Category: Personal (Page 44 of 47)
It’s a story that begs for mixed metaphors, and simply reeks with irony.
The 50+ White Men who owned the Seattle Sonics, millionaires and billionaires from all industries, could not come up with the money to build a new arena for their basketball team. Nor could they convince the government that the taxpayers should foot the bill. An so with no solution in sight, they threw up their hands and dumped the team on some Oklahoma businessmen.
More white men. Even richer and more powerful than the Seattle group. They came up on private jets and dined in 5 star restaurants, convinced they could not fund their own stadium. And so, when their negotiations with the same government representatives yielded the same outcome, they threw their hands in the air and said, "We’re going to have to move."
And just when Sonics fans thought it was hopeless, who comes riding in on White Horses, but the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. And they said, "You see, well, we got a couple hundred acres of land just sitting around doing nothing, and we have all this cash sitting in the bank, and one day Johnny was driving down the road and said, ‘We should build a basketball arena there.’"
And now the most illogical, unbelievable scenario makes perfect sense. If a stadium works in Renton, why not Kent? Why not have an arena next to a casino? Why not build a rock arena / hoops court that leverages the already existing White River Amphitheatre?
And better yet, why didn’t any of the MBA’s working on this project for the last few years think of it themselves?
Now I’m not totally wild about driving 40 minutes for a basketball game. And you probably completely lose anyone that lives above Edmonds. But given all the scenarios, this seems to make pretty good sense, and beats having to start rooting for Portland.
Who would have thought – the Muckleshoots delivering a solution that neither Seattle or Oklahoma’s business elite could come up with.
I think I wrote about this before, but please check out the hilarious CrystalAir.com
In particluar, if you like the Muppets, check this out:
Minor League Baseball rules. Here’s Phil Wellman, manager of the Mississippi Braves, politely disagreeing with an umpire.
Not that I pay attention to thtis stuff…but I noticed my Alexa ranking today is 1,044,445. I only need to catch 44,445 sites to make the top Million. I don’t know why exactly that seems interesting.
<rant>
I’m trying to enjoy a beautiful sunny work day by transferring the home office down to Peet’s on Green Lake. I have my laptop, iPod, a table, an iced mocha and a great view of the fields and the lake. Life is grand.
Then these 4 characters get in my sightline and start performing frisbee ballet tricks. While there are some activities that are ignorable, this is just flat out weird. Dude is doing piroutettes before catching the disc. Is there music playing that I’m not hearing? I don’t get it.
Now to be clear, I’m not knocking Ultimate – I’ve seen people play that and it looks like real athletic work. I think I played once and nealry passed out from exhaustion from doing nothing but running 60 yard dashes and throwing passes that travel at about a 270 degree angle. But this frisbee ballet thing is just – bizarre. I hope I don’t offend any of my friends with this post….
</rant>
It’s easy to reach me at the grocery store. Just have the best discount. I admit it – I’m cheap about commodity items like frozen dinners, toothpaste, shampoo, soup, pasta sauce, etc….if you drop your price for a special, I’ll buy it.
And so I was surprised at myself when I ran across the latest Doritos promo, and how I immediately put a bag in my cart.
First off, I don’t buy chips. I’m big enough – no reason to make it easy for the fat cells to win this battle.
If you look around the grocery store, you see thousands of packages that have been meticulously designed, researched, surveyed, evaluated, tested, focus grouped and rewritten so that every word, even the small print, succinctly and accurately explains the attributes of the products in the clearest way possible. Marketing folks around the country – folks not unlike me – make a living figuring out EXACTLY what should be on that package. They want the consumer to know what they are buying and why they want it so badly.
And then —– here’s Doritos with a bag that says, "Um, we’re not going to tell you what it is. Eat it and tell us what you think it tastes like."
GENIUS! I MUST HAVE A BAG NOW!
I don’t know what it is, but I am now all a twitter about the surprise I have just bought myself for $2.50. It could taste like an old shoe, but the simple fact that I’m driving home from the grocery store wondering what I bought makes me WAY more than $2.50 worth of happy.
I think they could have charged me $10 for this, and I’d have said, "Sure. I want, no I NEED, to try that black bag of X-13D’s."
