American Madness

Articles like this one from Reuters tend to get me a bit flustered and frustrated, I have already deleted my initial rant and started over to try and focus my issues.

The article is about men who do food shopping and how they essentially can not handle the intricacies of a supermarket. Well, I am a man who does supermarket shopping and I have no problem with a supermarket.

I guess my biggest problem with this article, and more so with the research, is how much is left out and the implications that are being made based on the vague research. (more…)

The newest target by environmental activists is bottled water (”Bottled Water: No Longer Cool?”). Complaints range from water bottles adding additional litter to landfills to arguments “that the commercialization of water undermines the idea that people are entitled to safe, clean drinking water [for free].”
As companies like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are just filtering tap water to turn a profit, I am guessing this isn’t going to make it very far as a movement. I know if I could turn on my sink, run a Brita and bottle it all in 1/2 liter bottles and make $1 off each of those bottles I’d be at home right now with every sink in the apartment running.

In other water news Coca-Cola just paid out $4.1 Billion to buy Glaceau, the producer of Smart Water and Vitamin Water. This article has caused me to question my beliefs, was I drawn to Smart Water due to its cultivation of “an anti-establishment image, complete with cheeky sayings and the shunning of capital letters on its stylishly simple labels.” And if that is the case will I still be able to drink my Smart Water knowing that beneath that anti-establishment veneer they are owned by a soul crushing global corporation?

Yeah, I don’t think it will be too big a problem.

Oh, then there is this piece from the Atlantic Journal-Constitution about how bottled water is outselling milk, and *gasp* is closing in on beer sales.

So I like to grill. In fact, somehow, over the years I have ended up with two grills in my backyard. One is for meat, the other is for other meats, or the occasional veggie burger.
I don’t really consider it going overboard. In fact, I rarely use both grills at the same time (well except for my birthday last year, where besides the obligatory sausages, hamburgers and hot dogs we also had 3 different types of ribs).

Although this grill scares me, it is clearly meant for the serious griller: someone who feels he is missing out by only being able grill 3 or 4 animals at a time, and really wants to bring his game up to have 6 or 7 animals grilling at once. With its 1,370 square inches of cooking space, this grill is clearly not meant for the faint of heart (or for anyone who might be at risk for heart disease). But at only $500 and taking up only 20 sq inches of deck space it seems like it might be quite a bargain.

So before checking out the website I knew it was called Give Us Back New York and immediately assumed it was some crappy Hipster site about how great New York used to be before gentrification. I am tired of that bullshit argument, especially from Hipsters who moved here 5 years ago and are nostalgic for a New York that never really existed.

Instead I was pleasantly surprised to see that, while it is an anti-gentrification site, it is to revert New York back to New Amsterdam, proposing a Dutch take over of the city. Fun site with some interesting views of what the city could be like under Dutch Rule. I think I need to get me one of them I (heart) NA tshirts. I especially like their idea of filling in the rivers with landmass

I stand by what I have had to say about CitySearch.
If you are censored from writing an honest review what is the point of writing at all.  Knowing that all of their reviews may not fully reflect the actual quality of the restaurant leads me to write them off.
As I have been ranting about them here and feuding with them over email. I do feel obligated to post their final* repy to me about why I was not allowed to discuss my experience:

Hi Matt,
Thanks for contacting us with your concerns. Regarding your review, we ask our users not to mention potential health code violations. Your review mentions bugs, roaches and bad oysters, all of which are health code violations.
We’re more than happy to host negative reviews, but we want them to adhere to our guideline, which you can find here: http://national.citysearch.com/saved/html/my_citysearch/terms_of_use.htm
l. Scroll down to ‘Posting Reviews on Citysearch.com‘ and you should see them.
We hope you’ll revise your review with the recommend changes so we can put it back on the site.
Thanks, and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Best,
Joe
Citysearch User Review Monitoring Team

So, yes, they do have a monitoring team, but still honesty is not at the top of their agenda. I understand the argument that anyone can log in and write a slanderous review, but anyone can write in and write a glowing review as well.

