Burger King Launches World’s Most Expensive Hamburger

 

It’s known as the home of ‘The Whopper’ and Burger King is hoping its latest product really lives up to its reputation. The fast-food giant launched a $200 burger Wednesday — all in the name of charity.

 

Setting a new record, the world’s most expensive burger is available at just one restaurant in West London, England, once a week — but it will eventually be available to order via a hotline.

 

The fine ingredients of what is called simply ‘The Burger’ include Wagyu beef, white truffles, Pata Negra ham slices, Cristal onion straws, Modena balsamic vinegar, lambs lettuce, pink Himalayan rock salt, organic white wine and shallot infused mayonnaise in an Iranian saffron and white truffle dusted bun.

 

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson told Sky News Online: “It sounds delicious. The ingredients are very good and high powered, but why is Burger King doing it?”

 

All the proceeds from The Burger sales will go to the Help A London Child charity, which assists young people experiencing abuse, homelessness, disability, poverty and illness.

 

David Kisilevsky, at Burger King, said: “The Burger reflects our ongoing commitment to producing for a range of different pockets.

 

The Burger beat the previous world record for the most expensive burger, held by Daniel Boulud for the DB Double Truffle Burger in New York, (1994) priced at $130.

 

By lunchtime on the first day of The Burger’s unveiling, eight had been purchased, said Chef Mark Dowding, the director of new product development and innovation for the fast food chain.

 

Dowding said he hoped that more than 100 would be sold by the end of the day.

 

(From Fox News)

 

Just Announced: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book

After years of demand, “The Illustrated Stephen King MOVIE Trivia Book” is now in the works! This book will feature mind-bending trivia about Stephen King’s numerous films, miniseries, and television events — and best of all, many of these questions will be submitted by King’s biggest fans!

 

Edited by Brian Freeman (founder of StephenKingNews.com and co-editor of The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book with Bev Vincent) and Hans-Ake Lilja (founder of Lilja’s Library, the premiere site for Stephen King news and related interviews for over a decade now), this amazing trivia collection will also feature artwork by Glenn Chadbourne (the artist behind The Secretary of Dreams by Stephen King) and an afterword by a special surprise guest who knows all about King movies first-hand.

 

The editors can’t announce more publication details just yet, but this book will have many features in common with The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book, plus a couple of great new twists to make it unique. The editors are working on the manuscript right now and they’re pleased to be able to open this book up to contributions from their fellow King fans.

 

As with the first volume in this trivia series, readers have a chance to submit their own questions and maybe even win FREE copies of the book! (In fact, you could win a SIGNED hardcover just for subscribing to the new exclusive Stephen King Trivia news & update mailing list. See the site for details!)

 

Each week the editors will be posting the titles of 5 different movies in the Question Submission section on the website — so every week you have 5 more chances to enter your name into the random drawing for free books! The first 5 movie titles have already been posted, so please visit the site to get started and read more about this project:

 

http://www.stephenkingtrivia.com/

 

Also, please feel free to share that link with any Stephen King fans you know — and then make sure you’re on the exclusive Stephen King Trivia mailing list for future updates!

Six Apart Introduces Blog It for iPhone

Six Apart has introduced its new Blog It for iPhone web-based blogging application. Blog It allows users to post blog entries or status updates directly from the iPhone to more than a dozen different online services, including Blogger, Facebook, FriendFeed, Jaiku, LiveJournal, Movable Type, Pownce, Tumblr, Twitter, TypePad Vox, WordPress.com, and WordPress.org. Users can login using an OpenID or Yahoo! account at blogit.typepad.com.

9 Modern-Day Classic Movie Locations You Can Still Visit

If you visit Los Angeles or New York City (or Toronto or Vancouver) you’ll be surrounded by famous film locations whether you realize it or not. Those cities not only appear as themselves in countless movies, but they also stand in for others, and sometimes even for each other. (The cross-country tour depicted in This Is Spinal Tap was almost all filmed around Los Angeles, for example.)

