Assaulted by Tea

Ever hear of "exploding water"?  That old urban legend that heating water in a microwave for too long and then adding tea or coffee or something can cause it to explode? Well, it's a real phenomenon called "superheating."  In a nutshell, when undisturbed water is heated in a smooth container (with no scratches or chips), the water can get hotter than it's boiling point without actually boiling.  Then, when something disturbs the water (a spoon, tea bag, coffee, etc.) the water can instantly boil very violently in an "explosion" of hot water and steam.  Check out the science of it here.  This often happens with microwave ovens because they heat the water directly, and the containers we use in microwaves are usually glass or ceramic which are often completely smooth even at a molecular level.  Kettles and pots are usually not smooth and provide nucleation points for bubbles to form.

Why am I bringing this up? It just bloody happened to me while I was making tea!  I heated the water up in the microwave, took the cup out, put in the tea bag and FOOM!  Instantly sprayed with hot water and steam.  Fortunately being at such a high elevation (my parents' house in Prescott) meant that the boiling point was lower so I didn't get more than a minor burn on my hand.  But it was a hell of a surprise. 

For a demonstration, I call on the Mythbusters:

Needless to say, I think I'm going to make my hot water on the stove, or put something in the cup to prevent this from happening (a rough object in the water provides a nucleation point for the formation of bubbles).

(End of) Life on Mars

Ok, this is just too cool not to post (I know, I know...I should be in bed). The Phoenix Mars Lander is "blogging" on Gizmodo to chronicle its last days as an operational spacecraft. It's written from the point of view of the lander itself, and it is absolutely brilliant.

You can read all the posts here.

You can follow Phoenix on Twitter here.

Also, Cassini, and Spirit and Oddyssey.

Brave New World

I don't post a lot. Partly because I never really know what to say, and also because I don't feel that I have anything all that meaningful to add to the world's literature. I have, however, started using Twitter. And that made me think that maybe I don't have to have some deep, meaningful prose about the great questions that plague man's soul. I am realizing that this blog is something like a journal or a diary, though much more public than that. It doesn't have my innermost thoughts or hopes or dreams, but it does have things that I think about or enjoy talking about. And sometimes, it just records my random thoughts.

I decided to post today mainly because I think it's important to have a record of my feelings and state of mind with such an historic event as this presidential election. I didn't really blog anything (as I wasn't into blogging yet) during 9/11 or the months that followed. And I kind of regret this.

Most people know that I tend to lean to the left side of the political spectrum. My views are usually pretty liberal, though I don't think I'm an extremist in any sense. So it probably surprised no one that I voted for Obama. But I wanted to explain why.

Our country has had a dark cloud over it for the past 7 years. The current administration has grossly mismanaged this country. At the end of Bush's 8 year stint, we've had two miserable (and unending) wars, the worst financial crisis the world has seen in decades*, the passing of the (un)Patriot Act, and the most divisive political situation I've ever seen. We tried to change things in 2004, but we failed. To be fair, Kerry was not a great candidate. I was a Howard Dean supporter and I never really liked Kerry. In fact, despite the generally dismal situation in 2004 I still felt like I was just voting for Kerry because he was not Bush. That's not a good feeling, but it's how it's been just about every time I've voted: resigned to pick someone not because I was inspired by their policies or speeches or inspirational ability, but because I didn't want the "wrong lizard to get in" (go here for an explanation from the late Douglas Adams).

But not this year. This year was different. It wasn't a matter of "I'm voting for X so that !X won't get in!" No, this year I voted for someone that I actually believed in. Someone who, I felt, exemplified the ideals and qualities and character of a true leader. Someone who would be able to lead this country through compassion, understanding, and strength. Not through fear and paranoia and force. Barack Obama is that person. Now I want to be clear that I do not think that John McCain = George Bush. Far from it. In fact, I would have possibly considered voting for the McCain of old. But his record over the last few years, and his WTF decision of selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate just cemented my conviction that the status quo would continue under McCain.

I do think that had McCain been elected, things would have changed. Most of the Republican party has more or less severed ties with the Bush administration and McCain has definitely been trying to make that clear. So I'd say that McCain ~ Bush.

