Junk Food Nation, if you’re anything like me, you were watching the MLB All-Star Game last night.  All in all, it was actually a pretty good game – offense up front, with some great pitching by the bullpens to end the games.  There were the Jeter moments, and the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, got to show off. Definitely one of the better All-Star games I’ve watched in a while, and that’s despite it being on FOX. Let’s get to some news:

1)      In today’s THAT GUY’S A GODDAMN SUPERHERO news, a man from Calgary who ran a Colorado ultramarathon was struck by lightning during the race on last Friday! And despite this – HE FINISHED IN THIRD.  Um, someone get this guy a spandex suit and tell him to protect Metropolis. First of all, ultramarathoners are incredible – people who run distances over the normal length of a marathon – and this Colorado race, the Hardrock 100, was 100-miles long THRU THE EFFING MOUNTAINS!  I can barely run one mile without needing a nap. Second, HE’S STRUCK BY LIGHTNING AND STILL COMES IN THIRD? Um, hello? Check, please. He told the news that when lightning struck, his headlamp bulb popped and he and his pacer were knocked to the ground. He said he was in shock. I would be too busy messing myself to be in shock. Someone give this guy Thor’s Hammer and tell him the Avengers are waiting for him in New York.

2)      There was also a story that a co-worker’s Facebook tipped me off to – a DC man was flying home through Orlando when the TSA agent there stopped him, demanding a passport, because he didn’t think the guy’s driver’s license was real. DC recently changed the way their licenses looked, so I was gonna give the TSA agent the benefit of the doubt that he thought the ID looked fake or something….but then come to find out that the reason he was stopped is because the TSA agent didn’t know what the District of Columbia was.  Just his luck, the man with the “bad ID” happened to be a news reporter…Lordy.  The story exploded on the web, and here we are.  Now, having read the report and watched the news, there’s a few details left out – the reporter says “after a back and forth” he came to realize that the agent didn’t know what DC was.  Who knows – maybe this reporter was a dick the whole time which I’m sure didn’t help matters. BUT, if the agent DIDN’T actually know that a license from DC was a valid form of identification…then wow.

Today’s junk food: Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX!

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX: The Money Shot

I’ve reviewed a lot of flavors of Stax on this site, and my general thought is that I love them.  Thicker and more potato-ey than Pringles, if there’s a good Stax flavor out there, I’ll choose it over Pringles 10 out of 10 times.  On the flip side, Pringles is generally more adventurous with their flavors on a more frequent basis. So when I saw these Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX, I SNATCHED THEM IMMEDIATELY. Not sure if they’re super new (but they were new to me!)

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX: Spicy spicy!

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX are, presumably, SUPER SPICY. The picture of the habanero is supposed to reflect this, right?  Recently I reviewed some SCREAMIN HOT GOLDFISH which also depicted a habanero on the packaging, and they were inconsistently spicy – some ok handfuls, some BLISTERING handfuls.  I’m hoping these STAX are better constructed.

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX: about 11 calories a chip

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX: Cayenne, Habanero…

I see cayenne, I see habanero, and I see garlic powder in these Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX…so far, so good.

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX: SO RED

I placed my nose up to these Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX and the smell immediately began to sting my nose….woooooo.  Not SUPER sting, but you could tell this can was full of spice and vinegar notes. Sort of when you put your nose up to a normal heat-level plate of hot wings – it SHOULD singe the nostril hairs a bit.

Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX: NOM BURN

To start, I licked one of these Lay’s Habanero Diablo STAX chips – and it tasted great. Immediate savory flavor (nice and garlicky) with a TINY bit of tang.  At the end of the taste, a slight citrus lime flavor, but not too much.  I appreciate that – most chili lime chips I throw away because the lime is TOO MUCH and TOO ARTIFICIAL.  The lime flavor here was just barely there in the background – mainly to help pump up the tang.

The burn is there too.  Slow at first but then grew and grew until my tongue was tingling all over  It stayed tingling for a good few minutes after.  Now, when chewed with the nice potato-ey thick STAX chip, the spice is brought down just a smidge, but after eating several chips in succession, the burn was LARGE and IN CHARGE.  WooooOOO! DECENT burn, people. DECENT BURN. (Aka, respectable for even people who can withstand spice.  For no-spice people – this will set your head on fire.)

Overall, the chip was VERY tasty.  Had a good burn which wasn’t out of place, as the garlic and vinegar tang and tiny bit of citrus helped round out the flavor completely.  The chip itself was solid, per usual, and the lime didn’t overwhelm things.  Finally, a decent spicy chip. I wholeheartedly approve of these.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart

COST: $1.00

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy