Friday, April 30, 2010
Iconic Coffee Cup
Friday, March 19, 2010
Picture Says a Thousand Words
Monday, February 8, 2010
Different Rules for Different People
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Warm and fuzzy...not so much.
In this THREE-AND-A-HALF MINUTE LONG video, the Fiorina campaign goes after former California Congressman Tom Campbell, who leads the Republican field in the primary race to unseat incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer. The Fiorina campaign's main point is that Campbell is a "Fiscal Conservative In Name Only." It's a fairly standard issue claim -- or at least it would be, if the video that presented the argument didn't play like Terry Gilliam and Ingmar Bergman collaborated on a campaign-year sequel to "The Wicker Man".
I am attaching the video below:
So, when did the use of "shock value" campaign ads really start? Well, the most famous one - shown only one time in 1964, was called the "Daisy Girl." This is what the Living Room Candidate website has to say about the President Johnson advertisement:
The most famous of all campaign commercials, known as the “Daisy Girl” ad, ran only once as a paid advertisement, during an NBC broadcast of Monday Night at the Movies on September 7, 1964. Without any explanatory words, the ad uses a simple and powerful cinematic device, juxtaposing a scene of a little girl happily picking petals off of a flower (actually a black-eyed Susan), and an ominous countdown to a nuclear explosion. The ad was created by the innovative agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, known for its conceptual, minimal, and modern approach to advertising. The memorable soundtrack was created by Tony Schwartz, an advertising pioneer famous for his work with sound, including anthropological recordings of audio from cultures around the world. The frightening ad was instantly perceived as a portrayal of Barry Goldwater as an extremist. In fact, the Republican National Committee spelled this out by saying, “This ad implies that Senator Goldwater is a reckless man and Lyndon Johnson is a careful man.” This was precisely the intent; in a memo to President Johnson on September 13, Bill Moyers wrote, “The idea was not to let him get away with building a moderate image and to put him on the defensive before the campaign is old.” The ad was replayed in its entirety on ABC’s and CBS’s nightly news shows, amplifying its impact.
Here is the video below. No demonic sheep are portrayed:
Friday, January 29, 2010
It's Not Easy Being Green...
The MyWay Website reports: Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday.
Below is a little snippet of Kermit, for your viewing pleasure. And note - it is Kermit - with Jim Henson doing the voice. Enjoy:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
State of the Union
President Obama's State of the Union Address is to be held tonight. Lots of talk about the middle class out there on the news and blogs today. What do I think? I know you didn't ask - but I am saying it anyway. To me, trying to save the middle class is like trying to save the dinosaurs. It is a moot point, because - like the dinosaurs - the middle class is already gone. Whatever is left of the middle class is just a facade. There are rich and there are definitely poor - but the middle class is artificially propped up. The whole house of cards is precariously balanced - to be toppled easily by one lost paycheck, one more drop in home values, or the ever falling values of 401Ks.
When I think of dinosaurs - I definitely think of Dino from the Flintstones (picture above). But, I also think of a Saturday morning favorite of mine from the 1970s - Land of the Lost. It was a bizarre show - but I was fascinated by it. I am not including any clips of that terrible movie based on the show with Will Farrell. I am including a snippet from the Saturday series below:
Friday, January 22, 2010
Six Degrees of Separation
OK, so a Republican just won the late Ted Kennedy's senate seat. Is it old news already, since it happened a few days ago? Well, whatever the case, I have been reading about the last time that Massachusetts voters elected a Republican to serve in the US Senate. It occurred in November of 1972, when they re-elected Senator Edward Brooke - pictured above with President Lyndon Johnson.
There is something about this bit of history that reminds me of the game - Six Degrees of Separation - which is closely related to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon - but I digress. Six Degrees of Separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person in the world.
OK - I know that Senator Edward Brooke does not exactly fit this scenario - but take a look at these interesting facts about the man:
- Senator Brooke was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate.
- Brooke served as a U.S. senator for two terms, from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979.
- He was a member of the liberal wing of the Republican Party and organized the Senate's "Wednesday Club" of progressive Republicans who met for Wednesday lunches and strategy discussions.
- In 1974, with Indiana senator Birch Bayh (father of Senator Evan Bayh), he led the fight to retain Title IX of the 1972 Education Act which guarantees equal educational opportunity to girls and women.
- Two days after his 90th birthday, Brooke was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
- In 2008, Barbara Walters revealed in her memoir Audition that she'd had an affair lasting several years with Brooke during the 1970s, while Brooke was married to his first wife.
Maybe not Kevin Bacon material - but good stuff. Hey, the guy slept with Barbara. I am including a snippet of an interview of Senator Brooke below, in which he discusses why he ran on the Republican ticket: