Syzmo Energy Drink

I quit drinking soda nearly a year ago now. One of my best decisions lately, however it was NOT easy.

Meanwhile, I've been constantly searching for some wonder drink to come along, be healthy, taste good, and give me energy. It mihgt not be a realistic dream, however I still am searching.

So far Hansen's soda drinks lately have been the closest thing to perfect. I am in search of a great all natural root beer also...see my root beer reviews. I have not done many root beer reviews lately...because i think i tried them all.

I stopped by my gas station a few days ago and found a hugely overpriced drink called Syzmo. It boasted a natural energy drink with caffiene and I wanted to try it. I actually tried all three flavors, each costing me $2.89. It was the only thing that resembled a drink sans high fructose corn syrup or the even worse Crystalline Fructose.

Syzmo tastes decent. Especially the original flavor, which has a fruity taste but also a hint of a red bull kick. It was mediocre on the energy it gave me, and I felt the laundry list of ingredients... "natural" ingredients, was still a bit fishy. I hate laundry lists of ingredients on any food or beverage product.

If this drink was under 2 dollars I would consider it as an option when I need a boost during the day. But at nearly 3 dollars it will be a last ditch drink at best. Just as a bit of a spoiler...I may have found the best energy drink ever. You'll have to check back in the next few weeks and see what it is. I am trying to contact the company to learn more about it first.

I will also have some more updates about some new Hansen's drinks as well. Stay tuned, and stay healthy. Oh, and enjoy Kelsey and myself with Syzmo!


This picture of us is wacky!

If you have interest in my tips for trying to stop drinking the evil sodas, please check out my:
killer soda link,
alternatives for soda and
stop drinking soda forever.

New update to MY MISTAKE

I have some exciting news. Last month I made a post titled My Mistake in response to Hansen's All Natural Soda prodcuts. A reader had pointed out that some Hansen product DO have high frucstose corn syrup....

I just got an email from Katy Lim at Hansen's Natural to let me know that Hansen's drinks have all made the switch from high fructose corn syrup to all natural cane sugar! This is a big improvement in those products and exciting news for natural fans who enjoy a good drink.

Here is what she emailed to me:

"Hey William! I enjoy your artwork and also saw this posting on your blog regarding Hansen’s Natural and HFCS:

http://zombierobotfrosting.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-mistake.html

Yes, I handle PR for Hansen’s Natural and just wanted you to know that you shouldn’t disqualify Hansen’s Natural because we just recently announced that we’ve replaced HFCS with real cane sugar. Here’s the release that you can refer to on your blog:

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=840536

So now it’s back in the running (I hope)!
Keep up the great work.

Best regards,
Katy
On behalf of Hansen’s Natural"

I will now be re-editing my: Hansen's Natural Soda post and un-dequalify it from the all natural soda race. I also enjoy some other Hansen's drinks, which I will make sure to review in the future.

This is a good day for natural sodas.






If you are new to my blog, i have recently stopped drinking soda, see my 5 tips to quitting soda forever blog. Also see my ever growing root beer reviews as I continue to try as many as possible natural root beer brands in search of the perfect drink. Find all reviews here on Zombie Robot Frosting.




Killer Soda is a dangerous drink, quit it today!

Monday's Overpriced Tea

Honest Tea is one of a number of new health conscious drinks that have been showing up in your organic isles of the food markets. I am a huge tea enthusiast lately, since it has been my substitute of choice to replace drinking soda. My top 5 alternatives for soda has been a good resource for those also giving up the evil soda.

I find it amazing how much money iced tea costs. All iced tea is hot water and leaves. Granted, if you are going to pay $1.50 for a drink it is much better to be paying for something that is good for you, as opposed to the also inflated price of soda which is simply poison and sugar. I suggest everyone should quit drinking soda (i am 7 months free of soda).

