Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The winner writes the history
I saw some line similar to that in something recently. I also recently saw a program on the two fast food leaders, Burger King and McDonalds. The biggest part of the program was the innovations these two giants had brought to the fast food industry. I guess the post baby boomers would assume it was fact, after all it IS television, and carry the assumptions on. No, neither of these two giants (or winners of the fast food race) were as innovative as one might believe. To me the show's biggest accomplishment was to show how history is re-written by those that survive.
If you're old enough, and not from Hawaii, you may remember Burger Chef. A little younger than McDonalds, it came along in the same year, 1954, as Burger King. Burger King's biggest innovation and what makes it stand out from the others is of course the flame broiled burger. The flame broiler was patented in 1954 and used to start the fast food restaurant Burger, umm, Chef? Yep. Though still in use today by Burger King, they didn't invent it.
Although today it's more "have it our way" 30 years ago there was a much friendlier and well known slogan Burger King used, "Have it your way." Burger King no longer has to suffer with you demanding a burger your way because you can't go to Burger Chef, order a burger "without" and wander over to the works bar and put on a dozen pickles and a stack of onions if that's what you want on your burger. The "fixins bar" (I think that was what they called it) that Burger King grudgingly put out was of course quickly snatched back from under your nose when they no longer had to indulge you because of the competition. Oh, and the salad bar mentioned in that Burger Chef commercial - they were the first with that too.
Supersize me! Umm, no, Burger Chef didn't innovate blubbering America, McDonalds can have the credit for that one, or whoever else wants to claim it. Burger Chef did however create the first "value meal". Oops, "value combo", "value meal" is of course McDonalds' renamed stolen idea. McDonalds was no less "innovative" than Burger King in swiping Burger Chef ideas and repackaging them as their own. Burger Chef's frustration finally boiled over into a lawsuit when McDonalds dropped the "Happy Meal" on the public. Note the Wikipedia link not only has no mention of the lawsuit, but in the History section says it was the "brainchild" of a St Louis advertising manager named Dick Brams. I thought maybe Dick went into politics and changed to a stage name of Al Gore. There was not one original idea with this theft including the mentioned tying it in with a movie (Star Trek) as Burger Chef had already done that with their Funmeal using Star Wars.
Burger Chef eventually lost the lawsuit and went on to be sold to Hardees who converted most of the stores to Hardees and those that were near a Hardees the franchisees given a limited time to change their name to something else. In only a generation we are already giving the credit for these innovations to the current giants and it probably won't be too much longer before Burger Chef is written out of history altogether. Although I guess it is much more difficult to do now with things like the web, what matters the most is it will be written out of people's memories as time passes, so the end result is the same. The real lesson is probably to learn what went wrong for a company that was truly the innovator and went from being second only to McDonalds to oblivion in a single generation.
If you're old enough, and not from Hawaii, you may remember Burger Chef. A little younger than McDonalds, it came along in the same year, 1954, as Burger King. Burger King's biggest innovation and what makes it stand out from the others is of course the flame broiled burger. The flame broiler was patented in 1954 and used to start the fast food restaurant Burger, umm, Chef? Yep. Though still in use today by Burger King, they didn't invent it.
Although today it's more "have it our way" 30 years ago there was a much friendlier and well known slogan Burger King used, "Have it your way." Burger King no longer has to suffer with you demanding a burger your way because you can't go to Burger Chef, order a burger "without" and wander over to the works bar and put on a dozen pickles and a stack of onions if that's what you want on your burger. The "fixins bar" (I think that was what they called it) that Burger King grudgingly put out was of course quickly snatched back from under your nose when they no longer had to indulge you because of the competition. Oh, and the salad bar mentioned in that Burger Chef commercial - they were the first with that too.
