Posts

Posted on

The Food (W)Hole goes Dog Style; what’s next, Milwaukee’s Beast?!

Dog Style, 9.99

I was in Whole Foods the other day, and there, right up front, I saw this display of Old Style beer as you come into the store, just in front of the pristine produce section and right next to some fancy Rick Bayless chips. I immediately snickered and I had to take this picture with my cell phone.

Ah, memories. Back in the day in Iowa, every run-0f-the-mill bar worth its salt had Old Style (aka Dog Style) on tap. In fact, you were much more likely to find it than Budweiser or Miller when I was in college 20 years ago. It was everywhere and it was cheap-ass beer, “beer” just a half-notch above “beer” like Milwaukee’s Best (“The Beast”) and Meister Brau (“Mr. Beer”). When we were broke college kids who wanted beer, we used to pool our cans and bottles so we could cash them in (a nickel apiece in Iowa) and buy a six-pack of crappy near-beer beer like Dog Style.

And now it’s on sale at Whole Foods. Actually, I had seen it at Whole Foods before (along with Pabst, believe it or not). But I had never seen it featured quite so promienently. This is usually a spot of the store where they try to sell fancy wines and cheeses, or at least reasonable beer. So, what is the Food (W)hole thinking here? Annette suggested that perhaps it was an effort to tap into some sort of nostalgia; I think that maybe the person who decides on the displays has a sense of humor and/or a sense of the kitch. Or maybe they just have a whole bunch of this they have to get rid of.

Of course, $9.99 for 18 is a pretty good deal.

Posted on

Why I think Annette should keep a blog

Here’s a quote of an email that my lovely wife Annette sent me this morning:

So, I’m in Panera’s and just had a lovely, healthy lunch: half sandwich, salad, and an apple. I’m sitting here trying to work and these two older guys–our dads’ age–are sitting next to me loudly pontificating for one another about the ills of the world: ie. “The Bush-Haters.” So far, we’ve concluded that liberals don’t care that Sadam killed his own people or that Mao murdered 20 million Chinese, and, here’s the kicker, that the symbol for Honda is an H, which looks like the devil’s horns and, of course, stands for “Hell.” . . . they are currently complaining that their adult children do not honor, respect, or listen to them . . . hmmmm? I wonder why? . . . There was some earlier ranting about Harry Belafonte, Barbara Streisand, and Jane Fonda–apparently, Jimmy Stewart never would have behaved so disgracefully. . . . It is simultaneously annoying and amusing, though I hope they leave soon so that I can get some work done.

See what I mean?

Posted on

My next computer(s)?

The news is all out at Apple: they are releasing a new Intel-powered iMac and a new Intel-powered laptop. For the first time in my computer-buying life, it would appear that my timing is likely to be pretty darn good. Here’s why:

I am due for a new computer from EMU in the fall and I am planning on replacing my own computer at about the same time. By then, I figure that the inevitable unexpected kinks in the switch to Intel-powered processors will be worked out, various updates and upgrades will be made, the mechanism for running both OSX and Windoze on the same computer will be in place, and (hopefully) there will be a lower-priced/”consumer” model of the Mac Book that is more like the iBook.

Yes indeed, good timing. Perhaps. Various things have to fall in place, and just because Apple has released a new line of computers doesn’t mean that EMU is going to be willing to cough up the money for what I want. But I will keep fingers crossed.

Posted on

The chatty phlebotomist

I went to get a blood test early this morning (cholesterol, if you must know), and the skinny young woman who drew my blood was a bit of a trip. When I’ve had this sort of thing done before, the phlebotomist in question is usually some combination of cooly instructive (“make a fist,” “this will hurt a little bit,” etc.), polite and calm, and/or crabby (which is what I would be if my job was to draw people’s blood all day long).

Anyway, this woman comes into the waiting room, calls my name, and then, before I even can get up, she disappears down the hall. I catch up quickly. She’s at her station, getting her blood drawing stuff ready, and I take her lead and sit in the high chair next to her station. She’s already kind of going blah-blah-blah, but I’m not following it too closely yet. You have to fast for like 8 hours or something before a cholesterol blood test, so I hadn’t had my coffee (and was thus fuzzy), and I had just thrown on some sweats and a t-shirt. The t-shirt I was wearing is a really old one that says “duck duck duck” across the chest. “Duck duck duck,” she read as she tied off my arm right above the elbow with one of those rubber things.

