Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

R.I.P.: Borders

I was dismayed at the news that Borders has finally given up the ghost, and especially at the news that their customer list has been acquired by Barnes & Noble. This paradigm shift makes me a little sad sometimes. On the other hand, however, dying booksellers are flogging Twilight books and other products of a worldview that I believe to be completely insidious. So maybe the shift can't happen quickly enough.

Last night, I was walking around Downtown Milwaukee and walked past the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel building. Its architecture proclaims: "This is where reality lives." And I so miss that reality. Would they dare publish anything nowadays--not as a rare feature, but on an everyday, bread-and-butter basis--that didn't tickle the vapid fancies of some target demographic?

Books: Religion: Archbishop Weakland

I'm just placing my order for Archbishop Rembert Weakland's memoir, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop, to be released Monday.  Seven years ago, Weakland retired amidst considerable scandal caused by a large financial settlement paid by the Archdiocese on what, in my opinion, are unbelievably weak grounds (link). Of course, the settlement caused uproar because we, as a society, never pay for the dumb stuff other people do.  Not being Roman Catholic myself, I suppose my response would be that if Catholics are offended by the payment, they should be offended by the system that demands priestly celibacy, which I would argue is the root problem here.  While not certainly defending child abuse--and not considering it a crime seems mind-boggling to me--I almost want to ask what people expect to happen as a result of the celibacy requirement.  Do they actually expect the priests to live it out?  C'mon, guys, I'm gullible, but even I am not that gullible.

So, I assume no book tour?  Is this too scandalous for a society that worships porn stars and Paris Hilton?  I, for one, wish the retired Archbishop the best.  During his decades of service, he struck me as a genuinely spritual leader.  Nowadays, Christian churches of all denominations seem more enamored of leaders who implement programs and generate revenue.  Weakland, in contrast, is the kind of clergy I'd want at my bedside if I were seriously ill or dying. 

Books: Northwestern Publishing House

A hidden gem for Christians is surely Northwestern Publishing House in Wauwatosa.  The warehouse and retail store are located just off of 113th and Watertown Plank Road in Wauwatosa (next door to Empire Fish, about a mile south of Mayfair.  I stopped in today to pick up a copy of Christian Worship-Supplement, presumably hot off the presses (the order link just went live in the last week or so).

Ristretto: God in a Cup -- Cheap!

-No sacrilege intended, but I couldn't resist the headline.  I just purchased Michaele Weissman's God in a Cup on buy.com for $7.78 with a $10 Google checkout sign-up bonus. 

-I'm at Alterra Bayshore.  Earlier this afternoon, I had an espresso on Prospect that was not quite the God shot to which I've become accustomed.  I've just now enjoyed a cup of Organic Guatemala Azobagri, and am quite convinced this coffee figures prominently into their espresso blend.  I'm going to do some searching for the God shot at home in the near future.

Mystery Solved: Why Butchers Don't Display Dead Animals in Windows Anymore

If you've ever sat around wistfully reminiscing about the good old-timey days when butcher shops and counters used to display the stripped, whole carcasses of freshly killed birds and beasties for human consumption and wondered why, oh why they no longer offer us this tempting visual smorgasbord--and, really, who hasn't?--this may be one of the reasons: a 1944 how-to pamphlet on creating artistic window and exhibit displays from bacon fat back. My reaction is a plain and simple eeew.

Written by Otto F. Fleiss--author, entrepreneur, meat lover--the full title is a powerful example of the snappy and succinct: White Art in the Meat Food Business. A Practical Handbook for Butcher, Pork Stores, Restaurants, Hotels and Delicatessens on How to Make Lasting and Transferable White Art Decorations out of Bacon Fat Back for Window Displays, Ornaments on Meat Food Cold Buffets and for Exhibits and Advertising Purposes. Kinda says it all, doesn't it?

Link (via Boing Boing)

Books: Michael Pollan at Alverno on Monday

Michael Pollan will be speaking at Alverno College on Monday night, January 14, as part of the Schwartz Live series.