But be that as it may, it would not have mattered one iota because the Dems decided to go all in with this election. And I'm not just talking about Obama. I'm talking about Hillary Clinton as well. I mean, either way I felt the Republicans would be benched for this round. It was more a question of which historic candidate would we elect? The first black president, or the first female president? I liked them both and I would have voted for either one. But as time went on, Obama proved himself to be an inspiring candidate. One thing I like about him is that he makes very careful, calculated decisions. The selection of Joe Biden as VP was an excellent decision and I'm sure a lot of thought went into that choice.

I've heard people make comparisons regarding the general feeling in the country following Obama's win with how people felt about Kennedy's presidency. Kennedy was the same kind of leader that Obama has the potential to be. He was young, charismatic, inspiring, and a brilliant statesman and orator. Some of the best speeches ever given were given by Kennedy. But I also think people tended to make more out of Kennedy than he really was due to the assassination. People were still on the new leader high and when he died, and then it was no longer fashionable to criticize his politics. This is not to say the Kennedy was a poor leader as he did some great things while in office: the kick-starting of the space program, creation of the peace corps, that whole Cuban missile crisis thing. But he really did not introduce many sweeping changes while in office. Most of his legislation introduced only minor changes. And of course, there's the Bay of Pigs incident.

But what Kennedy might have lacked in bold action and reform, he more than made up for in his ability to inspire and bring hope to all those who saw him or heard him speak. Obama has this same quality and I hope he can continue to inspire the American people and the rest of the world. But he has a steep hill to climb. He must lead by example and not try and simply talk away all the problems. There can be no redefining of the problem so that it no longer exists. Our country has been broken, and it needs to be fixed. The fact that, only a few decades after the civil rights movement brought the beginnings of equality to this country, we can elect a black president speaks volumes for how far we've come as a nation. The eyes of the world are upon us and the president-elect. It's time for us to show the world and ourselves that we are the shining example of democracy that the founding fathers envisioned.

*To be fair, it was not completely Bush's fault that the world financial system imploded. There are many, many people involved in the crisis and no one person is at fault. But if the captain of an oil tanker smashes it against a reef because he was sailing too close trying to make better time rather than taking the safer route, he does still bear responsibility. I'm just sayin'.

Last Voyage of the Cúlin

This is a great article on Outside.com that tells the tale of the search for answers surrounding the mysterious death of a sailor in southern Mexico named John Long. It also recants the author's terrifying experience trying to sail along the Mexican coast, and nearly getting himself killed. Makes for a damn good read. An excerpt:

It was like a story from Gabriel García Márquez: the carnivalesque scene on the beach. The sea that brings gifts of the First World, conquistadors, and death. This body floating naked and larger than life—John Long, literally a big man, now become legend. But this tale is real. It happened in February in the village of La Cigüeña, on the west coast of Chiapas, seven miles from Mexico's border with Guatemala. Long, a 78-year-old Irishman who'd spent his adult life in California, had dreamed of this voyage for 16 years. He'd left San Francisco three months earlier on his 48-foot ketch, Cúlin, heading south to the Panama Canal and then home to his native Ireland.

Read more

I'm Blu, da ba dee da ba...oh f*ck it

So, I am quite lucky to have the best wife in the world. Not only does she make me ice cream and cheesecake for my birthday, but this is what she gets me:

That's right! A blu-ray player. Turns out we bet on the wrong horse in the format war. While I was hoping that the future wouldn't be divided into blue and red, but maybe a nice shade of purple, alas HD DVD died a premature death when Toshiba pulled the plug. I've been longingly watching movie after movie get released in delicious high-def blu-y goodness for months, but unable to partake. But thanks to my wonderful wife, I can now join with my fellow HD-obsessed geeks and frolick in the land of the blu.

Farewell HD DVD, we hardly knew ye.

A Voice in the Wilderness: The quote of the week

I thought this was appropriate, what with the whole Russia/Georgia conflict.

There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Movie Quiz Time

This is a very cool little quiz I found via Digg. Each letter is from a movie poster and you have to try and guess what movie it is. I've only manged to figure out 13 so far. How many can everyone else figure out?

Link to the quiz on Empire.

Wonderful Contrast

I just saw this on Wired.  This guy uses Legos to recreate famous photographs.  Some of them just cute and funny, others a bit disturbing.  Something about those soft, Lego smiles.

