Went out shoppin’ with the fam’ tonight. First time this holiday season. Being in Amarillo, traffic wasn’t that bad (our idea of rush hour is when a Farmer’s combine breaks down on what we laughingly here call the “Loop”…it was a good 12 months after I moved here before I was able to stop laughing maniacally, every time someone mentioned the words “rush hour” locally). Of course, some places are the same the world over. Never been in a Hobby Lobby at any time of day/year, for instance, where there wasn’t a line at every available register. But I digress. [Read more…] about Happy Holly-Dazed.
Humor
As scene on TV…
One of the many benefits of having a home office is having a TV on my desk. I keep it tuned to Fox News or the Sirius Classic Jazz channel for most of the day – having either a background of news or jazz suits me just fine. I also have a conveniently-located mute button, in case I need to take a call, work on audio, or if it gets distracting.
This time of year, most companies pushing gifts spend a year’s worth of ad budgets in 30 days or less. Where as before November 2nd we were assaulted with All Political Ads, All The Time, now it’s ads for Omaha Steaks (making me hungry), has-been singers pushing a Greatest Hits album, or the latest and greatest kitchen appliance, each and every one guaranteed to be The Perfect Christmas Gift.
I’m sure you’re as annoyed with this kind of dreck as I am – at least you would be if you left your TV on all day. My vote for the most annoying ad in the Fox News rotation? Christy Lane’s 30 Christmas Classics. [Read more…] about As scene on TV…
Groupthink. Sort of.
I’ve heard it said that there are four types of people:
- People that make things happen.
- People that watch things happen.
- People that things happen to.
- People that don’t know what’s happening.
I’d like to think I belong to the first group, especially in regards to my business. [Read more…] about Groupthink. Sort of.
A(n im)Modest Proposal.
With apologies to Jonathan Swift, I have my own modest proposal for the Bailout Bucks Sweepstakes.
I think the government should write me a check. (And every other taxpayer for that matter.)
Think of it this way…if the government is going to start bailing out every Tom, Dick and CEO, why not me? And you? I run a small ad agency in Amarillo. Like most people today, money’s tight. I have bills to pay. Fortunately, I didn’t do anything dumb like buy a house out of my price range, or rack up a huge debt for capital equipment I couldn’t afford. But because of some unexpected expenses (medical, family, business), I’ve got very little cushion left. We did all the right things – saved every penny we could, made extra house payments when we could, stopped buying non-essential things. Still, it doesn’t take much to shoot one giant hole in our savings parachute. Mind you, I’m not whining or complaining. At all. In fact, I think we are some of the lucky ones. Mrs. Digital and I are gainfully employed. We have a roof over our heads, and food in the refrigerator. We are self-reliant, and if we screw up, we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.
So here’s my plan… [Read more…] about A(n im)Modest Proposal.
You can’t get there from here.
When I was a kid, I used to do a lot of powerboating with my family. My Dad is a very gung-ho kinda guy; anything he thinks is worth doing is worth OVERdoing (which is sort of the unofficial family motto). When he got interested in boating, he didn’t just buy a boat – he bought a boat and took every course the U.S. Power Squadron and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary offered. Seamanship, Navigation, Meteorology – you name it. He took it. (He got interested in shrimping, and ended up with a commercial pilot’s license to take people out for hire 50 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico, but that’s a story for another time.) Anyway, once upon a spring vacation, we were cruising along the Intracoastal Waterway in South Louisiana. Dad had us on a boating cruise looking for the grave of the famous pirate/War of 1812 Hero Jean Lafitte – and the location of his secret hideout known as the Temple.
As a kid, the treasure hunting aspect of this fascinated me. The cruising down bayous at about 5 knots (5 nautical miles per hour for you landlubbers) interested me a lot less. Boring doesn’t begin to describe. But I digress. [Read more…] about You can’t get there from here.
Whither Progress?
George Carlin once famously said, “words mean things.” Yep. But today, words can also be co-opted, where their original meanings are subverted, and new meanings assigned, thus changing it’s use and significance.
Take the word “progress” and its derivatives.
I, personally, believe that if “pro” is the opposite of “con,” then it’s logical and reasonable to define “progress” as the opposite of “Congress.” Progress is supposed to denote change for the better. But while progress requires change, not all change requires progress. [Read more…] about Whither Progress?
Heard…and overheard.
This conversation was recorded without the knowledge of the participants. This transcript came to us anonymously. We cannot reveal our source – as we have no idea who sent it. But they provided enough bona fides that we can vouch for it’s authenticity. The names have been changed to protect the identities of the speakers (but unless you live under a [30] Rock, you should be able to fill in the blanks without any problem).
Mr. X: Have you seen the overnights?
Mr. Y: Yes…they’re pretty scary.
Mr. X: I can’t believe McCain did this…we were all ready to go negative on anybody on his short list…where did SHE come from? Nobody had her on a short list…long list…ANY list.
Mr. Y: I’m baffled. What do we do now?
Mr. X: You’re the President of the network…you tell me. It’s what I’m paying you for.
Mr. Y: Uh…well…it will take us a few days…weeks maybe, to dig up enough dirt on her to get our claws in deep. [Read more…] about Heard…and overheard.
Class.
When I was a kid, my father (who had turned pro at the age of four, and literally grew up in show business) used to tell me that the biggest stars (or at least the ones who’d been in the business the longest) were the nicest people. He attributed this to the fact that “you meet the same people on the way down as you do going up,” and therefore the successful artists were the ones who were nice to everybody, and made few enemies on the way up. I’ve seen that hold true in my own experience. I’m not talking about the “overnight success” types – poptarts like Britney Spears. I’m referring to people that start in the business when they’re young, usually with either a parent (or two) in the business, or a mentor that has years of show business experience. These are the people that, regardless of their fame or fortune, remain “real” – genuinely nice people, who treat everyone well, without regard to who they are or how they can benefit from a kindness. I recently had the privilege to exchange a couple of emails with one such person, and I’d like to tell you about it. [Read more…] about Class.
Be vewwwy quiet…
Just got back from my annual sojourn to the upper portion of the Texas Panhandle, for a dove hunt. Now, I’m not a big hunter, mind you. It’s something that I like, but I’ve never really had the opportunity, I guess, to do a lot of it. I think I’ve been hunting, oh, maybe four or five times in my life. But this time was special. I had the opportunity to go hunting with a bunch of guys from my church, including the Vicar of our church and one of our Bishops. (If you’re curious, I bagged four doves…well…really 3 1/2, as with one I shared with one of the other hunters, as we shot it at the same time.) The experience left me tired, but also relaxed and happy. While (most of) the men of the church went a-hunting, the women of the church stayed home, and had a pool party. On the way home I pondered why men like hunting, and (most) women do not. [Read more…] about Be vewwwy quiet…
A couple of (probably stupid) ideas…
…courtesy of my liberal arts (i.e.: lack of science) education…
IDEA #1. Back in the days before central air conditioning and refrigeration made it possible to live comfortably through summers in the South, one enterprising entrepreneur floated a huge iceberg from the northern Atlantic down to the Gulf of Mexico. The purpose? Provide inexpensive ice for evaporative coolers, which at the time were the only way to cool a room. He made a fortune.
I understand from the sound-byte journalism on TV that the reason that tropical storms that cross into the Gulf become hurricanes is due to the warm waters in the Gulf. (It’s why the eco-Nazis try to convince us all that hurricanes are a lot worse due to ‘global warming.’) [Read more…] about A couple of (probably stupid) ideas…