Fazal Majid's low-intensity blog

When I was a kid living in the forsaken wasteland that is Saudi Arabia, my father’s company would pay for one trip back to France each year. One treat my parents would give us on those trips back home, my brother and I, would be to take us to a café and get us each one of those old-fashioned teardrop-shaped bottles of Orangina. To this day, I still associate it with the taste of home.

At one point ten years ago, the owners of Orangina had agreed to sell it to Coca-Cola. This naturally raised an uproar and the deal was axed on antitrust grounds. Unfortunately, the brand has not been very well managed or marketed since and has lost much of its market share in France.

The chief quality of Orangina is that it is made with 14% fruit, unlike the synthetic garbage Coca-Cola or Pepsi sell, e.g. Fanta. It is interesting to note that in Italy, all fruit sodas are required by law to have at least 12.5% fruit content, so even Fanta is actually drinkable there.

One Italian resident who was a fan of Orangina is Mgr Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI. At the end of his day’s work, prior to being elevated as Pope, he used to walk back home, stopping for the odd photo pose at the request of passing tourists, return to his apartment, enjoy a glass of Orangina and play Mozart on the piano for half an hour.

If someone richer than you implores you to do something out of patriotism, keep a close eye on your wallet.

Frequent travellers know the right piece of luggage can make or break a trip. Tumi and Hartmann have their rabid fans, as do Travelpro, but the brand I recommend is Briggs & Riley. Their designs may not be the absolute most stylish, but their warranty is by far the best – they will repair any damage, even if it is caused by the airline, no questions asked. Even Tumi does not offer such a warranty, despite the princely prices they charge for their wares.

I just bought a second Baseline 28″ Superlight from Michael Bruno on Market Street near Castro. That hole-in-the-wall shop is the absolute go-to place for Briggs & Riley, and they offer significant discounts over list prices. Most quality luggage is seldom ever discounted, so it is refreshing to get quality service from proprietor Lou Briasco as well as a very nice price (too low to advertise without incurring the wrath of the manufacturer).

In the US cable systems are required by law to reserve a certain number of channels for so-called public-access and community programs. Think crazy old cat lady ranting and raving, or cronies of local politicians, usually the left-wing fringe, pushing whatever bizarre agenda they have, whether it is nimbyism, conspiracy theories or advocacy of positions so extreme they don’t find other outlets. I passed by the offices of one of San Francisco’s public access channels on Market Street, and they certainly seem quite posh.

Reusing those channels for Internet access would serve the ostensible purpose of those programs, public participation, far better than giving a bunch of lunatics a non-interactive, one-to-many broadcast soapbox.

Even cardinal virtues can become vices when pushed to extremes. Justice untempered with mercy becomes draconian and oppressive. Courage without justice leads to the likes of Otto Skorzeny. Temperance without humility leads to self-righteousness.