The Missus and I braved the crowds on Friday to go shopping and personally stimulate the economy. Well, actually, we did some returning and exchanging along with some purchasing. Well going form retail store to retail store, I started thinking about the differences in layout and experience, so I had to pick up Underhill’s [...]
Author Archives: sb
How Hard Can It Be?
Last Friday, the Missus and I went with Jesse and his crew to go see the movie Twilight. (The Missus is a fan of the book.) Yeah, you already know. It was that bad.
The best line of the evening – approximately, “if dogs are man’s best friend, why can’t vampires and werewolves get along?” – [...]
Watch Crazy
Those magazines ads finally got to me. You know those ads at the beginning of fancy magazines that advertise luxury watches? I think that they finally moved me to action: There was a banner ad on the NYTimes for a place called “Watch Avenue,” and I clicked and searched and fell in love with a [...]
Bluffing versus Rolling the Dice
One of my favorite blogs to read is “Riding the F-Train,” written by an old college friend who became a lawyer, quit that, and writes about poker. His posts are usually great because he is writing about poker games and things actually happen. There’s a lot of narrative there.
Recently, he had a post about what [...]
“Friends, Good Friends and Such Good Friends”
“Friends, Good Friends and Such Good Friends” is the title of an essay by Judith Viorst that, when I was an editor of writing textbooks, was in far too many anthologies that used an outdated form of writing instruction. (rhetorical modes)
It’s also a way to describe my old publishing friends whom I don’t work with [...]
Posted in Misc Tagged Jhumpa Lahiri, rhetorical modes, Sarah Palin, textbooks, The Missus, work Leave a comment
Tofu Jerk or Jerk Tofu?
So, my local Caribbean-inspired vegetarian place closed down this week. What about yours?
What? You don’t have a local Caribbean-inspired vegetarian place? Just me? Huh.
As I mentioned in Part 3 of my analysis of the new local coffee place in my neighborhood (Part 1, Part 2), you have to think of your customers, and in my [...]
Posted in Business Tagged Add new tag, Caribbean food, coffee, neighborhood, Peruvian food, Thai, veg 2 Comments
Deconstructing Drivel on Derivatives
If you were to draw a thread through the business articles in last week’s New Yorker, you would think that business is full of toy-loving, outsider psychopaths who dabble in deconstructionism.
That last point about deconstructionism I find offensive. (The rest is probably true.)
In the article likening derivatives to deconstructionism, Lanchester doesn’t do enough to differentiate [...]
Posted in Business Tagged deconstructionism, derivatives, drivel, investing, New Yorker, Warren Buffet 3 Comments
George W. Bush Ruined My Lunch
Dubya can’t do anything right. Today while coming to the financial district to speak about the glories of the free market, he caused the police to close off the street where I was going to get Indian food. I had to get a panini instead.
When Obama is president, I’ll be able to eat whatever I [...]
America’s Most Canadian Bank
I can’t find the other vintage banking commercial I wanted. I wanted to find commercials of Julia Louis Dreyfus pitching Commerce Bank and all their customer-friendly features.
It was a good campaign that started around 2003-04, when Commerce expanded into NYC. Here is a list of those customer-friendly features from their Wikipedia page:
7 day lobby or [...]
Posted in Business Tagged banking, branding, Canada, Commerce Bank, commercials, customer experience, TD Bank Leave a comment
“Flexible Lending Rules”
Remember this commercial?
Yeah, it was easy to get a home loan. So, what ever happend to Washington Mutual?
A few more posts on banks forthcoming.
Nick and Nora’s Postcard of NYC
The Missus and I went to go see Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist tonight, and the Missus had the best take on it, which is that it was really a movie about NYC — like it was a postcard. For us, it was seeing all the places we go. (“Look! There’s our exit on the [...]
Posted in Music, movies Tagged Bowery Ballroom, Crash Mansion, Jennifer O'Connor, Nick and Nora, nostalgia, The Missus, Thin Man, Union Pool 1 Comment
To Be 17 Forever
Last night, the Missus and I went to go see Drive-By Truckers and The Hold Steady at Terminal 5. Jesse’s crew was also there, but they were closer to the front of the stage. (Kids!) I’m waiting to steal pictures from someone’s Flickr account when they go up. I’ll add one here.
It was the only [...]
Posted in Music Tagged Drive-By Truckers, Hold Steady, Obama, Pete's Candy Store, quiz, Terminal 5, Wallace 1 Comment
Comfort in History
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been looking at historic results trying to predict what’s going to happen on Tuesday. I know that it’s swinging Obama’s way, but I just don’t believe it. And then there’s this from a NYTimes op-ed:
There have only been two upsets in my lifetime. And, Obama is clearly going [...]