Goose--before he started hanging out with Maverick

In case anyone missed it, today was “Square Root Day.” The holiday, celebrated by pocket protector-wearing math geeks–I mean–aficionados everywhere only comes nine times each century, about the same frequency as the KISS farewell tour.

In any case, the last one occured over five years ago and the next one won’t occur for another seven so I hope you had a great time. While it’s not quite up to par with “Talk like a Pirate Day,” it does offer the numerically inclined a chance to have a good chuckle at the rest of us who need a calcultor to figure out how many three cent stamps are in a dozen.

For more on the story, read this.

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Program Cover

O.K., so it’s been a while. B-Rad has been a little pre-occupied but wanted to spend a little time discussing this year’s Super Bowl. The “Best Ever” title gets thrown around a lot in sports–the best quarterback, team, coach, game–but is usually comes to mean the best “right now,” as we often lose perspective over time.

In order for the game to be the greatest, it needs to have compelling storylines and great game play. Bonus points are given for historical significance, having a truly great team (or two) involved and error-free play.

Here, for your discussion is my list of pretenders and contenders to the title of “Best Ever” Super Bowl.

(more…)

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Thanks to Brenda for passing this along!

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I’m not talking about the possibility of electing our nation’s first African American president or female vice president. I’m talking about political advertising in video games. As you may have read, The Obama campaign has recently acknowledged purchasing advertisements in select video games, including Madden 09, Guitar Hero, Burnout Paradise, NASCAR 09, NBA Live 09 and several others. The ads are targeted at 18-34 year old (males) in key states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. The ads will be shown in the form of billboards and other in-game signage and will appear in Xbox 360 games that are played online.

What makes this tactic notable is that, politics aside (The McCain campaign was also approached with the same opportunity but declined), the Obama campaign has reached out to a group of voters in a rather unique way.

Video game advertising, in one form or another, has been around for many years. However, blending a static “McDonald’s” on a city wall  wall or “Firestone Tires” into a scoreboard often goes consciously unnoticed, as it seems to ad “realism” to the environment, stadium or sporting venue. (more…)

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George Washington? Captain America? How about William Katt, as teacher Ralph Hinkley?

For those of you who are not well versed in early-80’s sitcoms, William Katt played Ralph Hinkley, a recently divorced teacher who just happened  to wear a superhero costume that granted him amazing powers, including super strength, the ability to fly, invulnerability to projectiles, invisibility and a host of other cool tricks. 

The “magic jammies,” as crime fighting partner Bill Maxell (played by Roberty Culp) called them, were given to Hinkley by an alien, under the premise he was to utilize them for the good of mankind. The problem was Hinkely lost the instruction manual to the suit, which meant hilarity insued every time he put on the costume. Flying more like a wounded duck than Superman, Hinkley was forced  learn all about his new powers, and limits, through a trial and error process of physical comedy that only the 80’s could provide.

Now, how did we get on this topic in the first pace? Isn’t it kind of random? Well, yes of course it is. We’re Merlot and this is The Water Cooler. 

We got here because while discussing Monday night’s season premiere of Heroes, I pointed out that the actor who played the reporter was a hero himself: The Greatest American Hero.

Credit (or blame) my 80’s education for this knowledge. I will take it as a compliment.  In fact, in the world of random, insignificant trivia and observation, I’d have to say it was on par with Matt correctly idetifying Meshach Taylor as the man in Designing Women.

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We’ve all had that idea that seemed good at the time that later turned out to be a mistake. Often, it’s not the idea that’s inherently bad, but the execution.

I thought I’d share one such case for educational purposes [To protect the guilty, names have been omitted]:

As a full-service marketing agency, we often receive promotional items from magazines, printers, contractors, vendors and other people looking to sell us thier goods and services. Once such entity recently decided to showcase it’s value and service by sending us a promotional piece delivered via the good people at the United States Postal Serivce.

The general idea was this: Send prospective clients an edible goodie that ties in with a written promotional piece. Here’s where the potential for a good idea stopped and the execution of that idea took a turn for the worse. 

The edible goody: A minature chocolate candy bar. The offense: Sending it in the mail, to Sacramento area businesses, in AUGUST! For those that don’t know, the average high temperature in Sacramento during August is 93 degrees. On the day we received the candy bar, it topped 100. Although some candies claim not to melt in your hand, few can stand up to the temperatures seen inside a metal mailbox during a Sacramento summer.

