make even veteran meteorologists, like my colleague Steve Kahn, who for more than 40 years worked for the National Weather Service here, sit up and take notice. Rare is the storm outbreak that produces damage and flooding from one corner of the metro area to the other. Yet, that's just what happened yesterday. Steve compares the scope of the damage produced by Thursday's storms to an Aug. 26-27, 1965 squall line which, unlike the latest surge, hit in the middle of the night.The area's strongest wind gusts reached 80 m.p.h. at Manhattan and 75 m.p.h. at Elgin. But 60+ m.p.h. wind gusts swept virtually every corner of the region. The storms roared across the area at nearly 60 m.p.h. and towered at one point to 64,000 ft.--more than 12 miles into the atmosphere.----------
Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
Tom Skilling
August 24, 2007
The Chicago area is no stranger to powerful thunderstorms. But the expanse and breadth of Thursday afternoon and evening's outbreak was enough to make even veteran meteorologists, like my colleague Steve Kahn, who for more than 40 years worked for the National Weather Service here, sit up and take notice. Rare is the storm outbreak that produces damage and flooding from one corner of the metro area to the other. Yet, that's just what happened yesterday. Steve compares the scope of the damage produced by Thursday's storms to an Aug. 26-27, 1965 squall line which, unlike the latest surge, hit in the middle of the night.The area's strongest wind gusts reached 80 m.p.h. at Manhattan and 75 m.p.h. at Elgin. But 60+ m.p.h. wind gusts swept virtually every corner of the region. The storms roared across the area at nearly 60 m.p.h. and towered at one point to 64,000 ft.--more than 12 miles into the atmosphere.----------
Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
Now we're killing our friends
'Friendly fire' kills UK soldiers
Three British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan by so-called friendly fire from American fighter planes, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The MoD said the soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed at around 1830 local time (1500 BST) on Thursday.
It is understood they died when the planes dropped a bomb near their patrol in Helmand province.
Two other soldiers were also injured. Next of kin have been informed.
The fighter planes had been called in to give air support to ground troops, the Ministry of Defence said.
Three British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan by so-called friendly fire from American fighter planes, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
The MoD said the soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed at around 1830 local time (1500 BST) on Thursday.
It is understood they died when the planes dropped a bomb near their patrol in Helmand province.
Two other soldiers were also injured. Next of kin have been informed.
The fighter planes had been called in to give air support to ground troops, the Ministry of Defence said.
It's Spreading to Football...
I was seriously just talking about how good this guy was like two or three hours ago...
From Rotoworld:
Donald Driver was carted off the field in the second quarter of Thursday night's preseason matchup with a right foot injury.
Driver was pounding his fist on the front of the cart as he was being driven away. Tests in the locker room will determine the injury's severity. The Packers have a group of promising young players behind him, but can ill afford to lose their most proven wideout by far for a significant period of time. Aug. 23 - 9:15 pm et
From Rotoworld:
Donald Driver was carted off the field in the second quarter of Thursday night's preseason matchup with a right foot injury.
Driver was pounding his fist on the front of the cart as he was being driven away. Tests in the locker room will determine the injury's severity. The Packers have a group of promising young players behind him, but can ill afford to lose their most proven wideout by far for a significant period of time. Aug. 23 - 9:15 pm et
Thursday, August 23, 2007
even a numbers guy can wear rose-colored, proven veteran glasses
Red Sox signed infielder Royce Clayton to a minor league contract.
anudder guy who has pretty much always sucked
Let's see...is he a veteran?...Yes?...Ok, let's call him up...
Mariners purchased the contract of RHP Rick White from Triple-A Tacoma. Good luck with that. White had a 7.67 ERA in 29 1/3 innings for the Astros this season.
Mariners purchased the contract of RHP Rick White from Triple-A Tacoma. Good luck with that. White had a 7.67 ERA in 29 1/3 innings for the Astros this season.
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