Category: Brooklyn

I’ll likely post again later, but here’s something in the meantime…

I like this ad that Sprint has been running lately – “Business is Beautiful” – a bunch of people dancing and singing to a 1970’s disco/rock/gospel type tune; wherein business yuppies and health care providers and so on all sing and dance their love for Sprint’s business software/hardware capabilities. If I can find it, I’ll link to the ads. It’s the kind of ad campaign where you end up singing and dancing along to the tune, even if you don’t quite approve/appreciate/understand the stuff that Sprint is pushing on people (and they’re specifically targetting the entrepenurial sector of the tv audience – not like I’m going to use Sprint for my business purposes). The press release explains it…

CNN.com has this bizarre story that Colin Powell the man is meeting up with Colin Powell the cat (a black cat, on top of that) on Friday the 13th for a photo op. Huh?

Athens Olympics 2004 Opening Ceremony – let the NBC All Olympics, All the Time marathon begin…

Watching this really interesting Great Performances on local PBS (official link not up yet on PBS’ national website) – the world’s greatest living classical musicians playing loads of pianos at once, on the same stage – weird. And they all look so pleased and having fun with each other. Cool.

“Flicks you’re embarrassed to love…” – I haven’t watched most of these (not very good) movies in this posting, although, curiously, local UPN did recently broadcast the weird 1980’s summer volleyball movie, “Sideout” (I watched parts of it, because I had no life that weekend) very B-level kind of odd crap – definitely guilty pleasure stuff for someone out there (no, not me). Oh, and so pleased that someone in this article mentioned “Flash Gordon” – seriously guilty pleasure crap (Channel 11 used to have an annual showing of it at one point – I think people just enjoy it for the Queen soundtrack so you can sing along… “Flash… Ah-aahhh savior of the universe…”). Not that I love “Flash Gordon,” but it is one of those movies which sucks you in when it’s on.

A heart-warming story of… the drunk driver who tells the cops to arrest him. My goodness, I had no idea that CNN.com had these kind of little stories linked.

Umm, some stuff:

Empire State Building did tribute to Fay Wray, most known for her King Kong fame. Of the obits I’ve read, I liked the NY Times one – it made Wray’s life and thoughts interesting. This quote from the NY Times obit:

“‘When I’m in New York,’ Miss Wray wrote in The New York Times in 1969, ‘I look at the Empire State Building and feel as though it belongs to me, or is it vice versa?’”

It’s both Ms. Wray – you and the Empire State Building made each other.

The Associated Press obit was also nice, even if less wordy.

This NY Times article on the inequities of internships is not news to me; if you can afford it and tolerate it, sure, go for the unpaid internship for the opportunities and experiences. But, it ain’t a fun thing when you’re not earning money and need a living or else trying to justify a living without that feeling of being exploited. To me, unpaid internships are just part and parcel of the haves vs. the have-nots. Take them or leave them, I guess.

Boy, this NY Times editorial on the selection of Alan Keyes as the Republican candidate in Illinois’ US Senate race is just a tad harsh. Just a tad. And, really, how many editorials refer to… Mighty Mouse and Obi Wan Kenobi in the same sentence? –>

“In the noble tradition of the Marquis de Lafayette, the Seven Samurai, Mighty Mouse and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alan Keyes is leaving home to go to the aid of a pitiable band of outgunned, hopeless supplicants: the Illinois Republican Party.”

Umm, ok. Whoever in the editorial board thought this up gets extra credit points for ingenuity.

Associated Press, via CNN, reports of cannabilism at a wedding banquet in the Phillippines. Guests were too drunk to realize what was happening… oh, good grief, where do these news guys get this stuff?

Tonight (8/10/04) Charlie Rose on PBS doing an interesting profile of Japan, coinciding with the anniversary of the WWII nuclear bombing – touching on politics and cultural topics. And, I’ll end on that positive note.

Building down the block is asking for $250K for a studio, up to $750K for a two bedroom according to the NY Times. What’s really amazing is that you can see my apartment and several buildings that other writers on this blog will recognize out the window of the (QuickTime required) virtual tour of one of their units. Look at the last 30 seconds of the video as the camera flies through the patio.