Honest Tea is actually a very tastey product. Keep in mind, I like my tea unsweetened and quite strong. I enjoyed every flavor of honest tea. I cannot afford to buy the product consistently, and I brew myself a few gallons of my own loose leaf iced tea daily anyways. It is fun to try these products and watch unsweetened tea product appear on the shelves. Honest is also a great tea for those who like to add lemon, sugar, milk, cinnamon etc. Since it is a perfect base for any combination you enjoy.

Now if we can just get fluoride and other horrible poisions out of our water and stop global warming we will be just fine.

Drink tea, live forever!

Thanks for reading.

Boylan's alien root beer

A Healthy Soda

The search for a great tasting Root Beer that is actually good for you. I have recently stopped drinking soda, see my 5 tips to quitting soda forever blog. Since quitting soda, I have been trying out all natural root beer brands, this is the fourth review. I've listed all brands I have tried at the bottom of the blog. I plan to try as many as possible and review them here on Zombie Robot Frosting.

Rules

All root beer that I drink must not have any high fructose syrup included nor aspertane. Those ingredients are a deathmark for any drink on the market, and extremely bad for your health (especially since I plan on living forever). Secondly, the root beer must be natural or organic. And lastly the drink may not include any caffiene. Which luckily for me, most root beers do not have.

Today's Root Beer on the pedistol is:

Boylan's Root Beer:


Appearence
Simple and bold graphics gave me confident in Boylan's product. I was eager to taste what came out of this bottle. It boasts being the 'The Natural Kind' on each bottle, and down it went.

Taste
Boylan's tastes like a strange alien root beer from outer space. In fact, I would definately not market this product as root beer at all, I would market this product as a chilled spice & root drink. Listen to the ingredients inside Boylan's root beer: pure essential oils of sweet birch, sassafras, anise, cinnamon, bourbon vanilla, yucca and licorice. Sounds pretty damn impressive...but it is not root beer, and barely resembles root beer in anyway. I did not hate the flavor, but when I am drinking a root beer, I prefer it to taste like root beer. Boylan's most definately is a taste experience.

Texture
My biggest problem doing these natural root beer reviews is the lack of creaminess. If Boylan's was an english speaking person, the word "creamy" wouldn't even be in his vocabulary. The liquid is as watery of a consistence as you can get with all those ingredients. Boylan's texture gets a definate bad review from me.

Smell
To go along with the ingredients listed above, the smell is equally as foriegn. It tends to smell a bit more like root beer than it tastes. Simply, not a very typical smelling root beer.

Price
$5.70 for a four pack of 12 oz. bottles. Boylan's is right in the wheelhouse, pricewise for a bottled root beer. Coming in a four pack does not bother me a bit, although I would have appreciated buying just one and not having to have the other three to stare at after I decided this root beet was not for me.


Overall
5 out of 10
(I always like to rank my reviews for comparison's sake)

If the 'Natural Kind' of root beer, means it has to taste like a pink river on mars then I will pass. The root beer was just too odd tasting for me, it lacked any signs of creaminess or that classic root beer smell. In my opinion it is not worth the price. If you enjoy trying spicy drinks give Boylan's a try. It has a flavor that is worth trying, and it filled with a great line up of wacky ingredients.

The Root Beer search continues....
Hopefully there is a healthy natural root beer out there, that fits my budget and my fridge. Until I find it, check out my past root beer reviews and see how they match up to Boylan's offerings:

Old Fashioned: 7 out of 10
Hansen's: 8.5 out of 10
Virgil's: 8 out of 10

see all root beer reviews here


If you enjoyed this blog check out: 5 tips to quitting soda forever and the Killer Soda blog.

Virgil makes root beer

A Healthy Soda

The search for Root Beer that is good for you. I have recently stopped drinking soda, see my 5 tips to quitting soda forever blog. Recently, I have been trying out all natural root beer brands, this is the third. I've currently reviewed Old Fashioned and Hansen's brands. I plan to try as many as possible and review them here on Zombie Robot Frosting.

