Life of Zane

2013-04-12T10:42:00.000-04:00

In his study of the form that masochism takes in modern man, Theodor Reik puts forth an interesting view. Masochism is more widespread than we realize because it takes an attenuated form. The basic dynamism is as follows: a human being sees something bad which is coming as inevitable. There is no way he can halt the process; he is helpless. This sense of helplessness generates a need to gain some control over the impending pain--any kind of control will do. This makes sense; the subjective feeling of helplessness is more painful than the impending misery. So the person seizes control over the situation in the only way open to him: he connives to bring on the impending misery; he hastens it. This activity on his part promotes the false impression that he enjoys pain. Not so. It is simply that he cannot any longer endure the helplessness or the supposed helplessness. But in the process of gaining control over the inevitable misery he becomes, automatically, anhedonic (which means being unable or unwilling to enjoy pleasure). Anhedonia sets in stealthily. Over the years it takes control of him. For example, he learns to defer gratification; this is a step in the dismal process of anhedonia. In learning to defer gratification he experiences a sense of self-mastery; he has become stoic, disciplined; he does not give way to impulse. He has control. Control over himself in terms of his impulses and control over the external situation. He is a controlled and controlling person. Pretty soon he has branched out and is controlling other people, as part of the situation. He becomes a manipulator. Of course, he is not consciously aware of this; all he intends to do is lessen his own sense of impotence. But in his task of lessening this sense, he insidiously overpowers the freedom of others. Yet, he derives no pleasure from this, no positive psychological gain; all his gains are essentially negative.

(Philip K. Dick, Valis, 81-82)

2013-04-08T11:18:00.002-04:00

I've had a long-held belief regarding the presence of a consciousness in all things, but I had a thought late last night that caused a slight shift in my understanding of it.

Assuming there are infinite universes and an infinite number of planes of existence, it occurred to me that the physical nature of those universes and planes truly may be just sensory information. That is, none of this may actually exist anywhere than in our shared consciousness.

Now that I'm on the subject, assuming a consciousness exists in all things, it seems that we exist in order to know experientially what our greater consciousness/god knows in itself. In other words, if physical existence in itself exists only in our shared consciousness, call this our shared manifestation of a different way of knowing. To me this fits nicely with the way a lot of our behavior works. The dichotomies of male/female, passive/assertive, etc. suggest that we long to experience these spectrums even if it's not through ourselves personally but rather through someone close to us.

There's literally no way to discuss this without sounding insane (or at least new agey), but it does occur to me that if a part of me that exists on another plane wanted to express itself in our world it wouldn't be able to do it to anyone who wasn't at least a little bit insane.

Cocktail Bars

2011-07-02T12:07:00.002-04:00

Working on DH has been the most challenging and most rewarding thing I've done in my life so far. A lot of the thrill of doing this is the idea that we're making an effort at bringing something new to people in town. This is a huge challenge for a city who knows what it likes and isn't particularly interested in changing its mind about it. But I have a lot of faith in Houston, and I think we can really contribute to raising the consciousness and enjoyment people have with casual dining.

J and I were talking about, in a market sense, the challenge to consumers about the product we're selling. With familiar commodities, if you can beat your competitors on speed and price you'll always win. With luxury items, you're in search of an educated niche market who is willing to sacrifice speed, cost and necessity--which makes the emotional product, education, and the overall experience extremely important.* We realized early on that we're selling a higher-quality niche product to consumers who may or may not be educated with a longer wait time for more money. Potentially rough waters ahead.

For example: We've put together a fantastic, original craft cocktail list with house-made syrups, bitters, tinctures, and high-quality spirits. We're extremely fortunate that we live in a time and place where this kind of thing is starting to be accepted again, but it's still an uphill battle. At the moment we have a number of decisions to make along these lines:

For a number of reasons, vodka of all kinds and simple highballs (any spirit and any sugary soda, vodka and anything, etc.) don't get much respect in the craft cocktail community. Because the craft nature of our bar is critically important, we have a decision to make. Do we "water down" the overall experience by offering these simple highballs and spirits to those who ask for them? Or do we, as a hospitality-focused business accept that some people won't "get" what we're doing immediately and find a way to serve (some of) the things they want while still maintaining our standards for quality?

