(LITERAL) Cool or Not Cool?...Serving Good Beer in Frosty Mugs

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So wait...did I ever mention that I like the craft beer?

Tis true. In my dozen years in Brooklyn, I've had myself delicious craft beers in pretty much every bar in Park Slope, forgoing the beloved Buds & Yuenglings & Heinekens of the masses. Down with the proletariat! Give me something hoppy. Give me something flavorful. Give me something that’s been brewed in the tradition of the Mayans.

"Great taste, less filling" be damned.

It wasn't always this way, but it got better over time. After a teenage existence where I didn't have a single drink until post-graduation, in college I cut my teeth on bottles of Red Dog & Sam Adams (which, c'mon Sam Adams...other than your specialty beers, you kinda suck). I carried around six-packs of Newcastle in my hippie backpack at frat parties. When I went home for the holidays, my dad always had a few frosty mugs waiting in the freezer so I could pour myself a glass of Nutfield or whatever NH craft beer was available at the moment.

Eventually, after around my 5,000th craft beer, it dawned on me...FROSTY MUGS KILL THE FLAVOR OF A GOOD BEER.

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Cool or Not Cool: Cash-only Businesses?

[VIA CINDA ON ETSY]

I never have cash on me. Maybe it's because my bank (TD Bank) is ridiculoulsy far from my apartment AND my office AND basically everywhere I go all the time. And I super hate paying ATM fees. So unless I'm by some business that has a cash-back option (CVS, Target, etc), you can basically expect that I'll always want to pay with a card. 

Of course, not every business is down with the credit/debit swipe. And while I expect that smaller, independent businesses would roll that way (laundromats, barber shops - even coffee shops), it sort of annoys the fuck out of me when it happens at other places. Like, if I'm paying under $10, then sure, cash only. But if I'm spending more than $20 on my meal and I somehow have to drum up cash for that...I'm probably not coming to your restaurant again. 

Look, I get that credit cards charge a merchant fee for every transaction. And that that merchant fees can be anywhere from 1.5 to 3 percent (and often comes with a shit-ton of other fees attached to it). But there are alternatives that seem pretty affordable (like Square). And I've seen this trend where businesses that used to offer credit cards are moving to cash-only, and not adjusting their prices to reflect that. So that's pretty un-cool to me. 

What do you think? 

Cool or Not Cool: Parkwanus

Every so often, man comes up with a wholly brilliant idea. While I'm wholly not brilliant & wholly not a man, last week I wrote a lil' sumpin about the opening of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que & at the end of it, I tossed in a phrase referring to Dino's locale on Union St west of 4th Ave as part of "the just-now-invented nabe of Parkwanus." As I sat alone in my apartment blogging in my boxers, I actually LOL'd a bit, just like the tweens do. A few of you chimed in in the comments, calling bullshit on my bullshit nabe name, as you should have. I mean, I made that crap up on the fly.

I'm certain there are people in Bushwick who have been all panty-bunched for the last decade about more & more of their hood becoming "East Williamsburg." Personally, I was slightly offended when I rented a place in "Greenwood Heights" a few years back. I'm pretty sure people are calling that area "South Slope" these days anyhow. In the end, we all just get on with our lives & call nabes what the fuck we want to call them & realize that there are more important things going on in the world...more important things like the abortion battle in Texas or the triumphant DOMA death or Kim Kardashian's ploy to trap her friends by sending them fake pics of her new bebe & seeing which of them leak the pics to the tabloids.

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COOL OR NOT COOL: Pornography at the Barber?

One of our lovable FIPS writers was recently sharing with me that on his last trip to the barber, he glanced over during the 5 minute wait before his haircut and happened to notice a Playboy magazine lying around (see exhibit A above). 

I guess Playboy is considered a fairly tame, barely classified as pornography type of mag nowadays, but still: it makes me go "hmm." Especially when I think about the equivalent. Like, for instance, I show up to Lin Lee for a nice mani/pedi and as I go to sit down on the massage chair before dipping my toes in the pedi bath, I notice a Playgirl mag on my seat. I WOULD BE FROZEN. Probably unable to speak for hours. Maybe even days. 

But as we all know, I'm a fucking moron. 

So maybe this is now a thing? Cool or not cool?

COOL OR NOT COOL: NYC Cab Drivers Who Don't Know How To Get Anywhere?

I'm not sure why, but there's nothing that activates my rage valve quite like a NYC cab driver who has no clue where the fuck he's going...and then asks ME FOR MOTHERFUCKING DIRECTIONS. 

I mean, am I alone here??

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