But many other classic films are shot on location, and often in places far from where they claim to be or where you’d expect. In some cases a visit to the spot will be instantly recognizable, and in other cases you’ll need a lot of imagination to sort out exactly what you are looking for. Below you’ll find information on how to visit locations found in 9 different “modern-day classic” movies that are shown on television so often they might seem as recognizable as your hometown. Read more here.  (From Pop Candy)

Unusual Marketing Campaign: Meet Dave Takes Nationwide “Head” Trip

Heads up, America, and get ready to Meet Dave – or rather a 15-foot tall replica of the title character’s head, from Twentieth Century Fox’s upcoming fish-out-of-water comedy starring Eddie Murphy. “Dave” is heading on a cross-country tour – beginning in Los Angeles on June 13, then visiting a “top-heavy” list of major U.S. markets. At the “head” of the list is New York’s Times Square, where Dave will “headline” a full three days, July 3-5; the Manhattan landmark also serves as one of the film’s key locations. Dave heads home to the City of Angels on July 11.

 

Across the nation, visitors to the traveling head, which weighs in at almost three tons, will have the opportunity to take photos inside of Dave’s ear (mirroring the image in the film’s current poster), then upload them onto the movie’s website. Using selected photos from the website, Twentieth Century Fox will create a mosaic version of the Meet Dave poster, which it will place in theaters across the country – where moviegoers can learn if they’ve made it into Dave’s Head.

In the film, opening in theaters everywhere on July 11, Dave Ming Chang (Eddie Murphy), newly arrived in New York City, may be the ultimate fish out of water. There’s something about him that’s not quite right – for starters, he seems remarkably out of place and uncomfortable in his own body. And for good reason: “Dave” is not a man at all, but a ship made in the image of its miniature-sized captain. It’s Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy in Meet Dave.

 

Stephen King: The Stand “Captain Trips” Comic Book

(From Marvel Comics) Here is some information about The Stand comic:

THE STAND: CAPTAIN TRIPS #1 (of 5)
Written by ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA
Penciled & Inked by MIKE PERKINS
Cover by LEE BERMEJO
Variant Cover by MIKE PERKINS
Sketch Variant Cover by LEE BERMEJO

It begins here: the apocalyptic epic battle between good and evil based on the classic bestseller by master of horror Stephen King! On a secret army base in the Californian desert, something has gone horribly, terribly wrong. Something that will send Charlie Campion and his wife and daughter fleeing in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for the Campion family–and the rest of America–they are unaware that all three of them are carrying a deadly cargo: A virus that will spread from person to person like wildfire, triggering a massive wave of disease and death, prefacing humanity’s last stand! Be there as writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four) teams with artist Mike Perkins (Captain America) for the first arc in the next great Stephen King event!

32  pages/ Cardstock Cover/Parental Advisory…$3.99, September 2008

 

 

 

 

Stephen King: The Dark Tower, Treachery #1 Comic Book

Here is some information about third arc of The Dark Tower comic; Treachery:

DARK TOWER: TREACHERY #1 (of 6)
Written by ROBIN FURTH & PETER DAVID
Pencils & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
Sketch Variant Cover by JAE LEE

The ka-tet of Roland, Alain and Cuthbert have returned safely to their home in Gilead. But all is not well. Roland has kept the evil Maerlyn’s Grapefruit and has become obsessed with peering into its pinkish depths despite the deadly toll it’s taken on his health. And what the young gunslinger sees brings him the darkest of nightmares. Meanwhile, Roland’s father has led a posse in search of those who threatened his son’s life in Hambry—John Farson and the Big Coffin Hunters. And in this encounter, Stephen Deschain’s life may be forfeit.

40 pages/Cardstock Cover/Parental Advisory…$3.99, September 2008

 

Time Magazine: 10 Questions for David Sedaris

Should your books be shelved in the fiction or nonfiction section of the bookstore? Reilly Capps TELLURIDE, COLO.

