MySpace: Where HTML Finds Its (Questionable) Roots

Back in the day, when the World Wide Web was young, and HTML was still new on the tongues and fingers of many a web developer, web pages sucked. They looked bad. Bad color combinations. Bad layout. Bad usability. Let's not even talk about accessibility. Back then, it was friggin' cool enough to see a web page render on your screen, click on something, see something else load, and all that with images and text and such. It sure beat terminal graphics on the Legend of Red Dragon door, courtesy of your local BBS! Who needed good looking pages when the thing did what it did, when it did?

Slowly but surely, people woke up to the fact that web pages needed to be more than dancing bears. And, patterns and practices emerged. Navigation across the top or left. Logos that link to the home page. Text that wraps around images in a column. Decent color combinations. Alt text and tab order. In short, people figured out how to make fairly decent looking, usable web sites.

And then came MySpace, and with it came tools to help you customize your MySpace profile. And now we're back to where we started.

Here's apparently how you make the most bestest MySpace profile ever:

1. First, make sure you have a busy, static background image with a color similar to your foreground text. Or, if you'd like, an animated background image will do the trick.
2. Next, fill your profile with lots and lots of animations. More, seriously. Keep adding them. There's no limit.
3. Now, make sure you have plenty of color variations in your text, to ensure people have maximum trouble reading the content that you spent so much time crafting in your profile.
4. To keep people interested, and to think that you're clever, make sure you post some of your latest quiz results for all to see.
5. Finally, if you're concerned that your content isn't up to snuff, just use a font that no one can read. It's OK - that background song will convey your message just fine.

"Aw, come on, George. People are just having fun customizing. It's their space on the 'Net, and they can do what they want, right?"

Hey, I'm all for personalization. But there's a line between personalizing your presence on the Web and making it look plain awful. I consider the Web a source of lots of information (some factual, some opinion, some personal, some funny, some crude). But if the medium with which this information is conveyed involves flashing marquee neon purple text on a dark purple background, songs like The Chicken Dance playing in an endless loop, and an animated cursor trail stating "BCHS 4EVER!!!@!", then count me out.

I wish MySpace would draw some sort of middle ground, with pre-built templates that are customizable to some extent, without letting people delve into the RGB mismatch, static background abyss that is bad Web design. Yes, personalization is cool, but please don't make me want to plug my ears and shield my eyes as a result.

The 5 Spot Visits Alabama

Attention, Southern transplants and South-o-philes: venerable Chow Foods' The 5 Spot has flipped its seasonal menu as of last Wednesday, and they're now onto none other than "Sweet Home Alabama".

We've only been twice (only?), once for dinner and once for brunch, and can say that they've hit the mark with their Alabama-inspired menu. The cornbread, crawfish, grits, and stuffed chicken are all excellent. The best part: 5 Spot has mixed in some fall tastes with their down-home cooking, which means we'll get to enjoy this comfort-food menu as the days grow shorter and the temperatures cooler. Oh well, at least we'll have some culinary consolation.

Yakima Valley Wine Country

Last weekend we took a trip out to Yakima Valley to check out some familiar wineries as well as experiment with a few new ones. The weather was nice and not too hot, and the wineries were hopping as a result.

Overall, Yakima Valley wineries are booming. Several that we visited a few years ago that seemed small and quaint at the time have now built new buildings, expanded their facilities, and "glitzed up" their appearance. Of course, you always had the glitzy ones, and you still have the mom & pop ones. But in general, the movement seems to be towards the bigger and better (and, I hate to say it, just a touch more Napa/Sonoma). Fortunately, most tastings are still free and most makers are not snooty when it comes to sharing their wine with you.

Here's a few highlights (and lowlights) of the weekend:

Hyatt Vineyards - Our perennial favorite didn't fail to please. Several great wines at very reasonable prices, with a pleasant area outside of the tasting room to picnic, relax, look at the vines, or stare up at the windmill that graces their wines' label. We stocked up on a few bottles of the Black Muscat while there, which is an easy-drinking semi-sweet red.

Kiona Vineyards - I claim this is one of the best wineries in the region. One gets a very mom & pop feel as one walks into the basement of a house, which is the tasting room + gift shop. Kiona produces well over a dozen wines, each of them ranging in quality from great to amazing. Their dessert wines are especially good, with honey-like, creamy qualities.

