Posted by consumatron on October 14th, 2008 filed in , | Comment now »

Pocket Change: 10/13/08

• The Venezuelan government ordered all McDonald’s restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours due to inconsistencies on the company’s financial books. So much for re-locating Wall Street to Caracas! (Crain’s)
• The Chicago Transit Authority is introducing a smart card that can be used for public transit in Chicago as well as the I-Go car sharing service. Anything that expands public and collaborative transportation is fantastic. I can’t wait until they push it one step further and start teaming up with Amtrak and airlines. (CTA via Chicagoist)
• A day after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart refused to enforce evictions on foreclosed properties, mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders sued him. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Days after the $700bn bailout, the Pentagon is asking for $450bn more in budget increases over the next five years. Appropriately, this seems to be a defensive move to stave off any cuts in increases already asked for. (CQPolitics)
• A lot of people are going to court to get their credit card debt reduced because their balances are far higher than their credit allowance. I’m all for punishing predatory and unethical lending practices. I’m also for more regulation on the credit industry with regards to interest rates, but a part of me also thinks that our culture needs to learn the hard way that we fucked up by charging everything. You can’t keep buying things with money you don’t have and expect the economy at large to take care of itself! I’m still paying off a credit card run-up from five years ago and you don’t see me asking anyone to bail me out. It’s my hole and I’m digging myself out. The economy isn’t some separate entity! (NYT)
• The new banana republic! Mmmmm… bananas! (Vanity Fair)
• Presiden’t Bush’s international reputation is actually improving… He’s now considered a comrade in socialist circles. (Miami Herald)
• Credit Card agencies are cutting their television advertising budgets. If Credit Cards don’t have faith in the average American consumer to spend money they don’t have, you know we’re in deep doo-doo. (Advertising Age)
• Will globalization be reversed? Hopefully, it will just be severely altered and become less of an economic phenomenon and more of a social one. (Dani Rodrik)
• Now on eBay: Iceland. (Bjork, not included) (Reuters)

Posted by consumatron on October 13th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Vending Machine Coffee from Milwaukee, WI Amtrak Station

Item Purchased: Vending Machine Coffee
Location Purchased: Amtrak Station / 433 West St. Paul Ave / Milwaukee, WI
Price: $1.50
Purchased on: 10/12/08

Review: You’d think I would have learned my lesson in college, when I used to write first and final drafts of papers 30 minutes before they were due. The frenzied rush was always powered by several small cups of vending machine coffee with bizarre and pointless poker games printed on the cups (shoulda put that in 21!). The reason there were several cups is because vending machine coffee is regularly no stronger than brown water.

Things haven’t changed much since I was in college.

The long of it is, I was feeling quite sleepy before my train ride home to Chicago, and did not want to screw up my sleep schedule right before the work week, so I bought the nearest cup of coffee I could find.

1. B. 7… Coffee with sugar and “lightener.”

Not cream… “Lightener.” The slight stomach ache I have as I write this convinces me that there aren’t too many people in the world who know what this strange lightener actually is.

The short of it is, the “coffee” I drank tasted more like hot water steeped with a dish rag, and the sugar wasn’t plentiful enough to sweeten a bread crumb.

This was awful, but the awfulness did keep me awake.

Mission accomplished.

Rating: 1 / 5

Posted by consumatron on October 13th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Pocket Change: 10/10/08

Other than the dow, what’s goin’ down?

• The Consumerist is waiting for the next big bubble: Moonfarming! (Consumerist)
• Governments are able to try and bail out their own country’s economy and currency (not that mine has), but what about cross-border currency like the euro? Unfortunately, most of the comments over at BB on this one have turned to correcting Richard Metzger’s slip in saying that England uses the Euro, but I’d be interested in reading more about the structure and security of the Euro’s future, if anyone has any suggestions. (Boing Boing)
• Economic crises got you down? Why not cheer yourself up with a $1,000 lapdance? “A lot of guys are losing their shirts in the market, and they are coming in droves.” *snicker* (NYT)
• Something tells me that Eisenstein is turning and jump-cutting in his grave. Putin promises moviemakers billions! (Kommersant)
• Public transit in my city is upping their fares another quarter. Another reason I am happy to ride a bicycle nine months out of the year. (Crain’s)

Alright, everyone. Have a good weekend!

