Golden G. Richard III, Ph.D.
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September 20, 2004
Hurricanes, Starbucks SUCKS, Ubiquitous Mediocrity
Back from Memphis after Hurricane Ivan fleeing. New Orleans escapes completely unscathed--in fact, the only bad thing about the exodus was the complete lack of rain in New Orleans, which may have killed the Meyer lemon tree. Peace to all of the people who were less fortunate.
While in Memphis, I had the "opportunity" to visit Starbucks. The same old story--you're in a relatively unfamiliar place, Starbucks is everywhere, and someone suggests that we're "lucky" that Starbucks is around, because otherwise what would we do?
We're not lucky Starbucks is around. Their coffee is turd water. It's absolutely, hands down, the nastiest coffee I have ever tasted. The coffee at the Texaco station was far, far better.
I did find some good coffee shops in Memphis. If you look, so will you.
Don't celebrate ubiquitous mediocrity. Resist people who say that having Starbucks is a great last resort, even if you wouldn't normally frequent it. It's not. Resist people who say that Wal Mart is great for "people on a fixed income" or whatever excuse is offered. It isn't. It's corporate bullshit, people. Seek ye a coffee shop (or whatever) that requires someone to actually care about what they're serving. If you order an espresso drink and you see a single finger dart out to press a single black button that will yield up your coffee drink, say "no thank you" and walk.
Oh, and Starbucks pastries also suck. Don't bother.
Posted by Golden at 3:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2004
Recent Concerts
Flock of Seagulls: B
I dug the hair, being an advocate of messy hairstyles, but the hair is gone. The guitarist and bass player still give style a go, but now the lead singer just shows up in jeans, a pony tail, and a baseball cap? This isn't Flock Of Systems Administrators, man.
Still, some interesting tunes I wasn't familiar with, on the edge of punk. A good show.
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David Byrne: A+
One of the best concerts I've ever seen. David Byrne is the real thing. Musical styles all over the chart, executed brilliantly. Check out the tune "Lazy" on the new CD. The applause was so monumental that I almost lost my hearing! I also encountered The Most Annoying Person Ever at the concert. One or two "wooooooooo"s is acceptable, but W (it's a curse word now), you don't; have to "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" continuously, even through quiet strings passages? What a dork. Next time get a Drano-rita (with extra salt--I'll buy) and skip the thirteen hundred cheap beers. Or maybe there needs to be an IQ test before David Byrne shows?
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Siouxie and the Banshees: A
Wow--still basically the same stuff, but an amazing stage production--big drums, great costumes, beautiful twins on backup. Great show.
Posted by Golden at 9:31 AM | Comments (0)
September 8, 2004
Macs (A Treatise on Suck)
It's been written before, but not yet by me. Macs still suck. I own a few G4s running OS X, and the operating system is (finally) nice. But please, Apple, get over the one button mouse religion. People can still opt to use only one mouse button if they want, but it's a royal pain to have to reach for the keyboard constantly to perform operations that are better done with a right mouse click. Yes, I know I can purchase a different USB mouse. Fine for a desktop, not fine for a portable. And for the portable Macs, please, please, a trackpoint. Oh, and the keyboards (generally) suck, too.
Mac has another selling point. Digital forensics software for examination of Macs running OS X is far more limited than for other platforms (at least as I write this), so if you're gonna do bad things, Mac is the platform for you.
All that said, I am a wild supporter of people using Macs, because Windows sucks, too. But the keyboard on my Thinkpad is dreamy.
Posted by Golden at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)
Cage match: Community coffee vs. Finca El Jaguar
Community Coffee, the old Louisiana standby, isn't bad for pre-ground coffee. I picked some up as emergency backup last night and brewed it this morning (to avoid another cup of this really nasty Brazilian coffee, inflicted on me the last few days--this stuff was really old long before I ever opened the package. Shame on the local roaster for distributing it).
But it's not Fica El Jaguar:
I've been through about three bags of this recently and it's just superb. ~$10 for 12 oz.
Posted by Golden at 8:48 AM | Comments (0)
September 7, 2004
No Scatrix...
Well, the Scatrix technology column (in Scat Magazine) was short-lived. Interested in my rambling without the heavy-handed editing? Join me here, in blogland.
Posted by Golden at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)