23 July 2009

Health Bites: Pepsi To Post Aquafina Is Tap Water

It's about time! PepsiCo, manufacturers of Aquafina, are considering finally printing on their labels that the contents are plain old tap water.

Yes, for those of you who didn't notice that the label doesn't say spring water, that's because it's not. Don't feel too bad about it. This deception by omission is also used by Coca-Cola too with Dasani. Better yet, they are often tap water that's been bottled far from the city or town where they are sold. So, your bottled water purity depending on how well the city where it's bottled cleans their water, and how long it sits out in trucks traveling the hot sun transporting to you. Makes you not want to spend $2 per bottle though, doesn't it?

I used to be a bottled water drinker, and I especially loved to drink spring water. I was willing to pay a lot for water from exotic places like France and Fiji. However, I also really liked a bottled spring water from a local company. I chose to drink bottled water partly for the clean taste, but also the convenience, especially when traveling.

There were two main reasons I switched from drinking bottled water. First, I read articles that pointed out that spring water that wasn't any cleaner than my local water. I found out that Edmonton tap water has been consistently rated as some of the cleanest water in the world. The techniques they use to purify the water, before and after it's used, make it cleaner when it is returned to the river where we draw it.

I have an uncle who works for EPCOR at the main water treatment plant. He's told me about the process for cleaning water, and more importantly, the maintenance of the plants. It's incredible to hear about the tiny values that they consider to be unacceptable contamination.

Second, I read things about the whole BPA scare that didn't scare me, but did make me think about what I'm putting in my body. I don't see a reason to put something that's supposed to be good for you but contains an X-factor that they don't fully understand yet.

Keeping in mind that tap water, which we take for granted in Canada and waste in ridiculous amounts, is not free. We pay for it every month, just like we pay for gas or electricity. Basically, it boils down to me being cheap and not agreeing with paying extra for something that is provided to me at such a low cost.

Now, I try to drink only tap water or filtered tap water from a SIGG bottle I carry with me (light blue Power Grip Sports Bottle pictured), or hot drinks from a stainless steel coffee mug I keep in the car. At work I use my trusty Pisces mug that's been with me since college.

I use a Brita water filter on the advice of my naturopath, but I don't have a problem drinking unfiltered Edmonton tap water. I find the water here to be very sweet, and its rare that we have any aftertaste. In my house we have two filters: Sweetie likes cold water, but I like it room temperature.

I admit that I'm not a total purist when I travel, because I believe in the adage that you won't get an upset stomach if you don't drink local tap water when you travel. I eat the local fruit, but I only drink bottled water.

What do you use to hold your drinks? Do you filter your water?

22 July 2009

Hero of the Day: Kitwana Jones

Hats off to my hero of the day... Kitwana Jones!


The Edmonton Eskimo defensive end/linebacker apprehended a mugger in the most awesome way possible yesterday morning.

He was driving to the Capital Ex pancake breakfast when he heard a woman shouting down the street. He saw a man running away with a woman's purse, so he jumped out, chased the mugger down, tackled him and held him down until the police arrived.

Naturally, city police are stating that they don't advise citizens to take the law into their own hands. However, they are also praising K.J. for acting so bravely. The mugger only received a scraped knee, which means he fared better than most guys who K.J. tackles!

Our professional athletes in Edmonton are called upon to be civic leaders and are viewed as role models. They use their celebrity to expose the public to local charities and organizations. Sometimes, they are heroes in their own right. In 2002, five Edmonton Eskimos rescued a woman by catching her when she leapt from the fourth floor of a burning apartment building.

16 July 2009

Fashion Boing! Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga loves to do very in-your-face, avant-garde fashion intended for high shock value. She tends to wear outfits that look like she forgot to put on pants. She loves leotards. She carries odd accessories (remember the teacup?).

I honestly don't know what to make of this.

Seriously?! SERIOUSLY.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Muppets. I love Animal. That doesn't mean I want to see his monobrow across a pop queen's crotch.

At least she didn't wear this in the Love Game video. She just went nude-ish - rhinestones don't really count as clothing unless they are much thicker.



By the bye, I love this video. I see references to lots of 80s videos in it. And maybe I have fuschia on the brain, but I think the whole shag-do leather-clad dance in the Love Game video is an homage to Samantha Fox's Naughty Girls (Need Love Too). What do you think?



Man, I wanted SFs pink hair!

10 July 2009

Freebiez: Slurpee Day

Back after a long absence... Sometimes life catches up with you!

7-Eleven is hosting its seventh annual Slurpee Day. Until they run out of special 7.11-ounce birthday cups, participating 7-Eleven stores will give away Slurpees!

Yum. I'm on my way for Dr Pepper Slurpee, baby!

Here are some interesting tidbits about Slurpees:
  • In the 1950s, Omar Knedlick created a new frozen beverage when his soda fountain broke and he froze and then served his sodas. He built machines using new automobile air conditioning technology. 7-Eleven bought three of these machines and started selling "Slushes" in 1965. Two years before Bob Stanford, a 7-Eleven agency director, changed the name to Slurpee.
  • 7-Eleven owns every genuine Slurpee machine except one. That one is privately owned.
  • Slurpees are always served at 2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenhait).
  • Slurpees are only carbonated in the United States.
  • Canadians purchase 30,000,000 Slurpees per year.
  • Winnipeg is considered the Slurpee capital of the world. 7-Eleven stores in Manitoba sell an average of 8,330. Compare that to the rest of Canada at 5,990.
  • Most Slurpee flavours are kosher "parve" and halal (except Diet Pepsi and PiƱa Colada).
  • Slurpees are gluten free.
  • In 2004, Slurpee created an edible straw!