June and July Journal 2024 + Kaffre talks Candy #85

Greetings journal readers and welcome my combined June and July journal!

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for not putting out a journal last month. Unfortunately it just sort of slipped my mind until it was too late for me to do anything for June, but honestly not much wound up happening anyway.

Lessee, my sister's birthday happened, but none of her (rather optimistic) plans really materialized there were vehicular issues, people became unavailable unexpectedly, etc. I think we rallied admirably, but she was definitely disappointed to we'll probably have to attempt the outing again sometime in the coming weeks and month - wish us luck!We rescued another baby starling and it went about the same as last time - we were able to successfully raise it until it was getting comfortable flying at which point it was attacked and slain by a cat. Everyone was pretty upset, but at the same time it wasn't exactly unexpected since it's basically just a replay of what happened with our previous attempt to rear a baby bird. I comfort myself with the knowledge that few hatchlings actually make it to adulthood, but it's still pretty disappointing...

In other news, I'm currently watching 'Higurashi'. It's a bit different from my usual anime tastes, but I've kind of been enjoying it thus far. Unfortunately, I selected to watch the dub which normally wouldn't be a problem except that Season 2, 'Kai', doesn't have a dub so I'll have to switch over to sub if I decide to continue which is, honestly, a little annoying. The weirdest thing is, Kai, is the only Season that's lacks a dub for whatever reason.

Finally, in one of those annoying little autistic things that I have to deal with, my 'special interest' just shifted - back to TTRPGs. This is almost welcome as Ars Magica: Definitive Edition will be crowd-funding in September and will incorporate some kind of Open Development which could be very exciting for me as it's a system I know well and was pretty passionate about. Unfortunately, however, I'm finding myself obsessed with the 'old' World of Darkness games. They're not 'bad' per see, but the dense metaplot and strange cosmologies were always hard for me to wrap by head around - even more so than the regiones in Ars Magica - granted the actual Magical and Faerie realms are worse probably similar to the Umbra/Dreaming/Shadowlands, but Ars Magica games rarely, if ever, take place in either of those locations.

I guess that's about it for the last two months, I hope it wasn't too depressing! Now please enjoy the newest installment of 'Kaffre talks Candy!'

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Kaffre talks Candy #85:

Name: Coca-Cola Spiced
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 355mL can
Where Purchased: FreshCo
Description: Consists of a dark brown carbonated beverage flavoured to taste like raspberry and 'spice'.
Opinion: A limited edition product, I decided to sample. There's a definite raspberry flavour, but I didn't really notice anything that could be described as 'spicy' or 'herby' though for raspberry, it's not very sweet so that could be the work on a spice. Overall, I enjoyed this product, finding it to be a nice refreshing summer beverage, but I'm not sure whether I'd buy it again or not...

Name: Coca-Cola Y3000
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 300mL bottle
Where Purchased: FreshCo
Description: Consists of a dark brown carbonated beverage flavoured to taste 'futuristic', supposedly with the assistance of AI.
Opinion: A limited edition product, that I sampled. This product has a refreshing, but interesting flavour that's difficult to describe. I got definite notes of cherry and vanila, but there was something else too and flavour seemed to almost change from cherry to vanilla or, perhaps more accurately, the vanilla was almost like an aftertaste. Overall, I thought this product was OK and would consider buying it again, but I kind of hope it's *not* the cola of the future...

Name: Lay's Honey Butter Chips
Manufacturer: Frito-Lay
Size: 165 gram bag.
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Consists of normal-looking potato chips.
Opinion: A limited edition 'Korean inspired' flavour, these chips are have a rich flavour that, initially, reminded me a bit of a 'crunchie'. Which is to say that they're mostly sweet, but I do think you can sort of taste the more subtle aspects of the honey and butter. While 'barbecue' and 'ketchup' do contain a certain sweetness, these chips still required some getting used to. Overall, I thought these were OK and am glad I tried them, but I don't think I'll be purchasing them again...

Name: Pretz (Salad)
Manufacturer: Glico
Size: 118g box in 8 packs of 12.
Where Purchased: Freshco
Description: Consists of biscuit sticks similar to Pocky, but instead of the end being dipped in chocolate are similar, the entire stick has a chip-like flavouring.
Opinion: A Japanese import I picked up on a whim, these have an... interesting flavour. My first thought is that it was some kind of cheese, but upon further reflection I now believe it's meant to be ranch or a similar creamy buttermilk-based salad dressing or something in that vein albeit a good bit saltier - a pleasant enough flavour, but not as interesting as I had been hoping for/expecting. Overall, I thought this product was pretty good, but I'm not really sure I'd buy it again.

Name: Takis, Blue Heat
Manufacturer: Barcel
Size: 280g bag
Where Purchased: FreshCo.
Description: Consists of small tortillas that have been rolled into tight cylinders and deep fried before being dusted with a deep blue powder.
Opinion: A Mexican import I was urged to try. While this snack definitely has some heat, the more dominant flavour is a zesty citrus-like flavour that paired very nicely with both what 'heat' there was, and the salty crunchiness of the chips and I quite enjoyed. Overall, I enjoyed these chips quite a bit, bu don't know if I'd buy them again - it should be noted that the 'blue stuff' stains one's fingers terribly...