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Chex Mix Seasoning Packet from 1990, very exciting.

Thanks largely to the gamut of '80s/'90s Chex Mix commercials starring the Peanuts gang, I've come to consider no winter holiday complete without a trough full of buttered cereal and snacks drenched in Worcestershire sauce. I can't pronounce "Worcestershire," but I enjoy the invitation to smear it on Chex cereal.


While the good people at Chex HQ would have me believe that this "Chex Mix" was a holiday staple since the cereal's inception, I give all credit to Chuck Brown and his crew, who always managed to make everything they cooked and ate look so ridiculously palatable. I remember one Peanuts cartoon where the gang went to France, and there was this twenty minute scene where the non-French speaking Charlie Brown failed in his attempt to order "one loaf de bread." I ate nothing but loafs de bread for the month following that.

Then there was the classic Peanuts Thanksgiving feast; a glorious spread of jelly beans and ice cream sundaes that charmed my ass straight to the grocery store so I could attempt to recreate it. I can only describe the Peanuts gang's influence over what we find appetizing as something metaphysical if not outright occult. There's no logic behind it. It just is.

Little did you know that everything above was merely an introduction to a photo of a sealed Chex Mix seasoning packet from 1990. I took the long way home on this one.


I can't remember exactly how it came to be in my possession, but I've got what's likely the last remaining Chex Mix "Instant Party Seasoning Pack" in existence -- a cereal "premium" stuffed inside Chex boxes in 1990. Like the Ninja Turtles "Honey Ooze" I wrote about recently, I refuse to open this seasoning pack due to the high probability that it's the last of its kind.

My desire to preserve history is pretty annoying in this case, as I've never been able to truly master cooking up a batch of Chex Mix. I tell people that I'm good at it, but I know the truth: My Chex Mix needs work. I don't know if the various salts, sugars and tamarinds inside this polyurethane wrapped foil pack of dust has gone sour in the eighteen some odd years since its creation, but for the ultimate result of the perfect batch of Chex Mix, the risk/reward ratio seems to lean towards the latter.

Maybe a Chex Mix seasoning pack wasn't the most action-packed blog topic that I could've chosen, but it felt like I was fated to do this. Not ten minutes after finding the pack in one of my many cardboard trunks, I stumbled upon a 1990 magazine ad promoting the promotion:


Lucy totally went pinky-up, so you knew this shit was serious.

I've forged batches of Chex Mix for every Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday in recent memory, and eventually, I must assume that the law of averages will favor me with a bowl that tastes just right. Until such time, all I can really do is draw pictures of dinosaurs wearing sunglasses.


Happy SNT.

PS: In case you didn't catch the green note on the Trapper logo, we're set to move forward with X-E's Summer Megaparty as of July 1st. What this means: New blog posts everyday, at least for the month of July. Vegas odds are against this being a successful venture, but we can safely assume that there will be many, many more entries than usual. Feels like I should add an emoticon here, but I know it's kind of improper. Fuck it. :)

Posted by Matt on 06/07/2008. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 525 comments
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Where’d Dan and Mandy go? No one’s all on at the same time.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/07/2008 10:28 PM

Hope: Sure, Nesticle is good, actually its the only one I’d ever used so I can’t compare it but I’ve never had any problems with it.

Chestnuts roasted by JoshC @ 06/07/2008 10:33 PM

MessiahRP,

I’ve beaten Metroid(NES version), never played the Alex Kidd(I was in a one console house, no Master System for me), and I thought Bump N’ Jump was one of those games that never ended. I’ve also beaten Bionic Commando, take that Hitler! How about this one though, I’ve never beaten Mike Tyson’s Punch-out, although I’ve beaten Macho Man about 1000 times. I should try it now…in theory I should be a better gamer now, but I might just be slower. By the way, is the new Metal Gear out, and has anyone played it? I never like any of them(weird plots, bad control) but then I inevitably buy the next one. Sometimes I feel like Metal Gear is the movie that all the critics are raving about, but I’m just not hip enough to understand.

King of Kong is one of the movies that I always plan on watching but then I forget, until the next time someone mentions it, and then the cycle repeats.

Happy SNT from Honolulu.

Chestnuts roasted by whitemale_98 @ 06/07/2008 10:37 PM

Use FCE Ultra or JNES. No offense to Nesticle but it’s about 400 years old.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/07/2008 10:37 PM

Its ok doho, Nesticle understands..