Check out the rest.

A Voice in the Wilderness: The quote of the week

So I thought this might be fun. Once a week, say Tuesdays, I'll post one of my favorite quotes from literary or political figures. I plan on trying to pick quotes that are pertinent to the times, but sometimes they'll probably just be fun. So, here's this week's quote:

No party holds the privilege of dictating to me how I shall vote. If loyalty to party is a form of patriotism, I am no patriot. If there is any valuable difference between a monarchist and an American, it lies in the theory that the American can decide for himself what is patriotic and what isn’t. I claim that difference. I am the only person in the sixty millions that is privileged to dictate my patriotism. — Mark Twain

Olympicifcation

W00t! It's the Olympic season! Time for medals to be awarded, records to be broken, tears to be shed, and glory to be won. It's time for the summer Olympics, and I'm absofrakinglutly ECSTATIC about this year's games!

I've always loved the Olympics. The sheer scale of the event, the intensity, the whirlwind series of events. Everything is just awe-inspiring, and this year it promises to be particularly stunning.

Regardless of your feelings about China–it's many human-rights issues, poverty, questionable politics–they are a major player on the world stage and this event is their chance to prove that they are no longer the isolated, xenophobic country they once were. And judging from the spectacular opening ceremonies, I think I am justified in quoting Bender when I say "We've come a long way, baby."

I think this is going to be one of the most amazing Olympics in history. Maybe the most amazing. To be sure, the sheer scale of the Olympic venues and the lengths the Chinese people went not only to put on such an important event (on where the entire world is LITERALLY watching) are unprecedented and few countries could manage such a feat. Just take a look at this amazing architecture:

The Beijing National Stadium, aka "The Bird's Next"

The National Aquatic Center, aka "The Watercube"

The National Theater, aka "The Egg"

I, for one, am extremely optimistic about the games. I think they will really force the Chinese government to pay closer attention to the scrutiny of the world and mend some of it's heavy-handed ways. With any luck, this will herald a new, more open China. One that is more liberal in it's politics and more open to the rest of the world. I'd like to travel to China one day. And I hope that, when I do, I find a country that can hold it's head high and with pride that they are not just a respected member of the international community, but one that works alongside the rest of the world to help solve the many problems that affect us all.

Because when you get right down to it, we're all stuck on the same tiny rock whizzing through space at quite ridiculous speed. And what affects this planet, affects everyone.

One thing the Olympics excel at, no matter who hosts them, is their ability to bring all the world's nations, poor and rich alike, together in one spot and for at least a couple of days set aside differences of ideology and culture and let the best of us demonstrate just how amazing the human body and mind really are.

Of course, it doesn't always work. The '72 games in Munich were overshadowed by the kidnapping and execution of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. And the 1936 games in Berlin, the first games broadcast internationally on television, were tainted by Hitler's desire to use the games as a propaganda tool to demonstrate the supremacy of the "Aryan master race." Of course a black American by the name of Jesse Owens decided to give the Nazis a big "fuck you" and walked away with 4 gold medals. Probably walked away with more than a few German ladies' "gold medals" as well. Even the games in the last few decades are not without some controversy. The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 games in Los Angeles due to "anti-Soviet" sentiments in the West.

And this year was of course not without quite a lot of unrest. The massive protests in countries like France during the Olympic Torch relay dominated the headlines for months. People held up signs showing the Olympic rings made out of handcuffs, spit on the torch bearers, and even attacked a Chinese paraolympian in her FUCKING WHEELCHAIR. What kind of lame ass protester decides "I will totally validate my movement in the eyes of the world by making a bold, brave statement of our ideology by attacking someone against whom I have a 2-1 limb advantage, is a national hero, could probably kick my ass from here to Shanghai, and, as a woman who competes in international athletic competitions using only her arms, has a bigger set of balls than I ever will. Perfect!"?

