I thought this was a joke.
I assumed that it was a satirical outlook on the creative hazards of product placement.
As an author who has been accused of product placement in his novels, I couldn’t imagine that this kind of over-the-top advertising in the midst of a storyline could be real.
I was wrong. It’s real.
It’s unbelievable and unimaginable and unconscionable and real.
I will show this video to my students in hopes that it will have the same effect on them that it had on me:
It will remind them how fortunate they are and how much of a difference they can make in this world if they work hard.
I rarely watch any television that has not been pre-recorded. As a result, I almost never see commercials anymore. I simply fast-forward past them, thus denying the advertisers of their opportunity to pitch their products to me.
As a result of this time-shifting, advertisers are now looking for new ways to get viewers to watch their commercials, including hiring actors from the show to star in the commercials, thus blurring the lines between entertainment and advertisement.
Alternately, advertisers could simply write great commercials with hooks that grab the viewer, like this one, which I refrained from fast forwarding last night after catching the first couple seconds of the ad.
The first few lines of dialogue are perfect. They’re smart, funny, self-aware and completely relatable. I couldn’t help but continue watching.
And the rest of the commercial was just as good. While attempting to sell me a car, the writers presented me with a compelling character, told an amusing story and arguably weaved in a bit of social commentary as well.
I may not run out and purchase a Venza anytime soon, but I’ll be inclined to watch the next Venza commercial based upon what I’ve seen so far.
It’s rare when two individually outstanding creations can be brought together so seamlessly to produce something as near-perfect as this:
I know that ten minutes is a long time on the Internet, but I promise that this will be ten minutes of joy.
Such creativity. Such enthusiasm. Such persistence.
It might even make you teary.
I can’t wait to show my students this video.
It makes me want to vacation in East LA, just to meet this amazing boy.
The Oatmeal is one of the best online comics that you will ever read. His book, 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth, is outstanding. And it makes a great gift for anyone who shares its sensibilities.
His recent comics pertaining to Valentines Day are incredibly funny, but I found his advice regarding the verbal machinations of Valentines Day to be especially prescient and worth considering.
He writes:
If Valentines Day really means so little to you, then I politely ask you to shut the hell up and treat it like any other day.
Or go have a sexy adventure rumpus with someone who smells nice.
Less complaining.
More sexy rumpus.
It could not have been said any better.
There are a lot of reasons that I use Twitter. One small but no less significant reason is the wisdom that I find amongst the people I follow. I read two especially insightful comments this weekend that I thought I would share. Following their actual name is their Twitter handle in the event you would like to follow these people as well.
All I want is for someone to look at me the way my dog looks at my sandwich.
- Mark Peters @wordlust
People who don't volunteer often interfere.
- Kathleen Schmidt @Bookgirl96
If this man were the president of my university, I would strongly advise against producing any future video messages. This message does not inspire confidence.
It might inspire me to write a poem about a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming freight train.
Or perhaps to write a short story about a man who suffers from an inability to blink his eyes naturally.
But it does not convince me that he is the man to lead Penn State out of this recent scandal and into the future.
The whole thing just looks strange.
Some people aren’t suited for video. Dr. Rodney A. Erickson would appear to be one of these people.
The inability to convey a message via video does not make him a bad leader. It’s the decision to post the video after previewing it that makes me question his judgment.
Jessica Hagy in Forbes wrote a piece entitled How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Easy Steps). It’s an insightful and amusing piece, but had I been her editor, I would have paired her ten steps (I never trust a list consisting of ten items) down to three and re-titled the piece: Why You’re Life Sucks in Two Simple Pictures.
I thought these two pictures probably capture about seventy-five percent of the reasons for human unhappiness.
Sometimes you run into sheer brilliance in the most unexpected places. On the Comics Alliance blog, Chris Sims writes about Scooby Doo and secular humanism in a piece that I consider a masterpiece.
I know. It sounds crazy. Like baked beans and iron filings. It’s difficult to imagine the two working together.
But Sims pulls it off pulls it off in a big way.
I love it as a parent. I love it as a teacher. I love it as a writer.
It’s ingenious.
There are so many outstanding paragraphs that I could have quoted here, but the one that I think serves as the heart of the piece is the following. Read it, and if you are as impressed as I am, go to the blog and read the full piece. ______________________
Because that's the thing about Scooby-Doo:
The bad guys in every episode aren't monsters, they're liars.
I can't imagine how scandalized those critics who were relieved to have something that was mild enough to not excite their kids would've been if they'd stopped for a second and realized what was actually going on. The very first rule of Scooby-Doo, the single premise that sits at the heart of their adventures, is that the world is full of grown-ups who lie to kids, and that it's up to those kids to figure out what those lies are and call them on it, even if there are other adults who believe those lies with every fiber of their being. And the way that you win isn't through supernatural powers, or even through fighting. The way that you win is by doing the most dangerous thing that any person being lied to by someone in power can do: You think.
Todd Glass is a well known and very successful comedian who came out publicly as gay on Marc Maron’s popular podcast this week. if you’re not easily offended by the use of profanity, I strongly recommend that you listen. It was remarkable. Glass was heroic, vulnerable, articulate, funny and fragile all at the same time. His decision to go public with this news was in large part because of the recent string of suicides among LGBT youth, and he has an insight into these matters that is worth hearing regardless of your stance on gay rights.
He has a story that everyone should hear.
Though Glass had much to say in terms of the way that LGBT people are treated in this country and what a straight person can do to be supportive, his final message was one that I thought was worth sharing:
If you believe that the LGBT community should possess the same rights as every American and should not be discriminated against because of their sexual preference, you need not march, protest, write letters to Congressmen, or sign petitions in order to be supportive and helpful. Simply begin living a life that is reflective of your beliefs.
