As your Friday gets under way, I thought I might remind you that we are having a Flash Food Drive for the Oregon Food Bank here at the Mercury, ending next Wednesday at 5:30pm. To get things moving, I thought I'd sweeten the pot a little.

Anyone who drops off a bag of nonperishable food items at the Mercury office, 605 NE 21st, Suite 200, will not only be able to score either a free Milk t-shirt OR a free Mercury t-shirt, but they will also be able to dig through a box of mystery CD's put up by our own Ezra Ace Caraeff and chose one to take home with them. For two bags of donated food you'll recieve a ticket to the Laurelhurst Theater.

And as an extra special Friday Flash Food Drive Bonus, the first five people to come to our offices at noon with two bags of food will be able to participate in today's lunchtime flavor tripping party!

What's flavor tripping, you ask? Let me tell you. Recently a little berry called Miracle Fruit has gained popularity among foodie types here in the US. What this magic little thing does is temporarily re-wire the taste-buds, augmenting the perception of sourness. In other words, with the aid of this berry, lemons supposedly taste like candy, and vinegar like sweet wine.

We received some Miracle Fruit tablets yesterday from R6XX.com and will be enjoying an odd buffet at noon today. But if you want to join us, you need to be one of the first five people to arrive at our office, at noon, with two bags of non-perishable food for the Oregon Food Bank.

If you don't make the cut, then why not just drop off your food and grab a Laurelhurst ticket? Besides, I know that you're not just being charitable for the incentives, you're doing it out of the kindness of your heart, and hungry Oregonians everywhere thank you for it!