Wednesday 4 September 2019

genomkörning på svenska

Whilst some organisations have taken to deputising fast-food franchises with plenipotentiary and consular powers, we discover that a few such outposts in Sweden (fifty-five at least) are installing drive-thru charging stations for electric vehicles to supplement the coverage of state-sponsored infrastructure that leaves just enough gaps as to dissuade some drivers from committing to this other mode of transportation. While a full re-charge takes a bit longer than fulfilling one’s order, it still offers a nice alternative and adds extra value to queuing up.

Friday 2 August 2019

robble-robble

In a side note that’s bigger than the post’s main topic Super Punch casually asks us if we‘d ever heard of the early depiction of McDonaldland character Hamburglar as the Lone Jogger.
One can’t just drop that sort of a bombshell without elaborating. After reforming his original incarnation as a lecherous old man with rodent features, for creative reasons lost to history the Hambuglar (previously) was given a partner in crime, the piratical Captain Crook, and donned with his signature cape, only to be directed to mime being a flasher—only to disclose his his identity as the Lone Jogger.  The advertising campaign was significantly curtailed after a 1973 lawsuit levied by Sid and Marty Krofft against McDonald’s for copyright infringement on their character universe. 

Thursday 16 May 2019

vienna convention

In a move that seems particularly American and symptomatic of its McWorld mentality, US citizens travelling in Austria who’ve lost their passport or are otherwise distressed may seek out consular services and relief at any one of the country’s nearly two hundred McDonald’s franchises.
Fast food staff, thanks to a deal reached between the company and the US State Department, will have a special hotline to reach the Embassy to relay emergencies and seek resolution. A spokesperson for the US Mission says that this partnership is not in lieu of a fully staffed and trained diplomatic corps and is in fact increasing access to the embassy by distributing services throughout the country, choosing McDonald’s for this pilot programme because of its geographic spread, after-hours staffing and familiarity to Americans.

Saturday 13 April 2019

you deserve a break today

Referred by Coudal Partners’ Fresh Signals, we get a glimpse of the direction a fast food giant could have taken towards mellower, harvest palette instead of the signature red and gold, which supposedly stimulates the appetite, thanks to some recently recovered 1973 (also the same year as the introduction of the Egg McMuffin) marketing proofs from Unimark International. The alternate look reminds us of the iconic Sainsbury’s store brand. The design archives of McDonald’s and other anchor lines are being researched and curated by the Vignelli Center for Design Studies.

Monday 8 April 2019

spuntino

Recently a team of archaeologists uncovered a delightfully well-preserved “fast food” counter from the ruins of Pompeii (previously).  In the Empire such thermopolia (singular thermopolium) catered to merchants as conveniences and those without the means to set up and staff a kitchen at home—whose value menus included such on-the-go and processed (fermented and thus the domain of Bacchus rather than Demeter) fare as mulled wine, lentils, baked cheese and preserved fish.

Tuesday 2 April 2019

hemebase

While this latest fare I suspect wouldn’t be for someone like me who has happily been a vegetarian for over two decades, meatless options moving into the fast food business (I was afraid that this was some cynical prank because of the timing but gladly not) are certainly positive developments all around and might encourage omnivorous appetites to significantly cut back on beef consumption.
There’s always an element of acclimation—I suppose the same as I would go through trying to convince myself that what was being offered to me—and I’d be willing to try—was not a hamburger but something completely plant-based, but changing diets without compromising anything in terms of taste or texture is pretty pivotal. Our dietary choices have consequences, and when beef becomes cheap and disposable, we are paying for it dearly elsewhere. I wonder what we will ultimately gain in return for moving in a more healthy and humane direction.

Wednesday 20 February 2019

all the presidents’ meals

The always brilliant Everlasting Blört refers us to a rather incredible, wide-ranging study from Foreign Policy on official White House State Dinners and how the evolution of the menu reflects changing tastes, health trends and American cuisine. Harry S Truman, hosting Dutch and British prime ministers Willem Drees and Winston Churchill, most certainly served samples of a certain new corn chip called Fritos and a couple of old fashioneds.
Nixon lost his creative flair after Watergate and recycled Bibb salads.  Jimmy Carter held the biggest state dinner with dignitaries from all over Latin American invited to attend the US transferring ownership of the Panama Canal. At one of the Reagans’ events, John Travolta danced with Princess Diana. Inventions of the kitchen—special sauces and desserts—were often named after the guests of honour. Reflecting popular diet fads of the 1990s, the Clinton White House only served beef on two occasions. Beautifully presented—plated, the interactive presentation that covers nearly nine decades of gastro-diplomatic fêting, we are ready to dig in and sample the courses through history.