These options represent two schools of thought, both with genuine merit. There are potentially great benefits to be found in holding your ground, alienating people who don't "get it" and embracing those who do or are open-minded enough to be taken for a ride. Making a statement, sticking to your guns, and not budging will definitely breed die-hard loyalists over time.

But given that education is so important in creating this market, I have a hard time seeing the sense of alienating anyone so quickly by barring vodka or high balls altogether. If I were a Jack and Coke kind of guy, and was offered a nice George Dickel 12 on the rocks and a cane sugar Coca-Cola in a bottle, that would get me thinking that this was a different kind of place. And the next time I came back, maybe I'd think I could try something new.

There certainly is a place for bars that "don't do vodka" and won't make a bourbon and coke, but that's another part of the beauty of the marketplace--each place fulfills their own role in what they offer. For us it seems best to take the approach of bringing people into the fold instead of forcing them to take what we want to give them.

*I don't know if this is a thing, but I often refer to the "emotional product" as a huge part of the brand experience. Chuy's, Starbucks, Nike, Apple--they all sell their emotional product very well.

2011-06-09T21:49:00.002-04:00

My list of American musical geniuses:

Charles Mingus

Harry Nilsson

Thelonious Monk

John Coltrane

Captain Beefheart

Bob Dylan

Les Paul

And while I love Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, (and everyone at Sun in the 50s and 60s) I hesitate to put them on this list. I'm more likely to put someone from Stax (Booker T., Otis, Sam Cooke, Ike Turner, I could go on). Ray Charles probably comes closest but I have to admit I haven't gone through as much of his work as I should.

This list provided, I have to admit that I haven't been able to think about music much lately, and this is just off the top of my head. Someone please tell me a bunch of people I've forgotten so I can distract myself for awhile.

What I have in common with LARPers

2011-05-04T20:08:00.002-04:00

From 12-Bottle Bar (a fantastic project):

If I were to equate us to the world of Tolkien (and why wouldn’t I?), 12 Bottle Bar is “The Hobbit”. Some of you might not care for “The Hobbit” one lick, and that’s fine. Some will follow along with zeal but never crack the Rings trilogy or the even more arcane “Silmarillion”. Some will wait for the movies (in this analogy, for Cheesecake Factory to offer a Vodka Sazerac). Still, a rare few among you will dive-in head first and spend the remainder of your weekends cocktail LARPing, which is really what all those mustachioed, suspender-wearing, neo-Baroque mixologists are doing. And that’s the beauty of it. There are no rules, only discovery.

2011-04-01T16:39:00.002-04:00

Been listening to the new Strokes album, Angles, a lot since it came out. Like First Impressions of Earth, it has its moments. At its best, it's reassuring that the band that so many of us loved ten years ago can still make songs that make us happy. At worst it seems forced--both in terms of its "hipness" and its modest experimentation.

I thought I liked it quite a bit, but then I went back and listened to Is This It, and I realized how far Angles had fallen. The best tracks on it aren't as good as the worst tracks on their first album.

But sometimes you have to experience something else in order to get back to your roots, and I guess I hope that's where go next. The question that comes to mind now is: "The Strokes are to my generation as ______ is to generations past?" There's definitely a comparison there, but I can't figure out exactly who fits the bill.

Bitters, Tinctures, etc.

2011-03-22T16:57:00.006-04:00

I'm working on my first experiment in creating bitters and tinctures for cocktails. I started by buying a bunch of spices and herbs from Revival Market. One of the more interesting finds was some salt from a mysterious salt mine in Galveston called "Jurassic Salt"--the clerk tells me it's over 250 million years old.

