Heart Attack Grill opens in Dallas, so will arteries there be closing?

heart attack grill

Heart Attack Grill features giant burgers served by waitresses dressed as nurses.
(Credit: Heart Attack Grill)

(CBS) Think bypass surgery is no laughing matter? Try telling that to fans of the notorious Heart Attack Grill, a cardiology-themed eatery that serves up humongous hamburgers and french fries fried in lard.

The gluttony-glamorizing restaurant opened a branch on Friday in Dallas but closed its doors early after experiencing unspecified "operational issues in the kitchen," a Dallas TV station reported. The original restaurant is in Chandler, Ariz.

Business at the Dallas restaurant had been brisk earlier in the day. Even before its doors opened for business, there was a line of devil-may-care diners dying to get inside. "I'm going to do the double bypass burger and the flatliner fries," one told Dallas television station WFAA.

The restaurant's website doesn't disclose nutrition information, but beef, lard (pig fat), and dairy products pack lots of calories and saturated fat - especially in the gigantic portion sizes that the restaurant serves up.

What do nutrition experts make of the fatty fare? After having a look at the restaurant's menu - which bears the slogan "taste worth dying for" - Dr. Marion Nestle told CBS News via email, "Sounds like they found a winning formula for minting money." As for the restaurant's owner, Nestle - professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and an outspoken critic of the fast food industry - said he is "aiding and abetting bad behavior."

Aiding and abetting, indeed. The restaurant offers free eating to people who weigh more than 350 pounds and justifies its monstrous menu with an apparently tongue-in-cheek mission statement: "Doctors agree that continually cycling body weight up and down is one of the very worst things a person can do to themselves. That's why our program is focused upon keeping your weight in an extremely stable, gradual, and constant upward slope."

Of course, obesity carries all sorts of health risks, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, liver disease, sleep problems, and osteoarthritis. The list goes on and on. And even the restaurant's owner, who jokingly calls himself "Dr. Jon" even though he has no medical training, recognizes the danger of overindulging in fatty fare on a regular basis.

"Don't come here every day," he told WFAA. "If you do, you're going to die."

'Bridesmaids' gets to one-up the bride

This may be touted as the summer of superheroes, but it appears the female-centric "Bridesmaids" is about to dominate the season's opening.
One year ago this month brought us the release of "Sex and the City 2" and a firestorm of critics tearing down the iconic images of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda and lamenting the perceived death of the female-driven comedy as summer tentpole.
This year, we get "Bridesmaids," a wedding comedy that's more likely to bow at the porcelain altar than the altar of Manolo Blahnik. And judging by critical reaction, it's a ride into potty humor that critics are more than ready to take.
The Times' Betsy Sharkey rejoices at the idea of an R-rated comedy from the female perspective:  "For the Mars crowd, that means real people in real relationships, real raunchy, real funny. Thank you, Kristen Wiig, for every single one of those old-school Rs."
Manohla Dargis is equally enamored in her New York Times review. "It would be easy to oversell 'Bridesmaids,' though probably easier if also foolish to do the reverse. It isn't a radical movie ... it's formally unadventurous; and there isn't much to look at beyond all these female faces. Yet these are great faces, and the movie is smart about a lot of things, including the vital importance of female friendships."
Front and center in almost every review are the formidable comedic skills of "SNL" star Kristen Wiig, who stars in "Bridesmaids" and co-wrote it with former Groundlings castmate Annie Mumolo. Elizabeth Weitzman's praise in her New York Daily News review is typical: "Wiig may well change the way Hollywood looks at ladies. She and the equally wonderful [Maya] Rudolph provide an ideal antidote to the plastic characters in formulaic rom-coms like last week's 'Something Borrowed.' Equally important, they capture female friendship with an honesty and generosity that's nearly nonexistent onscreen."
But not all female critics have hailed Wiig and her film as the renaissance of the chick comedy. Village Voice critic Karina Longworth's review is decidedly mixed, with her biggest criticism striking at the heart of what the film is all about: " 'Bridesmaids' continues to vacillate between two contradictory types of raw matter -- one, the kind of raucous, visual, and vacuous comedy that plays well in a trailer; the other, a more nuanced approach forgoing immediate spectacle and punchline for character detail that pays dividends as the film rolls along. Or, in more cynical terms: The former tosses meat to the traditional male comedy audience, while the latter wins over ladies who look to rom-coms for self-identification."
Male critics have embraced the film with such whole-hearted abandon that it leads to some odd admissions, such as the Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern, who starts his positive review with, "If this is only a chick flick, then call me a chick."
Perhaps no one gave the film a more glowing review than Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman, who gave "Bridesmaids" a full-on A score. He writes that Wiig is "the rare 'SNL' player who may prove to be a movie star because she's a true actress as well." He also compares it to the once-great "Sex and the City" by saying, "The raunchy girl talk has an earthier flow than it does in, say, "Sex and the City." And just when you're sure that the movie won't go there, we get a lavish explosion of gross-out humor."
"Bridesmaids" is a critical hit, at least. But it may also be cause for concern: In the new era, the chick flick will go from the cafe to the lavatory. Be warned.
--Patrick Kevin Day

