Larry Lessig on Hillary and Obama

Lawrence Lessig is a very smart guy. He is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of its Center for Internet and Society. He is also founder and CEO of the Creative Commons and a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and of the Software Freedom Law Center.

He is worth hearing, even for 20 minutes in the following video. Here is Mr. Lessig's thoughts on politics of the last 15 years and his views on how Barrack and Hillary are running their campaigns.

Requiem for a BJ-200ex

I am a tech geek. If you know me, you know this is true.

Because tech geeks are early adopters, you'd think we'd discard hardware like last week's bread, without a thought. But this is not the case. Most geeks I know will develop strange, almost human attachments to particular pieces of hardware. There is usually one item that we've owned for a long time; one that has been trusty and reliable through thick and thin.

For me, that hardware is a Canon BJ-200ex printer. I purchased it in 1996--that's right, 12 years ago. Multiple generations of printers have come and gone, but my BJ-200ex has stood by me, and me by it. Sexier printers have tried to tempt me--with color, with scanners, with button and dongles and ports and displays. But my trusty B&W bubble jet has remained connected to my PC.

When I purchase my BJ-200ex, I was trading up from a 24-pin printer with a tractor feed. Yes, that's how long my BJ-200ex and I have been together.

Put another way, when I purchased my BJ-200ex, Independence Day and Twister were in theaters. Macarena was on the Billboard charts. And the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was on the tube. My Pentium I PC was connected from the 56k modem via a 36-foot long phone cord, which ran to the only phone jack in my home. Yes, times were simpler then.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, but all good things come to end. For months, my printer has been unable to pull paper into the print mechanism. I've begged and swore and pleaded, and sometimes the roller would painfully yank a page through, but it was clear the end was near.

Today, I purchased a new printer. In honor of my humble BJ-200ex, I opted not for a fancy model that faxes, scans, dials, prints from cameras, and makes sushi. Instead, I purchased a simple printer in a dented box off a clearance end cap at Target. My guilt wasn't absolved, but it was minimized by the $27 price tag.

I haven't yet disconnected the BJ-200ex. It still sits on my computer desk next to my monitor, staring at me, waiting for me to put it down. When I do, it will be a sad day for both of us--my BJ-200ex and me.

Lazy Spammer

People who send spam (or worse) usually give it a half-hearted try in order to encourage the recipient to do something unwise, but not the guy who sent me today's poor example. I can't imagine who would read this message and then try to open it:

Subject: You have card

Body:
Good evening, old chap!
Some body from you contact send you greeting card!
--
Best regards
Friend Finder.

There's more bad grammar than there is appropriate. And "old chap"!?! Did my email server suffer from a 50-year delay?

I give this spam a D- for effort.

Will Hillary take one for the team?

Not a lot of good news for Hillary Clinton this week:

• New Backing for Obama As Party Seeks Unity from the WSJ: "Slowly but steadily, a string of Democratic Party figures is taking Barack Obama's side in the presidential nominating race and raising the pressure on Hillary Clinton to give up. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is expected to endorse Sen. Obama Monday... (and) North Carolina's seven Democratic House members are poised to endorse Sen. Obama as a group before that state's May 6 primary... What makes such endorsements significant is that they're from superdelegates... Since the "Super Tuesday" primaries on Feb. 5, Sen. Obama has won commitments from 64 superdelegates and Sen. Clinton has gotten nine. Sen. Obama has a total of 217 superdelegates in his camp while Sen. Clinton has 250, and her margin has been shrinking with each week."
  
  
• Cash-strapped Clinton fails to pay bills from Politico: "Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles. A pair of Ohio companies owed more than $25,000 by Clinton for staging events for her campaign are warning others in the tight-knit event production community — and anyone else who will listen — to get their cash upfront when doing business with her. Their cautionary tales, combined with published reports about similar difficulties faced by a New Hampshire landlord, an Iowa office cleaner and a New York caterer, highlight a less-obvious impact of Clinton’s inability to keep up with the staggering fundraising pace set by her opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
  
  "If she had paid off the $8.7 million in unpaid bills she reported as debt and had not loaned her campaign $5 million, she would have been nearly $3 million in the red at the end of February. By contrast, if you subtract Obama’s $625,000 in debts and his general-election-only money from his total cash on hand at the end of last month, he’d still be left with $31 million."
  
