Calimocho!!!

I thought I should share my amusement regarding the beverage my dear roommie is currently drinking. It's half cheap red wine and half Coca-Cola with ice. I guess this is a popular drink in Spain that has been around since the early 70s. It was invented by poor teenagers who needed a quick buzz and wanted to mask the taste of cheap wine. A little sweet and fuzzy and surprisingly refreshing. Most importantly, it's P-rock! A new opportunity for Coke perhaps.

Welcome to America...

Kogibbq

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know (especially fellow LA foodies) but I have now joined the masses in feeling the obsession for Kogi tacos. If you haven't tried them yet, it's a must. Definitely the best non-Mexican tacos I have ever tried - bold statement. It's Korean bbq delivered via a taco truck that you can only find by following them on Twitter. I tried the short rib taco, the spicy chicken taco and the spicy pork taco. All amazing but my fav was the short rib taco which is their signature item.

Soda Pound Cake

I saw this pound cake made by Crush and 7up today - yes, the sodas. Sometimes brand extensions make sense, sometimes they don't. I couldn't get myself to try it so I suppose I can't be too judgemental. What do you think?

Wake Up People, Coffee Does Not Cost $5!

I have recently been haunted by the misconception that coffee is $5, when in reality that is not true. For some reason really smart people love to state this time and time again. I even hear this in casual conversations with friends and family as they recall the days when coffee didn't cost $5 - what the heck are they drinking these days?! A Venti Frappuccino with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and an extra shot of espresso is not coffee.


Let me begin with citing a few (of many) recent examples I have come across...

In his spectacular book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely discusses how people create price anchors that help them determine the value of comparable products based off their initial experience with a competing brand. He reminds us of our first Starbucks experience after having been use to Dunkin' Donuts coffee prices (whatever that may be). "The prices of the coffee (at Starbucks) are a shock... and (we) are now curious about what coffee at this price might taste like... you don't know how you got into this price bracket in the first place." He however states a Tall (aka small) cup of coffee at Starbucks costs $2.20 which to me does not sound unreasonable. I read it's priced different geographically; for me it use to be $1.70 but I noticed last week a small now costs $2.00.

On http://www.ted.com/ there is a talk by Joseph Pine called What do consumers really want? He discusses how people want to feel that what they buy is authentic, but that being authentic is difficult for brands to achieve. He sites a few examples that are perceived not to be authentic where the brand is still able to make money. He says that when you treat coffee as an authentic experience, which Starbucks proves to do, this allows them to charge you "2,3,4, even $5 for a cup of coffee" - oh brother.

There is this article on Forbes.com written in 2003 about 7-Eleven ramping up their coffee offering. They state that "The drinks will cost about $1 per cup instead of the typical coffee house prices hovering between $3 and $4."

Anyways, I'm sure you have all either said the $5 cup of coffee lie or heard it before. I read an article recently (I can't recall where) that said Starbucks is ready to challenge this false misconception and I could not be any happier.

A small cup of coffee at Starbucks is $2 (give or take). A Starbucks cup of coffee is considered to be of greater quality than coffee in the past, or even coffee at your local mini-mart. Also, I recall when coffee came in those small styrofoam cups that were 8 ounces whereas a small cup of Starbucks is 12 ounces. Also, remember those gross dairy-free powder creams? Starbucks allows you to use as much fresh milk as you would like, which of course costs money. While paying for the experience exists to a degree, some of us grab our coffee and get out of the door having spent $2 which to me, does not sound unreasonable. I wish Starbucks all the best in refuting this myth.

At the end of the day, I think the coffee war is simple - provide a variety of offerings with customization and high quality at a fair and competitive price. Oh yeah, and a special experience. We would have never imagined that something so simple could become so complicated.

Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

Moms and Dads around the world have echoed these words "don't judge a book by it's cover" many times, yet old and young people alike still do it. Paul Potts and Susan Boyle fill me with so much emotion that I want to burst into tears. 100% of me is happy for them, while the other 100% of me is angry, and that 200% is why I want to burst. What do Paul and Susan have in common? These are 2 great singers that auditioned on the reality show Britain's Got Talent. They have both been judged for the way they look, getting immediate scrutiny and extreme surprise simply because they can sing. The scowls from the audience members and the comments from the hosts include comments such as "I think we've got a case of a little lump of coal here..."a frog that will turn into a prince..." and "without a doubt the biggest surprise..." Never ever has a good voice been correlated with the way a person looks or what job they may have, so why the extreme surprise? Maybe pop-stars and shows like American Idol have created that perception, however it saddens me.