“It’s in North Carolina. It’s a town called Duck.”

“Oh my God– I remember going to North Carolina when I was little, it was with my family, well, not really my family, but with my Dad and this friend of his and we were like on this boat and the cops pulled us over on this boat! can you believe it? I don’t know why, maybe they had beer or something, but can’t you drink beer in a boat? Anyway, it was in this really swampy area, I remember that, and blah-blah-blah-blah…” And on and on she chatters, the whole time working on my arm. It all made me a little nervous, the prospect of her jabbing this 2 inch needle into the softspot of my arm, but I have to say I didn’t feel a thing.

Posted on

Organizing in the new year

In my new quasi-administrative role as the writing program coordinator, I’ve had to do something that I don’t ever remember having to do before: I’m keeping a calendar.

Oh sure, I’ve sort of kept a calendar/schedule in the past with things like iCal or the Yahoo calendar set-up, both of which email reminders of things. But to be honest, I never felt compelled to keep one of those old-fashioned paper calendars, mainly because I couldn’t see hauling it around with me and also because my week-to-week schedule just didn’t used to be that busy. I mean, I have always had meetings to go to and such, but basically I could just keep it all in my head. As the writing program coordinator, I’ve got more meetings, advising, etc., etc. So I decided it was time to be a grown-up.

My colleagues have been somewhat surprised and amused at my seemingly newly-found anal-retentive tendencies. But the truth of the matter is that my flaky/ laid-back/ non-planned/seemingly easy-going manner has always been pretty much an act. When I have to, I can be as tightly-wound as any other academic.

Anyway, I actually have kind of enjoyed calendar-keeping. I have one where I can organize a month at a time, and I have to say it’s kind of satisfying to see what I’m doing for weeks at a time. It’s kind of, ah, fun. I should have started keeping a calendar a long time ago, even if I didn’t have anything to put on it in the first place.

And, now that I’m in an organizing mood, I’m playing around with the so-called “Hipster PDA.” The creation of Merlin “43 Folders” Mann, the Hipster PDA is really a bunch of index cards clipped together in some fashion and it’s used to keep notes and such. Amazing. And yet, despite its simplicity, there are a ton of different web sitesand links and variations on the original “design” out there.

So far, I’ve just been using my index cards to keep track of attendance in my two face-to-face classes and as a way of keeping track of “to do” lists. And I have to say that if nothing else, it’s very convenient having some index cards to jot things on.

Posted on

Restaurant Review: The Common Grill

What and Where:

The Common Grill (“upscale American Bistro”) | 112 S. Main Street, Chelesa, MI 48118 | (734) 475-0470

Ratings (1=terrible, 5=mind-blowingly great)

  • Tastiness: 3.5 to 4.25
  • Service: 4
  • Price (1=super cheap, 5=super expensive): 4
  • Value: 4
  • General vibe: 3.5

    • Comments (as of 1/8/06)

