Tales of the Salty Bag

CHEETOS MIX-UPS FLAMIN' HOT & CHEEZY MIX. Now that that's out of the way, tonight I consumed said salty snack. What exactly is this mix you ask? Flamin' Hot (dense Cheetos), Cheddar Jalapeno (somewhat poofy circles), Cheddar and Double Cheddar (poofy Cheetos). When I opened the bag all that I saw was the poofy cheddar and double cheddar snacks, due to the more dense cheddar jalap and flamin' hots the bag was somewhat segregated which was odd but not unheard of. To fully experience this bag I broke out a bowl and dumped em in so that I'd be able to get a more even mix of the bags goodness. Upon close inspection I'd say that the ratio is a little off, I think the flamin' hots got shorted a little in the bag but it wasn't overly severe. Once I stepped into the snack I noticed that even the poofy double/cheddar snacks had residual hot that rubbed off from the other flavours in the bag, this was welcomed. It gave the bag a nice range of heat on top of the...

Anticipation. When I was a teenager my buddy was making a wakeboard video of us and our friends. After throwing possible titles back and forth for what seemed like forever we settled on Anticipation, this week's post is not about wakeboarding or that video (this is a chip and music blog silly). My ramblings this week however are brought together by anticipation and serendipity (also not the movie). A few years ago I tried to enter Caesar flavour into the Lays Do Us a Flavour, my suggestion was rejected on the basis that the chip flavours had to be for kids as well as parents (that's a paraphrase; I can't remember the exact wording that those clueless turds at Lays had as an auto response on their website [vodka doesn't make the caesar you worthless chuds, it's called a virgin caesar]). Anyway, after that I decided that I'd scour the internet for caesar chips. At the time I could only find one brand that produced a caesar flavour chip, President's Choice (I...

About a month ago I was gifted a bag of tortilla chips (thanks Robert), La Cocina Fiesta Flavour Tortilla Chips to be exact. Upon close inspection..I'm pretty sure I've had La Cocina before..but never really paid any attention to them. Robert was kind enough to point out to me that they are straight outta Ste. Anne, MB (score) and as far as I can tell they're independent (double score). The bag advertises that these are made of Stone Ground Corn. The smell..tortilla chips (what'd you expect). The chips are beautifully light with the edges turned up making them ideal for dipping (and also adds some structural integrity to counteract the light weight of the chips). The seasoning isn't super heavy, but, once again, that goes well with the lightness of the chips. The chip to flavour ratio is pretty good. To me the seasoning had a bit of onion, a bit of garlic and..not shown on the bag but..cheese? They're on the mid to high end of salty. Honestly, my first impressio...

Have you gone to a hardcore show in the last 15 years. Have you seen a sweatshirt/hoodie/tshirt/long sleeve T with BANE across the chest? If you answered yes to one of those..you likely answered yes to both. There's a reason, they were a good band..and for some reason they ended up being seemingly every hardcore band/fans name check band. I first heard them right before my first (and only) time seeing them..opening for Comeback Kid on October 12, 2008 (googled the show and holy shit, I didn't remember the bill having so many bands, 6, wowzer [seeing them perform has stuck with me since. Great stage presence and their singer is such a big gangly guy who wore a sweatshirt during the whole set, like damn that had to have been hot]). Anyway, I didn't get hooked on Bane the first time I heard them, maybe I wasn't in the right mood..I dunno. But as time went by they kept turning up in the rotation and my enjoyment increased with each listen. All this brings me to 2014, they r...

Boulder Canyon Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt hand made style potato chips. Hand made style ? The packaging for the chips makes me think that they're going for a more natural 'healthy' feel, so...that's something. When I opened the bag and took a whiff..well, lets just say that they're  not very fragrant. I popped a kettle cooked seasoned potato slice into my mouth and was met with a nice crunch, the chips are kettle cooked but not overly greasy. The seasoning is somewhat light but, you know, they're still pretty good. There is a hint of sweetness to the chips, might be in the potato but likely that's a result of the malt vinegar flavour. The vinegar flavour is in the background, however, it is definitely present. I'd categorize these chips as being a pretty good light chip..not light as in healthy, but light as in..you know, light. Boulder Canyon Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt are nice for when you want to just down a bag of chips and try to trick yourself in...

Music and alcohol (excessive consumption) always seem to be associated with one another..but the older I get, the less I understand why. Speaking from my own experience alcohol tends to make one lack concentration and forget things and/or be incapacitated and no longer capable of enjoyment. If I'm making an effort to go see live music then why would I want to forget it..I don't know, it just seems counter intuitive, should I not want to remember seeing/hearing a band? I've typically, sometimes intentionally..sometimes out of necessity, tried to avoid mixing alcohol with live music consumption (at least to the point of inebriation). When I was younger I'd often end up being the DD for shows which actually turned out pretty well (necessity); as I've gotten older it's turned into more of an intentional choice to not get dickered before shows. I'd say a major turning point towards intent came in November of 2005..(took me a while to google it, I thought it was...

This past summer I was in an independent dollar store and I came across a brand of chips that I had never heard of; (Beyond Good Brand) Uncle Rays ( Always Made Fresh from Nature's Best). There were some interesting flavour titles which piqued my attention. Upon closer inspection of the bag I noticed that there was a "chapter" of "The Life and Times of Uncle Ray ", what the what? I started looking around at the other bags, each bag had a different "chapter" (and it wasn't flavour dependent). I'm not sure how many chapters there are to Uncle Ray's story but I can tell you there are at least 36. At this point it should go without saying their marketing sucked me in, I took home a handful of Uncle Ray's (hopefully tasty) chips. Fast forward to Uncle Ray's Kosher Dill. Visual Inspection: standard potato chip. Density: Light and thin Flavour: Well..the seasoning is quite light in general and fairly uneven. Some chips tasted like s...