Freaky Eaters

I have a new addiction and it is ironic that it is a show about food addictions. It is called Freaky Eaters and it is on the The Learning Channel and it is like a bad car wreck. You are curious and so you take a peek and now you cannot look away.

The past three Sunday evenings after Logan goes to bed, Kristy and I will watch this show. There are some strange addictions, people who only eat french fries, people who consume gallons of maple syrup, there is a lady that eats tarter sauce with EVERYTHING.

Seriously. 

Everything. 

From jello to cupcakes.



Watching this show got me thinking. Am I addicted to certain foods? I don't think I am. I compare myself to these poor people and I don't think that I am addicted. At least not to the point to where these people are. But am I just on a slippery slope? So what things am I possibly addicted too?

4) I Cannot Believe It's Not Butter

Or some sort of spread that is like it. I can eat this with everything and I am afraid to admit that I do. When I had a bottle of the spray version, I sprayed it on my Pringles. And I sprayed it on my Mac & Cheese. Uh oh, I may have a problem. But then it has been months since I had any. But if I did, I would eat it with everything. Hmmm... I better be careful with this stuff.

3) Chocolate 

Now I don't eat chocolate everyday but I definitely crave it and I think that if there was some chocolate in front of me now I would eat it. But I don't go out of my way to get some. I guess that I am lucky that I am more slothful. Who would have thought that being slothful would be a good thing?

2) Otter Pops

I can go through a box in a day easily. We bought some Saturday night and by this morning half the box is gone. And if I had it my own way, I would have polished them off already. But I would feel bad that Logan didn't get any. So if I am thinking of my own kid before me, I guess I am not addicted. I will eat any type of Popsicle.

1) Soda

I could give this up but I just don't want to. This is probably my biggest addiction but it is one that I think I can control. In fact, I used to drink a ton of this stuff. At least 4-5 cans a day and now I am down to 1 can of  sugared soda a day. I could quit but I personally believe that everything is good in moderation. As long as I am not abusing it, I should be good.

But that show definitely got me thinking...

Random Ramblings: Bottoms Up!

Eating: Our family was invited to a birthday BBQ for our neighbor yesterday. The food was wonderful, and the company was even better. My family and I are blessed to have such awesome neighbors. I thought it was cute that Kara told Logan that he needs to kick Kristy and I out so she can babysit him again.
 

This was thier backyard. The river is pretty full, last year when we were here, the water was nowhere near this level.

Drinking: Mountain Dew Livewire. Not only had it finally returned to Cache Valley, the 12-pack has also returned!

Drinking II: So I was at the store picking up some Livewire when I found another soda that I used to love. Tahitian Treat! This was one of the best fruit punch sodas ever! I thought it was only available in Canada but I did find some limited quantities in New York. But I have not had one since then. And then I found a 12-pack so I had to have it. And it tastes just like I remembered.

Listening: To a fun mix of the 80's. Bangles, Rick Springfield, the Spoons... ...I definitely grew up in the BEST decade!

Eating II: I ate way too much last Saturday. Saturday was Richmond's annual Black and White Days. So we headed up to Richmond to watch the parade. We first picked up Kristy's sister Lynn and her daughter Jessica since their jeep was on the fritz. We headed up and dropped off some chairs at my mom's house and then went to Big J's (a local burger joint) and got an early dinner. Then we headed up to watch the parade. The parade was nice but not as good as it has been in years past. Funny thing is that we see a couple of our neighbors in the parade. Logan did get a bunch of candy and it was nice to see Jennifer and her family as well. After the parade we waited for Justin to come back (he was leading the parade in his cop car) and headed back to Big J's and got some ice cream. I got a large (and I really shouldn't have) Rice Krispie Treat shake and it was awesome!

Waiting for candy...

I told Logan that he needs to wave cutely to the cute girls. Here he is awarded a candy from one of the girls. Logan should trust me on this.

Our neighbor Sister Weeks playing the bass drum.

Winning: Kara's little brother Justin has been wanting to kick my trash in Madden. Finally last Saturday we had a showdown. It was close for a little while and then I pulled away and won the game. I guess I should feel bad for beating a 10-11 year old but he was a huge Steelers fan so it was deserved. The winner had to make cookies and so he made his sister Kara make me a plate of delicious cookies. Don't worry, I will pay them both back with a batch of cookies sometime this week.

Itching: Last week Logan was at a basketball camp for three days and he came home with a case of Athlete's Foot!