Supersize me! Umm, no, Burger Chef didn't innovate blubbering America, McDonalds can have the credit for that one, or whoever else wants to claim it. Burger Chef did however create the first "value meal". Oops, "value combo", "value meal" is of course McDonalds' renamed stolen idea. McDonalds was no less "innovative" than Burger King in swiping Burger Chef ideas and repackaging them as their own. Burger Chef's frustration finally boiled over into a lawsuit when McDonalds dropped the "Happy Meal" on the public. Note the Wikipedia link not only has no mention of the lawsuit, but in the History section says it was the "brainchild" of a St Louis advertising manager named Dick Brams. I thought maybe Dick went into politics and changed to a stage name of Al Gore. There was not one original idea with this theft including the mentioned tying it in with a movie (Star Trek) as Burger Chef had already done that with their Funmeal using Star Wars.
Burger Chef eventually lost the lawsuit and went on to be sold to Hardees who converted most of the stores to Hardees and those that were near a Hardees the franchisees given a limited time to change their name to something else. In only a generation we are already giving the credit for these innovations to the current giants and it probably won't be too much longer before Burger Chef is written out of history altogether. Although I guess it is much more difficult to do now with things like the web, what matters the most is it will be written out of people's memories as time passes, so the end result is the same. The real lesson is probably to learn what went wrong for a company that was truly the innovator and went from being second only to McDonalds to oblivion in a single generation.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Is it time to use the D word?
That was the title of an article on MSN yesterday. Umm, yeah, it's been time to use the D word - Depression. One of the points in the article is we don't really have a definition for a Depression. I dunno, for me everytime I read "so and so decline is the worst since the 1930's" that kind of clues me in. Just read the news. 1200 apply for a single job opening. Thousands show up for the jobs to hawk peanuts at the Mariner's games this year. The biggest financial institutions in the U.S. are failing. Same for the Big Three auto makers. The stock market has been in free fall for a year and a half and has lost over 50% of its value. Has anyone seen anything as close to being as bad as this in their lifetime? Has anyone seen any indications or news articles that this is close to bottoming out or do you just read about more and more decline across the board every day, including the biggest one, job loss?
Instead of the change I heard being promised last year the current administration has instead only increased the previous administration's policy of throwing money at these corporations increasing our national debt far more than any previous administration. Change would have been to call them to the carpet on why this happened and not reward them for doing what they did. The people benefiting the most from these trillions of dollars are the people that caused the problems to begin with, not the average american. AIG is a prime example. Their slide began years ago when Owlchick was laid off. A couple of years later it came out they weren't quite up and up on the money figures. Last year they are saying we're solvent we just need a little help to get over a bump. Today they lost I think 62 billion in a quarter, more than any other corporation has, and of course want even more money. There's a saying, throwing good money after bad, that should have been considered for all of these corporations. They should have been allowed to fail, like any other American business, and the government take them over. Instead what we are teaching corporate America is that if you are big enough we will cover your ass with tax payer money.
Instead of the change I heard being promised last year the current administration has instead only increased the previous administration's policy of throwing money at these corporations increasing our national debt far more than any previous administration. Change would have been to call them to the carpet on why this happened and not reward them for doing what they did. The people benefiting the most from these trillions of dollars are the people that caused the problems to begin with, not the average american. AIG is a prime example. Their slide began years ago when Owlchick was laid off. A couple of years later it came out they weren't quite up and up on the money figures. Last year they are saying we're solvent we just need a little help to get over a bump. Today they lost I think 62 billion in a quarter, more than any other corporation has, and of course want even more money. There's a saying, throwing good money after bad, that should have been considered for all of these corporations. They should have been allowed to fail, like any other American business, and the government take them over. Instead what we are teaching corporate America is that if you are big enough we will cover your ass with tax payer money.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Lord of the Rings Online
A couple of friends and I recently started playing this game and I was pleasantly surprised at just how good of a game it is. I was thinking last night as I was trundling through the Shire how Tolkein might have felt seeing his world created. Both the dark side of that world in the movies and the bright side of that world in LOTRO. I thought EQ2 was an amazing world but now that I’ve seen LOTRO I realize too much of EQ2 was oppressive and bleak. What would you expect with zones called Swamp of No Hope though. It’s not that EQ2 was bad and LOTRO doesn’t have some “dark” places, but I think too much was put in EQ2. The environment for LOTRO was really done well and you just enjoy the landscape. There are actual constellations in the night sky to see. One of the problems with EQ2 is all the mob placement seems artificial – not so with LOTRO. The combat system is nothing to write home about but is adequate. I highly doubt there is much replay in the game. First, once you’ve been through the main storyline (the game follows along with the books) and I don’t think there’s much breadth of game play.
