From an article in the August 2007 issue of Popular Science…China’s SEPA (State Environmental Protection Agency), which is in charge of enforcing China’s environmental laws, is rumored to resort to drastic measures in an effort to crack down on China’s “dirty factories”: “if needed…it sends in an explosives team and simply blows up the offending businesses.” That’s *one* way of stopping polluters; blow ‘em up!

i saw this info when i created a log-in for the weather.com web site: “In addition, we ask for year of birth as part of our compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.” Ok…makes sense…i mean…weather is so…err…um…

estimated amount of oil used to make the bottled-water containers sold in the U.S. in 2006: 16 million barrels
ratio of water use to make the containers cs the amount of bottle water consumed: 2 to 1

source: harper’s index, august 2007

this neat looking sparkling himalayan tonic has asian pear and ginger blended with organic oolong tea. ah. sure looks good and refreshing doesn’t it? don’t believe it. it’s evil. i think the “wonder” stands for “i wonder who’s gonna drink this crap?” (shiver). F

what can i say? i’m a sucker for garlic naan. this one was good, but not quite great. it turned out a bit soft, without much crispiness to it. the garlic flavor was strong and good, but the texture just wasn’t quite as good as trader joe’s, plus with trader joe’s garlic naan, you get four pieces instead of three, and for about the same price. this gets a respectable b+

look sweetie! they have coke from mexico!
huh? so what? what’s the difference?
it has *sugar*!
(rolls her eyes)
no, i mean it has sugar instead of corn syrup! it’s supposed to be good!
(walks away) whatever…

yes, the store actually had a sign pointing out that it was *from mexico* and yes i had to buy one. it’s good. there’s a nice sugarcane-juice-aftertaste and it seems just a bit…somehow more “natural” and refreshing than american coke. it’s not that obvious, and if i drank it without knowing where it came from, i might not notice it. but it’s worth checking out. B

it looks very tasty and healthy, not to mention super-fresh. the sound of spinach, feta, and pesto on bread looks good on paper. in reality though, it’s a bit bland for my taste. i was hoping the bread would be a bit crispy on the edges, and maybe it’s my fault for not cooking it long enough, but the whole thing was soft. not a bad soft, but i wish it was a bit firmer. i really kept expecting/hoping for a stronger pesto flavor to kick in but it never did. wifey liked it though. i give it a c

ooo…oscar mayer’s deli creations shaved turkey and cheddar dijon…sure sounds fancy doesn’t it? actually i’ve had convention center sandwiches that would be considered the height of fine dining compared to this. everything’s soggy and/or limp and/or tasteless. go buy a loaf of bread, a packet of turkey, grab a slice of *american* cheese, and steal a packet of mayo and mustard from your local fast food joint. make your own damn sandwich. this gets a d- (it doesn’t get an f because it’s at least edible)

…and yes, i know i can’t blame this ridiculously obvious warning on oscar mayer. but it’s somehow fitting, considering the intelligence of the people who’ll actually eat this. blech.

i keep trying to find horchata that’s as good as alberto’s. no luck. this is one of the better ones though. the flavoring is still too heavy, but it’s not overly cinnamon-y. it’s a c-

yum! the strawberry flavor is pretty mild with just a hint of tartness. the lemon flavor is more sour with a stronger flavor, but it’s still a bit restrained. the texture is very smooth…almost like packed snow. it’s much icier than ice cream, not nearly as dense as gelato, and very smooth. the flavor could be a bit stronger though. it gets a b+

we found this in *costco* of all places, and actually the full name is mario batali regional recipes orecchiette pasta with italian sausage and broccoli (in a zesty tomato sauce). whew! this particular pasta is supposed to be “inspired by the flavors” of puglia, italy. hmm…Judy and Alan, are you guys reading this??

the pasta smelled really good, though surprisingly, i couldn’t really smell the tomato sauce. besides the italian sausage and broccoli, there was a mix of carrots, bits of onion and celery, and assorted seasonings (and hey! white wine powder is listed in the ingredients. woohoo!). the orecchiette was a bit on the hard side, and yes, i followed the instructions thoroughly, but tasty. the sausage was very good, and i really enjoyed the mix of vegetables with the sauce. i normally don’t like celery, but since the celery pieces were so small, they actually added to the overall taste instead of detracting from it. overall, it was good but not great. maybe i had high expectations since mario’s image is plastered all over the packaging, but i was expecting something more mindblowing. i’d happily eat it again, but i can only muster up a b/b+ for iron chef batali’s creation.

ben & jerry never fails to deliver. this ice cream is good, though it doesn’t *quite* taste like s’mores. the chocolate is rich and creamy, and i really like the crunchiness of the graham cracker bits. the fudge chunks are a nice touch. i could barely taste the marshmallows though. i could definitely see the white marshmallow swirls as i dug my way into the ice cream, and it mixes in well with the flavor, but it doesn’t really jump out at you. overall it’s great: a-

pretty darn good. this tastes more like oreo the cookie than oreo the ice cream. that is, the “cream” part of it tastes a bit more like the cream in the oreo cookies than say “ice cream.” there’s also a lot more cookie in the mix than in other “cookies and cream” ice creams. the best cookies ‘n cream is still by hagen dazs but this is quite good. it gets a b.

i feel really mislead. these are crispy. the fish tenders were soggy as heck, and the “cut from whole fillets” fish meat seems minced to me. but maybe they’re supposed to be tender. i don’t know. i do know i didn’t like these. the fish tenders taste alright. but after the fifth or sixth one, i felt like i was eating baby food or something. sigh. why did i buy 2 packs? these get a d+

the top of the carton clearly states “soft and creamy.” boy is that an understatement. if your idea of ice cream is something close to the texture of hard cottage cheese with dirt mixed in, and you just can’t get enough of oreos in your ice cream, this one’s for you! if you enjoy good ice cream though, you might wanna think twice. i hated the texture. the taste was just average. this gets a d.