A couple of things I've been thinking about while getting started on this:

Cocktails are like cover songs: You should only make them if they improve on the original or take it an entirely different direction. I've had a number of bourbon-based cocktails or Aviation gin-based cocktails that made me wish I was just drinking a good bourbon or Aviation martini.

Similarly, I have a concern about this whole endeavor: The world of tinctures, infusions, and decoctions comes perilously close to the world of crappy fruit- and vegetable-infused liquors. These infusions rarely improve on the original, and they usually start with a low-quality spirit. My plan is only "season" cocktails with tinctures and homemade bitters.

All that said, the important thing for now is to keep an open mind and put an emphasis on experimentation.

First, an important distinction between tinctures and bitters, because they are actually very similar:

Bitters is "an alcoholic beverage that is flavored with herbal essences and has a bitter or bittersweet flavor," according to Wikipedia. They commonly have an alcoholic strength of 45% ABV. They seem much more common for cocktails and alcoholic beverages.

Tinctures, by contrast, have a stronger association with health benefits (as described here). Wikipedia says that "a tincture is an alcoholic extract (e.g. of leaves or other plant material) or solution of a non-volatile substance (e.g. of iodine, mercurochrome). To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60% (80-120 proof) (sometimes a 90% (180 proof) pure liquid is even achieved).

Aside from having a specific "bitter" flavor, the big difference seems to be with solubility. That being the case, I'm not sure if what I'm making would be considered bitters or tinctures, as I'm using 190-proof grain alcohol for all of them.

Here's what I started with:

- Jurassic Salt

- Fennel seeds/Cardamom seeds, this is the only one that I mixed while it sits. I think they complement each other well.

- Star Anise, the classic bitters ingredient, delicious licorice smell

- Long Thai Peppercorn, I've never seen these before. They look pretty cool and they smell delicious. We'll see how it turns out. I was thinking of trying a salt and pepper tincture, which might be interesting.

- Hot Curry, who the hell knows. We'll see.

- Lavender, reminds me of using Creme de Violette.

- Black Mustard Seed, I'm really hoping that this will bring out some flavor when it's concentrated.

- Thai Chilies, this came from the idea of doing a Sriracha bitters. Eventually I might get all the ingredients in Sriracha and put them all together.

- Cinnamon, seems like a given.

- Jamaican Allspice, Joey had an idea for a Jamaican cocktail that sounds incredible so I thought this would be a good start.

- Pistachio nuts, Who the hell knows. Could be awesome.

- Poppy Seed, Seems like a given.

- Orange, I used the peel of two clementines for this one.

- Apple, Again, I only used the peel and the seeds. I've read that the sugars in fruit can overwhelm the bitter flavors brought out of the peel.

My method is pretty simple: I add about half the jar with the herb/spice I'm using, and fill the rest with grain alcohol. I seal the jar so the alcohol doesn't evaporate, and then put the contents in either a brown paper bag or a cabinet so light doesn't hit it. They say you should shake the jar every day to extract the most of the herb's essence. The total time should be about two weeks. I'll update later with results!

Some Girls

2011-03-08T01:00:00.004-04:00

I have to admit that I didn't love Some Girls the first few times I'd heard it. I'm not really sure why. I was probably turned off by the disco influence, or too ready to judge it for albums like Goats Head Soup or It's Only Rock 'n Roll, which I now think have their moments. Maybe I was too young.

I've enjoyed it more and more over time, but I recently had an epiphany with that album. Bear with me, because I enjoy a good tangent:

Recently I had a discussion with ML about some teenager we know who is rumored to be a very heavy drug user. I can easily understand teenagers smoking some pot or experimenting with drugs, but I always thought that heavy serious drug use was really something that "adults" struggled with more.

"It just seems like you need to be able to look back on all the good times you had on drugs in order to become a serious heavy addict," she said. "Like before things got bad." Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, because it certainly does seem like it should be that way if it isn't.

