Fat America. No wonder!

Have you ever wondered why when you visit America they have fat people that make our lardies look postively anorexic?  Well wonder no more.  Men's Health (the US edition obviously) recently published an article listing the 20 worst Foods in America: 2011.  I've selected a few that simply left me open mouthed and feeling ever so slightly sick at the thought of consuming that many calories in one hit.  Enjoy (or not!).

Worst Pizza

Uno Chicago Grill Classic Deep Dish Pizza (individual size)

2,310 calories
165 g fat (54 g saturated)

4,920 mg soidum 

In all the years we’ve been putting this list together, this pizza from Uno’s is the only item to never budge from the hyper-caloric countdown. While a number of burgers, salads, and pastas battle it out for the dubious distinction of being America’s worst, there is simply no competition for this nightmarish creation. With a day’s worth of calories, more than 2 days’ worth of sodium, and nearly 3 days’ worth of fat, bread, cheese, and sauce have never been stretched to such extremes.

3 days worth of fat in one pizza!

Worst Drink

Cold Stone Creamery PB&C Shake (Gotta Have It size, 24 fl oz)

2,030 calories

131 g fat (68 g saturated, 2.5 g trans)

153 g sugars

A couple years ago, Baskin-­Robbins’ milk shake line could have easily claimed the top five worst drinks in America, but when it decided to reel in some of the caloric excesses, Cold Stone’s PB&C was left exposed as the biggest bully on the block. And the damage is severe: This blended peanut-butter-cup concoction makes it possible to slurp down a day’s worth of energy with a mere 10-minute straw session. We hope Cold Stone decides to follow Baskins’ lead and downsize this atrocity, but if not, we’re happy to keep doling out the negative publicity.

An adult females entire calorie allowance in one drink!

Worst Kids' Meal

California Pizza Kitchen Kids Curly Mac 'n' Cheese

1,038 calories
38 g saturated fat
1,651 mg sodium

Pasta robed in melted cheese will never pass muster with the nutritionist set; nevertheless, there are some versions out there you can feel good about feeding your kid. Bob Evans, TGI Friday’s, and even Burger King all serve reasonable versions of the kiddie staple. CPK decidedly does not. This bowl represents about 70 percent of the calories the average 6-year-old should consume in a day. What’s worse, it delivers as much saturated fat as an adult should consume over the course of 48 hours. Good news is you can dissuade them from ordering the mac by suggesting the pizza instead. We doubt they’ll object.

What responsible parent would feed a child over 1k calories in one meal?

Worst Salad

TGI Friday's Santa Fe Chopped Salad

1,800 calories

Rumor has it that Hollywood elite turn to the Friday’s salad section when it comes time to gain weight for onscreen roles. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but get too cozy with these leaves and you can expect some dire repercussions. The average entrée-size salad packs a walloping 1,216 calories, making it one of the most dangerous sections of an already-disastrous menu. It comes as no surprise that the Santa Fe emerges as the worst of this sad heap; Mexican- or Southwestern-themed salads—with their abundance of shredded cheese, greasy proteins, and tortilla chips—are the worst species of salad. If those are the flavors you’re after, why not a crunchy taco from Taco Bell? You could have a dozen for the same caloric cost.

Isn't salad supposed to be the healthy option?

The Worst Food in America

Cheesecake Factory Bistro Shrimp Pasta

2,727 calories
78 g saturated fat
1,737 mg sodium

The troubling truth is this entire list of America’s Worst Foods could be fueled solely by the Cheesecake Factory’s atrocious fare. No restaurant combines elephantine portion sizes with a heavy-handed application of cheap cooking fats more recklessly than the Factory folk, resulting in dishes like the 2,582-calorie Chicken and Biscuits and the 2,455-calorie French Toast Napoleon. But it’s a relatively healthy-sounding plate of shrimp pasta that wears the tainted crown, delivering to your bloodstream more saturated fat than you’d find in three packages of Oscar Mayer Center Cut Bacon and as many carbs as you’d slurp down from 1½ cases of Amstel Light. Gross

Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Pasta - Killer Shrimp!

Toxic antibodies blitz tumours

"On 19 August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company's lead therapy, an antibody engineered to deliver a poisonous payload directly into lymphoma cells. The hope is that such antibodies, called antibody–drug conjugates, will sidestep the punishing toxicities of classical chemotherapies, which run loose in the bloodstream and kill healthy cells in addition to their targets."

"Seek and Destroy" -Functionality of antibody-drug conjugates as described in the article by Heidi Ledford. "Their power comes from their payloads: lethal drugs tethered to the antibody that remain harmless until the conjugate releases them inside cancer cells" 


"In July, an FDA advisory committee voted unanimously in support of accelerated approval for Adcetris after Seattle Genetics reported that 94% of the 102 people with Hodgkin's lymphoma in a trial of the treatment saw their tumours shrink, and 73% achieved partial or complete remission."


