A long time ago, when Democracy still worked, at least a little bit... TFS Magnum - Archives: In the days before Starbucks
There was a time, a long time ago, but not that far away when you could not find a Starbucks on every corner. Frappuccinos were unknown. Going out for coffee meant you would be drinking coffee, or the occasional espresso or cappuccino. Coffee houses had poetry slams, and folk singers. Many places roasted their own beans. Life was good.
You can still find the Too Much Coffee Man comics, but I cannot find The Teachings of Baba Java: The Path to Coffee Consciousness anywhere. Do people even know what a Poetry Slam is anymore? Or why it is called a Slam? (Hint: search for "slam dancing," though I don't recommend actually going to such a venue.) I wonder if The Green Mill will survive the COVID-19 lockdowns in Illinois.
Though the post I wrote at the Achives 1.0 is from 2005, I think at that time Starbucks still had SOME drinkable coffee. The last time I was in a Starbucks to meet friends, I couldn't drink any of the coffee. It was burnt. Noticeably burnt. Do people really want burnt coffee? There are so many better choices today.
Now you've got me thinking "Ginsberg Kodak Mantra Diaries"... hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteHaving read Herbert Marcuse's The One Dimensional Man in college, I could never get excited about that whole crew, including Ginsberg.
DeleteActually having read a good bit of Marx and Engels, it was hard to take any of the communists seriously in any aspect. Even without reference to harm done by communists in places like The Soviet Union, The People's Republic of China, Cambodia, etc.