SYW: Ek-sell-lent!

The word "excellence" is now being trotted out as a new idea that can be be achieved simply by invoking the syllables enough times. It is one of those qualities you can be certain an institution lacks if they feel the need to mention it.
This is not to cast aspersions on the Montgomery Burns Award For Outstanding Achievement In The Field Of Excellence. No no no no, of course not. So by all means, administrators, MBAs, military experts, and other useless husks of humanity, continue to use and over-use this word in all of your publicity and official documents. It makes your work so much easier to identify quickly, saving all potential readers time and boredom.

Restaurant Review: Rick's Ice Cream

I love Rick's Ice Cream. It is my favorite ice cream in Palo Alto CA. It is an old-school ice cream joint, with a bench out front to sit on and soak in the Silicon Valley Ambience, which is a view of a strip mall where you can watch the traffic whiz by.

Of course the ice cream is delicious, but the best part is the selection of flavors, like:

• Computer Chip
• Industrial Chocolate
• Birthday Cake
• Saffron Pistachio
• Blue Moon (tastes like Froot Loops)
• Kulfi
• Lychee
• Sideways (cabernet flavored)
• Tiger Tails

...and many many more, 48 in total.

You can also get ice cream cakes, fudge, and a few other sweet treats here.

It opened in 1956 and is an establishment of which Palo Alto can be proud.

New (to me) movie: The Lineup

The Lineup - 1958
Rating: 5.5

San Francisco of 1958! Where a middle-aged gangster dreams of smuggling heroin on unsuspecting incoming tourists! What happy days those were!
See the not-yet-complete Embarcadero Freeway used in a the final chase scene and realise how lucky the 1989 earthquake was for the city in removing that blight alone!
Tagged as film-noir, but is it really?
Eli Wallach stars! Worth watching if you have nothing else to fill the time! Not for the easily jaded or suggestible types! Ask your doctor if noir is right for you!

This review written after reading a book of Rex Morgan M.D. comic strips!

TOOTE - A Normal Level Of Hypocrisy

A person I very much respect explained to me why he accepts and even endorses current establishment policies, including using drones to attack enemies on whom we have not officially declared war and repeatedly electing persons who clearly have no intention of following through on promises made to the electorate during campaigns. He justified this as being "The normal level of hypocrisy."

For me this is a baffling statement of acceptance, but I do believe it expresses the norm for what passes for political thought in my country. I think this also explains why we continue to have truly terrible governance.

I acknowledge that every system involving more than one person requires compromise. But there is the point at which you have ceded the entire argument to someone leveraging the knowledge that you will compromise more and more easily the more pressure they bring to bear, to the point that you've compromised away anything of value to you at all.

In the old tale the scorpion asks the frog to compromise and the frog agrees, even though he can predict the fatal outcome of such an arrangement. The political establishment is asking the public to compromise yet again. "Allow us to continue to have the same people run things continuing the policies that are already in place and we promise to effect change," they say. From all appearances,  my countrymen are ready to accept this "compromise" yet again.

Can anyone remind me, what's a word for doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome?

TOOTE - Form Does NOT Follow Function

Take a look at this sketch of a Suket Dhir design.
This article explains the designer is up for the International Woolmark Prize. A prize for what are considered good designs, I assume.
Can anyone or everyone see the crucial, crippling flaw in this design? Bicycle riders? Maybe those trousers are completely and totally unacceptable for riding a bicycle. Can you image how much cloth would have to be gathered up to prevent snagging it? Can you imagine a device for gathering t he fabric in an attractive and safe fashion? Such a device would be worthy of a design award, not this bland travesty of muddled mediocrity.

How stupid are we, as a people, when we cannot even see the obvious staring us in the face?
Let this serve to remind us that we should devote some time to reviewing our own thinking.

As for the world of fashion, you would think that their experts would be able to identify utility as a primary concern of any design. Maybe that is why "expert" is a term assigned based upon social relationships and not based upon any sort of record of performance or actual ability.

New (to me) movie: Man of the Year

Man of the Year - 2014
Rating:  (a generous) 2.0

Man of the Year is a story that requires some explanation and I await it with anticipation.
For me it was an utter waste of time. Shame on the great cast for being involved with this mess.

