Saturday, Aug 8, 2009
Absent a Forum to journey toward (fairly scarce here in SoCal, though we do have a coliseum), we'll just call these random travels:
Corporate Malfeasance (or, does the left hand know what the right is doing?) – CBS apparently hasn't kept their Watch! magazine columnists up-to-date with the company's recent acquisitions. Odd, since other parts of the August 2009 edition highlight several different sites that were part of the CNet purchase. Nominated for most clueless employee of the year with a symbolic demotion for mentioning TV.com's only real competition: Marianne O'Leary of the "Ask Mo" column (I have to admit, I got the most evil glee from this one):
Q: Guest star credits at the end of programs go by so fast. Is there someplace I can find out who played a character?
Mo: When I see a familiar face I can't quite place on my favorite programs, I'll try the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). It lists not only all of the regular performers on a series along with their other credits, but also the same information for the guest stars for each episode.
Perhaps she should also lose a month's salary for wildly overstating reality.
Proof That Water/Talent Rises To Its Own Level – Miley Cyrus, yet another pop sensation with no rhythm or discernible musical talent, has inked a clothing deal with Walmart. Yes, Walmart. A corporation with a miserable history of mistreating its employees, obliteration of small businesses, and a feudal view of America where Walmart plays royalty despite its place at the bottom of the shopping hierarchy.
Best Forum Response Ever – "Dude, don't be gooey chocolate chip cookie."
You Did See Who Ordered, Yes? – I stopped at a Del Taco (think Taco Bell but with better beans and fries) on the way home from the airport the other night. When I got to the window the girl asked me if I wanted ketchup, but didn't ask about the hot sauce. I didn't worry about this, because usually, if they don't ask my preference, they just take one look at my pale gringo face and load me up with mild. I got home to find two handfuls of "Del Inferno" in the bag with my food. Now, I ask you, really?
I'm Not Sure How I Could Have Been Clearer – While checking out at the grocery store, the girl who was bagging my purchases asked whether I wanted paper or plastic. I asked for paper. Imagine my bemusement when she loaded my paper bags, each lovingly bagged in its own plastic bag, into my shopping cart.
Last, but Not Least – The New York Times had an amusing and clever editorial on the battle over the origin of haggis. The full article can be read here if you're interested (it will probably require a free registration), but I thought I'd share the final lines that recommend the best way to eat haggis. You gotta love a dish that requires hard liquor to mask its taste
:
"Never heard of haggis? Never tasted it? Try it on your next visit to Scotland, or even England. It is best taken with mashed turnips, which, incidentally, were invented in Scotland, and with a shot of whisky. The whisky is to neutralize the taste of the haggis, and the turnips are there for health reasons. Highly recommended."
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Corporate Malfeasance (or, does the left hand know what the right is doing?) – CBS apparently hasn't kept their Watch! magazine columnists up-to-date with the company's recent acquisitions. Odd, since other parts of the August 2009 edition highlight several different sites that were part of the CNet purchase. Nominated for most clueless employee of the year with a symbolic demotion for mentioning TV.com's only real competition: Marianne O'Leary of the "Ask Mo" column (I have to admit, I got the most evil glee from this one):
Q: Guest star credits at the end of programs go by so fast. Is there someplace I can find out who played a character?
Mo: When I see a familiar face I can't quite place on my favorite programs, I'll try the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). It lists not only all of the regular performers on a series along with their other credits, but also the same information for the guest stars for each episode.
Perhaps she should also lose a month's salary for wildly overstating reality.
Proof That Water/Talent Rises To Its Own Level – Miley Cyrus, yet another pop sensation with no rhythm or discernible musical talent, has inked a clothing deal with Walmart. Yes, Walmart. A corporation with a miserable history of mistreating its employees, obliteration of small businesses, and a feudal view of America where Walmart plays royalty despite its place at the bottom of the shopping hierarchy.
Best Forum Response Ever – "Dude, don't be gooey chocolate chip cookie."
You Did See Who Ordered, Yes? – I stopped at a Del Taco (think Taco Bell but with better beans and fries) on the way home from the airport the other night. When I got to the window the girl asked me if I wanted ketchup, but didn't ask about the hot sauce. I didn't worry about this, because usually, if they don't ask my preference, they just take one look at my pale gringo face and load me up with mild. I got home to find two handfuls of "Del Inferno" in the bag with my food. Now, I ask you, really?
I'm Not Sure How I Could Have Been Clearer – While checking out at the grocery store, the girl who was bagging my purchases asked whether I wanted paper or plastic. I asked for paper. Imagine my bemusement when she loaded my paper bags, each lovingly bagged in its own plastic bag, into my shopping cart.
Last, but Not Least – The New York Times had an amusing and clever editorial on the battle over the origin of haggis. The full article can be read here if you're interested (it will probably require a free registration), but I thought I'd share the final lines that recommend the best way to eat haggis. You gotta love a dish that requires hard liquor to mask its taste
:"Never heard of haggis? Never tasted it? Try it on your next visit to Scotland, or even England. It is best taken with mashed turnips, which, incidentally, were invented in Scotland, and with a shot of whisky. The whisky is to neutralize the taste of the haggis, and the turnips are there for health reasons. Highly recommended."
