TW3.7*
May 07, 2005
- Annals of Linguistic Surrender
The otherwise unstoppable A.C. Douglas - do not cross this man when it comes to all things Wagnerian - just gives up and consents to use that awful coinage, "blog."
- Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Vinous
Thanks to Professor Bainbridge on Wine, now we know what Governor Schwarzenegger can serve when he invites recalcitrant legislators into his tent:
The wine industry's seduction of the American female consumer has begun. Not to be outdone by Victoria's Secret, laundry detergent and countless other products, the "girlie" wine has dawned, dressed in gift bags resembling see-through organza negligees and bearing cosmetics-counter names like Seduction or hip-cute ones like Rosé the Riveter or Mad Housewife.
The quoted New York Times article has largely disappeared into the archives -- fortunately, Professor B incorporates a lengthy excerpt -- so those who are curious about this latest focus grouped abomination must look elsewhere, such as this Business Week interview with some of its perpetrators.
Will women really buy a wine just because of a "curly scripted label and 'wink-wink' marketing"? The entire approach strikes me as more condescending and insulting than anything else, especially when it's all done in the cause of selling a wine that apparently isn't very good in the first place. *Sigh*
- And while we are on the subject of wine
Don't try telling me that the Wikipedia is unreliable. How could one not place the utmost faith in a project that sees fit to support its article on the Bronco Wine Company with a link to this impeccable source. Ha!
- "My Mind's Free of the Tyranny of Minutiae!"
The Revolution may not be televised, but it will be presented at a self-help seminar near you. Valuable tips (really!) from Emma Goldman and Mikhail Bakunin in:
Time Management for Anarchists: The Movie.
[Link via Lifehacker. Now if only I could take these lessons to heart.]
- Your Minimum Daily Requirement of Cuteness
Happy bouncy spiky things -- slithy toves, perhaps? -- bounce in happy spiky fashion in this animation for Felt Melt, a tune by the French electronic artist Laurent Girard, who records as melodium. If you enjoy it, that track and another from M. Girard are downloadable at betterPropaganda.
- And while we are on the subject of pleasant and unpretentious music
You might also heed Pattie's recommendation from mid-March and treat yourself to a download of the fragrantly-monikered Guano Boys' reggae-spiced cover of the World's Favorite Guitar Song, Santo and Johnny's Sleep Walk, available here. Just when you think it's over . . . mmmmm, flugelhorn.
- In Closing: Mandatory Los Angelocentric Content
A link in L.A. Observed leads to Los Angeles Time Machines, a site devoted to the still-standing exemplars of Los Angeles restaurants and bars from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s -- places the likes of Canter's, El Coyote and the HMS Bounty. The Bounty was still the preferred lunchtime watering hole for Los Angeles' leading insurance attorneys when I was starting out in the law game. Three stiff scotches and back before the jury. O, they were giants in those days (or at least their livers were giants).
~~~
* Nomenclatural Explication: TW3 is the preferred shorthand for "That Was The Week That Was" -- get it? TWTWTW=TW3? -- a current-events-based satirical program created for the BBC in 1962 then imported in an American version that ran on NBC (live, from New York) between 1963 and 1965. Featuring such notables as David Frost (imported from the original), Buck Henry, Alan Alda and puppeteer Burr ("Kukla, Fran and Ollie") Tillstrom, the program is best remembered today for having incorporated the occasional song by Tom Lehrer, whose contributions were later compiled as That Was the Year That Was
And if visiting El Coyote, be sure to sample the Enchiladas Howard. 2 cheese enchiladas smothered in chile colorado, and the Margaritas are very good too, have a double.
And don't get me started on Canter's; heaven on rye!
Posted by: Rick Coencas | May 09, 2005 at 06:54 AM