Flash in the Pan

A weekly round-up of food and drink oddities:

• Bottle Wrapper Bourbon manufacturer Jim Beam is putting a 40 story-tall ad on the side of the RIO All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. We're waiting to see which hotel becomes the glass. (Press Release)


• Cheeseburger Diet A woman in Cheshire, England lost 63 pounds on a cheeseburger diet. What, no double patties? (Ananova)


• Chocolate Not Addictive A University of Bristol psychologist says that chocolate is not addictive. Clearly he can give it up any time he wants. (Reuters)


• Drive-Through Run Down A man tried to run down a Burger King worker in Syracuse, NY after a dispute. What, it wasn't after he tasted what he bought?(AP)


• Pasta Strike Many Italians boycotted buying pasta last Thursday in protest of planned price hikes. A saucy move. (Reuters)


• Garlic Stomp A worker the Great China Buffet in Nanuet, NY was caught crushing garlic by stomping on it in an alley. Don't ask about the sausage. (AP)


• High on Education A former student of Lake Highlands High School in Texas pleaded guilty to delivering marijuana-laced muffins to the teacher's lounge. The instructors didn't notice, being too amazed at the vivid colors of the text books. (AP)


• World's Largest Sundae About two dozen people in Canada set a new world record for ice cream sundaes at almost 55,000 pounds. Who set the record for the spoon? (The Calgary Sun)


• And a World Record for Soup Venezuelan officials claimed a new record for a pot of soup at 3,960 gallons with 6,600 pounds of chicken and 4,400 pounds of beef. It was to make a political point. Anything for politicians to stay out of hot water. (AP)


• Dog Beer Festival The Bunter Hund cafe in Vienna will serve special beer for dogs during Oktoberfest. Aged in dogwood kegs? (Ananova)

Labels: bourbon, burger, Burger King, diets, dogs, garlic, pasta, record, soup, sundae, weird

I love garlic but hate having the smell on my hands. When I've been chopping some cloves, I remember an old professional trick. When you're done with the work, take something made of stainless steel - like a spoon, for example - and rub it over your hands. It immediately dispatches the odor. I don't know exactly why it works, but it does.

Labels: garlic, odor, smell, stainless, technique

A weekly round-up of food and drink oddities:

• Chocolate in Moderation A recent study suggests that daily dark chocolate reduces blood pressure. Unfortunately, the necessary ingestion is around 6 grams, with the restriction undoubtedly leading to depression. (AP)


• Penguins and Garlic Shanghai zoo keepers are feeding garlic to the penguins to ward off respiratory problems, sutffing a few cloves in each fish the birds eat. For some odd reason, there has also been a sharp drop in the number of people wanting to see the birds. (AP)


• Paris Hilton Goes to Dogs Someone supposedly poked through Paris Hilton's garbage, found a can from some organic dog food, and sold it on eBay for $305. Hopefully they will recycle it. (AP)


• Porn Pizza A western Canadian pizza joint has been putting a pornographic picture in the bottom of each box, under the pizza. The restaurant sold hundreds of pizzas in one week. Do delivery personnel ask if it was as good for the customer as it was for them? (AFP)


• Movie Munching There's a new documentary on speed eating. Get to the theater early - the snack stand lines will be fierce. (AP)


• Really Fresh Fish A chef in Taiwan got into trouble for serving a fish that wasn't quite dead. Boy, and ususally people complain because the fish isn't fresh enough. (AP)

Labels: blood pressure, chocolate, dog food, fish, fresh, garlic, Paris Hilton, penguins, pizza, porn, speed eating, Taiwan, weird