Cucumber and Seaweed

  

What a strange post title, but it'll make an even stranger snack some day...

Last weekend I was driving around the area and found a different Big Lots to check out.  I've mentioned Big Lots before as a good source of new cans for my collection.  And this time I found a can I certainly didn't have, a Cucumber Lime Rockstar energy drink.  It sounded so strange that I had to get it.  And I'm curious to see what it tastes like.

And then we saw something that sounded more foul than a cucumber/lime drink... roasted seaweed.  So I picked up a package of that too.  I know it's going to be one crazy snack when I get around to having it.  

Later we went into an ALDI grocery store and I saw a new Gridlock energy drink can I didn't have yet.  This was in a cool chrome can with light blue frosted/textured printing.  And it was a flavor I didn't have yet, Ultra White.

So it ended up being a pretty good outing.  Two new cans, one new snack, and a date with a bottle of mouthwash when I get around to trying this cucumber/seaweed combo.

Assassin's Creed Destiny

Do you play video games?  I do.

Have you played any Assassin's Creed games?  I have.

Are you excited about the upcoming Assassin's Creed Origins set in ancient Egypt?  I am!

So I was filled with joy when a coworker brought this Monster can to my office and asked if I had one like it yet.

Usually a can like this promoting a video game will have a code you can redeem which gives you some kind of experience boost or cosmetic item within the game, but this is just an advertisement.  A very cool-looking advertisement.


The game launches on October 27, so seven weeks from now I'll be playing it on my PS4.







But until then, I'll be in Destiny 2 traveling throughout our solar system defeating the evilness of Dominus Ghaul.

By the way, there is a 3-can set from Rockstar energy drink for Destiny 2, so I'll be watching for those.  But that'll be another post...

Black & White

Black & White

Veteran Cans

Mom called the other day and said she and Dad were at a store that had veteran/military Coca-Cola cans.  She asked if I had them yet.  Nope.  So they picked up a set of the tall 16 oz cans for me.  One side of the can shows the Coca-Cola bottle in the design of the USA flag.  They also picked up a Diet Coke can with the same flag-bottle design.

The reason these are so important to me is because Dad served in Vietnam.  He's proud of it, too.  He has info about his division and where they served framed and hanging in their front hallway.

He received two Purple Hearts while there.  When I went by their house to pick up the cans, I asked him to get the medals out so I could include pictures of them in this post.

He also brought out some of his other medals.  He has more, but they are buried a little deeper upstairs.

This post may have been more appropriate on Veteran's Day or Memorial Day, but it also goes to show you don't have to wait for those two days each year to honor our military and veterans.  Any day is a good day for that.  

My thanks to all who have served!

Total Solar Eclipse 2017

It's almost here!!!

In case you haven't heard (haha), there's going to be an eclipse on Monday, 8/21/17.  It's the first total solar eclipse in the continental US in 38 years.  Everyone in the continental US will at least be able to see a partial eclipse and those lucky enough to live along the center line will enjoy the total eclipse.  And who lives along the center line?  Me.

They predict MANY thousands of people will be flooding Southern Illinois to watch.  I will be at my sister's house out in the middle of nowhere, away from all the traffic and crowds.  I should probably sit back with a nice cool Pepsi on Monday to enjoy the show, but it'll probably be a Diet Coke instead.  Why a Pepsi?

A few weeks ago I found this discarded can lying on the ground.  I was excited to see it was an advertisement for the eclipse.  It's a fun piece of memorabilia.

* Side note - this is the 400th post on this site.  Yay.

Popeye

Chester isn't too far from where I live.  I've been there many, many times.  It's a small Southern Illinois town with less than 9000 people that's famous for being the home of Popeye.  Or more accurately, the home of Popeye's creator, E. C. Segar.  Segar was born in Chester and lived there until he moved in his early twenties.

So I thought it was pretty cool when someone recently gave this Popeye Energy can to me.  The front of the can is covered with Popeye cartoon strips.

This flavor is Clobberin Clementine.  The other flavor available is Bruiser Blackberry.

It says it has natural caffeine and contains nothing artificial.  So of course I had to examine the contents to see if there's any
spinach in it.  None.

Also missing from the ingredients is Olive Oyl!

Peace from Texas

My daughter recently returned from spending a week at the University of Texas at Dallas attending a youth leadership conference.

When she returned, she was handing out souvenirs that she got everyone and to me she handed a heavy plastic bag.  I could immediately tell they were cans, but had no idea how many or what they were.

