In my own experience, I use Fresh Direct occasionally, picking up myself at their warehouse, cause I’m in the neighborhood, and cause I got used to doing that back when they–inexplicably–did not deliver to their neighborhood. And while I think they should find another packing method that does not leave boxes all over the city, as they deliver, I haven’t before gotten orders from them that were terribly overpackaged. Until now.

First, I opened one box, and found this box of tea in its own massive box:

At this point, I went for my camera. I wanted to document this ugly overpackaging moment.

Then, I opened the box below it (in the photo), and found this small pint of tomatoes (I think) in a plastic bag, again alone inside a massive box:

At this point, I was screaming and running around the apartment in horror.

If you ask them, Fresh Direct will say they pack items in boxes according to what part of the store the items came from (so cold stuff is in a box together in a cold place, veggies are together in an appropriate temperature, dry groceries together, and so on. But why not take a minute, before heading out the door, to consolidate items which could live together in one box? And why not find some system whereby your customers could recycle those boxes back to you?

Shame on you, Fresh Direct! I guess in the past I have ordered things which fit in a box together. This was the first time I have seen anything like this. And now I know why they’re losing customers, big time.

What pisses me off is that they’re not closing for want of business. The place is a local hub. Instead, they’re closing because their building wants to expand and put in more residential space. And they haven’t yet found a local space to move the shop to that’s affordable.

My vision of the gentrification of my beloved neighborhood has been wrought with impending doom, in the form of high-rises crowding out the river access and local skyscape, in the ever-increasing popularity of the place which will eventually mean my rent goes even higher and I am out of here.

But since more rich and trendy people means more business, especially for amazing businesses, I never thought Ten63 would go away. But then I am not much of an economist.

The Times story notes:

The triangular three-story building that houses the cafe, and that once housed municipal offices for the borough, has been bought by developers who want to make it taller and convert it to residences.

For many in the neighborhood, such a change would be a great loss. With its high ceiling, concrete floors and staggeringly large windows, Ten63 has served as the central gathering place for the neighborhood’s growing crop of young professionals and families for nearly three years. They love its high-backed metal benches and hearty scones and its ample supply of glossy magazines. News of the cafe’s departure, which is scheduled for Saturday, has infuriated residents who believe that developers are rushing to build in a neighborhood before it acquires the grocery stores, schools, hospitals and other amenities it will need to support a growing population.

And later, it says,

On most days, Ms. [i.e. owner Talitha] Whidbee can be found seated behind the counter of Vine Wine, her new store farther up Jackson Avenue, where she sells inexpensive wine from small vintners. But the closing of Ten63 dismays her. “It’s been the community center in a lot of ways,” Ms. Whidbee said. “We have people who have met their neighbors from across the hall in the cafe.”

Before Ten63 arrived, there were few places in the neighborhood simply to hang out. When the cafe opened, neighbors at first couldn’t believe it was real, Ms. Whidbee said. Some thought it was a set for the now-defunct television drama “Third Watch,” which was often filmed in the area.

There comes a point when we will have crammed an awful lot of yuppies into an awful lot of new luxury condos. They’ll pay slightly less than they’d pay across the East River in Manhattan, but a lot more than people in older, local, less luxury digs. But they won’t have a school large enough to fit their kids, or a grocery store (yes, people, as opposed to an overpriced deli) that sells intact, non-rotting vegetables and fruits. Do you hear me, oh proprietors of the C-Town on 21st Street?

LIC, next Saturday, loses just a bit of its soul. Let’s hope it’s just temporary.

I hate it when people use the word “pant” as a noun. This is usually a marketing thing, but it is seeping into the usage of individuals. For example: “It’s a great pant.” I believe Express– or is it Limited Express? Someone “Express” is advertising “The Editor’s Pant” in their storefront windows. To be honest, I prefer “trousers,” but I know I am fighting a losing battle there.

I also hate it when advertisers (again) use “baby” to refer to all babies. Old Navy is the biggest culprit: “For Men, Women, and Baby.” Um, well, you see, Old Navy, just as there is more than one man, and more than one woman, your clothes are also perfect for multiple babies. So the plural is more appropriate, really. If they said, “Man, woman, and baby,” it would be a bit odd, but it would be consistent, damnit.

Those who know me know I am not one of those English teachers: you know, the ones where people are afraid to speak lest you correct their usage. Quite the opposite. I am laid back in that department.

I also realize, as an enlightened 21st century person interested in language, that language change happens. And is neither good nor bad, just the way things are. I can deal. I embrace it, in fact. My own vocabulary and usage are always shifting, hip urban media chick that I am. (Tee hee, just kidding about the hip part, oh– and the media part.)

Perhaps the thing that bothers me is that multinational corporations are changing the language, in unnecessary ways. Why should we say “Men, women, and baby?” What is wrong with “pants”? I guess what I am saying is that I embrace language change, but not for no good reason, and with no good pattern. Down with market-ese.

Pants are for babies.

