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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

To quote Samuel Clemens

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.


Ooops. See, I said that I might forget to post in the afternoon. Needless to say, I'm not dead (yet). (Is it just me, or does that make anyone else think of Monty Python: "Look, isn't there something you could do?") In fact, I felt no ill effects, no gastrointestinal distress of any kind. (Of course, given my cast iron stomach, that's not surprising.) I have considered the idea that, since this tribasic stuff is so biologically reactive, it could easily have reacted with all of the other biological components of the cider (like, um, sugar, y'know, the first ingredient?) and been completely neutralized during the manufacturing process. Perhaps what we can all learn from this is that reading ingredient lists without being fully informed is like reading the Bible.

Hg

(Hey, was that deadpan enough for you?)

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Dangerous Cider?

Okay, so I just picked up a packet of "Alpine Original Spiced Cider", an "Apple Flavour Drink Mix". It's an instant, just-add-hot-water cider drink. Seeing as how the package says "Natural and Artificial Flavours" on the front, I flipped it over to read the ingredients on the back. I saw "sugar" as the first ingredient, followed by "malic acid", "maltodextrin", and then "calcium phosphate tribasic". Hmmm, I wondered. That's a new one, "calcium phosphate tribasic"....

It sounded strange enough, this tribasic stuff, that I figured I'd Google it and see what came up. The first hit was at this URL: http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/c0490.htm, which is a Material Safety Data Sheet listing for the compound, as sold by Mallinckrodt Baker, Inc. On the page, it lists Product Identification, such as synonyms -- one of which is "Calcium hydroxy apatite", which I've seen in ingredient lists before. It shows the chemical formula as Ca5(OH)(PO4)3, which, if I remember my high school chemistry properly, means 5 Calcium atoms and 3 Phosphate ions joined by a Hydronium ion (who happens to be a third cousin of mine, twice removed, heheheh). Sounds benign enough, and it's certainly one of the smaller molecules.

Then I scroll down the page a little more, and see "Hazards Identification". Immediately below that is this message (with formatting copied from the page):


Emergency Overview

--------------------------

WARNING! DIRECT CONTACT WITH EYES MAY CAUSE SEVERE IRRITATION OR BURNS.
CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED
OR INHALED.





Whoah! Okay, so that's kinda scary. The document goes on to describe in detail how nasty it is, how careful you have to be when handling it and disposing of it, and, most importantly, how it is "practically insoluble in water."

Now, let me get this straight. This is a substance that should not be consumed, as it will cause gastrointestinal irritation (with symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea). It also does not dissolve in water, which means that there's no way the nastiness can be altered by mixing it with water before consuming it. Yet, there it is, third ingredient in this pleasant-looking beverage. According to the ingredients list, there's more calcium phosphate tribasic then there is "dried apple juice" (which is the next ingredient in the list).

Hmmmmmm.....


This is a quandary. Surely, the manufacturers would not include anything harmful in my pleasant-looking apple cider-like beverage. Could I be missing something?

Huh. Well, I'll let you know this afternoon, after I've enjoyed (or at least tried to enjoy) this dubious concoction.

Hg

BTW - If you don't see a post this afternoon, it probably means I didn't survive. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just forget, or get busy. Who can say?

Friday, January 12, 2007

LMAO

Okay, check out this ShortPacked comic, and tell me you didn't laugh. Hard.

http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20050309.html


Hg

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Dr. Eldritch's Words of Wisdom

I had to share this quote, from the latest Dr. Eldritch column:

Be Prepared, since you’ll never know which day will be the Worst Day of Your Life



Heheheheh. It may be cynical, but you can't say it's wrong.

Hg

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

My kind of Supervillain

Well, thanks to a link on blogger-of-note Steve Holden's blog, I've taken the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz. And I like the results:


Your results:
You are Apocalypse



































You believe in survival of the fittest and you

believe that you are the fittest.

Apocalypse
72%
Dr. Doom
65%
Mr. Freeze
57%
Magneto
56%
The Joker
55%
Juggernaut
53%
Green Goblin
53%
Dark Phoenix
51%
Lex Luthor
50%
Venom
46%
Kingpin
44%
Poison Ivy
40%
Catwoman
37%
Mystique
37%
Two-Face
37%
Riddler
36%


Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz





A lot of the bad guys, I just can't get behind. I'm not really into their motivations. Apocalypse, despite the fact that he should have killed himself long ago based on his own beliefs, I can understand. And he looks cool (at least in this picture).

Hg