Category: looky

something cool I found on the internets

McCafe

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I remember in 1995 (1994? somewhere around there) I joked that there should be a McSpresso. After an abortive test in the Chicago area in 2001, McCafé has made a landing (two landings) in the Silicon
Valley.

They seem to be pitched at people intimidated by Starbucks. Seriously.

When grabbing chashu bau from Hong Kong Bakery in Mountain View, we saw these two young guys dressed like Mormons handing out flyers. One of them had a huge tank strapped to his back which made him look like a supervillain. He dispensed coffee from a hose that ran along his arm… They were very cool, and we did some guerilla counter-meta-marketing by convincing them they needed pork buns for lunch. We got pamphlets and coupons for free coffee.

Anyway… went to McCafé today. It’s a McD’s with half of the space converted into a cafe, with a second counter just for coffee and espresso drinks, and cakes and sweets. They do have real dishes for “for here” orders, which is nice… this particular installation didn’t have much in the way of comfy chairs though.

The coffee was pretty good. The “medium” is about 10 ounces. The coffee is not as strong as Starbucks, and obviously nowhere near as full of drugs as Peet’s… so yeah, it is less threatening certainly. There aren’t any flavorings that I could see, and the menu is very simple.

I bantered with an older lady who was pounding some chocolate cake and apparently feeling a little guilty about it… there were a lot of old people there trying out the new restaurant. Early adopters! Everyone was friendly from being full of drugs and being at a palce they felt they knew, McDonald’s.

The day had kind of a dot-com feel to it… new toys, free stuff, and caffeine. Yay!

And of course there is WiFi at McCafé. Haven’t tried it yet… although I have to admit that now the prospect of having “Wayport” internet in McD’s is a lot less silly than it was before. Wifi in McD’s, silly. Wifi in McCafé, less silly. Who knew? They are tricky, those guys at McD’s.

Because I am a psychotic, and McCafé has no online presence as of yet, I’ve typed in the entire suite of marketing materials, minus the menu portion:

The mailer:

McCafé

Sit back in a comfy chair with a great cup of specialty coffee you actually ordered in three words or less

This easygoing experience is all about you, whether you stop awhile or get yours to go

So stop rushing and start Relaxing. Come in to McCafé.

The pamphlet:

finally, a coffeehouse without a superiority complex

Welcome

At last, a relaxing, friendly place for delicious specialty coffee. The more comfortable we can make your experience at McCafé, the better. The only thing you do is decide which coffee drink you want. Then sit back and enjoy.

User-friendly baristas

“Barista” is just another name for the friendly person behind the counter ready to take your order. Baristas make the espresso drinks, too. If you have questions, ask! They’ll be happy to offer questions so you get exactly the coffee drink you want.

Rich, delicious cofffee

The McCafé espresso is full-bodied, slightly woody, smooth, rich, and light with a vibrant character. The bean make-up is an Arabic bean that delivers the taste profile.

[Menu]

Back of pamphlet:

McCafé

Have a delicious day at McCafé

What makes a rich cup of coffee taste even better? Something delicious on the side. You’ll find an incredible variety of muffins, cakes, cookies, sweet treats, and gourmet sandwiches at McCafé. Fresh every day, we’ve always got something new that’s sure to tempt you.

Read on for a small sample of the wonderful things you’ll McCafé.

Muffins & Treats

At McCafé, you’ll find just the taste you were craving. Try a Dulce de Leche Muffin exuding a tempting combination of sweet cream and caramel flavors for an out of the ordinary taste treat. Or an irresistable Cinnamon Dream Roll with a generous topping of cream cheese frosting. Let chocolate infused with espresso flavor melt in your mouth with an Espresso Brownie.

Cakes

McCafé is a cake lover’s paradise. Sample that incredible incredible mouthful of chocolate pudding tucked between two layers of moist, dark chocolate cake, and you’ll know it’s true. Or try Apple Caramel Cake, moist sponge cake layered with tart apples, creamy caramel apple grammies, and walnuts. A Mocha Cheesecake, delicious swirled coffee and mocha flavors on a chocolate crust, is perfect for cheesecake fans.

Cookies

Everybody loves a good cookie. At McCafé, you’ll find just the one you wanted whether it’s a wonderful, cinnamon and gingery sweet classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookie or a classic Chocolate Chip Cookie that’s big, thick, and chunky, loaded with rich chocolate chips in every bite. Crisp Italians Biscotti offer the the perfect combination of taste and texture in Traditional and Decadent dipped in chocolate flavors.

Gourmet Sandwiches

Delicious gourmet sandwiches use fresh ingredients to create amazing, unexpected taste combinations like Turkey with Roasted Red Pepper & Gorgonzola on Tomato Focaccia. Or try a Smoked Chicken Salad Spinach Wrap with premium lettuce blnd & sliced tomato. And Smoked Ham & Swiss on Rosemary Panini with spring mix, sliced tomato & Swiss cheese sauce is sure to please!

Went to McCafé today. It’s a McD’s with half of the space converted into a cafe. The coffee was pretty good.

White Elephant

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We had a “white elephant” game at our office holiday party today- we stuffed ourselves with ice cream and cake and avoided work. I ended up with some ancient memory sticks, and I brought in some Japanese washi paper dolls which ended up being some of the more popular items- they were “stolen” several times.

I had rescued them from the trash when my dad moved his office. I think they were originally a present from a Japanese energy utility executive… the bases they were on were pretty cheap wood and originally they were in flimsy acetate cubes that had yellowed with age… although elegant, I’m guessing they were made as a kit by a executive’s wife. I’m not really into dolls, especially fragile paper ones that are constantly in danger of being squished, but I couldn’t quite just throw them away… I’m glad they have a home now, and nicer than the shelf in my garage.