Crafting is done well and is the first game that I’ve actually used the items I’ve crafted. The three of us have chosen professions to compliment each other so we can pretty much be self-sufficient in what we need. The main quest lines are the books and chapters of the story everyone knows. Where the movies concentrated on the central characters in LOTRO you see the story unfold as a peripheral character. You do see and interact with the likes of Gandalf and company and see the story progress without being the main story. Best way to describe it. There are also tons of regular quests to do as well. He player population also seems much friendlier than in any other game I’ve played.
Crafting is done well and is the first game that I’ve actually used the items I’ve crafted. The three of us have chosen professions to compliment each other so we can pretty much be self-sufficient in what we need. The main quest lines are the books and chapters of the story everyone knows. Where the movies concentrated on the central characters in LOTRO you see the story unfold as a peripheral character. You do see and interact with the likes of Gandalf and company and see the story progress without being the main story. Best way to describe it. There are also tons of regular quests to do as well. He player population also seems much friendlier than in any other game I’ve played.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Northwest Politics
Maybe it's not just the northwest that's corrupt but all big cities are that way. Seattle though is definitely pretty corrupt. I remember one of the first things to raise my eyebrow was hearing that city council had voted to pave over a park so a strip club could have more parking. I thought that was an odd thing since Democrats are usually tree huggers. But everyone heard about it because it was discovered they all got free lifetime memberships to the strip club. So since they were caught they had to give up their memberships and revote. The park got paved over on the revote too. I found out shortly after moving to downtown Seattle that there had been a casino just a few blocks from where I now live that was shut down in the 80's. It did fantastic business for years until it was robbed and 13 people were shot and killed. With this many corpses some people wanted to know how a casino the size and apparent popularity of Studio 54 had gone unnoticed. It hadn't of course, they just found out the Seattle police all the way up to the chief were on the take.
The whole Seattle police thing is really wierd. Small things, like was in the local newspaper a few weeks ago about they wouldn't arrest homeless people unless they pretty much have to for a violent crime. You see because of the seperate relationship between Seattle police and the King County sherrif's department, Seattle has to PAY King County if they arrest a homeless person and send them to jail. Seattle pays millions of dollars a year over lawsuits, some of which made national news like the police watching a guy get beat to death during some riot in 2000. It has been so bad that they have been trying to get a civilian oversite committee for years but have been blocked by the Seattle police union. Last year the union finally agreed - in trade for a salary increase to $93,000 a year after I think 5 years of service for a regular cop - and a starting salary in the 70's. Seattle police are now the second highest paid police in the country. Someone in California has them beat.
What I read in the paper today pretty much describes in a nutshell how this city runs. They got busted a while back because they were caught charging the Seattle residents for water used in fire hydrants. They got the idea I guess from earlier charging residents the electricity for the street lights which they got busted for that too and had to pay that back. Seattle was sued and lost, but continued to fight tooth and nail not to pay it back wracking up 4 million in lawyer fees alone. So now they are out of appeals and have to pay 22 million dollars back to the residents of Seattle. City council just voted to add a tax to the water bill of the residents to pay for the 22 million dollar restitution, to the residents. This is like an episode of Night Court, except it's not a comedy, it's real. Obviously the lawyers are just going to sue again and in the end the lawyers are the only ones that are going to come out ahead on this deal.
