Take this Morgan Spurlock:
"A 54-year-old man says his obsessive-compulsive disorder drove him to eat 23,000 Big Macs in 36 years. Fifty-four-year-old Don Gorske says he hit the milestone last month, continuing a pleasurable obsession that began May 17, 1972 when he got his first car.
"Gorske has kept every burger receipt in a box. He says he was always fascinated with numbers, and watching McDonald's track its number of customers motivated him to track his own consumption.
"The only day he skipped a Big Mac was the day his mother died, to respect her request.
"The correctional-institution employee says he doesn't care when people call his Big Mac obsession crazy. He says he's in love with the burgers, which are the highlights of his days."
You'd think that Mr. Gorske is a big, fat tub, right? Wrong. He's a tall feller who looks like he's not carrying a single extra pound. Kinda kicks Spurlock's "super size" theory right in the groin, n'est-ce pas?
7 comments:
The best item on McDonald's menu is a simple cheeseburger. There is a McD's 200 yards from my office. I go there once a week, which I have done for the past 11 years, for two cheeseburgers and a Coke. McDonald's has the best hamburger buns in the world. Ketchup, mustard cheese and those pickles. THOSE PICKLES! I hope my last meal on earth is two McD's cheeseburgers and a Coke.
Actually, Don Gorske is featured in Morgan Spurlock's film.
"Actually, Don Gorske is featured in Morgan Spurlock's film."
Good for him! I wouldn't know that, mainly 'cause Supersize Me ain't been available at my local lending library. And I refuse to spend a single of my hard-earned pennies subsidizing a culinary Michael Moore. So there.
I also once knew a guy - an adult - who ate fast food for literally almost every single meal. He was also tall and rail thin. In every scientific sampling of data there will be outliers that would seem to disprove the theory being tested. That is why we use statistical significance to gauge whether those outliers represent a flaw in the theory or whether they simply represent exceptions - the beauty of randomness in nature as it were.
How do you know that Spurlock is a Michael Moore if you haven't seen his film? Oh wait - you're a Repub, you have the ability to make judgements without any prior knowledge. Please post the name and address of your lending library so I can send them a copy since you're too cheap to take a chance that you might educate yourself on a serious problem facing our society.
Show me a link to a nutritionist or doctor (one who is not receiving a paycheck from fast food franchises) who recommends eating fast food. The only groin kicking that needs to be done here is to those who would perpetuate the idea that eating fast food more than once per month isn't detrimental to one's health in a measurable way.
"How do you know that Spurlock is a Michael Moore if you haven't seen his film? Oh wait - you're a Repub, you have the ability to make judgements without any prior knowledge."
Yeah, ouch, you got me!!!
I would call you a dumbass, but I'd be insulting well-meaning dumbasses the world 'round.
I've watched Mr. Spurlock's television show, Mr. Brave ... er, Anonymous, and I've consulted literally dozens of secondary sources 'bout the man. I think it's safe to say that I have a lot of knowledge 'bout Morgan Spurlock and what/how he thinks.
Have you ever been to France, Anonymous? Didn't think so. Are you familiar with classic French cooking techniques? If you are, which I doubt, you know that butter and cream are used quite frequently in classic French dishes. Go out into provincial France, especially in southern France, and you'll be amazed at how much butter and cream (and cheese and bread) is consumed by folks who live there. I once dined in a country restaurant in Le Havre, France. The specialty of the restaurant was steak and frites that'd been fried in duck fat. Know what garnishment was provided for the frites? A half-dozen different "flavors" of mayonnaise.
I mention this not to prove that I'm a world traveler. I mention it because the typical French diet is rich in fat, and well-marinated in alcohol, yet the rate of French obesity is well below that of the United States'. (Oh, and McDonald's is quite popular in urban areas of France, too.). Why is this? I'll tell you. The French eat to live, and don't live to eat like so many in America do. And when you run across an atypical fat Frenchman, he doesn't blame anyone but himself for his predicament.
Life is about choices. If you want to eat a high-fat diet, whether home-cooked or prepared at a fast food joint, and you want to sit on your ass all day, don't come crying to me when your health suffers. Folks who think like that are basically who Morgan Spurlock was targeting with his propaganda film. He went on a month-long fast food binge, and sat on his ass, and then tried to blame his predicament on someone else. Please.