We checked out all seven cans of Peace Tea, each flavor sounding more delicious than the previous one.  She had even taken a picture of all seven cans in her dorm room at the college (seen to the left).



The flavors are:
1. Razzleberry
2. Texas Style Sweet Tea
3. Georgia Peach
4. Sweet Lemon
5. Green Tea
6. Sno-Berry
7. Caddy Shack

In the end, we both got something out of her trip to Texas :)

Dr Pepper Summer

I got home from work on Thursday and there was a package on my front porch.  I knew what it was and couldn't wait to open it.

A fellow can collector and I have been trying to track down the newest Dr Pepper can designs.  I found a couple of different ones in my area, but he had more success.  So he offered to send a bottom-opened can of each to me (the ones I had were top-opened).  

So I opened the box and checked out each can.  As a bonus, there was a Dr Thunder design I didn't have yet.

As in the business world, networking also helps in the hobby world.  Especially in a hobby such as this where different parts of the country, and world, have can designs unique to their area.  I've also received many cool cans from Canada from a collector up there.  

So it's a good idea to build a contact list of traders.  You never know where that can you so desperately need may show up.

Thanks again, G!!!

A Plastic Monster

Someone I know is currently on a trip to Dallas, TX.  It was a nice surprise this afternoon to get a text saying they had picked up this Monster can for me.  And the cool thing is... it's plastic.

I had heard someone mention plastic cans recently but I haven't seen any in local stores.  I checked the Monster website and this is their Hydro line.  The site says Hydro is "non-carbonated, lightly sweetened with natural flavors to make it thirst quenching and easy drinking."  In other words, energy water.

It currently comes in three flavors: Tropical Thunder, Manic Melon, and Mean Green (the can that's headed my way).

My only other experience with plastic cans was a set of experimental New York Seltzer plastic cans from 1987.  The set was my first can purchase on eBay and can be read about here.

Chasing Rabbits

For some reason, there has been an overabundance of rabbits in my neighbor in the last few months.  I can be outside for thirty minutes and easily see a dozen rabbits come and go.  And if I sit real still, I could almost reach out and catch one.

This reminds me an energy drink I found at Big Lots several months back called Chasing Rabbits.  Of course I had to buy it for its novel name.  I have yet to open it and try it, but tropical citrus sounds pretty good.

Speaking of chasing rabbits, I found a picture online of something that might help catch one...

Father's Day Coce-Cola

A few weeks ago my kids gave me this interesting Coca-Cola can as part of my Father's Day gift.

What makes it so interesting?  Not the fact that it has an all-chrome lid.  Not the fact that "Coca" is misspelled.  Not the fact that it has white "bubbles" all over the can.  Not the fact that it must be an import since it has Asian text on it.

What made it interesting is it's a little pencil sharpener that's only 2" long.  Haha.  Not many calories in this one!

Happy Independence Day

HAPPY

INDEPENDENCE

DAY

The Can from the River

Last weekend I spent a couple of days at a local convention.  While there I decided to visit a statue that overlooks one of the rivers.  It was one of those local touristy things I had never done.

A few months ago we had a lot of rain.  It was historic flooding that almost prevented me from even being able to get to work.  But all the waters returned to their normal levels and most places were quickly cleaned up of all the silt, mud, and driftwood.  But not the site of this statue.

Above is a pic showing some of the trees and silt still along the riverbank.  The park service has mostly cleared the concrete walkway to the statue so people can get to it, but the statue still has some muddy patches and some logs in the way.

Along the walkway I noticed a few crushed, muddy cans out in the dirt but they were all beer cans.  Until I saw this one.  I walked out to it and found a Sunkist can.  And it was a design that didn't look familiar to me.

So I loosed it from the dirt and took a pic of it.  Its outside was muddy, but I could wash it.  The inside was about 75% packed with dirt and silt, but I could clean that out.  And the can was dented, which I've had success with repairing.  So I brought the can home.

Cleaning the outside was easy.  I used the hose outside to clean it off.  The caked dirt inside was a little tougher.  I would fill the can about halfway and swish the can for 10-15 seconds to loosen some of the dirt and then pour out the mud.  It was slowly chiseling away at the dirt.  After about twenty of these "cleansings", the inside was clean.  I brought the can inside and used an old toothbrush to scrub off the remaining dirt from the outside and my special tool to pop out the dents from the inside and the result is a new can for my collection.