For the other amazing thing, The Amazing Race, they are traipsing through Egypt, with the pitstop at the Sphinx. Wow, what visuals! On the other hand, who knew that one team would be stuck because they didn’t know what the word “satchel” meant. If you missed the episodes, catch the hilarious recaps at Television Without Pity – The Amazing Race .

I’ve read the criticism in TV Guide: Matt Roush notes that PBS can actually hurt itself sometimes with the way it times its fundraising schedule. It’s the August pledge drive, so instead of showing the 4th episode of a Masterpiece Theatre mini-series (as per the national PBS schedule), local PBS did another round of either Jonathan Pond’s investing tips; the Dr. Phil lookalike show; or Great Performances.

Okay, so I like Great Performances; sometimes the investing stuff might be helpful (but the Dr. Phil stuff should really come from, well, Dr. Phil); and, I’ll applaud our local PBS for keeping “Now with Bill Moyers” at its regular time slot and same with Lehrer newshour.

But, I think that if you, Hypothetical Person in Charge at PBS, are going to seduce people into donating, keep doing your good A-stuff, not your weird, New Age-y, C-level stuff.

Example: like, tell people to give any amount for pledges during the convention, especially since you Guys at PBS are the only ones in free-tv showing it and without the partisan talk garbage. Lehrer’s ratings were up for the Democratic convention, so you know people are watching; tell the audience that it’s a public service or something, you know what I mean? (ok, that’s my Public Awareness message for the day; if you want to donate to PBS yourself, go right ahead). (and, yeah, I’m a PBS snob, can’t help it). 😉

Sunday’s NY Times’ does a story on Los Angeles’ Koreatown, a hip happening place, apparently.

Slate.com’s William Saletan parodies the Vet(erans) Against Kerry with his Vet(erinarians) Against Kerry (Vets Who Don’t Buy that Kerry Saved his Kids’ Hamster, because they were really, really there). Too funny. (plus, a weird little picture of a hamster).

Olympics at the end of the week. Cool, even if there are concerns about terrorism; how Athens will pull it off; and figuring out who among the athletes are on illegal performance enhancing drugs.

Is it just me or are these Back-to-School ads getting on earlier and earlier every year?

I know I should, but I couldn’t resist avoiding the previews/spoilers for the upcoming 4th (maybe last?) season of “Star Trek: Enterprise.” Can it get better? I’m still a little pissed about that annoying season cliffhanger. It can’t get any worse, I guess. Just keep an open mind, I’d say.

“Fruit of the Loom” – the Fruit are back, with a commercial wherein they visit a firehouse to see if their undergarments are approved. Nice to see the Fruit back – there’s something amusing about guys in fruit suits. (the Apple guy gets stuck in the firehouse pole’s hole – forgetting that his foam can’t fit…)

Back to your regularly scheduled Monday…

YC: I tried sending email to you and it didn’t work. Maybe I should use your YC address. Anyway I need to give you a call about hotel in Ipoh and getting my butt through Singapore — want to try Skype? I won’t be home tomorrow because of the wedding.

I just plunked down a wad of money to go to YC’s wedding. It’s not the world’s greatest itinerary and I couldn’t get the date I wanted going into KL, but it’s the cheap $895 flight compared against the $1300 alternatives:

KE 84Q 25AUG 1155P JFK->ICH 27AUG 325A
KE 641Q 27AUG 1:05P ICH->SIN 27 AUG 625P

I was thinking that maybe I would hate a really long layover; at least that’s what the travel agent was saying.Going to Seoul is out of the question — it’s 2 hours by bus to get there. But then, it’s Korea, and the word is that they have a really good transit hotel that has 2 Korean restaurants. Can we say time to go crazy? At least it will give me an opportunity to shower before the next leg of the trip. The flight will be also on Korean Air. The word is that the seats are tight, and they don’t have personal entertainment screens. However, the service is supposed to be good, and the Korean food is supposed to be excellent.

