I read a story this week, about how the Secret Service is asking Congress for money to build a fake White House. (I’ll pause for a moment, while you ponder the idea that we’d need a pretend White House to go along with the guy who’s pretending to be the President. Moving on…)
[Read more…] about Faux Haus.
The nature of Heaven. And Hell.
You know that joke about what countries would be in charge of things if this were Heaven or if it were Hell? You know the one…where in Heaven, the British are the police, and in Hell, it’s the Germans? Well, I got to thinking about how that would apply to technology. And I came up with this: [Read more…] about The nature of Heaven. And Hell.
All About The Feminists.
When Meghan Trainor released “All About That Bass,” I saw the appeal. Catchy tune. Tight arrangement. Cute video. Appealing, “take me the way I am” message. I thought “Hey, cool…a positive message for girls/women that will counter the prevailing messaging in videos that women need to obsess about their weight/looks/sexuality to attract a man.” So I was curious to see what her follow-up video would be.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will break cable. For good.
One of the many cool things about raising a teen is that you get a whole new perspective on entertainment. Take music, for instance. When I was a teen, I used to look at my dad (who hated Rock with a passion he usually reserved for socialists, communists, and people that requested “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” when he was playing a gig), and think “When and how did he decide that the only music he was interested in was OLD music?” [Read more…] about Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will break cable. For good.
Pretzel Logic (with apologies to Steely Dan)
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to watch, does it still make a sound? Of course it does. To think otherwise is silly.
If a man commits a crime and no one catches him, is it still a crime? No doubt.
But what if a politician or bureaucrat (or several of them) commit a crime, break the law, or violate the Constitution and the news media suppresses the story, and does not report on it…is it still newsworthy? I’d say undeniably “YES.” But that’s abstract. The reality is a bit more complicated. [Read more…] about Pretzel Logic (with apologies to Steely Dan)
This is a test…
…this is ONLY a test. We’re having a bit of a mix-up on dates here with our WordPress installation, and we’re trying to figure out what in the Sam Hill is going on. Nothing to see here…move along…
What’s in a name?
I’m on a bunch of email lists. Comes with the job of being a marketing guy. For some time now, I’ve gotten emails from Buy.com. I don’t buy a lot from them, but it’s interesting to see how they promote specials, format their emails, etc. Recently, I’ve been receiving emails from Rakuten.com, “formerly Buy.com.” Um…wha? [Read more…] about What’s in a name?
TV is dead. Long live TV!
I am a child of Television. No kidding…my first word? Not “mama” or “dada,” but “Popeye.” I was a disciple of Larry, Moe and Curly, and George Reeves taught me to believe a man could fly. I don’t think you could find a kid that was more plugged-in, tuned-in, and aware of television than I am. Which is why it somewhat pains me to report that TV, my lifelong companion, is dying, and near death. It was a good run. We had some great times. But I come not to praise TV, but to bury it – drive a stake through it’s 49 share heart. And to give you hope for the future. [Read more…] about TV is dead. Long live TV!
See Obama. See Obama Run. And Run. And Run…
I cut my teeth on books like the McGuffy Reader. The Adventures of Dick and Jane were for the slow kids. But while I kind of leapfrogged most of the really little kids’ books, I made it a point to read to my daughter from the time she was born until the time she grew too old for me to entertain her with a bedtime story.
Today, kids’ books are increasingly politically-correct. And because so much of the publishing world leans left, increasingly politicized and polarized. Today, a trending topic on Twitter was #obamakidsbooks. Here are a selection of the better titles – ones that I hope and pray will never make it into print:
- One Fish, Two Fish, Your Fish is My Fish
- Fast and Furious George
- The Indian in the Cupbord is Elizabeth Warren
- Little Barack Scambo
- The Little Engine That Couldn’t Without Federal Assistance.
- My Little Crony
- Heather Has Two Mommies Without Jobs
- Solynderella
- Green Jobs and Scams
- Obama and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Presidency
- OH, The Debt You’ll Owe!
- The Bain Mutiny
- Oh, The Places Michelle Obama Will Go!
- Green Lies and Scams
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Mom-Jeans
- Are You There, Marx? It’s Me, Barack
- Cloudy With a Chance of Foodstamps
- The Taking Tree
- Fun WIth Dick and Jane Living Under a Bridge
- Harry Potter and the President’s Stoned
- False Expectations
- Where In the World are the Obamas
- Goodnight, Democracy
- LIttle Underwater House on the Prairie
- Where the Taxing Things Are
- Where the Red Ink Grows
- Are You My Big Brother?
- The Lying, The Witch and the War Chest
- War on Little Women
- Charlie and the Solar Panel Factory
- SEIU and the Purple Crayon
- Where the Sidewalk Ends (and other shovel-ready projects)
Now THAT’S Comedy
(In)Consistency is the Hobgoblin of Packaging Design
I am a creature of habit. I freely admit this, as it’s something I have in common with most people. Don’t believe me? Okay, riddle me this, Batman, when you go shopping at your local grocery emporium/supermarket/superstore, and you’re looking for a particular brand, what do you look for? If you’re like me (and millions of other homo sapiens), you’ll look for the color, general shape, and size of a package, in order to locate it quickly. This helps me find things and avoid a lengthy search. Now most things are (usually) pretty easy to find at my local Kroger or Walmart. But there are certain items that defy definition of what part of the store they should be found. Instant mashed potatoes, for instance. Some stores put ’em with the 3 minute rice. Some don’t. But as long as I can spot the big red box of Hungry Jack, I’m a happy camper. But my visual shorthand system has come under fire lately, from an unexpected source: marketers. [Read more…] about (In)Consistency is the Hobgoblin of Packaging Design