I remember the first time I did this “white elephant” game- I had to be like 8 or something and I was at a friend’s birthday party. We all picked our presents, and I got something that was pretty cool. Everyone was into it. And then it got taken away. I couldn’t believe this was really the point of this game. I suddenly had a newfound interest in the rules- was he allowed to do that? Yep. Fucking assholes.

The moral of this story is-

  • you want something cool… but not too cool. Deprecate your item if you like it.
  • don’t get attached to your gift
  • don’t bring anything people will want very badly
  • don’t play this game if you are not yet in high school
  • in retrospect, maybe I should have just thrown a fit and threatened the rest of the party with insane violence. Hmmm…

Sort of a Zen lesson isn’t it? Impermanence… attachments… desire and suffering. It’s all in there. And all in about 20 minutes. What a deal!

The Rules:

  • Everyone brings in a wrapped gift, a “white elephant”- something which is not junk, but you don’t want it. The “wrapped” part is important.
  • everyone takes a number
  • in order, the players take turns
    1. you can take an unwrapped gift and unwrap it
    2. or you can take someone else’s gift
    3. if your gift is taken then you can pick again- an unwrapped gift or someone else’s
    4. The exception: any one gift cannot be stolen more than 3 times

Tantrums and beatings are optional.

Woodblock Monsters

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I’ve been looking for a big book of Japanese monsters for a while- the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has a Zazzle store with some of the woodblock images I’ve been looking for! A lead at last!

Hokusai, Japanese, 1760 – 1849 The Dish Mansion (Sara yashiki), from the series One Hundred Ghost Stories (Hyaku monogatari), 1830 Color woodcut Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Carlotta Mabury Collection

It looks like the Library of Congress has 5 original panels:

Hokusai Hyaku Monogatari (Ghost Tales)
Katsushika Hokusai
no Uchi Gomai

In kanji his name is “葛飾北斎” – the series of prints is “百物語” which you’ll notice is just “one hundred stories.” “Ghost” or “Monster” is obake which is written like “ã?ŠåŒ–ã?‘”.

Another artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) (月岡 芳年)

  • Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) (月岡 芳年)
  • Subject: Shomu and the elephant.
  • Series: Wakan hyaku monogatari (One hundred ghost stories of China and Japan). (芳年　和漢百物語)
  • Signature: Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga.

  • Date: 9/1865.
  • Publisher: Daikin.

  • Reference: Roger Keyes. Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: 1839-1892. Ann Arbor, 1983, series 134, no.23.
  • wakan (和漢) just means “japanese”

  • Artelino article

  • “Kingio Hideaki” may be another ghost image from this artist
  • Shoki – from Thirty-six Ghosts and Demons, 1890

  • Demon Attacking Watanabe no Tsuna, 1888
  • Japan Prints lists:
    • Fujiwara no Hidesato Shooting Centipede at Dragon Kings Palace
    • Takeda Katsuchiyo Killing an Old Badger in the Moonlight
    • Nitta Tadatsume Seeing an Apparition in a Cave
    • Sadanobu Threatening a Demon in the Palace at Night

    • Ghost of Wicked Genta Yoshihira Attacking Naamba Jiro – Waterfall
  • selling originals at Ukiyoe Gallery

  • “New Forms of Japanese Ghosts” (新形三å??六怪撰)
  • Is this an exhibit of some kind?

  • Kinokuniya has a book called yoshitoshi youkaihyakukei – (芳年妖怪百系) – “yoshitoshi’s series of 100 ghosts.” Its ISBN is 4336042020 and it costs about Â¥4000

Atari’s “Adventure” and Oral History

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Yorick is Wily
I was just reading about the Invisible Dot in Adventure the other day… there was this easter egg in “Adventure,” which was a really trippy game.

Adventure had dragons, and castles, and you had to get the Chalice back to the Yellow Castle.

The best thing about it was since it came out very early, no one had the manual (the manuals to Atari games always got lost), so there was all this oral mythology built up around the game. Like we called the dungeons “catacombs,” and all the dragons had names. Everyone had a theory on why the Bat did what it did, and how to fight the different dragons.

I don’t know if the names were from the manual, or if someone’s dad came up with them… the green one was called Grendel, and the Red one was called Yorick. I don’t remember the yellow dragon’s name, but he looked like Big Bird. The game was full of magic because of the oral history that surrounded it.

Anyway, the Invisible Dot was this thing somewhere in the Black Castle, where Yorick would hang out… After you kill Yorick, you somehow find this Invisible Dot using the Bridge or the Magnet or both… then you take it and put it behind a wall, and something secret happens.

We must have spent dozens of hours trying to find this damn thing, and in retrospect no wonder, because we were missing large amounts of details. Which wall? How do you find it if it’s invisible? How would you use the Magnet or the Bridge to get this thing? And what happens when you do this anyway?

I have since found out the real names of the dragons. And the plot. And a lot of hints that make the game a lot less mysterious. So I’m not going to tell you any of this legitimate information, because it’s no fun.

Stikfas

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I like the StikFas toys… they have a good look to them. My friend Max has a bunch of them on his tables and desks, etc… you can buy them in 10 packs now.

I like the giant robot one. And of course the Supervillain.

Some people customise them. It seems like a giant StikFas gallery is only a matter of time.

Unfortunately they cost like $10 each, and one of the little figures would be yet another piece of kibble floating around my place.

UPDATE

There is already a gallery of peoples’ collections on the Stikfas site called “stikfans”, as well as an entire directory of links to Stikfas enthusiasts’ sites (click on “links”… duh!).