World Cup Photo Update!

NOW WITH MORE CUPPING!

Am I Psychic?

ON TUESDAY, I POSTED A CRAZY GRANDPA I found on a banner ad. He looked like this.



And then on Wednesday, America saw another crazy grandpa who looked like this.



From that empirical study of crazy old grandpas, I have deduced that all crazy grandpas make this face. Also, that it's creepy.

Crazy Grandpa Is Taunting Me Again!

I'M NO EXPERT ON ADVERTISING, even though I occasionally work in that business, but I have to wager that this might be the best marriage of marketing message and image.

First of all, what is being talked about here is life insurance policies. Boring, right? So obviously someone thought, "How can we spice them up? How can we get people, specifically people on the internet, to sit up and take notice?" The answer, obviously, was to put a human face to the product. And what kind of person do people trust the most? Apparently, their research showed that people on the internet trust crazy old men. Like really old. But to make him more "lovable" and "aspirational", someone decided he should make a face. Not a happy smiling face, like an adorable grandpa might make. And not a warm inviting smile either. A crazy face. A face that says, "I'm not sure why you'd trust my opinion, but here it is anyway!"

Of course, nothing says quality life insurance like a mentally deranged grandfather making a face.

The Interwebs Are Just Like the Phones!

YESTERDAY MORNING, DURING THE NEWS, those braniacs on the local news programs once again proved themselves to be totally hip to technology. Our local NBC affiliate was talking about John McCain's VP choice, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and how little was known about her. So they brought on their political expert Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, who is a senior scholar at USC, and has taught at Claremont Graduate University, Loyola Marymount University and Pitzer College. She's also a contributing editor for The Los Angeles Times. So she knows a little bit about politics.



She does not, sadly, know much about the Interwebs, as she proved with her opening remarks. She was asked if she knew anything about Gov. Palin, "I went on the web," she said. Already, I was nervous just at the way she said "the web." She said it like I say "fo' shizzle" or "off the heezy." In short, it didn't sound natural.

She continued: "It was very interesting this morning, when it was said to be a possibility, I tried to Google Sarah Palin -- you couldn’t get in. Obviously, everybody in the world was trying to Google Sarah Palin."

You couldn't get in? To Google? Or to the Interwebs?

Either way, I don't really understand what you mean, Ms. Jeffe. Are you sure your computer was attached to the Interwebs? Was it actually a computer? It might have just been a typewriter sitting next to a TV. Which would explain why you couldn't "get in" to the Googles.

As a side note, I had no trouble getting in to the Googles that very same morning.

But maybe my Googles are fancier than her Googles.