Reading: I am still a kid. I just finished a comic trade paperback G.I. Joe: Cobra and it was absolutely enthralling. This is not your daddy's G.I. Joe!

His name is Chuckles. He's the Joes' top undercover agent. And he's just infiltrated a top secret, highly organized terrorist organization... one the Joes aren't familiar with... one with a snake motif. As Chuckles is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark underbelly of Cobra, where one misstep means death, can he pull off the ultimate deception and bring them down from within?

I am very surprised (and pleased) that Hasbro (the toy company that owns G.I. Joe) would allow a book like this to be published. This is a very dark book with a couple of surprising twists. This is nothing like the old cartoon, it is a much more serious look at America's top fighting force taking on a dangerous terrorist group. There are two more volumes in print that I definitely want to track down.

Simple Pleasures

Day 305

This last week has been chock full of very simple pleasures.

-Getting out in the great outdoors for some much needed fresh air.

-Teaching Logan some old-school board games

-Out running by the temple and not feeling beat

-Jamming on the bass guitar with fingertips that are no longer sore

-Karma!

-A package of comics in the mail!

-Rain so hard you can hear it

-Another Solar Smile

-Getting an unexpected hug

-Fresh garden veggies and fruits

-Drinking a cold Mountain Dew after Logan goes to bed

-Eating Muddy Buddies and laughing our heads off with Logan watching AFV

The Big Picture

Day 225

Creating that large image was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. Using PhotoShop to cut each picture out was a different story. But I am happy with what I got. Some of the images you cannot see all that well so here is the full picture along with a legend.

1. Lime Crush - One of my all-time favorite sodas that they don't make anymore. Sadly the new Mountain Dew Lime is nowhere like this flavor. I would drive back to Canada tomorrow if I knew I could get some.

2. Brett Favre - I have always like the Packers (even though the Jets are my team) but I really liked Favre. I own 3 different Favre jerseys and no matter the flipflops of retirement, he will go down as one of my all-time favorite players. His boyish love of the game is just one of the reasons why I admire Brett. In fact, Logan was almost named Brett (after Favre) and Kristy and I are thinking of travelling and visiting the Football Hall of Fame when Favre gets inducted. If he retires...

3. Edmonton Oilers - Before there was football there was hockey. And Hockey Night in Canada was a staple growing up in Canada. And I was very lucky to be there in Edmonton during the dynasty days. Hockey is the only sport that I can sit down and watch any team play each other and know I will be entertained.

4. Wolverine and the X-Men - I love comic books but I don't have a love of comic book movies, that is until the first X-Men was released and raised the bar. I never thought any actor would be able to portray one of my favorite comic characters but Hugh Jackman nailed the role and it only took a few minutes to convince me. Now when a comic book movie comes out I am not as nervous as I used to be. Most of them have been good with X2 being the best.

5. Ric Flair - WHOOOO! I admit that I love wrestling and I was lucky enough (if you consider that to be lucky) to watch wrestling when it was awesome. Ric Flair is my all-time favorite wrestler, again like with Brett Favre, the Nature Boy just loves to play the game. And no one plays an evil (heel) wrestler like Ric Flair. Nothing gets you more excited when a hated villain finally gets what is coming to him!

6. Nexus - I don't think I have mentioned Nexus here on the blog yet but that is one of my all-time favorite comics. It came out in the 80's and was way before its time. It combined science fiction along with a heavy dose of politics with just a hint of superheroes. The main character Nexus (picture here) is gifted with god-like powers to act as judge, jury and executioner. He dreams of evil people (mass murderers) and is haunted by these dreams until he tracks them down and kills them. If he doesn't eventually the dreams will kill him. Awesome comic series.

7. Cadbury Creme Egg - I wish I had one right now. I love these tasty Easter chocolates. My all-time favorite candy.

8. U2's Zooropa - I love U2 and I am one of the few fans that think Zooropa is their best album. And this is one album that I cannot just listen to one or two songs, I have to listen to the whole album all at once. Johnny Cash's voice on "The Wanderer" is the perfect and fitting end to such a wonderful album. For some strange reason I really like the album cover too. I wish I had a T-shirt of this album cover.

9. Mountain Dew LiveWire - I don't get to drink this very often since it is not available where I live but it gives me a grand excuse to go down to Salt Lake. My old boss used to complain that it was just orange soda mixed with Mountain Dew and I would laugh (in my mind) at him. That is EXACTLY what it is. I don't know why I love it but I do.