Agate Field Vineyard - A relative newcomer under this name, but an experienced grape-grower and vintner nonetheless. Owner Ben Rashford is focusing on producing small runs of really good wine. They have two for sale and for tasting, both red, and both smooth and rich.

Seth Ryan Winery - Wasn't very impressed with Ryan's wines. Ironically, the cheaper ones were better than the more expensive, with their most expensive 1999 Jessica Meritage being the weakest. Too tangy and imbalanced, I suspect the proportions of the 5 grapes used for the mixtures to be the culprit.

Paradisos del Sol - One of our old favorite wineries left us with a (metaphorical) bad taste in our mouths in our most recent visit. The wines haven't changed that much (decent to quite good), but the experience in the tasting room was less than stellar. We were helped by a young woman who seemed more interested to tour her knowledge and her "way of doing things" than help us taste the wines and answer our questions. No, you can't rinse your glass. No, you can't taste that dip since we've moved on to different wines. Oh, and let me talk bad about the large party that was in here before you all. Watch the customer service in your tasting room, Paul!

Terra Blanca - A decent winery that's gone off the glitz end. A very large new building, built in the rustic Mediterranean style, has taken over their property. This was one of the more "Napa"-esque wineries that we visited, and we lamented at the loss of their previously quaint feel (not two years ago we picnicked on their lawn - now one feels like they may ruin their manicured lawn if one sits on it). The wines were good, but a bit on the spendy side for the quality.

Horizon's Edge - Come on guys, why are you not willing to offer at least some of your wines for free tastings? Nearly all of your competition does. Oh well, no thanks, then.

Hey, I Know That Journalist!

I was reading up on some news over the weekend, when I ran across this article about the Ludwig von Mises Institute. I then look at the author's name. I do a double-take. "Kyle Wingfield," it reads. I quickly realize this is the same Kyle I went to school with back in Dalton. Hey, go figure!

What's funny is that I discovered this thanks to someone posting it on digg.com, and then several people having dugg it. Thanks, community news sites!

Dixie's BBQ Is More Show Than Substance

The Seattlest blog recently wrote up a favorable post on Dixie's BBQ. I don't think seattle_leora is very up on BBQ, as the review is written in a very wide-eyed, 1st-visit, "WOW!" sort of way. Sure, everyone's entitled to their opinions, but I don't think Dixie's is "divine", "fabulous", or "succulent". I'll use an interview with Dixie and Gene Porter to comment on a few points.

• Popularity: I think Dixie's is popular because they have a gimmic: a very hot sauce called "The Man". That, plus the fact they're close to places of work where people can steal away and get some lunch. That, plus the fact they like to heckle their customers and threaten them with the sauce (which admittedly is fun to watch newbies experience). "We've never advertised" isn't entirely true, either: Dixie's has plenty of bumper stickers and other articles with their logo, and their catering truck is branded as well.
• Other BBQ restaurants: "They don't know how to cook," you say? "Too tough." Excuse me? Dixie, the last few times I've been in your restaurant, your BBQ was too tough. The ribs were slathered in an over-cooked sauce, the meat was too fatty, and the chicken definitely was not tender and falling off the bone. Have you checked out places like Steel Pig or Bourbon & BBQ Grill? They top your food's quality, plain and simple.
• The Man: Gene claims that "heat" is the main ingredient. A friend mentioned that it's somewhat similar to one of Dave's Insanity sauces. It's indeed quite hot. And, the fact that Gene puts it on your food as a test of masculinity and resistance to heat is a bit of a tired custom, if you ask me.

And here's where I get to my main point: when people talk about Dixie's BBQ, more often than not they talk about The Man sauce, or how you'll get heckled in line if you don't know what you want, or how you'll get asked to put a pin on the map to show where you're from. Not that the food is great. It's about the show, the experience, and not about the food.

I'm a big fan of BBQ, and I'm happy Dixie's is open and does good business. After all, one more BBQ place open in a region that has little history in the cuisine isn't a bad thing. Their food isn't bad, but it's not all that great, either, especially when compared to other local options. You can keep The Man, Gene, and I'll pass on your BBQ, too.

Good Places To Be Right Now

I see about three:



I'm glad I'm in one of those right now.