  
• Gallup Daily: Obama Now at 52% to Clinton’s 42%: "Barack Obama has extended his lead over Hillary Clinton among Democrats nationally to 52% to 42%, the third consecutive Gallup Poll Daily tracking report in which he has held a statistically significant lead, and Obama's largest lead of the year so far. This marks the first time either candidate has held a double-digit lead over the other since Feb. 4-6, at which point Clinton led Obama by 11 percentage points."

Will Hillary do the right thing for the party? Or is she committed to beating up on the person who is virtually guaranteed to earn the party nomination, thus making it tougher for Obama to win in the general election. Will Hillary go down in the history books and in the hearts of Democrats much like Ralph Nader--a Democrat whose ego got in the way and aided a Republican victory?

Gay Scientists Isolate Gay Gene

Posted without comment (other than that I laughed aloud):

Happy Spring, Milwaukee!

Ah, Spring in Milwaukee.

Obama Girl is Back

it isn't as catchy as "I've got a Crush on Obama." Or as funny. Or as good. But what the heck, Obama Girl is back telling Hillary her campaign is just helping McCain...

Kids in bars--what the heck are parents thinking?

First of all, let me say that I am childless by choice. Secondly, I like kids. I really do.

That said, I firmly believe that kids have their place. I've learned (or been forced) to put up with children invading places where they weren't seen or welcome not too long ago. I think it's a shame when I dress up to enjoy a $50 meal that I have to sit next to a loud, unruly kid in a T-shirt (which happened to a friend of mind just last weekend). Time was when parents had the good common sense to leave the kids at home when going to an expensive, four-star restaurant, but not any more.

But while I've learned to put up with kids screaming while I am trying to enjoy a dirty martini and a Kobe filet, I am putting my foot down and drawing the line: Parents, leave your kids at home when you go out drinking in bars! I don't care how strong your need is to satisfy your latent alcoholism or how much you think your kids belong any place and every place you go, but your children don't belong in bars.

Apparently it's not apparent to parents that bars are not healthy places for kids. Or that others may want a little adult time when socializing with friends over drinks. Or that it might make some people uncomfortable to be stared at by a child while trying to enjoy a $15 martini. Or that many of the folks in bars are trying to get a little R&R time away from kids--not just their kids, but all kids. Or that servers carrying trays of drinks shouldn't have to worry about wandering rug rats underfoot. Or, finally, that it's just plain insensitive and presumptuous to treat a pub or nightclub as if its your family room.

But according to the New York Times, parents are increasingly finding it appropriate to take the little tykes out with them when they drink. One bar thought it reasonable to put up a sign saying "No Strollers," but soon found they were dealing with angry neighborhood parents. (Really? Does a "no stroller" policy in a bar really seem that outlandish?!?)

The irony is that just as we nonsmokers--who make up a majority of the drinking public--succeed in getting cities to ban smoking in bars, parents now feel the smoke-free environments are appropriate for their linoleum lizards. According go the NYTimes.com article, "After a recent smoking ban, more families have been bringing children to pubs." If I have to choose between clouds of smoke and bars being turned into playgrounds, I'll take the second-hand tar and nicotine, please.

Parents of America, I'll make you a deal: You avoid bringing your children to the bars where I drink, and I'll avoid watching porn and dropping frequent F-bombs in the McDonald's Playland. If your kids stay where they belong, I'll promise to stay where I belong. Deal?

Virus spreads across America

What is this video of? Some sort of viral infection spreading across the country?

Yes, as it turns out, it is. This clip demonstrates the growth of Wal-Marts over the last 40 years.

What Scientologists Actually Believe

Attention South Park Fans: Every single episode is now available online... legally.

SouthParkStudios.com has launched, and it contains full episodes as well as favorite clips, such as the one below describing what Scientologists actually believe. Kick ass!

Retro Sabotage

Check out the site Retro Sabotage for some interesting twists on classic video games. I don't know how to describe this site. Are these games? Works of modern art? Philosophical musings on what it means to be the game?

Visit http://www.retrosabotage.com/ to find out. I particularly enjoyed the Pac Man interactions.

Do planes have cockpits or gun turrets?

I am not anti-gun, but when the Transportation Security Administration initiated a program in 2003 that permitted pilots to carry guns, I felt this was a bad idea. I think a pilot's job is to fly the plane, not participate in firefights on it. Moreover, given the security at airports, I was uncertain what benefit gun-toting pilots offered compared to the risk.