Rules

All root beer that I drink must not have any high fructose syrup included. This is a deathmark for any drink on the market, and extremely bad for your health. Secondly, the root beer must be natural or organic, and lastly the drink may not include any caffiene. Which luckily for me, most root beers do not have.

Today's Root Beer on the pedistol is:




Virgil's Root Beer

Virgil's root beer is micro brewed and won "outstanding beverage" from NAFST, or so the bottle says. Please notice in the picture above the potatoe stew and the game of battleship being played on the left.

Appearence
Nice cold bottle. Nifty label with root growing around the text, and even a burly guy holding a tray of rootbeer in a pitcher. Root Beer in a pitcher! Genius. See top picture if you want a close up gander at that label. Not bad artwork for a bottle. I give Virgil's a good score for appearence, since it is unique and colorful.

Taste
The root beer was hearty and good flavored. Virgil knows how to micro brew apparently and the drink was a great compliment to the stew and the game of battleship. A game I won by the way. The root beer was sweet, but not overly sweet and did not overdo itself with odd ingredients. It also had a great after taste.

Texture
Virgil's was lacking some thick creaminess as are both of the previous reviews. It had some foaminess to it, but it quickly fissled like any soda and from there was a bit too watered down.

Smell
Excellent root beet smell. No complaints.

Price
$1.70 for a 12 oz. bottle. Natural Root Beer seems to come in a great deal of price ranges. Hansen's, my current favorite, at 63 cents a 12.5 oz can was by far the cheapest. In Virgil's defense, the price was slightly higher at the coffee shop rate, and probably sells in stores for a more moderate $1.45 or so. That being said, it is still a bit on the pricey side, but worth it to splurge on Virgil's when you need a good root beer to go with your meal.

Overall
8 out of 10
(I always like to rank my reviews for comparison's sake)
The price and lack of creaminess did not match the quality of a can of Hansen's Root Beer, Virgil's was still a great tasting root beer. It is one I would splurge then and again when it is available (and as I can tell it is not available very many places). However, it is not the root beer I will buy cases of to stock in my fridge. the search is still ongoing for that particular root beer.

Hopefully there is a healthy natural root beer out there, that fits my budget and my fridge. Until I find it, check out my past root beer reviews and see how they match up to Virgil's offerings:

Old Fashioned: 7 out of 10
Hansen's: 8.5 out of 10


If you enjoyed this blog check out: 5 tips to quitting soda forever and the Killer Soda blog.

Root Beer Review

A Healthy Soda

Root Beer that is good for you. I have recently stopped drinking soda, see my 5 tips to quitting soda forever blog. Recently, I have been trying out all natural root beer brands. I plan to try as many as possible and review them here on Zombie Robot Frosting.

Rules

All root beer that I drink must not have any high fructose syrup included. This is a deathmark for any drink on the market, and extremely bad for your health. Secondly, the root beer must be natural or organic, and lastly the drink may not include any caffiene. Which luckily, most root beers do not have.





Old Fashioned Root Beer

My first root beer victim. Old Fashioned Root Beer comes in a very simple and straight forward tinted bottle. It boasts an all natural herb & root recipe.

Appearence
Simple, unintimadating design and easy on the eyes. The color of the actual liquid in a clear glass is the classic cola look, maybe slightly lighter. The fizz and foam is minimal, which gives it a very watery appearence.

Taste
The taste is very classic and crisp. The aftertaste is not overpowering, it is a very light and refreshing root beer. Not too sweet, and actually quite mellow.

Texture
While the taste was not bad, the texture was lacking. This was a very watery root beer. I prefer my root beer to be creamy and foamy. The watery liquid was my biggest critique of this root beer.

Smell
Great root beet smell.

Price
1.39 for a 12oz bottle. On the spendy side for a root beer.