Wednesday 16 January 2019

white castle down or mayor mccheese

Though doubtless no amount of statecraft could ever manage to extricate Trump from the unconscionable lows he has already visited on the office, there are reportedly calls for Trump to delay his vaunted event, the State of the Union address, as another casualty of the partial federal government closure.
While ongoing culture wars and tribalism might spin the fact that due to the shutdown the White House scullery was woefully understaffed to stage a proper banquet and therefore emphasised Trump’s resourcefulness and image of playing a host who understands the palette of his guests, it really diffuses that narrative to point out that the same lamed apparatus also is a guarantor of safety, not just for the person of the president but the public at large.


Friday 24 August 2018

mcdol ou le maire mccheese

We learn that the town of Dolus-d’Oléron has staged a four year legal battle to keep one fast food franchise off the picturesque and pristine Île d’Oléron (previously here and here), and amid contentions the courts may arrive at a decision soon.
Opponents, hoping to continue to foster a culture of environmental sustainability and minimising the deleterious effects of human enterprise, present some rather compelling arguments against the famously unwelcome franchise. Above and beyond reasons of aesthetics and how the competition hurts local business, the opposition group, led by the mayor of Dolus, offers that the business model of fast food and drive-thru service is a relic that’s done quite enough damage and has no place in the future. France has had a rather fraught relationship with the fast food giant over the decades not only as an assault on the palette but also a symbol of unchecked globalisation, protests and dialogues prompted over a trade dispute in 1990s when the US retaliated against an array of French products, including Roquefort cheese, over Europe’s refusal to allow hormone-treated beef into its markets.

Tuesday 14 August 2018

8x8

aurora: a primer for the Parker Solar Probe’s mission to touch the Sun, seeking answers regarding the solar winds and corona posed decades ago

banana for scale: an exponential (previously) romp through the Cosmos that will help one to appreciate perspective

of podcasts and puppets: an interview with the handler for MST3K’s Crow T Robot speaks on how novelty acts inform culture

wiigwaasabak: wanting to boost confidence and interest in preserving and using native languages, a First Nations young man took the initiative to dub his favourite cartoons in Anishiaabemowin and Cree

dugout: via Slashdot, a visit to the remote Australian opal mining town where people live underground

maccoin bubble: enthusiasts in China are trading commemorative tokens (whose face-value is a hamburger) issued for the fast food franchise’s fiftieth birthday at greatly inflated prices

bride of frankenstein: actually she’s Trump’s monster

strandbeest evolution: Dutch artist Theo Jansen engineers giant kinetic Jabberwockies that travel the beach powered only by the winds

Tuesday 3 April 2018

food court

Though the history and geopolitical situation that frames Iran’s relationship to the US and the broader Western-world (and its neighbours in the region) if rather fraught and complex and believe that the profusion of convenience food is a real blight on society and the environment, we rather enjoyed this summary presentation through the lens of bootleg fast food franchises from Atlas Obscura that neither shied away from the uncomfortable truths nor trivialised the state of affairs.
Kentucky House, Mash Donald’s, Pizza Hot and others occupy an entrepreneurial and experiential space that’s otherwise absent in daily life. We also gained an appreciation for the nuance of the Persian pejorative gharbzadeghi (غرب‌زدگی) for being besotted (struck) with Western models and standards in education, business, arts and culture but also critically as it launches a discourse on imitation and authenticity and how one as a nation is can be played proxy as consumers of the products or the politics that the West is selling. Do give the whole article a read at the link up top and discover more with the help of their team of intrepid adventurers.

Sunday 7 January 2018

carhop

In order to make visiting a charging station less of a chore and more of a treat (though I imagine that such a congregating place might be short-lived with exponential improvements to battery life and duration of recharging times), the entrepreneur behind Tesla electric vehicles and several other enterprises besides will transform one of his service points in the Los Angeles area into a classic bit of Americana, making it into a drive-in restaurant, complete with a (robotic?) waitstaff/pit-crew on roller skates. That’s a pretty clever idea—we think, the set-up is already familiar and seems conducive to powering-up one’s car and we wonder if a resurgence of drive-in theatres might not be in the offering soon.

Monday 4 December 2017

fine dining

Unfortunately, the US Sh*t Poster in-chief is an influencer and is setting—unsurprisingly—an atrocious example with his dietary predilections, which is a resounding endorsement for the processed, nutritionally vacuous and brandable foods that he’s chosen to limn the limits of his palette.
Such a cycle of meals only serve to keep us indentured to the systems underlying it: an economy bolstered by mcjobs, precarious and underserving healthcare that’s over burdened in part by lack of choices (though Dear Dotard could avail himself of any number of gourmet repasts and one would assume exercises his taste to leverage guests with dinner table diplomacy) and the pharmacopeia to stave off the deleterious effects of such a lifestyle. Hopefully, most of us have matured beyond this stage of being a finicky eater and perhaps like other unwelcome commendations and subsidies, people will further distance themselves from this short list of go-to franchises.