The whole Seattle police thing is really wierd. Small things, like was in the local newspaper a few weeks ago about they wouldn't arrest homeless people unless they pretty much have to for a violent crime. You see because of the seperate relationship between Seattle police and the King County sherrif's department, Seattle has to PAY King County if they arrest a homeless person and send them to jail. Seattle pays millions of dollars a year over lawsuits, some of which made national news like the police watching a guy get beat to death during some riot in 2000. It has been so bad that they have been trying to get a civilian oversite committee for years but have been blocked by the Seattle police union. Last year the union finally agreed - in trade for a salary increase to $93,000 a year after I think 5 years of service for a regular cop - and a starting salary in the 70's. Seattle police are now the second highest paid police in the country. Someone in California has them beat.
What I read in the paper today pretty much describes in a nutshell how this city runs. They got busted a while back because they were caught charging the Seattle residents for water used in fire hydrants. They got the idea I guess from earlier charging residents the electricity for the street lights which they got busted for that too and had to pay that back. Seattle was sued and lost, but continued to fight tooth and nail not to pay it back wracking up 4 million in lawyer fees alone. So now they are out of appeals and have to pay 22 million dollars back to the residents of Seattle. City council just voted to add a tax to the water bill of the residents to pay for the 22 million dollar restitution, to the residents. This is like an episode of Night Court, except it's not a comedy, it's real. Obviously the lawyers are just going to sue again and in the end the lawyers are the only ones that are going to come out ahead on this deal.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Hell's Kitchen, Season 5
I posted about this show when I saw it during its first season. If people hadn't heard of Chef Ramsey then, they most likely have now. Seeing him for the first time, or maybe even after a hundred times, you'll think he's an ass. I'll admit his personality will be a lot for some people to swallow and get past and they will always say, "he doesn't have to be that mean." This guy is the most successful restrauntuer in the world now and there's a reason for that. He's not just an amazing chef, he has an amazing business mind. If you watch his other shows, like Kitchen Nightmares, you'll come to realize that. His other show, The F Word, shows more of him and even brings his family in, and he's really not as bad as he seems to be in other shows.
The first three seasons of this show were good. Last season was a disappointment. The Next Food Network Star - this show picks the very best to join the show. Hell's Kitchen picks bad people because they need them for the friction. It just wouldn't be the same if Chef Ramsey didn't have people to scream at for their screw-ups. Last season they went too far and really had no one there worth winning the show. In the end the guy "won" but lost because he was old and just didn't have the work habits Chef Ramsey was looking for. The girl didn't perform as well but Chef Ramsey said in the end he chose her for her potential and longevity. I read later she didn't even get the promised head chef position for winning the show but a secondary position somewhere.
This season once again looks to have some talent mixed in with the fodder. The fodder that stood out this week was the culinary school teacher who isn't a trained chef. After trying her signature dish, spitting it out, and commenting that he felt he should probably wrap his ass in saran wrap after eating it she says, "I teach manners too, chef." Great moment for the TV audience, I laughed out loud, but Chef Ramsey just painted a target on her. She followed this up with a performance in the kitchen that left in question if she should even be teaching Sandwich Making 101.
It looks like another entertaining season. :)
The first three seasons of this show were good. Last season was a disappointment. The Next Food Network Star - this show picks the very best to join the show. Hell's Kitchen picks bad people because they need them for the friction. It just wouldn't be the same if Chef Ramsey didn't have people to scream at for their screw-ups. Last season they went too far and really had no one there worth winning the show. In the end the guy "won" but lost because he was old and just didn't have the work habits Chef Ramsey was looking for. The girl didn't perform as well but Chef Ramsey said in the end he chose her for her potential and longevity. I read later she didn't even get the promised head chef position for winning the show but a secondary position somewhere.
