“Under new regulations introduced in Belgium, government workers will be entitled to ignore their bosses if they’re contacted after hours.”

This is true unless there is a disruption in the waffle supply chain. In that case they must take the call. You never know when they may need to release some of the nation’s strategic waffle reserve.

Sometimes these food wars can get ugly. I think we all remember the bleak and unremitting horror of the Toast Wars between France and Texas.

With many of the public figures that we note the passing of, our reaction is “Why did they die so soon?” We may even experience denial or disbelief, and have to read the report at several sources before we consider it credible. Guys like Norm Macdonald and Bob Saget just seemed like they had a lot more laughs left in them, and they even looked too young to die. Even fuckin’ Screech, although we were through with him, seemed to have decades of mileage left on his tires.

That’s not true of Louie. In fact, I thought the opposite when I read the headlines: “How the hell did that guy ever live to be 68?” If you compare him to male celebrities of a comparable generation and body heft, his longevity was downright miraculous. John Candy was just a bit older than Louis, and Chris Farley was a decade younger, but they left us long ago. That said, don’t get me wrong. I loved the guy, as did so many others. He seemed like a kind and gentle soul, and I certainly didn’t want him to die.

I was just surprised that it took so long.

Other inappropriate remarks:

  • If the Grim Reaper just had to claim two obese, 70ish guys this week, I guess I was willing to accept Mr. Loaf as one of them, but Louis Anderson would not have been among my choices.
  • It is surely a demonstration of the power of cancer, that it could get this guy before he died of heart disease, lung disease or diabetes.

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Mr. Loaf was 74. Mr. Loaf’s main collaborator, songwriter/producer Jim Steinman, just died a few months ago.

The first Bat out of Hell album is one of the top-selling albums in history (14 million or more)

I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), from Bat II, reached #1 on the singles chart in 28 countries.

Mr. Loaf’s real name was Marvin Aday, but he changed it because he wanted to make it on his own rather than riding on the coattails of his brother, One, the famous vitamin magnate.

By the way, there is no truth to the rumor that Mr. Loaf left behind instructions that he should be stuffed and mounted, like Trigger the Wonder Horse. And I should know. I started the rumor.

That reminds me of the grief and shock I felt after that one episode of Roy Rogers where Trigger the Wonder Horse stomped Bullet the Wonder Dog to death.

Apparently there is a lot of jealousy in the wonder beast community.