Topic: Catch Basin

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Anything that doesn't fit in any other nitpicking topic can go here, or just general blab about nitpicking.

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Starbucks always ticks me off, not only because I would pay $3 for a 50 cent cup of java, but they attach such weird and corny names to the sizes of their coffee. A small cup is called a Tall, a medium is a Grande, and finally, the large cup is given the strange title of Venti, which is simply Italian for "twenty". All three names are wrong, and they mark them as dumb.

[Shemoeley Fine]

The misuse of "American" by the mass media which is  on the rise since 9-11

How most persons think that December 26th is the end of Christmas when in reality it's only beginning as Christmas seasons ends on January 6th.

The hype of the mass media rating all things recent as the greatest, best movie, greatest singer, greatest player, greatest team with almost complete disregard to the past greats. I realize that every generation believes their movies, their music, their ballplayers etc are the best, I don't live in the past but the hyperbole of today's mass media is very irratating. Without a doubt this is the "now" generation. As Public Enemy told us, "don't believe the hype"

The homogenization of the United States, the destruction of regionalisms due to corporations and their monophonic thinking which also have just about eliminated "mom and pop" businesses. The interstate highway and malls thinking.

Enough venting, I feel better already, thanks for starting this provocative thread Giff.

S F

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

I once found a throw rug in a catch basin ...

To backup your distaste of "Americanism", here's an excerpt from George Carlin's book Brain Droppings -

I'm tired of being unable to buy clothing without writing and printing all over it. Insipid sayings, pseudo-wisdoms, cute slogans, team logos, designer names, brand trademarks, small business ego trips - the marketing pigs and advertising swine have turned us all into walking billboards. You see some asshole walking by, and he's got on a fruity Dodger hat and a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. Of course, you can't see the t-shirt if he's wearing his hot-shit Chicago Bulls jacket, the one that only 50 million other loser-jock-sniffers own. And since this "sports fan"/consumer zombie is completely for sale to anyone, he rounds out his ensemble with Fed-Ex sneakers, Value Jet socks, Wall Street Journal sweatpants, a Starbucks jockstrap and a Microsoft condom with Bill Gates' head on the end of it.  No one in this country owns his personal appearance anymore. America has become a nation of obedient consumers, actively participating in their own degradation.

[Dunrobin]

Starbucks always ticks me off, not only because I would pay $3 for a 50 cent cup of java...

Just to pick on our resident nit:  I agree about the idiotic names for the cup sizes, but take another look at the portion of your comment quoted above.  Shouldn't you be ticked off with yourself for being silly enough to pay $3 for a 50 cent cup of coffee, rather than at Starbucks (who were clever enough to know a sucker when they saw one?)   

[Pilsner Panther]

Starbucks always ticks me off, not only because I would pay $3 for a 50 cent cup of java, but they attach such weird and corny names to the sizes of their coffee. A small cup is called a Tall, a medium is a Grande, and finally, the large cup is given the strange title of Venti, which is simply Italian for "twenty". All three names are wrong, and they mark them as dumb.

Where I live, there are two Starbucks within half a block of each other, on the same street! However, they're on opposite sides of that street, so I guess they've successfully captured the "I don't want to cross the street, it's too much trouble!" market. Every time I walk past either one of them at any time of day, I can see that they're doing excellent business.

Maybe they're putting some addictive substance in the coffee? (besides caffeine, that is).

 

[Stoop]

Starbucks always ticks me off, not only because I would pay $3 for a 50 cent cup of java, but they attach such weird and corny names to the sizes of their coffee. A small cup is called a Tall, a medium is a Grade, and finally, the large cup is given the strange title of Venti, which is simply Italian for "twenty". All three names are wrong, and they mark them as dumb.

Where I live, there are two Starbucks within half a block of each other, on the same street! However, they're on opposite sides of that street, so I guess they've successfully captured the "I don't want to cross the street, it's too much trouble!" market. Every time I walk past either one of them at any time of day, I can see that they're doing excellent business.

Maybe they're putting some addictive substance in the coffee? (besides caffeine, that is).

 

I think people are just buying the brand, Yes, just like shoes I think it is fashionable for young people to have a Starbucks coffee rather than some from anther unknown cheaper place. Ew, who wants to be caught with coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts, how embarrassing~~ ! (kidding)

 

[Pilsner Panther]

Starbucks always ticks me off, not only because I would pay $3 for a 50 cent cup of java, but they attach such weird and corny names to the sizes of their coffee. A small cup is called a Tall, a medium is a Grade, and finally, the large cup is given the strange title of Venti, which is simply Italian for "twenty". All three names are wrong, and they mark them as dumb.

