Saturday

The NY Post a couple of days ago had the info on the new “The Apprentice” contestants – and it turns out that one of them is an alumnus of my Alma Maters. I’m especially impressed that she came from the same law school; Donald Trump’s lawyer, George, must have attracted people from our alma mater law school…

Vote for your favorite ad icon and ad slogan at the Advertising Week website. Too cool…

Duke U. giving I-Pods to freshmen at orientation, expecting them to use them for academic reasons. Yeah, right. Guess one is just hoping the kids won’t abuse using I-pods. Couldn’t Duke think of something else to do to promote technology?

Awhile ago, my sister and I were watching “Meet the Press” and Tim Russert interviewed Senator Zell Miller, the conservative Democrat – so conservative that one wonders why he doesn’t just switch parties. Slate.com explains why Miller hasn’t made a switch (and apparently it partly has to do with his disinclination to be just another southern Republican).

And, a legal “Explainer” on Slate.com, wherein we find out “How long do cops keep evidence?”

Oh, and sing along with me, to the tune of “Santa Claus is coming to town” – “The protesters are coming to town…” or “The Republicans are coming to town…” I feel befuddled by all of this either way.

So, YC and FC – any updates on the Asian front? …. 😉

Almost Friday

You’d think that because I had a short work week, I’d be more on the ball with work. Eh. Summ-summ-summertime…

And, of course, NY’ers fleeing town because of the upcoming Republican conventions. Eh. Weird photo in today’s Daily News (too bad I have no link for it) – it’s a photo of Victoria’s Secret with two armed male cops (and I mean armed, with their weapons on hand and helmets on their heads) ready and steady at the door; Daily News caption: “Victoria’s Secret at W. 34th St. and Sixth Ave. gets a no-frills security detail as authorities make presence known in midtown in advance of Republican National Convention.” Umm. Right. I’m real worried about the security of Victoria’s Secret. (well, ok, so it is located close to Madison Sq. Garden, but still, the photo looked odd and without the caption, you would think it was any Victoria’s Secret and would end up wondering about that pair of cops).

Sometimes I wonder if the differences between NYC and D.C. can be… exaggerated. Or maybe not. I can’t tell. This NY Times article by David Carr that I’m linking seems to portray the stereotypes – NY’ers as “snarling” boors (as Carr quotes Tucker Carlson, the political talking head on CNN) or sophisticates vs. the D.C.’ers as silly boy scouts or super serious G’men. “‘The contempt is mutual,'” a D.C. journalist says. (actually, I have no contempt for D.C.; there’s no love lost either, frankly, but contempt’s a little strong a word). Then, Carr says that Democratic standby, James Carville, observed “that the version of Washington that will be arriving in New York will hardly need directions. ‘Just about anybody in the Washington contingent is up here 10 or 12 times a year,” [Carville] said. ‘They are on the shuttle all the time. When you’re here, people stay up later, talk louder and eat more. Everybody likes to have fun.'” So glad to know that D.C.’er love the shuttle and can find that they do more in NYC. (well, no, not really; I mean, I feel that they can do as they please, so long as they don’t hurt people; live and let live, you know?).

So weird to think that once the Olympics are over, I can just change channels from NBC to PBS and just watch Convention stuff during the prime time hours. My non-stop (near non-stop anyway, since, again, I lack cable) massive-event tv isn’t going to stop. Gosh, I’m a junkie. I am SSW and I’m a tv marathon junkie. I’ll sit down now.

These NBC commercials for the upcoming “The Apprentice” (season 2) are scary. You get little clips of the latest contestants (West Point graduate; Wharton School grad (trying to impress The Donald, a Wharton alumnus?); nerd; geek; the usual eye candy men and women; argh…), plus everyone’s favorite The Donald, George, and Carolyn. And to think that this was once the network of Must-See-Tv (stuff like “Friends,” “Cheers,” “Seinfeld,” and “Cosby”…). But, I am getting real pumped by the NBC commercials for the new “Medical Investigations” show (it looks like an action-thriller loaded portrayal of the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s work) – the return of Neal McDonough on tv. Missed him from his “Boomtown” days. Missed his clear blue eyes and wacked out intensity. So he’s playing a raving scientist instead of a lawyer. Ok, I’ll go with it and see what happens.

Etc., etc., etc….