RIP Jimmy Carter
An interview from 1982 with Peter Sissons that shines light on Carter’s vision, thoughtfulness, reflectiveness, and morality.
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Ramen Etiquette and Customer Service
Around two weeks ago, a ramen restaurant in Japan took to social media to post a message, that was translated and shared in a SoraNews24 report, with added context. To quote:
Menya Kiryu, whose main branch is located in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, specializes in what’s commonly called “Jiro-style” ramen. Pioneered and popularized by Tokyo-based chain Ramen Jiro, Jiro-style ramen is heavy on the oil and garlic, and the topping often includes extra-fatty cuts of chashu pork and huge piles of vegetables. In short, Jiro-style ramen isn’t for the faint of heart or the slight of appetite, but for fans, the unabashed, unmitigated assault on diners’ taste buds and stomach capacity represents the pinnacle of pleasure when it comes to ramen.
Just because Menya Kiryu specializes in extra-filling ramen, though, doesn’t mean that it’s OK for two people to go halves on a bowl together. That’s exactly what a couple tried to do last Wednesday at the Kawaguchi branch, prompting the following reaction by the restaurant.
To the 30-something couple who just came to our restaurant at 1:41 p.m.,
We ask that each adult in a party order a bowl of ramen.
You were unable to abide with such an obvious request and got worked up. We do not normally offer refunds, but because you would not abide by the request, we refunded your money and you left.
It’s fine by us if you don’t ever come to our restaurant again.
We’re wondering if you’re acquaintances of one of our former employees? You mentioned the name of someone who used to work here, and forcefully insisted ‘We were allowed to share a bowl when we came here before,’ but we have never allowed that.
We believe that you can understand our position on this matter. It seems like you had eaten here many times in the past, but it’s fine by us if you don’t come anymore. We have you recorded on our security cameras and know who you are.
To our other customers who were present at the time, we apologize for any discomfort that was caused.
‘Let your bum find its thing’
British sofa retailer DFS is promoting its winter sale with plenty of booty-shaking, literally.
News of Jesus… from Florida
A case of a news writer having fun. Excerpts from a report on the BocaNewsNow.com website:
Boca Raton Cops Arrest Jesus On Christmas Eve
A Palm Beach County judge — apparently tired of waiting for Jesus to return — issued a warrant for his arrest. And the City of Boca Raton Police Department executed that warrant on Christmas Eve. Jesus Macedanino of Davie was taken into custody Tuesday evening. Jesus is now spending Christmas in the Palm Beach County Jail.
While Jesus’ arrest report continues to be processed by the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts, the jail tells BocaNewsNow.com that his alleged sins include one count of failing to appear for a court hearing, one count of violating probation, and one count of operating a motor vehicle without valid registration. He is being held on $2,000 bond.
Jesus lives in the 500 block of SW 132nd Terrace in Davie. Aside from bond, the traffic citation issued carries a $264 fine. None of this should be an issue, as it’s widely believed that Jesus saves.
Forget Your Wallet
From Norway: a new spot for mobile payment app, Vipps, with an utterly unforgettable twist at its end.
A Time to Undo Naughtiness
Toyota’s holiday campaign has a boy make a last minute effort to get off Santa’s ‘naughty list’.
Execution Pride
According to a recently released report by the American non-profit, Death Penalty Information Center, legal executions in the USA in 2024 remained at historic lows. A total of 25 people were executed across nine states with Alabama leading the tally with 6 executions, followed by Texas with 5 executions. Make of that what you will, it was the response of Steve Marshall, Attorney General of Alabama, that really got my attention. To quote:
This has been a team effort. I would like to thank Commissioner John Hamm and @ALCorrections, as well as my dedicated group of capital litigators, for delivering long-awaited justice for each of these victims.
Arrested for plot to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s president
Excerpts from a BBC news report:
Two men have been arrested in Zambia accused of being “witchdoctors” who had been tasked with trying to bewitch the president.
The police said they had arrested Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Leonard Phiri in the capital, Lusaka.
“Their purported mission was to use charms to harm” President Hakainde Hichilema, said the police statement, released on Friday.
Many people in the southern African country believe in - and live in fear of - witchcraft.
The police said Mr Candunde and Mr Phiri were hired by Nelson Banda, the younger brother of MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda.
Mr Candunde and Mr Phiri have been charged under Zambia's Witchcraft Act with “possession of charms”, “professing knowledge of witchcraft” and “cruelty to wild animals”.
