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Entry Archive: September 17, 2007

Candy!Candy!Candy!

Dave!The rest of my yesterday was uhhh... interesting. I've put it in an extended entry for anybody who wants to read what happens when you go off a restrictive diet and eat loads of fried foods.

Today I managed to spend some time at Chicago's All-Candy Expo. It's not as huge as the ISM show in Cologne Germany I attended in January, but it's still a pretty spectacular event if you like candies as much as I do. The coolest thing about the show is seeing the new stuff companies are coming out with, and how candy technology keeps advancing.

Anyway... when you arrive at the show, you are greeted by M&M's!

M & M Guys!

This is kind of cool, but not as cool as visiting the M&M booth where they will draw a caricature of you as an M&M. And even that isn't as cool as visiting the super-sweet M&M race car...

M & M Racer!

I especially like the tail-end of the car...

M & M Racer!

Not to be outdone, Snickers also has a race car at the show. And so does JUICYFRUIT!...

JuicyFruit Racer

The All-Candy Expo is so big that it can be hard to decide where to start. I took a panorama of the show floor and it ended up being so big I couldn't fit it in a computer graphic, so I took three chunks of it and put them here. It's all candy, baby...

All-Candy Expo

Well, not ALL candy. There are other snack foods there too. I saw a lot of beef jerky. In fact... "you might be a redneck if you own your own beef jerky company"...

Jeff Foxworthy Jerky

And then I saw that Steve Irwin was back from the dead to endorse Crocodile Hunter Chocolates (I've already said how I feel about the deceased endorsing products)...

Croc Chocs!

Some of the stranger stuff I saw was CARROT GUM! Yes, seriously, carrot bubble gum...

Carrot Bubble Gum!

And Jesus Candy Canes ("Blessed is he who licks unto Him")...

Jesus Candy Canes

My most favorite new candy treat was GüdFüd's jelly or chocolate stuffed marshmallows. I can't eat them because I'm a vegetarian and they have gelatin in them, but they're probably the cutest candies ever...

GüdFüd!

GüdFüd!

GüdFüd!

And, of course, PEZ was there. Gotta love PEZ! This time I saw that they have FUZZY PEZ!!

Fuzzy PEZ!

There was also a kind of Pez imitator of some kind. I didn't quite understand how they worked, but I especially like the Human Torch dispenser because of his funky flame-hair...

Fantastic Candy

And, lastly, I bring you the Hello Kitty's Beauty Kit... filled with candy jewelry, candy makeup, and candy perfume...

Hello Kitty Beauty

Hey, heaven only knows that I never look more beautiful than when I'm covered in candy!

And that's just a tiny slice of all the amazing stuff I saw while cruising the aisles of the All-Candy Expo this afternoon. What a delicious way to spend your day.

   

   

Candy!Candy!Candy!, Continued...

But back to yesterday evening...

I was nearly late to dinner because I noticed that there was a massive sale going on at one of my favorite stores...

Adultsale

But once I made it to the restaurant, I had a great evening with my friends. Except I ate entirely too much of entirely the wrong things.

Helpful hint: if you've been on a restrictive diet for two weeks, breaking that diet by eating massive quantities of (probably) hydrogenated fats for dinner is not advised. The stuff moves through you very, very, quickly when you are not accustomed to eating it! I'm guessing my intestines have a bad memory and went "what the bloody hell is this?" then just let it go. I barely made it back to my hotel room in time.

Probably because I stopped at The Apple Store on my way back to take a look at the new iPod nano. This thing is unbelievably cool... so much smaller in the hand than you can imagine from looking at a photo... and so freakin' THIN! The screen, despite being tiny, is just amazing. I want one quite badly, even though I would rarely use it now that I have iPhone. It's just too sweet not to own one!

Oh yeah, back to my after-dinner intestinal woes... you just know you're in trouble when a double-dose of Imodium doesn't work. This was pretty much the rest of my evening...

Dave Toilet

My digestive system finally returned to normal around midnight, which was a good thing because I had to get up at 4:30am to make an international call.

The End.

Because now I have to get some work done after goofing off at the candy show all day.

Technorati Tags: , ,
Category Tracker: Food × Travel 2007
   

Comments

is that an ATM machine on the Adult Book Store? how convenient if it is!

Posted by Anonymous on September 17, 2007

   

Those Jesus candy canes are kinda dirty, you know? "Would you like to lick a Jesus?" I'm pretty sure there's a passage in the Bible that frowns on that kind of thing.

And I wants me some of those chocolate stuffed marshmallows. Are they Japanese? They have cool stuff in Japan.

Posted by Mooselet on September 17, 2007

   

What?!? How did I miss the candy expo???
Here I was at work, having a shit-tacular day, when I could have been nuzzling fuzzy pez and giggling over adorable jelly-filled marshmallows.
Dammit dammit dammit.

