but I'm not Andy Rooney

so I'm munching on some cereal and trail mix (with added pistachio nuts cuz I like to add things to make snacks different)... I found the stuff on the healthy shelves next to the Kashi cereal... it's definitely delicious, in fact, more snack-like than healthy cereal tasting, so I decided to gander at the ingredients (let's all frolick over and gander with me, shall we?)...

organic whole grain oats, naturally milled organic sugar, organic whole grain wheat, organic tapioca syrup, crisp rice, crisp brown rice, almond pieces, sea salt, organic molasses, organic malted barley extract, organic vanilla flavor, Vitamin E (to preserve freshness)

it's Vanilla Almond Crunch brought to me by Cascadian Farm (from Sedro-Wooley, Washington, 98284)... they are quite proud of their product and seem much excited to tell me (on the back of the box) that "Back in 1972, in the pristine North Cascades mountains of Washington state, they started growing organic fruits and vegetables at Cascadian Farm" (which is a registered trademark, by the way)...

organic is such a healthy sounding word... but reading the ingredients above, between all the organics, I see an amazing amount of sugar for a health food store product, aye?... yeah, the label says 41 grams (and 16 grams of sugar) per serving... and that's 3/4 cup... not much of a breakfast, 3/4 cup... and a can of Coke has less carbs... no wonder it tasted so good to my decadent taste buds (who thought it was some sort of crunchy candy)...

but then there's Nature Trail Mix brought to me by Sam (of Wal-Mart fame)... it only has 10 carbs (and 5 grams of sugar) per serving, which is 1/4 cup... but it's a trail mix, marketed as a snack food, not a breakfast cereal... it contains soybeans, pepitas, sunflower kernals, raisins, almonds, and cherries... unfortunately it does not pass the Vegan test as it is packed on the same equipment as milk and egg products, but at least there's a label that says that which is a big help for the would be Vegan...

the nomenclature (and semantics) chosen for marketing such products is so typical of our culture... and while I'd like to think that there's some sort of master plan, like someone really thought through the bigger picture to do the right thing by us poor mortals, it's mostly random I think... for instance, the pepitas in the trail mix... pepitas, in case you didn't know, are pumpkin seeds... why they could not just list pumpkin seeds is a question Sam Walton may have taken to his grave, or else he was just imitating another trail mix and matching it ingredient for ingredient which his crew is very good at...

according to Wikipedia, pepitas is the Mexican name for pumpkin seeds,,, so maybe Old Sam is going for the Mexican or spanish market a bit, but the irony is that the pepitas come from China... hopefully they are not sprayed with a lead based paint to make their color more vibrant... they are kinda shiney, come to think of it... anyway, the Trail Mix is quite international, actually... besides the pepitas, the raisins are from the US, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and/or Mexico... these raisins have been around... the rest of the ingredients are apparently from the U.S.A. as they are not specifically identified as being from elswhere...

it's good to know that Sam guarantees my satisfaction and will gladly provide me with a full refund if I am not completely satisfied... I've never been completely satisfied, but that may be beyond Sam's intended guarantee... Cascadian Farm doesn't offer such a guarantee... they do welcome my questions and comments at a toll free number between Monday and Friday 7:30-5:30 CT... I assume CT means the Central Time zone... I wonder why they want me to call the Central Time zone when they are clearly from the pristine North Cascades mountains of Washington state, but then, they are not in at the moment to be asked...

as I was writing this I started to feel like I was starting to sound/read a little like Andy Rooney... without the ticking... maybe you noticed too and are laughing with me or maybe you notice now that I mention it... or maybe you'd notice if you re-read it with his voice and intonations in your head, if you even know who I am talking about... but I am not Andy Rooney and I have proof... we frolicked over to gander at the label, remember?... well, Andy Rooney may have done a fair share of gandering in his day, but I assure you, Andy Rooney does not frolick... he ponders way too much to he's much too sedentary for that...

and that's the way it is in this entry for Saturday, September 29th, 2007... good night and have a pleasant tomorrow...



P.S... for interested parties, and especially for the Q and z components, I offer a slightly more in depth pondering of the computer question in my response comment to the previous entry, in case you didn't know it was there now that this entry has appeared... and have no fear, we shall all return to our regularly scheduled more broad stroked daily life RealTime™ babbling any day now, probably tomorrow, even, in case you wondered what went on in life today (college football, the Chinese buffet, shopping after midnight, it's Saturday and I still like with Rasputin and Precious, after all) and whatever else is new...

oh, and nevermind the stolen TV anchor sign off lines, especially if you missed the references cuz, you know, the great and powerful Witard of Odd has written...

nite nite :)