I’m a huge free music advocate being that I’m a Grateful Dead fan and also into other jamband music (Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident — our first date, etc) which happen to allow the free taping and distribution of their music.

Well, for bands locked into ridiculous contracts with members of the RIAA, they don’t typically allow their music to be shared freely and thus the RIAA (as many of you know) have been on a crusade to eliminate the MP3 distribution method from the face of the planet, unless of course they profit from it heartily.

The RIAA has been known to go after people who have never committed copyright infringement and in an upcoming case, which will take place in Duluth, MN, they are up against an opponent in their first jury trial.

According to the article, this wouldn’t be the best case for them to allow to go to trial being that, “there is no indication of the defendant having committed a copyright infringement.”

Good luck Jammie Thomas, I hope you feed them your shit and make them swallow it too.

Right in the vicinity of my favorite spot in Apple Valley, Legacy Park there is now a useless and pointless traffic circle that is actually causing more confusion and dangerous road conditions than it could ever possibly solve.

I wish I had photos but onthree separate occasions, I have observed three vehicles traveling the wrong way on 153rd St W (from the traffic circle towards Galaxie). Two vehicles I was approaching after crossing the intersection and they immediately pulled into one of the available spots on the side of the road and turned around. The other had already made it to the intersection and had not really even understood that they were traveling the wrong way on a one way street.

So, today during a walk to Noodles, Barnes and Noble, Target and then back home we walked around the circle and I noticed that the city does not have any Do Not Enter signs facing the vehicles that should be warned that they are not to enter 153rd W from the traffic circle. I seriously suggest that they add them soon and I will be contacting the city tomorrow to make that suggestion.

Kim also noticed that the arrows on the ground are confusing and infer that you should begin travel in the wrong direction of the traffic circle. Sweet. So not only is this traffic circle dangerous, pointless, and a complete confusing mess but they are also adding to it by directing already confused drivers by painting needless directional arrows on the road!

I really hope Apple Valley listens to my concerns and rights the wrong immediately before any serious accidents occur.

So, we went to the grocery store on Sunday to stock up for the week. I loaded up on salad vegetables, bread, Fresca, and some other shit. While heading over to get Kim some Easy Mac (yuck) we passed through the candy aisle and Kim loaded up on the various bulk Jelly Belly offerings it had.

While Kim was choosing jelly bean flavors my attention was taken up by the sugar free candies being offered on the opposite side of the aisle. I immediately noticed the sugar free wintergreen Lifesavers. Prior to yesterday, I felt that Wintergreen Lifesavers were God’s gift to the planet and I found that the sugar free versions were even better than the originals (don’t ask me how it’s possible, I don’t have an explanation).

Right next to those delectable treats was something else that almost shined with importance… Dove’s Sugar Free Rich Dark Chocolates with Chocolate Creme! Well, excuse me for confusing God’s gift with Wintergreen mints before, it’s just not true. Those ~35 calorie treats made with Splenda are absolutely incredible. I swear that whatever resides in the bag I purchased was incorrectly placed there in the factory and that they are real chocolate instead. Yeah, they’re that good.

Well, on the back of the bag they mention that they offer a Raspberry Creme version and I checked out Dove’s Sugar Free candies on their site tonight and found some rather disturbing information…

One of the ingredients happens to be maltitol which works wonders on my digestive system including offering lower abdominal pains (in larger quantities) which last several days and are very similar to the pain I experienced before having hernia surgery at the age of 12. While they don’t warn of maltitol’s interesting side effects they did mention that “EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION MAY HAVE A LAXATIVE EFFECT.” Wow, I guess the old Ex-Lax jokes have been made mainstream.

Well, I only eat one a day max (being that they’re 35 calories each and the wintergreen mints are less than 10) and while I’m not so worried about the awful effects of maltitol or the shits, I am worried that I might go broke buying these treats.

So, if you’re looking to lose some weight and have a serious chocolate addiction, these Dove candies might really be what you’re looking for to kill that craving.