Chestnuts roasted by JoshC @ 06/07/2008 10:40 PM

Back. Sory it took so long, had to help the Mrs. do some stuff around the house

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 06/07/2008 10:52 PM

I’ve actually never seen Toxic Avenger. In fact, the only Troma film I’ve ever seen was “Tromeo and Juliet” or whatever it was called. It was interesting. Although I recently read a review in Entertainment Weekly of their newest film, “Poultrygeist.” I just thought a Toxic Avenger novel written Lloyd Kaufman was interesting, cheap, and I bought it.

Does Tetris have an ending because I’ve never beaten that.
Same goes for Pac-Man.
Never beat Goldeneye.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 06/07/2008 10:54 PM

Haha, blue shelled myself.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/07/2008 10:57 PM

Here’s a blast from the past when it comes to games I have never beaten: Golgo 13

Chestnuts roasted by Arthur Cluck @ 06/07/2008 10:58 PM

I saw that! Nice move! XD

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 06/07/2008 11:00 PM

I don’t even know why I got it but I couldn’t pass up the oppurtunity.

I’ve never beaten Uninvited nor Deja Vu. Only Shadowgate.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/07/2008 11:05 PM

I think that was the CHEX commercial when Sally told Charlie Brown how easy it was to make the mix and C. Brown uttered the immortal line, “I can’t even make toast.”

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 06/07/2008 11:05 PM

Whoo SNT! I’m exhausted after being in a fraternity brother’s wedding (why can it never be MY wedding???) all day. Damn hot in a tuxedo and I sweat like a pig. But I got to see a lot of people, so it was fun.

Mandy_Reeves
Congrats on the Tengen Tetris find. That was my holy grail for years and I just about flipped when I found one at Gamestop (of all places!) for 8 bucks. This was several years ago, mind you. You should play the 2 player cooperative mode that’s on this cart. It’s awesome.

As for Games I’ve never beaten, there are probably tons, but the original Super Mario Bros comes to mind. That’s right, I’ve never beaten it. I can get to 8-3, and then I die. Every time. it sucks. Damn Hammer Bros.

JLAJRC

Pac Man does have an ending, after the 256th Key (or something like that). The screen splits in half with half of it a bunch of random gibberish. That’s the kill screen, and the end of the game.

I’ve seen King of Kong recently and I really enjoyed it. It does make Billy Mitchell look like an ass, though. I watched some the extras on the DVD and that helped explain some of how it was presented…

I probably won’t be on long tonight…exhausted…

Happy SNT! Can’t wait for MEGAPARTY!

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 06/07/2008 11:10 PM

I could never beat that goddamn Ghosts and Goblins without the stage select. Also, I could never cross the first Castlevania off my list.

Messiah, I believe Bump n Jump has an ending. If memory serves me, your driver and his girlfriend hug and kiss and a heart floats to the top of the screen. I may be wrong though.

Chestnuts roasted by Bludge @ 06/07/2008 11:15 PM

Dohopoki brb

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 06/07/2008 11:38 PM

Aye Aye

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/07/2008 11:39 PM

I never beat Super Mario Bros 1 & 3, and also not 64.

Sigh…

Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 06/07/2008 11:43 PM

One more race and then I’m gonna call it a night.

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 06/07/2008 11:51 PM

I could never beat Battletoads either…or the original Super Mario Bros. Finished SMB 2 and 3 and Super Mario World, but SMB 1 whipped me.

Chestnuts roasted by Teddy Ray @ 06/07/2008 11:57 PM

That was fun Dohopoki, thanks!

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 06/08/2008 12:06 AM

No doubt.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/08/2008 12:07 AM

I also never beat SM 64.

I don’t think I ever beaten Sonic the Hedgehog.

I was awesome at Megaman games till they switched it to X, then I started sucking.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 06/08/2008 12:11 AM

Thanks for letting me know about the Cartoon All-Stars shoutout on Headline News, I just caught the rerun.

I kept expecting the NostalgiaCritic to interject. “BUGS BUNNY SHOULDN’T KNOW WHAT A JOINT IS!!” They even played Simon from Alvin & The Chipmunks saying “Marijuana.”

Hell, Matt’s review of it was what brought me here in the first place.

Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 06/08/2008 12:19 AM

One that bugged me for the longest time was Pokemon Yellow but I finally beat it last year using the Mew trick.

