Live from Starbucks

This might be the first weekend in months where I’ve been in town with no plans and no work. It’s kind of nice to have absolutely nothing on the agenda, a wide-open two days. But yes, I do miss Andrea. She called this morning, and sounds like she’s having a great time. She spent all day poolside getting back her Brazilian tan.

I saw LOTR: The Two Towers tonight at Mann’s Fox Theater in Westwood. Very nice, even better than the Pacific Crest. It has a huge screen, balcony seating and a classy art-deco interior that includes curtains that open when the movie starts. And you can actually feel the THX pre-film trailer. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever have to move somewhere less cool.

The movie itself was really entertaining, and the audience was totally into it, clapping at all the right moments and making its opinion about the previews clear (the crowd loved X-Men 2 and Terminator 3 but hated everything else).

And now I’m at the Starbucks next door, which stays open until 1 a.m. I got a couple of magazines earlier from the newsstand and am reading them over a hot chocolate. I don’t know why, but I really like reading architecture and design magazines. I don’t know why, since nothing in my house (expect maybe some of my tech gear) is really well designed. I wish there wasn’t such a premium on well-designed furniture and accessories. Also, I wish I had my own house.

Speaking of architecture, a guy I’ll assume is in the field (he’s looking over a set of blueprints at the big table) just asked to borrow a pencil. Who carries a pencil?

The Republicans are in charge #4

Guess who's in charge of lead safety?

Your online Wayback Machine

A fascinating article from a 1967 issue of Forbes about some newfangled concept called "electronic money." It correctly forecasts online (or more precisely, automatic) bill-paying, debit cards, national credit-card alliances (i.e. Visa and Mastercard), overdraft protection, direct deposit and credit card firms' hostility toward debit cards. It incorrectly predicts a daily salary, voice-print verification (rather than signatures and PINs) and the end of payroll records.

It also envisions something like ATMs, but imagines them as something located only at banks' branch offices and featuring a video connection to a live teller. For some reason, this is supposed to be cheaper than flesh-and-blood employees at the branch offices, which the machines replace.

What's most interesting about reading an article like this is getting a feel for the culture then, something most history-type articles fail to capture. For instance, Mastercard here is still known as the Inter Bank system and Bank of America has yet to create or license the Visa name.

And it seems that people were far more cavalier about paying their bills. One of the feared roadblocks to electronic money was consumers' unwillingness to see money deducted from their accounts right away. And apparently, all the stores offered deferred payment plans. In one scenario, a housewife happily postpones a bill to buy a TV.

Sears' comments about resisting bank credit cards ("We have an enormous credit card network of our own customers and we're not going to give it up without a fight.") is amusing in light of this. Most entertaining of all, the U.S. Postal Service is described at being overjoyed at the prospect of having to deliver less mail.

Anyway, the article is well worth reading. I'm reading the other old Forbes articles this weekend. I'm sure they included the stories that make the magazine seem especially prescient.

Buh-bye.

Lott to step down as Senate leader

Why it took me an hour and a half to get home yesterday

This federal building is on my way home. Police had to shut down the exits onto Wilshire and several lanes.

And if that weren't enough, this premiered is Westwood, bringing in more traffic and shutting down another street in front of the Fox Theater.

Movie recommendation

I finally saw Ghost World tonight (rental). I really enjoyed it, and didn't realize until just a few moments ago that it's based on a comic book. Anyway, it's one of the better movies I've seen recently.

The Republicans are in charge #3

New tax plan may bring burden shift