The pair were found in possession of “assorted charms”, including a live chameleon, the police added.
For those who fear beer freezer explosions
From New Zealand: beer brand Export Ultra has launched a reminder call service for beer drinkers who like to chill their bottles in their freezers and are likely to forget pulling them out in time, before they blow up. Notably, to execute the idea, the brand has teamed up with rapper Vanilla Ice. To quote:
Vanilla Ice’s Export Ultra Cold Call Back Service will be saving Kiwi beers from December 2024 through to February 2025 with a rotating series of bespoke calls, including special ones for Christmas, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day, because a frosty beer is cool, but a frozen beer? That's ice-cold heartbreak.
Opting in is simple and completely free of charge: pop your beer in the freezer, text ‘ICE ICE’ to 423 and 34 minutes later, you'll receive a call from none other than Vanilla Ice himself, reminding you to check yourself before your beers wreck themselves.
Benedict Cumberbatch is Benedict Lumberjack
The actor stars in the latest spot for the Make My Money Matter campaign which spotlights investments into companies causing deforestation.
Previously in the campaign:
A 3.5 Tonne Headline
From New Zealand: Toyota demonstrates the power of its 2024 Hilux Hybrid by towing the captioned headline all across the country.
A Toast Between Legends
Hip-hop superstars Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are promoting Still G.I.N. —the latest offering from their joint beverage brand— with an audacious spot that features AI-generated versions of music icons Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
‘Handshakes with Donalds are usually quite a challenge’
That’s a quip by Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, expressed while sharing a video of himself, shaking hands with France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, in a way that poked fun at Donald Trump.
For those who need more context, here’s how the Indy100 website reported it:
It’s just one of the many things about the Republican and US president-elect which irritates other world leaders, and now, French president Emmanuel Macron and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk have poked fun at Donald Trump’s rather assertive way of shaking someone’s hand.
The convicted felon, who puts the ‘yank’ in Yankee, has long made headlines for his way of greeting fellow politicians, which involves a sharp tug on the other person’s hand which psychologists and body language experts have described as a “tactical move” and a “bone-crusher handshake”.
One martial arts academy even taught people how to defend themselves against such a handshake.
And Macron has seen it as somewhat of a challenge over the years, as back in 2018 he decided to disarm (ha) the Potus by going for a traditional French double kiss instead – and the duo had another intense greeting last week.
Now, Macron has taken another dig at Trump’s unusual greeting style during a meeting with Tusk on Thursday, when the former was in Warsaw to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and recent conversations with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump.
Sharing a video of the pair shaking hands, before engaging in a much tighter grip, Tusk wrote on Twitter: “Handshakes with Donalds are usually quite a challenge.”
The Polish PM was also seen giving Macron a playful jab as the duo laughed at their little joke.
Kentucky Fried Carols Record
KFC Canada has a limited-edition offer: a playable record that is—believe it or not—printed on its chicken bucket lid, with an etched vinyl coating.
To quote from one report:
The brand act, in partnership with AOR Courage, draws inspiration from the Colonel’s musical legacy that made waves in the late 1960s with the release of his three holiday records. But, this time, KFC Canada and the Colonel are replaying it with a modern twist. A select amount of bucket lids have been specially pressed and coated with a vinyl layer and custom holiday design, turning them into playable records. Etched in are four remixed versions of classic Christmas songs, brought to life with the unmistakable sounds of KFC’s kitchen. From the rattle of the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices, mimicking a shaker in We Wish You a Merry Christmas, to the sizzle of fry oil, paralleling the crash of cymbals in Deck the Halls, each track adds a festive, KFC-inspired twist to beloved holiday classics we all know and love. And to make it even more special, each vinyl comes with its own custom sleeve - creating a new collectible keepsake for holiday traditions in years to come.
And this is what one of the people behind the idea was quoted as saying:
“You’ll be surprised how soothing the sound of chicken frying is when layered into a classic Holiday carol,” says Dhaval Bhatt, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Courage Inc., who produced the Kentucky Fried Carols record for KFC Canada.
Road Injury Fraud Warning
A trend in South Africa of people jumping in front of slow-moving cars to get compensation payouts for injuries drew a warning Tuesday from the government’s national Road Accident Fund.
In a statement, it said the phenomenon of people intentionally getting hit near intersections and stop streets was becoming a significant problem, while it acknowledged that some cases might have been driven by poverty and desperation at an expensive time of the year.
“We acknowledge road users may be faced with socioeconomic challenges,” the fund said.
