News for the Week of March 11, 2009
Rick’s Writin’s
First off let me say that I think snow and freezing rain in March stinks.
You get a few days of decent weather, so you start thinking "Hey,
Spring is in the air!!" You start to watch your bulbs and flowers
start to grow, listen to spring training baseball games where its 80 degrees,
then BAM!, Sorry Charlie, it's still Winter. HA HA!! A cruel joke, I say.
A while back I talked up how good the McDonald's franchise by my house
is. The flip side to that is how crappy the downtown Puyallup Kentucky
Fried Chicken spot is right across the street from the McDonalds I like.
I enjoy KFC food, and since they've been advertising their new "Value
Menu" I wanted to check it out, since even though KFC is the main
fast food chicken seller, they charge more for chicken than anybody else.
It's tasty chicken for sure, but you'd think that since it's their specialty
they could have the best chicken AND the cheapest. And why they don't
deliver is beyond me, but it probably is all tied into the problem I'm
leading to, poorly run restaurants. I can't remember a time that I've
gone to any KFC, not just the Puyallup store, without wondering upon leaving
why I went in in the first place. I know it's the chicken, which I love.
I must keep hoping that somehow I'll find a KFC that’s run well
and I won't have to wait 20 minutes for a simple three piece meal. Since
I only go into a KFC once every six months or so, it must take that long
to forget the frustration I feel, and so after a while I try again when
the taste buds are drooling for KFC chicken. I've worked and managed fast
food and pizza restaurants plenty in my career, so I know it’s not
easy to run one, but I also know what it takes to run one well. These
KFC guys always seem to be out of chicken, or something else they need.
The employees are not courteous, fight and argue amongst themselves, and
can't get an order right to save their lives. Even if they have their
goods ready, they're so busy screwing up other customer’s orders
and dealing with that they it still takes them 20 minutes to get to your
order. This isn't a one time experience, it happens most every time. Maybe
there are well run KFCs in the area, and if so, I'd like to hear about
them, and where they are. It's definitely not in downtown Puyallup. And
there isn't much value in the KFC "Value Menu", though the "Snacker"
for a buck isn't bad. I'll probably have one six months from now. And
while I'm on a rant of sorts, what possesses Regal Cinemas to try and
charge $4.00 for a four ounce box of candy? As a former theater manager
for many years, I know that theaters make their money on concessions,
not tickets sales. That's why they push popcorn and pop. They're both
very low cost items to produce, so at the prices being charged, the margin/profit
is huge. Still, some folks like variety, so there are other items offered.
But, I've always believed, even when I worked there, that there would
be more sales if the prices were lower and that the extra sales volume
would generate more profit than the profit generated by lower volume/higher
prices. To see Skittles and the like being sold for $16.00 a pound, prices
higher than you would pay for the best NewYork steak or smoked salmon
at the grocery store, or even See's Candies (excellent stuff) per pound
price, I was reminded why it's always best to bring your own goodies to
the movies. Comic time,
This day is flying by, especially since I got a late start due to "Spring Ahead" time time change. Must get on track... Batman: Battle for the Cowl (#1 of 3) starts off the struggle amongst potential Guardians of Gotham City for the right to take over for Batman in his absence. Who will it be? The list of possible heirs include Nightwing, Robin, Catwoman, Harvey Dent, and many more. I'm figuring it to be a fun one, as the list gets whittled down to the winner. I have my feeling as to who it should be, but I bet that's not who it will be. Green Lantern Corps (#34) starts the prelude for the big "Blackest Night" story coming this summer. There seems to be more anticipation for Blackest Night than the last couple events by either Marvel or DC. I hope it pays off. A large collection of web strips from the Perry Bible web comic is arriving in a nice hardcover called The Perry Bible Almanack. We've had the Colonel Sweeto Perry Bible collection previously, and I'm telling you, this stuff is hilarious. It's kind of sick humor, mature at times, but pretty much always funny. I highly recommend this one. Last item is another of the DC Library collections, this one "The Losers" stories of a WWII army squad, done by the great Jack Kirby in the seventies. I don't believe these have ever been collected before, so it's a good opportunity to get you some Kirby. If you like Jack Kirby I also recommend the Essential Fantastic Four vol. 3 collection (or others). Volume Three, written by Stan Lee with art by Kirby, contains what I think is the best year run of comics in history, as it collects issues 41-62 of Fantastic Four, featuring, all in a ten month time span, the first appearances of Silver Surfer, The Inhumans, Galactus, and Black Panther, as well as other classic stories from the mid 1960's. This one can't be beat if only for it's impact on the Marvel Universe. I'm late, so off we go until next time...
Paula’s Picks
Tear Update: 3
I saw Watchmen yesterday. Wow! It was really good. The casting was dead
on. It’s been a while since I read the book, but many of the scenes
were like re-reading the book. It was very, very adult. I wouldn’t
recommend bringing your kids, even older teens. I can imagine how awkward
it would be, even now, to watch it with my mom or dad sitting next to
me. I think they let one into our theater though. Every time they showed
Dr. Manhattan in his birthday suit, she’d go “That’s
gross.” The IMAX was amazing! Everything was so clear and sharp.
When they showed a paper for the headline, I wanted them to pause it so
I could read my horoscope. It also had the shortest movie credits I’ve
seen in modern movies! They were 2 minutes tops. There was no reason to
stay after them anyway, so it was nice that they were so short.
We’re still working on getting the point of sale system up and running.
I’m almost done getting the trade paperbacks in. I’ve still
got to add the toys, games, supplies and extra trade paperbacks we hide
in the back. But it is coming along pretty nicely and I’m excited
to start using it.
I’m also guessing that no one is going to come see me today in the shop. The snow is coming down pretty heavy right now and I’ve got a layer on the parking lot. I didn’t think it was going to stick.