Abu Aardvark sends coded messages through his choice of footwear:
Abu Aardvark: Observations on visiting DC : (1) If you have two young kids and you're really exhausted, pay extra attention to what you pack. Maybe even do it the night before instead of waiting until the last minute. That way, you might not find yourself with two different shoes when you go to put on your work clothes. Because of all the things which might impress a high-powered government panel, wearing two different shoes - both black, but not even a little bit similar in design - probably is not one of them.
(2) Starbucks is getting out of hand. Down in the GWU / Foggy Bottom area, I swear to god there really is a Starbucks on every single corner. So when your friend says "let's meet at the Starbucks down by GW", it might be a good idea to get more details in advance...
Says a lot about the profit margins in designer coffee service that Starbuck's can keep the commercial real estate market prosperus all by itself in many cites.
In downtown San Francisco where I used to work, their was seven Starbucks within one block of the building I worked in on Market Street near the Embarcadero.
As to the shoes, at least they were both black.....
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | June 29, 2005 at 11:50 AM
1. This would be a heck of a lot easier to translate if one were to spell it "chaussure" (shoe) and not "chasseure" (which Google helpfully corrects to "chasseur" meaning sharpshooter or light infantryman).
2. Yes, it probably reveals my true cultural illertacy no to have immediately recognized the title of Yves Robert's 1973 spy farce. Drawbacks of a public university education and all that. Oh, and I was 11 when the movie came out.
3. How scary is it that googling "what is shoe in french" brings a listing for a Polish language movie poster for "The Tall Blonde Man with One Black Shoe" as the FIRST LINK??!!??
Posted by: Patrick Allen | June 29, 2005 at 11:50 AM
I had the same Starbucks problem when I lived in San Diego: "Meet me at the Starbucks in the mall on Mira Mesa Blvd. just off the 15." Hah!
Posted by: Peter | June 29, 2005 at 11:50 AM
Wow, you sure don't see a blond aardvark with a black huntress every day. Not anymore, anyway.
Posted by: David Yaseen | June 29, 2005 at 11:53 AM
How many malls are there on Mira Mesa Blvd?
Posted by: sm | June 29, 2005 at 12:16 PM
chasseur hunter
Posted by: Hans Suter | June 29, 2005 at 12:37 PM
According to my brother who used to work in Starbucks, only one Starbucks has ever closed for lack of business. It was in a warehouse district in near-in SE Portland Oregon.
I don't know whether what he said just applied to Portland or more widely, but Starbucks basically knows who its customers are (not warehousemen) and saturates the places where they are.
Posted by: John Emerson | June 29, 2005 at 12:40 PM
There is an easy explanation for Starbucks success:
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/caffeine/caffeine_corner.htm
Peter:
Meet at peet's coffee -- you won't be confused :-)
Posted by: pat | June 29, 2005 at 01:10 PM
I lived in Central London in 2001. Starbucks were so thick on the ground I assumed they were carpet bombing to drive out the independents.
Posted by: Buce | June 29, 2005 at 01:45 PM
> Wow, you sure don't see a blond aardvark with a black huntress every day.
Sounds like a cool idea for an anime feature, though.
Posted by: PaulC | June 29, 2005 at 02:01 PM
How many malls are there on Mira Mesa Blvd?
That's sort of like asking how many donut shops there are in L.A. ;-)
Posted by: Peter | June 29, 2005 at 02:07 PM
A couple of months ago I looked down and realized, after about 6 hours, that I was wearing one black pennyloafer and one oxblood one. I'll use the "trying to get 4 kids out the door and get to work" defense.
Posted by: Dave | June 29, 2005 at 02:55 PM
A little white shoe polish woulda fixed that shoe problem right up. Voila! Saddle shoes! Who'd ever notice the mismatch at that point?
Posted by: Dubblblind | June 29, 2005 at 03:07 PM
Sorry Dave, my comment was directed at Abu's situation, yours was a more difficult problem...
Posted by: Dubblblind | June 29, 2005 at 03:10 PM
Or you could just put on a heavy parka and promotional ski cap to distract from the shoes. If anyone raises an eyebrow, just ask them why they hate America.
Posted by: PaulC | June 29, 2005 at 03:38 PM
Or Canada, for that matter.
Posted by: sm | June 29, 2005 at 03:48 PM
There's a corner in Vancouver, BC's trendy West End, that has 2 Starbucks on it, kitty-cornered from each other. And they both do a land-office business. Go figure.
Posted by: Rebecca Allen, PhD | June 29, 2005 at 04:11 PM
Aside from the chaussure problem, if Aardvark is to be the proper noun, blond becomes an adjective. Blond must be placed after the noun so as to avoid having two adjectives contesting with one another for dominance, en effet:
"Le Grand Aardvark blond avec une chaussure noire."
Posted by: MTC | June 29, 2005 at 05:13 PM
http://www.calvorn.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=3655&u=75%7C247%7C...
Hermit Thrush at Dawn
New York City--Central Park, Harlem Meer.
French actually :) ?
Posted by: anne | June 29, 2005 at 06:53 PM
anne -
Just call it a Bush Warbler. If it screams imprecations in response, it's a Frenchy.
Posted by: MTC | June 29, 2005 at 07:37 PM
There's a Starbucks inside the Forbidden City in Beijing. Right at the boundary between the inner sanctum and the outer area. When I first saw it my jaw dropped. Bear in mind that for 500 years only the Emperor, his family and his servants were allowed in the inner sanctum. Since then China has been a communist country. And there is now a Starbucks there.
Posted by: Ginger Yellow | June 30, 2005 at 02:11 AM