Thursday, November 12, 2009

Cleaning the Attic III

I should really be at the gym. 30 minutes on the treadmill. Maybe 45. Instead, I'm looking at what appears to be an intoxicated Harry Connick warbling "Close to You" on the Ellen show, with the rabble lapping it up. I'm now to the point where I risk more injury by going to the gym and lifting a weight than by staying and home and lifting the remote. It's been awhile since I've done this so please pardon me while I serve up there innocuous observations;

To the argument that their can be no good news reported without a steaming pile of feces being dumped upon it: GOOD NEWS: Burglaries are down nationwide, by double digits in some areas. BAD NEWS: "They" surmise it's because there are more jobless, and these jobless are staying home. Thus, it's less tempting to the burglar. Why, then, would those of us with jobs want the recession to end? I'm not going to want to be held responsible for supporting a nationwide crime wave.

I'm not sure what product they're advertising, but there's a spot that focuses on a family called the Buttertons. Clever. They're presented in black and white, "Leave it To Beaver" -style. The woman does all the cooking and does so with (gasp) real butter, oils, and ungodly amounts of fat. The problem is that the Buttertons have a normal body weight. Mom, Dad and son look like they all have normal BMIs, in spite of the fact they're consuming lethal amounts of dairy. In contrast, the people (filmed in color) who are using the advertised product are slightly overweight. I don't think the point of a commercial is to get you to use the exact opposite of the product that's being advertised, so in this case I have to salute the makers of the ad for getting it so wrong. Pity that I can't remember the products, which also is a sign of how ineffective the spot is.

My dog loves Golden Grahams cereal.

As soon as we stop treating schools and the military like social experiments, we'll be much better off. Both are jobs, places of employment. Are far as schools go, let's just hear that kids (no, not yours. Yours are brilliant) aren't as smart as they used to be and move on. That would be my first statement as superintendent.

I don't understand the phrase "help people help themselves". Is that even possible?

Heard from a guy today who was griping that Las Vegas' growth should be curtailed. Interestingly enough, the gentleman lived on Flamingo and Hualapai, in a comfortable home that's four years that only exists because of the expansion he despises. Hypocrites tend to skew older.

Safeway's generic diet cola is just as good, if not better, than Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke, and it's half the price.

Read an article yesterday about how new talk shows by George Lopez and Wanda Sykes are playing to an "underserved" television audience. Latinos and blacks can't be entertained by anyone other than their own kind? The Caucasian of European descent is the only one who's not allowed to show pride in his heritage, just as the American who shows pride in his country is simply labled as a gun-loving redneck, while those carrying flags of any other country are seen as "prideful".

Well, this was fun.