Chestnuts roasted by dohopoki @ 06/08/2008 12:23 AM

Hello, sorry I haven’t commented in a couple weeks, but I haven’t had a day like today in a while, in which I actually go out, buy some cool stuff and/or see a movie that’s worth talking about even if it is bad.

Anyway, I think I should always just say what I need to say before reading the posts because then my mind starts wandering and I try to add the topics everyone is discussing along with what I have to say and that’s how I end writing really LONG posts. Well, the more I jibber-jabber, the longer it’s going to get.

Anyway, first off, I went to see the new Adam Sandler movie, “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.” What can I say about the movie? It was pretty bad even for an Adam Sandler movie. It makes “Spanglish” look like Academy Award material. Of course, I could say that about any Adam Sandler movie, and the only reason I said “Spanglish” is because that’s one that tends to get a lot of heat, and I have to confess, I like “Spanglish.” Anyway, I won’t give away the plot other than what you may have seen on the trailers but for a group of Israelis (this is at the beginning of the movie before he comes to the states), they sure speak English fairly well. Also there’s some indirect references quite often on the male genitalia that makes one question whether PG-13 was the right rating for the movie. Afterwards, seeing how it was still early in the afternoon, I could have seen “kung Fu Panda” but the lines were getting long and there were a lot of young, screaming kids so I passed on it. Now I know what to see tomorrow.

Anyway, afterwards I happened to be strolling through Best Buy and what do I see but George of the Jungle, the Complete Cartoon Series. This was one of my favorite cartoons because not only was it funny, it was created by Jay Ward who also created the Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, which is my all-time favorite cartoon! I haven’t seen George in stores and now that I have it, I was able to delete it from my Shopping Cart on Amazon.com.

Anyway, I also found myself at the Borders Express bookstore at the mall where I was. As usual, I managed to find a bunch of books in which I had to fight myself from buying including a supposed sequel book from Jose Canseco called “Vindicated.” In his previous book, “Juiced,” he gets credit for blowing the lid off of the use of steroids among major league players and how he and Mark McGwire used to shoot each other in the ass before games when they both played for the Oakland Athletics. I know that may have sounded a bit pornographic even though it was not meant to be because they were shooting steroids, but where else but X-E can I get away with saying stuff like that and get hopefully a lot of chuckles coming from many of you readers. Anyway, in this new book, he goes into detail about his honesty on trial and how he knew a lot of players who were using steroids. It’s like he said, “Yeah, I used steroids, and so did a lot of other players. Here are the names!” I almost also bought the first two Chronicles of Narnia books but decided not to and just wait until I have enough money so I can buy the whole set at once.

Okay, enough on the bookstore part. Another place I finally got to that I haven’t been to in a while was Wal-MArt. Since I’ve been reading all about the different products that people have been buying at Wal-Mart, I knew I had to get out there and see if I could find any of the products. Sure enough, I first searched for the Indiana Jones cereal and wouldn’t you know it. It was the FIRST cereal I came across in the cereal section. I also wasn’t looking for it but I snagged a bottle of Sierra Mist Undercover Orange. I just came across it because I was in the soda section and tried to find the different Mountain Dew flavors. Couldn’t find them there, but when I was in the Checkout line, I saw a few in one of the coolers. However, they only had Revolution so that means I will need to go back to Wal-Mart sometime soon and hunt down those other two flavors.

Okay, now really quickly I want to mention the games that I have beaten because my list would be too long for those that I haven’t beaten. A lot of these games I have recently discovered with my Nintendo Emulator Rom on my computer. Anyway, as far as games I have beaten, does the E.T. game for Atari 2600 count? Okay, I only beat it in the easy level where only Elliott is the active character and you’re not being hunted down by either the asshole scientist or moron FBI agent. Also, can I count Pitfall II even though there’s a supposed second level to the game and that’s only available on the Atari 5200 version? I’ve played it on both Colecovision and the Atari 2600 version and neither of them have the second level. I have beaten the original Super Mario Brothers (both difficulties, including the game you play after beating it the first time when all the little goombas are replaced with Buzzy Beetles, and I’ve played it straight through since I feel that using warp zones is cheating), and Super Mario World for the SNES as well as the original Super Mario Land for the original Game Boy. I have never gotten past Level 3 on Super Mario 2 and I find some levels on 3 to be quite difficult, more difficult than even Super Mario World. I have played all six endings to Maniac Mansion, beat Felix the Cat on NES and Game Boy, beat Rocky & Bullwinkle on Game Boy as well as Ren & Stimpy and the original Tiny Toons game also for Game Boy. Yeah, most of the games I have beaten are from Game Boy because I didn’t own an NES until 1992 so before then, I was always playing at friends’ houses. Oh yeah, and I also beat Bart Simpsons’ Escape From Camp Deadly on, guess where, Game Boy! Oh, and I guess I can add the new Simpsons Game on my DS even though I am not at 100% completion and still have a few more items to find. Sorry but I’m a completist when it comes to video games and the newer ones that has all those extra inside “bonus” games, many of them will probably take me years from now to ever fully complete. I have never beaten a Castlevania game (even the original Game Boy game in which I do own) and I’m very new to the Zelda series. I only just got the original Zelda for Game Boy Advance about a year ago and I haven’t gotten far on it at all. Of course, I don’t play it that often so there’s one of those reasons.