Blue Bloods' Will Estes: The Blue Templar "Ends Here and Now"

Will Estes, Blue Bloods

Most season finales involve cliff-hangers and a long, grueling summer of guessing games for fans, but Will Estes assures us that won't be the case for Blue Bloods.

Check out photos of the Blue Bloods cast

"I heard about a show one time — I think it was a soap — where they were having a nightmare of a time renegotiating everyone's contracts," Estes, who plays Jamie Reagan, tells TVGuide.com. "So the writers and producers came up with the cliff-hanger of a crazed gunman bursting into the hall and opens fire with an automatic weapon and then it cuts to black. That made it a lot easier to renegotiate contracts because anybody could've been dead. I can tell you that will not happen to us! There is no cliff-hanger at all. You won't have to worry about us."

Instead, on Friday (10/9c on CBS), the family cop drama will wrap up its season-long arc of the Blue Templar — the rogue group of NYPD officers that killed Jamie's late brother, Joe, who was working with the FBI to investigate it. Jamie, who was approached by FBI agents in the pilot to finish what Joe started, had left his crime-fighting family out of the loop all season — until last week when he told Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) after his gun went missing and he was nearly killed driving with faulty brakes.

Blue Bloods' Will Estes: Secret society twist is like The Godfather

"I think it was something that he kept to himself because... he felt like joining the FBI investigation would be betraying his family," Estes says. "But gradually Jamie's been made a target. They've tried to kill him. I think at that point, if you're that big of a target and your family's that big of a target, then it's time put something together to try to stop them."

Led by their father, police commissioner Frank (Tom Selleck), the Reagans crack down on the secret society via a big drug bust on dirty cops in connection with the Templar. While speculation has run rampant over who is in the Templar, Estes promises none of the members are the Reagans. This is in spite of, as we've seen, a Blue Templar pin inside Danny's safe and photos of Henry (Len Cariou) and Templar members.

Watch full episodes of Blue Bloods

"It's an old little organization, but it's turned into something different," Estes says. "The Reagans are the good guys! Rest assured. Erin Reagan [Bridget Moynahan] is not dirty! She's a good ADA. There isn't a betrayal on any inter-familial level, but there's a betrayal there between members of the force that are our friends on the force who were not known to be involved."

The most obvious suspects would be Det. Malevsky (Michael T. Weiss) and Lt. Bello (Nick Sandow), who have been making shady phone calls regarding Jamie in recent weeks. They're very involved," Estes teases. "It's very cat-and-mouse. I think it's an exciting finale. I think the audience is going to respond to it. There are big, sort of, iconic juxtapositions. Cops always fight the bad guys, but when the bad guys are cops, that's always tough. They're confronting them and the Blue Templar's got to come down."

