Arrrrr… BOOM!

I look like a pirate!
Sorta. Today, I put on a red shirt, a burgundy dress shirt thing, and jean shorts. Then I remembered that I have a tricorner hat that I got in Colonial Williamsburg a few years ago. I had forgotten about the feather in it. Anyway, I put it on, looked in the mirror, and I look sorta like a pirate. A patriotic pirate, but a pirate nonetheless.

Anyway, in lieu of actual fireworks, my parents and I are going to explode some bottles of soda with Mentos mints. We haven't tested it out yet, but you drill a tiny hole in a soda bottle cap, thread some thread or string through the hole, and tape the string that comes out of the bottom of the cap to a single Mentos mint. Not the entire tube. Then, get a bottle of a cheap soda. Diet soda leaves less of a mess because it won't be as sticky as regular soda. Then, replace the cap of the soda bottle with your Mentos + thread cap. Be sure to keep the Mentos out of the soda! Then, when the cap is on, give the thread a hard jerk—and get out of the way. Apparently, the Mentos acts as a catalyst and makes the soda release all of its carbon dioxide all at once—and it goes BOOM. Of course, I haven't actually tried this yet. If I remember, I'll say if it works later. Maybe.