Everybody from the New York Times to Oprah and little bloggers like me are talking. She was even #1 on Google Trends. I can't embed the video but you can google or youtube her - yes, those are verbs now.

When is it Time to Redefine the Newsroom?

Over 5 years ago I noticed that news reporters were transforming their style from suits and ties to "business casual". I mainly noticed women wearing tighter "sexier" clothes with more vibrant hair and makeup. I have accepted that it's the standard now, people like to watch (or hopefully listen) to them, maybe we feel more comfortable now that we can relate on a casual and personal level - who really knows - but it seems as though it's here to stay. See before and after below. Even the before image may have been step #2 when we lost the button-down dress shirt, and moved to a tank top under a blazer.

Now that we have jumped that hurdle, I think it's time for somebody to step up and redesign the newsroom. Typically sitting at big oval desks, surrounded by bright blue lights and shades of brown and grey - lots of TVs and things that signify technology.

Why is this the norm? I feel it's quite uninviting. What about a physical transformation - something clean and modern or possibly artistic. Maybe even edgy, or something that resembles your living room. Would that catch my eye and revitalize it for me?

Listen to Jason Damato

I just read that sentence at the top of my blog and realized that since the creation of this blog I have not written about blueberries, music, or movies yet. However, I have consumed plenty of all 3. Let's go with music - ding! I was recently introduced to a musician named Jason Damato. My favorite song of his is called Capsized. I saw him perform live last week and it was even better than watching him on youtube. What I enjoyed the most was his emotion and display of passion as he performed. The authenticity really makes you connect with him. I know, emo, but I'm serious, you should check him out, it will give you goose bumps.

You can experience him here: http://www.youtube.com/damatotv

Pirates!!!

Watch out for these guys...

The first American captain has been taken captive since 1804. Since the 1990s there has been pirate activity going on in Somalia stemmed by Civil War. The Gulf of Aden is considered the world's most dangerous waterway. There have been 68 pirate attacks in 2009 alone. An article I read by the Associate Press spoke of hooks, ropes, ice picks, men being tied up, and AK-47s. With no functioning central government or police to control acts of terror, piracy has reached it's tipping point. Obama is said to be "getting involved in his first major international crisis". Apparently pirates request ransoms and have found it quite successful that it is becoming heightened. It's said that they even treat their hostages well by catering to their Western taste preferences of spaghetti and cigarettes. Where did this all stem from? In the late 80s some European firms payed $80 million to dump 10 million tons of toxic waste along the coast. After the Tsunami at the end of 2004, all this waste got stirred up which has lead to health problems including internal bleeding, radiation sickness and infections. The gulf is also a very popular place to fish which is a main source of income for Somalians and non-locals alike. The pirates are pissed and want payback for the toxic waste that has sickened their people and the illegal fisherman who are taking their resources. "It's almost like a resource swap, Somalis collect up to $100 million a year from pirate ransoms off their coasts and the Europeans and Asians poach around $300 million a year in fish from Somali waters." In a very poor country where 73% of people live on less than $2 a day, piracy has boosted their economy, and when they get their ransom time and again, it will continue to be a good source of income.

The Progression of a Click-Through

I was thinking about how I get to weird websites sometimes...

1. I start on my facebook page
2. I view the Oprah teaser video for Mondays show about Zion Ranch. She asks if their life is anything like the show "Big Love" and they say no
3. I google Big Love and end up at the shows website
4. From there I go to Margene's Blog and see a link under the section "My Favorite Websites"
5. That takes me to http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/ where I find tons and tons of comments about this image:




That's how!

Thanks Char Char

I get a lot of emails from my Char Char (featured below)

that range anywhere from god and being all you can be to protection yourself as a women. Once in a while they strike me. I feel as though I am a 5 year old sneaking sugary cereal in the middle of the night right now. While we have all long ago accepted that that society for children contains cells phone, video games youtube, and facebook, I wonder... are they still capable of experiencing the same enjoyment, does it even matter because there is no past point of reference? Will they ever make a real mud pie? I know you must be saying "oh my god, she's not even old enough to be saying this" but I am a kid of the 80s and I loved playing in the dirt.

It's a beautiful and sunny day in Hollywood today, I want to go outside but I don't even know what to do outside so I'm writing this instead. It's 2pm, Ricky is on his computer listening to his high school band, Shane is sleeping on the couch, and Christian is sleeping in Shane's bed (the breakfast I made him this morning is really cold).

Here is a little taste of a few of the statements I enjoyed in that email:
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing....that's why! No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.