The first accident occurred over the weekend. A pilot's gun accidentally discharged in the cockpit on a US Airways flight from Denver to Charlotte. There were 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board the flight at the time. No one was injured.

So thus far, the number of passengers saved by armed pilots has been zero, but the number of passengers whose lives were threatened has been 124. Can't we leave the weapons to the air marshals who get extensive and ongoing training in handling armed confrontations rather than to pilots who get one week of training?

As a passenger, I actually don't feel safer with armed pilots. What do you think?

Hillary's Excellent (and Imaginary) Adventure

Hillary Clinton has been peddling a hair-raising tale on the campaign trail that is designed to make her look brave and presidential. Clinton is telling audiences she was sent around the world to places "too dangerous" for Bill to go while president, which sounds pretty ridiculous on face value, doesn't it?

One story she's been telling pertains to her trip to Bosnia in 1996. In a campaign speech last week, Hillary said:

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

Boy, that sounds pretty scary. But there is one teeny little problem with the story: The facts.

The Washington Post went back to news reports of the day and found that Hillary and her daughter enjoyed a lovely visit to Bosnia. Far from darting from the plane with heads ducked, they actually enjoyed a pleasant welcome ceremony on the tarmac that involved a poetry reading by a small child. As you can see from the photo below, this clearly was a very death-defying experience for all involved.

The trip included Sheryl Crow and Sinbad, who had the following to say when asked about this reportedly life-threatening experience:

"I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place?' What kind of president would say 'Hey man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife. Oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you."

I don't think it's just the lying that annoys me, but to lie about something so obviously verifiable doesn't reflect well on Hillary's credentials as a president. After all, we've already had one Clinton in office that lied about something verifiable.

"Don't speak for anybody in here except yourself f*ck face"

Let me start this post with a couple of observations: I use the word "f*ck." I hear the word "f*ck" used a lot. In my relaxed work environment, it is not unusual to hear the word "f*ck." And it almost never offends me. But even though I am pretty tough to offend, I was offended by the word "f*ck" while reading a news item today.

(Let me also note that I am attempting to keep this blog, if not family friendly, at least sorta appropriate, which is why you generally won't find anything overly offensive or sexual on MartyFeldmanizeMe.com and why I use "f*ck" instead of the word itself. I started this blog with a promise to myself to have this be a f*ck-free zone.)

A federal judge has levied sanctions of more than $29,000 on a lawyer and his client because the client was incredibly vulgar at a deposition, and his lawyer did nothing about it. GMAC is suing HTFC Corp., and as a result Aaron Wider, the CEO of HTFC, was deposed.

His hostility and vulgarity in a professional setting is breathtaking. It also shines a light, at least in a small way, into the dark corners of the mortgage industry, a business category with a significant responsibility for the economic issues we face today thanks to actions that either broke or bent rules. If Wilder is an example of the folks in the mortgage business, it's no wonder the industry collapsed on its own hubris and ignorance.

You can read more on Law.com, but here are examples of some of the examplary professional conduct displayed by the CEO of HTFC Corp. (You can also get an idea of the professionalism of this organization by their unbelievably cheesy web site--music, bad animation of dollar bills, and clip art abound.):

• In one passage, GMAC's lawyer, Robert B. Bodzin asked Wider to open a file so that Bodzin could ask questions about certain documents. According to the transcript Wider erupted, saying: '"I'm taking a break. F*ck him. You open up the document. You want me to look at something, you get the document out. Earn your f*cking money @sshole. Isn't the law wonderful?"'
  
• In another passage, Bodzin said: "We're going to adjourn this deposition if this happens again because you are offending every single person." According to Robreno's opinion, Wider responded: '"Don't speak for anybody in here except yourself f*ck face."

You can read more about the embarrassing Mr. Wilder on Consumerist.com.

Heather Mills

You probably know that Heather Mills went on a bit of a tirade in front of the courthouse after winning a £24.3 million divorce settlement from Paul McCartney. She's gotten a lot of criticism for her public whining following the huge settlement, but I think this article from the Daily Mail really put it into perspective: Heather won £700 for every hour she was married to McCartney. That comes to $1,401 per hour based on current exchange rates.

Why exactly was she complaining? Hell, I'd marry Paul McCartney for $1400 an hour! And he could call me Client Number 9!

