Cryptozoology

What: "Razzberry" M&M's
Where: Nhu Y Vietnamese Sandwiches
How much: $.50

Part chocolate, part myth.

Cue Sufjan Stevens-Godbird.  No, not Raspberry Beret.

These are the items that got me in the game.  Edzo happened to mention that he had come across some M&M's that were Raspberry flavored.  I was aghast.  I was disbelieving.  Well, I always am disbelieving.  Ask YM.  Not in just the "Oh, Gertrude can you believe what this horrible world has come to..." disbelief.  Not in just the "that cracker has been listening to too much Fox News/Rush Limbaugh or Jay Severin talk radio/paranoid rantings of some Tea Party teabagger" (apologies to the non-Tea Party teabaggers) disbelief.  Not in just the "Can you believe the tastiness of the beef or perfect crusty outside and chewy inside of that Banh Mi?" disbelief. All the types of disbelief.  Knowing better and not knowing any better.  Being the smartest guy in the room and not seeing the obvious.  I've been it all.  And I believe none of it.  Life must be experienced to believe...to have knowledge.  Taste life to know it.  But remember one's truth is really only one's own perception.  Don't believe that fat pompous bastard and his rantings about how good it is.  Or how Obama was born in the good ol' US of A.

Anyway, so Ezdo gets me hooked on this Yeti/Loch Ness Monster/Sasquatch myth.  I wanted to believe (if I was married to Tea Leoni and was working with Gillian Anderson, I'd sure believe I was the luckiest dude in the world despite me already being one of the luckiest dudes in the world).  It seemed so seductive a thought.  It made sense.  Chocolate and raspberry.  In an M&M.  Why had they not done it before?  Why would have evolution not yet created a specimen developed to the point of perfection that would bridge the gap.  Had it not developed speech?  Had it not found fire and learned to cook?  Had it not developed agriculture?  Or had it and failed?  Did evolution reach a point and for some reason reach a dead end?  Existing for a geological moment and passing into the fossil record.

As I waited for my Banh Mi at Nhu Y Vietmanese Sandwiches several months ago, an impatient yet respectful Buttali wanders around looking at all the cool grocery items.  I try to ignore the guy making the sandwiches and let him do his job.  Oh yeah, I was a bit hungry despite the fact I just ordered TWO entire Banh Mi (yes this was the trip I tried both beef and Pork Skin), so I looked at the candy just in case I needed something to take the edge off the burn I hoped to have shortly.  In the back of my mind, ever since Edzo had told me about this mythical unicorn that melts in your mouth, not in your hands, I half-checked any candy display I casually ran into.  Hoping...not expecting...but ready should the opportunity to catch a glimpse of my Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.

There..alone..in a sea of yellow packaging.  A hint of fuscia.  That's a pretty odd color. What could have fell into the Peanut M&M's display?  What would want to be in the Peanut M&M's display?  (Well, truth be told if the display was large enough and contained loose M&M's that were Peanut Butter flavor I might be tempted to take off my clothes and jump into the said display and see if and where they melted).  I grab the one I see on the top.  I start digging down through and find another underneath the flood of yellow packaging. I grab both, holding them close and march to the counter, exultant in triumph, and unbelieving, this time in my luck.  Unbelieving how good life can be.  Dwelling in the spirit of the joy brought on by intersection of knowledge, plan and opportunity.  Expectant in a salvation from hunger delivered by a Banh Mi.

Only colors were raspberryish fushia.  Color is suitable for this flavor.

Price was right at half the price I paid at the local super grocery chain for the latest coconut version.

Typical M&M texture, perhaps a bit crunchier (see note below).  Just like regular M&M's, perhaps a bit fatter, along the size of the Peanut Butter M&M's.

Taters says overall just OK ..."It tastes like K's birthday cake...chocolate AND raspberry".  K says "really good...just enough raspberry flavor".  YM says "Y(u)Mmy".

I'd give it 4B/6.

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Peanut Butter (not peanut) M&M's get 5BC/6.  That is if you can pry them away from Red Bullmoose...

Score could have been higher.  I checked out the M&M's website.  Nothing about the limited edition of Razzberry M&M's anywhere.  They listed the coconut M&M's that I reviewed earlier as well as a wild cherry.  I guess these are old or imported from someplace else.  A quick web search found some sources from 2007/2008 talking about them.  Age would account for the slightly crunchy texture.  Oh well.  I found the Coelacanth.

The rest of the story.  So I go back to Nhu Y last week as an excuse to buy a Banh Mi and get a picture of it for TGITF Banh Mi Battel.  I look in the peanut M&M box that I had cleaned out last time.  Nothing there.  I dejectedly twirl around, disappointed yet not surprised that the Moa was now extinct.  I gaze at my shoes, my brain cueing some Shoegaze (well, it was more along the lines of some stuff by We Were Promised Jetpacks but the genre title fit the situation better), melancholy, unsurprised, yet satisfied that better things were in my immediate future.

Wait...A glint of fuschia!  Was it a reflection in the anti-glare coating on the inside of my eyeglasses?  Was my mind playing tricks?  Was I having a vision?  Had as I lost my faith my brain decided it needed to restore a belief system?  Did I need to have a hope?  Just when I thought everything both chocolaty and "razzberry" together in a candy shell was gone, had I just given up? Should I have given up?  Should I have continued my quest with more vigor?  Was the Castle Anthrax still able to be found?

A box full.  Yes, full. All "razzberry"  I buy two.  One more for the family. One for Edzo.  I had to pay it forward.  After all, he got me in this mess.

Cue Journey-Don't Stop Believin'

Nope, wait.  What the heck am I thinking.

Cue The Call-I Still Believe (Great Design)

Breaking concert news.  Courtney Love/Hole is playing at House of Blues Boston on Wednesday June 23rd.