10. The Laughing Cat - You are either a dog person or a cat person. While I don't mind dogs, I do prefer cats. Kristy found this picture of a laughing cat in a magazine and I had to keep it. Whenever I feel down I can always look at this pic and smile. So sorry dog people, I like cats better.

11. Alan Davis and Captain Britain - Captain Britain (pictured here) is one my favorite heroes. So why not Captain America? I like Captain Britain because he is a flawed hero. He doesn't want to be a hero and makes mistakes but ultimately becomes a hero. My favorite comic book artist is Alan Davis (who drew this) and I first saw his artwork drawing this character as well. He drew the good Captain aloof and brooding but powerful. And I just had to learn more about him. I have followed Captain Britain and Alan Davis wherever they go. I also run an Alan Davis message board and I have been extremely lucky that I am in contact with my favorite artist. A comic geek's dream come true.

12. Bottlecaps - My tongue has cankers. Yes, I went out and bought another box and ate them while watching the World Cup. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I love this candy. I love soda and candy. And those orange ones taste like children's aspirin, which I love.

13. Queen - I love this picture (taken from the album The Miracle) and it totally represents what Queen means to me. They are so diverse and creative. Listening to them relaxes me and makes me want to be like them and create. I never tire of them. This may surprise you though, Crazy Little Thing Called Love is one of their songs I like the least. Not sure why, it might be because I have heard it too many times.

14. Banshee - My favorite comic book character. Why? Beats the crap out of me. I think it is because he is not popular and is not seen very much. Something about his gliders on his costume and his powers that make me think he is cool. When I participated in the ScriptFrenzy, I wrote a comic book script that had Banshee in it. One of these days...

15. Princess Leia and Star Wars - My first celebrity crush as a kid. And it wasn't until Empire Strikes Back that I really began to think that she was hot. And then Return of the Jedi came out (I was 9 at the time) and I really began to crush on her. I didn't know it at the time but I am sure her little slave outfit had something to do with it.

16. Mr. Burns and the Simpsons - I quote the Simpsons all the time. Seriously, I do it all the time and I think I do it unconsciously, without even thinking about it. Mr. Burns is my favorite character. I can watch this show anytime and every Halloween, Kristy and I will whip out all the Halloween episodes and watch them. We love the Simpsons around here.

17. NaNoWrMo - I love to write and this novel contest is awesome. If any of you are aspiring writers or want to see what you are capable of, I highly HIGHLY recommend doing this. It is very rewarding and I am looking forward to doing it again this November.

18. Bob and Doug McKenzie - SCTV was a fixture growing up. People still believe that all Canadians are like this and that is not true. Only a few of them are exactly like this. Watching Strange Brew quickly brings about my Canadian accent. I can use the Great White North call and my family would immediately call back and come running.

19. New York Jets and the NFL - I get asked this all the time, why the Jets? My mom and I share a love for the NFL and I followed the Packers and 49ers but it was not until my LDS mission where I started to follow the Jets. I was in Queens and we used to go over to Mike's, a member's house every Sunday after Church. Mike’s dad did not like us at all. He did not want to be disturbed while watching football and this Sunday wasthe Giants/Jets game. Sometimes I would peek in and see the scores but I never stayed and never made any noise. But for some reason Mike’s dad wanted to know where that one missionary was. And he for some reason was talking about me. I walked in and his dad yells out “Are you going to stand there or are you going sit here and watch the game with me?” We were all flabbergasted! I sat down next to him and I was nervous. He looked over and said, “Who are you for? The Giants or the Jets?” I did not know what to say so I looked over at the television and I saw that Ronnie Lott was on the Jets team. (I guess he was traded while I was on my mission.) I replied “I like the Jets!” I picked the right team because he muttered “Damn Giants. I hate them!” He looked over at me and I blurted out "I hate the damn Giants!" He smiled and asked Mike to bring me my dinner plate so I could watch the game with him. I did what no missionary ever did. I ate quietly (I was a little scared) and after the game was over Mike’s dad wanted to take a nap but before he went upstairs he told me he expected me next Sunday to watch the Jets play. I have rarely missed a game since.

20. Annyong and Arrested Development - The best show ever. Seriously, go google and find the episode Pier Pressure and tell me you didn't laugh. If you watched it and didn't laugh you have no soul. How can a TV show be so wrong be so right?

21. The Little Mermaid - I already confessed that I love the movie The Little Mermaid. As I left my LDS mission in New York, this cute little girl Tina, gave me her favorite puzzle of the Little Mermaid. She was so sad that I was leaving and she wanted me to have it. We used to put it together when I would visit her family.