    • I know this is a lot of restaurant reviews all at once like this, but like I said the other day, I’ve somehow managed to eat out a lot lately. Anyway, we had a lovely gathering out at the Common Grill, eight of us total (me, Annette, Will, Bill, Leslie, Lilly, Steve B., and Michelle), a good time was had by one and all, and I thought I’d go ahead and write about it.
    • This is one of those places that Annette and I go a couple times a year– when the parents/in-laws are in town, when we want a special night where we can take Will, etc. Atmosphere/vibe-wise, we like it a lot, but it is a very crowded and noisy place. It isn’t a place for a “romantic dinner,” but it is a good place to take a kid because they can damn near scream their heads off and it wouldn’t bother anyone.
    • The clear specialty of the house is seafood. Annette always gets the bouillabaisse. She doesn’t bother with the menu. Personally, I have tried a variety of different things. My favorites are the tuna, the paella, the whitefish, but I’ve usually had good luck for the specials.
    • This is not a cheap restaurant, but I do think it is a good value. The entrees are large– enough to share if you’re looking for something light– and they include a choice of a salad. The wine is reasonably priced (we always get the “Fishtown White,” which is a very drinkable Michigan white wine), and the deserts are good, too.
    • To me, I didn’t think that the food tonight was as good as I’ve had it there in the past (which is why I have the split rating for tastiness). My dish– the swordfish special– was very good, but two of my dining companions had some unopened/questionable clams. That’s not the kinda thing you send out to a table.
    • On weekends, this place is REALLY busy. If you go in at about six or so on a Friday or a Saturday, expect to wait 45 minutes, and they don’t take reservations– unless you have a big party (which is another reason to bring the kids). What’s interesting is that the best meals I’ve had there have been on Friday or Saturday nights. I don’t know, maybe because that’s when Craig Common is in the kitchen. Anyway, waiting isn’t so bad because the bar area is nice and the people-watching in this place is pretty good, too.
    Posted on

    Book Review List: Any other ideas?

    I don’t entirely know why, but I’m really quite behind in planning my English 516 class, which starts tomorrow night. The good news is I’ve taught this class several times now, so getting my act together shouldn’t be too difficult to do. The bad news is, because it is a graduate course in computers and writing and I’ve always placed a pretty high value on “currency” in the course, I inevitably have to make changes and do new research every time I teach it.

    Anyway, in that spirit of things, I’m looking for some suggestions. I’ve had a lot of luck with a book review presentation assignment in past versions of the class. Basically, students pick from a list of current books that have to do with “computers and writing” in some direct or slightly indirect fashion, and each of them does a 15 minute or so presentation on the book and then writes a short essay. It’s turned out to be a useful exercise for me as both a teacher and a scholar because, like my students, I learn more about books I wouldn’t have necessarily read otherwise.

    So, this is this year’s list of possible books to review; do you have any suggestions?

    Bolter, Jay David, and Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media.
    MIT Press, 2000. (Steve’s comments: Interesting book, very much about "cyberculture"
    and fairly theoretical, too).

    Carr-Chellman, Alison A. (Editor). Global Perspectives
    on E-Learning : Rhetoric and Reality    . SAGE Publications, 2004. (Steve’s
    comments: Judging from the table of contents, this looks like a pretty interesting
    collection of essays about online learning/teaching from around the world).

    Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and
    Literacy.
    Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. (Steve’s comments: This book comes highly recommended
    from several friends and colleagues, was favorably reviewed by a student last
    year, and we will probably be reading a selection from this book in the class
    this term.)

    Hayles, N. Katherine, and Anne Burdick. Writing Machines (Mediaworks Pamphlets).
    MIT Press, 2002. (Steve’s comments: Hayles is a very theoretical writer, and
    the reviews suggest that this book is a melding of "pseudo-autobiography"
    and theoretical reading of the way electronic publishing has changed texts.)

    Hocks, Mary and Michelle R. Kendrick, Editors. Eloquent
    Images: Word and Image in the Age of New Media    . MIT Press, 2003. (Steve’s
    comments: This is actually an edited collection of essays, but given the way
    that it connects with the Wysocki textbook, I thought it’d be nice to include
    as an option here).

    Inman, James. Computers and Writing: The Cyborg Era. Lawrence Erlbaum
    Associates, 2004. (Steve’s comments: Inman is a fairly well-known and respected
    name in the "computers and writing"
    community. Probably a focus on higher ed and theories of writing).

    Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. Datacloud: Toward A New Theory
    Of Online Work    . Hampton Press, 2005. (Steve’s comments: Johndan is an interesting
    blogger and scholar in the field, so I suspect this will be an interesting read,
    probably leaning toward "technical communication").

    Kress, Gunther. Literacy in the New Media Age. London: Routledge Press,
    2003. (Steve’s comments: Kress is a great writer and his previous work focuses
    on "Language Arts," education, technology.)

    Lessing, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the
    Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity.     Penguin Press, 2004. (Steve’s
    comments: Recommended by a colleague, though I’ve picked up this book at store
    myself a few times. As the title suggests, the focus here is more on media and
    culture and not on teaching).