Because Jamie's a target of the Blue Templar, he is "less in involved than he'd liked to be" in the takedown and is instead working a kidnapping case. But he does get to see some action. "I have a back-up [gun] and I actually get to fire my weapon. That's very big!" Estes says. "A lot of police officers go their whole career without firing their weapon. ... I shoot, I hit my target, but I did not kill him. Maybe I'll get [my first kill] next season."

Blue Bloods parts ways with creators

Though CBS has not yet officially renewed Blue Bloods, the series will likely see a Season 2 — but without creators and executive producers Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess. Estes has "no clue" what's in store for next season, except for what won't be.

"No more Blue Templar. It ends here and now. I'm excited to see what they'll come up for us," he says. "I would love to do more stuff with Nick [Turturro]. We definitely look forward to doing more together. Hopefully I'll still be a cop!"

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Details; Infinity Ward Done with Series?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released on November 8, 2011 and we at pnosker.com, courtesy of Kotaku, have learned the first details of the biggest game of 2011 and they’re coming after the jump along with some speculation on the future of Infinity Ward's relationship with the acclaimed series.

The game is expanding outside the United States and in addition to having battles in New York City and our country; Paris and London presumably amongst others of the world’s largest cities will be host to some of the biggest battles in video game history.

The story, while largely unknown at this point, will be vast and apparently tie up all the loose ends from previous Call of Duty games leaving me to wonder if this will be the last one in a potential trilogy. Infinity Ward is hurting from losses sustained over recent months and is receiving help from other companies such as Raven to make this game come to fruition. It’s unknown whether the series will be able to carry on under their, not Treyarch’s, guidance.

As for the actual game, you will be transported to different and varying locales as you take on anonymous roles such as gunner, a Russian Federal Service agent and many more unknown to us.

The first mission of the game is going to channel an East Coast version of Red Dawn as the Russians invade New York City and Manhattan to take over our country. The game’s final mission, and probably strangest location of all, will take place in Dubai. No word on whether you’ll fight on the floating tennis court or terraformed land. But there will be 15 missions in all.

Two Delta Force operatives not named Chuck Norris named “Frost” and “Sandman” are the characters with new stories that, if the series goes on, would potentially be the new main characters. That’s just assuming of course. Keep in mind that Infinity Ward is in shambles and there’s speculation that they might not be able to handle the series going forward without major retooling.

There will also be new maps for multiplayer obviously and two new Spec Ops modes known as “Mission” and “Survival.”

Mind you this game will not be made by Treyarch like last year’s disappointing Call of Duty: Black Ops so you SHOULD go out and buy this one when it comes out later this year.

CSI: NY Review: "Exit Strategy"

There was a lot about "Exit Strategy" that felt more like a series finale than a season finale. The way it ended, and Mac Taylor's speculation about whether he had done his part all felt like a wave goodbye from CSI:NY.
I've been deluding myself about the rumors, but it's hard to ignore the signs. On the other hand "Exit Strategy" may be just that. It might have been conceived as a just in case scenario depending on the whims of the network. The parts that felt like goodbyes would be easy to reconcile. It's all just specultation until the final word comes down from CBS though.

So, let's not dwell too much on what could be and focus on what was a very good episode.
The opening was shot like a dream sequence, and it illicited a foreboding mood. Mac managed to keep his life after a suspect got the drop on him, and the gun being used miraculously jammed. The escape from death prompted Mac to reopen the one remaining unsolved case on his desk, and in true CSI:NY fashion Mac reached his goal.
There were so many moments that defy mere summation. A look, a glance, the way sound was used to heighten what Mac was feeling as he trudged forward on this case all made for excellent storytelling. I've always been a fan of Mac, and this story had me completely invested in the final outcome.
Jo used her super power of being able to read people well, except in one instance. She said she knew Mac pretty well, and while she may have the basics of his character down I can't quite believe she knows him that well. The character really hasn't been around long enough for that. Other than that the way Jo was able to get the suspect's girlfriend to open up was an excellent example of how the character can be skilled and still be believable.
The dynamic between Wes, one of the robbers, and Olivia, the young girl he kidnapped, was quite moving. It's hard to say exactly why Wes kept Olivia with him for so long, but it was nice to see that he was good to her. I did get a little choked up when Wes was dying and told Olivia that she shouldn't be sad because she finally got to go home.
There wasn't a lot of room for side plots, but in a couple of scenes Danny's future plans took shape. He took the sergeant exam, and he passed. The promotion would likely mean he wouldn't get to work at the lab, so it became a telling moment.
The banter between Lindsay and Danny was very amusing, even if Danny's Pacino impersonation could use some work. It was a nice break from the heavier drama.
It's too bad the rest of the cast couldn't have had a few more moments. Sheldon and Sid only really appeared in the ending montage. Flack was present for a good chunk of the case, but only in the most meager supporting rolls. And poor Adam basically had a momentary sight gag.
I hope this isn't the end of CSI:NY. I would have wanted a stronger season to end with, and proper goodbyes from the entire cast. However, if this is the end, it's an ending I can live with. There aren't really any loose strings, only the melancholy of wondering what could have come next.

