Douglas Holt and James Twitchell
Hi Jim,
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StumbleUponI thought this was supposed to be a leisurely chat over coffee? Just begun to nuzzle my cappu-latte, and you're already giving me my semiotic marching orders. I invented that, you know. The cappu-latte. Ever notice that the Starbucks cap (we're allowed to use barista slang, right?) is so frothy that half of that minuscule shot gets stuck inside the cup? Shaking and licking does help. But also earns you some weird stares. The latte, on the other hand, is a mocha milkshake. It's like drinking a shandy for a real ale drinker. At Starbucks special orders don't upset us. You can go deep into the barista classification grid to construct your hyper-individuated drink of preference. But I just don't feel comfortable saying out loud "give me a short wet cap." Call me Midwestern. Hence, the cappu-latte. It's what I brew at home, a product of decades honing the barista arts. Half foam, half steamed milk, a double shot, all in one of those French barware glasses that Williams-Sonoma sells. I know that you're aching to know what bean I choose to work this cafe magic. All this talk about Peet's this, Peet's that is rubbish. They roast some excellent beans for drip, but their various espresso roasts are flat and simple-minded compared to the beans I pull out of the bulk bin at the local Bread and Circus or even the McBeans from Starbucks.
All of this is to say that I find "superficial" and "needless" to be challenging terms to deploy gracefully. Should I read your choice to frame this confab as a deft apology to the literate readers of Slate by an English professor who now makes his living cranking out books on advertising and consumption?
I'll go pick up a Times so that I can take a stroll with you down Fifth Avenue. I invented a game for my course when I was teaching at the University of Illinois called "reverse engineering." The idea is to take an ad, or better yet a set of ads from the same campaign, and deduce the marketing strategy that the ad is attempting to deliver upon. Perhaps we can play?
Did you know that Golden Earring's "Radar Love" was voted best best driving song of all time (in today's Washington Post)? Excellent choice I thought. Top five, but probably not No. 1. Do you drive Jim? I vaguely remember stories of a Miata while you were visiting here for the "greenie" event. What do you listen to?
Off to the garden ...
Doug
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Reader Comments From The Fray
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[Notes from the Fray Editor: Let's talk about coffee. Joseph Britt., below, was just one of many--follow the thread, and consider the question of tipping the barista. He still had time to discuss milk, here, too. And Brendan Herlihy took on ice-cream here. Neill Hamilton is looking for more "dissent, anger, blood feuds... I want the people writing in the Breakfast Table to open up life long vendettas" here (he always is, he's the Breakfast Table's official trouble-maker), but Richard Walrath enjoyed the banter: "it's almost like being there with the third cup of coffee."]
We're really talking about two different things here, aren't we? Coffee, and then all the froofy coffee-influenced liquid dessert-style beverages that take up most of the space on coffee house menus. I have nothing against the latter (because making fun of them is always a good time), but coffee is a really serious subject. If you're going to drink something nearly every day, it might as well be good. This is why I've never understood all the sneering condescension directed at Starbucks. Pre-Starbucks, most coffee served in public places was awful--you were ahead of the game if you ordered came out hot, caffeinated and with no taste at all. OK, most coffee served in public places is still awful, but with Starbucks you at least have the choice of having a good cup of coffee.
I confess I think Starbucks is slipping, based on extensive research I've done at the Minneapolis Airport. They used to offer a rotation of different coffees--Sumatra, Mocha Java, even New Guinea--but now seem to mostly serve up a couple of blends with names like "European" and "Christmas." Talk about your brand marketing. Also they routinely serve the coffee so hot you wonder if there is something wrong with the water they're using.
--Joseph Britt
(To reply, click here.)
Maybe the students in Mr. Twitchell's anecdote couldn't tell good poetry from bad without guidance, but this doesn't strike me as being universally true. Poetry isn't my thing, but music is, and I have no trouble separating the good from the bad using only my own ears. If there wasn't something intrinsic in good art, we wouldn't, over time, have come to a general agreement about the relative worth of, say, Mozart vs. Salieri.
--Chloe Pajerek
(To reply, click here.)
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