You could consider me one of the "regulars" at my local Starbucks.  I go there a lot, and I like the Starbucks partners that work there--they are cool, and super friendly.  In fact, if someone asked me if the customer service at my Starbucks was good, I would respond with "NO, it's GREAT".  They usually spot me in line and start my drink, even if there are a few people ahead of me.  They know me by name, and they engage me in light, friendly conversation most of the time.  It's pretty wonderful.

BUT the other day one of the partners did something that went SOOOOOOOOOO far above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to customer service...it completely blew me away and I think deserves some recognition (from all 7 of you that still read this thing, HAHA).

A month or two ago Starbucks released Iced Via--sweetened instant coffee that dissolves easily in cold water or milk. 

I tried it with water and it was OK, but I was SOLD on it when I tried it with nonfat milk and shaken.  THAT was the ticket!  So I became a regular purchaser of this stuff and decided to also get one of the Iced Via Tumblers.  A good purchase, but the tumbler was pretty fragile and broke after I had it for only a few days.

So I brought it to my store and mentioned it casually to one of the baristas...he told me to exchange it for another...and then the dude reached over to grab their last one and accidentally dropped it on the ground and it broke...EPIC FAIL! HA...so I was out of luck for the time being.  He told me to check back in a few days and they should have some more...and I did...And then they told me that the warehouse locally was out of them and they were TRYING to order more, but there were none...so I kept checking back, day after day...

"Did you get the tumbler yet?"

"No...sorry...warehouse is still out..."

This happened for a few weeks...

In preparation for the eventual re-stock of the tumbler at my store, I drove around with my broken tumbler in the trunk of my car, waiting for the day when they would finally arrive...I EVEN tried to return the tumbler at a DIFFERENT Starbucks, unsuccessfully.

So I walk into my Starbucks this past Friday and one of the baristas--who we will now refer to as Marcie (because that is her name) says to me, "Oh, did anyone tell you that we got a tumbler here for you?"

"What? You DO?!?"

"Yes, we have an Iced Via Tumbler for you so you can finally exchange it."

"No, no one told me.  THAT'S GREAT!!!! What happened?! How did you get it?"

"Well..."

AND HERE IS THE CRAZY-AMAZING PART...

Marcie continues...

"I was at a Starbucks near my house, and I noticed they had the tumblers in stock, so I bought one, brought it to this store, returned it so I got my money back, and kept it in the back with your name on it."

(TOTAL SHOCK AND AMAZEMENT)

I went on to profusely thank her and tell her how totally thoughtful that was...and I JUST WANTED TO SHOUT IT TO ALL THE STARBUCKS CORPORATES that read my blog (and I'm sure they all do) that at the Burbank Rancho Marketplace Starbucks (on Alameda) you have an employee that went SO FAR out of her way for a total stranger/customer.    

It made my day, of course...

Hats off to you, Marcie-from-Rancho-Marketplace-in-Burbank...you rock.

I know all of you WANT to come see Travis Cottrell and Melinda Doolittle at Carnegie Hall this October...BUT since not all of you can make it, I thought I'd post a rough demo of the overture I wrote for the occasion. There's a tiny hiccup going into the final section...apparently Logic hates tempo changes.  (Oh, and I just noticed that the bitrate of this xanga audio thingy is low...so there may be some fuzzing or noise on the recording here since it's a low quality audio file.  And BOO for that).

I'm not much of a news person.  I don't really watch the news on TV, I don't have favorite websites like CNN or MSNBC that I check, and I don't keep up with many current events.  Besides the occasional episode of The Colbert Report or (my favorite) SNL's Weekend Update, the most news I get is about 5 minutes' worth of KNX 1070 on the way to and from Starbucks in the morning. I don't hear much of what's going on in the world, but here's what caught my ears the last couple of days:

The pastor of a tiny church in Florida is planning a Koran burning on the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  He thinks he's gonna stick it to the terrorists...

General Petraeus has warned him not to hold the book-burning ceremony.  The Secretary of State, Ms. Clinton has voiced her disapproval...buuuuuuut despite all of the warnings, he's still going to do it.

WHAT?!??!?!

Um, let me just say if a commanding General in the US Military ever contacted me about ANYTHING, I would listen up.

My apologies to my facebook friends who are undoubtedly seeing this for the third time today...you know...in case you missed the link I posted earlier, or the status update...and oddly enough, they are different things (why facebook? why? why can't I put a link in a status update without you qualifying it AS a link and NOT a status?!!??  Weirdos.)

