When I was a kid I loved Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda. One of my favorite things to do was walk up College Avenue in Berkeley to this little café that I can’t seem to remember the name of and buy a can of what I considered to be one of the finest, most exquisite sodas ever made. It came in these cute little bottles with a Styrofoam label that I would try and peel off as thinly as possible in one continuous strand.
This went well for a while, until one day it was declared that my patronage of the nameless café would have to cease. A higher authority, using sophisticated intelligence beyond the comprehension of a seven-year-old had discovered that this unnamed café was a front for a commune of “Moonies.” That’s right, disciples of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon were shamelessly enticing recruits with Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda. I was torn between utter loss and thankfulness at not having been coerced into the Unification Church. After my attempts to locate another supplier failed, I became interested in all that there was to know about communes and alternate religions.
This was a strongly anti-cult period of time in America. I read a story in “Life” magazine about a commune that wanted to separate itself from mainstream society and disassociate itself from all things not made by their own hands. This worked pretty well, except that members couldn’t shake their desire for Snickers candy bars among some of the other finer things in life. I remember with shock, watching TV as the camera paned across piles of bodies at Jonestown in Guyana.
Years later I was overjoyed when I discovered the gloriously elusive soda at a small delicatessen in Reno. I bought a bottle and quickly cracked the plastic cap separating me from divinity and quietly wondered if the “Moonies” had moved their operation to Reno. No matter I had the soda.
Last week, I went to see a different Dr. Brown.
Russell Brown is the senior Creative Director of Adobe Systems Incorporated and is fond of telling the audience that it's Russell with two L’s. He has been with Adobe for over 20 years and is a 2002 Photoshop Hall of Fame winner. He writes free scripts which include “Dr. Brown’s Merge-A-Matic” and “Dr. Brown’s 1-2-3 Process.”
Sitting in the audience I am easily swept into the cult of Dr. Brown. In the front row there are a gaggle of devotees that hang on his every word. He makes me want to run right out and trash my copy of CS2 and purchase the upgrade. In fact, as they raffle off a copy at the end of the presentation, I have to hold back tears when I don’t win.
I could talk about the merits and value of purchasing CS3, but if you’re already considering it, I am pretty sure I don’t have to help sell it. So go ahead and crack the cap, it is worth it--every last drop.
