I GUESS COMPLAINING ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE AT MARRY BROWN IS LIKE COMPLAINING ABOUT COLD IN ANTARCTICA BUT HERE GOES ANYWAY....

When I was teaching high school, I used to joke with my students that if they didn’t do well they would have to work at MacDonalds or Burger King but for those who were exceptionally bad at whatever task I gave them to do they would only be able to get a job at Marry Brown meaning that that standards were even lower there than other fast food chains.

Well today I witnessed theory in practice as there is a Marry Brown near my current place of work….I came in and ordered a meal no problem….However, when I went back to order some French fries I was told it would it would be five minutes which I thought strange as French fries are something usually in demand at any fast food outlet and are always available.

I was given the number tag for when they bring out my order and sat down….After ten minutes, I tried to get the attention of the woman who took my order but she couldn’t be bothered so I instead asked a woman who was bringing around the trays….She went and asked a bunch of her fellow employees but they knew nothing….Long story short, finally, I got my order but it came in a bag even though I told them I was going to eat there.

Marry Brown is at the lower end of the food chain of fast food chains but I do respect them as they seem to hire people with Down’s Syndrome to work there….As that’s my impression….Marry Brown-the fast food chain so bad they don’t even have it in the United States

In this photo, I believe the person who took my order is standing on the right side….

IN PATAGONIA BY BRUCE CHATWIN

The anecdote as tool to relate information about something in this case a certain place with its own unique history and peoples reaches its zenith in IN PATAGONIA by Bruce Chatwin.

Over 97 short chapters and 250+ pages, Chatwin sketches his travels around the Patagonia area of Argentina and Chile and area seems the best way to describe it….This is a desolate terrain and also seems out of time as well as Chatwin is constantly going backwards in time to explore the past of this region.

Chatwin is full of stories, this is a travelogue written by an inveterate gossip and it makes for an entertaining read….There are stories of mutinies, ancient and harrowing sea travels, Welsh, Scottish, German and other pioneers to this region, there’s even several brushes to cryptozoology or the study of unknown creatures.

This is not the best travel book I’ve ever read, the level of detail involving language and other origins of culture are missing as is any socio-political understanding-There is even a scene where Chatwin seems to sympathize with the overthrow of Salvadore Allende through a conversation with an elderly woman of a fascist bent.

However, it is wildly entertaining, his historical anecdotes are an education themselves and one reads the short chapters waiting for the next with anticipation….His short punchy sentences convey an incredible amount of detail….That’s his secret weapon-his eye for detail….Perhaps his experience working at Sotheby’s gave Chatwin the eye for any odd little scene that is the gift of a good writer fiction or non-fiction.

WILL OBAMA SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS KENNEDY?

I was never a subscriber to the Kennedy cult of personality….For one thing, I thought they used people in a dreadful way and basically treated their loved ones abominably….I do believe this is criteria for assessing the worth of a person….I also think that while Ted proved himself to be a successful legislator on many progressive issues, the other two John and Robert were much more conservative than history portrayed them….However, this article makes some good points about the Kennedy-Obama similarities-is Obama going to be assassinated?

http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1561/1/

This article draws some very interesting comparisons between President Obama and Kennedy although there are some factual errors….For one, Kennedy’s fingerprints were all over the overthrow of Diem if not his execution….I do like how the article points out that both Obama and Kennedy tried to run to the right of their Republican opponents….Remember Obama said the real war was in Afghanistan and there should be more troops there.

Obama is now at the crossroads….Is he going to the transforming figure who captivated America’s attention, the change giver, the hope bringer or is he a hack? Is he someone who will stand his ground change America from an imperialist corpocracy back to where it is going to end u anyway-still a preeminent world power but necessarily the most dominant economic power. …In other words is he Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Jimmy Carter?

I have been disappointed with many things about this administration from their weakness in pushing legislation to their blind allegiance with Israel and backpedaling on closing Gitmo….Hopefully, the standing up to Israel this week will signal a change in foreign policy just as Obaam’s increased aggressiveness on health care will signal one on domestic policy.

Back to the article, I would also say that it is my own belief that President Kennedy was not murdered as a result of his foreign policy clashes….I think it was his tampering with the Federal Reserve that led to his death but that’s a topic for another post.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A GROWN MAN NAKED? OR THE ABILITY TO LAUGH AT OURSELVES

While there are many components of the film AIRPLANE and its many imitators, spin-offs etc. that make it funny from the sight gags to the puns and malapropisms, what I always thought was the funniest was bringing in well-respected authority figure type actors such as Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Leslie Neilsen, and, most importantly, Peter Graves to mouth the most ridiculous lines.

