Eclipse Mints Winterfrost

/ candy
by Steven

Purchase Price: $1.00 for 1.2oz.
Purchase Place: Kroger
Rating: 2.0
Pros: Ridiculously sturdy metal casing. Leaves breath fresh instantly.
Cons: Novel box. Weak taste. Freshness dissipates instantly.

I like my mints strong just how I like my cologne. Altoids are excellent, but the box is slightly too large to fit comfortably in ones jeans. In my quest for the ultimate mint that I began just today, Eclipse Mints were very disappointing.

Eclipse mints are weak like Tic Tacs. They are larger and slightly sexier in appearance. Judging from the iron box, I expected the mint to flush my taste buds with an overwhelming sense of coolness. Instead, I got a fancy shaped Tic Tac in a nicer box.

The box is over the top and makes the mint seem like more of a value than it really deserves. The tin box is nicely colored and ridiculously sturdy. When you drop a Altoids box, there is a chance that it can open thus spilling all your treasures. *Eclipse Mints can withstand a drop-without-opening test of 16 feet and still fortify the insides with pressures of up to 25 pounds. It seems to provide too much protection to some inferior mints.

The mint itself is pretty sweet and expectedly reminded me of Winterfresh gum. The case comes with 50 mints but I usually chew through a couple before I feel fresh. Due to the high sugar contents, it probably makes your mouth nastier than without the mints. I was going to use the box for future use to store other mints except that the pressure test ultimately destroyed the box.

I need something as strong like an Altoid but small like a Tic Tac box. Overall, Eclipse Mints were disappointing and do not warrant another purchase. I think I’ll stick with gum after meals.

*I didn’t really test anything.

Bodies: The Exhibition

/ services
by Steven

Purchase Price: $20.00 for students
Purchase Place: Atlanta Civic Center
Rating: 4.0
Pros: Dead babies. Educational. The ability to tell people that you saw over 20+ dead bodies. Encourages you to stop smoking and lose some weight.
Cons: Not as controversial as many people lead to believe. Not for wussies. Made me hungry for bacon afterwards. No touching.

A myriad of middle school children stood near the entrance. It was distressing. Purchasing tickets was simple, but discomforting. Twenty dollars is a hefty price, especially for a cheap prick like me. The ticket saleswoman provided a somber expression as if the dead bodies in the museuem were her family.

Corridors of trivia plastered the walls as one makes their way down deeper into the dungeon with some facts more interesting than others. The walls covered with magnified representations of different cell types in the body which would resemble paraplegic paint splatters to the untrained eye.

Each room contained real life sized bodies usually without the skin just the way I like them. The body is a colorful realm, and the amount of fat a person has is repulsive. There seemed to be an overabundance of dead bodies. It appeared as if they just positioned one with a different sporting equipment to attract more viewers.

The dead babies exhibit are not for the faint of heart. It was optional but one must explore all of the exhibits to retain their money’s worth. The certain diseases apparent were exceptionally repugnant and depressing. It was amusing in a sick sense to see the pregnant lady walk into the exhibit.

Tuberculosis is disgusting. After examining the healthy lungs and the smoker’s lungs, tuberculosis is definitely one of the most fear inducing exhibits. The most exciting room will probably be the nervous system or the dead babies just because of their exotic natures. The nervous system contained many models that were dyed and preserved. They reminded me of glorified lava lamps.

Overall, the Bodies Exhibit was quite a worthy experience, especially for the extra credit points for my biology class. A second visit would be unnecessary but first timers are encouraged to see everything, including the deformed babies. The experience would have been far greater if the countless middle school children stopped their constant bickering.

Compulsive Consumer Version 2.0!

by Steven

It’s been a long time since I updated Compulsive Consumer. I moved all the reviews from sitesled to wordpress. This is a great thing for the staff because now they could easily contribute reviews…if they’ll contribute more reviews.

School has been tough. I work, I go to class, and I spend some time with my girl. A wordpress blog I discovered a while back really encouraged me to revitalize my Compuslive Consumer hobby.

After spending a few minutes with wordpress, I realized how easy it was to use. I’m going to try to convince the staff to input more or else they are fired.

Twister

/ toys
by Charlie

Purchase Price: $9.99
Purchase Place: Wal-mart
Rating: 3.5
Pros: Great for college parties with ladies and jell-o shots. Fun to watch people fall and hurt themselves.
Cons: Horrible for college parties without ladies, may inconvenience quadriplegics and other “handi-capable people”, awkward and possibly incriminating positions… especially with more than one male player.

The game includes a color spotted mat and a dial that matches limbs to each color. The rules are just as simple as the setup. You spin the color dial to see which limb you use and what color it must touch. This is continually done until someone falls or is unable to reach the required color. If they are unable to continue, or if they fall, then they are eliminated. Last one “standing” wins.

I can easily say that this game is either the equivalent to hitting a homerun or striking out to Stephen Hawkins… while he’s blindfolded. Unless the guy players like to catch instead of pitch, then the game’s effectiveness depends largely on the male to female gender ratio. Guys generally shun the idea of rubbing up on each other. Even the cover art shows this with one male player and three female players (subliminal rules perhaps?).

Flexibility is essential to winning, along with some mild strategy. Basically, you want to block the other players from their colors while being able to stay up yourself. It is seemingly simple, until you actually play.

Aside from the huge issue of gender ratio, the game is fun as long as you are somewhat physically fit. Older generations should probably stay away unless they really want that overdue hip-replacement.

I can only, safely, recommend this game if there are enough willing, physically fit female players to actually play. An occasional guy may be allowed to enter the game at the female’s discretion (but be careful ladies, your eye might get poked out).

Super Force Action Figures

/ toys
by Guest

Purchase Price: $1.00 each
Purchase Place: Dollar Tree
Rating: 3.5
Pros: Fun to make fun of. Good for blowing up/ Smashing at a wall.
Cons: Terribly cheap. Very hard to keep them standing. Comes with very weird accessories. Both figures have the exact same body sculpt.

My buddy and I were taking a walk to Publix, when we decided to stop in at the Dollar Tree next door. Then I saw these Super Force Action Figures. I had a five, so I felt like blowing it on something stupid. I bought two. A SWAT team guy and a Fireman.

The SWAT guy looks like a cross between Spock from Star Trek and Nicholas Cage. His helmet immediately fell off, and revealed the horrible glue job on his head. He’s wearing camo. Since when do SWAT guys wear camo? He came with like some massive shotgun, a sniper rifle (That seems to have a machine gun clip on it), an SMG and a Walkie Talkie. His Kevlar vest makes him look fat.

Then there’s the Fireman. He looks more like a terrorist. He came with a pistol, an axe, a jacket and some helmet that makes him look like a Starman from “Earthbound.” He also came with some electro backpack thing with a mechanical claw.

Overall, these things pretty much suck. They both have the exact same body sculpt except that they’re painted differently. One of the fireman’s forearms is a different shade than his upper arm. The SWAT guy’s helmet fell off, and they both are wearing the same boots. The only reason this deserves a 2.0 is because they are fun to smash, blow up, make fun of, etc.