Put Good In…Get Good Out?

The other day I opened my fridge and this carton of Minute Maid brand lemonade caught my eye. Probably because the packaging is so brightly designed, but also because I was in the mood for juice. My other choices were cranberry juice and V8 Fusions (which are really good, by the way).

So, I started my usual routine of inspecting the packaging and ingredients. Oh, what’s this?

Image: Put Good In. Get Good Out. Image: Natural flavors
Also made with real lemons instead of fake lemons?

If that’s a little too small to read, it says: “You can taste and feel these words in every drop of Minute Maid. We fill every glass with the delicious, refreshing goodness you have come to expect from us. All because when it comes to life, we believe what you believe. The effort you put in is equal to the good you get out.” And it’s made with 100% natural flavors! How refreshing indeed. The little spiel on the back might be a little righteous, but I guess that’s just their sell. All-in-all, though, seems like some very good lemonade. Hold on, though, what’s this…

Image: ingredients
Natural flavors my ass!

What, wait, WHAT? The second ingredient is, not one, but two types of sweetener. THEN the lemon juice. What happened to delicious, refreshing goodness Minute Maid! Putting some lemon juice concentrate in sugar water is NOT putting good in. Not to mention, the last time I checked, high fructose corn syrup and sugar are not natural flavors. But I guess the 100% natural flavors thing only applies to the ingredient “natural flavors.”

I’m pretty used to seeing products claim that they have no artificial flavors or all natural flavors and then list high fructose corn syrup as the second ingredient. No big deal, food corporations have to lie to you about the insane amounts of sugar somehow. But if you’re going to preach to me about the goodness of your product on the side of the box, I’m going to be a bit surprised when you in fact have a similar ingredients list to soda. Minute Maid totally had me thinking that it was a nice juice, and then it just let me down!

So needless to say Minute Maid is a lying trollop and I went with the V8 Fusion. Do you guys care about this stuff like I do, or am I just a super pretentious snob?

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second one, because I ordered natural, aspartame-free gum online…

Posted on: April 6, 2011 | 7 Comments

In Which I Am a Huge Nerd

Just a heads up: If you haven’t seen Inception there are semi-spoilers ahoy! But if you haven’t seen it, you really should, because it’s a phenomenal movie.

As usual, I am late to the party and only just saw Inception this past weekend. And although I could go on forever about every aspect of this movie, I won’t. Especially since it’s exhausting just thinking about how plausible all of the interpretations are. Instead, I’m going to focus on one aspect: Totems. They aren’t a main part of the plot, per se, but they are very much a focal point of the movie.

If you haven’t seen Inception but still want to read my super awesome blog entry about it, I’ll briefly explain what totems are in the movie. Basically a totem is anything you can use to verify that you’re currently in reality, and not in someone’s dream. E.g. Leonardo DiCaprio’s character uses a simple, metal top. If it keeps spinning infinitely then he is in a dream. If it topples over, he knows he is in the real world. It’s just a simple way to do a reality check.

Personally, I think this is awesome. So freaking awesome, in fact. And ever since I was a kid, if I saw something in movies/TV that I thought was cool, I’d copy it. I know this isn’t uncommon for kids to do. And thanks to good marketing, it’s not uncommon for adults to do – they just do it less consciously. However, even though I’ve grown up, I consciously decide to do things I see in media. I do it more personally now, but I still imitate what I see on TV. Why? Because I think it’s freaking cool.

For example, instead of just stealing the top for my totem, I’ll take the idea of a totem. I haven’t decided what I want to use as my personal totem, but I’ve got some ideas in mind. And in case you’re wondering, I’m not going to stop at just obtaining a totem. Oh no. I’m actually going to use it. I am going to periodically use my totem to check the reality of my surroundings. And I’ll probably do it with a serious/concerned look on my face. Then when I realize that I’m not in a dream, I’ll heave a dramatic sigh of relief and slip my totem back into my pocket. Why? Like I said, because I think it’s cool. DO NOT SPOIL MY FUN.

I know I’m not the only one to do this—Inception was a great film so I’m sure a lotlotlot of people are going to do exactly what I’m doing. But those people are also nerds, just like me. And we’re pretty awesome for that.

If you’ve seen the movie, do you want a totem? If you do, what would it be? Or is there something else that you emulate from media for no other reason than because you thought it was cool?

On a side-note: constantly checking reality might also help me become more aware in my dreams. If I’m always doing this reality check, it should carry over to my dreams, in which the reality check will obviously fail. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll notice and have a lucid dream!

Posted on: April 3, 2011 | 1 Comment