Thursday, May 20, 2010

Avoiding The Void.


I've had lots of story ideas for "Another Day" lately, but I think I'll just use my time in more productive pursuits, such as sleeping and watching TV. After two years, a couple of hundred blog entries, and hours at the computer, I've created no audience for my cyber-ramblings.

Writing this blog is a bit like the wanna-be artist in the family who paints bad portraits of sea scapes and mountain vistas, and then foists them off on friends and relatives. Said relatives are then forever obliged to pull them from the closet and hang them in the living room whenever the "artist" plans a visit. Such is stuff of bad TV sitcoms.

I'm not going to do that to you anymore. See ya later.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Welcome, Natalie.

Daughter Samantha had her baby this morning. Natalie Rose weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and is 20 inches long. Mother and daughter are doing fine.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Four Dead In Ohio...


Forty years ago, tomorrow, four students at Kent State University were shot and killed by National Guardsmen during an anti-war protest. I don't have any pithy remarks to make, and I won't dwell on how quickly the years have passed. It all seems fresh in my mind.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Unemployed? You Are Not Alone.


I love little search engines like this one, provided by the newspaper in Long Beach. Just plug in your favorite community and see just how many people are out of work. The media tends to report gross figures for the counties, but here you can really see the numbers by city.
Click on the blog post headline, or go here:

http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_12651877

Lemme give you a hint here. Check out the numbers for Berdoo County perennial losers Muscoy, Adelanto, and San Bernarghetto; you'll be shocked. None of them match Cabazon in Riverside County, thank God, where over 35 percent are unemployed.

Why Is It...


...that Caltrans (meaning the taxpayers) went to the expense of widening I-1o through town, only to then block off massive strips of the right hand lane to provide unneeded accel/decel lanes at the offramps?

...that Redlands is spending money for a revamp of the bricks and park on State Street, when the city is in a serious monetary crisis?

...that the Redlands cops allowed transients to illegally occupy a house on Alabama (clearly visible from the street) for months, until one of the tramps decided to burn it down?

...that the city has taken no action to prevent Edison and its contractors from killing city trees, especially since the city has no money to remove said trees once they die? And does this open the city to lawsuits should one or more of these trees fall over and kill somebody?

...that the Facts can be so blatant in its support of the local Tea Party folks and the proposed Super Walmart, while never writing an editorial on any subject in months?

...that the local cops, who continually cry poverty, are allowed to drive their patrol vehicles home, and leave them there, for days at a time?

...that Redlands continues to lean on its citrus and philanthropic heritage, while doing nothing to add to the city's long-term viability as a pleasing place to live?

...that nobody ever questions if the public wants the dozens of police cameras placed all over town to monitor us?

Just thought I'd ask.


The Mother Of All Press Releases.

Look what I just found on the AP wire!


5/1/10 8:57:10 AM EDT


WHITE HOUSE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

ADVANCE COPY
TEXT OF THE PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT
DO NOT RELEASE TO PUBLIC UNTIL FOLLOWING PRESS CONFERENCE


Press conference scheduled Monday, 5/3/2010, 9 AM, White House press room.

Attending: POTUS, VPOTUS, President of Mexico Felipe Calderon,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Credentials: White House, State Department press credentials ONLY
unless prior clear by Homeland Security / Secret Service and press office.
Contact SS media relations at 202.406.2000.

Media load-in 7:45 to 8:15 AM East gate. NO EARLY ARRIVALS.

-----------------------------------------------------
COPY AS FOLLOWS:
-----------------------------------------------------

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

The United States has always welcomed immigrants from around the world. My father, an immigrant from Kenya, came to this country seeking a better life, and chances are that some member of your own family arrived here seeking the same.

Unfortunately, millions have recently come to this country without permission, most crossing our southern border with Mexico. This has caused many communities, particularly in the southwest, increasing hardship, as they pay for increased law enforcement and health care for these undocumented families -- families who want nothing more than a better life than their native country can offer.

Therefore, seven months ago, our State Department began private negotiations with the government of Mexico to stem the tide of illegal immigration, and at the same time improve the economic conditions of our Mexican neighbors.

Today, I am proud to announce a new treaty between The United States and Mexico, that, once ratified by our Congress will address these issues. The scope and ramifications of this treaty are immense, but I want to share with you now a brief summary of what our two countries have agreed to.

