Happy Halloween

I don't know who is scarier, this mummy boy above (my eldest nephew, Clay, don't worry I'll put some normal pics up later) or me after 2 days of sleeping only 3 hours each night. I say me. Luckily I only need to wear all black today, my pale, lifeless face and deep dark circles are will be enough to achieve the fresh from the grave look.

Candy Review II

My life has obviously been disrupted when I have only purchased 3 bags of candy in 2 months, with 2 of those being last month. But I must go on with life and proceed with one review, which sadly is negative.

Given my satisfaction with the Dark Twix, I decided to continue my journey into darkness with Snicker’s Dark. Now, before I say anything about the candy, I must express my dissatisfaction with the bag. It’s supposedly a variety pack, but the proportion of regular Snickers to the two other versions (Almond and Dark) is about 5 to 1. It may as well be just a Snickers bag that exclaims “With 3 or 4 of our limited edition, DARK!” My complaint may sound hypocritical given my problem with bagged candy, but I feel I should still be able to pilot my own demise. So with that said, my review is based only on an exclusive 5 pieces.

I’m sure the reason for the limited number is that they don’t want you to realize the Dark version tastes the same as the Milk one. Yes, about all I can say about Snicker’s Dark is that there is a slight difference only when you first place it in your mouth. This is related to the reduced sweetness of the Dark, so of course it’s going to stimulate a different set of buds. The coating is just not prominent enough to influence the overall flavor, which is a mix of nougat, peanuts, and caramel. Perhaps a thicker coat or more subtleness in the inside would have made a difference. MilkyWay, did a great job creating their dark version by eliminating the chocolate nougat, and replacing it with a contrastive vanilla.

So if you are looking to buy candy for your trick or treaters and want leftovers you can still eat or if you need to take the “yucky ones” away from your kids. I’d go with the lower-in-fat original 3 Musketeers and MilkyWay Dark.

Did Carrie from TCM fame pass away?

For the last two weeks I would have said 'yes'. I don't recall a time I've been busier. Most of this is due to my two courses. Well, more accurately, one. The workload of one of my classes is quite reasonable, and I feel my programming classes adequately prepared me. But the other class...oh boy. The lectures may as well be given in Russian, except with Russian I actually understand a few phrases. My only consolation is that past students have felt the same way. Supposedly it makes better sense later on in the program. We’ll see. In the meantime I must be content with the 20+ hour assignments, where ¾ is just spent deciphering it all.

But enough complaining…I have a candy review to write, a nephew to show, and the Red Sox to take a jab at. Actually I can do the latter now, the Red Sox have the second highest payroll in baseball. If they win the World Series it should be of no surprise, just as you expect McDonalds and Walmart to outperform the local competitors.

Go Rockies, but if you are 0-3 by Sunday, at least do something to injure the ever annoying Manny Ramirez!

UPDATE: In all fairness, the Red Sox are not like McDonalds. The latter uses inferior ingredients, the former has good players and an awesome pitcher. It's just that the former has the money to buy the best to quash the competition. I still stand by my call of violence on Manny though.

Boo to Boston!

My picks now that my beloved Angels have been swept by the Red Sox:

Rockies v. D-Backs: Anyone is fine, both are from the West and the favored teams of my Mother and Mother-in-law respectively.

Red Sox v. Indians: Go Tribe!

Red Sox v. Yankees (if they can pull off that miracle): Sox!

AL v. NL(World Series): NL, Rockies or Diamondbacks

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

...but the fire is so delightful

and since we've no place to go

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..,

hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
{humming the next line}

WAIT!!! What am I doing? Oh yeah I remember, this was the song that was playing when I was at the store today and I can't get it out of my head. This song is annoying enough, but in early October!?! There are two holiday themes before Christmas people. I know there aren't many Halloween or Thanksgiving songs to play during that time, but that doesn't mean you have to go right on to Christmas music. Please, go back to the cheesy Elton John stuff.

I can't blame the store completely. They were probably confused since it seems Western Washington pretty much gave up on doing autumn this year. It was all prepared coming early in September, but I think it got bored and let old winter take over. Get out the coats, it's going to be a cold one.