Graves who passed away yesterday was the perfect example. His career started in a bunch of low budget sci fi films such as THE BEGINNING OF THE END and western TV shows. From this he worked his way up to an excellent supporting performance in STALAG 17 and his his most famous portrayal Jim Phelps the spy hero of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

The hardest thing for many of us to do even though it is very healthy is to take a moment to laugh at ourselves or laugh along with others when they poke fun at us (as long as it doesn’t get too personal). Graves was the example of this. He had such a straight arrow image that hearing him say dirty things to small boy cracked up an audience used to his past portrayal. Even if you didn’t know who he was, he did give an air of authority, the stolid hero which made the scene even funnier.

I think one who is light hearted enough to allow self-praody and a certain amount of mockery is someone who is very comfortable in their own skin. I think watching the state of the world today we could use more of that.

Here’s ten funny clips from Airplane including Peter Graves “Have you ever seen a grown man naked?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIAUbPDgaAg

TWITS FOR TWITTER

Twitter is one of those developments (technological and/or cultural) that falls more in the fad camp….It seems like one of those things that serves no purpose unless of you course you are already famous and have a fan base or are just so tremendously popular that people can’t get enough of what you spew and must have access to every single word you produce….

I have a Facebook account as well as two blogs (this one and my original one which is www.xanga.com/rgdinmalaysia and which is now just for poetry).

Blogs can be promotional devices but they are often used as diaries or for reviews or any other type of longer writing to share with others but also can be used just to elaborate on thoughts and feelings for someone’s own well-being.

Twitter by virtue of the length of its entries is always going to be more of an announcement mechanism than a vehicle for deeper writing.

Personally, I think Twitter is for people who don’t have the attention span for Facebook.

Here’s a great link to a classic Monty Python sketch – The Upper Class Twit of The Year (And Oliver has run himself over)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSqkdcT25ss

Then there’s the problem of spam on Twitter….

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10015132o-2000440756b,00.htm

THREE NOVELS BY RICHARD YATES

I’ve written about Richard Yates before…. http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/654219058/revolutionary-road-by-richard-yates/

To say he is criminally neglected is an understatement….Yates really knows the foibles of people what destructive patterns they lock into and allow to ruin their lives....I also think he does a good job of showing people who don't see themselves well, that is have no clear understanding what they are actually good at and what would make them happy and content....

I’ve been steadily working my way through his works over the last several years….

EASTER PARADE, the story of two sisters with very different lives, is an amazing book…. Is the prototype for feminism, the Sex and the City girl, who cannot find happiness largely because of her own life and choices and also because of her upbringing….Yates should be commended for making it clear that this character would be a failure if she attempted to live the life of the older sister whose idyllic life on an estate in New York is all charade as she is an abused wife who sacrificed her own goals and interests for her family and eventually becomes an alcoholic.

The characterizations in this novel are letter perfect as is the ending where one character finally attempts to give voice to the existential funk as well as the nagging guilt and anger over another character’s death….

A SPECIAL PROVIDENCE is Yates most autobiographical novel dealing with a young man’s experiences in WWII and his relationship with his overbearing mother….Maybe because it is less in Yates’ heads and more based on his actual life, it has a realism his other books don’t….Certainly his most underrated book.

I just finished DISTURBING THE PEACE which I found a bit disjointed but still very good….The sequences regarding the main character’s mental breakdowns are harrowing and disturbing especially the last fifty books although it does seem like the book ends too abruptly.

There are a still few more Yates books I haven’t got too….But so far my thoughts are he is one of the most technically accomplished writers I’ve ever read.

PIZZA IN MALAYSIA PLUS RELATED SUB-TOPICS (OR IS IT TOPPINGS?)

The oft reported quote that pizza is like sex because bad pizza is still pretty good is something I agree with as I love pizza….However, good pizza is something that is hard to come by in Malaysia.

For one thing, Pizza Hut and Dominos are very dominant….It isn’t like the US where every small town has its own neighborhood pizza place that delivers and which competes with the big international chains….Here you basically have just the two and the city I live in now just has Pizza Hut.

In the US we always use to say that we thought Pizza Hut was much better that Dominos fresher tasting and with a thicker crust….However, in Malaysia, I have to say I think it is the opposite….Here Dominoes is better....Usually the local places are better than both.

I’m always reminded of Track Town Pizza in Eugene, Oregon where I went to university….We always used to order pizza deliver to our dorm using the same students name….He was a football player who ordered pizza almost every day….Eventually, we had to stop as the empty boxes always ended up on the lawn outside and we were all banned from ordering pizza using that name.

Anyway, I would like to say Uno’s which has locations at Taipan in Subang Jaya and Times Square in Kuala Lumpur is pretty good

And since we are addressing all the different pizza sub-topics what’s the deal with customer service at the Pizza Hut locations in Ipoh? It always seems to suck

My favorite toppings – pepperoni, mushrooms, olives