Overall
7 out of 10 (I always like to rank my reviews to be able to compare)
I enjoyed the taste and was not overwhelmed by the product. I did find the lack of creaminess to leave me less than satisfied especially for the high price tag. When it comes to natural root beer this is a good choice, but with dangling flaws. If you cherish a rich & creamy root beer, Old Fashioned Root Beer is not for you. Otherwise chug away.

If you enjoyed this blog check out: 5 tips to quitting soda forever & Stop Cracking your Knuckles

The Ending was Lame (No Country for Old Men - movie review)

No Country for Old Men
The Cohen brothers are back at it with another challenging film No Country for Old Men. This movies features a baron landscape in the Rio Grande, where a drug deal gone wrong leaves the protagonist Llewelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) to pry a suitcase of money from the cold dead hands of the suposed lone survivor. Of course, it becomes a rat race as a killer Anton Chigurh "sugar"(played by Javier Bardem), and the mexican mafia hunt him down. I love the Cohen brothers' character names in this film.

The Ending (No Spoilers)
I am going to delicately tip toe verbally around this subject, and my main source of dissapointment in this film: the ending. I will not give away any crutial storyline, because I hate when I read a review that ruins my own experience. If you've already seent he movie, you will know what I am talking about and if not, you'll get the jist of what is causing me to groan.

I seriously can bet that a good number of the packed audience that was in attendence to see this movie with me also was daydreaming or not paying attention when the credits hit the screen. I was somewhat shocked and felt I may have missed an some juicy verbal conclusion. The movie ends with what feels like a lack of the last chapter, no real resoultion. I was daydreaming about how the movie, given its unpredictable nature up to that point, was going to wrap up. Before I was done making my guess, the movie was rolling credits.

Swimming Pitbull Chase

No Country for Old Men had suspense up the ass. I would compare it to a hitchcock movie in terms of repeated suspense that grows and grows. The sound effect, lack of a soundtrack, cinematography, acting, timing and screen composition were used very effectively to keep me on the edge of my seat. The violence was a bit extreme at times, but far more realistic than any action movie. The swimming pitbull scene was something I loved seeing, as it was very visually appealling and fun to watch.

The Cohen Brothers
Keep in mind this is not a comedy. If you enjoyed their previous work you should indeed see the masterful job they do in creating an effective suspensful action flick. The movie is good enough that I would suggest it to anyone open to new directions in film, as long as they can handle some violence and gore. I do feel the Cohen's play with audience more than most directors, and in this case the effort was worth it, despite the lackluster ending (which was definately a bold and unusual choice). I do respect their fearlessness, and therefore even though the end was not my cup of tea this is my favorite of the Cohen Brothers movies.

No Country for Old Men- Rating: 8 out of 10 (10 being the best)

How it stacks up:
The Big Lebowski 7 out of 10
O Brother Where Art Thou 7 out of 10
Barton Fink 6.5 out of 10

Into the Wild (movie review)

Why this Movie is Amazing
Into the Wild deals with tough issues like parenthood, the silver spoon effect, societies expectations, truth, faith, religion, love, spirituality, lonliness and individuality. The writing and storytelling is crafted in such a way to keep the story compelling til the end. The balance of flashbacks is delicately done with much respect to the pacing of the story. Kudos to Sean Penn and his team for the great work.

Falling into the Extreme
Into the Wild exemplifies a young mans', Christopher McCandless, struggles to contradict societies norm of being trapped in jobs, struggling to make money and own needless objects. 'Supertramp', as he nicknames himself during his voyage, disappears into the world after burning his money and deserting his car in the desert. Eventually he makes his way to Alaska and lives among the animals in a fascinating look at throwing away everything you know and own, to find true beauty in the nature around us. His statement is bold as he faces many dangers. It is never a question of whether or not he goes too far, the question is how far on the other spectrum are we?

