The fair reader of this minor journal would already know that, in the past at least, I have actively and openly despised Starbucks for their drinks, which more closely resemble buckets of frothy milk than fine espresso-based beverages.

However, my perception of Starbucks has changed dramatically now that I see their efforts to debunk an activist video posted on YouTube by Oxfam. It appears that, in posting this video, Oxfam overreacted violently to ill-informed hype-mongering. I am incredibly impressed at the taste and tact of Starbucks’ official video reaction, published as a video response to that original movie directly.

Good on you Starbucks, mostly for being relevant, cutting-edge and tasteful with your PR. I’ll be sure to drop in for a questionable-quality espresso-based milk bucket next time I’m in the area.

I have just come into the possession of some Shure E4 earphones. My, they’re good. Read on for more reviewy goodness.

(more…)

I am very glad that this year’s lead up to Christmas has been less hectic and more reflective than the years in my most recent memory. Winding down to a festive season is quite enjoyable, even if that season is perpetuated by the consumerism of the free market machine.

Allow me to draw your attention to a comment by Peter Travers in reviewing The Prestige:

Nolan directs the film exactly like a great trick, so you want to see it again the second it’s over. I’d call that wicked clever.

And now this, from Scott Foundas on Casino Royale:

What’s appealing about Bond is precisely its unhip classicism — its promise of clean, crisp excitement delivered without the interference of whiplash-inducing camera pyrotechnics, attention-deficient editing patterns, gratuitous color tinting and/or ear-splitting rock ballads.

Both of them quite accurate in my opinion.

The night before last I slept really really well. Like, the way new parents would expect a baby to sleep, given the overworked cliché “to sleep like a baby”. Eight hours of blissful unconsciousness, to awake to a bright new week before my alarm rang. Monday morning and I was rested!

However, last night I did not have so much sleep. Six hours, not quite so rested before turning in, and I awake this morning with not a little displeasure at the sound of the Buzzing Sleep Interrupter.

Here’s what I realise now: tired is the new black. I am so used to being under-slept that being the opposite actually feels foreign. For probably the last five years I have been operating on the assumption that a certain level of tiredness was normal, particularly given the amount of stuff I need (prefer?) to achieve each day.

I think I’ll shoot for more than six hours’ slumber per night from here on…