*final because I have no intention of fighting over this any more, I am simply writing CitySearch off and deleting them from my bookmarks 

So, I spend a lot of time in books stores, mostly the Borders around the corner from where I work, but also The Strand, Barnes & Noble and Shakespeare & Co. Walking down Washington Square Park I tend to check otu the latest titles that the guys on the street have available.
Usually when I decide on a book there is a pretty good reason; I know the author; It’s been recommended by a friend; I’ve read a good review about it. But some times I just like to choose a book or two based on cover design. For the most part I haven’t been let down.
Now some people may laugh at me for this, citing the old adage “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” but I don’t believe that, and I bet there are a bunch of cover designers out there who would agree with me as well.
Think about it, from the moment you walk into a book store companies are going to hope that you buy their book rather then another companies book. And what better way to target their book to you then with a snazzy cover design.
For some books this may mean putting a celebrity authors name or face right there on the front, but for most books, especially the ones I read it is more about appealing to a demographic.
The cover is the draw, when I pick up a book I never heard by someone I have never heard of there has got to be a good reason. Once I have that book in my hand the cover has almost accomplished its job, the second part is the back cover, tell me enough, make the book sound interesting enough in 10 sentences or less and I am sold. This was how I discovered books like Post Office by Charles Bukowski (I am now on the third book I have read by him), this past week I read African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou, turned out to be a pretty good book. Every now and then when I am looking for a quick “beach read” I’ll look for a brightly colored cover with a fun graphic on it that I like. Yes, some times I am led astray, but for the most part I am spot on. Those folks out there designing covers for books definitely know their job, and for the most part do it well.
So, next time you are stuck looking for a book to read, why not pick up that one you’ve never heard of, but keep glancing at because of its nice cover. Give it a try, who knows what you will find under that cover.
I’ll tell you another time about how most of the time I spend in book stores I am reading books I have no intention of buying, but that is for a different holiday weekend.
Enjoy your three days off, I’ll get caught up with some more posts come Tuesday.

Am I a bad person that the entire content of this press release makes me giggle a bit?

Apparently Memorex produces some compressed air that kids are using for huffing. To curb this problem they are introducing an additive to the product to make it less pleasant to inhale. It seems that 2.1 million idiot teens (12-17) have tried huffing. This honestly doesn’t seem like the biggest problem to me, in fact maybe it is a good thing, thinning out the pack a bit, if you will.

Okay now here is what I don’t get- If a kid is buying an air canister to get high, aren’t they just going to buy a different brand now? And if this is a serious concern of parents that they are buying the Memorex brand now to prevent huffing, shouldn’t they maybe having a talk with their kids instead?

Now I am wondering if the joy I get from blowing all that dust off my keyboard isn’t from having a nice clean area but rather a contact high. Next time I am inclined to clean my keyboard will I find myself gagging instead?

Some folks out there may have been aware that last week was the Congressional Food Stamp Challenge where congress men & women ate for a week on a food stamp budget (in NY that is $28 a week). You can read about some of their experiences here.

Think you could do it? What would you eat? Where would your money go to?
I am considering giving it a try, see how far I could get on $28 a week (or $4 a day), unfortunately I really like to eat, but it does make you think about the poverty levels and how much the government really is “helping.”

Something to consider. Anyone up for trying this out with me in order to gain a deeper understanding of what the government considers to be passable?

This photo comes from Live Journal. Some people over there are commenting on the sheer laziness. I think technologies invasiveness into our life is a better way of looking at it.

If you want to comment on peoples laziness I think a much better example comes to us from the Wall Street Journal who reports on the Home Shopping Network (HS) and EchoStar Communications who have just penned a deal to allow viewers to order products with their remote control (because picking up the phone and dialing was really getting to be too much). No wonder there are obesity problems in the country. Here is a preview of the article “HSN Eyes ‘Remote’ Shopping” since I am not a subscriber I can’t see it all

Have you ever wanted a taxidermed animal in your home or office, but the usual rabbit/bird/squirrel/armadillo just aren’t quite what you are looking for? Well then just head on over to Custom Creatures.

At Custom Creatures Sarina Brewer is whipping up some nice taxidermy pieces of both the ordinary variety and the well, let’s go with surreal. Like the winged kitten or the Siamese twin squirrels or go straight for the mythological with the Griffin or Chupacabra.

Sarina also has a fine collection of “Cryptic Curios” and “Pickled Pets,” well, finest collection I have seen at least. Even if you aren’t in the market for one of these it is a neat site to check out.