Phenomenal Acting
Emile Hirsh gave a very impressive performance, and the rest of the cast was simply superb. I have rarely ever been so excited to see side characters appear and reappaer in a movie in a long time. Their minimal but very poignant time on screen was never wasted. Jena Malone (Donny Darko) and Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich)were very well casted and fun to see. While Brian Dierker (first time on-screen actor) was the most savory character for me, and Hal Holbrook stole the show with his heartbreaking portrait of Supertramps' newfound friend.

Voluntary Migration
Another reason this movie effected me so much, was because the protagonist's desire to be free and experience new places and new things is something I very much desire to do myself. Forcing yourself out of your own confort zone to learn about the type of person you really are deep inside. It is the reason a year ago, I decided I would go on an Art Tour in July 2008.

Into 'Into the Wild'
See the movie, read the book and learn more about Christopher McCandless.
Visit http://www.intothewild.com/.

Into the Wild Rating: 9 out of 10

Learn a Language: Fun & Free Online

Learn a New Language
BBC Languages
available on the BBC website is offering free programs to learn French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Greek, and more... The website is amazingly responsive and fun. First, you take a short test to determine your skill level in the chosen language. It then fires into a series of tests, games, videos, voice recognition and other methods.

Multi-Leveled
If you are like me, and learning a language is something I have always wanted to do, but was never able to find a method that works for me, BBC languages is the place to go. You can do this on your free time and its a really fun and multi leveled way to learn a language. The videos, spoken words, and games are extremely effective learning tools.

You Decide Your Own Level of Involvement
If you do not have much time, the BBC's site is design for short sessions, but it also can be very engrossing for longer sessions. It feels like being back in school, only on my schedule, and focused around enjoying the experience. If you want to learn a new language, this is where you should start!

BBC
BBC Languages is just another amazing product of the ever impressing BBC, which has been responsible for great shows and products like Mr. Bean, the British Office, and a very respectable news source.

Darjeeling Limited: movie review

Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited
Wes does not stray too far from his pattern here. Darjeeling Limited is another example of creating quirky familiar characters, with actors we all know and love, and setting up a beautiful backdrop in India for them to run amuck in. I need to mention off the bat, that even I am critical here, that I am a big fan of Wes Anderson's work to date. Especially, Royal Tennenbuams and Bottle Rocket.

Slow Motion to Boredom
I am being a little over extreme here, however, all Wes Anderson movies lately, seem to over use slow motion scenes. I will admit each one was beautiful on its own visually, but as far as advancing or improving the story it is simply too much slow motion. It also seems to me, that slow motion is normally supposed to highlight an important moment, and the moments Wes selects to slow mo the Darjeeling Limited seems relatively unimportant.

Re-Used Characters
Another problem with Wes Anderson movies for me is these repeated characters. Always white, flawed, rich, longing for family or fatherly love and acceptance, quirky. It may also have something to do with this repeating cast of actors that appears in his movies (all of which i like). Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Swartzman and many others. When you see the same actors playing similar, but not exactly the same, roles it really starts to become hard to accept them as anything but the characters you've seen them in past movies like Life Aquatic, Royal Tennenbaums ect.

India
The art direction, composition, color were all the best thing in this movie. By far worth seeing just for that. India was a great setting. It was vibrant, unique and refreshing.

Attention to Detail
I have always been impressed with the attention to detail in Wes Anderson's films. The oddball luggage and decals on trains were just two of hundreds of really interesting touches of details to look at in this movie.

Overall
I thought the performances were good. The art direction was superb. The story was subpar and predictably uninteresting. I laughed a few times, but not consistently. Therefore I give this movie a 7.5 out of 10. Just for rating reference, here are my other ratings on Wes Anderson films:
Life Aquatic: 6.5
Royal Tennebuams: 9
Bottle Rocket: 9

Rating 7.5 (out of 10)
10 being the best

Bee Movie: REVIEW

Sneak Preview
Last night a got to witness the sneak preview of the Bee Movie. Starring Jerry Seinfeld as an animated bee who has to doom, and then save the world! If you do not attend sneak previews there is this odd moment before each movie, especially odd when the theatre is filled with kids, when this huge guy steps up before the movie and in a very scary voice threatens anyone who attempts to record the movie with any digital device resembling anything that could in anyway capture the film on video, that they will be thrown out and prosecuted. Apparently they had three secret viewers hidden in the audience to watch over fellow movie goers to make sure audience members are not recording the movie for future profit. All the little kids in their black and yellow striped outfits looked terrified. Even I was; terrified; but I was not also dressed in black and yellow stripes.

