Category: Culture

Second front opens in the coffee war

2nd St. in Belmont Shore is under siege from two Starbucks – one at either end of town. There are some other coffee bars in town – a Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf and a couple of struggling indie shops but Belmont is pretty much under the yoke of the Starbucks tyranny.

Until today when I noticed the following sign going up on the building directly opposite one of the Starbucks. Finally for once, someone is going on the attack and locating their shop across from a Starbucks instead of the other way around.

 

peets-longbeach

I’m unbelievably happy that a Peet’s is going up here.

Goth psy-op campaign backfires

The Daily Record reports…

ART gallery bosses tried to scare off gangs of Goths with classical music.

But it backfired on them as the youngsters – fans of shock-rockers such as Marilyn Manson and Slipknot – discovered an unexpected taste for Vivaldi.

Even more of them turned up at their meeting place outside Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art as the classical tunes blasted from its windows.

Didn’t they realize that Bach is goth requisite #2 after a Sisters Of Mercy record?

Please say no to this

A post on the NYC Craig’s List is making the rounds…

Ladies,

Please help me in killing this phrase: “partner in crime”.

Why?

It’s un-funny, too precious, and it has become an awful cliche.

What can you do to help?

1)Don’t use it in personal ads.

2)Advise your friends not to use it in personal ads.

Thanks and best of luck.

Yours,
The English Language

Escape to Tikiland

Immerse yourself in Tiki at this Polynesian-themed apartment building.

Have you ever wished to live in a place where your neighbors appreciate a fine tiki carving, a rare tiki mug, classic exotica, a superbly mixed mai tai? Consider moving to the Lemoyne Lanai, the future clubhouse of the tiki set.

The Lemoyne Lanai is a four unit apartment building situated in Echo Park, just north of Downtown Los Angeles and next door to Silverlake. The Lanai offers very spacious 1 and 2 bedroom apartments! Off street parking! Easy access to many freeways! Hardwood floors!

What Protects the French From Heart Disease?

Science marches onward and takes another crack at the “French Paradox” – a term that doctors, nutritionists, and their like refer to the French diet paradox. The French eat fatty food, smoke, and drink more than other western country, yet they have lower risks of heart disease. Is it the wine? Not really, but it is cultural…

So, I looked around the world at eating habits, and ended up focussing on France. If one thing above all stands out about French culture, in relation to British culture, it is their attitude to food and eating. The average Brit treats meals as a refuelling exercise, the French, most clearly, do not. They spend hours eating meals, relaxing, enjoying the food. It is a social occasion.

…

Anyway, to return to the question posed in the title of this article. What protects the French? I think it is clear that they are protected not by what they eat, but by how they eat. By eating in a relaxed fashion they do not pit the system of anabolism and catabolism against each other, they do not trigger insulin resistance, and hyperglycaemic spikes, and therefore they do not damage the endothelium in the prandial/post-prandial state. Vive la France!

Vive la France indeed!

The Color of Cool: All about blue LEDs

Much like how the 1990s were dominated by black consumer technology design (black stereos, black refrigerators, black clock radios, etc.), the first decade of the 21st century will be remembered as the decade of brushed metal and blue LEDs. The metal look has already been around for a couple of years now with the trend towards steel “professional grade” kitchen appliances, car advertisements with silver cars, the Titanium PowerBook I’m typing this ‘blog entry on. Heck even most of the logos on movie posters.

Along with the bare metal, blue LEDs are the other key feature of early 21st century design. Admittedly, they do look very cool, but ten years from now we’ll look back the metal and blue as we do with the black (and impossible to see) stereos from the 1990s. Anyway, Business 2.0 looks at the current reign of blue.

Looking around for some blue here, and all I’ve got handy is the T68i phone which is blue, has blue LEDs, and connects to my computer over, er, Bluetooth.

[via Gizmodo]