Furthermore, don't give me this "outliers represent a flaw in the theory or whether they simply represent exceptions - the beauty of randomness in nature as it were" bullshit (Jesus, I don't think I've ever heard such pseudo-intellectualism in my life).
My paternal great-grandfather and my maternal grandfather were both farmers. Seventy-five percent of what they ate was fried (and they ate one serving of pork practically every day they were alive). One of 'em lived to be 96, the other lived to be 85. And neither of 'em had a waist larger than 34" when they died (I know because I still have overalls that belonged to both of 'em). They ate high-fat foods, three times a day, and they lived long lives. Why? Because they knew the value of hard work and didn't have the Internet, or always have the TV, to distract their skinny asses. (If Mr. Spurlock had tried his McDonald's experiment while working in a tobacco field, or on a loading dock, his results would've been vastly different. But that would've ****ed up his preconceived thesis, now wouldn't it've?)
Finally, if you want to know where my local lending library is, all you gotta do is check my profile to see where I live. If I'm going to spend my hard-earned money donating stuff to said library, I'll send 'em Milton Friedman's "Free To Choose," which, by the way, you and Morgan Spurlock need to watch ... and watch again ... and watch again. Indeed.
Now go away, kid, you're bothering me.
Have you ever been to France, Anonymous? Didn't think so.
I was not aware that Paris was no longer the French capital. I knew that the French carried a bit of disdain for Parisians in general, but what a shame they decided to disown such a stunning city ...er, guess it's a sovereign nation now? Given that I didn't even realize Paris was no longer part of France, quite a wonder that I also was able to navigate myself to London, Amsterdam, Prague, rural Czech Republic, Budapest, rural Hungary, Bucharest, Llubljana, the Dalmation coast to Dubrovnik and Rome (as long as we're comparing our travel credentials).
I'm wondering why you didn't point out that French meal portions tend to be MUCH smaller on average than what Americans typically consume these days. Or that in many other towns and cities worldwide is much more common for people to walk to their local pastry shops, butchers and farmer's markets almost daily to acquire what they need for the day's meals (in contrast to drive-throughs or the American tradition of weekly supermarket visits to fill the cart with boxes or fat, sugar, and preservative laced crap). Or that the types of fats and the ingredients used in French cuisine tend to metabolize much more readily in our bodies than the types of fats present in fast foods.
Similarly, with your grandparents, their work ethic and the quality of the foods they ate are exactly what contributed to their long and healthy lives. One thing Spurlock illustrates is the noticeable change in his physical demeanor. The high-sugar content and the low quality of the ingredients contribute to a lack of motivation. Not only that, a feedback cycle is created where one begins to crave these foods and meanwhile the desire to engage in physical activity is seriously diminished.
Furthermore, don't give me this "outliers represent a flaw in the theory or whether they simply represent exceptions - the beauty of randomness in nature as it were" bullshit (Jesus, I don't think I've ever heard such pseudo-intellectualism in my life).
I find it quite curious that you claim statistics is a pseudo-science. Makes one wonder how the casinos in Vegas can rake in billions of dollars off of a mere few percentage point advantage based on "pseudo-intellectual" calculations. Even more curious is that you would bring up Friedman - a widely renowned statistician - and then call stats bullshit. I guess that is what happens when academic disciplines are replaced by bible scripture in our schools. "Numbers, mathematics, probability - all the work of the devil I tell ya!"
Well, from now on whenever I encounter any Frenchmen I will tell them that I have it on very good authority that a plate of Coq au Vin and a Big Mac are equivalent (except for in taste perhaps).
So, you've been to Amsterdam? Hield u daar van uw verblijf?
"One thing Spurlock illustrates is the noticeable change in his physical demeanor. The high-sugar content and the low quality of the ingredients contribute to a lack of motivation."
Puh-fuckin'-leez. Spurlock is a partisan hack who favors government intervention over making folks be responsible for their own well being. Why is that so hard for you to admit?!
Just so you know:
I and a travelling companion once dined in a restaurant in Grenoble. The restaurant's owners could speak Italian better than French, but my friend and I managed to order "steak and potatoes." What we got was 4-lb beef tenderloin and 2 or 3 lbs of roasted potatoes ... along with a 14-inch baguette (with fresh-churned butter, of course) and a bowl of fresh undercooked vegetables. So much for your "smaller portion" crap.
Dude, if you're going to try to get one over on me, you need some schoolin' ... and a whole lot of world travelin'. Indeed.
Now, once again, go away. You're botherin' me.
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