CARE BEARS BUBBLEGUM

Known for scoring goals for the Edmonton Oilers, including career-high 54 last season (third best in the NHL), Zach Hyman is also an award-winning children's literature author under contract with Penguin Random House. Now Hyman has achieved a career hat trick as the owner of a candy company, Bubblegum Kids, that sells sugar-free gum branded around classic cartoon characters. Inspired by his childhood obsession with bubblegum, the father of two has created a fun and healthier alternative to other chewing gums on the market. Bubblegum Kids newest release ... Care Bears lemonade flavored bubblegum.

Officially licensed Care Bears Sunshine Lemonade Bubblegum features Funshine Bear on its packaging. This sugar free chewing gum is vegan and gluten-free with only 5 calories per 2 pieces and a remarkable 83% fewer calories than regular bubblegum. Plus, as a dad who is used to reviewing labels, I was GEEKED to see that it prominently displays its PEANUT FREE status. If you don't look out for these things, you'd be amazed at all the types of candy that aren't safe for people with peanut food allergies.  

Bubblegum Kids uses Xylitol as a sugar substitute. Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol found in plants that has a sweet taste which use in candy has recently been promoted by dentists because it lowers the level of decay-causing bacteria in saliva reducing the risk of cavities. If you are a dog owner though, beware that it is toxic to those pets.

In addition to the lemonade flavor, there is also a Care Bears themed birthday cake batter flavor as well. Other classic cartoon character gums from the company include Archie and Popeye. The Archie Comics inspired gum is meant to taste like a creamy strawberry milkshake while Popeye looks like spinach but has the taste of traditional bubblegum. Archie, Popeye and Care Bears ... oh my! You can purchase Bubblegum Kids products on Amazon.com

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There really is a Fix It Felix Jr video game!

Growing up in the 80's one of my biggest thrills was a trip to the local arcade and playing the high-tech 8-bit games of the time, like Donkey Kong, Burger Time, Q-bert, and Pacman, with their neon blinking lights and chirping sound effects that left us kids in awe and amazement.  My favorite video game of the time was Popeye which I spent hours upon hours playing with dollars upon dollars of quarters.  You played the famous comic strip sailerman trying to grab the hearts thrown out by your love Olive Oyl as the bully Bluto chases after you trying to knock your block off.  But if you gained enough points and grabbed a can of spinach you could super punch Bluto off the screen and keep him from kidnapping your beloved Olive Oyl.  Compared to today's three dimensional high definition games that you can play online against dozens of people who can be located anywhere in the world at once Popeye is really "old school" but it is still one of my favorite games of all time and I have really fond memories of those arcade visits of my youth.  I really wish someone would make an adaption for my Ipad or Iphone of Popeye like they've done for Pacman and Frogger. Unfortunately, Popeye is a Nintendo creation which at the moment won't publish their games, like Donkey Kong & Super Mario Brothers, for smartphones and tablets because they see it as competition to their own game counsel business.

I rented the Disney movie Wreck It Ralph and watched it with my kids last night.  The movie brought back a lot of nostalgia for those arcade games of my youth.  In the movie Ralph is the bad guy in an arcade game called "Fix It Felix Jr" which is celebrating its 30th anniversary thus putting it's origination at around the time period games like Popeye and Donkey Kong were popular.  Ralph "wrecks" an apartment building in the game and throws bricks at Felix Jr, the "hero" of the game who fixes the damage caused by "Wreck it Ralph" with a magic hammer. "Wreck it Ralph" becomes tired of being overshadowed by Felix Jr. and being treated poorly by the other characters in the game so he sets out to turn himself from "villain" to "hero" in which the movie's adventures ensue.  For more about the movie visit the official Disney site  http://disney.go.com/wreck-it-ralph/  

 While watching Wreck it Ralph my kids were asking me if they could get the "Fix It Felix Jr." video game to play. I smiled and told them I didn't think it existed and was just a part of the movie but curiously typed "Wreck it Ralph" into the Apple app store search feature on my Ipad.  Low and behold what did appear? The "Fix it Felix Jr." video game did exist and it was available for FREE on the app store!  Disney has recreated the "Fix It Felix Jr." game from the movie in all its 8-bit graphics glory.  My kids and I have had a blast playing  it this weekend ... I guess you can go back to the arcade again! I really enjoyed sharing an experience with my children that was similar to my own childhood experiences where we all had fun playing together.  Whether or not you grew up in the Pacman/Donkey Kong generation I think anyone will have a good time trying out this fun retro themed video game.

CLICK HERE to download the "Fix it Felix Jr." video game from the Wreck it Ralph movie.

I'm an ios guy with iphone, ipad & itouch mobile devices so most of my posts about tech stuff will have Apple app store links ... that doesn't mean there aren't similar apps for androids, windows, etc just means I may not have looked for them.