This season once again looks to have some talent mixed in with the fodder. The fodder that stood out this week was the culinary school teacher who isn't a trained chef. After trying her signature dish, spitting it out, and commenting that he felt he should probably wrap his ass in saran wrap after eating it she says, "I teach manners too, chef." Great moment for the TV audience, I laughed out loud, but Chef Ramsey just painted a target on her. She followed this up with a performance in the kitchen that left in question if she should even be teaching Sandwich Making 101.
It looks like another entertaining season. :)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Dictating Morals
So this girl wants to sell her virginity and the bid is up to 3.7 million now. This apparently violates the most illogical law in America. It's the only thing that is perfectly legal to give away, but illegal to sell. Sex. That fact alone really outweighs any arguments against prostitution. I would agree with regulations, but making it illegal doesn't make sense. The reason it is illegal is the morality angle - which I thought the following statement in the news article was rather ironic.
"Nevada has been out of step with the rest of the country for many years with regards to prostitution, and that's why I think it's important for federal prosecutors to look into this, so that Nevada does not dictate the morals and moral decency for the rest of the nation," Staver told FOXNews.com.
I think you have that backwards Staver - the laws are dictating the moral decency of the rest of the country. Maybe this would be okay with you if they signed a pre-nup for her to get 3.7 million, had a quickie vegas wedding, did it, then got a divorce? Then they would be using the church to sanction the prostitution, but as long as the preacher got a donation for officiating it that would make everything okay? I'm pretty sure it would be as history shows us how gambling and alcohol are railed against unless it's some monks making the wine and a church hosting the bingo game, which makes it okay.
What some guy paid some girl to get laid doesn't affect me, you, or anyone else in the country. Let's worry about something a bit more in need of worrying about - like the fact we're headed into the next depression.
"Nevada has been out of step with the rest of the country for many years with regards to prostitution, and that's why I think it's important for federal prosecutors to look into this, so that Nevada does not dictate the morals and moral decency for the rest of the nation," Staver told FOXNews.com.
I think you have that backwards Staver - the laws are dictating the moral decency of the rest of the country. Maybe this would be okay with you if they signed a pre-nup for her to get 3.7 million, had a quickie vegas wedding, did it, then got a divorce? Then they would be using the church to sanction the prostitution, but as long as the preacher got a donation for officiating it that would make everything okay? I'm pretty sure it would be as history shows us how gambling and alcohol are railed against unless it's some monks making the wine and a church hosting the bingo game, which makes it okay.
What some guy paid some girl to get laid doesn't affect me, you, or anyone else in the country. Let's worry about something a bit more in need of worrying about - like the fact we're headed into the next depression.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Country Music
Let’s skip politics for a more volatile subject. Country Music. I listen to country music. Actually I’m pretty eclectic in what I listen too and even like a few rap songs. There is nothing quite like country music though. As the old joke goes, what do you get when you play a country music record backwards – your wife/dog/car/truck/trailer/job back.
This is a new country music song – where else could you have a hit with “white trash ho” in the title?
This is a list of actual country music songs:
