NFT: The $28,000 Grilled Cheese Sandwich

[Dartgod]

I just don't know what to say...

CHEESE COMES TO LAS VEGAS

Miracle-wich with Virgin Mary image passes hands

By HENRY BREAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

In the year of the Lord 2004, a sandwich some say is blessed with the image of the Virgin Mary appeared in front of the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, carrying with it a message of peace and cheesy goodness.

There was much rejoicing.

"Look how happy everybody is to see it," said Diana Duyser as she watched tourists lean over the display case and snap pictures. "That's what I wanted. I wanted people to be able to see it."

Duyser is the Hollywood, Fla., woman who claims she cooked the grilled cheese sandwich about 10 years ago then decided to save it when she noticed the image of a woman's up-turned face scorched into the bread.

"I took that one bite, and she was staring back at me," Duyser said.

A few weeks ago, Duyser put her inexplicably mold-free, miracle-wich on eBay, where it sold for $28,000 to online casino GoldenPalace.com.

The Caribbean-based company held a news conference outside the Hard Rock Cafe Wednesday to officially take possession of the grilled cheese and announce plans to send it on a nationwide publicity tour.

Duyser said she made the sandwich with two pieces of white bread and a slice of Land O' Lakes American cheese, which she grilled for breakfast in a nonstick pan with no oil or butter.

She insists the image of the Virgin Mary has brought her good luck, including a string of jackpots totalling $70,000 she hit at an Indian casino in Florida. "I will miss it. It's part of the family," she said. "We kept her in the bedroom."

"She watched over us," added Duyser's husband of 24 years, Gregg.

After an impromptu appearance at Wednesday night's Billboard Music Awards, the grilled cheese was slated to return to the Hard Rock Cafe and remain on display until Friday afternoon.

From Las Vegas, GoldenPalace.com plans to send the Duysers and the sandwich around the country in an RV.

Casino spokesman Monty Kerr said the tour could last several months and include stops at bowl games, NASCAR races and other made-for-red-state events.

For now, the sandwich is being heavily promoted and merchandised on the GoldenPalace.com Web site, where visitors are invited to download the official grilled cheese sandwich song or electronically add their pictures to sandwiches and e-mail the images to friends.

Drew Black, marketing director for GoldenPalace.com, said all of the money the company makes merchandising the sandwich will go to charity.

Judging from the roughly 1.7 million people who checked out the sandwich when it was on eBay, that could prove to be a donation of biblical proportions.

Black said the sandwich seems to stir a variety of emotions in people, from reverence to amused curiosity. "They just want to see it, and rub their lottery tickets on it," he said. "We had one of the waitresses here (at the Hard Rock Cafe) rub it with her tray to get some extra tips."

"We heard about it and we're both Catholic, so of course we came to see it," said Pennsylvania tourist Lucille Mahon, who believes the woman on the sandwich is definitely the Virgin Mary.

Her husband, John, was less certain but seemed open to the idea. "It could be the blessed mother is coming here to say stop all this war, stop all this hate," he said. "She has appeared in so many places. Why can't it be now?"

To others, though, the face on the sandwich looked like such less-than-biblical figures as Michelle Pfeiffer, Clara Bow or Papa Smurf.

Ron and Barb Schaffler and another couple from Minnesota stopped for a look after having lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, where they all ordered the special: a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.

Barb Schaffler described the meal as "pretty good, but I don't feel blessed."

Ron Schaffler said he definitely saw a face on the sandwich, but he dismissed any biblical connection, especially after hearing Duyser's claim that it helped her win money at a casino.

"I don't really think the Virgin Mary would be here to help people with their gambling. Maybe to help people with their gambling problems," he said.

Grady Courson, a tourist from North Carolina, offered a less cynical view. "Maybe it's not the Virgin Mary," he said. "But it's definitely the face of a very angelic person."

The Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas offered no official comment and declined to send anyone to Wednesday's event.

After the news conference, the Duysers stood in the shadow of the Hard Rock Cafe's giant guitar and renewed their wedding vows while wearing matching GoldenPalace.com T-shirts with the words "The Passion of the Toast."

From the display case next to them, the face on the sandwich just stared.



http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_ho.../25369358.html

[Pants]

So easy to make those. Toast a slice of bread, heat up a knife, apply the knife to bread and draw something resembling Jesus. You got yourself a blessed toast and 28K.

[Calcountry]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

I just don't know what to say...

Why is the Virgin so sad?

[KCTitus]

w/o that sammy in her possession, Im guessing that 28k lasts about a week at the casinos.l

[Calcountry]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

w/o that sammy in her possession, Im guessing that 28k lasts about a week at the casinos.l

Yeah, they have check cashing for payroll checks at most casinos.

[Rain Man]

I see a giant ant crushing a Toyota Landcruiser in its mandibles.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I see a giant ant crushing a Toyota Landcruiser in its mandibles.

Wow. You're right. She should have went to Nissan. They probably would have paid way more than $28,000.