Nestea Enviga

I'm gonna review two of these at once. The first one I had was the "Berry" flavored tea. I purchased a 6 pack of the cans at Target for $5.99 last week. The first thing I realized was that the cans were not as big as I expected. The pictures and other print advertisements had me believing that the cans were the bigger 16 oz size that is very common in most energy drinks. Not the case. These are 12 ounce cans that are as big around as a Red Bull, only taller. Of course, the first thing I do is smell it when I opened it. Not too strong, however being that it is a "tea", I wouldn't expect much more than this. The flavor is nice. Kinda reminds me of specialty drink that you would get at a coffee shop or bookstore. There is very little aftertaste. I would liken this to an energy drink, which fits right in where Coca Cola wants this. I don't picture myself buying these one at a time at the store, especially if they end up around $1.50 or so. I'd rather get an energy drink or something else that I haven't tried. For a dollar, however, this is a good pickup. About a week after going through the Berry, I picked up a 6 pack of Peach from Target on sale for $5.50. Overall, I like the peach considerably more. Now, being that I am partial to peach flavored stuff, I will back up the statement with reasons. The second I opened it, I noticed it had a much stronger aroma to it. The taste is even stronger. This is something I would consider buying again individually. Would be great to have in the summer evenings when sitting out on the porch or stoop.

There has been some discussion as to whether or not you will actually burn calories from drinking it or not. Does it raise metabolism? Does it give me energy? Well, it gives me a little boost. Not great. I haven't had one of these with a meal. Instead, I usually have it about an hour or two after lunch with pretzels or a light snack. It doesn't matter to me what the studies about these drinks show. Everyone reacts differently to caffeine or taurine. These drinks do have a lot of caffeine. About 100 mg a can puts it up there with coffee drinks. One of the things I like best about Enviga is found on the back. Five total calories a can and the first ingredient is carbonated water. Aspartame is also listed as ingredient, but not high up. I don't worry too much about the effects of aspartame or Splenda. I don't have a high intake of either one of these. The one major ingredient I try to shy away from is high fructose corn syrup and it is nowhere to be found. if aspartame scares you, stay away from this one.

5 Words to Sum it Up: Nice hybrid drink. Good flavors.

Heroes (So Far)

Finally an episode that didn’t disappoint for me for an entire hour!

Let me start with some background. I have watched Heroes every week. I was fascinated with the commercials last summer and couldn’t wait to see what the deal was come fall. After the first two episodes I was hearing that this was the best show on television. It was already up on the levels of “Lost”. After two shows!? Maybe it was me. Maybe I was expecting just a little too much out of it. Maybe I started watching the show too deeply from the pilot. After another two or three episodes I began to grow tired a few things. To me, Mohinder is probably the most worthless character on the show, and quite possibly prime-time TV. Right behind him is Niki.

Let’s get my major gripes out of the way with the show. Down the road when I talk about the show, this will help you understand my content or lack thereof with certain episodes, characters, storylines, etc. To help, I have put together a few bullet points and questions I have regarding the show.

How much time is really passing for these characters? I know that early in the season we were given little snippets in conversations about when things will happen in the future. The problem is, sometimes the show feels like hours have passed when apparently it has been days. And conversely, days have passed when it feels like weeks. Tell me how Isaac can paint these pictures so quickly? We cut away from him for a little bit and then his entire studio is filled with new stuff. First of all, I have been playing with paint lately myself and I know already that you gotta let it dry somewhat before adding another layer. How long was Peter in Texas? When is Mohinder actually working on his project? All I see is guy running around talking about this research he’s doing. We never see it. According to the official Heroes website last week “Suresh tells Sylar that he's working on a way to inhibit the mutation that causes special abilities.” WHEN HAS HE BEEN DOING THIS?

How is it that Hiro’s dad is going to come all the way across the world to find him and then, after what seems like an hour two, be convinced to have his daughter run the business instead? The whole thing felt like it was setup to insert George Takei into the show as a nod to Star Trek and geekdom. What kind of therapist is gonna sit in a cell with Niki after seeing her dismantle guards and break night sticks? Clean up the writing a little bit.

What is the general direction of the show? Is it about people struggling with their powers/gifts? Is it to find out why they have these powers? Is it to “fight the bad guys” out there? Is there an end goal in sight?

Why do we keep seeing new characters when the originals aren’t developed well enough yet? Granted, some of these throwaways are there to help further the development of main characters. The problem is, we as an audience don’t know how much of ourselves to invest in said new person. Are they here for the duration? Are they gonna be dead by the end of this episode? Not enough development brings me to the next point…

OK! I GET IT! Niki is conflicted with herself! Hiro needs to find his sword! Ando doesn’t know if he is supposed to be tagging along and feels out of place! Claire doesn’t trust her dad! Peter needs to find someone to help him! He’s been having these terrible dreams about blowing up the city. Do you know how I know? He’s told everyone he’s come in contact with. Stop beating the horse. Move on. You are not developing anything. Up until “Company Man” last night, the show felt no further ahead than it did before the break.

