Bradley James Weber

Startling Stories for All Ages

Food

Dining with the Doctor

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As part of the ongoing research for FLotU78, I’m reading When The Going Gets Weird, one of the (many) bios about Hunter. Here is Peter Boyle’s reaction when he met HST while filming Where The Buffalo Roam:

On the coffee-shop patio of Universal Studios, Boyle found the forty-two-year old Thompson finishing lunch . . . Hunter consumed a club sandwich with a couple of beers, and then ordered chocolate cake and a double Wild Turkey. What kind of creature do we have here? was Boyle’s immediate thought.

And my immediate thought was: What’s the problem?  Sounds like a pretty damned good lunch.

Carlos V — some (more) follow-up

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Two-Face (flipping coin in the air): “Heads — I shoot you. Tails — You have to eat this candy bar.”

Me: “C’mon HEADS!”

Below is a copy of my initial info request via the Nestle site and the same-day reply from Liz Rocklin, the nice lady from Nestle’s Corporate & Brand Affairs. Thank you, Liz!

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Nestlé USA Media Inquiry

FirstName: Bradley
LastName: Weber
Organization: JMS Labs
City: Chicago
State: Illinois
Email: bweber@juniormadscientist.com
Phone:
Deadline: May 1, 2008
Message:

Good morning,

I’m writing a short article on the Carlos V candy bar. The latest packaging bears the legend “DARK KNIGHT.” Nothing in my research indicates Carlos V was known, in his time or after, as “El Caballero Oscuro” or had any related sobriquet.

Can you please clarify the connection between Carlos V and “Dark Knight?”

Many Thanks.

Bradley Weber

From: Rocklin,Liz,GLENDALE,Corporate & Brand Affairs
To: bweber@juniormadscientist.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 3:21 PM
Subject: RE: Nestlé USA Media Inquiry

The name “Dark Knight” was developed to correlate with the Dark Chocolate version of Carlos V. The name Dark Knight also references Knights, which has to do with the kingdom that Carlos V oversaw.

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So, there’s the answer. I don’t buy it, but there’s the answer. Enjoy!

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The Dark Knight no es sabroso

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What’s a 16C Spanish Monarch have to do with Batman? Uhhhhh . . . .

Another new candy bar at my grocery store today: Nestle’s CARLOS V. Why every Holy Roman Emperor doesn’t have a candy bar named after him, I don’t know. Maybe they lack the same marketing engines employed by baseball players, NASCAR drivers, and other religious icons.

According to the fine people over at Candy Snob, the CARLOS V seems to be a re-release of an older confection. Why? Something to do with the packaging, perhaps????

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and the zoom-shot

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What’s the connection? Is there one?

Nothing I’ve read indicates Charles V was known as “El Caballero Oscuro”; his parents didn’t die in a robbery-gone-bad; nor did young Charlie develop a predilection for high-tech gadgetry and vigilante justice; all of which leaves me flummoxed how Nestle might justify tagging this candy with the ‘Dark Knight’ moniker.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. How’s the candy?

Right.

Unlike my encounter with the Big Mo’, I bought this particular ticket and took the ride. The first bite of the CARLOS V is dry and overly sweet, like Eucharist crumbles stirred in a package of Swiss Miss, but not as tasty. The second’s even worse.

At two-for-a-dollar, the CARLOS V is still a rip-off — that is unless you plan to give them to lousy neighbors or hated co-workers in the hope that bad candy will drive them the hell away from you. Then it’s a bargain.

But if you like candy and dig the chocolate/wafer combo, stick to Kit-Kats.

The Big Mo’: Will Gay Community Embrace NASCAR Candy Bar?

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The Big Mo’ — A misplaced apostrophe?

Yes, these candy bars are for real. I almost tripped over a big display of them at my local grocery store.

Here’s some info from NASCAR‘s official Web site

After months of anticipation by NASCAR and chocolate fans alike, “Dale Jr.’s Big Mo’ ” chocolate bar is now on shelves at most major food retailers nationwide.

The Big Mo’ was created specifically for NASCAR’s mega star driver through the R.M. Palmer Company. The name Big Mo’ is a play off Earnhardt Jr.’s hometown of Mooresville, N.C., and the longtime moniker used for he and his closest friends, the Dirty Mo’ Posse.

Weighing in at an impressive 2.5 ounces for only 99 cents, the king-size, quality milk chocolate bar is available with either creamy caramel or peanut butter filling. Creating the exclusive recipe of the Big Mo’ bar included numerous taste-tests by Earnhardt Jr., and was tailored to please his palate

The King Size Mo’ is made by R.M. Palmer, the company responsible for a fat lot of the chocolate goodies you’ll be shoveling into your gaping maw this Easter — right on the heels of the fat lot of chocolate goodies you shoveled in during Valentine’s day.

As one business site puts it: R.M. Palmer probably produces more chocolate bunnies than anyone in the United States.

Good to know.

But what’s really going on here?
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