Dr. X's Free Associations

Ikea Founder Has Died

May he rest in pieces

(Sorry) pic.twitter.com/kUBM7iLUM6

— Declan Cashin (@Tweet_Dec) January 28, 2018

How Some French Shoppers Reacted to a 70% off sale on Nutella

Serieux ??!! Tout ça pour du Nutella ?! 😮 #Emeute #Nutella pic.twitter.com/UoNTmK78eE

— •KENNY LE BON• (@kennyLebon) January 25, 2018

Reader Photos

Photo by Retriever. Sony a7riii and Sony Batis 25 mm.

He Sounds Nice

WaPo:

A Republican candidate who hopes to unseat a female Democratic senator in Missouri is drawing criticism for a statement he posted about women’s rights in which he called feminists “she devils” and said that he expected his fiancee to have dinner ready for him every night at 6 p.m.

“I want to come home to a home cooked dinner at six every night, one that she fixes and one that I expect one day to have my daughters learn to fix after they become traditional homemakers and family wives,” he wrote of his fiancee, Chanel Rion, saying he wanted his world to be more Norman Rockwell — the painter known for his depictions of classic American life — than the feminist Gloria Steinem.
(Facebook/Courtland Sykes for Senate)

The candidate, Courtland Sykes, wrote that “radical feminism” has a “crazed definition of modern womanhood.”

“They made it up to suit their own nasty, snake-filled heads,” he said. “Men and women are different and gender-bending word games by a goofy nest of drugstore academics aren’t going to change anything — except the fantasy life of those confused people in ivory towers.”

He's vying for the Republican nomination, but I have a sneaking suspicion he won't get it.

The One In Which I'm Troubled By Everyone Involved

A group of American Christian street preachers are jeered and attacked with rocks in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll just leave it on the table.

"Italian Ratios"

I stopped by this cafe again this morning. I think it's going to be a regular Wednesday morning stop.

Anyway, I ordered a large cappuccino. The barista held up the cup, which was about the size of a Starbucks tall (which is small) and warned me that they use "Italian ratios." I guessed that he meant they use far less steamed milk per shot of espresso than Starbucks and many other cafes, but I asked him to explain. He confirmed what I was thinking.

When I first began to order cappuccino at Starbucks, my reaction was that they're adding far too much milk, so I would instruct them to use less milk. They didn't like handing me a half-filled cup, so I changed my cappuccino order to "bone dry," meaning fill the cup entirely with foam. It's a pain in the neck for them (takes longer), but they seem to prefer that to serving a half-filled cup to a customer.

I've wondered why Starbucks adds so much milk to cappuccinos, and sometimes I would doubt my childhood recollections from a time when cappuccino was only served in Italian restaurants that owned a cappuccino machine, like the restaurant I worked at when I was 16. I guess my recollections are correct. I assume Starbucks test markets all their drinks, and they learned that people who order cappuccino don't really want traditional cappuccino. They want something that's more like a latte.

Best Picture Nominations

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning. Here are the nominees for Best Picture:

Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

We've seen all but Darkest Hour.  Saw Three billboards thrice, The Shape of Water twice, and the Phantom Thread twice.

My hands-down favorite is Three Billboards.

Overrated, IMO: Dunkirk, The Shape of Water.

There's a video for that

I picked up coffee at a cafe I never before visited, and noticed that they have printing available to customers. I like it in concept, but seems like a security problem waiting to happen.

Today, Same As Yesterday

Hour commute, same weather both days, I didn't see any accidents. No one drove off the road. That's unusual.