22. Chris Hansen and Dateline - I love Dateline and Chris Hansen is awesome. One of my guilty pleasures was watching him when he did those To Catch a Predator news stories. He asked the perfect questions and said the funniest things. If I was a journalist, I would want to be Chris Hansen.

23. The Platypus Clan - My awesome family. Without them I wouldn't be what I am today. My life would be so boring without them. They are the center of my life.

The Dew Off

Day 178

I gave my fellow blogger Andrea a mission a week ago and like an awesome soldier she is, she and her husband came through. As you know, I am a big soda drinker with Mountain Dew being my favorite. Recently Mountain Dew came out with 3 new flavors but Cache Valley has yet to get the flavors. So I asked Andrea and Steve to find me some of the new Dew. Smith's had a great sale and she was able to pick up the new flavors along with Mountain Dew LiveWire (another Mountain Dew flavor not available in Logan). So I was one happy camper! So we met at Red Robin in Layton for dinner and to drop off the goods. And a big thanks to Steve for introducing me to that wrap!

Last night for a family activity we decided (well, I was in charge) to have a Mountain Dew Taste-Off. I had all the other flavors at my house except for the two game flavors that are still available. But I didn't like those all that much anyway. So we each tasted one of the seven Dews and ranked them.

Here are the flavors we tested:

Logan can't keep his Dew. All the caffiene and carbination made him burp.

Kristy and Logan couldn't decide without testing them again and again and again.

Ranking these Dews is like ranking my children. I love them all so much!

But after a few rounds we made our decisions. It might had to do with our tummies feeling a little sick and bloated. But here are the results!

Logan's Winners:

1st Distortion (lime)

2nd Whiteout (citrus)

3rd Code Red (cherry)

4th Voltage (raspberry)

5th LiveWire (orange)

6th Typhoon (tropical)

7th Classic

Kristy's Winners:

1st Voltage (raspberry)

2nd Typhoon (tropical)

3rd Distortion (lime)

4th LiveWire (orange)

5th Code Red (cherry)

6th Whiteout (citrus)

7th Classic

Matt Winners:

1st LiveWire (orange)

- I could drink a ton of this stuff. Good thing it is not readily available here.

2nd Classic

- You just can't go wrong with the Classic hard stuff. None of that Diet crap either.

3rd Voltage (raspberry)

- It tastes just like raspberry lemonade only with a kicker.

4th Typhoon (tropical)

I used to love the Tropical Punch Gatorade and this tastes just like it.

5th Whiteout (citrus)

It is like Fresca and Mountain Dew.

6th Distortion (lime)

I was so disappointed in this. I was hoping for more sweet like Lime Crush but got that hard lime flavor that the Lime Coke used to have.

7th Code Red (cherry)

I still like this and will drink it once in awhile but it gives me major heartburn.

Logan and I were almost exact opposites. My bottom 3 were in his top 3. After we finished I could swear that you can hear all the Dew swishing around in my gut. Logan was so full, I don't think has drank that much soda in one sitting. Suddenly he yells out "I'm going to get some out!" At first I couldn't understand what he was saying but then I saw that he was heading to the bathroom. Kid can't handle his Dew!

Voltage (raspberry) was the family favorite while the vote for the least favorite Dew was the Classic. Kids just don't have any respect for the classics.

This might have cured me of my Mountain Dew addiction. Drinking a Dew right not does not sound so good.

Sunday Confessional: My 2nd Biggest Addiction

Day 36

A couple of Sundays ago I revealed that I am addicted to comics. This Sunday I am admitting to another addiction that goes pretty much hand-in-hand with comic books.

Whenever I get my monthly shipment of comics (I order them online) I like to have something to drink while I am flipping through my new books. There rarely is a day when I don't have one. And I have been known to drink quite a few of them in a day too. My 2nd biggest addiction is soda.

And I don't call it pop either. Ever since I came home from New York, I call it soda. I will never forget trying to order an orange pop at a pizza place in Brooklyn. It took forever for us to understand each other, so soda it is!

I remember back in the 9th grade. I was locker pals with a kid named named Gregg and we drank Mountain Dew ALL day. We would have one before school, during school, at lunch and probably one on the way home. We kept all of our cans at the bottom of the locker and we spilt some one day and never cleaned it up. It solidified into a half-inch layer of Dew. I don't know how we passed locker inspections at the end of the year, I think I threw a backpack on it to cover it up.

Now I try to limit my consumption. I am trying to do one a day. I know that may seem like that is still quite a lot but I think one a day is good enough. Except on Sundays when football is on, I may sneak two in that day.