Inside Michael Jackson's Neverland

I recall hearing about Neverland Ranch and thinking Michael Jackson's playground sounded, well, not cool, but at least interesting. Now that it's for sale, photos of the estate are available online and the place looks a little creepy, like something out of a bad horror flick in which unsuspecting teens break into an abandoned amusement park and start suffering grotesquely poetic deaths, but only after succumbing to vices like sex, drugs, or rock-n-roll.

Anyway, enjoy the photos on Inside the Neverland Ranch.

Your TV Cube

With the television networks all now offering online reruns of most of their shows, several sites have popped up to try to provide you with easy access to all that video. Below is the TV Cube from PrimeTimeRewind.TV. Click and drag to turn the cube, then click on a show to open a window where the latest episode can play.

So, in case you don't already watch too much TV, here you go...

Get out of work today--just $14.97

Want a day away from work? Have $14.97 to invest? Then visit BestFakeDoctorNotes.com. For under $15, you can download their pack of 17 realistic doctor notes, ready to be presented to your boss.

It's a brilliant idea, but I'll bet someone is offering this for free online. Heck, anyone with half a brain and mediocre MS Word skills should be able to do this.

But, if you'd rather be lazy and shell out the money, you can download a selection including a Psychologist's Fake Doctor Note ("Play the anxiety card to its fullest"), a Funeral Pamphlet ("This little beauty always generates a great amount of sympathy"), or if you really want to avoid any questions, a Urologist Fake Doctors Note.

Liberal Media!

Loved this cartoon, which comes from Stuff That Happens.

$12 Billion a month gets you one heck of a war, these days

Remember the Iraq war? Based on news headlines, you'd think Americans (or at least the U.S. media) has forgotten we're at war.

On top of the fact young Americans are dying and being wounded and the fact many feel the war hasn't made us more safe, there's this: This $%*&@ war is #*&%!+ expensive.

Stop for a moment to consider that our country is facing some of the worst economic news in decades, and then consider this: The war in Iraq is costing the United States $12 billion per month. The way the Bush administration has blundered in the planning and execution of this war will create debts and economic hardships for an entire generation or longer.

At the start of the US-led invasion, Larry Lindsey, then White House economic adviser, estimated that the war in Iraq could cost as much as $200bn. Because of this claim, he was fired from the job by the incredibly arrogant and ignorant Donald Rumsfelt, who had his own estimate of $50 to $60 billion. (I wonder if Donald has ever apologized to Mr. Lindsey?)

The total cost to date is not as easy to estimate as you'd think. The most conservative estimate of the war's cost comes from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, whose estimate through September 30th is $413bn.

But in a new book by Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winning economist, and Linda Bilmes, a senior official during the Clinton presidency, a much higher number is calculated. Their estimate is higher because it includes the future cost of caring for so many injured soldiers, interest paid on the war debt, macroeconomic costs from higher oil prices, and social costs not paid by the government, including the loss of productive capacity of those killed or wounded and quality of life impairments.

Care to guess what their estimate is of the total cost to the U.S. for the unnecessary war in Iraq? Here's a hint: The name of their book is The Three Trillion Dollar War.

Here are two small facts to put this horrible debacle into perspective:

• The US federal government spent $108m last year on research into autism, a condition affecting one in 150 children. We spend that in 4½ hours in Iraq.
  
  
• The Joint Economic Committee of Congress says the war has so far cost a US family of four $16,900, a bill that could rise to $37,000 by 2017.

Hey, don't blame me. I didn't vote for the Busy/Cheney/Rumsfield disaster!

You can read more about the cost of the war on FT.com.

The Amazing Color Label Wheel

How differently do people perceive colors, and how do they label the colors they see? These interesting questions are answered by the Amazing Color Label Wheel. The picture contains about 1,300 colors and the names for them that people gave. Each is printed in its color and positioned on a color wheel. You can enter color names into the search field to see isolations on the colors that match the word you type.

I found it fascinating, especially the one weird, color-blind answer that someone gave for the word "green." Just type the word "green" in the field and check out the odd man out on the bottom of the chart.

Tent Cities of the New Homeless in Los Angeles

I haven't seen this carried by the major media in the US, but here is a sobering report from BBC about tent cities that are springing up in L.A. People who lost their homes are beginning to live in tents and RVs, creating shantytowns and living on part-time jobs and handouts.

Clean up your wiener poopie or else

Posted without comment...