If your church, political party, or community organization discriminates based upon sexual preference or teaches a message of divisiveness and hatred, you must revoke your membership from that organization immediately. There are plenty of other churches, political organizations and community groups from which to choose that do not support the discrimination of the gay community.
You cannot continue to go through life as the member of a church, for example, that discriminates against the gay community by not supporting their right to marry and adopt children and explain your continued support of that organization by simply saying that you believe in most of the good work that the church is doing but do not agree with that particular organizational belief.
Discrimination and hatred of this kind are too important to explain away or ignore. It is ridiculous and wrong to believe that you can remain innocent in your silent complicity of organizational discrimination and hatred.
Find a new church. Find a new political party. Join a different community organization. Live the life that matches your beliefs and the life that you know is right.
If churches, political parties and community groups found themselves losing members based upon their discriminatory positions and practices, things would change quickly, regardless of how ancient or codified their doctrine may be.
That was Todd Glass’s message, and I thought it was worth sharing.
Now go listen to the podcast.
Not being schmaltzy, I promise, but this really is the perfect way to start off a Christmas morning.
I cannot recommend it more highly.
No surprise that Mark Twain managed to turn a simple notice about a stolen umbrella into an amusing reward for the capture and execution of a small boy.
Also no surprise that Scott Bennett’s newspaper farce did not go quite as well.
The Pennsylvania man wrote an obituary for his mother (who was still alive) and got it published in the local paper in order to get paid time off for bereavement.
Unfortunately (for Bennett), relatives called the newspaper after the obit was published to say that Bennett's mother was actually alive and well.
Unconvinced, Bennett’s mother paid a visit to the newspaper to confirm her liveliness.
Bennett was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and fired from his job, of course.
Somehow I feel like Mark Twain could’ve pulled off Bennett’s ruse much more effectively. And more amusingly.
Scott Bennett was simply out of his league.
Am I late to the party of this particular piece of genius? Twitter feed: @OldManSearch
The Twitter bio reads:
My dad is 81 years old. I’m teaching him how to use the Internet. I told him Twitter was how to search things on Google. These tweets are what he’s searching.
Brilliant. Right?
How’s this for an idea? Musicians, authors, actors, athletes and other celebrities license access to their Google searches.
Pay a monthly fee to be able to see what people like Salman Rushdie, Adele, Bruce Springsteen, LeBron James, Jon Stewart, and Margaret Atwood are searching on these days.
I’d pay to see that.
I can’t help but be impressed by this service, as distasteful as it may be. The Alibi Network is a service that assists clients in falsifying segments of their lives in order to facilitate dishonest and disreputable behavior.
Based upon the website, it would appear that the bulk of their work is done with married men and women who are attempting to conceal an affair, but they also seem to be rather effective at assisting clients in avoiding work commitments, enhancing their image through the falsification of work history, making discreet purchases on the client’s behalf, and providing the documentation needed to avoid embarrassing mistakes.
It’s not the most noble way to make a living, but it’s creative, clever and not illegal.
The website is poorly designed and looks like something from the 1998 version of the Internet, and their slogan (Empowering Real People in the Real World) seems incongruous to the service they offer, but the company has been featured by several mass media outlets and appears fairly reputable.
The website lists 15 specific services, of which I found these 7 especially intriguing:
Need to Hide a Discreet Affair? Married and looking? We invent, create and provide customized alibis and excuses for attached adults involved in discreet relationships or encounters.
Virtual Hotel Service Toll free or local virtual hotel number answered by a virtual front desk clerk 24 hours a day. The operator will greet a caller with the appropriate hotel greeting message and will handle the call according to the instructions.
Rescue Call Services The discreet phone call from us to communicate any information you desire or to help you escape any situations such as dull meetings, bad dates or other unnecessary commitments that need to be cut short or cancelled.
Virtual Doctor's Office / Doctor Excuses Notes Looking for a doctors excuse note to get away? Supported by the local virtual doctor's office phone number anywhere in the world? Your doctors excuses notes are only a click away.
Virtual Seminar/Training: We offer a solid and a carefully constructed 2 to 5 days alibi and excuse package for our clients who are comfortable with the idea of going to a training/seminar and need an excuse to get out of town for a discreet affair.
Virtual Employment Are you embarrassed to be unemployed? Do you have a critical life situation that requires you to have a job? Would you like to create an impression that you have your dream job? With your own virtual office, executive assistant and business cards?
Fake Novelties Are you embarrassed to admit you missed the show? We provide fake tickets for past events, fake receipts, fake confirmations and many other novelty items for pranks and practical jokes.
In honor of his passing, one of my favorite Rooney rants. And Andy’s right. As usual.
There comes a time when we all have to acknowledge that the twisted piece of metal at the center of a park ain’t art, regardless of who twisted it or how much was paid for it.
There is so much about this video that fascinates me. So many small, inexplicable elements coming together to create this symphony of utter strangeness.
I feel like I am missing something. That there must be greater meaning hidden within this video, obscured by the sword or the birdhouse or the mop or the dog or the motionless old woman in sunglasses.
I’ve watched it three times but have yet to find it.
But each time, it becomes more fascinating to me.
But most of all, I simply want to know these people.
Uncover the origins of this… thing they do.
Understand the motivation behind this… hobby?
I am convinced that they are either remarkably compelling and complex human beings or incredibly annoying and cognitively-limited individuals.
And I want to know which one with every fiber of my being.
Both of these productions are outstanding.
I can’t wait to show my students.
