Aimed (pun intended) at reducing drunk driving, Wizmark has come up with a talking urinal cake. The thinking is that before guys go, they go. And this is one last opportunity to talk some sense into them. I’m not convinced that those that are too impaired to drive will have the faculties to absorb the message. But maybe the shock effect of having your urinal talk to you in a woman’s voice (“your future is in your hand”!) will be enough for the guys to go “whoa, I’m so wasted, it seems like the urinal is talking to me – somebody take my keys”.
Author: Ken
Quote for 13-Jan-07
Scott Brown’s “Hit List” from Entertainment Weekly #921:
Laura Bush, surprise guest on Rachael Ray’s show, reveals she likes beans. In return, Rachael revealed her secret for getting out of Iraq in just 30 minutes.
Quote for 12-Jan-07
Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report:
Upstate New York got so much snow, some of the snowflakes are actually the same.
2007 Grammy Awards
The Grammy’s do the award show thing better than the Oscars or Emmys in a number of ways. No host means less wasted time and you get to see lots of performances, many of which wouldn’t happen anywhere else. For the most part, this year’s performances were worth tuning in to see.
John Legend, John Mayer and Corinne Bailey Rae did a soulful singer-songwriter set. Mary J. Blige delivered her usual powerful performance. Justin Timberlake skipped the humor and went all serious musician with “What Goes Around”. Later in the show, Timberlake performed again, making the risky move of performing with an American Idol-like winner who could have easily crumbled under the pressure but didn’t; she held her own with Timberlake and T.I. on their song “My Love” (which I think is better than any of the tracks from Timberlake’s album). Gnarls Barkley performed a more lush version of their hit “Crazy” with Cee-Lo looking calm and cool in the pilot uniform, even during the high note in the chorus. And Shakira’s truth-telling hip shake never fails to disappoint (although Wyclef’s performance was sub-par, especially his opening).
US vs. Mexico friendly
I don’t get a chance to watch much soccer these days, but Telly reminded me to tune in last night to catch the US vs. Mexico friendly. Although I’m glad I watched and that the US won, overall, it was a disappointment.
The US is lucky to come away with a win. There is no question that Mexico outplayed them. And there were at least 2 really close calls where Howard might as well have been watching from the sidelines he was so far away from a save. But Mexico was unlucky and didn’t get those shots in the goal. The US, on the other hand, had very few shots, had very little ball possession, and spent little time within shooting range of the Mexico goal. Donovan had a great corner right into the box – if Conrad had been frozen in place, the ball would have still gone in. But the game is made from more than just set pieces, or at least it should be.
I think the real US failure of the game was not being able to push the ball into the 4th quarter of the field. They didn’t have any problems pushing past the center line but that’s where they got hung up nearly every time. [ continue reading »» ]
Superbowl commercials
I didn’t see much creative genius this year in the way of Superbowl commercials. I was watching on a delay so I could skip over commercials I had seen before and in the end, regretted not skipping over most of them. The Sierra Mist adverts, in particular, were really lame. (None of them nearly as good as the one with Kathy Griffin and a TSA wand.) The Dalmatian in the Bud advert was fun to watch (a well trained dog-actor, apparently) but the theme of the commercial was essentially the same as the mules from years past. The Bud advert with the auction guy doing the wedding was creative and gave me a chuckle. But the only laugh out loud moment was the Blockbuster commercial with the mouse. For those who missed it or want to see it again, here it is:
(I’m still a big fan of Netflix and it’s too bad that Blockbuster has the deep pockets to put together a good advert that can hurt Netflix. But even though it supports the evil empire, it’s funny!)
