Apple Thursday Rundown

Is the Memorial Day weekend within your grasp yet? I know a few of you out there will be playing hooky tomorrow. I will be working but let me promise you, I won’t let my envy deter me from writing my latest Thursday Rundown. Here we go…

Apple Jacks Pop-Tarts – Alright, after boycotting Pop-Tarts for a few days because I was so disappointed with “Unfrosted,” I am back to eating them again. And not only have I resumed chowing down on them but I am once again seeking out weird and limited edition flavors. This week I tried Apple Jacks Pop-Tarts and in the same way that “Unfrosted” didn’t resemble the actual origin of Pop-Tarts, Apple Jacks Pop-Tarts didn’t resemble the actual taste of Apple Jacks. Actually, that first bite I took was pretty bad. But it grew on me as I went along—it tastes just as you would expect an apple-flavored pastry to taste. Also, for what it’s worth, my wife came downstairs about 15 minutes after I toasted mine and said, “What smells so good?”

These Apple Jacks Pop-Tarts were decent.

Apple Pizza – From Apple Jacks Pop-Tarts to apple pizza. No, I am not talking PINEapple, I am talking straight up APPLE. On Tuesday night during our WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference, I went with some colleagues to a pizza place in Moscow, ID, called Maialina. I ordered the Mela, a pie topped with caramelized onion, gorgonzola dolce, cow’s milk ricotta, cream, sage, and APPLE. Always good to try something different but I don’t think I would order it again.

When we dined at Maialina, I ordered the Mela. Probably not something I will order again.

Spirit Week – It has been a week of fun and creative outfits for Beau and Sloan. It is Spirit Week at St. Mary Catholic School so the students have ditched their uniforms for sillier options. Mismatch/Crazy Hair Day, Career Day, Sports Day, and Decade Day have all transpired throughout the course of this week. Much gratitude to Sidney for serving as the architect of putting all these outfits together!

Sloan and Beau pose in their mismatch clothes (left) and then in their career clothes (Sloan is a teacher in the top right image and Beau is a police officer in the bottom right image).

Sloan’s Soccer Season – I took some time earlier this week to recap Beau’s t-ball season so I also want to recognize Sloan’s soccer season. She concluded her spring slate of games this past Saturday. She improved a lot from the fall and I really enjoyed watching her engage with her teammates and the enthusiasm she constantly displayed. Sloan’s coach, Caleb Hatch, is so patient and knowledgeable. The Squids won more games than they lost (although they don’t keep score) while playing up a division. Congrats to Sloan and her teammates!

That is one happy bunch! This photo was taken after the last game of the spring season this past Saturday.

Archives – Since I don’t have anything better to do, I thought I would reach into the archives for other blog posts I have written on May 23 in the past. Back in 2013 I described the importance of checklists. In 2015 I wrote about ice cream pie and how it became a birthday tradition in the Reser household growing up. In 2018 I wrote a blog post I find myself sharing at least a couple times each year—my top 5 favorite beers. In 2022 I told the story about a high school teacher of mine who conveyed in dramatic fashion that cheating is not okay. Alright, is that enough?

Sidney made me an ice cream pie on my birthday in 2015.

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That will wrap things up for tonight. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, everyone! Don’t Blink.

Unfrosted

I had the debut of “Unfrosted” circled on my calendar for a month. I bugged Sidney to clear her Friday evening so we could watch it on premiere night. I took up time in a Zoom meeting to tell some colleagues that they needed to be as excited as me about the film. Basically, I was all-in for Jerry Seinfeld’s movie about the origin of Pop-Tarts.

“Unfrosted” is a dive into complete absurdity.

Did it live up to expectations? Did a movie about Pop-Tarts resonate with a nerdy blogger who is semi-obsessed with the toaster pastry?

Well, if I was looking for a film determined to reach new heights of absurdity then this film would have crushed my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I love myself some ridiculousness but the sheer craziness and tomfoolery of “Unfrosted” even crossed a line for me.

Here’s the thing: I think “Unfrosted” flirted the line between being too funny and trying too hard. Wait, you are critiquing a movie for being too funny? Believe it or not, I have raised this issue before. Way back in 2016 I mentioned how “Fuller House” wore me out because that first episode was just joke after joke after joke. It gets to the point of being overwhelming. I think there is an art to telling a joke, letting it marinate for a bit, and then returning with another well-placed joke. In “Unfrosted,” I feel the joke pace was just too fast.

Seinfeld was relentless on the pace of the jokes. It was a little “much” for me.

I found myself a little caught off guard by the narrative spun in “Unfrosted.” I wasn’t expecting a drama that followed the true story to a “T” of how Pop-Tarts were invented. I prepared myself for a healthy dose of embellishment and satire…perhaps in similar vein to “Flamin’ Hot” which I reviewed almost a year ago. What I didn’t foresee was a complete fantasy tale of hijinks and impossibility. The fact that nothing in that movie honored the true spirit of the conception of Pop-Tarts was disappointing.

But look, I don’t want to go on and on about the finer points of “Unfrosted.” To be honest, I don’t think the film deserves a lot of my time and that is really saying something because people often tell me that I must have a lot of it. All I can convey to you is that this movie is ABSURD (have I told you that yet? 😉). Let me just leave you with the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Good – The joke that is based on the title of the movie is saved for the very end. I give Seinfeld points for his patience. The quip actually made me laugh pretty hard but I still don’t know if it was a genuine laugh or a “SMH this movie is finally over” relieved type of laugh.

Bad – This movie is simply all over the place. Quite simply a train wreck with so many side plots and unnecessary gags. One ploy that seemed especially unhelpful was the decision to introduce a “dream team” of pop culture icons from the 1960s to help produce a superior toaster pastry. This squad included Chef Boyardee, Jack LaLanne, and Tom Carvel. It was so random and distracting. Perhaps the most annoying/least funny product of these characters was the living sea monkey ravioli that was nothing short of problematic and stupid.

Ugly – Oh man, have I mentioned yet that this movie is OUTRAGEOUS? Just wait until you see the funeral scene. Yes, I will admit that I laughed, but it was U-G-L-Y. The jokes, the imagery, the audacity…it is something that you have to see to believe. If you truly want a WTF moment, watch the flippin’ funeral scene.

The funeral scene in “Unfrosted” is something else.

You want to know how I planned to judge this movie? I was going to grade it a success if I was inspired to open my pantry and grab a Pop-Tart upon finishing it. Well, guess what? I haven’t eaten one of those things since watching “Unfrosted.” Don’t Blink.