video from The Resident

Posted by consumatron on October 10th, 2008 filed in , | 2 Comments »

Pocket Change: 10/09/08

• Well… We’ve outgrown the debt clock. Way to go, us! Don’t worry, though. A bigger clock will be going up next year… which will subsequently push us further into debt. So, who’s going to be my Chinese overlord?
• Brad DeLong: “John McCain’s New Mortgage Plan Is Worse than I Had Imagined Possible, Even Given What I Know About John McCain.” (Grasping Reality with Both Hands)
• For those of you who are ready to move to Canada. (Achewood)
• My city’s park district made $1.6 million by holding a concert in Grant Park. Who wants to sing in my backyard? (Sun Times via Chicagoist)
• Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has ordered his deputies to stop evicting people from foreclosed homes. “We will no longer be a party to something that’s so unjust,” he said at a news conference. That’s how you protect and serve! (Crain’s)
• The straight talk express really knows how the average American feels during this financial crisis. McCain calls us prisoners?!? Yowza! What a Freudian slip! (YouTube)

Posted by consumatron on October 9th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Midweek Media Mass

Just a quick one today. I spent nearly an hour and a half paging through this book last night.

Words:

Alinea by Grant Achatz | Ten Speed Press | $50.00 - You’ve heard of coffee table books. This may qualify as the first (or at least the definitive) kitchen table book. Technically a cookbook for the restaurant of the same name, most of the people who purchase Alinea won’t get past drooling over the jaw-dropping photography of Lara Kastner. With over 600 photographs of 100 dishes, Alinea takes you through four complete tours featured at the restaurant. Achatz is known for pushing molecular gastronomy and culinary fundamentals to their ultimate married limits and bringing a childlike wonder and humanity to a genre of food culture that usually seems haughty and unreachable. The Alinea cookbook will be known as a piece of art and an instruction manual for only the most daring and deft. With some recipes spanning over four pages and several hours of preparation time, it’s a good thing that the book stands as a meal to be savored on it’s own. In addition to the recipes and photographs, the book also features a masterful introduction by Michael Ruhlman, access to Alinea’s online experience and much more. This is the ultimate food porn, and worth a look… especially if you’re like me, and cannot afford an actual tour at the restaurant (some day! when the penny jar is full!) This is the second most perfect gift for the foodie in your life…the first would be a visit to the restaurant, of course. Yeah, I do most things on the cheap, but I have to admit, the Grant Achatz story and journey has whet my appetite. (Alinea the Book | Alinea the Restaurant | New Yorker Article on Grant Achatz)

Posted by consumatron on October 8th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Black Cherry Almond Clif Bar (2.4 oz.)

Item Purchased: Black Cherry Almond Clif Bar
Location Purchased: Trader Joe’s / 44 E. Ontario St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $0.99 + tax
Purchased on: 10/07/08

Review: I’ve been working a lot lately (and working on keeping this blog of mine regular), so I’ve grown increasingly dependent on between-meal snacks to keep me going throughout the day. As a result, a large part of my meager income has been going into Clif’s pockets. That’s okay. From where I stand, this Clif fella is a good guy.

In addition to promoting and practicing environmentally sustainable production practices (non-toxic inks, recycled paper, organic ingredients, etc…), Clif bars also tend to be tastily satisfying.

All of the various Clif varieties have the same fundamental bar base (soy & oats), but vary significantly in the flavors beyond. This particular Clif Bar happens to be my favorite and I’ve probably eaten more of these in the last month than is healthy, despite their healthy rep. The almonds aren’t too dry or too soggy, as you usually get in most other health food snacks and the cherries actually taste like cherries instead of tart sugar globs.

Clif’s are the perfect size to hold you over until your next full meal and are a hell of a lot better than a can of Pepsi or a normal candy bar. Dare I say, they might even do more to keep me up than the copious cups of coffee I drink.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Posted by consumatron on October 8th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Pocket Change: 10/08/08