Read more: http://www.tvfanatic.com/2011/05/csi-ny-review-exit-strategy/#ixzz1MIotV9vf

Derek Boogaard Found Dead In His Apartment At Age 28

 

Wes Walz was driving on Friday when he received a text asking if he'd heard the news about Derek Boogaard. His first thought was that the big man had retired and considering Boogaard missed most of this season with the Rangers recovering from a concussion, retirement was a logical conclusion.
The news was much worse.
At just 28 years old, Boogaard is dead. The New York Rangers announced the sad news on Friday night. The Minneapolis Star Tribune first reported it -- Boogaard was found dead in his apartment, the cause currently unknown.
"I almost drove into the ditch," Walz told Sporting News on Friday night.
Walz immediately went home, got on his computer and tried to find out more. Everybody did. For four years, Boogaard sat to Walz's right in the Minnesota Wild dressing room. Any hockey player will tell you, you form a bond with the guy constantly changing gear next to you after countless hours sweating through practice together.

Walz used to give the 6-7 Boogaard a hard time, joking that a small family could canoe down the Mississippi River in one of his shin pads.
"He used to laugh about that," Walz said.
On the ice, he was feared. Minutes after his death, the links to his YouTube highlights immediately popped up over the Internet -- only an outpouring of tributes from hockey players on Twitter outnumbered those fight videos. Both were impressive.
He was known as the Boogeyman. The Rangers brought him to New York this season in hopes that he might clear up some space around goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Phoenix Coyotes tough guy Paul Bissonnette was surely speaking for most hockey players when he told Sporting News in November that Boogaard was the last guy on the ice he ever wanted to fight.
"It's cliché," Bissonnette said at the time. "But if he swings through and connects with your face, you're (expletive) done."
But maybe in the days following Boogaard's death, go easy on the fight highlights and find out more about the person. He fought only because he had to, Walz said. Like every other good kid from Saskatoon, he wanted to play in the NHL and fighting was the ticket.
Spend a few years next to a guy in the dressing room, you learn what makes him tick and Walz concluded that it wasn't fighting for Boogaard.
"He never really loved beating people up. I can tell you that for a fact," Walz said. "If you asked him, he would rather have been a 50-goal scorer."
He destroyed opponents in fights, and Walz has a theory for that. If he beat people bad enough, nobody would want to fight him anymore. Maybe word would get out that it wasn't worth it to fight Boogaard.

Here's the reality -- the guy you see destroying opponents on YouTube? That wasn't the Boogaard teammates got to know at dinner and out for beers.
"He was just a sweetheart," Walz said. "Just a great, great dude."
So celebrate a man who was so passionate about hockey he did whatever it took to stay on the ice. And know also that there was more to him than the fighting. Much more. He was quiet and he was gentle. He worked hard off the ice working with a charity group that ensured children of military members get every opportunity to play hockey.
Fighting was just a way to make it happen.
"People need to know he was not the guy frothing at the mouth before games to (fight)," Walz said. "He didn't really love it. He didn't really love it."