Month: May 2007

NEWS: Taco Bell Goes Extreme With Beef and Possibly Too Extreme With The Cheese

Marvo 21 Comments

Unless Taco Bell comes up with a new type of meat, a new menu item name that ends with a vowel, or another adjective that isn’t “spicy,” “zesty,” or “extreme,” I think they’ll soon run out ideas for their “Limited Time Only” special menu items. I’m suggesting this because it seems like I’ve eaten the new Taco Bell Extreme Beef and Cheese Quesadilla before or something like it. Probably something less extreme or maybe something spicy or zesty.

If you love cheese, need calcium, or if you’re a mouse, you’ll probably like the Taco Bell Extreme Beef and Cheese Quesadilla. Along with the two tortillas and seasoned beef is a blend of three melted cheeses and the popular warm nacho cheese sauce.

With a price of $1.29, it sounds like a reasonable deal, but here on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean it will probably be 50 cents more, probably due to the expense of shipping gallons of nacho cheese sauce across the Pacific Ocean.

The Taco Bell Extreme Beef and Cheese Quesadilla also has an extreme amount gut gaining goodness with 520 calories, 28 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, and 1,510 milligrams of sodium. At least, the extreme amount of cheese provides 50% of your daily allowance of calcium.

[Site:] Taco Bell

NEWS: Silk Soy Milk + Fiber = Crazy Nutritious

Marvo 11 Comments

Just like beer and film noir, soy milk is an acquired taste. Those who drink it, do so for a variety of reasons. Some drink it because their lactose intolerant. Others drink it for soy’s health benefits or because they’re vegan. I drink it because a carton of it makes me look cool at the grocery store and it helps balance my vodka consumption.

Perhaps the most popular brand of soy milk is Silk. Recently I noticed that they came out with Silk Plus Fiber and Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA, each of which provides extra health benefits along with the usual benefits of eating soy products. I’ll only focus on the Silk Plus Fiber because “Silk Soy Milk + Omega-3 DHA = Crazy Nutritious” doesn’t flow very well as blog post title.

According to studies that I wasn’t asked to be a part of, most Americans only consume about half of the 25 grams of fiber per day recommended. If I was asked to participate in those studies, I would’ve easily brought the curve down, because apparently there is very little fiber in potato chips, energy drinks, and glazed donuts.

Silk Plus Fiber contains five grams of fiber per 8-ounce serving. which is five times more than regular Silk Soy Milk. Fiber in your diet is important because it helps with digestion, has been shown to lower your cholesterol, and I read somewhere on the internet that it also helps keep vampires away.

Of course, if I wanted to, I could drink an entire half-gallon carton and consume 40 grams of fiber in one sitting with a funnel and some tubing. But my prior experience of eating too many prunes in an hour has taught me that it definitely wouldn’t be a good idea. Unless I enjoy lounging in my bathroom with my pants around my ankles for an extended period of time that ends up with me forced to look at the same Crate & Barrel catalog over and over again.

[Site:] Silk Soy Plus

REVIEW: Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger

Marvo 26 Comments

If the new Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger — which contains a grilled slice of Dole pineapple — becomes really popular, I fear that a particular sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea might not have a home to return to.

After trying the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger, I think SpongeBob SquarePants might just lose his home, because it’s a surprisingly good burger, which may cause the demand for pineapples to go up. Sure, it may not look very good in the picture above, but you know what they say, “Never judge a burger by the immigrant or high-school-aged minimum wage worker who made it.”

Despite how good it is, I can’t let SpongeBob lose his home, because if he has no home, he might end up coming out of the water and eventually find his way to my apartment on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

That would be totally uncool.

A visit from SpongeBob is just like a visit from your extremely racist grandma or non-deodorant wearing European cousin who sweats like a pig. After a little while, you REALLY want them to go.

I can just imagine what it would be like living with him. Sure, it would be fine if SpongeBob just sat quietly in front of the TV and watched the Food Network all day, but just like a drunk Mel Gibson, it’s hard for SpongeBob to not open his mouth and say something irritating or offensive. I think I’d also be irritated by his obnoxious voice or his laugh and I’m afraid of conversations that will go like this:

Marvo: I just bought a bag of chips, do you know where it is? I know you know, you spineless, leeching prick, because there are chip crumbs around your mouth.

SpongeBob: Those chips are apparently on your shoulder and not in my stomach. Daaaa! Daaaa! Daaaa!

He also seems like a messy kind of guy. I don’t want him to be leaving his SquarePants wherever he wants and I hope he doesn’t leave his underwear strewn all over the place, because I’m not touching his SquareTightyWhiteys or SquareThong.

Anyway, along with the grilled slice of pineapple, the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger also consists of a charbroiled all-beef patty, teriyaki sauce, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sliced red onions, and mayonnaise, all in between a sesame seed bun. The idea of having a pineapple in a burger does sound disgusting, and I originally thought so too, but after trying the Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger I found that the pineapple actually enhances the decent teriyaki sauce, giving it a good sweet and salty flavor.

