Reel Big Fish & Catch 22

by Matt | Jul 8, 2004 | Imported Entry

Aw yeah…

Can’t believe I found out this late. RBF, Catch, RX Bandits and Lucky Boys Confusion will be downtown next Tuesday.

I wonder if I can still get tickets.

This pretty much just made my day.

Yeah… there’s two of them

by Matt | Jul 8, 2004 | Imported Entry

Chris pointed out a link on his blog to a guy whos mission in life is to visit every Starbucks on the planet. That my friends, is perhaps the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. One mans pursuit over the worlds worst coffee is truly mind-numbing. Admittedly I’m a coffee snob. I drink two brands of coffee exclusively, Lavazza and DunkinDonuts. I have my reasons for both. Lavazza is award winning, fantasticly strong without being a dark bitter roast and is without a doubt the finest coffee in the world. It’s Italian, and if any culture knowns more about good coffee I’d be surprised. Don’t even think about mentioning the French. Those people wouldn’t know coffee if it bit them in the ass… stupid Frogs. The Turks might be a close second, but they’re mostly into Espresso anyway. Dunks is another story. I grew up with DunkinDonuts, its my “comfort” coffee. If I ever want to feel “at home” I get a cup, close my eyes, and imagine I’m outside in Harvard Square on a cool winter night with a cup in my hand. Somehow, after that, everything is all right with the world. I’ve been drinking that stuff since I was 8 and I still have a soft spot for it.

Starbucks, on the other hand, is the work of Satan. Coffee is not ment to a) taste like dirt, gasoline or gasoline soaked dirt, b) have so many ways to be prepared that it requires a menu and c) contain so much milk, cream, chocolate, caramel or “flavor shot” that it completely hides the coffee taste. Coffee is a simple drink. It reguires a cup, that’s it. If you want to be adventurous you can add a sugar packet or two or perhaps one of those mini-creamer things. That’s it.

Now, I enjoy a Mocca-Latte’ as much as the next guy. But that’s not coffee. That’s a fancy espresso drink. I get those every once in a while when I need both caffine AND sugar… at the same time. Together. Even then I won’t ask for whipped cream, non-fat skim milk, chocolate syrup on top or a fancy crossant to go with it. Nope, just the chocolate, espresso and milk please.

What is completely untollerable are the people who order “a tall mocca latte with caramel, low fat skim milk, low fat whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top”. What the hell. Just go order yourself a fucking chocolate milk shake and be done with it. Of course, they have to order it while they’re on their cell phones too, which puts them on my “first to die” list should I ever come into some sort of political power.

I think I need to relax…. where’s my coffee. Oh wait, it’s gone! Replaced by some Starbucks serving Low-Fat Caramel Macchiattos to people driving Escalades with no hands because one hand is wrapped around the latest Nokia monstrocity and the other is around their ill-gotten coffee-ish beverage. Fuck.

I’m the last of my kind I fear. I realize I’m alone in my views and that’s ok. I’ve learned to deal with it.

Which, in a round about way, gets me to the title of this entry…

You might have heard the Houston is unique to the coffee world, being as it’s the only city on the planet to have two Starbucks NEXT TO EACH OTHER. And now, linked from wonder-moron’s website, I can show them to you.

This is the Starbucks on River Oaks Drive. Pay attention the the black awning on the right side of the picture. Why? Because it’s the same awning in this picture of the Starbucks across the street. Why have two Starbucks next to each other you ask? Well, because there’s a one way street intersecting right there and if you’re traveling in one direction you can only get to one of them. Of course, the people traveling on the cross-street need one too! So there you go. Bad city road designs leads to two bad coffee stores. Good job Houston.

Let this be a lesson to you all.

That’s it, I’m done.

/end rant

Matt out.

^&*$#(!)$#

by Matt | Jul 6, 2004 | Imported Entry

As I’m driving to work today, some dip-fuck’s hub-cap flies off and hits my car in the grill. Of course the fucker keeps going and I didn’t get his plate number. Now I have a huge fucking gash in the front of my car, just above and to the left of my license plate. Oh yeah, it’s good to be back in Houston. Fuckers.

Look out, I’m going to complain about something

by Matt | Jul 1, 2004 | Imported Entry

Yeah, like I’ve never done this before…

I’ve always felt that people should be paid based on the quality of their work AND the time they put into it. Bonuses should be given under circumstance in which the person goes a) above the normal quality to produce something truly nifty or b) puts in so much time into a project that you can tell their devotion to the work. I’ve done both of these things over the past two weeks. I’ve worked my ass off. I’ve come in early, had all the equipment ready to go, kept track of everything and worked long hours to get everything done. The first week I was working from 6am till 8pm nearly every night. I was carrying very heavy loads, setting up equipment quickly and generally keeping everything running smoothly. I worked Monday, a day that I normally have off, without so much as a thank-you. The next Monday, yup, I was working again. This time I was on the road to the pageant. That following week I worked all day, every day. If we weren’t shooting, I was at the booth selling crap, if we weren’t there I was printing souvenir pages or making buttons or something else retarded. I was up until 1:30-2am everything night that week working on stuff. I consider that MAJOR overtime. This past Monday, yup, you guessed it, we were on the road back home. I’ve worked 3 Mondays in a row. That, right there, is 24 hours of overtime.

Now, you may think I’m being ungrateful, but when I saw that my pay check deposit for these two weeks was only my normal amount, my heart sunk.

They’ve never mentioned anything about any bonus, but at the very least, I deserve to get paid for the overtime I worked. The boss who’s in charge of the money isn’t in today, but you can bet your sweet ass that if she doesn’t have a bonus check in her hand the next time I see her I’m going to have a little chat with her about it.

I’m not trying to seem money-hungry or anything, I just want to be paid fairly. I think I deserve it. I’ve worked my ass off around here and I’m not exactly feeling appreciated at the moment.