TV: Knights Of Prosperity
Sitcoms keep trying to come up with unique premises to capture the attention of jaded viewers. “Knights Of Prosperity” employs this technique by making the show all about robbing Mick Jagger. Their gang of misfits comes up with one clever idea each show that along with some luck manages to get them one small step closer to pulling their modern-day Robin Hood heist. Rockerfeller, the big guy with the deep voice is hilarious – he’s got some of the best lines, some of the best looks, and is put into some of the most absurd situations. The other characters in their crew are either fine (leader Eugene and buddy Squatch) or annoying (cabbie Gary or mensch Louis). And then there is Esperanza who while being fantastic to look at, seems to have some of the least useful lines – perhaps the writers don’t know how to write for a woman? Overall, the show has a great sense of humor but I think the writing should be a little stronger for it to truly prosper.
A highlight of the show, and this is not an insult, is the opening! Paul Shaffer’s outstanding theme song (David Letterman is an exec producer) not only rocks, but also summarizes the show in a very succinct 30 second set of lyrics apparently sung by the actor who portrays Rockerfeller. The video production for the opening is almost as good and while being modern in style, manages to also be 70s-retro. And be sure to stay tuned for the end when the song returns with the Knights parading in t-shirts which in the most recent show, were accompanied by large pink fur top hats (a prop used during the episode).
Rating: 7 (out of 10)
Quote for 29-Jan-07
Jon Stewart on the Daily Show:
In Iowa yesterday, Hillary Clinton was shoring up support a mere year before that state’s Presidential caucus as she whipped the crowd into a frenzy with her new campaign slogan “Let The Conversation Begin”. This may not be the most politically correct thing to say, but I don’t think that slogan is going to help you with men. I think the typical response would be “now?”. You might as well get on your campaign bus, the “I Think We Really Need To Talk Express”, to unveil your new Iraq policy, “America, let’s pull over and just ask for directions”.
Democrats’ “non-binding” resolution
The Democratic majority in the House is planning a “non-binding” resolution against Bush’s plan to escalate the troop levels in Iraq. From what I understand, the House could in fact restrict funding for the troops. The party line is that the “non-binding” resolution is a start and that a binding one will follow. But both New York Senators Clinton and Schumer have stated that they might not have enough votes to produce a binding one. And the realities of being able to determine how to cut funding to the troops without negatively impacting those already there would make a binding resolution impossible.
So what’s the point to the “non-binding” one? By publicly renouncing Bush’s plan, they are merely giving themselves more opportunity to chime in with a chorus of “I told you so”s. Assuming that the plan will fail (and that is a safe assumption, despite my belief that it is worth a shot), they look even better. And the Republicans that didn’t go along with the resolution look even worse for continuing the support for Iraq when it was a known failure.
Far right Presidential candidates like Brownback won’t be hurt at all since his base has entirely different reasons for supporting him. But a moderate like McCain could be hurt significantly by supporting the escalation now. Other Republicans can go after him with it in primary debates and should he become the nominee, the Democrats can hammer him about it.
From the perpsective of the Democrats forming a cohesive unit to battle against the long standing Republican majority, this is a positive sign. But from a perspective of looking foward to non-partisan politics, this is solemnly disappointing.
Movie: The Pursuit Of Happyness
First of all, yes, the movie does explain the misspelling in the title and early on too. After that little mystery was out of the way, I was only able to sit back for only a minute before the seriousness of Chris Gardner’s plight tensed me up. Like a lot of today’s story-telling, the movie gets you feeling like that he must have hit the bottom, only to discover further depths. I don’t know how much of the specifics were what the real Chris Gardner endured but it isn’t too hard to believe that much of it could happen. Of course, the movie ends on a happy note and the titles describe that the real Chris went on to great success. But despite the movie being titled “The Pursuit”, after spending nearly 2 hours with Chris in his personal hell it would have been nice to have shared more than a minute of actual happiness with him. Maybe a montage of Chris’s future success under the credits?
No surprise, Will Smith successfully anchors the story. And I stopped expecting him to shoot aliens within the first few minutes. Everything about the film felt real. From the financial frustration to the 80s vintage BART signage and Togo’s cups. Even Will Smith’s own son Jaden, who played his son in the film, actually seemed to be really concerned about why Mommy had left and that Captain America would be left behind.
Rating: 8 (out of 10)