The RAF allows people to claim compensation from a national fund if they are injured in car crashes.
But it warned that it was clamping down on bogus claims after identifying the new trend. It said people were waiting for vehicles to “slow down enough that they don’t get killed” before throwing themselves in front of or against the cars to fake an accident.
“The RAF does not compensate someone who intentionally causes a motor vehicle accident, even if this results in serious injuries,” it said.
The fund didn’t say how many cases of people intentionally getting hit by cars it had recorded but said it had rejected nearly 50,000 claims in the period between February 2022 and February this year, some of them because they were fraudulent.
Burger King + KFC BFF Burger
As explained in this news report:
KFC and Burger King have ‘put their rivalry aside’ to launch an unexpected collaboration that combines the best of both brands.
The fast food giants have teamed up to launch the ‘BFF Burger,’ available in France for a limited time. From November 27 to December 16, the collab will roll out across 555 Burger King locations and 379 KFC restaurants throughout the country.
The BFF Burger features a blend of classic ingredients, including a sesame seed bun, fresh iceberg lettuce, and melted cheddar cheese. It comes with flame-grilled meat exclusively at Burger King France and crispy chicken exclusively at KFC France.
Adding a unique twist, the burger is topped with a special white BBQ sauce created specifically for this partnership. For vegetarian diners, both chains are also offering a meat-free version of the BFF Burger, ensuring everyone can enjoy this one-of-a-kind collaboration.
Dick Van Dyke with Chris Martin
A collaborative music video that is, to quote one reviewer, “part biog, part document, and all-round big hug” for the veteran actor-entertainer, who will turn 99 this week.
Whamster!
That an adorable hamster would star in a Christmas commercial for Dutch supermarket chain, Albert Heijn, I suppose, was to be expected. The highlight of this year’s spot is the way it reimagines the music video of the Wham! holiday anthem, Last Christmas, through the eyes of said hamster. Plus it features a cameo from Andrew Ridgeley.
Alternative link (no subtitles)
Santa-inspired scent… with an X-rated story
The idea of a deodorant, intended to make you smell like Santa, is, in itself, quite intriguing. But it is the campaign film for this offering from British deodorant brand, Fussy, that is likely to be remembered for much, much longer. To quote from the press release:
[T]he launch campaign is led by a film that reimagines the spirit of Christmas in a never-before-told festive fable - offering an X-rated explanation as to why a young boy’s parents smell exactly like Santa Claus.
Be warned: you won’t be able to unsee it.
Man arrested for trespassing, says it was hobby
To quote from a news report out of Japan:
A man arrested on suspicion of trespassing on a property in Dazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Nov. 25 was quoted as telling police he enjoyed home intrusions and had committed over 1,000 break-ins.
The man, a self-professed 37-year-old office worker living in Dazaifu, is specifically accused of trespassing on the premises of a self-employed man in the city at about 1 p.m. on Nov. 25.
“Breaking into other people's homes is a hobby of mine, and I've done so over 1,000 times,” he reportedly told police. Admitting to the intrusion on Nov. 25, he said, “I get a thrill wondering if someone will find me or not, enough to make my palms sweat, and it relieves stress.”
Liquid Death Pit Diaper
I’ll let this report explain:
Liquid Death has done it again, pushing absurdist marketing to new extremes with its latest product: the Pit Diaper, a collaboration with Depend.
Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a diaper for concertgoers who refuse to leave the pit, no matter how much water (or beer) they’ve chugged.
Endorsed by metalcore legend Ben Koller (of Converge, Mutoid Man and more), the Pit Diaper promises to lock away recycled Liquid Death while neutralizing odors so you can keep raging to your favorite songs without worrying about leaks – or judgment.
Made from cruelty-free quilted pleather and adorned with chains and spikes, the $75 Pit Diaper blends seamlessly into any metal concert outfit. The brand says it’s both a fashion statement and a functional piece of concert gear.
Romantic Gamble
A couple’s attempts to get lucky in love, and with their money, is at the heart of a charming new spot for Holland Casino.
The Last Verse
Disney has formally released this 3 minute short—originally screened at D23 2024—featuring the new verse added by the late Richard Sherman for ‘It’s a Small World’.
Hot Snowman, Frosty Gin
A delightful new spot for Aviation Gin (with Ryan Reynolds, naturally). For those who may not know, it parodies a recently-released Netflix movie. Thankfully, you don’t have to have watched it, to enjoy the commercial.