For a time, it looked as if the French were going to continue their recent track record of "Yeah, we're going to just sit this one out" (though to be fair I agreed with the French on this whole Iraq thing from the very beginning) and boycott these games. But this was no surprise. As Eddie Izzard said, "...and France hated them all ‘cause Southern France was collaborating with the Germans, embarrassing! So since then, they've been kind of spiky and kind of, French..." In the end, the French president (who by the way has the coolest name in the world) backed away from that sentiment and the French are competing after all. Which is good. Looking at the list of nations, just about everyone on the planet is showing up. I mean, just LOOK at this map! (Green = attending the Olympics)

Hellava party. Too bad we couldn't make it. Well the Winter Olympics in 2010 are in Vancouver. I'm thinking that would be an amazing trip. Anyone up for a jaunt to Canada in 2 years?

Update: Meghan posted this great set of hi-res pics of the opening ceremonies in the comments. Thanks!

Imminent disaster

Oh my god!


I hope the people in the red car remembered their sunscreen! Sunburn kills.

Sent to me by a co-worker. Right now, I feel like the red car. :-P

Why So Serious?

We saw "The Dark Knight" today. Go see it. No; no excuses. Go see this movie. I mean it. I'm still absorbing just how amazing this film was, and I'm going to have to see it a few more times to get the full effect. I wasn't sure they could top "Batman Begins," but not only did they top it, they set the bar so high for any future Batman (or any comic book/graphic novel cum movie) that there may not be anything they can do, short of simply handing people cash and free beer at the ticket counter. 

Even if you didn't see the first one, even if you are not a action movie or Batman fan, this movie is outstanding. And it's so good because of one single fact:

Heath Ledger OWNS the role of the Joker.

I'm a big fan of Jack Nicholson. And his portrayal of the Joker in the 1989 film "Batman" (directed by Tim Burton, who is, incidentally, a god) is nothing short of stellar. Just about any movie Jack Nicholson is in I like, and just about every film made by Tim Burton I like. So when I say that Heath Ledger's take on the Joker is so amazing that I think he has surpassed the performance that placed Nicholson's Joker at #45 on the AFI "Top 100 Movie Villans" list, I want you to understand my full meaning.

In "Batman", the Joker is much more of a stone-cold killer with a wicked sense of humor and mischief, but he doesn't come across as overly sadistic or psychotic. In fact, he's quite sophisticated and smooth-talking, not to mention a snappy (if rather eccentric) dresser. Plus, he has a name and a back story. Jack Napier was betrayed while robbing a chemical company and falls into a vat of chemicals, which bleaches out his skin and turns his hair and fingernails green. His signature smile is the result of a back-alley plastic surgeon's attempts to repair the damage, resulting in a a permanent ghoulish grin. This drives him insane, and he decides to seek revenge and claim the city for himself. And while he is a remorseless and hardened killer, he does have excellent style.




NOTE: While there are no real spoilers in this post, if you want to see the movie with no preconceived notions of what the film is like and how events play out, read no further.

In "The Dark Knight", the Joker is much darker, more unstable, and much scarier than in "Batman". He has no back story, no name, and no real agenda other than seeding chaos and destruction. The look is even more raw and edgy than the previous versions. The stringy hair, the sunken eyes, the roughly applied makeup, and the dirty and grungy yet still distinctive suit are quite striking and give him a far more sinister appearance than in "Batman." Unlike the Joker in the previous movie, he is not out for revenge, or money, or even power. He simply has no rules or morals, other than creating elaborate plans designed to instill fear and create wanton destruction, often forcing those trying to stop him (or even those he intends to harm) to make difficult choices about who to save. He is, quite rightly, a "better class of criminal." He's a wild card, yet utterly in control of every situation.

It saddens me that Heath will not be able to reprise his role as the Joker for the next film.  He was clearly a gifted actor and had he lived, he would have gone down as one of acting's greats.  The equal to Gregory Peck, Marlin Brando, Gary Oldman, or even Jack Nicholson himself.  But his final role was his finest.  A last blaze of glory that will go down as one of the greatest roles in history. If he doesn't get an Oscar for this performance, Hollywood can bite my shiny metal ass.  Seriously.

Fire!

So on my way home from work last night, noticed a big column of smoke coming the uncomfortable vicinity of my house. As I got closer, I realized it was too far south and west to be near our neighborhood, but this was a BIG fire. When I got home I learned from Jen that it was a brush fire started by a lightning strike.