And I think that's how it often works with music. People who aren't "serious" music appreciators often need to have some memory or feeling associated with a song or an album to really love it. For me, I have no memory of my dad listening to Some Girls, but I have plenty of memories around Sgt. Pepper or any Springsteen album that I of course love now. (This is also, by the way, why I think that "classic" radio stations play the same damn Zeppelin/Creedence/Aerosmith playlist every day.)

A few weeks ago a friend rented a hotel room at St. Cecilia where a few of us got together with some champagne and old LPs (including Some Girls) and created one of the fondest musical memories I've had in recent memory.

Anyway, go buy a vinyl copy of Some Girls and listen to it. It's lovely.

2010-12-21T11:02:00.004-04:00

Some albums I liked in 2010:

- Flying Lotus, Pattern + Grid World

- Jim Sullivan, U.F.O. (reissue)

- John Grant, Queen of Denmark

- Ghostface Killah, Apollo Kids

- Best Coast, Crazy for You

- Bun B, Trill OG

- Z-Ro, Heroin

- The Black Angels, Phosphene Dream

- Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

- Beach House, Teen Dream

- Wavves, King of the Beach

- Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

What did you like this year?

2010-12-16T01:44:00.003-04:00

"This is life in Austin: Wake up in the morning, plan on doing some shit. Walk into the living room and see your roommates sitting on the couch. Smoke some weed. Go down to Thunderbird, get a coffee. End up drinking a couple beers. Maybe go to the grocery store or the bank or something. Holler at some hoes on Facebook. Conjure up a half-baked idea to make some money, then never follow up on it again. Go back home. Smoke some more weed. Watch some SVU on Netflix. Go down to the Liberty and get drunk with your friends. Eat some East Side Kings. Go home. Smoke some weed. Watch a horror movie. Go to sleep."

2010-09-07T19:31:00.002-04:00

RP had just finished a story about how a friend of his elected to live on the street after a bad breakup.

"Most men shouldn't be allowed to be single," I said. "Without women, it's an inevitable devolution into the lowest standard of living we allow ourselves. Before you know it your dinners consist of fistfuls of fajita chicken consumed in front of an open refrigerator while you're wearing your underwear."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"Yup."

Studio 60

2010-08-26T22:28:00.003-04:00

Just finished the complete episodes of Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60. I enjoyed the show, but I have to say: Why would you make a show about comedy that isn't funny?

Anyone who has seen anything Aaron Sorkin has done wouldn't accuse him of being funny. Witty, insightful, powerful, dramatic, important--wry, maybe. But he's just not funny. And in all 22 episodes we never see a full sketch that the show creates. We see clips and get sketch titles--like "Cooking Healthy with Nicolas Cage"--which seem like they could be good, but no finished products. I think that could have been a substantial contribution and may have helped lighten the show.

My only other issue with the show is that it's haughty. The depth and power written into The West Wing rang true because it was about the White House. When the Studio 60 producers agonize and make stands and argue with executives over Standards and Practices, patriotism, and then invoke the evils of McCarthyism I just kind of think: "Does anyone really give a crap about what sketch comedy shows do?" There's a lot of hyperbolic action in the show, well, because it's a drama--but it also came off as a little self-important.

Other than that it was really good.

2010-08-23T22:39:00.002-04:00

"You speak English?"

"I speak a few words."

"How many words?"

"All of them."

"Why do you tell people you can't speak English?"

"It's fun."

From Studio 60: Live at the Sunset Strip, ep. "The Harriet Episode: Part 2"

2010-08-09T11:24:00.002-04:00

From Scott Bedbury, the Starbucks chief marketing officer, in A New Brand World:

The Starbucks brand's core identity was less about engineering a great cup of coffee than about providing a great coffee experience. Of course, it was about providing the highest-quality coffee beans, ground correctly, brewed with the purest water, at the right temperature, and for very specific periods of time. But just as "Brand Nike" was not simply about torsion control or midsole cushioning systems but about the pleasures delivered by sports and fitness, so the Starbucks brands was about what Abraham Maslow might have called the coffee "gestalt"--the atmospherics.