    McGann, Jerome. Radiant Textuality : Literature after the World Wide Web.
    Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. (Steve’s comments: Brand-spankin’ new book which
    seems to be as much about "literary theory" as it is about the web.)

    Meadows, Mark. Pause & Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative. Pearson
    Education, 2002. (Steve’s comments: Highly recommended; the focus seems more
    on the uses of "interactive/multimedia" narratives in "writings"
    in general– not really about education).

    Mossberger, Karen; Caroline J. Tolbert, and Mary Stansbury. Virtual
    Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide.     Georgetown UP, 2003. (Steve’s comments:
    according to amazon.com, "That there is a "digital divide"—which
    falls between those who have and can afford the latest in technological tools
    and those who have neither in our society—is indisputable. VIRTUAL INEQUALITY
    redefines the issue as it explores the cascades of that divide, which involve
    access, skill, political participation, as well as the obvious economics").

    Monroe, Barbara. Crossing the Digital Divide: Race, Writing, and Technology
    in the Classroom.     Teachers College Press, 2004. (Steve’s comments:
    Pretty new book that looks like a promising read).

    Palloff, Rena M. and Keith Pratt. The Virtual Student: A Profile and Guide
    to Working with Online Learners.     Jossey-Bass 2003. (Steve’s comments: Highly
    recommended, a focus on K-12 and "education," not just English studies.)

    Rice, Jeff. Writing About Cool : Hypertext and Cultural
    Studies in the Computer Classroom    . Longman, 2003. (Steve’s comments: Jeff
    teaches at Wayne State and is definitely trying to push the envelope in terms
    of hypertext, cultural studies, and teaching writing).

    Rouzie, Albert. At Play in the Fields of Writing: A Serio-Ludic
    Rhetoric.    Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2005. (Steve’s comments: Judging
    from the Hampton Press web site, this looks like an interesting and new book).

    Selber, Stuart. Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Southern Illinois
    UP, 2004. (Steve’s comments: Selber is a well-regarded "computers and
    writing" scholar.
    The focus here is almost certainly higher ed.)

    Warschauer, Mark. Technology and Social Inclusion : Rethinking the Digital
    Divide.     MIT Press, 2004. (Steve’s comments: Warschauer is a pretty well-known
    academic writer about these issues; this is his latest book on the subject
    of the digital divide.)

    Whithaus, Carl. Teaching And Evaluating Writing In The
    Age Of Computers And High-Stakes Testing    . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005.
    (Steve’s comments: I actually read a review of an earlier version of this manuscript,
    and it is pretty much about what the title suggests).

    Posted on

    Krause Podcasting (or, it's one thing to write about nothing, but is it okay to talk about nothing too?)

    Andrew “Doc Mara” Mara mentioned in a comment the other day that I had a podcast listed on iTunes. That’s true, though as Andrew said, there really isn’t much there. Yet.

    As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been using audio to help me support my online teaching and I think it has been pretty effective. Basically, I’ve attached audio to notes about readings inside the eCollege “shell”– I’d link to it, but you have to have a password and be signed up for the class to get to it and all that. I’m trying to extend this to what I guess really is an “honest to goodness” podcast, one available via iTunes and the whole bit. It’s called “Steve Krause’s English 328 Blog,” and you can find it if you go to the iTunes store, look in the podcasts, then in “Education,” then in “Higher Education,” and then it’s and alphabetic list. Or you can go to Krause’s English 328 Blog and take a listen for yourself– though, as Andrew pointed out, there’s not much there yet.

    Unlike the audio I include as part of the online class materials, I’m not quite sure what the point of this podcast is going to be yet. I think I’m going to use it as an opportunity to make some “class announcements,” maybe to give some overall thoughts on the progress of students in class, etc. Maybe my students will catch on and will want podcast for themselves. We’ll see. What I wanted to do for the time-being was simply demonstrate that making a podcast and getting it included in iTunes is surprisingly easy. After I get a better handle on planning my classes, I’ll probably write up a “how to” document and post it some place.

