In the rarefied world of restaurant reviewing, chain eateries seldom get recognition. That may be one reason that Marilyn Hagerty's review of the new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, N.D., caught the attention of the food world. Then again, it may be the prose from the 86-year-old reviewer for the Grand Forks Herald, who has also reviewed Taco Bell in the 30-plus years that she's written the column. The newspaper reports that her Eatbeat review attracted more than 100,000 hits online within 36 hours of being posted. In an interview with the Village Voice, she noted that she might be speaking a bit defensively because of the e-mails she had received, some of them "snotty." "I don't have time to sit here and twit over whether some self-styled food expert likes, or does not like, my column. The publisher likes it," she said. "If anyone's got time to sit out there and nitpick, I kind of feel sorry for them. Get a life." Then Hagerty went back to work, polishing her Sunday column. She writes four articles weekly, in addition to the review. Read the review: bit.ly/y0NSlQ.
Nonprofits benefit from Limbaugh boycott
The boycott against talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has some unexpected beneficiaries: nonprofits. The United Negro College Fund, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the American Heart Association are among the organizations that had ads air on the biggest U.S. talk show. Of the 69 commercial spots on show, more than half were public-service announcements, said Media Matters for America, a nonprofit that urged a boycott after Limbaugh comments about Sandra Fluke. He called the Georgetown law student a "slut" and "prostitute" after she testified about birth control before a congressional panel. The American Heart Association said it would ask it to stop running the unpaid announcements. Limbaugh, 61, denied reports that 32 advertisers had left, saying: "Everything's cool." He said three new sponsors had signed up.
