If you haven't seen it yet, there's a viral vid floating around the 'net showing how you can make a bottle of Mountain Dew glow like a glowstick with just a pinch of baking soda and some hydrogen peroxide.

 

You can view it here:

 

 

The first time I saw this video I thought, "hrmm .. that's cool - if I ever have a Mountain Dew, I may try it..."  But other thoughts of phosporesence and toxicity flowed in my mind.  A few moments later I dubbed the video a fake and moved on with my life.

 

I watched it again, today, and then read the comments loyal break.com fans had posted.  Not to my surprise, there's a great deal of people saying they have tried it and it does not work.

 

That's when the real purpose of the video came to mind.  It's an advertisement.  A highly clever one, wrapped up in today's internet-glitter with all the bells and whistles and targeted at youth who would find this incredibly cool to do.  So what will they do?  Go out, buy a Mountain Dew, and try it.  To their disappointment, it won't work - but hey, at least they got a cool and refreshing glass of Mountain Dew out of the deal!  The video, oddly enough, says to pour out all but a quarter-inch of the mountain dew into a glass - you only need the small remnants of the bottle to make the "trick" work.

 

Wow - I never realized that advertising need be so cleverly wrapped up and packaged to look "normal" for a product to sell.

 

It’s almost Thanksgiving.  My 27^th Thanksgiving, to be exact.  The first Thanksgiving where I won’t be with family.

 

During a phone conversation today, someone asked me what I am thankful for.  I brushed aside the question since I hadn’t really thought about it.  Now that I have, I think my very basic answer is simply:

 

Life.

 

I am truly thankful for this experience.  To be alive.  To think for myself and to live in a free country.  I am thankful to have a good job – I guess I can actually say career at this point – and a steady pay cheque.  I’m thankful for the opportunities that have been afforded me and the courage I have a had to meet them head-on.  I am thankful for my imagination and my dreams.  I am thankful for the friends that I have had and the memories I carry.  I am thankful to be weathered and knowledgeable; inquisitive and not ignorant; empathy.

 

I am thankful to have a chance to make my mark on the world through tiny ripples and large dents.

 

I am thankful to be alive.