As of last night, it was up to about 100 acres. No homes were threatened (though we could see the glow from the flames from our house!), but they started voluntary evacuations of a few homes and Baseline is closed from 67th ave. to 91st ave. Even if it got closer, our house is on the north side of the Salt River so not only would the fire have to cross a bunch of roads, but it would have to jump the river bed as well. It was still a little unnerving though. You couldn't see the sky from our house because of the smoke.

Check it out:

Last days of Magic Carpet Golf (aka Scary Monkey Golf)

Found this via Boing Boing today.  Apparently, Magic Carpet Golf in Tucson is closing after more than 50 years of operation.  I never managed to check this place out, but I was always struck by how creepy and sinister the place looked, especially at night.  Jen and I called it "Scary Monkey Golf" due to this:

But from the looks of this slideshow, it was even more surreal from inside.  Take a look.

Link to original story, and link to photographer's blog post about Magic Carpet Golf

Movie Moods

I'm not sure what made me think of this, but I guess being up late makes your mind wander.

Have you ever noticed how certain movies require you to be in a particular mood to watch? Usually they are really, really good movies, or really bad movies. I have yet to find myself in a situation where I say "Self, I feel like watching John Travolta pretend he's still a relevant actor in Broken Arrow". No, that just doesn't happen. Broken Arrow was an OK movie. Not a good movie, and not a terrible movie. More of an "Oh, it's on TNT right now and since it's Sunday afternoon and I have nothing better to do, I'll just go ahead and watch it" type of flick.

But then there's one of my favorite movies of all time, Apocalypse Now. I first saw this my senior year of high school while we were studying "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. If you want to impress someone, tell them you read this book. Well actually if you want to get laid you might try saying you read "The Odyssey" since that's about a bloke trying to get home to his wife. "Heart of Darkness" is some rather fucked up shit, not to put too fine a point on it. So I'm not too sure of the type of person you'd attract quoting "The horror, the horror!" But I digress. The movie is based on the book, or more accurately it's an adaptation of the book. I won't get into the specifics but essentially substitute the African jungle for the jungles of Vietnam and the rather violent period when the ivory trade was booming with the Vietnam war and you have a pretty good idea of the major differences.

The thing about this movie is it's not something that you throw in one night when you're bored and want something to occupy your time and/or relax after work. This movie is the Fatal Attraction of movies (which I realize is a terrible metaphor): It will not be ignored. It demands your attention and if you don't give it your full focus, it tends to say "Well fuck you buddy, I'm leaving without you," and promptly proceeds to shift from Martin Sheen jumping around in his underwear while lamenting about the fact that now that he's out of the jungle, all he wants is back in, to U.S. soldiers surfing while helicopters attack the Viet Cong and blare "Ride of the Valkyries" over loudspeakers. As I said, it's something of an attention whore.

But unlike a good, mindless action flick like Independence Day or Air Force One, you really have to be in the mood for some existentialist rantings by a crazed war correspondent (Dennis Hopper), or possibly the best use of lighting and camera angles I've ever seen to make Marlin Brando's Col. Kurtz the scariest motherfucker you DON'T want to meet in a dark alley. If you're not in the mood, you just can't watch it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the really bad movies. Ones that if you have even the slightest desire for a coherent plot, well-developed characters, good special effects, and actors that are not actually made out of plywood, you will end up getting immediately pissed off and libel to do something rash. Like watching Deep Blue Sea (a movie for which there is no possible excuse for watching more than once). Take, for example, Evil Dead. For those that don't know, Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 are the prequels to Army of Darkness which is quite possibly the most brilliant comedy/horror film ever made. The difference is that while Army of Darkness was intended to be a slapstick-comedy take on the horror film (at times it's almost Monty Pythonesqe), Evil Dead is quite serious. It tries so very, very hard to be an actual scary horror film. And it does have some rather disturbing moments (gratuitous tree-rape scene anyone?). But after about 45 minutes, it becomes quite obvious that, while unintentional, this is an A+ horror satire of the finest degree. It is so monumentally bad as a horror movies that it completely transcends the genre and somehow manages to become not only a parody of itself, but of all B-type horror movies of the last 50 years. This is B-movie making at it's finest.