• The dow was down another 508 points yesterday. Has anyone seen Tyler Durden? (Crain’s)
• If this financial crisis is freaking you out, you probably shouldn’t listen to this most excellent episode of This American Life. It may help you understand what commercial paper is, though. (TAL)
• GOOD Magazine just bit off of Radiohead’s business model and is offering subscriptions on a pay-what-you-want/can basis (minimum of $1.00). Better yet, your entire subscription fee goes toward the charity of your choice. (GOOD Magazine)
• Just when you thought you could ride out this recession in the service industry waiting tables… Monkey Waiters from Japan! (Reuters UK via Boing Boing)
• Guess who’s trying to blame the credit crisis on poor people with more melanin? (Slate)
• You’d think that with all of this financial freak out, it would be harder to obtain a new credit card. It’s not. I just applied and received a new one within three days (for consolidation and balance transfer, only… I’m a cash-only or pay-my-credit-card-bill-every-week kind of guy). I’m a firm believer that the overall culture and mindset of credit and borrowing that we are all a part of is partially to blame for the current situation as well as the hedge funds and greedy Wall Street types. No link here. Just me ranting somewhere in the middle of this list.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve is going to be buying short term debt in another last-ditch attempt to jump-start the economy. I’d be happy to sell them my remaining debt for half price. (NYT)
• Recruiting interference for a bank robbery on Craigslist? Where’s Batman when you need him? (Ars Technica)
• As I said before, liquid assets are becoming more liquid every day… as in drinky drink. Don’t be sneaking into Daddy’s liquor cabinet! What’s inside may just be your college education. Also, feed the Alpacas in the yard before going out with your friends! (WSJ)
• I know some of my readers really like graphics and graphs, so I urge those of you to check out BBC’s illustration of the financial crisis. (BBC News)
• The bailout may not seem to be working, but it did make the new Chevy Volt and other plug-in electric vehicles about $7,500 cheaper. (Gas 2.0)
• There are stories abound of some voting districts banning political buttons, shirts, etc… If your first amendment right to shove your political views down other people’s throats with gaudy colors and goofy pieces of flare is being stifled, you can still make a statement with Ze Frank’s new Decider Tees. Who’s the decider now, bitch? (Ze Frank)

photo via wallyg’s Flickr stream

Posted by consumatron on October 8th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Pocket Change: 10/07/08

• re: the above video… Paging Naomi Klein (via BoingBoing)
• The dow dropped into the quadruple digits (and over 800 points within yesterday’s trading session) for the first time since 2004. I think that might push it into a new tax bracket or something. This bailout needs a bigger bucket, methinks. (Crain’s)
• Debt collector uses customer’s debit card for shopping spree. (Buffalo News via CL&P)
• Jim Cramer, of CNBC’s Mad Money, tells people to get out of the stock market. Fortunately for you stubborn investors out there, much of Cramer’s advice has been wrong in the past. I’m sure Cramer has his finger over the ‘buy’ button in hopes that his advice is widely heeded. Here’s my tip: Don’t trade with money you might need in the next five years in the first place. (Consumerist)
• Consumers are cutting their spending at a the largest rate in over 20 years. Gee… Good thing our economy doesn’t heavily rely on people spending money that they don’t really have. (NYT)

Posted by consumatron on October 7th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »

Santorini Sandwich from Pastoral

Item Purchased: Santorini Sandwich
Location Purchased: Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine / 53 E. Lake St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $6.99 + tax
Purchased on: 10/02/08

Review: Though one sandwich from the Chicago Loop’s neighborhood wine shop/bakery was a bit of a disappointment, I left room for improvement by ordering a second sandwich for my girlfriend and I to try. Though a rampant omnivore, I have a very large soft spot in my heart (and stomach) for vegetarian fare, which prompted this choice.

Created atop a perfectly crusty Bennison’s baguette, this sandwich containes the standard ingredients of a veggie deli sandwich. Greens, tomato, cucumber, red pepper and field greens topped with a well balanced red wine vinaigrette lays the foundation. Nothing special yet. Amazing feta cheese with an almost creamy consistency gives the Santorini an edge, but the true show stopper has to be the black olive tapenade. I’m not sure if Pastoral mixes and mushes their olives and capers in house (and if the menu didn’t say vegetarian, I’d swear that there were anchovies in there), but the balance and bite are fantastic.

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a vegetarian sandwich that contained tapenade, due to the common inclusion of little salty fish, but Pastoral’s Santorini sandwich may just make me spend more time in the Loop “neighborhood.” Yes, $6.99 is a bit pricey for a bunch of vegetables on bread, but pretty standard for this part of the city.

Rating: 4.25 / 5

Posted by consumatron on October 7th, 2008 filed in | Comment now »