Ben, You're Always Running Here & There

Get ready to scream.

(Via - Gothamist)

Do Not Want

The Brussel Sprouts Whopper, now on sale at Burger King in the UK. Surprisingly, it's not going over too well.

Gay-Themed Coffins On Sale On Germany

And here you thought that rainbow Xmas tree was the most horrible thing you'd see today.

Funeral directors in Germany are bidding for the pink pound - by launching coffins specially designed for gay customers. The caskets feature homoerotic artwork on the outside and come with a series of tastefully luxurious plush designer interiors, say makers Mike Konigsfeld and Tom Brandl in Cologne, Germany. The designers - who have lived together for more than 10 years - say the images of muscular young men in classical poses are the perfect way to send off a loved one. "Naturally there were some people who threw their hands up in horror when we had them on display in the window but they are tasteful and beautiful - like our customers," explained Mike.

Aaand cue the Freepers.

-"Discount for friends of the deceased who were infected by him with AIDS?"
-"I think the high-end one comes with an eternal flaming."
-"That will give archaeologists something to chuckle over in 1,000 years. ‘Don’t open that one George, no telling what they died of."
-"Most gay men only live to about age 40 or so. This article is telling us that gay men are not living long and that 'gay coffins' are in big demand. This is not good news for the gay community. This means their deathstyle is bringing their numbers lower. They are planning their funeral, when just a year ago they were planning their 'gay wedding'."

Chicken McNuggets

This is how Chicken McNuggets look before they are colored and flavored to look like what you get in the little box.

(Via - Buzzfeed)

A Little Good News About Bedbugs

The New York Times reports that while the city remains at DefCon 1 over the bedbug panic, at least we can rest assured that the blood suckers don't carry any diseases.

Bats are sources of rabies, Ebola, SARS and Nipah virus. And other biting bugs are disease carriers — mosquitoes for malaria and West Nile, ticks for Lyme and babesiosis, lice for typhus, fleas for plague, tsetse flies for sleeping sickness, kissing bugs for Chagas. Even nonbiting bugs like houseflies and cockroaches transmit disease by carrying bacteria on their feet or in their feces or vomit. But bedbugs, despite the ick factor, are clean. Actually it is safer to say that no one has proved they aren’t, said Jerome Goddard, a Mississippi State entomologist. But not for lack of trying. South African researchers have fed them blood with the AIDS virus, but the virus died. They have shown that bugs can retain hepatitis B virus for weeks, but when they bite chimpanzees, the infection does not take.

Check out the NYC Bedbug Registry for the addresses of apartment and office buildings currently reported to be infested.

Popcorn And Bedbugs

Gothamist reports today that patrons attending this weekend's premier of Scott Pilgrim at Times Square's AMC Empire 25 emerged covered with bedbug bites. The Empire 25 is the city's largest movie complex.

"The staff at the customer service desk confirmed that the theater has known of the infestation for days and that it will not be fumigated until Tuesday," says the bitten woman. "They also told me that the AMC on 125th is fighting a bedbug infestation as well." Bedbugs thrive in the dark, and have previously feasted on moviegoers in Park Slope and Sheepshead Bay. Obviously, this is just another reason to go with Netflix, but doesn't the movie theater have some obligation to warn customers that they're being dinner and a movie? Jamie, a manager at AMC who would only give his first name, tells us they did not have any notice posted, but claims that they did not know about the infestation until last night. He says exterminators will be working in the multiplex after it closes tonight, but the theater is still selling tickets for today. He also tells us that the bedbug problem at 125th street "has been taken care of." Of course, bedbugs are remarkably resilient and aren't eradicated so easily. The Park Slope Pavilion, for instance, has had repeated problems with the parasites, which can live for over a year between feedings.

According to a NY Daily News poll linked in the Gothamist article, 10% of New Yorkers now say they've had problems with bedbugs in their homes, with the infestations appearing to be most severe in the outer boroughs. (Although it's possible Manhattanites are just less likely to be truthful about it.)

The Goatse Of Love

For when your love is so strong, it can't be torn apart. But it can be held open.

Dinner At The Movies

Days after two NYC clothing retailers temporarily closed due to bedbug infestations, the New York Daily News quotes city exterminators who say they've recently been called out to treat movie theaters for the bloodsuckers.