It's 3 am and Hillary is getting calls from annoyed voters

Hillary Clinton took a page out of the GOP playbook in the run-up to the Texas primary by launching an ad that played on fear. The ad featured children sleeping with the sound of a ringing telephone--the red phone at the White House. The ad asks, when its 3 am and there's a crisis in the world, "Who do you want answering the phone?"

This being 2008, the Internet community wasn't going to sit back and let Hillary claim to have experience when her primary claim seems to be that she slept in the White House next to the President for 8 years. So, YouTube is now so slammed with parody ads that it's actually difficult to find the real one.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some of the parodies and criticisms Clinton's ad has generated.

Hot at SXSW

If you couldn't get to Austin, here are some of the hot acts that got some attention. [Via TrendCentral]

Duffy: Apparently the world is looking for a saner version of Amyu Winehouse. Duffy is a young Welsh soul singer has been compared to '60s chanteuses like Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield.



Yael Naim: This French singer-songwriter already had her song featured in a MacBook Air commercial, and once Apple anoints a new talent, you know what happens.



The Ting Tings: In January 2008 this co-ed Manchester drums/guitar duo was voted third in the annual BBC 6 Music poll of industry experts Sound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year. In February 2008 they were the opening slot act on the 2008 Shockwaves NME Awards Tour. Up and coming!



The Dodos: This San Francisco band The Dodos wowed festivalgoers with their freak folk sound reminiscent of Animal Collective.

Dance in your undies and get famous

Here's your chance to pull a Tom Cruise, circa Risky Business. Bonds Youth Underwear is sponsoring an underwear dancing contest with entry via video submissions.

Visit http://bonds.com.au/mash/ for details.

To promote the contest, they created a dance mashup video. I wonder if it isn't a bit counterproductive. Seems to me that if you want to get normal people dancing around in their skivvies, it might not be the best idea to introduce the concept using tight-bodied teens. On the one hand, the video will go viral; on the other hand, after seeing this, who really wants to set up the camera to capture their own underwear moment?

My Mellow Mix Tape

I've gotten out of the habit of sharing Mellow Thursday music, so here on a gloomy Monday (where I am) is an entire mix tape of mellow music featuring (mostly) guitar and voice. Enjoy Colin Hay, Teitur, Alexi Murdoch, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Ray Lamontagne, Simon and Garfunkel, Pinback, Nick Drake, David Gray, Sheryl Crow, Bryan Ferry, Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap, and Vienna Teng.

Relax and listen for a while.

Battle of the Bands

Who's bigger? The Beatles, Jonas Brothers, or Kelly Clarkson?

Wonder no more! Thanks to a new tool from Songkick, you can compare the MySpace, Blog, and Amazon popularity of up to three bands at once.

Just click here to try it out.

For the record, the Jonas Brothers are bigger than Kelly or the Fab Four based on MySpace profile views, friends, and plays. But Kelly wins on Amazon sales and The Beatles come out on top based on Songkick member ratings.

Star Wars (Sorta)

The people who produced this 2-minute video remake of Star Wars spared no expense. No seriously, the spared no expense!

How bad to newspapers have it?

I was recently speaking to someone over the age of 70, and I told them I didn't expect paper newspapers to exist in 10 years. (Well, maybe there'll be a place for specialty papers and a few nationals, but certainly not daily newspapers in every city across the country.) She thought I was crazy (but then, she also doesn't own a computer, so she and I may not have the same perspective.)

A new WeMedia/Zogby Interactive poll demonstrates how much trouble newspapers are in. According to the survey, 55% of those age 18 to 29 say they get most of their news and information online, compared to 7% of this age group that gets most of their news from newspapers. If there's a surprise here, it's that so many people under 30 still consider newspapers their primary source of news.

But newspapers' troubles were even more evident in the 65 and older demographic: 35% of this group said their main source of news was online compared to 17% who list newspapers as their top source of news and information. By a 2-to-1 margin, seniors are turning to the Internet for their news compared to newspapers.

I think that's pretty telling. If newspapers can't even hold seniors and younger people are almost entirely disconnected from newspapers, what can the future be for daily printed news?

Anchorman vs. Reporter

It's a little tough to figure out and requires a great deal of intuition to see it, but I'm guessing the anchorman and the reporter don't like each other much. The embarrassment starts a little over a minute into this video.

glumbert - Anchor vs Reporter

Ferraro doesn't do Hillary any favors

I'm sure you know that Geraldine Ferraro has quit her honorary position on Hillary Clinton's campaign team. The first major female candidate for vice president didn't do the first major female candidate for president any favors, even on her way out the door.

