Category: weirdity

Schadenfreude

–noun
satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune.

Yup. American society, in general, seems to love them some schadenfreude.

Some coffee fans get grim delight in Starbucks woes

Really? Why?

I mean, if you say to me, “Well, I don’t really care for Starbucks coffee because it’s too strong/weak/bitter/strange for me”, then great. No one says you gotta like everything.

But if you say “feh! F–k ’em because they became so successful”…well that’s just mean. And elitist.

So while the coffee snoots are busy scribbling bad poetry in their local coffee shop, feeling superior that Starbucks seems to be faltering, they seem to forget it was the coffee snoots themselves who made Starbucks what they are.

Starbucks used to be the low-down cool thing. It used to quietly be the “in” thing, where the coffee snoots went for a cuppa and conversation. Starbucks was filling an unfilled need. Or they created a need.

That is capitalism at it’s finest!

So suddenly they go from being good to being dirt because they are worldwide? And making money? So neener neener now that you’ve come upon hard times?

As a Starbucks stockholder, I see this retrenching as a good thing, actually, for the long term health of the company.

It blows that people will be out of work and stores will pull out of neighborhoods, but I honestly believe “getting back to core competencies” is the right thing to do in this down economy.

Ah, that’s just me being rational again. I hate it when I get like that…

(note to my favorite New Mexico Barista: Hang in there friend!)

The iTunes Phenomenon

One of the really cool features of iTunes is Sharing. So the deal is, when there are other people on your same network, if they turn sharing on, you can listen to their iTunes library. Not copy, but listen.

Cool, no? Working in an office like I do, there is a whole long list of other people’s music I can check out. I’ve found some good stuff this way. For example, it’s how I got turned on to the Gypsy Kings.

I’ve also been on the sharing side. I say without shame I’m the proud owner of “Ultimate Daryl Hall & John Oates”, a two disc best of compilation. And I’ve discovered LOTS of people are really into Hall & Oates, because they stop me in the halls and comment on listening to my iTunes Library.

But here’s what gets my OCD up…

When I look at other’s iTunes collections, they are SO neat and quite tidy. Full albums. All band names and titles in their proper place. Neatly arranged and ordered for maximum findability.

My library on the other hand is a mish-mash. One song from an artist here. Six full albums from another artist (*coff*FleetwoodMac*coff*) over there. Chock a block full of “iTunes Artist of the Day” downloads from Starbucks.

And then there are the oddball Christmas downloads leftover from the Napster free-for-all days. No, the RCIAA didn’t come after me for payment on that copy of Billy Squier‘s “Christmas is a Time to Say I Love You”. I’m sure they snickered when my download log came across their desk.

Comparatively, my iTunes library looks like a twister came through and jumbled all the pieces.

Ah well, I hit “shuffle” and it all seems to work out.

The other fun thing about Sharing on iTunes is that you learn a LOT about people based on what music they have in their collection.

The most startling so far is an older gentleman I work with. A quiet gent, hails from Ireland and speaks with a soft brogue. Been married over forty years, kids long raised, he’s a quiet respectful guy.

His iTunes library contains, and I’m not making this up:

Pussycat Dolls
Jessica Simpson
Ashlee Simpson
Britney Spears
Rhianna

Just to name a few. TOTALLY unexpected. He claims he enjoys these artists for the music……

Then again, what does MY iTunes library say about me? Hmm……I think I’ll go uncheck “Sharing” now…

Mind your spelling

This as a follow up to yesterday’s post.

Seems the f-bomb has become quite the expressive word!

News out of London….Ah the Brits.

quote:

“The Times newspaper on Monday quoted examiner Peter Buckroyd as saying he gave (a) student — who wrote an expletive starting with f, followed by the word “off” — two points out of a possible 27 for the English paper.

‘…it does show some very basic skills we are looking for, like conveying some meaning and some spelling,’ Buckroyd was quoted as saying.

Buckroyd said the student would have received a higher mark if the phrase had been punctuated.”

end quote

Hey, at least it was spelled right! And heckMr. Censorship! brought the thunder with punctuation. Extra credit!

These days at my job, the f-bomb is just another overused adjective. It doesn’t even carry a punch anymore.

But yesterday and today, quite the media darling. A meme even!

Source

What’s in a name?

As spotted in the Albuquerque Journal…

quote:

“The state Court of Appeals has ruled against a Los Alamos man who wanted to change his name…to ‘F— Censorship!'”
________

Well all righty! Here, I’m freaking out trying to think of all the places I’ll have to go to make sure my new married name is on record. Meanwhile, there are people who do this kind of thing every day!

More:

“(The) law was clarified in a 2004 case in the same court that apparently involved the same petitioner. In that case, an Albuquerque man whose name was Snaphappy Fishsuit Mokiligon got the go-ahead from the appeals court to change his name to Variable.”
_____

And now Variable wants to be F— Censorship! Um. How do you put that on checks? Do people call you Mr. Censorship? Is the exclamation point part of the name?

This sends the creative juices a’flowing in my mind. I mean, the possibilities are ENDLESS. If I’m already in there mucking around with my legal name, are there other things I’d like to append on there?

Sockittome G Fingledangerburginstein?

Or maybe go with the one name in the vein of Cher, Madonna and Iman.

How about…

Cranky

Or…

Chartreuse

Or

Mood

Hmm.

Much to ponder………

How many of you who sit and judge me…

…have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

Sorry Mr. Owens. I don’t judge you. Never did. But I’m here to pass a little judgment on your hometown.

On this last road trip through the Golden State, I had occasion to stop off in Bakersfield. As a matter of fact, we needed petrol, and Buck Owen’s Blvd. off of Highway 99 seemed as good an exit as any to take.

At the bottom of the freeway ramp, there stood Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace. And not much more. We weren’t of a mind to visit the palace, tho it was interesting to see. But the gas/food/lodging situation in that area was sketchy to say the least.

It was all just…weird.

I’m a big fan of Buck Owens and think he’s about the most talented musician I ever knew, along with a great self-deprecating sense of humor.

I can’t help but think his old hometown hasn’t quite done him the justice he deserves. The place to go to remember him is a weird neighborhood filled with strange businesses.

Who knows, I may be missing something…

Then again, it is California’s Central Valley. A David Lynch movie waiting to happen…