Long ago, I posted new music to this blog...but there has been so much lately, and it's not always wise or legal for me to post stuff just any ole place on the internet. BUT I have been working on my own website for a little while now (and dreaming about it for over a year)  so I am PLEASED to announce that my website is up!

YAHOO!

So for all the latest news and music updates (and a bunch of other stuff) you should rush on over to www.danielsemsen.com and peruse to your heart's content!

Christy and I ventured out to see "The Switch" this weekend starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. 

WE LOVED IT.

Unfortunately, the rest of America was not as excited about it.  IN FACT--The Switch was in 8th place this weekend falling behind stupid movies like "Vampires Suck" and "Piranha 3D".

Um.  That's lame.

Heidi talks more about it on her blog...in case you're looking for another opinion...or to get to know Heidi.

But I liked it a lot.  Possibly because I love Jason Bateman.  And I tweeted him to tell him that, too...right after the movie ended.

Well...THIS is interesting!

Look folks, scientists say I have to get an iPad! 

In fact, I would be a bad, BAD parent if I didn't...right? Anyone else tracking with me here?

I should do it, you know, for Noah.

(wink, wink)

Well, just in case you haven't heard by now, Prop 8 was just ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge.

I'm not one to engage in many controversies, and I don't love to argue, (with the exception of Sega Genesis vs Super Nintendo--the SNES being the obvious winner there).

I'm just putting this out there in case you hadn't heard by now...

This summer has been an interesting one, movie-wise at least.

And when I say "interesting", I really mean, kind of dull.  Movies that had great trailers turned out to be duds, and other flicks with dud-trailers turned out to be awesome.  Well, it doesn't matter how good your trailer is if your movies STINKS.   But this is not a summer movie review...it's a Steve Carrell movie review.

First off--I was HIGHLY anticipating Dinner with Schmucks.  I adore Steve Carrell.  I've been a fan of his since the mid-90s before you ever heard of him.  He lives down the street.  I don't ever stalk him at ALL.  But DWS was odd, and although funny at times, it fell flat with me.  Part of the reason was because I felt AWKWARD for most of the movie--and I really felt bad for SC's character...it's probably the pastor in me--the part that loves everyone (except for Dr. Doofenshmirtz of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, of course, because he's pure evil). So I never enjoyed the film-I just felt bad during most of it.  And although it was humorous at points...Dinner with Schmucks fell flat for me...

But the weekend BEFORE that, I saw this movie, we had a clear Steve Carrell WIN!

Heart-warming, hilarious, well cast...my kids AND I loved it. You can't go wrong with Despicable Me.

My kids desperately want to see it again.

And secretly, so do I (shhhh, don't tell).

Today marks the release of the new iMac from Apple. 

Of course it's awesome.  Duh.

BUT here's the coolness--they also released the first-ever wireless TRACK PAD for a desktop computer.

It's basically the same thing you have on your laptop, but you can put it right next to your desktop keyboard instead.  SWEET, RIGHT?

It's actually quite a bit easier to navigate around a Finale score with a track pad than any mouse or scroll wheel I've used.  When scrolling with a scroll wheel--and I want to go right/left--I hold down shift and scroll, but it scrolls WAY to quickly, and by large chunks of measures.  With a trackpad on a laptop, I can scroll really slowly and navigate bar by bar instead of by large chunks of measures. 

This little thingy may be a future purchase...

What about you? Any interest in track-padding your way around your desktop computer?

A while back, Nathaniel did a little print shoot for Gap.  He's done one or two of these before for them, but for some reason THIS one is a HUGE campaign for Gap...so...he...is...ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Christy found him in a mall in Nashville 

In the OC Register in the front section

On the website (if you click on gapkids)

In a REAL SIMPLE magazine

HE IS EVERYWHERE.

On another note:

This week is his 9th birthday.  I'm taking him to breakfast at Denny's that morning (which, oddly enough, is the thing he's MOST looking forward to...) and I plan on having a little father-son time.  Nothing dramatic...it's certainly not time for any kind of talk about the birds and the bees...but I would like to impart SOME sort of fatherly wisdom to him as he's getting older.  You know, the standard stuff--don't forget to check the flux capicitor, the importance of a good jacket (or jackets), What Would Captain Kirk Do?, and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance-I hope you dance.  You know, what any father would pass on to his son.

OK, but REALLY.  Any tidbits of wisdom I should pass on at the ripe old age of NINE?