So, while the sender thought her or she would be sending an tasty, edible gift that tied in nicely with thier solicitation, what we got was a goopy choco-mess and the sender lost all ability to communicate her or her preferred message.

Looks a little lumpy

Chocolate Goop

This is proof once again, that despite the best of intentions, you can never overlook the details. 

And, if you’re wondering, yes, I still ate what was left of the candy bar.

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Since interesting Krispy Kreme product combinations were recent a topic of discussion, I thought this was relevant to share.

New research in the U.K. shows that 72 percent of their workforce admitted to feeling seriously stressed on a daily basis, with 81 percent saying that a simple walk in the park makes them feel instantly relaxed.

To alleviate this stress, the good folks at Krispy Kreme came up with this Chia Pet-inspired solution: real grass flip-flops.

If a walk in the park helps you feel relaxed, what better way to de-stress than take a park with you everywhere you go (assuming flip flops are allowed)?

The footwear is currently being given out to consumers in London, with nationwide distributition planned. The grass is expected to last four months.

Worthwhile combo or another mismatched Krispy Kreme creation?

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Reading the headline, most people would think this would be a post about how much paying $4/gallon for gas hurts or that there must to be a way to bring the price down. While emptying my pockets just to fill my tank is admittedly painful, especially with a long commute in a vehicle that gets 15 MPG, I’ve come to change my opinion on the subject.

$4/gallon gas is AWESOME! It’s causing regular people like you and me to re-evaluate our attitudes on fuel, oil and conservation. It’s changed our driving habits and our attitudes about cars. It’s motivating businesses to make big changes in the way they produce and ship goods.

What I first saw as a temporary nuisance and then as a threat to our economy, I now view as motivation for positive change. If America is truly addicted to oil, then we must break the addiction. And, ask anyone who has ever had to confront an addiction and he or she will tell you it’s not an easy thing to do. Just like a heroin user faces a painful detox, our economy and American lifestyle, built on cheap oil, must undergo some suffering while we kick the habit.

We’re already in the initial stages of innovating our way out of this mess. However, one significant threat stands in our way–falling oil prices. That’s why we need $4/gallon gas. Without it, it’s business as usual.

Even though it may feel like a bad thing, $4 gas is the stepping stone to a much better, and healthier, global environment. It’s the motivation behind alternative fuel vehicles and future energy independence. So, the next time you stop to fill up, think about who profits from that $140 barrel of oil and what it’s done to our environment. Then, think about how much better things would be with a roof full of photovoltaic power and an electric vehicle in the garage.

Now, just don’t let it get to $5/gallon. That would be ridiculous.

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And by “Times” I mean the The Los Angeles Times, the Seattle Times and even the Roanoke Times. According to another Times, this one from New York:

Papers Facing Worst Year for Ad Revenue

“For newspapers, the news has swiftly gone from bad to worse. This year is taking shape as their worst on record, with a double-digit drop in advertising revenue, raising serious questions about the survival of some papers and the solvency of their parent companies.

Ad revenue, the primary source of newspaper income, began sliding two years ago, and as hiring freezes turned to buyouts and then to layoffs, the decline has only accelerated.

The primary long-term threat to newspapers is the Internet’s siphoning away of ad revenue, a trend that has been under way for more than a decade, but one that has picked up speed in the last year. Advertisers have vastly more choices online than on paper, so newspaper Web sites win only a fraction of the advertising that goes digital, and it pays much less than advertising in print. (more…)

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I admit it. I have not lived up to the standards set forth by my forefathers and male role models. For this egregious infraction I will, temporarily, turn in my man card.

What was my infraction, you say? I chose to watch So You Think You Can Dance [and I thoroughly enjoyed it] when I could have been watching game 1 of the NBA Finals.

What does this mean? For someone who prides himself on his sports knowledge and sense of sports history, this is a foul of epic proportions. This from the guy who went two years without missing a Pardon the Interruption? I hang my head in shame.

So, for the time being, if you pass me in the hallway or see me sitting at my desk, know that I am no longer worthy of my man card. I have turned it in. Only through hard work, perseverance and hours of Clint Eastwood-led rehabilitation can I get it back.

Now when is SYTYCD on next? I need to practice my moves.

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