Just Sayin'

So, the other day I went to California Tortilla for the first time. I liked it a lot. Not because of the food -- although the food was pretty good -- because of the diet soda. I'm a person in college who doesn't like coffee, so diet soda is pretty important to me as a source of caffeine. Anyway, you'd think that soda is pretty much the same anywhere you go, but you'd be wrong. That day at California Tortilla I experienced the diet soda miracle. They had this Coke machine with a touch  screen (which is pretty cool to begin with) and all the flavors of soda known to man. Seriously! I saw flavors of soda that I never dreamed existed! They had Vanilla Coke, Lime Coke, Raspberry Coke, Cherry Coke, Cherry Vanilla Coke, and Orange Coke. ORANGE COKE. That's amazing! I've never even heard of Orange Coke. Apparently, it's only been in the US for like six years, maybe less. Before that, you had to go to Russia to get Orange Coke! RUSSIA!  It's not even just Cok...

I think it's an undisputed fact that I Want You Back by *NSYNC is the best music video that's ever been made, bar none. I mean, it's got zip up t-shirts and arm wiggling, not to mention a sprightly Justin Timberlake and 90s animation; I mean, they don't make music videos like this anymore. How could they? I don't even know who you would go to to coreograph all that fist pumping. But, this piece of cinematographic mastery has a dark side. After a long, intense conversation with my roommate about the history and cultural significance of *NSYNC (what, I'm on break), I came to the realization that boy bands are actually really, really weird. I Want You Back was released in 1996. In 1996, Justin Timberlake, who was the youngest member of *NSYNC, was 15. Chris Kirkpatrick, who was the oldest member of *NSYNC, was 25. Let me just repeat that. Twenty-five. Now, I'm only 20, and the idea of being in a band with a 15 year old is ridiculous to me. Not just ...