On iTunes as we speak: Mutabaruka’s “Whiteman Country.”

This, of course, is not surprising. Phyllis Schlafly is scared of The Feminine Mystique and The Communist Manifesto. They’re right up there with Mein Kampf. I mention Phyllis because I am happy to report I have not heard of most of these other distungished judges. Do look at the list of runners up, including such dangeous cats as J. S. Mill and Rachel Carson.

This reminds me of how G. Gordon Liddy is parading around in a little smokescreen talking about how horrible Deep Throat is–how he’s such a traitor and a criminal. Hello! G. Gordon Liddy is a criminal! Are these people mad?

(Don’t worry, that was a rhetorical question.)

And this reminds me of David Horowitz’s cranky “Discover the Network” website
where he profiles the members of “the Left”–everyone, in his mind, from convicted members of Al Qaeda to Louis Farrakhan to the Weathermen to Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Reading it is almost comical.

And Horowitz sets out to expost the left “networks.” You can even look at image maps of how everyone fits together.

Note, this did not work for me on Mozilla, which does not surprise me, since Mozilla is a commie pinko search engine. And it will take up to five minutes to load on IE. And once it loads, it will be well-nigh mind-numingly boring to wait for the “connections” to load, once you move beyond the Ford Foundation and try to find out about a group or individual. Too bad because I was interested in this mystical network.

Um, what do Sheik Omar Adbel Rahman and Roger Ebert have in common? Evangelical Lefty Jim Wallis and Barack Obama? Al Qaeda and Bill Clinton and the Weathermen? Jimmy Carter and Mumia? What Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon has taught us is that it’s easy to link people if you’re trying to. Michael Berube has written a much more detailed and useful critique of the Networks site.

Think what would happen if we played connect-the-dots games with “Right.” As we all know, Bush would be directly linked to Bin Laden via the latter’s family. No hocus pocus or imagination needed. Funny that.

This is interesting, and the amplified heartbeat is a nice touch, but perhaps Ralph’s time in NYC as an activist did not fully prepare him for the kinds of brutality cops are capable of meting out. (And no, I don’t entirely blame them, they are following orders.) I would love to display the photo, but hate stealing bandwidth from an artist. Respect. So do click.

I think protestors needs something a little more like the Popemobile, but ambulatory. Just my opinion. I am not a designer.

And why are we not seeing more about this movement?

Sadly, it is just satire. But I love the idea. Almost nothing pisses me off more than homophobes who cry “Leviticus! Leviticus!” and go to all-you-can-eat-Shrimp-festivals at Red Lobster. It’s not right.

When John Paul II came into his Popely position, I was about 8. My uncle came into the room, having presumably just seen a TV news report, and said enthusiastically, “Well, we have a new Pope!” You have a new Pope, I thought. We weren’t Catholic, but my uncle’s family was. That was in the days when nice Protestant boys converted so they could marry nice Catholic girls. I am a Quaker now, but we weren’t then. I didn’t really fully understand the Pope concept.

I don’t agree with a lot of his policies, and I think he has to be held responsible for his treatment of Cardinal Law and his reaction to the priestly child molestation scandals. I think that not developing a more pragmatic approach to condom use has led to a lot of deaths. Nonetheless, I realize I say that as someone who thinks neither gay sex nor condom use are evil. So how can I possibly understand conservative Catholic theology? I am also not sure I get Bono’s assessment of JPII as “The first funky Pope.” However, I can also see that he did a lot of good, and maybe some of the good he was not able to do wasn’t entirely his fault. Is it too much to hope he has a more radical successor? Dare I say it, a Liberation Theologist would do nicely.

Anyway, I hope that does not come across as flip. My sincerest condolences and prayers are with all Catholics right now.

It’s not pretty, people threatening each other with mallets at an Ikea opening. Four people were injured. But you know what? Ikea’s opening night special: a three-seat leather sofa for £45 (around $70), or a £30 double-bed frame, is insane. So 6,000 people surged through the doors at once to scoop up these deals. At those prices, it’s practically looting. No wonder people get excited.

We love us some Ikea here in the Tri-State area too. But maybe there should be non-violence training before they open the doors.

Everyblog is doing this to death, so I will not comment at length, except to repeat the oft-repeated question: Why didn’t anyone at the AP think this photo looked a little funny?

It would help, of course, if they’d seen him in his original packaging. Or looked at the head close-up.

(Note: apology to readers who saw obscene David Hasselhoff picture in this location; I will not link to another site’s photo again–except the one from the legitimate news outlet above. I did not anticipate such a result. I take it this is a no-no. My Bad.)

When I was young, my brother handed-me-down one of those white GI Joes with the “real” hair buzzcut and beard. I added it to my doll collection, along with the other army guys, Aquaman, and various trucks. (Aquaman, now he was cool.) And when I got older, and did not play with them anymore, I thought it would be fun to try and shave his beard. It worked, if it was a bit of a rough job. But he was a butch guy, and I don’t think he minded looking rough.