Seems obvious, but it requires some understanding to arrive at this conclusion. It's easy to get focused on one particular aspect of the business, but the overall experience is what really matters--and that includes, well, everything.

Good to great

2010-06-28T13:00:00.003-04:00

Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless. To quickly grasp this concept, think of United States President Abraham Lincoln (one of the few Level 5 presidents in United States history), who never let his ego get in the way of his primary ambition for the larger cause of an enduring great nation. Yet those who mistook Mr. Lincoln's personal modesty, shy nature, and awkward manner as signs of weakness found themselves terribly mistaken, to the scale of 250,000 Confederate and 360,000 Union lives, including Lincoln's own.
--Jim Collins et al, Good to Great, 22

I'm not entirely sure that Lincoln is the first presidential example I would have used to portray a Level 5 leader (Humble and fearless? I was thinking Washington.), but I think this is a crucial point for businesses. You can certainly be a good or successful company without a Level 5 leader, but you cannot become a great company.

One of the things I love about business and management is how all of the principles of business seem to apply to individuals as well. For example, something called "The Hedgehog Concept":

One of my first reactions to this is that I wish I had understood this idea very early in life--or at least immediately after college. So many of us flounder around trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, and without any concept of how to find direction we just end up with whatever ends up in front of us. The result is usually a great deal of wasted time and dissatisfaction.

Great concepts. I can't wait to finish this book.

2010-04-27T20:58:00.002-04:00

"Oh, it's the typical Madonna/Whore thing."

"Yeah, like 'A lady in the street, but a freak in the bed.'"

"That would suck if you messed it up and got a freak in the street, but a lady in the bed. You'd be walking along together and she'd be like 'Hi, stranger, can I suck your cock?' and then you'd go home and she'd be like 'I think doggystyle is gross.'"

"That would suck."

2010-04-27T20:57:00.002-04:00

"You know that girl with the banana face?"

"No. What's a banana face?"

"You know, it's like 'Everything about her is hot, banana face.'"

"I don't think that's a thing."

2010-04-19T19:55:00.003-04:00

When I read the below quote (from Unbearable Lightness of Being) I begin to feel like there are really only two ways of living: in acceptance of or in rebellion/betrayal to.

When we leave childhood we all accept or betray the lifestyles our parents taught us. When we leave a relationship we either accept or betray the things we've learned about being in love with that person.

I felt a little depressed a few years ago after watching a touring modern art retrospective in Houston. Each artistic "movement" seemed to exist only in reference to the movement before it. It seems that way with everything.

I do have some sense of interest in discovering "truly" original ideas, but most of the time I figure it doesn't really matter in the end.

2010-04-17T13:25:00.003-04:00

But if we betray B., for whom we betrayed A., it does not necessarily follow that we have placated A. . . . The first betrayal is irreparable. It calls forth a chain reaction of further betrayals, each of which takes us farther and farther away from the point of our original betrayal.

2010-03-02T21:05:00.001-04:00

"I tried to give my life over to God, but it is hard as hell."

--Mike Epps

2010-02-15T18:34:00.002-04:00

A potential sticker I made for one of our retail coffee bags.

2010-01-22T19:02:00.002-04:00

A cool little carrot I made for our new menus.

2010-01-11T01:31:00.002-04:00

Little sign I made for the box we keep the food menus in. Not sure if we'll use it.

2009-12-11T14:51:00.003-04:00

Robert Cialdini discusses how blind obedience to authority can lead people to do things that don't make sense (Influence, pp. 219-220):

A physician ordered ear drops to be administered to the right ear of a patient suffering pain and infection there. But instead of writing out completely the location "right ear" on the prescription, the doctor abbreviated it so that the instructions read "place in R ear." Upon receiving the prescription, the duty nurse promptly put the required number of ear drops into the patient's anus.

2009-12-08T21:54:00.002-04:00

Amazing interview with Eike Koenig, a graphic designer in Berlin. It's wonderful to see people who really love what they do.