Extracts from the article "Toxic antibodies blitz tumours".  Published online 22 August 2011.  Nature.com.  To read the full article click the link in the title or use:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110822/full/476380a.html

3-Way (The Golden Rule) (feat. Justin Timberlake & Lady Gaga)

Absolutely hilarious! Love The Lonely Island. Click the title for a link to their website (and even more tracks).

Warning - This video should probably not be viewed by those under the age of 15 (if not older) as it contains explicit lyrics. L&TAP accepts no responsibility for any offence caused by this video.

Marley & Me Movie Trailer

I spent 3 years at least building myself up to watch this movie. We've all heard how sad it is, especially for someone so crazy in love with their pet dog as I am with Indiana.

Well I'm not going to lie. Yes this movie is sad. Yes I cried like a baby, and yes it took me nearly an hour to compose myself afterwards and another 2 days to stop cuddling Indie every time he came near me (much to his disgust I'm sure!). Putting all that aside, Marley and Me was one of the best movies I have seen this year.

It may be a bit girlie but if you love dogs (even half as much as I do) then there is nothing not to love about this film.

I literally laughed out loud at clearance puppies antics, as they reminded me so much of those of my own clearance puppy.

In short, if you think you can cope with the fact that you WILL cry after watching this film then it really is a must see. I cannot recommend it enough and only wish I had seen it sooner myself so I could have even more time to watch it again and again as I am now sure to do.

The waking nightmare of sleep paralysis

I just came across this article written by Chris French and published in the Guardian in 2009.

I have recently discovered sleep paralysis as a condition and it has put an end to my constant wondering about the weird kind of dreams I have and how messed up my head must be!  

In a way it's a relief to know I'm almost normal in the sense of having such a condition but as this account from a fellow sufferer illustrates, I am far from comfortable going to sleep at night with exactly the same experiences possibly awaiting me as Ms Ball.

...This is illustrated by an account from Lori Ball, a healthy 53-year-old woman from Ohio who is not only well-informed about sleep paralysis but is actually cognisant of what is happening to her while it's happening: "I try to scream (though I have great difficulty making any sound), attempt to flail around, anything, to get the attention of my husband. It is a feeling of panic, entrapment and desperation so horrifying that I have difficulty describing its magnitude.

"If my spouse notices my discomfort and responds, in my mind it's never soon enough. One cannot simply tell me to 'wake up' and tap me on the arm. Often I need to be shaken somewhat to be fully present. At that point I wouldn't care if he slapped me hard as the terror of being in that paralysed state, totally helpless, is overwhelming. Knowing that it will end eventually is of no comfort. Every second is hell."

To see the article in full please click the link in the post title.

The end of ageing: Why life begins at 90

The end of ageing: Why life begins at 90 - health - 10 August 2011 - New Scientist

Live long enough and your body stops ageing – so can we learn to stop the clock before our twilight years?

Existence: Is there more than one me?

Existence: Is there more than one me? - space - 02 August 2011 - New Scientist

"FAR, far away, in a galaxy with a remarkable resemblance to the Milky Way, is a star that looks remarkably like the sun. And on the star's third planet, which looks like a twin of the Earth, lives someone who, for all the world, is you. Not only do they look the same as you and lead an identical life, they are reading this exact same article - in fact, they are focused on this very line."


This is a really thought provoking article for me. I've always been interested in the theory of multiverses. I can definitely see how it could be possible, taking into account the laws of quantum mechanics.  However I always come back to asking the same question. "If there is an infinite number of universes or 'bubbles' out there and, in each one is another version of me playing out every possible outcome of every decision I make, resulting in an infinite number of histories. How come one of those versions of me hasn't yet proved multiverse theory and found a way to convey this to the other infinite numbers of me out there, including me?". Do you see my point?! ;o)

Sucker Punch - Official Trailer 2 [HD]

For anyone interested in the movie itself, here is the official trailer.

Emiliana Torrini - White Rabbit (Sucker Punch VA)

The soundtrack to this movie is actually pretty good. The movie itself is slightly more questionable, however there are some classic lines from Scott Glenn playing the "Wiseman" such as "Don't write any cheques with your mouths that your ass can't cover..." and "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything".

Here's Emiliana Torrini performing the Jefferson Airplane classic - White Rabbit from the OST.

There are also great tracks from Emily Browning (the actress who plays Baby Doll in the movie itself) covering The Smiths and The Pixies.

Two And A Half Men Charlie quits Drinking

Brilliant!

Dexter Season 6 Tease

Quite possibly one of the best shows on TV. Can't wait for season 6. Does it all end here? That's the question...