It isn't one of the better-looking cans in my collection, but it has one of the better stories.

The Freezer Didn't Fix It

dents on front of can

new rip on back of can

When I got to work last Monday, a coworker said he found a can for me but it was dented up.  At first glance I thought this was an alcoholic drink, but it's a sparkling juice beverage from Italy.  In fact, my only other can from Italy is another Sanpellegrino can.

In an effort to push out the dents, he had filled the empty can with water and put it in the freezer overnight hoping the ice would expand and push out the dents.  But the freezer didn't fix it!

When we pulled the can out of the freezer, we saw the dents were still there along with a new rip down one side.  The dents were stronger than the flat side, so it was the flat side that expanded and split.

So I let the ice melt and the water drain out.  It had been a good experiment even though it had ultimately failed.  I described a tool my dad gave to me a few years ago and how it had pushed out many dents.  So I brought the can home, used the tool, and now the can looks pretty good... except for the rip on the back side.

The can with the dents removed

But just as I told my coworker, I'd rather have a can with a rip in it than not have one at all.

Addio!

The First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of summer here in the USA.  And as the temperatures climb and the humidity returns, I think these cans say it best:

YETI

A few weeks ago I went to someone's house and saw a strange can sitting on their counter.  I assumed it was an alcoholic drink since I'd never seen a soda can like it before.  They saw I noticed the can and said they had saved it for me.  And then they explained what it was.










This novelty can came with a Yeti cooler they bought (Yeti is the brand of cooler).  I looked the can over and noticed a few things:

First, it's molded as one piece.  The top looks like it has a real pop top but it doesn't, it's one smooth piece of metal.

Second, it says it contains 12 oz of air.  What's sillier than a can of air?  How about a can of sunshine?

Third, The can says it was established in 2006 and founded in Austin, TX.

The back of the can is an advertisement for YETI coolers with the warning "Be Wild Resonsibly."

But what I really like is the "government warning" written on the side of the can:

Carnival Cans

The small town I live in has an annual carnival celebrating various small-town things.  I posted about it back in 2012 and again in 2016.  The rides and clowns and beer tents move in for three days.  And this weekend was just that.

My dad was asked once again to be a security guard during the nights to make sure no troublemakers caused any problems.  During his rounds, he was able to gather up a small pile of cans for me.

They are mostly to recycle since almost all of them are alcoholic beverages, but I did get a couple of Limited Edition Dr. Pepper cans I didn't have yet.

He said this was just a small fraction of the cans he saw, but there is another guy who shows up at 5am to go around and gather them each morning.

New cans

Super Heroes

Looking back at the last several years, DC has released movies based on many of its super heroes; Superman, Suicide Squad, Green Lantern, Batman, and currently Wonder Woman.  In the works are movies for Aquaman, Justice League, Shazam, and more.

So why not tie this into my can collecting hobby?  I present to you...

Batcan

*Not a real can, but funny nonetheless

The New Mountain Frost

The Summit brand version of Mtn Dew has released a new can design.  This post from five years ago shows two of the previous designs.  I noticed a couple of things about this new Mountain Frost.

First is the naming convention.  In 2008, Mountain Dew was changed to Mtn Dew and now Mtn Frost has been changed to Mountain Frost.

Second is the fact that this Dew clone no longer sports the traditional caffeine-packed yellow color.  A round stamp to the lower-right of the logo reads "No Certified Synthetic Colors."  The drink is now clear, as is boldly proclaimed to the upper-left of the logo.

The can was empty when I got it, so I haven't had the chance to taste it yet.  But who needs flavor when you're treated to 50mg of caffeine?  By the way, a real Mtn Dew has 54mg.

Titanfall 2

For Mtn Dew's 2016 Game Fuel campaign, it dropped the long-running Call of Duty franchise and is instead promoting Titanfall 2, even though there was a new Call of Duty that released just a couple of weeks after Titanfall 2 released on October 28.

I've been playing Call of Duty for a while and decided to give Titanfall 2 a try.  What could be better than fighting alongside, and inside, large battling mechs?  Not much.  It's an awesome game.  I've beat the single-player campaign twice so far and have dabbled in some of the multiplayer game modes.  

So I was excited to see this can at work this week.  Game Fuel cans offer special codes that when entered in the game unlock periods of double experience or other in-game goodies.  So I'll grab a few more from work and jump in the game for my rewards.