Oh, and while I’m on the subject, has anyone here played the Donkey Kong game for the original Game Boy, the one where you play those extra 99 levels after playing the original classic game levels (it remains the only version in which I can play the fourth level pie factory so most of the time I just play it to play the classic levels and then erase the file)? I don’t have the game with me right now but there’s one level I kept having trouble with. All I know from memory is that it involves getting the key in enough time after extending the bridge over a long row of spikes and it’s not far enough to jump across. I’ll be sure to get my game and check the level out but anyway, it’s a tough level for me and if anyone has beaten it, could you give me a little hint of how you get past that one level that I’m stuck on?

Okay, back to my day. Well, the good stuff is pretty much mentioned but I also wanted to say that it’s ironic you all should mention video games. I saw a poster for the Indiana Jones Lego game at Wal-Mart but it never registered to me that the game was already out. I thought it came out when the Lego Batman game came out, and that doesn’t come out until September. Oh well, it was a good move that I didn’t buy it now with it’s price. It’s funny because just today I was playing my Star Wars II, the Original Trilogy, Lego Game on my original XBox and I was thinking how cool it would be when Lego Indy and Lego Batman came out. I was also at a game place today called GSX where they sell old video games. They have a bunch of old Nintendo games on sale as well as Super Nintendo, N64, and I even saw a bunch of Intellivision games in their ORIGINAL boxes! Anyway, I was looking for specific titles for NES games. There were a few games that I had wanted to get but could do without if the ones I was looking for were not there, and since they weren’t, I didn’t get them. I did almost get a couple SNES games (Rocky and Bullwinkle, Road Runner and was thinking about Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose but decided not to and keep my purchase to an even number) as well as a Super Game Boy so I could play my old Game Boy games on screen. However, I only have an FC Twin console so I didn’t know if the Super Game Boy worked on it or not. I know I could have asked but I was finding more of an excuse not to buy it to save money rather than spoil myself a little bit, and I ended up doing that anyway when I bought George of the Jungle on DVD and all the stuff I bought at Wal-Mart. They also had some old game systems on sale including the original NES. That has been one system I’ve thought about getting since the FC Twin’s controllers are shaped like SNES controllers so it therefore prevents me from playing NES games such as Duck Hunt and Hogan’s Alley where you use the Zapper, and of course they never made any zapper for the SNES. I guess by the time the SNES came out, Nintendo was getting PC and therefore did not want to make a gun controller for the new system!

Okay, I’m almost finished with my rambling. The only other topic I wanted to mention is that when I was reading everyone’s posts, I was noticing when the talk was about Mario Kart on DS and playing against other XE’ers. I have a DS AND Mario Kart. However, I take it you need a special wireless connection to get online with it so I can’t just hook it up to my modem and join in some online fun, can I? Rats, oh well, it was a nice thought. I just didn’t want to feel left out since I already do when you all Brawl on Wii and I lack one. I never heard of anyone on here who has X-Box Live…yet. Perhaps if there were, that would give me the motivation to sign up. Are there any X-Box Live subscribers out there? Anyway, can you believe I am finished rambling, at least for now? Yeah, I’ll comment again once I find out the level I can’t get past on Donkey Kong for Game Boy. Oh yeah, and I saw The King of Kong on DVD a couple months ago. Can’t really comment since I forgot much of it but I do remember the one dude proving himself worthy by making it to the kill screen. Okay, it’s getting late and I want to end this so I can read more comments that came in while I was rambling…..THE END (for now).

Chestnuts roasted by BJ @ 06/08/2008 12:33 AM

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