Lrbever

At least in Canada, tap water is better for you (and the environment) than bottled water!

Contrary to popular belief, drinking tap water isn't actually that bad for you. Well, at least it isn't in Canada. It's actually healthier to drink tap water in Canada than it is to drink bottled water! Here's why.

First, tap water is actually fresher than bottled water because it only stays in the supply system for up to 3 days. Bottled water sits in the bottle for weeks, sometimes months.

Second, bottled water is regulated under the Food and Drugs Act. This sounds all fine and dandy, until you realize that bottled water doesn't have to meet all of the criteria established in the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality. Tap water, however, does.

If those two reasons don't convince you that it's better to drink tap water—perhaps this will persuade you. Every year, more than 50 million bottles end up in landfill sites in the United States alone. Why? Because people aren't recycling them, even though they are recyclable. Furthermore, according to the UN, some companies in poor countries are using forced labour to meet their quotas, and harvesting those poorer countries' precious groundwater supplies.

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It's really interesting just how different the various incarnations of Mario look. Very interesting concept.

So for this project, the artist doubled the scale of the original, ignored the official artworks and box art, mirrored the original color schemes, and tried to preserve as much likeness to the shapes as possible. Personally, I feel he did a very good job doing just that.

I now want Nintendo to create a New Super Mario All-Stars using these sprites.



See more: True Faces of Mario

No matter which way we head, we'll all end up in the future. But that's not necessarily the same fuure, of course . . .

So that's STW #2000. I put some reflections together on the milestone a little more coherently elsewhere yesterday, but to focus a little bit, I am a little amazed that what started with a 3rd year grad student desperately looking for something to kill the time has led to this.

Thank you all for sharing in this with me and making it so rewarding. I hope whatever you want STW to be - funny, educational, reflective, meaningful, whatever - that it will continue to be that for you straight on into the future. Here's to the next however many come next.

PHD UNKNOWN - my other webcomic about fierce creatures, biology, and grad school
SCIENCE THE WORLD - research on STEM education open to all K-12 educators

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Timothy Ferriss is an author, entrepreneur, blogger and television host. He’s best known as the 4-Hour guru who helped pioneer the ‘lifestyle design’ movement. This quote is taken from Ferriss’ first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, which I read when I was in the middle of my career change and helped motivate me to eventually start this website. The book teaches people to rethink the outdated idea of working a 9-5 job and to use today’s technology to find the perfect work/life balance.

Ferriss recently debuted his new TV show, The Tim Ferriss Experiment, where he applies his life-hacking rules to a number of different disciplines.

I was fortunate enough to meet Tim and contribute some illustrations to his latest book, The 4-Hour Chef. Here’s a blog post I wrote about it with some behind-the-scenes sketches.

RELATED COMICS Chris Guillebeau: 11 Ways to be Average. Terence McKenna: Nature Loves Courage.

- Zen Pencils was named one of PCMag’s top 100 websites of 2013!
- Yay, it’s finally the first comic of 2014. It’s taken me longer than I had planned to update the site again, but I’m happy to say my holiday really energised me for the year to come and I’ve already got a couple months worth of ideas for comics that I can’t wait to start drawing. Thanks for your patience.

This recipe comes from FoodNetwork.com, so you know it’s gonna be good! Elvis himself would approve of these parfaits featuring his favorite food combo, banana and peanut butter, in addition to other essential food groups like bacon, Maple syrup and waffles. You know, just the basics. This recipe would be great for Valentine’s Day; just be sure to crank up the Elvis records on the ol’ turntable when you serve them. Or serve them on Super Bowl Sunday! They’re also a great afternoon snack for the kiddos. ‘Cause who doesn’t love peanut butter, bananas and bacon? No one we know!

Ingredients:

3 cups whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large egg yolks, beaten
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
6 slices bacon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
15 butter waffle cookies, such as Jules Destrooper, lightly crushed (about 2 cups)
3 small bananas, sliced into rounds about 1/8-inch thick

Directions:

Heat 2 3/4 cups of the milk in a large saucepan over medium until hot but not boiling. Whisk the granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup milk. Whisk half of the hot milk into the egg mixture until smooth, and then gradually whisk the egg mixture into the heated milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter until melted. Transfer to a bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and chill until set, at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack set on the middle shelf. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the bacon on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Brush both sides of the bacon with the maple syrup. Bake until golden brown and slightly crispy, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, 20 to 25 minutes. Place on the lined baking sheet and cool completely. The bacon will continue to crisp as it cools. Break each piece of cooled bacon in half.

Whip the heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer to soft to medium peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble, loosen the chilled pudding by whisking it until smooth and creamy. Spoon 1/4 cup of the pudding into the bottom of a 10- to 12-ounce glass. Layer in this order: 1/4 cup crushed waffle cookies, half of a sliced banana, 1/4 cup whipped cream, 1/4 cup pudding and a light sprinkle of additional crushed waffle cookies. Top each parfait with a dollop of the remaining whipped cream and 2 bacon halves.
Notes

Cook’s Notes: If you cannot find butter waffle cookies, store-bought waffle cones would be a nice alternative.

Regular or natural peanut butter works here, just makes sure it’s emulsified.

dasboo:

In all honesty, I just felt like doodling a cat with a monocle.

Booism [tumblr]