Effective January 1, 2015, portions of San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial counties in the state of California will become part of Baja California, Mexico. This will provide the nation of Mexico with billions of dollars of infrastructure -- cities, highways, electric generating plants, factories -- all in place to create an economic boon to Mexican citizens in the decades ahead.

Prior to this date, all undocumented Mexicans now in the US will be urged to move permanently to this region. After January 1, 2015, any Mexican citizen residing illegally within the boundaries of the United States will receive significant jail time, and their property and possessions seized before their repatriation to their home country.

In addition, as of the January 1, 2015 date, no child born of undocumented Mexican parents in the US will receive automatic United States citizenship.

In return for the approximately 250,000 square miles of territory, Mexico will convey to the United States 49 percent of their ownership in the state-held Permex gas and oil company, and allow unlimited off-shore oil drilling along their border with the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Revenues of these wells will be shared on an equal basis between both countries.

As for the United States citizens residing in the affected region of California, they can stay, retain ownership of their property, and hold citizenship of both the United States and Mexico; or, move out of the area and receive a one million dollar annuity from the United States government, paid out over the fifteen years after the treaty is ratified.

President Felipe Calderon of Mexico is with us today, and wishes to share a statement with the American people. Following President Calderon's message, the Secretary of State will be taking questions.

Thank you, and God Bless America.

-------------------------

END OF TEXT.

-------------------------

Nah, just kidding...













Monday, April 26, 2010

Lane Bryant Says ABC, Fox Censored Commercial

I can think of about a hundred commercials that ought to be yanked before this one. Read the story here -- all of it.

Lane Bryant Says ABC, Fox Censored Plus-Size Lingerie Commercial

The Ad The Networks Refused (At First) To Air

All It Takes Is A Bic Pen, And Huge Talent... Meet Mylne.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A Pair Of Jacks.


Two of the most familiar voices you're likely to hear on any given day are named Jack, and you've probably never seen either of them.

Our first Jack is really named Dick Sittig, of Secret Weapon Marketing, who created fast-food CEO Jack (in the) Box in 1994 and continues to voice Jack in their commercials to this day.

Sittig is a virtual recluse compared to our other Jack, the Jack of Jack FM. Few listeners here realize that they're sharing the sarcastic vocal talents of one Howard Cogan with 60 other markets airing the Jack FM format.

Paste this link into your browser to see how Dick Sittig saved Jack-in-the-Box's bacon 16 years ago:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_(mascot)

...and here's a great interview with Howard Cogan, of special interest to those of you (and you know who you are) intimate with the world of radio:

http://aircheckerradioindustry.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-cogan-is-jack-fm.html


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

New Social Networks.

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. That's all I hear about any more. Somebody's making millions, and it ain't me. Maybe I'll just have to invent some new so-called social networking sites and see if I can rake in some cash.

Let me know if you'd like to throw away I mean invest some money in the following ideas:

  • Angry? Depressed? Dispossessed? You're needed at...wait for it... BITTER.
  • Elly Mae Clampett will host an animal support group at.... CRITTER.
  • So involved in the Internet you're texting on the john? Join....SHITTER.
  • Writing blogs that nobody reads? Waste more time at...DITHER.
  • From the South? Like fried food? Tell us all about it at FRITTER.
  • Violent major league home-run kings on steroids are welcome at HITTER.
  • Into archery? Join QUIVER.
  • Country-western fans can join those from sit-com "3's Company" at...yes... RITTER.
I think I'll stop now and wait for my medication to kick in. I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog...


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

40 Years Ago...


....the crew of Apollo 13 safely returned to Earth.

Back then, America could not only send men to the moon, we could figure out how to get them home when catastrophe struck. Damn, but we were good back then.

America always needs heros, even when things go wrong. We seem to be out of the hero-making business these days, unless you're a politician (Barack Obama and Sarah Palin come to mind) , or the winner of American Idol.

So it goes.


Miracles Do Happen.


Not long ago, a friend sent along a chain letter that, among other things, asked if I'd ever seen a miracle. I wrote back saying that I had not.

I spoke too soon. At the time I got that chain letter, I hadn't listened to Susan Boyle's debut CD. I have now, and if Boyle isn't a miracle personified, I don't know what one could be.

