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Daniel of Doulogos Name:Daniel
Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
About Me: I used to believe that evolution was reasonable, that homosexuality was genetic, and that people became Christians because they couldn't deal with the 'reality' that this life was all there was. I used to believe, that if there was a heaven - I could get there by being good - and I used to think I was more or less a good person. I was wrong on all counts. One day I finally had my eyes opened and I saw that I was not going to go to heaven, but that I was certainly going to suffer the wrath of God for all my sin. I saw myself as a treasonous rebel at heart - I hated God for creating me just to send me to Hell - and I was wretched beyond my own comprehension. Into this spiritual vacuum Jesus Christ came and he opened my understanding - delivering me from God's wrath into God's grace. I was "saved" as an adult, and now my life is hid in Christ. I am by no means sinless, but by God's grace I am a repenting believer - a born again Christian.
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Daniel's posts are almost always pastoral and God centered. I appreciate and am challenged by them frequently. He has a great sense of humor as well.
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[He has] good posts, both the serious like this one, and the humorous like yesterday. [He is] the reason that I have restrained myself from making Canadian jokes in my posts.
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Monday, February 06, 2006
Convolution...
Okay, so I'm a Pepper.

Yet even as a Dr. Pepper fan, I find this particular concoction a little over the top. How many flavor modifications can a drink endure before it loses its identity?

As I type this, I am enjoying a Cherry, Vanilla, Diet Dr. Pepper.

To be sure, the diet part doesn't change the taste much - you do get that awful aspartame after taste that says, "you are drinking an unnatural chemical and your body doesn't know what to do with it" - but beyond that, when you buy a Diet Dr. Pepper, you still get (mostly) a pronounced Dr. Pepper-ness.

And were one to add cherry, or licorice, or peanut butter, or whatever to the original recipe (calories and all) - you would likely modify the taste a bit - peanut butter Dr. Pepper might be interesting, or licorice Dr. Pepper, but whatever you ended up with would have a Dr. Pepper-ness about it. There is, I believe, a diminishing return to this.

Perhaps it is just my penchant for maths, but adding an additional element to the original recipe is sort of like polluting the recipe by 50% Adding another element, would further reduce the mix to say 50% x 50% = 25% of the original mix. A third element would be (according to my reasoning) 50% x 50% x 50% = 12.5% "pure"

At some point (say at 25% or lower) it seems a more honest approach to stop calling the beverage "Dr. Pepper" and rather just affix a warning label (like they do with some candy bars) such as, "May contain Dr. Pepper flavor"

To be sure, I am drinking a Cherry, Vanilla, Diet Dr. Pepper even as I type this (my second for the day!) - and the after taste is vaguely reminiscent of Dr. Pepper. yet notwithstanding, I find the variety of flavors competing for supremacy in my mouth.

Some flavours are complementary (peanut butter and jelly, fried onions and anything, etc.), they act in you mouth like a rowing team - working in harmony with one another to produce a greater effect than any of the individual parts. Yet there is the "oil and water" variety of solutions. Here two or more flavors face each other on the field of honor - they perform a tug of war - momentarily confusing your palate until one flavor gains the upper hand. This is not unlike a union of garlic pickles with whipping cream - you may like both, but they don't belong in your mouth at the same time.

So it is with cherry, vanilla, aspartame, and Dr. Pepper. You suck it back and swallow, then leave your taste buds to try and sort out what just went on.

I feel old as I write this. Surely, I am just cantankerous -
Why, back in my day, we drank pop without all your fancy twists and whatnot. Some of the most flamboyant prigs amongst us might have put a slice of lemon or lime in their soda - but they were fancy boys, and it was right that we made fun of them. Men drank mono-flavoured pop only because they couldn't find dirt water or black coffee. Even putting ice-cream in your cola was a something you only did in the privacy of your home with the drapes closed.


Anyway, no meat today. Just posting to keep up appearances.. ;-D



posted by Daniel @ 1:05 PM  
4 Comments:
  • At 2:29 PM, February 06, 2006, Blogger Jennifer said…

    I couldn't agree with you more. Sodas should be single flavor only. If you want 13 different kinds of syrup and assorted additions, drink one of those "new age" concoctions like SoBe. Way too much oral stimulation for an old codger like me to handle.
    Personally, I blame Sprite and 7-up for starting it all. I mean, who needs lemon AND lime? Just plain greedy that's all.

    Word verification: PIXUSHLX - a perfect name for a multi-flavored soda.

     
  • At 4:59 PM, February 06, 2006, Blogger Matthew Celestine said…

    I love Dr Pepper, but I have only tried the usual and the low sugar version.

    Not very good for your teeth.

    God Bless

    Matthew

     
  • At 7:32 PM, February 06, 2006, Blogger Jeremy Weaver said…

    I was a Pepper up till my first kidney stone.
    Now I'm a water and orange juice man.

     
  • At 7:04 AM, February 07, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    At some point (say at 25% or lower) it seems a more honest approach to stop calling the beverage "Dr. Pepper" and rather just affix a warning label (like they do with some candy bars) such as, "May contain Dr. Pepper flavor"

    (Don't know how to do the quote thingy.)
    You said "no meat today," but I am thinking that this statement could very well apply to the church today and all the stuff that is being brought into it.

     
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