Jerry Seinfeld
I have seen Seinfeld live in Minneapolis doing stand up, this was in 2002 shortly after his sitcom Seinfeld went off the air and he decided to never do old material again. He was great. I've enjoyed his show, the documentary Comedian, and his stand-up, and would consider myself a fan of his work. I was excited to see the Bee Movie.

BEEn there BEEfore
The storyline had some good undertones of serious problems; our dependance on bees, food shortages, corporations, cruelty to animals, etc. However, the characters were all stock characters and did not have much depth to them. The story was extremely predictable. Granted, that should be expected in an animated movie, but it left the story feeling very dry. Despite being a cute and quirky adventure, it really has no lasting effect. Honey on your fingers has a more lasting effect than this movie.

Cast
The cast is extremely impressive, with names like Oprah Winfrey, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Kathy Bates, Chris Rock and the list goes on and on. My personal favorite Patrick Warburton aka David Putty (seinfeld), although i was not impressed with his lackluster over the top character.

Animation
One of my biggest praises comes from the animation in Bee Movie. The film looked amazing. I really enjoyed the animated faces of the main characters, especially Barry B. Benson's cute face, and most of the bees. Really impressive stuff. Also my favorite part of the movie was indeed the part when Barry gets out of the hive and sees the park for the first time, while flying through a field of kites. This sequence was phenomenal visually.

Closing Credits
I also just recently saw the animated movie Ratatouille. Both movies feature these cookie cutter Pink Panther-esque closing credits. I found both of them very unimaginative and needlessly contrasting to the rest of the film stylistically. I would much prefer credits along the lines of Shrek, in which there is benefit or addition to the story in the credits. At the very least stay consistent to the rest of the movie.

Overall
Despite the my criticism, I laughed a dozen times (mostly when others were not) and found the movie to go by quickly. I enjoyed the animation and thought some scenes were stunningly beautiful. I hope it convinces a number of kids to BEE nicer to insects. Because, if nothing else, that is a good thing to take away from this movie. Respect. Therefore I rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Rating: 7.5 (out of 10)
One being the worst, Ten being the best

FreeRice.com: website review

Help Save World Hunger Today



Free Rice dot com allows you to earn grains of rice for playing a vocabulary building game. The rice is periodically sent to in-need countries through the United Nations to help end world hunger.

The Concept
Basically, corporate giants like Toshibo, Radisson, Liz Claiborn, I Tunes, American Express and others pay to advertise on the page. Each time a viewers plays the game, freerice.com takes the advertising revenue and buys rice to donate.

Building you Vocabulary
It is kind of funny, the site offers reasons why having a stronger vocab is good for you. I say it is funny, because they list very obvious benefits. I do think the game is beneficial, simple and fun. I really do not know how much good a few hundred grains of rice does to end hunger. However, they have currently raised money for 263,565,050 grains of rice to be donated.

Just Like Any Donation
One never knows if the money, or in this case rice, is being put to good use. Unless you are the one handing out rice to the hungry its nearly impossible to know for sure. I would never consider this to be an extreme act of kindness, nor a tax write off. However, it seems like a nice 5 minute break game to play in substitute of solitare or a flash game of tetris.

Endorsement
I am going to hold back any strong endorsements, but I will indeed invite everyone to try it out and be aware of the efforts. I hope it can make a difference.

Free Rice dot com