With 660 calories, 61 grams of carbs, 34 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol and 1,070 milligrams of sodium, it’s a burger I don’t see myself eating on a daily basis, unless I’m trying to win the role of that fat fuck Sir John Falstaff in the community Shakespeare theater production of Henry IV.

The Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger is a little pricey and isn’t available throughout the country, so there probably won’t be a pineapple shortage anytime soon. However, if SpongeBob does end up at my apartment and irritates me, I’m definitely going to use his absorbent, yellow, porous ass to clean my kitchen counter with lots of elbow grease and Ajax.

(Editor’s Note: Phoood also enjoyed it. Read their review here.)

Item: Carl’s Jr. Teriyaki Burger
Price: $6.29 (regular-sized meal)
Purchased at: Carl’s Jr.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Pros: Surprisingly good burger. Pineapple and teriyaki sauce make a good sweet and salty combination. Lots of protein. Creative idea.
Cons: Small pineapple slice. Pricey, but isn’t everything from Carl’s Jr. Messy to eat. Lots of sodium. Lots of things that will make you fat. Living with SpongeBob SquarePants. Not available at sister company Hardee’s. Visits from your extremely racist grandma. SquareThong.

York Mints

Marvo 15 Comments

(Editor’s Note: To understand this review, please watch this old York Peppermint Pattie commercial.)

When I bite into a York Mint, I get the sensation that my balls have been groped a little too long by the cold, gloveless hands of my doctor, making me cough more than I should. While my testes slowly crawl up into my body to get away from the doctor’s rough, cold fingers, I wonder if it really was necessary to take my temperature with a rectal thermometer.

When I bite into a York Mint, I get the sensation that I’m sitting with a beautiful, intelligent girlfriend in the middle of romantic, candlelit Italian restaurant, holding her hands in mine and expressing my eternal love by whispering to her, “I love you dearly. When I first saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but now I think you’re even more beautiful. I love everything about you. Your smile. Your eyes. Your mind. Your heart. Your soul. When I caress you, kiss you, or touch you, I feel only happiness that I never want to end. My soul is complete with you and I want to be with you forever.”

Then after pouring out my heart and soul, she says, “I’m leaving you because I’m a lesbian and I have you to thank for helping me realize that.”

When I bite into a York Mint, I get the sensation that I wake up half naked in a bathtub of ice in an abandoned, cockroach-infested apartment and on a table next to the tub is an old Nokia cell phone with a half-charged battery and a note that has the carefully-written address of my location and the words, “We’ve taken one of your kidneys, call 911 immediately.”

All of this happened after meeting some dude with an Eastern European accent about a futon couch he was selling for $20 on Craigslist because he was moving to another city.

When I bite into a York Mint, I get the sensation that I kind of got gypped. I expected them to be typical breath-freshening mints, like Altoids or Certs, since they were placed on the same shelf as all the other mints and gums. However, they are mint candy dipped in dark chocolate with a mint shell. Basically, they’re York Peppermint Patties in the form of Sixlets-sized balls, which I wish my doctor would grope instead of mine. There were about 30-35 pieces in the shiny, attractive tin and three York Mints have ten calories, zero fat, and three grams of sugar.

So if you like York Peppermint Patties, you’ll probably like York Mints. But if you’re looking for a mint to freshen your breath when you’re sitting with your attractive significant other in the middle of a romantic, candlelit Italian restaurant, holding their hands in yours and expressing your undying love, I’d suggest getting some Altoids and then bracing yourself for the possibility that you’ve helped them come out of the closet.

Item: York Mints
Price: $1.99
Purchased at: 7-Eleven
Rating: 3 out of 5
Pros: If you like York Peppermint Patties, you’ll like these. $20 for a futon couch. Craigslist. Zero fat. Pretty, shiny tin. Dark chocolate, albeit very little.
Cons: They’re minty candy, not breath-freshening mints. Getting a kidney removed without your approval. Un-gloved doctor’s hands. Anal thermometers.

NEWS: I Like My Method Bottles Like Flo Jo

Marvo 11 Comments

Oh, Sir Mix-A-Lot, I now feel your pain and truly understand when you said, “I’m tired of magazines, sayin’ flat butts are the thing. Take the average black man and ask him that, she gotta pack much back.”

The new Method Bloq line lacks the most noticeable attribute about Method cleaning products — their juicy, sexy curves. It’s the main reasons why I’m a Method fanboy and why when I hold one of those curvy Method bottles I feel a lot less lonely.

Being the semi-treehugger that I am, I also like Method cleaning products because they’re biodegradable, use recyclable packaging, and aren’t tested on animals.

I’m happy the Method Bloq line of body washes, bars of soap, body lotion, and shaving cream continues the Method tradition of being environmentally friendly, but disappointed that it breaks away from the stereotypical Method packaging by being flat like a table or anorexic, drug-addicted supermodel whose name starts with “K” and ends with “Ate Moss.”

Each product in the Bloq line comes in a variety of scents and prices range from $6 to $8.

[Site:] Method