Not sure what prompted this, but I dug up some old tapes and for thirty minutes or so listened to some classic hits by bands the likes of Cinderella, Steelheart, Lillian Axe, Britny Fox, and others. And it was plainly evident (not that this is a big surprise or anything) - but music has trends.

And in that era it was evidently over-gratuitous use of reverb - holy cow! All the drum kits sounded the same - mass verb on the snare and kick. Not to mention the vocals - just loaded down with the stuff. Over the top. But I guess everything in the 80's was a bit over the top.

My, how times have changed - and I'm thankful for that ...

"The demagogues ... who have already caused the death of several civilizations, harass men so that they wil not reflect; manage to keep them herded together in crowds so that they cannot reconstruct their individuality in the one place where it can be reconstructed, which is in solitude."

Ortega Y Gassett, exerpted from The West Ridge, Thomas F. Hornbein, Sierra Club Books

To go along with my gripes about the state of companies these days -

I'm not sure why this bugged me so much, but I was at Fred Meyer the other evening doing my biweekly grocery shopping (it was about 7:30PM - that does have significance - bear with me). I finished gathering what the list called for and made my way up to the cashiers - only to find out there was only one cashier working. This would be where the time bears repeating - it was only 7:30 in the evening. But the line was atrocious - five people, all with carts fully loaded, waiting for this one checker to work her way through all of them.

So of course - and Fred Meyer has been pushing these for sometime - they direct you over to the "self checkout" - which there are eight of and one was available. Now I don't know anyone else's personal experience with self checkout stations, but mine is that they're OK if you only have a few items, but I personally have about a 5% chance of getting through without something either a) not scanning, b) needing "cashier assistance," or c) setting off the uber-sensitive scale that weighs things to know if you put it in the bag or not. And it's just plain frustrating.

So anyway - I of course opt for that, in which it ends up taking me roughly ten minutes to finish my transaction, after having to have assistance five times for things like not knowing the code for the produce and the aforementioned things.

My point (yes, I do in fact have one) is this - I wouldn't have a problem putting up with this if there was a cost-savings involved. Stores like Shop-n-Save (St. Louis), Food-4-Less (L.A.), and Winco foods here in Seattle come to mind - you bag your own groceries, the decor isn't fancy by any means, and pretty much everything in the store is cheaper than at any other local grocery store. But I know I'm not saving any money by checking myself out at Fred Meyer - what I am doing, however, is working for Fred Meyer for ten minutes and saving ol' Fred some money. Now he doesn't have to pay half a dozen cashiers - he can staff two for the evening - one for the regular line and one to service the eight, frustrated people trying to get through the self-checkout without having to get help.

Hopefully I don't come across as some pretentious snob who doesn't want to lift a finger. The principle of the idea - to get customers to work for the store with no apparent benefit - just irks me. And to me is just another sign that customer service is being downgraded ... argh.

I watched Schindler's List the other night, and it made me think -

maybe someday, much like this picture, a director will shoot an Oscar-winning film about the atrocities committed by the Bush administration ...

So I was driving behind a car today that was sporting a bumper sticker that said "Boycott Darigold" and it made me think - someone, somewhere, probably has a beef with some company or another. My well-publicized and debatable one is with Wal-Mart. This person's was apparently with Darigold.

Anyway - the point of this post is that no, Wal-Mart isn't the only company out there to criticize. And no - they're not doing everything wrong. There are hundreds of other companies doing something that someone doesn't agree with. Years ago, I personally dealt with a guy who wanted to "revoke" his REI membership - to this day I can't remember why. But mind you, once you pay the (currently) $15 membership fee, you're set for life (REI is a co-op for those who didn't know). If you don't buy anything for 2 or 3 years, your membership becomes "inactive" and you stop receiving board of directors ballots and dividend information.

But he didn't want to just let his membership lapse into "inactive" - he wanted to revoke it and make a statement. And I'd consider REI one of the more upstanding and progressive companies - both as a retailer and an employer - but obviously it, too, is not above criticism.

This is a cool page that has movies about notable designers a friend of mine forwarded - not recommended for anyone with a dial-up connection.

Films to note are the ones highlighting Milton Glaser, David Carson, and Stefan Sagmeister.

From a disturbing but totally Suede song that is at the top of my iTunes playlist ...

Dog man star took a suck on a pill
And stabbed a cerebellum with a curious quill
Europe America Winterland
Introducing the band

Chic thug stuttered through a stereo dream
A fifty knuckle shuffle heavy metal machine
The tears of suburbia drowned the land
Introducing the band

So steal me a savage subservient son
Get him shacked up bloodied up and sucking on a gun
I want the style of a woman the kiss of a man
Introducing the band

And as the sci-fi lullaby starts to build
See them whipping all the women, cracked governments killed
Oh let the century die to violent hands
Introducing the band