So here I am on a Friday afternoon. My bag of chips in front of me. And I seriously think this may be the most exciting moment of my week. What will they taste like? Do you know?
Ok, opening the bag now…. it smells less pungent than your normal bag. Does this mean less taste? I hope not.
The chip has a lighter color than a normal one. I’m now worried. Is X13-D shorthand for "X-13 flavor, Defective"? Are these the chips that didn’t get enough Doritos sauce in the first batch? Am I about to eat a reject?
Time to taste…
Ah ha….no this is not a reject. It is unlike a chip I have had before. I think it has mustard in it. And I usually hate mustard so I never would have bought these. But I am oddly intrigued…..It’s mustard and…..something. I can’t place it. But I bet I eat this whole damn bag in the next 3 or 4 days trying to figure it out.
So, Mr or Ms Doritos Marketing person – I salute you and your mystery campaign. You are zagging when other people zigged. Nice work.
Well, we lost one guy at the start, and one runner got temporarily stranded on the short side of the University Bridge, but 10 of 10 runners finished, and everyone had a blast this year at the JDRF Beat the Bridge Run.
There are some sore legs and backs in the No Runner Left Behind locker room this week, but we avoided ay major blisters, shin splints or otherwise debilitating injuries.
Mike Decklever and Dre Mason took 1st and 2nd place, though Decklever’s time is in dispute because no one actually saw him run. Thus, judges have ruled the team award to be given to Mason, who was confirmed in the 54 minute range (though in all fairness she waited 8 minutes so that we didn’t leave any runners behind.)
The team was happy that 9 out of 10 – a 90% success rate – made the bridge, and our 10th runner (to be left nameless) promised to get in better shape for the 2008 event.
Coaches have not yet decided whether next year the whole squad will adopt the Rob Newton Race Method of 500 100-yard sprints mixed with periods of walking and dancing.
Keep it in your calendar and join us next year – it’s a fun run for people who don’t ordinarily run.
(L to R In photo: Team No Runner Left Behind: Pat Conniff, Heather Coniff, Catherine Gerlach, Dre Mason, Andy Boyer, Chris Howard, Mike Decklever (sitting), Ben Shepherd, Rob Newton, Kathrin Newton)
I’m playing with some widget technologies from Tumri. Haven’t gotten it to work 100% as planned yet, but it’s interesting. I wonder why Froogle hasn’t done anything like this yet. My Tumri experiments are here at www.andyboyer.com/tumri
Wild prediction – Google buys Tumri for $50- $100M in < 24 months.
Just to make it clear, I’m not a Paris basher. She is a world famous actress / model / spokeswoman / entrepreneur and I am simply a marketing guy in Seattle. Her ability to charm the world is unparalleled and I can’t help but respect her for it. If I was a PhD student, I might even devote my research to the Paris Hilton Brand and how companies could emulate her formula for success.
Nonetheless,you had to question the defense strategy last week of, "My publicist said it was ok to drive with a suspended license if I was going to a work event." (Which is ridiculous in itself and doesn’t address why she would be drunk going to work….)
And therefore, you can’t help but chuckle at the latest petition circling the internet. In it, Paris fans appeal to Governor Schwarzenegger to pardon her. The notable reasons include these gems:
- We, the American public who support Paris, are shocked, dismayed and appalled by how Paris has been the person to be used as an example that Drunk Driving is wrong.
- Paris should have been sober. But she shouldn’t go to jail, either.
- Please allow her to her return to her career and life. Everyone makes mistakes. She didn’t hurt or kill anyone, and she has learned her lesson.
- She is sincere, apologetic, and full of regret for her actions as she explained tearfully to the Judge handling her case in court yesterday.She is distraught and understandably afraid.
- Think about the welfare of this young woman who has made a mortal error and deserves a second chance like so many others in our great nation have been served with after a mistake they have made.
- If the late Former President Gerald Ford could find it in his heart to pardon the late Former President Richard Nixon after his mistake(s), we undeniably support Paris Hilton being pardoned for her honest mistake as well.
So yes, ‘We the American Public" have apparently compared Paris Hilton’s DUI and probation violation, with a National political scandal that forced the removal of a President. Do you want to talk about leaps and chasms?
And the irony is, the media will probably turn this into an issue that defines the Governator’s term of office.