But just like Apocalypse Now, you have to be in the mood for such a flick. You can't just throw on Evil Dead while you're cleaning the kitchen because half the fun is one of the EAFC's (Expendable Attractive Female Character) getting chased through the woods by some evil being that is portrayed by a drunk cameraman running through the forest as nosily as possible which smashing occasional small trees. Which, of course, ends in the aforementioned tree-rape scene.

Then there are movies that you should never, ever, ever, EVER be in the mood for and if you are, you need to go slam your balls in a door right now. Movies like Three On a Meathook, which sounds like it might actually be a good B-level slasher flick. But it's so, so bad that even watching to MST3Kify it too difficult to do without just being dumbfounded by the sheer incompetence of the director. Aside from not being in the least bit scary or disturbing, there is a scene where the main character goes to a bar. At this bar, there is a band playing. Eventually, we are treated to a shot of the band. Now this would not normally be an issue if it were the Star Wars cantina-style shot where you see the band for a few seconds as the play the music that will make up the background of the next scene. But noooooo; that would be too much to ask from Mr. Fucknut director man. Instead, we are given an 8 minute stationary shot of the band playing 2-3 ENTIRE FUCKING SONGS. It may not have been that long, but I remember I was simply stunned by how long we had the fast-forward on before we got past this point. Oh and the reason for this visit to the pub? Nothing. It was the movie equivalent of a Hummer limo: wasteful, pointless, and too damn long.

I'm not exactly sure what makes one movie require a "mood" while others require nothing more then "Hey, I haven't seen Captain Ron in a while! Let's watch that." But I do know of many movies that I just can't watch unless my mind is in the proper state. And for the 4 people who read this blog, do you have any movies that require a certain mood before watching?

Do not go quietly into that good night, Rage, rage against the HFCS

Ok first off, I would like to apologize to Dylan Thomas for butchering one of his more famous poems but for some reason it just popped into my head like a giant squid (10 points if you get that reference). But I'm not here to talk about squids or dying (well not directly anyway), but about something that I now have a personal vendetta against. A jihad if you will. I am here to tell you that I am fed up with and disgusted by a completely inanimate object. Something that through reckless government subsidization and rampant commercialism of our food supply has been slowly killing us years. It's gotten to the point that the average life expectancy for some Americans has DECLINED for the first time since the 1800s.

Now I don't know all the reasons for this but some researchers believe this is the leading edge of the obesity epidemic. And I know one of the reasons American's are heavier than they've ever been: HFCS or High-Fructose Corn Syrup.

Ok, not quite what you were expecting, eh? Perhaps you were looking for some horrible chemical that has been secretly been added to our food by an evil government? Well that's not far off, but there's no actual malovolence behind the use of HFCS in modern food. Just pure proffit. Which could technically be considered evil due to that whole greed being one of the seven deadly sins. Where's Kevin Spacey when you need him?

So what's so bad about HFCS? Well first, let's start with a bit of science, throw in a dash of history, and see what a horrible, syrupy mess the USDA and the FDA have managed to cook up.

HFCS is essentially sugar. It's a sweetener that is used to make things, well, sweet. What most people don't realize is there are actually several different types of sugar as we commonly know it. Sugar itself is actually a classification of chemical compounds, but what we refer to the white crystal stuff we put in our coffee as "sugar" is more specifically sucrose, which is a combination of glucose and fructose molecules bonded together. When we eat this type of sugar, our bodies regulate the breakdown of the molecules using a special enzyme.

HFCS, by contrast, contains the same molecules of glucose and fructose as sucrose does, however they are separate and thus our body does not need to break them down. The downside to this is that the enzyme that breaks down sucrose also helps regulate the body's intake of sugar into the bloodstream. Without this process, the body has a tendency to absorb more sugar that it normally would.

We haven't always eaten HFCS. In fact until very recently, the majority of sweeteners in the US came from sucrose extracted from sugar cane and sugar beets. The rise of HFCS actually began in the mid 70s, and has been increasingly invading the processed foods market since. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is cost. The US is a major producer of corn, from which HFCS is derived. Massive government subsidies on the corn industry created artificially low corn prices to the point where HFCS was cheaper than cane or beet sugar. As such, companies started to replace the cane and beet sugars used in their products with HFCS.