Nonfiction. I’ve always been a huge exaggerator, but when I write something, I put it on a scale. And if it’s 97% true, I think that’s true enough. I’m not going to call it fiction because 3% of it isn’t true.

 

Is there anything you consider to be off-limits in your writing? Emi Chang, MILILANI, HAWAII

Oh, there’s an awful lot that I consider to be off-limits. I never write about me having sex. I mean, if someone talks about having sex, that’s great, that’s where it’s at. But I would never talk about myself.

 

How has your family reacted to having their exploits included in your work? Beverly Fleischman CASPER, WYO.

Whenever I write about anyone in my family, I give them the story to read first. And I ask if there’s anything they want me to change or get rid of. But you can never anticipate how people are going to read what you’ve written. You can write something with affection, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to see it.

 

Are you ever jealous of your sister Amy? Dan Burhans DES MOINES, IOWA

No. What Amy and I do are different. Amy is an actress, and I’m not. To me, the idea of being on camera is absolutely horrible.

 

Has living in France affected the way you think about your childhood in America? Matt Brosseau BENNINGTON, VT.

It makes me see the United States differently, but I don’t know that it makes me think of my past differently. In the United States, people are allowed to talk about money. You’ll be on an airplane, and one stranger will say to another, “Boy, that’s a really nice watch.” And the other guy will say, “Well, it cost me $4,000.” People would be horrified in France or England if you said that.

 

Are there things you miss about the U.S.? Matthew Machado SAN FRANCISCO

I miss canned clams. You can’t get those in France. Grits and canned clams. And I miss National Public Radio. Ira [Glass] usually sends me CDs of This American Life.

 

I heard that part of your new book is about quitting smoking. Have you remained smoke-free? Pamela Skjolsvik BAYFIELD, COLO.

Yes, I have. I quit smoking in January of 2007. In the end, the reason I quit was so I could stay at decent hotels. Nice hotels in the U.S. went completely nonsmoking. That said, I don’t suggest that anyone quit smoking. I love the smell of smoke. Cigarettes smell really good to me. They smell like an apple pie baking.

 

Do you enjoy meeting your readers at book signings? Jerry Kaiser, AURORA, COLO.

I do. Reading is such a solitary activity that it’s rare to get to meet the people who read your books. If left to their own, people will feel like they need to say “I liked your last book.” But it’s embarrassing for me to hear that, so I just change the subject, and we have a little conversation.

 

Who makes you laugh? Carlos Farias, EL PASO, TEXAS

There’s an English writer named Alan Bennett who makes me laugh. That show Extras with Ricky Gervais makes me laugh. I like that kind of uncomfortable laughter. But when it comes to reading, I’d normally rather read something that was tragic than funny.

 

What is the one question you’ve always wanted to be asked? Patricia Loureiro, LISBON

Where I graduated from college. Once you actually graduate from college, nobody ever asks you anymore where you graduated from. So, I graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

 

Star Wars Dance Off

Why….?

 

J.J. Abrams to Produce Mystery On Fifth Avenue Film

Last week I posted a New York Times article about the Fifth Avenue mystery house; it now appears the subject will be made into a movie. The trades report that J.J. Abrams and Paramount Pictures are teaming up to bring to life the New York Times article, ”Mystery on Fifth Avenue,” written by Penelope Green, about a Gotham house, whose owners discover secret passages and panels that lead them on a giant scavenger hunt. Think the Panic Room meets Jumanji with a Dash of Narnia!The Fifth Avenue home, described as a giant ’20s-era co-op with Central Park views, was gutted several years ago at the behest of a couple, who later moved in with their four children. An architectural designer who oversaw the rehab job left behind a series of messages, games and treasures, unbeknownst to the family, who eventually unraveled a mystery that featured a poem, a book, a soundtrack and a host of historical figures.

 

Abrams will produce the film via his Par-based Bad Robot shingle. Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky have been tapped to write.  With J.J. Abrams behind the project, this could be interesting!