So what are my favorite sodas? I drink pretty much anything but if I could have my choice of soda, RIGHT NOW, I would pick the following.

1) Lime Crush
This was my favorite soda all growing up. It was not like Sprite or other Lemon-Lime sodas, it had its own flavor. It had a rich Lime flavor that tasted sour crossed with a green Lifesaver. Sadly, this is only available in Canada and even sadder then that it has been discontinued. If I could find the stuff, I would order me a case. The closest thing that I have found that tastes like it is Tiger Wood's Lime Gatorade.



2) Stewart's Cherry Cream Soda
My friend Joel turned me on to these soda makers. I first tried the Key Lime soda (hoping it was like Lime Crush) and it was pretty good. But then I tried the Cherry Cream and that instantly became my favorite. It is extremely sweet, it is not a soda that I can guzzle. You have to sip this soda. It has a sweet Cherry flavor, that kind of reminds me of cough syrup. Sadly, this soda is not available in my area as it used to be. I can find all the other flavors but this one.

3) Mountain Dew Livewire
I love Mountain Dew in all its forms but the best one that I have ever tasted is its Livewire. It is a mix of Sunkist Orange Soda and Mountain Dew. This came out as a promotion and I bought tons of it. Now it is part of the Mountain Dew family and is available everywhere. But Cache Valley. Sadly, (notice the trend here?) I have to travel a few hours out of the valley to snag some of this awesome soda. At least I can still get it. My mother-in-law will get me this soda for my birthday or other special occasions.

4) Ironport
Ironport is an old-fashioned soda that was served in the early 20th century locally. It can still be found in parts of the West, mostly in Utah. It tastes a little like champagne cola or Inca cola but a lot toned down. I can never find it bottled (although I found a picture of one here) but I can find it at two of my favorite restaurants where I live. Whenever I hit Juniper Takeout or the Bluebird, I always get an Ironport. You can also get a Cherry Ironport too. Kristy and I went out last night to the Bluebird for her birthday and I had two excellent glasses of Ironport.

5) Freshly Brewed Ginger Ale
I thought I liked Ginger Ale, Canada Dry is fantastic stuff but then I went to a local steakhouse and they home brewed their own Ginger Ale. It was unbelievable, the place was known for its steaks but it will forever be known for me as the place to get Ginger Ale. Sadly, I have gone back twice to eat there and each time they are not brewing it anymore. I have tried numerous gourmet Ginger Ale sodas but nothing matches it. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Until then, Canada Dry it is.

Now I'm thirsty.

There was a soda that I was not a fan of that I eventually really began to like. I was on my LDS mission in New York. One of the guys I lived with was very proud of being an Inca. So he would buy this awful soda and my companion and I would sneak drinks out of it. It would drive him nuts, he would get so mad about it. So one day we went to the local bodega to grab some snacks and Reese (my companion) and I thought it would be funny to buy some Inca Cola. Pena (the Inca) was always accusing us of drinking his Inca Cola (which we were because I didn't like him all that much and I was starting to acquire a taste for it) and so we thought it would be funny to get some of our own to mock him. He came home and we showed him that we bought our own 2-liter Inca Cola and he was ecstatic. He wanted to get a picture of all of us drinking it. He ran to get his camera and I whispered to Reese that we should turn our backs and moon the camera. Pena came back all excited and Phil (our other roommate) took the picture. Both Reese and I turned our backs and we mooned the camera without Pena knowing. Phil lost it and Pena thought he was just excited like he was. Boy, was he mad when he developed the pictures and saw a couple of full moons.


I had to edit the original pic for more sensitive readers!

Mountain Dew Brainstorm

Is it the new Mountain Dew flavor? Nope. It is just what I was doing the other night. Is there a better combination? Aside from Mountain Dew and football or Mountain Dew and comics. Hmmmm, maybe it is Mountain Dew that makes everything good. Either way, I can already say that I am having a blast doing this and I have not even started!

The other night I was drinking some Dew and brainstorming for the blog and I think I have come up with quite a fun list. Already I have about thirteen columns ready to go. I just need to add some pictures to those and I am set.

Here is a sneak peak of what is to come!

-Dumb Damond Games

-The Girl known as the "Sack of Potatoes"

-Frodo's Bad Parade Experience (this is for you Jill!)

-Sweeney Todd Tacos (oh, Kristy is going to kill me)

-My Mom and Ric Flair

-The Birth of Logan

And much much more to come!