Discount brew at the Green Machine · Thursday January 24, 2008 by colin newell
Starbucks is testing $1 coffee and free refills in its Seattle outlets as the global specialty coffee chain grapples with a downward trend in consumer spending and rising competition from fast-food rivals like McDonalds.
It seems that their share price is now half of what it used to be. Chances are this is more an indicator of investor jitters than anything else. It is not like the quality of their coffee has gone down hill or anything – because it hasn’t.
Combine that with a healthier new attitude about fat and calories and the result is – The classic Vente Mocha with extra whip is not getting ordered as often as it once was.
So. Starbucks has Howard Schultz back in the chief executive saddle. It also said it’s closing under-performing U.S. outlets to speed up international growth.
Times they are indeed a changing.
Comment [2]
Walmart rant #2 · Thursday November 29, 2007 by colin newell
Something wicked this way comes… and it’s arriving on our shores daily. And I blame you!
I have yet to blog much about China’s toxic waste exportation
program…
But.
I blame North Americans generally for their unceasing bleat
for “lower prices”.
Enter Walmart and their ilk – more than willing to help out
The main reason we see all this crap over here (from over there…)
is that we insist on 99 cent everything for our households.
So why are we surprised that Chinese-made, Walmart’s in-house Colgate Toothpaste contains anti-freeze?
Or that Chinese cat-food, Feline-Nibbles, contains, well, Puss…
and Boots!
And all those action-figures, plush-toys, duct-tape and roof repair gauze that contain a toxic buffet of industrial waste?
Hey. Our lowest price is your guarantee!
So. Todays headline is about Asbestos found in, of all things, the CSI Fingerprint kit… made in China and containing 5% asbestos.
And if you Google CSI Fingerprint kit right now, you will be amazed where you can still buy it… heat-resistant and all!
Hats off to the Chinese! · Thursday September 6, 2007 by colin newell
Over 40 million Chinese nationals are bloggers.
If you are an internet user in China – at home or in any internet cafe you can look forward to pop ups on your screen that remind you that you are being watched.
Any mention of Democracy online in China generally results in the dreaded ban of shame… or worse.
Of 61 people jailed World-wide for internet crime, 51 of them are in China.
Nice.
I reflect back on meeting and interviewing a mainland Chinese student at the University I work at.
She had no recollection of anything bad ever happening at Tiananmen Square.
That fact alone is sobering. It is harrowing. It is staggering.
So. To the millions of Chinese bloggers that stand diligent, that defy arrest and prosecution for expressing their free will:
I salute you.
Want to learn more about China online? Click here – Boxun.US
Movie review - Inland Empire · Friday July 6, 2007 by colin newell
Ok. I do not actually do movie reviews. But I am making an exception for those so unfortunate as to fall into the World of David Lynch. Here is your warning.
David Lynch’s latest movie (and I most certainly use this term loosely) Inland Empire is an utter mess.
Inland Empire is an amalgam of all the Lynchisms ever cast on celluloid.
And unless you knew this already, Lynch is the ultimate trickster – using obvious visual metaphors and simple stories to create the illusion of complexity and plot.
Inland Empire has no plot. There is no story. It is one manipulative juxtaposition after another – woven like a spider on LSD.
Inland Empire has it all; Dark corridors. Men and Women in rabbit suits. Dark language speaking gypsy freaks. Simple dialog repeated – delivered in circles. More dark corridors. More blood. Bare breasts. Heck, there is even a monkey.
Bottom line – if you are thinking of spending some money to see this movie. Do yourself a favor. Give the money to a stranger or street person. Or visit a bar on the wrong side of town. Walk up to a prostitute and offer her (or him) 50$ to take the night off. Anything. Just don’t see this movie.
David Lynch’s Inland Empire is film-making proof that the man that brought us Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and heck, even Dune has lost his marbles.
Colin Newell lives in Victoria and writes about pop culture, the arts, politics and Western Living. His only hope is that he is never forced to see a movie this bad… ever again.
Comment [3]
