http://www.thedailymeal.com/holidays/cadbury-faces-9-million-sales-slump-after-changing-creme-egg-formula/011116

A year after Cadbury changed the recipe for its beloved Creme Eggs — replacing Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate with cheaper cocoa mix, plus changing the standard six-egg order to five — the U.K. chocolate maker is facing the financial repercussions of its decision to ruin England’s collective Easter. Americans, unfortunately, have been getting a powdered milk version for years.

According market research firm IRI, Cadbury is facing a £6 million (approximately $8.7 million USD) slump in sales of the once popular Creme Egg, as chocolate lovers find the disappointment at the heart of the Egg. Total sales of all Cadbury-branded Easter eggs fell £10 million (approximately $14.5 million).

So far, Cadbury has not acknowledged the link between the unpopular formula change and its poor chocolate sales over the last year, with one representative telling trade magazine The Grocer that “the fundamentals of Cadbury Creme Egg remain exactly the same.”

This Easter, Cadbury’s claims will be put to the test when Mars introduces Galaxy Golden Eggs, and Ferraro releases a version of the Kinder Joy egg with chocolate in one side of the egg and a toy in the other.

Sandman, a.k.a. “Canada’s Tribute To Metallica” (we didn’t know they demanded sacrificial tributes from countries of the world, but live and learn), arrived at their London, Ontario gig Saturday night, only to be served with a 41-page cease-and-desist letter, courtesy of Metallica themselves. For some reason, Metallica took issue with Sandman using one of their “official, stylized logos” to promote live appearances, and their legal response was what those fluent in legalese refer to as a “Seek and Destroy” strategy.

This isn’t the first time Ulrich and co, intent on justice for all, have gone after Canadian Metallica fans for trademark breaches. Back in 2003, Metallica and their lawyers went after a small-time Edmonton punk band who decided the best way to get their name out there was to cut out the middleman and just name themselves Metallica. Well, maybe that’s one time the swift legal response was justified. After all, as their lawyers (Damages Inc?) noted at the time, “Your use of Metallica is particularly astonishing to the band, given that you have admitted in at least one interview that ‘you know you are not allowed to use the name.”



http://www.aux.tv/2016/01/metallica-threaten-canadian-tribute-band-with-lawsuit/

Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina Fail To Make The Cut For The Next Prime Time GOP Debate
Paul said he won't participate in the undercard debate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rand-paul-carly-fiorina-debate_569443b9e4b09dbb4bac5bc9

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina failed to make the cut for Fox Business' upcoming prime time GOP debate, the network announced Monday.

Paul and Fiorina did not meet the network's criteria for participating in Thursday's main debate, and are instead invited to participate in a 6 p.m. ET debate with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Paul, however, said he will not participate in the undercard debate.

"I'll be taking my campaign directly to New Hampshire and Iowa. I'm not going to be in South Carolina," Paul said during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "I think it's a mistake to try to exclude me from the national debate."

CNN Iowa: Ben Carson, on the campaign trail, told reporters today that his previous night's dinner consisted of the Easter Bunny with sides specially prepared by his executive chef, who travels with him.

"I got to prep him myself. It was great. He snuggled up on my lap and looked at me with those bunny eyes and did the little wiggling nose thing. I said to him, "Gee, you ARE a cutie," and then took his head in both of my hands and snapped his furry little neck like a twig. It was SO awesome. Then I skinned him and gave him to Henri, my executive chef. And see my keychain? I kept the feet. They're supposed to be lucky. Not that I need it, of course. You're looking at the next President of the United States, and you can take that to the bank."

Carson said that the Easter Bunny, as prepared by Henri, did indeed "taste like chicken. I had him with some pommes frites, haricot verts, and a nice Cab. Yum. My only regret is that I ate the only one. This is not a meal you can have twice, you know?"

The former surgeon has come under increasing fire lately for what some see as a lack of sensitivity, including his singling out a fifth grader for ridicule by his classmates. "Life's tough, and if I'm not the one to crack your skull open, it will just be someone else. Deal with it," Carson told our reporters. He also revealed that at his Inaugural Dinner, Henri will be preparing Unicorn with a Wild Rice Medley and Brussels Sprouts.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/10/angus-scrimm-obituary-phantasm

?itok=DV7lX-qb

Angus Scrimm, the veteran character actor best known for playing the terrifying “Tall Man” in the Phantasm horror franchise, has died at the age of 89. His other credits included the 2008 film I Sell the Dead, the TV show Alias — on which he had a recurring role — and the spooky audio play series Tales From Beyond the Pale.

EW was informed of Scrimm’s death by his friend and longtime collaborator Don Coscarelli, who directed Scrimm in 1979’s Phantasm and its three subsequent sequels, among other projects.

Scrimm was born Lawrence Rory Guy in Kansas City, Kansas, and studied theater at USC in Los Angeles. However, he found it difficult to make a living as an actor and instead spent years working at Capitol Records where he wrote the liner notes for an array of musical acts, including Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.

Scrimm first worked with Coscarelli on the 1976 film Jim, the World’s Greatest but it was his menacing character in the Phantasm series which elevated the actor to the status of a genuine, and much beloved, genre icon. Scrimm recently reprised the role of the Tall Man again in a fifth film, Phantasm: Ravager, which is set for release later this year. Fans will also soon be able to see the actor in a restored version of the franchise’s first film overseen by Star Wars director, and diehard Phantasm aficionado, J.J. Abrams.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) still isn't sure which candidate he'll back in the GOP primary for president, but it won't be Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

"Ted's smart, but I think that Hillary Clinton would do a number on him," Graham told Fox News radio host Brian Kilmeade on Friday.

Graham, who dropped his own presidential bid late last month, has said that challenging Cruz -- as well as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) -- was one of the main reasons he launched his campaign in the first place. He has called Cruz an extremist for being willing to shut down the federal government, and he has criticized Cruz's foreign policy approach.

"Frankly, he isn't ready for the job. His foreign policy is very uneven," Graham said of Cruz on Friday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-ted-cruz_569011f7e4b0c8beacf6f091

Charles Koch Pines For More Influence In Republican Presidential Primary
The powerful billionaire also criticized Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
01/08/2016 12:55 pm ET



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charles-koch-2016_568fe8bbe4b0a2b6fb6fc674?section=politics

WASHINGTON -- Despite leading a massive independent political operation and pumping untold millions into U.S. elections, billionaire Charles Koch is irritated at his extreme lack of influence in the Republican Party presidential primary.

In a candid interview over a lunch of tilapia and pulled pork sandwiches with the Financial Times, Koch said he has presented the 12 remaining Republican candidates with a list of issues that he and his brother, David, care about -- to no avail. “It doesn’t seem to faze them much,” he said. “You’d think we could have more influence.”

Koch and his political operation announced they would spend approximately $889 million over the course of the two-year 2016 election cycle. This spending would not just cover electoral, lobbying and other political expenses, but also Koch’s gifts to universities so they'll teach curriculum adhering to his libertarian economic philosophy and to like-minded nonprofit think tanks influencing and expanding policy debates.

Despite all this promised spending, both Charles and David Koch have declined to endorse a candidate in the primary -- which may be why they lack influence. Their refusal to endorse stems from a desire to save resources for the general election and avoid adding fuel to an internecine conflict within the party they most closely identify with. But, as Koch reveals in his comments to the Financial Times, he veers far from Republican orthodoxy on some basic policy questions -- notably, foreign policy.