Lattes lattes lattes everywhere. But who can make them fast?

McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s seem to be able to get the price of a latte down. But so far they don’t seem capable of incorporating the item into their philosophy of ‘fast food.’ Tried ordering at either restaurant recently and each time it’s like watching cave men make fire. One tries, then chucks the contents off the cup, then they have a chat, fiddle with the machine, repeat and 15 minute later I’m still waiting (No updates while I waited in either case).

Might not a little training have gone a long way in addition to the millions spent on marketing? Just saying…. I don’t really drink the fancy stuff at Starbucks, because I don’t make any sunshine lists and I’ve never won a lottery. But it’s nice to know that if I really do want a beefed up caffeine beverage, they at least know how to make it right in a snap. Just sayin….

[To be fair, both drinks passed as decent lattes when I finally got them. But the wait, the wait made them slightly bitter]

NES Zapper

Does anyone remember the Nintendo game Duck Hunt? While waxing nostalgic about video game history with a colleague, I realized that I had never figured out how the ‘power gun’ or ‘zapper’ accessory actually worked. How did that gun know where you were aiming? So like anyone with a completely random question about a whimsical, trivial matter, I went to Wikipedia. The answer, quoted here, is kind of cool:

“When the trigger on the Zapper is pressed, the game causes the entire screen to become black for one frame. Then, on the next frame, the target area is drawn in all white as the rest of the screen remains black. The Zapper detects this change from low light to bright light, as well as at which screen position the change was detected. This is how the game knows which target has been hit.^[8][9][10] After all target areas have been illuminated, the game returns to drawing graphics as usual. The whole process is almost imperceptible to the human eye, although one can notice a slight “flashing” of the image.”

Lots of people have been saying they weren’t shocked to hear about Amy Winehouse’s death. I gotta say, I’m not one of them.

Fine. She may have been an embattled alcoholic/drug addict, but she seemed to have that sort of resilient quality about her. Like Ozzy Osbourne, one sort of got the sense she was living dangerously but couldn’t really be killed.

And so despite her reputation for wild living, I was still taken aback when  a friend told me Winehouse died this past weekend.

Like many others, I’ve been a fan since hearing Back to Black. I actually remember sitting at a desk in the Jerusalem Post newsroom back in 2007 when I heard it for the first time. I got the sense listening that it wasn’t like anything else being put out at the time. It seemed a throwback to a different kind of music whose appeal had been lost on contemporary audiences but found anew in Winehouse. Like its singer, the album was also edgy and full of stimulating contradictions.

I really did believe she’d be back to make more music, even after things got sloppy. Perhaps that’s why I was so shocked. Or maybe it’s because she was just three months younger than me. I suppose we never like the idea of someone our own age facing death, especially in one’s twenties.

I always thought it was sad that at least on camera, Winehouse didn’t seem to get much joy out of performing. And in interviews, she always looked thoroughly uncomfortable, like she really didn’t get why all these people wanted to ask her a bunch of stupid questions. It almost felt as if she didn’t really believe that people liked her. Moreover it didn’t seem to matter to her.

Perhaps that was part of her appeal. She was a star who didn’t seem to be chasing stardom. Rather it chased her, at first for her incredible talent and unique personality, and then for her increasingly outrageous behaviour and struggle to maintain a grip on some kind of stable reality.

Her death is tragic because she had so much  more to offer but ultimately was never able to find a way of comfortably settling into the world.

And so she’ll forever live apart from us in that pantheon of other tragic misfits who have continued to intrigue a world they couldn’t find a way to be a part of.

As a member of your generation, I say we’ll miss you Amy Winheouse. Wish you could have stuck around longer. RIP.

Really?

So now Apple has white iphones. Wonderful. I feel like Apple is one of the only companies that can get away with completely remarketing a product by offering it in a different colour. Other companies have long assumed that the more choice they give consumers, the greater their market share will be. But Apple seems to defy this strategy in favour of exclusivity. By limiting the number of colours available, they create the impression of added value when one is able to obtain a colour few other people have.

This is sort of smart. Apple is able to make people believe they’re getting something totally new that wasn’t possible before simply by offering the exact same phone in a different colour.

It’s kind of like the diamond shreddies campaign. (Only we’re not meant to laugh at Apple’s marketing effort). They’re fiddling just slightly with the product, yet marketing it as something completely new and revolutionary.

Yet I find this really annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bit of a macophile myself. But I guess it just irks me that they adopt a marketing strategy that feels sort of like a lie. They’re NOT offering anything new really. It’s the same phone.

But can I really be mad? Is it wrong of them to endlessly plug the fact they’re offering their phone in a different colour? Or am I just bothered by the fact so many people will actually buy into the idea of a ‘new product’ and try to exchange a black iphone or get a new white one?

It’s true there’s a market for everything. But does a company have an ethical responsibility in terms of how they represent their products, even if that representation is effective at moving product. Or is it solely up to the consumer to call a company out on their BS and vote by not buying? Not sure myself. Any thoughts?

Will this be the one....?

As of March 2, 2011, I have bought 8 beverages from Tim’s or Timmy Ho’s as I so fondly refer to it. Despite the company’s 1 in 6 odds disaplyed on the cup, I’m 0 for 8.

I realize statistically that my chances are just one in six every time I go, regardless of how many drinks I buy over time. Still, these disheartening losses have me wondering whether I just might be the biggest ‘roll up the rim’ loser in Canada.

I hope not. Anyone out there tracking their losses and doing worse? If so, write in. I need to feel better about myself.

I’ll keep the tally going and report back when/if I finally break this losing streak….

Master Oda

… It just needed to be said.

Sergeant Ryan Russell and family

Officer killed by stolen snowplow

By Joshua Freeman

January 12, 2011

(originally posted on www.mytowncrier.ca)

Toronto’s police force is mourning one of their own today, after a 52 Division police officer was fatally struck by a stolen snowplow early this morning.

Sergeant Ryan Russell of 52 Division was an 11-year veteran of the force and the son of an officer himself.

According to reports, he was struck just before 6 a.m. at Avenue and Davenport Roads. while trying to stop the snowplow. He was taken from the scene to St. Michael’s Hospital where he was declared dead.

Later in the morning, Toronto police allegedly shot the driver on Keele Street between Annette Street and Humberside Avenue. He was taken to hospital with injuries.

“This is a very tragic day for the city of Toronto and the Toronto police service,” Chief Bill Blair told reporters earlier this morning.

Mayor Rob Ford released a statement offering condolences to Russell’s family on behalf of the city.

“Sergeant Russell is a shining example of the men and women of our police service who put their lives on the line to protect us each day,” Ford said in the statement.

“His bravery and service to the City of Toronto will not be forgotten.”

The city also lowered flags at Toronto City Hall and all civic centres to pay tribute to the fallen soldier. Premier Dalton McGuinty and leaders of the provincial opposition parties also released statements of condolence.

Sergeant Russell is the first Toronto police officer to die in the line of duty since 2002.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit is currently investigating.

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Haven’t fed the beast a solid meal in a while, but I promise to put up some more stuff soon! For now, check out the re-designed Vaughan Today site. We’ve been working hard to spruce her up. Take a look. Feedback welcome!