HFCS is now found in nearly every processed food in the US market. It is used in breads, cereals, soft drinks, condiments, and a myriad of other food products. Why is this a problem? HFCS has been linked to not only obesity and diabetes, but can actually cause liver damage when coupled with a high-fat and sedentary lifestyle (a la most Americans). [source] Now to be fair eating large amounts of table sugar is not really good for you either, but at least when you eat that kind of sugar your body is better able to regulate the absorption. There is no such benefit to HFCS.

What made me so upset about this HFCS issue that I felt I needed to create a whole lesson out of it? Well, the other day I was at Fry's picking up some food for dinner. We decided to have sandwiches using these rather good fake grilled chicken patties that Jen likes. So I was picking up all the ingredients and I was trying to make sure I got stuff that was as healthy as possible. Whole-grain bread, fresh veggies, low-fat cheese, etc. Now those of you that know Jen know she's a big fan of pickles. So I went to grab a jar of Mt. Olive sandwich-stacker kosher dills. I've always thought pickles are quite healthy apart from the sodium content as they are basically cucumbers soaked in salt, spices, and vinegar. However, on a whim I decided to check the ingredients. Surely pickles would be free of the evil of HFCS!

Ingredients: Water, high-fructose corn syrup, salt ...

Wait, what? The SECOND ingredient in a product that is essentially a vegetable sitting in saltwater contains frakin' CORN SYRUP? I check to be sure I didn't grab the bread and butter pickles by mistake but nope, definitely the dill. I couldn't believe it. I grabbed another brand nearby of the same type, and checked it as well. No HFCS. I check the Fry's brand. Again, no HFCS.

I was pissed. I mean I understand the need to produce a good tasting recipe and adding sugar to a highly salty or acidic food can take the bite out of the flavor and make it more enjoyable. But PICKLES?!!?! At that point I decided that I would check every label of everything I buy and try and avoid anything that contains HFCS. And I mean EVERYTHING. If I'm going to eat it, I'm going to check if it has HFCS first. If so, I'll get the organic or find some other brand if possible. I've had it with this crap.

It's not all doom and gloom however. Many companies are starting to ditch HFCS and go back to cane or beet sugars. Jones Soda for example has a new line of pure cane sodas. Pepsi has an experimental soda called "Pepsi Raw" that contains only fresh, non-processed ingredients. I've also started shopping at the new "Fresh and Easy" stores that are opening up around the country. The food is a bit more expensive, but it's almost all made with fresh ingredients and nearly everything is HFCS-free, even the desserts.

HFCS has secretly replaced nearly all the sweeteners in the US food market today. It was done without knowing the full extent of the health effects of the stuff, and it was done almost entirely in the background. And what's even more insidious is that since the FDA's definition of the term "natural" is rather loose, this has led some manufacturers to label their foods as "all-natural" even though they use HFCS as sweetener. Snapple and Nature's Own are just a few such examples.

My point in all of this ranting is that people simply can't depend on someone else outside of a dietician to tell them what to eat and what is best for you. Food companies do not necessarily have your best interests in mind as they are first and foremost corporations that exist to make money. If they can make a product that sells well that is cheaper to produce with something like HFCS rather than cane sugar, they will obviously go that route. That being said, it's not in their best interest to kill their customers with dangerous and poor-quality food either, but the type of long-term effects of many processed food additives cannot be studied for many years, and even then the results are not always conclusive.

I don't blame the food companies for the obesity epidemic; that blame lies squarely on each and every one of us. We eat too little of what is good for us, and we don't exercise enough. Plain and simple. What we, as consumers, should do is pay more attention to the food we eat. Take 15 seconds and look at the ingredient labels. If you see things you don't recognize, think twice about buying that product. As with a lot of things, many of these chemicals and additives are not harmful in small doses; everything is good in moderation and all that. But if you take one thing away from this, it's that overly processed goods like HFCS are not what humans were designed to eat. Our bodies are damn good at turning just about everything into food and dealing with a lot of the crap that it can't, but it can't handle everything.

You can't completely avoid it, but if you can reduce the the amount you eat by even a little, I think your body (and your waistline) will thank you in the long run.

