June 30, 2004

BIG FAT SALES

Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man goes on sale today in the US -- and is already ranked 22 at Amazon.

In other large news, Imre Salusinszky reports that he lost 2.5 kilograms after a week of eating McDonald’s. Imre compares his dieting experiment to that undertaken by Morgan Spurlock:

He gained 5 per cent of his body-weight in the first week, going from 84kg to 88kg. I lost 3 per cent of mine, going from 80kg to 77.5kg. His cholesterol went through the roof; mine dipped to an all-time low of 3.7 millimoles per litre.

And the best news of all?

There's a Ronald McDonald Weight Management Clinic right around the corner.

UPDATE. In yet more large news, behold this quote on the subject of Michael Moore’s election influence:

"We haven’t seen anything like this before," said political scientist Thad Beyle of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "I can’t recall anything this large" coming out during an election year.

(Via reader Jeff Jackson)

Posted by Tim Blair at June 30, 2004 04:25 AM
Comments

Unlike Spurlock, who accompanied his diet with a ban on exercise, I maintained my usual habits: morning yoga, push-ups and sit-ups, and a 4km walk three times a week.

Come on Imre, you can do better - what about the sex...?

Posted by: jafa at June 30, 2004 at 04:57 AM

In the Amazon listing for the book is the title:

"Customers interested in this title may also be interested in:"

One of those is

"Fat huge man
Date Hundreds of Thousands of Fat Singles, Admirers. Register Free!
www.LargeFriends.com"

...

Anyway... I found it funny...

Posted by: Apex at June 30, 2004 at 05:07 AM

Maybe it's good news about Mickey D's, but I can't tell for sure... what's with all those darned French units of measurement? What was his actual weight loss and cholesterol drop in furlongs per fortnight?

Posted by: Steve Skubinna at June 30, 2004 at 05:12 AM

"I can’t recall anything this large" coming out during an election year.

Academia-induced amnesia, likely abetted by serial narcolepsy. Poor guy.

Posted by: PW at June 30, 2004 at 05:24 AM

BTW Tim, didn't you forget something? There are people who may think you're quoting the guy approvingly, after all.

Posted by: PW at June 30, 2004 at 05:28 AM

My firm regular stools were simply a bonus.

GAAAAHHH! Too much information, Imre!

Posted by: ilyka at June 30, 2004 at 07:03 AM

Gah! Millimoles! They're everywhere! Get 'em off me!

Posted by: mikeski at June 30, 2004 at 07:32 AM

"I can’t recall anything this large" coming out during an election year.

Well, except when Shamu The Killer Whale endorsed Bill Clinton!

Posted by: rinardman at June 30, 2004 at 08:37 AM

Apex - I saw the ads for the fat huge men too! Eeew! Luckily, I didn't pay much attention to that as I rushed to place my order (free super saver shipping)!

Posted by: kimberly at June 30, 2004 at 08:39 AM

We haven’t seen anything like this before"

Ok, maybe michael moore is right - americans are stupid

Posted by: Oktober at June 30, 2004 at 10:01 AM

Up to #16 now on Amazon.


It is also surrounded by weight loss books. It must be a conspiracy by those right wingers at Amazon!!

Posted by: derf at June 30, 2004 at 10:30 AM

What the fuck is a "millimole"??? I refuse to believe that's an actual unit of measurement.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 30, 2004 at 10:57 AM

Andrea

mole/noun/ the SI base unit of measurement of amount of substance equal to the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilograms of carbon-12

Obviously, a millimole is one thousandth of that … easy, huh? :-)

Posted by: BruceT at June 30, 2004 at 12:11 PM

I am but a simple Unfrozen Cavewoman Blogger. Your strange "scientific measurements" frighten me! I must now hide in my simple bark shelter, wrapped in an uncured mastodon hide and cradling my sacred twelve-inch-long ruler fetish.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 30, 2004 at 12:22 PM

On the subject of metric measurements - the US changing to metric would, IMHO, have significant economic efficiency gains for the world economy.

Posted by: Razor at June 30, 2004 at 12:54 PM

"I can’t recall anything this large coming out during an election year".

Anyway, not since Bill showed Monica his big cigar.

Posted by: Freddyboy at June 30, 2004 at 12:55 PM

Now it's ranked 8. (I'd use "8!", except that'd be 8*7*6*5*4*3*2*1).

Posted by: Andjam at June 30, 2004 at 03:09 PM

Razor,

I was told in grade school (the 1970's) that by 1985 the US would be on the metric system to facilitate international trade. That was why we had to learn it.

We were also told that the earth was in danger of another ice age and that Jimmy Carter's presidency would restore pride in America but those are topics for another time.

Posted by: JDB at June 30, 2004 at 04:38 PM

Yeah, JDB, and we were told the world would be in famine by the 1970s ("Famine 1970!" was the top-selling book);and Paul Erhlich told us there was a population explosion and the world would collapse. Going back even earlier, Rachel Carson predicted a Silent Spring, a world without animals. I've lived through all these doomsday predictions to see them turn out false, which is why I'm sceptical about current ones like global warming.

Posted by: Freddyboy at June 30, 2004 at 05:20 PM

Teachers lied, metric died! (Okay, that was silly...)

Seriously though, you U.S. folks can keep using your arcane units of measurement (although I find degrees Fahrenheit to be rather irritating whenever I'm in the States), I just wish you'd get with the rest of the world on one thing: paper sheet sizes. Can anyone doubt the ingenuity of the A line (i.e. A4 etc) of paper formats?

Posted by: PW at June 30, 2004 at 10:54 PM

"Teachers lied, metric died!" - LOL

As an engineer in the states, US adoption of the metric system would be a godsend. I also remember all the hype of the "transformation" that never was. I also remember some kid on TV saying that we are going to run out of gas in something like five years unless we conserve. I was so pissed that I would never be able to drive a car when I grew up...

As far as McD's goes, there was an interview on TV with the guy who has been living in Charles De Gaul airport for 15 years. He has apparently never left in all that time. He just sits around as he can't leave his huge pile of belongings. They asked him what he eats and his reply was that he has been eating McD's for all this time. Let's see, according to "SuperSize Me" the movie, he should weight (how much did he gain in one month? 20 lbs?) 20 X 12 X 15 + 150 = 3,750 pounds. The guy was rather skinny though. Heh, sorry about the English units...

Posted by: Guy from Ohio at July 1, 2004 at 12:17 AM