Where I live, there are two Starbucks within half a block of each other, on the same street! However, they're on opposite sides of that street, so I guess they've successfully captured the "I don't want to cross the street, it's too much trouble!" market. Every time I walk past either one of them at any time of day, I can see that they're doing excellent business.

Maybe they're putting some addictive substance in the coffee? (besides caffeine, that is).

 

I think people are just buying the brand, Yes, just like shoes I think it is fashionable for young people to have a Starbucks coffee rather than some from anther unknown cheaper place. Ew, who wants to be caught with coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts, how embarrassing~~ ! (kidding)

 

For that matter, who wants to drink Starbucks coffee out of their fashionable shoe while eating a Dunkin' Donut?

I've been running The Unknown Cheaper Place (TM) for years, but nobody ever comes in— for some reason, they like the two Starbucks on either side of my coffee shop better.

 

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[Giff me dat fill-em!]

I've had that same problem ... here in North Texas in the town of Forney I've recently opened a catering shop, but for some reason, no one wants to do business with The Forney Caterers ... nyuk-nyuk-nyuk-[slap!] Oooh!!

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

There is an "energy" drink on the market called Rip It, and here is what's printed on the can (honest) -

Rip It
Energy Fuel
0 calories
0 carbs

HOW in the name of Hell can you get energy from a drink that has NO carbs or calories? The only thing it has is a ton of caffeine, so you still won't be energized, but you also won't sleep for several hours!

[Bruckman]

Had the Tv on the other day while working around the house. Some Court TV-like expose show was on. I have no idea what the program was covering, but the commentator suddenly remarked "Prosecutors decided to cut to the quick of the chase........"

From across the room I did a complete WTF?!  Not very often do I come across a solecism so blatant it stops me in my tracks, but this one did. And this was on a major netwrk - CBS, I think - news program. Who the hell do they hire on the writing staff for these things? People who barely managed to finish grade 8 English?

How the hell do you cut to "the quick" of a chase? "Cut to the quick" means to be wounded verbally at an especially  personal, sensitive point. Has nothing to do w/speed. If I'd committed such an error back when I wrote for the university newspaper the editors would've revoked my staff privileges (i.e. my free pass to sports events on campus).

[Dog Hambone]

Shemoeley Fine's comments reminded me. I was grocery shopping earlier today & was looking to buy a package of American cheese (at least it carried that name long before 9/11). You really have to look to find the just plain American cheese, though. Most of the stuff in that section is labeled "cheese food" or "cheese food product". It's bad enough when they have to tell you on the label that it's "food". And the label "food product" brings that into question.

Speaking of shopping, Pilsner Panther and shemps#1 should know that I was buying groceries at Wal-Mart. (Ouch! I can feel another "smite" coming on!).   

[shemps#1]

Do me a favor Dog; get over it. I'm starting to get sick of your whining. This thread has nothing to do with what went on in another thread, and I figured that all of that bullshit had blown over. Hell, I hadn't even posted in this thread for fuck's sake.

Let it die and move on: and don't spread it all over the board. If you continue to try to goad Pils or I into a flame war it won't be "smites" that you have to worry about.

[Pilsner Panther]

Do me a favor Dog; get over it. I'm starting to get sick of your whining. This thread has nothing to do with what went on in another thread, and I figured that all of that bullshit had blown over. Hell, I hadn't even posted in this thread for fuck's sake.

Let it die and move on: and don't spread it all over the board. If you continue to try to goad Pils or I into a flame war it won't be "smites" that you have to worry about.

I'll second that. Although I'm not easy to goad, I do recognize trolling when I see it. A word to the wise: don't.

 

[Dog Hambone]

Messages received loud & clear. From now on, it's water under the bridge. And I apologize for cluttering up this thread.

[Pilsner Panther]

Messages received loud & clear. From now on, it's water under the bridge. And I apologize for cluttering up this thread.

Apology accepted. It's okay to wander off topic, we do it all the time here and the threads go all over the place. Just don't bait people (especially the moderators) or try to start flame wars. If you like flame wars, you should check out this site:

www.fark.com

It's a troll's and flamer's delight.

I'll give you a karma point for apologizing... ya did good, kid.

 

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Not an "honest-to-god" nitpick, but an observation that borders on nitpicking ...

