On your way into work this morning, you may well have noticed the sweet sounds of Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full as you waited in line for your Macca latte. Hell you may have paid using the snazzy prepaid McCartney Card (an "undated handout from Starbucks," says the AP)...
And we wanted to join the fun! So after putting up Poly, we swung down to the Starbucks at 2nd Ave and 9th St, passing Parker Posey and her puppy (making us feel even less cool as she sauntered into Mud Coffee on 9th), stripping off our headphones to walk into a Starbucks playing ... nothing? No Macca!
Latte line was long, but we got our explanation: Of the over 10,000 locations playing Memory Almost Full on infinite repeat today, we picked the one with a broken CD player. We got a free Dulce de Leche out of it (sugary), and passing Parker almost compensated for the lack of Macca -- but in choosing the EV 'bucks, as the Bluths would say, we've made a huge mistake. But at least we get to look at Paul's sweet face all day! Actually, that puckered expression, reminding of us a certain impressionist...
[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]
Colbert is a bonus.
UPDATE: A liveblog from the front lines here at Starbucks -- soon after being told the "CD machine isn't working," the speakers began to emit the ukulele jig of "Dance Tonight." Mysterious repair? More like forgetful barristas. You're welcome, Starbucks.
UPDATE #2: Thought we'd let you in on our running misery...
2:16PM: The time at which, presumably, the Starbucks staff found that Memory was well-passed full. (They cut the music!)
2:17PM: The time at which, presumably, they got a call from Hear Now HQ. (The music resumed.)
2:18PM - ???: Songs from Memory Almost Full are played, individually, between 20 minutes breaks for the sound of silence. On our last trip to the counter, we asked if the barristas had stopped the Macca 'cause they were getting sick of the album.
[Laughs, glances furtively] Yeah. I'm a huge Beatles fan -- Lennon all the way -- but with Paul McCartney, it's something different.
Now the album is playing at volume level 2 (out of 100). Memory Almost Full is quite good, yes, but we'll be glad to never hear this record ever again.
