That works, too

Note: In order to forestall any claims of Pepsi Blue-ness in this post, I will not link to anything.

I’m a sucker for marketing. I understand what advertising and commercials are for, and I actually try to limit my exposure to them, because they’re often so insidious, and I prefer to be completely aware of what I’m absorbing. Still, when I saw the ads for Pepsi Throwback, I was intrigued. Not because the low-budget kitschiness of the commercials, but because I’ve always wanted to drink soda that was sweetened with real sugar, instead of corn syrup. I have friends who can’t wait until Passover, because then they stock up on the Kosher for Passover Coke products that are sweetened with real sugar, and their descriptions of their joyful sodagasms have always made me a little jealous.

That being said, I just don’t get it. This Pepsi tastes to me almost exactly like regular corn-syrup Pepsi. If I hadn’t bought it myself, I wouldn’t even be convinced that this is a different product. It’s not bad, but it’s not amazing. I was kind of giving up soda before this, and this hasn’t really made me rethink my plan. What is good about this stuff, though, is that it is seemingly impossible to spill. I have a bad habit of upsetting my soda cans, and I’ve already knocked over two cans of this stuff, and even though both cans were at least a third full, only drops of soda spilled. Drops!!!! If for no reason other than this, this stuff should stick around forever, so that klutzes like me can enjoy soda like the normal people do.

That was unexpected

Thursday was a friend’s birthday, and so last night I treated him to dinner and a movie. I told him that he could pick whatever movie he wanted to see, and I wouldn’t make any sort of jokes about it or be a bad sport at all, but despite having been given carte blanche, his first choice, 500 Days of Summer, was something that I would really have enjoyed seeing. Unfortunately, it isn’t playing anywhere in NJ, so he had to pick another movie. He said he wanted to see I Love You Beth Cooper, but that he couldn’t do that to me. Since I still don’t really have any idea what that is, I was sort of like, “Whatever, thanks,” but it really can’t be worse than some of the other movies he’s gotten me to see, such as Hot Rod. Two years later, and I still shudder when I think of that horrible excuse for a film.

He decided that he wanted to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’ve never read the books, but I have seen the whole or parts of the previous movies in this series, and have have never really minded the experience. I wasn’t expecting much, but I quite enjoyed the movie. I haven’t seen the previous movies recently, but this was much, much better. The was believable teen-romance angst, and a level of violence that I had not anticipated at all. The only thing that kept bugging me was how easily Harry & Co. gave up searching for the identity of the Half-Blood Prince or the meaning of his name. I think that I am eventually going to read the books, so I’ll check to see if this part of the story plays out the same way in the novels. To revive an old tradition of mine, here’s an excerpt from a couple of reviews that most closely mirror my thoughts on this film.

The strangest thing about the new Harry Potter movie is not that it’s unusually good, which it is, but that it unequivocally illustrates just how poorly we’ve been served by the previous five instalments in the franchise. — Kevin Maher, The Times Online

Harry Potter is getting darker, angrier, distinctly more wicked. It has an edge. Scary Potter?  — Gary Wolcott, Tri-City Herald