ABA E-Journal reports on “What Young Lawyers Think,” and apparently, the young lawyers (or lawyers new to the profession – in their first 10 years – since we can’t always be sure about their ages anyway) are more stressed out in the big firms requiring more hours and more billing and all that other stuff. I.e., it’s about the quality of life, not the quantity. Not entirely a surprise to me.

There’s the story in the news that the Illinois Republicans are trying to recruit Alan Keyes to run against Barack Obama in the Illinois US Senate race – even though Keyes doesn’t even live in Illinois. That bothered me, until I remembered that even Hilary Clinton wasn’t really from NY when she ran – but at least she had a year of preparation/listening tour/buying that Chappaqua house before Election Day. Keyes, if he is the candidate, has only three months to go. Slate.com’s Explainer explains how it is possible for Keyes to do this (apparently, he just has to live in Illinois by Election Day).

Flipping through the pages of the latest Entertainment Weekly – and, gasp, saw the ad for the DVD of the 1st season of… “Happy Days.” Fonzie, Potsie, Ralph, and Richie (plus appearances of Richie’s long lost brother) in digital format. Ayy… What isn’t a DVD by now? (umm, actually lots of stuff aren’t on DVD, but I just wish some of this stuff was still in reruns on regular tv like they used to be rather than me paying bucks for DVD’s).

WEEKEND.

Recent pics: Rhode Island, Korean Costco, Apple Restaurant

Another wedding tomorrow…

Had major problems today with the network — spent mundo quality time with our new network admin dude in the upstairs server room. He had botched setting up a new switch stack, and I got called in.

Anyway, happy birthday to YC! My travel agent has lined up a ticket to Malaysia for $895 on Korean Air JFK->ICH->KUL departing 8/27, returning 9/3. Is that a good deal?

Statue of Liberty re-opens… (see YC’s Tues. post below).

The post office across the street from World Trade Center finally re-opens (it has been 9/11/01 since the closure/damages).

Bob Murphy, longtime voice of the NY Mets, passed away. Amusing yet poignant note: I listened to parts of the Mets v. Milwaukee Brewers on the radio, wherein the current voices, Gary Cohen and Howie Rose, reminisced about Murph moments. They then realized that every time they relayed on the air a Murph memory, the Mets made hits – and Cohen and Rose wonder if Bob Murphy was lending a hand from up in heaven. Either way, they were impressed that the Mets were playing well. So, the Mets ended today’s game on a happy note: 12-3 victory. A “happy recap” (as Murphy would say) will be in the newspaper or tv or radio. Mets fans need a little cheer, even in these times.

Bill Clinton’s appearance on Letterman’s show was a good watch (I didn’t even realize that he’d be on; I was just channel-changing and there he was. Promoting Kerry and Hilary? Geez, Bill Clinton).

An interesting story on Slate.com about the Citigroup building.

Plus, on a non-related (yet still about Citigroup) note, Slate.com’s latest “Ad Report” grades the latest Citigroup ads. Seth Stevenson notes that these ads, wherein people make huge errors (one woman mistakes her friend’s weight for a pregnancy; a man tries to duck out of his girlfriend’s request to discuss marriage) and then confuse their friends/significant others by just saying, “Thank you” out of nowhere. As Stevenson puts it: “‘Thank you!’ blurts the first woman, in a total non sequitur. Magically, the insult is forgotten. Says the announcer, ‘It’s amazing what a simple “thank you” can do.’” Apparently, the ads are Citigroup’s attempt to get people to join in some bonus points program.

Stevenson gives Citigroup credit for being “honest”; he says, “Maybe Citi thinks they can win our respect with a no-nonsense take on the situation: They’re going to treat us badly—and we know it—so why not at least get some tchotchkes out of the deal?” He gives the ads a D+ because he really doesn’t like it when the big corps rub it in.

Personally, I thought the dumb boyfriend ad was funny (his suddenly saying “thank you” actually thrills his girlfriend; apparently, he lacked good manners, forget the capacity to commit – methinks that relationship will either end soon or else continue in limbo). The ad where the woman bursts into “thanks” after mistakenly thinking her friend was pregnant – that was just plain stupid; it wasn’t entertaining but embarrassing. Where did Citigroup come up with that one?

So it goes…