Experts warned Sunday that cushy theater seats pose a far bigger bedbug threat than racks in clothing stores - despite last week's news of bedbug infestations at two Manhattan shops. "In a movie theater, you are sitting in one spot for two hours. They have the opportunity to feed on you," said Jennifer Erdogan, director of Bell Environmental Services, a pest control company that fumigates movie theaters, offices and stores. "Bedbugs need people to stop moving to get a blood meal." Shoppers are still scratching from reports that bedbugs shut down Hollister in SoHo and its sister store Abercrombie & Fitch in the South Street Seaport. To moviegoers, the mere mention of flesh-hungry insects noshing on audiences was worse than any horror film playing Sunday in Manhattan. "That's sick," said Cassandre Augustine, 18, of Flatbush, Brooklyn, who was headed to see "Get Him To The Greek" in midtown. "It makes me extra germophobic. Now I have to wear long pants all the time."

Exterminators refuse to identify the theaters with the problem, citing confidentiality agreements signed with the owners.

NEW YORK CITY: Another Abercrombie Store Shut Down For Bedbug Infestation

One day after their Soho flagship Hollister store was shut down due to a massive infestation of bedbugs, today Abercrombie & Fitch has closed their South Street Seaport location for the same reason. Gothamist again has the story.

According to an Abercrombie & Fitch spokesperson, the store was closed to "deal with a similar problem" as Hollister's, i.e. the parasite that dare not speak its name. But don't worry, kids, the company has turned to Mayor Bloomberg for guidance. In a letter to Bloomberg, Abercrombie CEO Michael S. Jeffries asked for “leadership and guidance” on how best to address the problem, the Wall Street Journal reports. We're not trying to upstage the mayor, but it's pretty simple; they just need to wash all their clothes in extremely hot water (120°F minimum). And move.

Bedbugs and rabies. Welcome to New York City!

SOHO: Bedbugs Shut Down Hollister Store

New York City's neverending battle with bedbugs has gone retail. Via Gothamist:

Hollister, the teen-oriented clothing store that's a subsidiary of Abercrombie & Fitch, was shut down yesterday due to what one employee described as "a massive bedbug outbreak" at the four-story SoHo flagship location. And according to our source, who spoke on condition of anonymity so that he/she wouldn't lose his/her job at the creepy "bedbug breeding ground," the senior management blew off complaints about bedbugs for almost a month.

Gothamist's source says the store now has "three shirtless employees standing outside to tell customers that the store is closed until further notice." Bedbugs only breed at night, leading the quoted employee to speculate that the problem is so bad because the store is "almost completely dark." The Abercrombie on Fifth Avenue is also lit like a nightclub. Hmm.

The Lasandwich

Just hitting the shelves of the UK-based supermarket chain Tesco is the lasagne sandwich. And you thought KFC's Double Down was gross. The Guardian's food blogger has a field day.

The first thing that hits you on opening the packet is a faint but distinct whiff of tuna, an inauspicious start for a beefy sandwich. Biting down, the texture is soft and claggy, the cheesy sauce acting as a lubricant to bring the cotton wool bread firmly into contact with your dental enamel from where it refuses to budge without the aid of a fingernail. The diced beef is beefy in the way that a cheap beefburger is beefy - redolent of the artificial flame-grilled flavour favoured by certain fast food outlets and devoid of any garlic, oregano or other identifiable attempt at Italian-ness. Quite where the pasta sheet in the middle disappears to is a mystery - it's there when you bite down, and gone by the time you swallow. Overall, the effect is of a saladless, cold, lightly pre-chewed beefburger.

Something something, British cuisine, something.

Uganda's Rev. Martin Ssempa, Remixed

Uganda's Rev. Martin Ssempa, who wants the death penalty for homosexuality, has been showing extreme fetish porn to horrified audiences as proof that all gay men need to put to death. And as things goes in YouTube-land, Ssempa has been remixed. Some will find this hilarious, some definitely will not. NSFW! SRSLY!

Hands-Free Subway Safety

Jen Carlson at Gothamist tips us to this entry on Subway Douchery. Jen: "Impressive, but, we're pretty sure this is how one contracts pink eye."