1. Get Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns In Bed
2. Get Your Tongue Otta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye
3. Her Teeth Was Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure
4. How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?
5. I Can't Get Over You, So Why Don't You Get Under Me
6. I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself Or Go Bowling
7. I Got In At 2 With a 10, And Woke Up At 10 With a 2.
8. I Hate Every Bone In Your Body Except For Mine
9. I Just Bought A Car From A Guy That Stole My Girl, But The Car Don't Run, So I figure We Got An Even Deal
10. I Keep Forgettin' I Forgot About You
11. I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well
12. I Still Miss You Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better
13. I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dog Fight, Cause I'm Afraid She'd Win
14. I'll Marry You Tomorrow But Let's Honeymoon Tonight
15. I'm So miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here
16. I've Got Tears in My Ears From Lying On My Back While I Cry Over you
17. If I Can't Be Number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You
18. If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out By Now
19. Mama Get A Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head)
20. My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Love Rovers
21. My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, and I Sure Do Miss Him
22. Please Bypass this Heart
23. She Got The Ring and I Got The Finger
24. You're the Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly
What is funny is how many artists from other genres have done country music songs. Not just the common turn a country music song into a pop song but actual pop singers making country songs. Like Elton John. Yep, he’s done it. Take the following lyrics, Soggy Pretzels:
You were cryin' in your pretzels when I met you
You were washing
All the salt away from the dough
You were cryin' in your pretzels
And I'll never forget you
But, baby, just why, I'll ever know
Cryin' in your pretzels
Cryin' in your beer
Cryin' on the table
That's where I found you dear
Yes, my sweet I came into that bar
It was in Mississippi
There you were, sitting in the corner
Crying in your pretzels
You'd already sogged up
A whole plate of potato chips
But the management didn't mind
Because you were a regular customer
And I saw you sittin' there and I said
"That person needs a friend,
And I'm gonna be a friend
Ain't nobody deserves to cry in his pretzels
All night and wash away the salt.
"So I kinda sided up to you and I said,
"What can I do for you? How can I help you?
What can I do to ease the pain?"
Well, you were cryin' in your pretzels
Oh, you were cryin' in your beer
Yes, that was the night I meet you
And I'll always hold you near
This wasn’t some one hit wonder or barely known pop star – it was Neal Diamond and on one of his greatest selling albums Hot August Night. Yes, I had the 8 track tape of this album as a teenager. Best song he ever did!
This is a new country music song – where else could you have a hit with “white trash ho” in the title?
This is a list of actual country music songs:
1. Get Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns In Bed
2. Get Your Tongue Otta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye
3. Her Teeth Was Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure
4. How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?
5. I Can't Get Over You, So Why Don't You Get Under Me
6. I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself Or Go Bowling
7. I Got In At 2 With a 10, And Woke Up At 10 With a 2.
8. I Hate Every Bone In Your Body Except For Mine
9. I Just Bought A Car From A Guy That Stole My Girl, But The Car Don't Run, So I figure We Got An Even Deal
10. I Keep Forgettin' I Forgot About You
11. I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well
12. I Still Miss You Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better
13. I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dog Fight, Cause I'm Afraid She'd Win
14. I'll Marry You Tomorrow But Let's Honeymoon Tonight
15. I'm So miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here
16. I've Got Tears in My Ears From Lying On My Back While I Cry Over you
17. If I Can't Be Number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You
18. If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out By Now
19. Mama Get A Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head)
20. My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Love Rovers
21. My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, and I Sure Do Miss Him
22. Please Bypass this Heart
23. She Got The Ring and I Got The Finger
24. You're the Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly
What is funny is how many artists from other genres have done country music songs. Not just the common turn a country music song into a pop song but actual pop singers making country songs. Like Elton John. Yep, he’s done it. Take the following lyrics, Soggy Pretzels:
You were cryin' in your pretzels when I met you
You were washing
All the salt away from the dough
You were cryin' in your pretzels
And I'll never forget you
But, baby, just why, I'll ever know
Cryin' in your pretzels
Cryin' in your beer
Cryin' on the table
That's where I found you dear
Yes, my sweet I came into that bar
It was in Mississippi
There you were, sitting in the corner
Crying in your pretzels
You'd already sogged up
A whole plate of potato chips
But the management didn't mind
Because you were a regular customer
And I saw you sittin' there and I said
"That person needs a friend,
And I'm gonna be a friend
Ain't nobody deserves to cry in his pretzels
All night and wash away the salt.
"So I kinda sided up to you and I said,
"What can I do for you? How can I help you?
What can I do to ease the pain?"
Well, you were cryin' in your pretzels
Oh, you were cryin' in your beer
Yes, that was the night I meet you
And I'll always hold you near
This wasn’t some one hit wonder or barely known pop star – it was Neal Diamond and on one of his greatest selling albums Hot August Night. Yes, I had the 8 track tape of this album as a teenager. Best song he ever did!