First of all, she said some very unfortunate and silly things about Barack Obama: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

I've never before heard it claimed that someone achieved great success simply for being a black male. Seems to me most people believe that being a black male is still a disadvantage in our country, and there are certainly statistics to back this up. But in the bunker mentality of the Clinton campaign, everyone's got an advantage and poor Hill is treated unfairly.

To add insult to injury, Ferraro at first tried to defend statements. She seemed to get amnesia over what she said and instead acted as if she'd criticized his policies rather than raising his race: "Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says, 'Let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world,' you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up."

To put the icing on Gerry Ferraro's farewell cake, she added the loony claim that, "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white."

She finally had to leave the Hillary campaign, but even then she was unrepentant and acted as if she'd been unfairly crucified. In her letter to Hillary, Ferraro said, "The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you."

Apparently Obama must've really come out swinging to be accused of viciously ambushing Ferraro, wouldn't you think? Here's what he said about Ferraro's comments: "I think they were wrong-headed. The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be an African American named Barack Obama and pursue the presidency, I think, is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public." If that's Gerry's idea of an attack, she must have really, really thin skin.

Of course, Ferraro isn't the only one claiming victimization in Clinton's camp. Bill famously derided Obama's situation as a "fairy tale," and Hillary has frequently whined about the perceived light treatment of Obama by the media.

Gerry's and Hillary's sense of victimization is, I believe, creating an image problem for Clinton. At best this sort of "woe is me" mentality doesn't seem very presidential, and at worst it seems like poorly hidden posturing, if for no other reason than that reality doesn't quite support this attitude. Hillary entered the race with a big lead; she began with enormous name recognition; and Clinton friends within the party had stacked the primary deck in order to favor her. But poor martyred Hillary just can't get a fair shake--in the eyes of her supporters.

My guess is that this tactic won't play well for very long. At some point, Clinton will need to show voters that she's a confident, assertive candidate focused on the country, and this Ferraro embarrassment simply shows Clinton's campaign to be whiny and self-absorbed.

Someone give her a damn napkin, already

I love Improve Everywhere, and they're back to bringing unexpected performance art to unexpected places unexpectedly. Here is their surprise performance of "Can I Get a Napkin Please?" as staged in Baldwin Hills Mall in L.A.

It's in the Experience: A New Blog

I decided it was time I got serious about blogging, so I created a new blog just my professional ramblings about marketing, branding, Experiential Marketing, and the Internet. I'll still post the silly, useless, political, and funny stuff here, but if you're interested in my serious side--and yes, I have one--you'll find it at It's In The Experience: http://itsintheexperience.blogspot.com.

Mighty Quiz

Here's an interesting new site: MightyQuiz.com allows you to enter your own quiz questions to add to their database. You categorize your questions, which permits site visitors to take quizzes on a single subject as entered by a variety of people. And, as you can see below, you can create your own widget for your Web site.

Enjoy the Movies quiz:

The Booze Test

This one goes out to my friends. (You know who you are!)

I found this booze test to be too easy, which perhaps says more about me than about the test. I scored an 83, which earned me the Lush designation.

83%LUSH

Mr. Deity

The Mr. Deity series continues to be some of the most consistently funny stuff on the Internet. Here is Season 2, Episode 8, with God and Larry discussing good and evil, fundamentalism, ideology, and bestiality.

From Crackle: Mr. Deity and the Good - Season 2, Ep 8

Space Oddity through the Years

From David Bowie's first television appearance in 1970 to 1997, here is how David and Space Oddity have aged through the years. I think both made it through the decades quite gracefully.

1970


1972


1980


1990


1997

Orson Welles hates Frozen Peas

"Frozen Peas," as this audio clip is known, is an infamous recording of Orson Welles as he attempts to read an advertising script for peas, fish sticks, and beef.

The date of the recording isn't quite known, but it comes from later in his life when the once famous actor and director was reduced to advertising. Of course, his ego remained quite intact, as evidenced by this recording, which includes zingers such as, "You are such pests! Now, what is it you want? In your depths of your ignorance, what is it you want?"

You just have to feel sorry for the directors attempting to get their voice over complete, don't you? [Via MilkandCookies]