A Tasty Challenge

Despite thinking "The War for Late Night" was one of the best books I had read in a while, I actually don't bother to watch any of the talk shows which follow the local news. To me there is just no benefit in watching celebrities try (and usually fail) be be funny off the cuff while promoting a movie I have no interest in seeing. Personally, I can't fault actors for not knowing how to act like humans - their main skill is reading words other people have written, so they are probably terrified at having to come up with sentences on their own. If I do watch any of these shows I tend to just watch the bits at the beginning and then bail right before the first guest comes out (this is why, for as much as I love "The Daily Show" I never watch the interview segments). Now, the really smart shows recognize that most people are doing the same thing as me and put most of their energy into this first act. Additionally, I'm noticing that the best at it are the two guys who have been doing it the shortest amount of time, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien. (The fact they are seen as the 'young guns' of late night talk show hosts when both are well into their 40s should tell you all you need to know about the demographics of the people who still watch these programs.) They may be taping more bits, but at least they are funnier than another interview.

The other night Kimmel did a brilliant spot about one of my least-favorite companies, Starbucks. I completely understand if people want to spend a little extra to buy themselves a higher-quality item - we all have something we are snobby about and I see nothing wrong with it. I'm just not sure coffee is the place you want to be spending your disposable income. I'm sure the fact that I don't drink coffee of any kind has clouded my judgement on the matter, but I simply don't see the point of spending that much money on a drink. Most of the time I feel like people are buying Starbucks because it is a bit of a status symbol - something people are trying to use to tell the world that if they can spend this kind of money on something as trivial as a cup of coffee than they must be doing really well. And Starbucks totally takes advantage of that, which is why they keep raising the price of a cup of coffee without batting an eyelash. Recently, they decided to introduce their most expensive cup ever - some $7 concoction with a too-fancy name in an attempt to cover up the fact that it is still just a cup of coffee. Apparently, Kimmel feels the same way I do about the people who aren't drinking something because it is actually better but because they think it makes them look as though they are.