Pick the tagline and stay with it. I don’t care if it goes all season long and I have to hear it 1,000 times. For crying out loud, we’ve already heard the crap about the cheerleader for 15 weeks. “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World”. “Are You on the List?” “Someone Will Fly, Someone Will Die”. Here’s one I just came up with while writing this article. Tell me what you think… “Shit or Get Off the Pot”…

I’ve never watched a show where I was able to predict dialogue quite like in this show. Either A) I have the talent needed to write for a Golden Globe caliber show, or B) The show is robbing a lot of people of a better show. There have been countless times this season where I have sighed or looked at my wife and said “Are you kidding me?” Written like a soap opera at times, this show borders on cliché far too many times for the cutting edge show it’s supposed to be.

Stop with the half-assed attempt to be sneaky. It’s too obvious. Like we didn’t see Micah coming out with some power(s). Right. Like we didn’t see Claire’s dad not being the seedy character he’s played all season. Right. Mark my words. Nathan Petrelli is a much bigger character than we believe him to be and it’s not because he’s Claire’s dad. Look at the promo picture up above. He’s at the forefront. You see Micah on there too? These things are called clues. Why would they bother putting him on there in the first place? Special power. Hmm. Who else is up there? Simone. Like I didn't see her coming back to life next week. Right.

So last night’s episode was actually good. Best one of the season in my opinion. What worked? First, it stuck with a few characters and that was it. Ding! It furthered the current storyline while giving the viewers some much needed backstory. Ding! It introduced characters and we knew whether or not to care for them. The ending was a nice surprise. Music, dialogue, and the idea of “What is gonna happen next?” actually have me excited to see next week’s show. I don’t feel as obligated to watch anymore. What else is working for the show right now? How about the “real” hidden stuff. Like the symbol on the book Mohinder’s dad wrote. It’s EVERYWHERE. Look for it. Here’s a quick rundown of some places to check.

5 Words to Sum it Up: Better Make Their Minds Up

The Current State of 'LOST'

I want to first start off with this... I love LOST. I think it is by far one of the smartest, freshest, innovative shows on television. For the last few years, I have tuned in faithfully each week to catch up on the survivors of Flight 815. When I first heard about the show and its premise I thought to myself "What kind of show can they make out of survivors of a plane crash on an island? What is gonna get me to watch it for more than a week or two?" I was hooked after the first episode. "Holy crap there is something on the island!" Over the first season I was intrigued at the idea there there was someone or something on the island before them. There were a lot of hidden easter eggs on the show with some episodes being totally captivating. At the end of the season we found out that there was in fact a group on the island or slightly off-shore. We were also shown over the course of the season that there was some kind of hatch just begging a few of the characters to get into. The second season was just as fun, giving us glimpses of other characters and incredible backstories that began to make one wonder exactly what it was that brought the characters to the island. That was more of a burning issue than who or what was on the island. "Why" became the question. The show continued to tease us all season long and left us with one of the best show cliffhangers in recent years.

Now, don't get me wrong. There were plenty of things that angered fans, including me. First and foremost, the long breaks between new episodes. With a show that gives so few answers and instead poses only more questions, this is very frustrating. Add into this, episodes that many people will consider "throwaways" and you have the recipe for a love/hate relationship. I love the show, I hate the breaks. I love to be teased with the mythology and the potential of what could be. I hate to think that the show will not answer all of these questions.

Where are we today? We are two episodes into the second part of the third season. The first six episodes of the current season really started to take the show into a new direction in regards to the "Others". It's great to see the show starting to delve into backstories of other characters and possibly open the door to new answer and reasons for the crash. It's infuriating, however to be given so little about some of the characters we are supposed to care most for like LOcke, Hurley and Sayid. I like Desmond and Juliet, but seriously, what is happening back on the main island? Are we supposed to believe that nothing of importance has transpired over the last few days or weeks? I was very pleased to know that once the show came back, there would be no 6 week break like were treated to last year. The problem was, there was too much given in the first "half" of the season. When are we getting back to what happened with Eko? Season 4?

In my opinion, the show has gotten too smart for its own good. The writes are sneaking such small items into the show that one is almost forced to spend Thursdays on message boards and websites dedicated to the show simply so you can keep up on all the little stuff that you've missed or overlooked. It was nice when you could piece all the cool stuff together with your friends. Now, it's almost a chore to look up all the hidden stuff. It's becoming harder and harder to tie things together when you're being given smaller and smaller pieces. I Personally, I feel like I have been able to keep up very well. I do enjoy looking at the easter eggs and pictures online of stuff I simply didn't catch the first time through. The problem is, I am one of only a few people that I know who does this. It's hard for me to discuss the show with casual fans. Where do I start? What do we talk about? How much does this other guy know? Do we talk about stuff we both know or do we try to show off and talk about the stuff we assume the other guy doesn't? My wife doesn't watch the show on the same level that I do. In fact, she doesn't even watch every episode. Arrgghhh! She seems content with what she does and doesn't know. How can that be!? There is no way she is getting everything out of the show that she can! Somehow, she doesn't feel that left behind. She only asks a few questions here and there. Maybe I am watching too closely? Are the writers messing with me? Are they just putting stuff in the show like the numbers on purpose? Will we ever know? I know the writers said in season one that they envisioned about 5 seasons worth of stuff, but for crying out loud, i hope they leave enough episodes to answer things. Let me say this... If this show ends up with anyone at all having a dream, I will get beserk on someone. I probably sound like someone who cannot be satisfied, but this show has me tuning in every week. Not because I feel obligated, but because when this show hits on all cylinders, there is nothing like it.

5 Words to Sum it Up: Too cerebral. Or is it?