A God(zilla) fearin' people

This popped up in Digg today:



For those that went to UofA, you probably remember this place. I passed it all the time on my way to class and I remember when someone spray-painted the "zilla" part onto the house. Damn near fell off my bike the first time. Good times, good times.

Okami for the Wii

Okami for the Wii is out! I missed this game on the PS2 (which is a shame because Clover studios no longer exists), so I'm extra excited to try it out on the Wii. I will give a full report as soon as I get it in my hot little hands.

Are We Giving The Robots That Run Our Society Too Much Power?

I know I sometimes feel victimized by my Roomba*


In The Know: Are We Giving The Robots That Run Our Society Too Much Power?

*I actually no longer have a Roomba, but when I did it was very faithful companion**
**Note to the future robot overlords: I would like to point out that I did not use the work servant when referring to my robot friend.

Bracketology

The bad news is I'm out sick today. However the upside to that is that I've been able to spend all day watching the NCAA tournament. Normally I'm not a big sports fan, but something about March Madness just gets me going. Maybe it's the whole bracket thing and the "one loss and you're out" rule that really makes it fun. I find it fascinating to watch a team's progress as they move through the brackets. It's also cool because nothing is assured. There are always upsets and nail-biters. And since team rosters change nearly every year, the experience is always different.

Some years I tend to take risks and pick many of the underdogs as the winners. This year I played pretty conservatively. I do have Memphis getting knocked out by Texas, but other than that all the other No. 1 seeds are in my Final Four, with North Carolina winning it all.

I also have Arizona making it to the second round, but being knocked out by Duke. Now, I have to chime in on the selection of Arizona as a no. 10 seed while ASU did not get a bid. True, ASU beat the Cats twice, but Arizona's tough schedule (the 2nd toughest in the nation) and their performance against some big teams (as well as their long streak of tournament bids) gave them the nod. I thought a no. 10 seed was rather high considering, but they deserved a bid nonetheless. Who knows? Maybe they can pull off a good run this year. As I've said, this tournament always keeps one on their toes.

Why are you so quiet?

Wow...way, way, way, way too long between posts. November of last year? Pathetic. I could make some excuses, but really what good would that do?

Well it would make me feel better, so here we go. First, work. Sure, blame it on work! However in this case, it's true. Work has basically been hell since before and after the holidays. Not that it's bad, but I've been working long hours, which leaves me exhausted and cranky. I haven't been exercising, I haven't been talking to my friends, heck I haven't even read a books since I finished "The Terror." I just haven't had the energy. And it's not going to let up soon.

Second, wedding stuff. This is really starting to get crazy. There is so much to do/think about that it stresses me out. I mean we've done a LOT. Not matter what happens at this point, there will be a wedding, with food/flowers/music/booze/cake. So no matter what unforseen consequences happen in the next few months, the show most definitely must go on. The big hangups are ceremony decorations, the candy buffet, and music. We still need to pick a recessional. Why is that so hard? I mean we have most of the rest of the music picked out, so why is this one thing so difficult?

Finally, traffic. Yes, traffic. Seems silly right? But here's the thing: My office is about 25 miles from my house. With the only freeway nearby being essentially a parking lot from 7 am to 10 am every morning, that is not an option. So I have to take surface streets, which while not bad because the traffic itself is rather light, the construction on 51st ave. is so horrible that it gets backed nearly ALL DAMN DAY, even on the weekends! Couple that with equally evil construction on Price which is the only road to my office, you get a whole lot of steel-toed-road-construction-boot to-the-head misery. When we first moved in, even with traffic the maximum commute was 45 minutes. MAX. Normally, it would be 30 minutes. Now, an hour is not uncommon. So the only solution is to leave late since I can't drag my ass out of bed before 7. If I could hit the road by 7, it'd be a breeze, and I could leave at 3:30 every day. (Sigh)

Now lots of good things have happend since my last post. Jen and I went skiing, we had a rockin' New Year's party with Rock Band, Brad and Chris have come up to visit (I need to go down to Tucson soon!), I attended my first ComiCon, I got a new car (yes the Boxster was a fun, but ultimately too expensive, car), and a new laptop (I have been computer-less since October).

Yeesh. I should just post every week so i don't have to write novellas every few months. Not like anyone reads this anyway. :-)