I hope everyone has a great weekend.
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Posted Aug 8, 2009 6:47 am PT
Thanks for this blog. Exactly what I needed now.
Posted Aug 8, 2009 8:29 am PT
Great blog, Layle. LOL on the Haggis story. All of it, really. We all know what a mess is being made of this formerly lovely site. Is it just me, or has the blog comment window developed a new and disturbing tic for everyone? Namely, when I click inside it, the screen rapidly scrolls back to the top of the page. 
Plus the "comments" line has vanished from the blog listings on everyone's home page unless you're actually IN the blog!?!?!
Plus the "comments" line has vanished from the blog listings on everyone's home page unless you're actually IN the blog!?!?!
Posted Aug 8, 2009 12:40 pm PT
A nice story about CBS incompetence...
It's long been known that the English gave us the "pudding", the entrails of a pig or sheep stuffed with meat, oatmeal and spices, then boiled or steamed. The latest controversy was sparked because The English Hus-wife, a cookbook published in England in 1615, contains a recipe for such a pudding described as haggis and predating the first recorded use of the word in Scots writings. That might mean the English had it first, but the Chinese were eating something similar thousands of years earlier. Hoeech's take suggests a historic relationship between the Scots and English that never existed, but one which reflects the life of the Anglo-Saxon peasantry under their Norman overlords. There is no question but that the haggis was a labourer's meal - low grade animal products leavened with grain - but a haggis sourced from an independent Scots butcher is a genuine taste sensation. The whisky isn't there to mask the taste, but as an aid to conviviality.
TheOldBill: Wal-Mart employee.
It's long been known that the English gave us the "pudding", the entrails of a pig or sheep stuffed with meat, oatmeal and spices, then boiled or steamed. The latest controversy was sparked because The English Hus-wife, a cookbook published in England in 1615, contains a recipe for such a pudding described as haggis and predating the first recorded use of the word in Scots writings. That might mean the English had it first, but the Chinese were eating something similar thousands of years earlier. Hoeech's take suggests a historic relationship between the Scots and English that never existed, but one which reflects the life of the Anglo-Saxon peasantry under their Norman overlords. There is no question but that the haggis was a labourer's meal - low grade animal products leavened with grain - but a haggis sourced from an independent Scots butcher is a genuine taste sensation. The whisky isn't there to mask the taste, but as an aid to conviviality.
TheOldBill: Wal-Mart employee.
Posted Aug 8, 2009 5:13 pm PT
Great blog! Thanks for the enjoyable read!!!
Posted Aug 8, 2009 8:56 pm PT
Well, clearly, the employee followed your directions - he or she did indeed give you paper bags. The plastic bags were merely a "free gift with purchase."
Posted Aug 10, 2009 12:38 pm PT
LOL @ pale gringo face. Shouldn't that be gringa? You didn't say what you did with the Del Inferno stuff? Did you use it to kill fire ants?
Posted Aug 20, 2009 6:58 pm PT
Hoeech: So true about Cyrus and her fans. No desert, but my environment became Dali-esque, and the Scream melted down my wall. Strangely, my spirit guide was Tori Amos...
dju: Glad you enjoyed it, and that it was timed fortuitously
m00nshadow: Thanks! I hate that the comments count is gone from the summary page. I always forget to click in and check for new replies.
TOB: Oh, man! That editorial was posted from Edinburgh by a very Scottish name (or so I thought: Alexander McCall Smith), so I thought I was safe. No offense was intended, and I'll keep your recommendation in mind if I'm ever in your neck of the woods/highlands. My condolences for your current employment situation.
mccar: Thanks! (And you're welcome
)
Finnegan: LOL It's all in the perspective, I guess.
Paula: Gringa would have been more accurate, yes, LOL. Now that you mention it, I should have kept it around for that. We've just entered ant season here, and that stuff would probably be way more effective than the baking soda I'm using to keep my cat healthy.
dju: Glad you enjoyed it, and that it was timed fortuitously
m00nshadow: Thanks! I hate that the comments count is gone from the summary page. I always forget to click in and check for new replies.
TOB: Oh, man! That editorial was posted from Edinburgh by a very Scottish name (or so I thought: Alexander McCall Smith), so I thought I was safe. No offense was intended, and I'll keep your recommendation in mind if I'm ever in your neck of the woods/highlands. My condolences for your current employment situation.
mccar: Thanks! (And you're welcome
)Finnegan: LOL It's all in the perspective, I guess.
Paula: Gringa would have been more accurate, yes, LOL. Now that you mention it, I should have kept it around for that. We've just entered ant season here, and that stuff would probably be way more effective than the baking soda I'm using to keep my cat healthy.
Posted Aug 21, 2009 3:50 pm PT
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- layle1
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Hoeech
After eating your meal, did you begin hallucinating in the desert and start talking to your spirit guide (who sounds just like Johnny Cash)?
A mind is a terrible thing to waste…and nowhere is that more apparent than in most supermarket staffs.
Haggis was an improvised dish created by the Scots when the English would take most of the livestock and leave them with the unwanted bits. WHY would they cling to this collection of sheep guts as a national identity marker?