Without preamble, the items that have distracted me from work this afternoon:
- Darth Vader’s advanced-design TIE Fighter from the original Star Wars film, rendered in gingerbread.
- Scrolling images of Earth’s surface as photographed by the Landsat satellites. (Nod to Phil at Bad Astronomy for bringing this to my attention.)
- Good news: the Jones Soda Company (previously mentioned on this blog here, here, and here) has announced that it will discontinue using high-fructose corn syrup in its products in favor of cane sugar. I personally believe that the food industry’s switch to cheap HFCS back in the ’80s is a major component of why Americans are getting so damned fat — if you read the nutritional labels, the crap is in frakkin’ everything these days — and real sugar tastes better anyway. Don’t believe me? Then do a taste-test of this stuff versus the “mainstream” Dr. Pepper made with corn syrup.
Now, if only we could get the original-formula, made-with-sugar Coke that I remember drinking as a kid. Preferably in a glass bottle. It always tasted better in the glass bottle…
There is no way I’m attempting one of those gingerbread tie fighters. Not unless I can get a kit for it at Walmart. 🙂
I’ll keep my eyes open next time you drag me into one of those places…
So, is the Dr. Pepper noticeably better or different that the store bought stuff? I am considering making a purchase just to try it out. I have always thought that Coke and DP tasted better when I was younger and I would agree the glass bottle stuff is much better. This is the first time I have heard the sugar cane theory, but it would make sense.
Cord, there is a noticeable difference between the Dublin DP made with sugar and regular, mass-produced corn syrup variety. I can’t quite describe it — it’s not a matter of it being sweeter or less sweet — but it just plain tastes better. I think so, anyway. It’s like it’s… fresher. Or less chemically, maybe. My buddy Jack offered me some during dinner a while back and I had to work very hard not to drink his entire supply during the course of the evening…
Boylans makes a cane cola that is really, really good. It’s different from the usual HFCS laced drinks but I’ve grown to like it almost better than normal colas. I’d imagine the cane sugar in the Dublin DP would make it taste really good, like it would have back in the late 70’s early 80’s when real sugar was used.