Monday 1 May 2017

bedtime for democracy or where’s my tab?

Dear Leader reportedly was most impressed—of all the features at his disposal in the Oval Office—with a buzzer that he can use to summon a butler to bring him his soft-drink of choice. Delighted how it makes his visitors nervous, it seems a rather pathetic squandering of resources—something that six-year-old Anthony Fremont who can wish people into the corn-field might demand or a ritual befitting (no offense) Pee-Wee’s Playhouse—I just hope it’s not remotely close to any other placebo buttons.

Friday 7 April 2017

6x6

littoral: the Inuit use these maps carved out of driftwood to navigate the coast

библиотека: a gallery of remarkable libraries of Eastern Europe

special sauce, lettuce, cheese: stratified recipe cards from Zing Zhang, via the always fabulous Nag on the Lake

shortlist, shoreditch: a selection of the finalists for a UK Brexit passport redesign

duchenne smile: earbuds that are controlled with facial expressions

crispr: octopi and their relatives can edit their own genes at will

Saturday 25 February 2017

milliarium aureum

Though far from pardoning all the hardships that the global fast-food franchise has brought on the neighbours that it’s saturated, we did enjoying hearing of how one restaurant incorporated some ancient ruins into its dining experience, conserving a bit of an archaeological excavation in the process.
The parent company invested an additional three hundred thousand euro to ensure that a stretch of Roman road was properly preserved and protected that was discovered during ground-breaking back in 2014, and now is on view thanks to a transparent floor in the restaurant. This compromise reminds me of the shopping mall in Mainz that’s host to a subterranean first century sanctuary of the goddess Isis and the Cybele discovered in 1999 when the mall’s proprietors were looking to expand underground parking.

Wednesday 4 January 2017

cibo, gente, e spasso

Despite vocal protests by residents and officials—though cosmetically, probably not raising much ire as other fast-food franchises and tourist-tat already saturate the corridors radiating out from the tiny nation-state, another outlet of a much maligned nutritional hegemony-monger opened for business near the Holy See and for the first time, occupying real estate owned (but without being accorded extra-territorial status) by the Vatican.
We’ve been known to patronise this establishment in the past but I think it’s really too much to suffer the Golden Arches within sight of Saint Peter’s—or anywhere else not keeping with character of its host neighbourhood, and resolve to be a little bit more finicky going forward. No matter how architecturally sensitive or neutral the façade might be made, it’s hard to imagine fitting, deserving locales other than newer subdivisions or buried within the catacombs of an airport or shopping centre, not even considering how such fare assaults local culinary tradition. It seems a little disgraceful and one would think that the property-owner would have more say about its tenants and isn’t so cash-strapped as to have no choice in the matter. What do you think? Just like quarters and communities, there’s no group so culturally impoverished that there’s no cooking heritage to displace.

Thursday 17 November 2016

4x4

no bueno: a look at the evolution of the logo of a Tex-Mex-ish fast food chain via Super Punch

pleasure capsule: the pimped out Panthermobile, from the creator of KITT and the Bat Mobile, is finally street-legal—via Nag on the Lake

omoshirogara: the private propaganda kimonos en vogue from 1900 to 1945

ur-fascism: an examination of the key features of totalitarianism

Friday 2 September 2016

food, fólks and fun

Though the last franchise of a global fast-food giant closed nearly seven years ago due to the worldwide financial crisis, there is apparently still at least one committed gourmand, as the Reykjavík Grapevine reports, who received a parcel from Hungary containing a hamburger.
The customs office intercepted the package before the recipient could claim it, and it is unclear whether the meal was consumed afterwards (or if indeed this was a regular delivery but I do not imagine that much contraband gets through the Icelandic postal system). Given that the last value menu sold in the country was on display under glass at the National Museum looking little changed since October 2009 (it’s subsequently been moved to a plinth at a local hostel), I am guessing the Icelander was able to satisfy his nostalgic cravings.

Tuesday 23 August 2016

finger-licking good

Though perhaps the efficacy is in line with what it ought to be, I imagine that there was no need for this sort of product tie-in, which certainly would not be a good shark-repellent and perhaps as good a lure as a bucket of chum. The idea that marketers (who should be made to sit in a corner and think about what they have done) had for this gimmick is that the “skin that should be extra crispy this summer is on your fried chicken.” This revolts me on several levels at once, but apparently the campaign was effective with the sun-screen having already sold-out. I guess when you hit the beaches and are wafted not by the smell of salty air but another, rather intrusive aroma, you know right away who to avoid.