New (to me) movie: Foxcatcher

Foxcatcher - 2014
Rating: 7.5

A compelling telling of the real life tragedy of Dave Schultz, American wrestler and the madness of John E. duPont, an emotionally damaged man of means. The performances are engrossing, they sucked me into the world of the movie and kept me in suspense even though I had read about the same events in the press when they happened.
Also, in the future Steve Carell will be recognised as one of the greatest actors of our time. Have I said that before? Well, I am saying it again.

New (to me) movie: Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2 - 2013
Rating: 5.5

A decent movie. I laughed a lot, so it cannot be a total waste. Also, in the future Steve Carell will be recognised as one of the greatest actors of our time.

Restaurant Review: HolyLand

HolyLand Restaurant is a Lebanese restaurant in Santa Clara that serves an excellent buffet at lunch, including enough very good vegetarian specialties and meat dishes to satisfy even very finicky eaters. It has plenty of seating inside even though it looks tiny from the outside.
It is worthwhile to order from the menu even if you go at lunch. There are some specialties on there, especially the braised lamb shanks, which are hard to find and made with care. If you are near the airport or in Santa Clara near the town hall please give it a try.

New (to me) movie: Children of Men

Children of Men - 2006
Rating: 9.6

The premise of this near-future movie is that no human baby has been born in over 18 years. The world struggles on, told from the viewpoint of a British social worker played by Clive Owen in a terrific performance. I would also like to mention the work Michael Caine here, perhaps his best role in 20 years.

The movie itself feels like the telling of a vision fully realised and related all at once, as a dream told immediately upon awakening. I very much recommend it.

The Next Big Thing: Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go seems to be a version of geocaching that attracts a lot more people using the kawaii of pokemon to motivate people. I think this is really cool! What other possible variants can you think of that would motivate people to get up and go out?

The Next Big Thing: Staff Lunch

Today I was lucky enough to share staff lunch at a Thai place in Santa Clara. I arrived very late for lunch and I could see they were setting out food so I asked, "Is that staff lunch?" and the owner kindly asked if I would like to join them. I am ashamed to admit I took advantage of her generous invitation. The food looked to good to resist.

This made me think of restaurant trends and what might be "The Next Big Thing" in dining as entertainment. A kitchen table made available to patrons has become almost commonplace and I think it is a jolly good idea. In the same vein, allow me to propose perhaps opening an occasional staff lunch to just a few special customers.

Why feed customers staff lunch? It is not known to most of the public but staff lunch often consists of dishes that do not appear on the menu. It is usually the product of junior members of the kitchen and their inspiration and developing skills, with some guidance from chef. It at least keep things interesting and can be the genesis of exciting new dishes.

If you own a restaurant consider letting a few favored customers buy a place at staff lunch. You might start a trend.

SYW: When I say, "It can't happen," I don't mean it can't happen.

I witnessed the utterance of the subject sentence today at a soundly middle class establishment, where it was spoken by an adult who successfully endured undergraduate and graduate programs in well-thought-of American institutions. It was said with sincerity and conviction.

I cannot understand why people expect to be relieved of the requirement for clarity and consistency in conversation. "It depends on what the definition of "is" is?" Is this supposed to be wit? It is this sort of shit-headery that should never be excused and an immediate apology required, accompanied by an explanation if the offender wishes to tender one.

Let us all begin to improve our lives by eliminating this sort of self-indulgent sophistry from common conversation and, dare I ask, from legal proceedings as well.

TOOTE - The Out Of Touch Establishment

It is clear to me that that those people who compose our standing political establishment are completely out of touch with reality. If you need convincing, just listen to the chattering classes on cable television news and their repartee with the political representatives and experts. To call it a smug circle jerk is to insult jerks who like to sit in the round.

In this vein, as part of the TrashTrump campaign, a Democratic Party representative today on MSNBC tried to disparage Donald Trump as so ineloquent he could not pronounce "Tanzania". Unfortunately for her, she repeatedly mispronounced "Tanzania" when trying to make her example. She did not have the humility to admit that anyone might make such a mistake even after she made the mistake herself.

Hillary Clinton speaks to her crowds about Donald Trump bragging about making millions off of the back of the working man in AtlanticCity. One must at least credit Trump for his public admission. How much was Hillary Clinton paid by investment banks? And didn't she vote to deny bankruptcy to those same working people swamped by student loans? Hillary really should be bragging about that, she really knows how to get paid top dollar for very little effort indeed. But she cannot understand why she isn't more popular.

If they can't fathom what is widely known by the public, how smart can these people really be?