Ice Cream! Ice cream! Come and get it because not only is it the best premium ice cream around, but it’s absolutely free! Today Haagen Dazs celebrates its 50th birthday by giving out free scoops of its classic and iconic flavors, vanilla, chocolate and coffee, between 4 and 8 pm at all of its locations. Don’t miss out on this opportunity because you never see this stuff being given out like this.

Simply point yourself to a location here and find your closest shop. (Think fancy pants shopping mall or main drag in a university town, like Palo Alto). Then walk in, point to your gaping mouth and say “I’ll have a scoop of the coffee ice cream, please”. Other flavors, such as caramel cone or rum raisin, or even my all-time favorite that they don’t make anymore, Peanut Butter Vanilla, are not free during this celebration, so you’ll have to keep it simple. Enjoy!

I was trying to figure out why this family of four had brought in some throws and pillows to my local AMC movie theatre yesterday. The kids were in tow, too, and they seemed just as eager as their parents to go see…..”Cop Out”? “Tooth Fairy”? It couldn’t be. When I looked closer at the displays, it turns out they (and quite a few others) were queueing up for AMC Theatre’s annual tribute to this year’s Academy Award Best Picture nominees. Read the rest of this entry »

I have pancakes on my mind. Been craving them for a while now. In fact, I am about to meet a friend at Suppenkuche in San Francisco for brunch, since I just can’t resist both their German-style apple-plum baked pancake and their crisp, tender potato pancakes (served with apple sauce). Hold on –let me just savor this moment in anticipation.

Well, wouldn’t you know it – this coming Tuesday is National Pancake Day, so maybe all these pancake thoughts aren’t just a coincidence. There may be even a Hallmark card section for them. But no matter –they’re a quintessential American morning staple. Soft and fluffy, stacked with little pats of butter, all they need is a generous serving of warm maple syrup. And how do you cut your pieces? One at a time? Or do you take your knife and fork and cut it all up before you dig in? Read the rest of this entry »

There it was —at just over 2 hours into the Super Bowl, just after the Saints scored a touchdown in the 3rd quarter, we got the news via one of the many commercials. This Tuesday, we can go into any Denny’s from 6 am to 2 pm and order a Grand Slam meal, which is really breakfast, absolutely free.

The so-so commercial warned chickens to get “out of town” before Tuesday because it’s “gonna be a tough week for egg layers”, asking them to take some vacation time off, etc., because there would be a whole lot of eggs cracking to make those Denny’s breakfasts. Read the rest of this entry »

Last April, KFC announced an “UNfry Day” to launch its new grilled chicken. All KFCs all over the country were giving out free pieces of chicken. We featured it back then, and even went through a fearless taste-test (reminder: it’s just OK). That promotion wasn’t such a success, even if Oprah herself got into the act, announcing on her show that people could go in to their local KFCs and demand the free food. The pandemonium soon followed. The long lines at my local KFC told the story: a lot of KFCs simply ran out of chicken. All this excitement for a perfunctory chicken thigh. Read the rest of this entry »

We like this one a lot. Starbucks has just unveiled a new and ambitious –and possibly risky—business strategy with the launch of its new “Via” instant coffee line. That’s right. Instant coffee. As in the Sanka or Nescafe type. The kind of coffee that usually belongs in a college dorm room and which, well, doesn’t usually live up to the normal, brewed cup. Starbucks’ new Via instant coffee, which was test launched earlier this year in Seattle, Chicago, London and a few other US cities, comes in small packets. You simply dissolve them in some hot water and, presto, you have a pretty decent cup of coffee. How do I know this? Because I actually grabbed some packets this past spring and tried them. Read the rest of this entry »

Free Resume Printing?

In this downright scary economy where we can now admit to ourselves that we are living through a profound recession, it’s nice to find some deals, especially when it’s absolutely free. Not just that, but it’s likely also helping the very people that the recession is affecting each day: the laid off, the unemployed millions each day that have contributed to the 8.1 percent jobless rate announced last week –the highest in a quarter century. Read the rest of this entry »

How appropriate! It’s Fat Tuesday, that famously gluttonous (is this a word?) day before many Catholics observe Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent in which many resolve to give something up as a sort of penance. You’re supposed to give something up: smoking, drinking, eating red meat, whatever. You’re supposed to keep this up until Easter, that other most holy of days that symbolizes a rebirth, and a return to the bacchanalian life that you usually lead for the rest of the year. Read the rest of this entry »

Our friends at Krispy Kreme are at it again. To commemorate the historic day that will be next Tuesday, when President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath office in the nation’s capital, all Krispy Kremes are giving away a free donut to all of its customers. That’s right. No purchase necessary. You go in, say, “I want my free donut!”, or perhaps even, “Hey, this is an awesome day. We have a new President. Give me my donut!”, or better yet, “Hey, we now have a President who speaks in complete sentences and who has lived in other countries. Would you please give me a free donut to celebrate?!” Read the rest of this entry »

So you’ve got free donuts and a free scoop of ice cream. Now on November 4, Starbucks wants to reward you voters with a free cup of coffee. Launched last night on “Saturday Night Live”, the commercial, part of the “Shared Planet” campaign, states that everyone who votes will get a cup of Starbucks coffee. Sounds like a deal. Now would you believe there are people who actually have a problem with this? KCBS-TV in Los Angeles apparently has questioned the legality of providing what could be seen as bribes to voters.

There is a California Elections Code, section 18521 (b), which prohibits rewarding people for voting or not voting. Another California companion statute contains similar language, saying the law is meant to prevent people from being bribed with money, food or alcohol. Technically speaking, any violation of the law could get you a prison sentence of 16 months to 3 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Ah! The sugar! Ah! The saturated fat! The buttercream! Oh, wait, let me start over. Next Tuesday all Americans have a moral and civic duty to fulfill, by going over to their local polling places and marking their ballots for what is possibly the most important election of their lifetimes. Two candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. Numerous Senate races all over this great land. Important statewide propositions, including here in California. You all –we all—have to do our part to get out the vote and, from what pundits are predicting, the turnout will be heavy, so get there early. Already voted by mail? Awesome. Well, this kinda applies to you too. Read the rest of this entry »

Who says Mountain View has all the fun?

The good folks at Meraki are making news again.  As some of you have heard, this San Francisco company has been busy putting a repeater-based network in place to provide the city of San Francisco with FREE Wifi Internet.

To date, Meraki has provided its Wi-Fi gear and free Internet access to residents in 80 percent of San Francisco’s major neighborhoods. The company plans to continue building the “Free the Net” network in 2009, deepening coverage in each neighborhood.

Recently, Meraki held a press conference with mayor Gavin Newsom, to launch its latest project, which will add wireless coverage to twelve low-income housing projects in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. The company also plans to provide Wi-Fi Internet access to low-income housing owned by the city in other neighborhoods as well as provide free Wi-Fi to senior centers throughout the city by the end of 2008.

You can sign up here to help expand the ever-growing network: Read the rest of this entry »