Bag of Randomness

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Bag of Randomness

  • I’m fond of the AMC show The Pitch and highly recommend it.  Basically, two ad agencies are invited to meet a company’s headquarters.  The company then states what they are looking for, and seven or ten days later the two ad agencies come back and pitch their ideas, and the viewer is along for the ride the whole way.  In one episode, all employees were asked to stay overnight to work and had to turn in their personal cell phones.  I think in the same episode you got to see the social media department track how many times the competing agency visited their website.  It’s a real treat to watch the emotional roller coaster of ideas being shot down and praised and seeing it all to fruition.
  • There was another episode where technical difficulties (the audio) was destroying their presentation, but oddly enough, that team won.
  • I also found it interesting to see how casually dressed the executives are on trips to visit their client . . . I know theses are creative folks and all, but I would think jeans would be a no-no, even with a sports coat.  Times have changed.
  • Kodak Had a Secret Nuclear Reactor Loaded With Enriched Uranium Hidden In a Basement
  • While at the grocery store, I spotted a Nixon hat.
  • A few Mad Men thoughts from the latest episode:
    • I like it that Megan is no longer in the office because we get to see the old creative and competitive Don again.
    • Next time I need to go to the store for something like a light bulb, I’m going to leave a note like Don and address it as “Lovely WifeGeeding”.
    • Lane Pryce sure has been absent for a while, but then again, he did have some major time earlier this season.
    • Betty sure can be one heck of a B, but I like how Megan is smart enough to see the game that she is trying to play.  This is one reason why the all-female writing staff of this show just works.
    • Speaking of Betty, she’s now on Weight Watchers which was actually founded in 1963, and this season is taking place in 1966.  Interestingly enough, Heinz owned Weight Watchers from 1978-1999.
    • I’m willing to bet most women have done something silly for sweets like Betty spraying whipped cream in her mouth, and I’m willing to be most men have had day dreams like Pete Campbell.  But i doubt most men have cooked a steak in the middle of the night.
    • I’m really liking the Ginsberg character.  I wonder if his suggestion of a pig being hit with a snowball had anything to do with the character from the book Animal Farm.  I’m gonna guess that Ginsberg is going to be forced out out SCDP much like Snowball was forced out of the farm.
    • It seems like the elevator has become kind of a confessional box.
    • The title of the episode was “Dark Shadows”.  That was the same title of the gothic type show Megan’s friend was auditioning for and actually aired during this time, and oddly enough, Johnny Depp starred in the film adaptation that opened the same weekend this episode aired.
    • I wonder if there’s a connection with the empty elevator shaft from earlier this season and Don bringing up the devil in his advertising.
    • The smog referenced in the episode was a real event and may have caused 169-400 deaths.  And here’s an interesting tweet that will show you the NY Times magazine article that Pete was so upset about.
    • In case you were wondering if Fat Betty was done with make-up and such, here’s January Jones’ answer.
    • Fat Betty certainly wasn’t happy with Megan kissing her kids, per this look on her face.
  • Former NFL player Tommie Harris married the mother of his two children on New Year’s Day , but in February she died of a stroke or brain aneurysm. To honor her, he  plans to build a school in The Sudan for enslaved or abused girls in the region.
  • The Avengers: How Much Screen Time Does Each Hero Get?
  • And wowzers, that movie has made over $1 billion worldwide.
  • 84-Year-Old Vet Uses Korean War Weapon to Shoot Would-Be Robber
  • What children’s skulls look like as they prepare to lose their baby teeth
  • The SMU women’s rowing team has challenged the Harvard baseball team in lip-dubbing in a van.  I’m surprised that administration officials aren’t going to get upset about the lack of seatbelts and such.  Boston University did have a death recently.
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What speed do you read?

I always considered myself a slow reader, but here’s my results:

One of my more painful memories from reading came in the second grade.  For homework, we had to go home and read a story.  My mother had this rule that as soon as I came home, I had to do my homework right away before playing or watching TV and she would sit at the table with me until I was finished.  I remember reading her the story, but the next day at school when Mrs. Blondell asked me questions about the story, I couldn’t answer any of her questions.  She then scolded me for not reading the story, to which I told her I indeed did read the story, to which she accused me of lying and forced me to leave the classroom and the story in the hallway.  Looking back at it, it turns out I was performing the exercise of reading but my mind was elsewhere, a very bad habit I still have today.  I never told Mom because I didn’t want her to think I got in trouble, but if felt rough knowing that I didn’t lie and was accused of doing so by an adult I trusted.

Oh, if you want to take the test yourself, here you go:

ereader test
Source: Staples eReader Department

Posted in Interesting, Personal | 1 Comment

George Lucas Does Something Likeable For a Change: Revenge on Rich Neighbors

George Lucas’ rich neighbors don’t want him building a movie studio in their backyard. His response is the best thing he’s done in years.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, for four decades Lucas has owned a large swath of land in Marin County in the North San Francisco Bay and has spent the past few years trying to transform the ranch on it into a massive, nearly 300,000 square foot, state-of-the-art movie studio complete with day care center, restaurant, gym and a 200-car garage. His neighbors, however, have rejected it every step of the way. Despite the promise of bringing $300 million worth of economic activity to the area, the already-well off neighbors are worried about years’ worth of construction activity and the additional foot traffic it will bring into their neighborhood once completed. . . .

So what is George Lucas going to do with his property now that he’s tired of his rich neighbors putting up a not-in-my-backyard stink? He wants to transform the property into low-income housing, naturally, ending their official statement with this zinger, “If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit.”

Full Article @ Movies.com

Posted in Pop Culture | 2 Comments