There is a certain class of songs that the title doesn't reflect any of the words in the song. For instance (for Pilsner's old-time-sake) the Irish tune "Saint Anne's Reel" doesn't incorporate those words in the text of the tune AT ALL.

The 1970's band Chicago (Transit Authority, for those of you who are old enough), had a nearly 15 minute long tune titled Liberation which had only three (and a-half) words in it, that being, "Oh, thank you people".

I'm sure there are other tunes that have titles that do not match the lyrics ... think, nyukleheads!

[Dog Hambone]

Bob Dylan's Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 comes to mind, although I hesitated to bring it up since I always loved that song & I always liked Bob Dylan a lot. Plus, he clearly meant it to be a a fun song & a joke. 

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

This is a wonderful spoof of the AC/DC song Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, and it's the perfect anti-nitpick ... can't find anything wrong with the tune!     

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[Dunrobin]

That's fuckin' awesome, Giff!  I love it! 

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

I believe I have found the VERY FIRST recorded session of the Nitpicker's Corner ...

(King Arthur and his servant Patsy approach a castle. Patsy is using coconut shells to imitate hoofbeats)
Arthur (holding up hand) Whoa, there.
Guard #1 Halt! Who goes there?
Arthur It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, Defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
Guard #1 Pull the other one.
Arthur I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
Guard #1 What, ridden on a horse?
Arthur Yes.
Guard #1 You're using coconuts!
Arthur What?
Guard #1 You've got two empty halves of coconut, and you're banging them together.
Arthur So? … we have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land. Through the kingdom of Mercia, through …
Guard #1 Where'd you get the coconuts?
Arthur We found them.
Guard #1 Found them?! … in Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
Arthur What do you mean?
Guard #1 Well, this is a temperate zone.
Arthur The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land.
Guard #1 Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
Arthur Not at all. They could be carried.
Guard #1 What?! … a swallow carrying a coconut?
Arthur It could grip it by the husk.
Guard #1 It's not a question of where he grips it … it's a simple question of weight ratios. A five-ounce bird cannot carry a one-pound coconut!
Arthur Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here.
Guard #1 Listen, in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?
Arthur Please!!
Guard #1 Am I right?
Arthur I'm not interested!
Guard #2 It could be carried by an African swallow.
Guard #1 Oh yeah, an African swallow, maybe. But not a European swallow, that's my point.
Guard #2 Oh yeah, I agree with that.
Arthur Will you ask your master if he wants to join my court at Camelot?
Guard #1 But then, of course, the African swallows are non-migratory.
Guard #2 Oh, yeah.
Guard #1 So they couldn't bring a coconut back, anyway.
(Arthur and Patsy "ride" off in disgust)
Guard #3 Wait a minute … supposing two swallows carried it together?
Guard #1 No, they'd have to have it on a line.
Guard #3 Well, simple … they just use a strand of creeper.
Guard #1 What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?
Guard #3 Well, why not?

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

There may be a widely accepted truism such as, “All Fishermen Are Liars”, to which, an honest-to-god-person-that-makes-a-living-at-catching-fish may retort, “Yes, but All Liars Are Not Fishermen”. This is a weak-ass attempt to distinguish themselves from the other “so-called” fishermen spinning yarns at the barstool. For, is it not true, in all fairness, that it is the sole discretion of the FISH and their appetites and temperaments to determine which person (whether professional or not) to claim, whether lying or not, that “the big one got away”?

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

I am currently watching an episode of High Stakes Poker on the Game Show Network, mainly because I am waiting for a airing of the "game show" Without Prejudice within the hour ... jes to see what all the hub-bub is 'bout.

Anyhoo, lo-and-behold the color commentator of this ep of poker is ... (are you ready?)
GABE KAPLAN!!!

Yep, the very guy that was the lead in the early TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, although with significantly less hair.

[BeAStooge]

Anyhoo, lo-and-behold the color commentator of this ep of poker is ... (are you ready?)
GABE KAPLAN!!!

Kaplan has been one of the nation's top professional poker players for almost 30 years. He's been in every World Series of Poker in Vegas since 1978, and although I'm not sure if he's won 1st place, he has been a finalist for almost every year he's competed.

He's also made multi-millions in the stock market the past couple decades, and at one time or another has been the topic of feature articles in "Money," "Fortune 500," "U.S. News and World Report," and various stock market publications.

He quit show business in the early '80s, and now that he's become a huge success as a businessman and entrepeneur, is making a comeback in show business as producer/host for GSN, and is back doing occasional stand-up in Vegas, AC, Reno, etc.

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

Wow ... I guess fortune doesn't always follow fame.