Not really much time today, but a few little things to tide you over.

Two commercials that have been bugging the hell out of me lately: the version of the Walk the Line trailer (the "targeted at men" version, I assume, since the other one I've seen was kinda fluffy) that has a bunch of critical quotes and uses as its soundtrack what sounds like porno music, kinda bland funk with electronic drums. People! It's a movie about Johnny Cash! Why would you choose porn music when you could have "I Walk the Line" or "A Boy Named Sue" or, uh, anything he's ever done? Jesus.

The other one that's been driving me nuts is the Hallmark commercials they're running right now. All of them are offensive in some way or other but the one that really makes me depressed shows a bunch of people standing around a living room in sweaters, singing, and then you pan down to see one of those goddamn free-standing toy ornaments they sell, this particular one being a snowman at a piano that sings songs, and the people are singing along to the goddamn toy. Not singing along to an actual person at an actual piano but a toy snowman. And then they cut to the dining room, where the meal has been abandoned and a cat jumps on the table to eat the food. No one is eating because they've all joined a toy snowman choir. It's the saddest goddamn thing I've ever seen. It's like Christmas at the Anorexics'.

Speaking of Christmas, New York has been in the upper sixties until today, and humid as hell. And yet everyone acts like it's the weather we should be having in mid-November. I passed a baby in a stroller yesterday wearing a wool hat and a down jacket. It's sixty-eight degrees, people! This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that decorations have already gone up, including the horrible Christmas Village in Union Square, a bunch of candy-striped stalls where people sell gifts. This in and of itself wouldn't be so bad if it didn't make it much harder to get anywhere because it makes the most heavily trafficked parts of Union Square really crowded. Argh. I could conceivably have enjoyed these last few moments of warmth if we hadn't all been pretending it's Christmas.

You do all realize George Bush keeps absurdly pushing back against the criticism of pre-war intelligence because it's effectively distracting people from the fact that we're coming reeeeaaaal close to invading Syria, right?

If you wanted to discuss Tuesday's Gilmore Girls, this would be a good place to do so, as I have apparently forgotten the other thing(s) I had to say.

posted by Mike B. at 11:19 AM 0 comments