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Tuesday, July 05, 2005Two reviews...I found myself in the Milpitas Borders today. The experience left me with two reviews to offer: Thomas Jefferson, Author of America Christopher Hitchens Hitchens is ever and always a sharp writer. Even - especially - when one disagrees with him, it's hard not to enjoy the prose, which is lucid, to the point and stylishly unadorned. The Jefferson book is, properly speaking, a biographical essay, designed to illuminate not so much Jefferson as the concept of democracy he left us with and why he was the sort of man to have done so. Sampling Jefferson's career in Virginia politics, national politics and as a diplomat, Hitchens paints the picture of a man with solid ideas about - see if this sounds familiar - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The interesting bits are where the thought espoused and the life lived don't quite match up. The biggest place where Jefferson the man and Jefferson the idealistic theoretician/wonk don't line up is on the question of slavery. The controversies crystallize in a single name: Sally Hemmings. Hitchens suggests the possibility - and plausibly - that most sides in the Sally Hemmings controversy have missed the boat. Notes Hitchens, the affair, if it occurred, would have started in France, where slavery was outlawed and Hemmings (and her chef brother) were on his payroll. If Hemmings was a free woman, could she have freely chosen an affair with a wealthy and powerful man who could provide for her and her family, albeit on the sly for reasons of politics and probity? It wouldn't be the first time such things happened in France, as those close to a gentleman named Mitterand can attest. For the reviewer, the important thing is that Jefferson and his co-authors tossed down the phrase "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." But at a moment when we're all fussing about original intent again, it's worth having a look at the noble and not so noble moments of a man who did so much to set down the vision of what America would be about and what purpose her existence as an independent nation would serve. Hitchens' little volume serves that end as well as, nay, better, than most of the denser works out there. Seattle's Best Coffee Borders is replacing its traditional café with Seattle's Best in select markets. The Milpitas Borders is among those to undergo the unfortunate transformation. What to say about the Borders/Seattle's Best? Where to begin? Let's start with the physical space. I'm not an expert on Seattle's Best styling, but in Milpitas, I must say, they've done an admirable job of taking a severely cramped space and making it feel more cramped and less inviting without markedly improving the seating options. Like the space, the new menu is... constricted. Yes, there are a few more coffee drinks. But the sodas (for plain folks like the TurkeyBlogger) seem to have disappeared. The soups and sandwiches may still exist, but they certainly didn't catch the reviewer's eye. And the assortment of candies and snacks for those who don't want a roll or similar fare will have to tolerate . 
posted by gbarto at 11:34 PM |
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