Binkomonster!

Schadenfreude isn't good

So according to Webster's, the official definition = 'satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune'. Yep. That would be Schadenfreude allright. And it's icky. Right up there with holding a grudge, and being envious. But it's a tough rock to put down. And that's why you shouldn't every pick it up.
Monday has arrived and with it all manner of nasty gremlins. The connection to the 'man's' domain doesn't work, the 'man' continues to wield the whip, 'minions' for the man are running around in panic and chaos (again, for the millionth time). The weekend wasn't bad for a change. We escaped up into the land of the frozen mountains (that would be Tahoe to most folks). And while we didn't get a chance to ski, we did get a chance to hang out with some wonderful friends, and kick back a bit. Got back early enough to the castle to go out and enjoy an evening showing of Eragon with a nice supper to boot. It should have been a great start to the week, right? WRONG. Shit starts sliding down the mountain early 'round these parts. Sigh. Couple this with all manner of bleak observations of day to day life, and a good recipe you do not have. At least the tribe are happy. When they aren't busy trying to squeeze multiples into spots that should hold one (see picture above). It is wonderful that the small things can provide such joy. The trick is to understand that. And today, we lack the greater understanding. How do others muddle through such muck? Do others have to? Admittedly, it sometimes feels as though we are on an island, but we're searching for the comfort of empathy. So knowing that there is another island/kingdom/empire out there grappling with the same Monday blues helps. We think...

Reader Mailbag, our VP of HR answers your questions

We've been getting a small sampling of fan mail, and so in the spirit of generosity that is the hallmark of the season, we thought we'd let our VP of HR (yes indeed, the Bink-man himself) man the blog-helm to provide answers to the sundry questions out there.

Q: Let's start out with the basics, how long have you been VP at Binkomonster?
A: Well, I feel it is important to be even more rudimentary. You might assume given my very important title that I am a standard HR figurehead. But you would be wrong. My title in full is actually Vice President of Herding the Rebels. VP of HR for short. And as far as how long I've held this position, well, I *think* it has been about 5 years or so, but my little brain fails me. If you had some catnip, it might help.

Q: Ah-hah. OK, so, what do you do in your position as VP of "Herding".
A: Let's see, a typical day will go something like this:
1. Wake up and stare down the CEO and CTO until they get up and serve me breakfast.
2. Eat breakfast. By the way I eat alone from the rest of the staff. Because my food is special. And because I am special. Although, I will eat leftovers. I'm not picky in that regard. 
3. Run around, ensure that the other VPs are alert/healthy, and not in any of my designated spaces.    
4. Find a sunny spot, stretch out.
5. Nap
6. Run around some more, administer some well-deserved smackdowns, along with some love
7. Repeat 4-6 until the sun starts to set.
8. Fret about CEO and CTO getting home to serve an early dinner
9. Once CEO and CTO arrive and meetings are done, pester them until dinner is served
10. Lick myself
11. Find a cozy spot
12. Continue with the naps.
This tends to be the usual type of day. Sometimes there may be more of number 5, and occasionally if there are flowers or plants around, I'll eat those so I can yakk them up somewhere in the castle. And sometimes I get a bit moody so I have been known to attack the CEO (and then of course, there is an emergency board meeting to sort it all out), but for the most part, this is a typical routine.

Six Lessons from Madam Lazonga

Greetings fans and friends of Binkomonster. [as the board collectively ducks from flying rocks hurtling in our direction resulting from our lack of posts recently]. How to explain? More commonly known as 'what's your excuse now?' Well. We don't really have a good one. You could chalk it up to us wanting to be the fish swimming in the opposite direction to this herd. Or we could lay out more of the real reasons, mainly, the holiday season being well and truly upon us. Thanksgiving? House party/dinner for 12 and weekend spent with board members? Check. Holiday parties for the respective slavemasters the Binkomonster officers toil under? Check. Running around attempting to manage the usual insanity of cards, gifts, who-gets-what, who-doesn't, who-is-left-out, who-needs-cheer? Yep. Balancing this insanity against the complete and utter daily meltdowns happening on the 'man's' turf?
Oh goodness yes. But lest we paint a completely grim picture, you should know that there has been much to add to the 'fun' portion of the overall list. Getting holiday decorations up. Enjoying the toasty fireplace, Christmas tree and a cup of hot gluhwein each evening. Lighting candles all around the castle for that festive holiday glow. Cuddling with the 4 legged board members. And getting to hear holiday music every day. Although, we will admit to having 'Six Lessons from Madam Lazonga' on repeat a few times this week (attributed of course to our continued obsession with swing and big band/dance music).
Sigh. But pictures! What about the pictures? Yes, those are coming in short order. As well as a special guest review by one of our honorary board members who is now on the right hand side of the continent. Our foodie reviews are no longer exclusive to the CEO and CTO (i.e. we are branching out!) Of course, we have continued to sample and review new haunts ourselves. On the beverage side, not much to bring to the table here as we are still happily spending time at our secret watering hole (and still loving it). When sticking to the Castle mixing lab, we've been focusing our efforts on proportion, proportion and proportion. Turns out that potion mixing the past few months has affected the taste quite a bit (and that the CTO really *does* need to use  a jigger-measure). So, we are back to the scientific approach, along with being a complete zealot on fresh hand-squeezed juices. We admit to trying a whole plethora of ready made mixes (hey, after fighting fires all day, you might feel lazy too!), and while some are really quite lip-smackingly tasty, they *all* without fail still have that 'sugar echo' that subtracts in terms of the overall taste which you don't find using the fresh real 'thing'.  We can make a strong recommendation that if you *have* to go the mixer route, stick to these. For the most part, they have natural ingredients, not too much artificial color, and interesting flavors (Tangerini and Pomegranate are very good). We will state that we love their Blood Orange Bitters (absolutely excellent add for your Negroni), and the essences look fabulously interesting, though we have not tried them yet. We would sternly steer you away from this or that or even this. In a word? Triple-blech. Really. And while we are on the proverbial soapbox, let's just add one more stern admonition to the list shall we? Dekuyper. Oh, good heavens. Avoid like the black plague. Colorful world indeed. We don't know about you, but logic seems to dictate that drinking things with flourescent day-glo colors isn't perhaps the best idea? We'd be much happier if the fine folks at this Dutch distillation-conglomerate concentrated on bringing us truly tasty components without so much the 'world full of color' and phosphates, and Red #40 and whatever the hell else they shove in these toxic receptacles. But we digress and foam at the mouth a little... (smoothing collective hair back into place, readjust ties and tuck in shirts). The bistro pastry pantry is calling us for a round of cookie baking, a siren song we simply cannot ignore....