You must be familiar with Susan Boyle by now; it's been almost exactly a year since she appeared on the UK's Britain's Got Talent TV show. Boyle, 48, frumpy and totally without any apparent style, walked on stage and blew the audience away with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream.

I don't care that her subsequent album was number one in sales worldwide, or that millions watched her initial performance on YouTube. If nobody else but her neighbors ever heard Susan Boyle sing, she would still be a miracle in my book.

Listen to her voice, damn it. You'd swear she was turning 30, not nearing 50. She can sing high, low, up down, sideways -- any way, any range she wants. Listen to her version of Cry Me A River and you'd think you were listening to one of the great vocalists of the 1950's.... just add in some tape hiss or pops and snaps from a vinyl record, and it would be perfect. Amazing Grace? Boyle knocks it out of the park. She even puts a new spin on the Boyce & Hart pop trifle, Daydream Believer.

Listen to her voice. Pray her new found success doesn't hurt her; that people will not take advantage of a simple woman with an amazing gift. After all, miracles don't happen every day.


Monday, April 12, 2010

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Apple's Steve Jobs gives a commencement address at Stanford. A truly great speech.

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Adam Savage's obsessions | Video on TED.com


Here's Adam Savage from Mythbusters like you've never seen him. The video is rather long, but worth the time. I really, really, want some of the drugs he takes.

Adam Savage's obsessions | Video on TED.com

Fun With Numbers... Census Participation


Ever wonder just who did, or did not, participate in the 2010 census? Here's a link that will show you, by state, county, or city, the percentage of the homes that returned the census form. (Click on the blog entry headline, or cut and paste the following into your browser.)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/census-participation.htm

The link will also show participation in the last census, a decade ago.

I was surprised at how low the numbers are. Redlands is about average for California at 66 percent. Using the lists/search tools, I found, not unexpectedly, that low-income areas do poorly, as do cities that have a high percentage of vacation homes, such as Mammoth Mountain.

For some really scary numbers, go to the southern states of Mississippi and Alabama, where you'll find towns where less than a quarter of the residents returned census forms. Smaller towns seem to do worse than larger communities, for some reason. Surprisingly, most Kentucky towns have a higher participation rate than most in California.


Sunday, April 11, 2010

Recovery? Good Luck With That.

Back in the days of the last big recession to his this area, I sold advertising to car dealers. Long about 1992, my territory generated around $2 million in revenue from the following stores:

Center Chevrolet-Geo
Holiday Olds-Mazda
Royal Chrysler-Plymouth
Kennedy Cadillac
San Bernardino Lincoln-Mercury
Somebody's Pontiac Jeep-Eagle
Somebody's Acura
Somebody's Hyundai
Somebody's Mitsubishi
Fairview Ford
Moss Bros. Dodge
Chuck Obershaw Toyota
Metro Nissan

I watched a lot of sales managers desk a lot of deals back in those days. San Bernardino was never a rich community. Lousy customer credit was always a problem, but the dealers, at least most of them, seemed to do OK.

Never did I think I'd see times like these. First, Uncle Sam closed Norton AFB, taking with it thousands of steady paychecks, both direct and indirect, that fueled car sales. The region grew, and with that growth came more competition in Ontario, Fontana, and Moreno Valley.

I, too, left for supposedly greener pastures for a few years.

Take a look at that list. Nine are gone. Only the last four still exist in one form or another. The manufacturers don't build Oldsmobiles or Pontiacs or Geos or Plymouths or Eagles any more, and Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler have a fraction of the market share they once did.

One thing for certain: while certain banks may be "too big to fail", that phrase doesn't apply to cities. Just look at San Bernardino. Or Detroit.

Thank God I don't sell advertising anymore, either.






Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Hey, Boomers, Wrap Your Head Around These Stats:

John, Paul, George, and Pete Best formed The Beatles fifty years ago.

It's been forty years since The Beatles broke up.

John Lennon has been dead thirty years as of this coming December.

George Harrison has been dead nine years.

Paul McCartney is 67 years old.

Ringo Starr will be 70 in July.

Yoko Ono is 77 years old.

Sean Lennon is 34 years old.

Julian Lennon is 47 years old.

Manager Brian Epstein, often referred to as "the fifth Beatle" would be 75 now.

Producer George Martin is now 86 years old.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Banished Words.


Some suffer from overuse. Some are just insufferable. Check the list. Copy the link below, or click on the blog entry headline. Enjoy.