    I thought about the idea of including a podcast as part of my official blog space, and I guess I’m still thinking about it. On the one hand, it might be kind of an interesting experiment, and, as far as I can gather, no one else in the comp/rhet blogging world is doing this yet. Actually, I’m not sure there are any academic bloggers who have started to do any podcasting. In any event, what I’m getting at is it might be a worthy experiment because no one else is doing this yet.

    On the other hand, I’m not sure if my podcast would be that interesting to anyone. As I suggest in the headline for this post, it seems to me that it’s one thing to “write” in a blog about (basically) nothing/what’s on my mind/etc., but it’s something else to just “talk” about nothing. Blog readers can pick and choose via an RSS feed and/or simply scan the text (my guess is that most of my readers are doing one or both of these things right now). You can’t really do that with audio; listening to a podcast is largely an “all or nothing” kind of commitment.

    I dunno. I think I’d better plan my classes for the term that starts tomorrow before I start figuring out how to make people listen to me babble.

    Posted on

    Restaurant Review: Quarter Bistro and Tavern

    What and Where:

    The Quarter Bistro and Tavern (pseudo New Orleans food, I guess) | 300 S Maple Rd, Ann Arbor, MI | (734) 929-9200

    Ratings (1=terrible, 5=mind-blowingly great)

  • Tastiness: 2
  • Service: 2
  • Price (1=super cheap, 5=super expensive): 4
  • Value: 1
  • General vibe: 2

    • Comments (as of 1/7/06)

    • Before I got done with the reviews for the day, I wanted to include a review of at least one “bad” restaurant– or at least a place we didn’t like. We went to The Quarter Bistro and Tavern (or, as they tried to cutely say on the menu and such, “The Q”) a couple months ago, shortly after it opened, so it might have gotten better. But I don’t plan on going back anytime soon.
    • The food wasn’t “terrible” really, but it just was not that good and it was clearly over-priced. To me, it kind of seemed like what a midwesterner might imagine food in New Orleans to taste like, only said midwesterner had never actually been to N.O. and not even watched one of Emeril’s cooking shows.
    • Okay, the place had just opened and they were still trying to sort stuff out. But even with all that, I thought the service was stinky.
    • It’s in a big barn of a place– it used to be a Mexican restaurant we kind of liked okay– and I think they are trying to make it a place that is both “a tavern” and a place for fine food. They haven’t gotten there for either one.
    • If it’s still in business this time next year, it means they will have gotten their shit together and so it might be worth checking out again. Until then, go someplace else.
    Posted on

    Restaurant Review: Dalat

    What and Where:

    Dalat (Vietnamese Restaurant) | 100 W. Michigan Ave. | Ypsilanti, MI 48197 | (734) 487 – 7600

    Ratings (1=terrible, 5=mind-blowingly great)

  • Tastiness: 4
  • Service: 2.5
  • Price (1=super cheap, 5=super expensive): 1
  • Value: 5
  • General vibe: 2

    • Comments (as of 1/7/06)

    • I’ve never actually eaten at this place at night– only for lunch– so keep that in mind.
    • I am far from an expert in the cusine of Vietnam, but if it’s anything there like it is at Dalat, then they eat some damn good food in Vietnam. I’m a fan of the chicken salad, of the chicken kabobs, the beef dishes, the various kinds of rolls (fried and otherwise), the soups… well, I guess everything I’ve had there.
    • I’m pretty sure that this is the cheapest/best value of a place to eat in town. I mean, seriously, where else can you can eat a really good non-fast food kind of meal where you are sitting down and not eating out of a paper or plastic container for less than $6?
    • The service? Well, it’s either kind of sucky or just kind of quaint. As you might guess, the people who run this place are from Vietnam and their English skills are sketchy. Best to just point to items or say the letters/numbers on the menu. I tend to go there with a large group of people from work so you have to cut these people some slack, but we always end up eating in shifts based on whatever comes out of the kitchen next.
    • The atmosphere and vibe? It’s clean and the people who run the place are very nice, but it’s all white plastic and linoleum. And its location in downtown Ypsi is its own problem. The last time I was there (which was this past Thursday– again for lunch and with folks from work), a homeless guy wandered in and sat himself down at our table. Made for an interesting moment.