Hope your guts heal up soon--I certainly know the woes of a messed up digestive tract!

Posted by diane on September 17, 2007

   

What, no candy cigarettes? Those were the days.

Posted by whit on September 18, 2007

   

New Fuzzy PEZ!!! I love PEZ... both the dispensers and the candy. Do you purposely coincide your trips with these conventions? It makes me wonder...

Posted by NYCWD on September 18, 2007

   

Fuzzy Pez??? RAWK!!!

Sorry to hear about your bowels, man.

Posted by kapgar on September 18, 2007

   

Any Lance candies? THOSE were the greatest, as they sold them at the school store... mmm, little candy cherries....

Posted by Wayne on September 18, 2007

   

Man, I would've loved to have gone to something like that. I would've probably gained 10 pounds, but it would have been fun.

And I can't believe you didn't have the M&M caricature of yourself done.

Posted by Chag on September 18, 2007

   

Dave... Dave... it's BEAUTIFUL outside here in Chicago. Go for a walk awready! Sheeesh!

Posted by RW on September 18, 2007

   

Well, I'm here to work... but I do get outside whenever I can!

Posted by Dave2 on September 18, 2007

   

How is it that you always end up by the adult bookstores? ;)

I love the back of that M&M car and sadly would think the Hello Kitty thing is cute too....mmmm, dirty sexy candy!

Posted by Hilly on September 18, 2007

   

But I wanna lick Jesus.....I WANNA LICK THE MASTER! Oh, and I'd like a side of carrot gum, please.
(How in the world do you stay away from all products even with gelatin in them.......I mean, even this dude doesn't each much meat (no comment, please) but I can't do without my gelatin-infused candy sometimes).

Posted by Lewis on September 18, 2007

   

The same way I resisted eating the dead animals when I was having dinner at Fogo de Chao last night. When the endless parade of guys in gaucho pants bring their hot meat to the table, I simply say "no thanks!'

Posted by Dave2 on September 18, 2007

   

I think that the M&Ms characters is one of the most brilliant and successful examples of rebranding ever. They carry a sense of history with them that is entire fabricated. Don't we all feel like they've always been on the scene?

The Johnny Storm faux-pez makes me want to see a Snow Miser and Heat Miser pez set.

Posted by Roberta on September 18, 2007

   

Please get the nano even though you already have the iPhone... That way I'll feel less guilty (consumerism, ARGH!) for doing the same.

Posted by Atomic Bombshell on September 18, 2007

   

I was relieved to see that the M&M characters did not have hair. The commercials that feature the M&M's with hair totally creep me out. After those commercials, I can't bring myself to eat M&M's anymore.

Was the carrot gum marketed toward vegetarians at all?
Just curious.
(For the record - I'm a vegetarian, but you would have a hard time getting me to try that product!)

Posted by Jill on September 18, 2007

   

Hello. Kitty. Beauty. Kit. Made. From. Candy?

OMFG, I'd have broken my fool neck trying to get to it. And I LOVE the Japanese candies! San Francisco has all these wonderful junky shops that sells goofy candy like that...I totally need to revisit my city soon.

Posted by Kentucky Girl on September 18, 2007

   

That's usually when I get some great reading in.

Posted by Avitable on September 18, 2007

   

Pez Fantastic Four are awsome and so are the M&M race car.

So what did you get at the adult book store?

Posted by Göran on September 18, 2007

   

Above the cash machine, in front of the adult "bookstore" (books, right...) was a sign that said Bridal Gifts. How quaint.

Posted by bogup on September 18, 2007

   

Hey, you could have skipped the candy show and just solved two yens with one trip to the adult book store ... after all, they do have candy ... candy panties! ha ha ha!

Oh, and I can't think of a less vegetarian friendly place than Fogo de Chao. What in the heck DID you find to eat there?

Posted by blanetalk on September 19, 2007

   

Wow! that Expo looked like great fun. Anything with Peanut Butter is good with me. Here in the U.K. peanut butter does not exist in the world of candy, so have to stock up on trips to USA.

Posted by KoolaidUK on September 20, 2007

   

Ok, I must know how you got into that Candy Expo since it's not open to the public. :(

Posted by nicole on September 23, 2007

   

Heck - I never knew that was such a thing as a Candy Expo!! I am going to have to find out when and where the next one is!! (and sneak in!)

Posted by Sam on October 18, 2007

   

The biggest ones are always in Chicago (USA) and Cologne (Germany)... unfortunately, you have to be a candy buyer or a candy manufacturer to attend.

Or do work for a company that in a buyer or manufacturer, like I do! :-)

Posted by Dave2 on October 18, 2007

   

   

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