Archive for February, 2007

Anna-Nicole and the President We Deserve

February 27, 2007

Jon Robin Baitz is a talented playwright (and his Brothers and Sisters isn’t too horrible for an emotion channel estrogen offering), but he’s also got some chops writing essays .  He tackles how distraction–’what the viewers want’–from Gary Condit to Anna Nicole Smith–takes our eyes off the ball.

“Watching Wolf and Anderson and Dianne, et-al, dance clumsily to the music of Anna Nicole Smith reminds me of the Gary Condit days of 2001, before the towers fell. There is a sea-sick disquiet about it, as though even the anchors now know that at a certain level, the queasy complicity with inattention is fatal.

“As though they realize that this leads to true surprise when the “breaking news” is actually our worst dreams come true. And the next thing you know, you’re watching the president we deserve continue reading The Pet Goat, as thousands burn.”

Posted in Television | No Comments »

Sexual Perversity and Chicago: Superbowl XLI

February 5, 2007

A couple of ads on Superbowl XLI rang the sexual ambiguity alarm bell.  While Sprint offers a cure for connectile dysfunction, Snickers really hit with two guys making out over a Snickers bar.

Not content with the ‘yuck’ factor achieved, the Snickers makers apparently showed the ad to Colts and Bears players to elicit their homophobic reaction. 

Then there were the hordes of guys stripping down to wash Chevrolet’s unimpressive HHR miniSUV/station wagon combo.

Then, of course, there’s Prince.

Will only GoDaddy keep the Internet safe for T&A?

Posted in Sex and Society, Sports, Television | No Comments »

Roundabout

February 2, 2007

Listening to the local dinosaur rock station playing “Roundabout” by Yes for the umteenth time.  I’m trapped, as KCRW, the NPR station I listen to by default, is in pledge drive mode. 

I detest Yes and other ‘classics’ like Queen,  but I’m probably in a minority.  However, I did learn from my dentist that Freddie Mercury was Indian; ethnic pride is a powerful thing.     

freddy-mercury.jpg

My 16-year old burns CDs of the Doors, Cream, Guns n’Roses, and in an nod to ‘modernity’, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So the babyboomer pig in a python has controlled the next generation’s musical tastes.  But we’re losing the dads we rebelled against, from Gerald Ford to Jack Palance.  The father figures are gone; that’s us now, G-d help us.

Yes, babyboomers rule–but increasingly, we rule alone.

Posted in Music | 1 Comment »

The Biggest and Worst CES Ever

February 2, 2007

Yogi Berra said, “It’s so crowded no one goes there any more.” That’s what happened to COMDEX, which went from 225,000 attendees in the 90’s to zero by 2003.  And it may happen to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

The man in charge, Gary Shapiro, likes to say, “This year’s CES was the biggest and best ever.” With over 140,000 attendees and 2700 exhibitors in 2007, it was indeed the biggest.

But as my 19th straight CES, I’d say it was also the worst, packed with people and a nexus for disease from around the world. (Stomach flu and alcohol poisoning, anyone?)
103-inch-tv-small.jpg “Mine is bigger than yours” is what passed for a story line, as Panasonic, LG and others jousted for the pointless title of world’s largest TV.

I couldn’t get into several press conferences because they were so jammed. A couple I did get into should have been closed down by the fire marshall. Even the usually unflappable CEA people in their blue shirts showed frayed tempers. Apple upstaged everyone, launching the publicity-grabbing iPhone at MacWorld in San Francisco.

Even Bill had nothing to say. “The Digital Decade is truly here”?

pc-builders-at-work.jpg There were a few fun throwbacks to tech days, like this PC building race sponsored by Tiger Direct.

And the booth babes are still displaying product…model-in-chains-small.jpg

But attendees complained that too many consumer electronics categories were jammed together; the show should have been split up. Fat chance; it’s all about the dollars.

Posted in 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Consumer Electronics, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

The Dirty Little Secret of Men’s Magazines

February 2, 2007

An editor at Playboy told me that despite 100-year old Hugh Hefner, everything in the magazine (especially the ads) is pitched at guys 30 and under.

This ignores the millions of middle-aged (and dirty old) readers, the unmentionables of the guy mags, whether faux-literary like Esquire, metrosexual like GQ or flesh peddlers like Playboy and the now-decimated ‘laddie books’ like FHM, Maxim and Stuff.

I’ve written for a lot of top publications but I always wanted to write for Playboy, after swiping my dad’s magazines as an impressionable teen. In 2006 I started subscribing, and occasionally pitching my editor friend (no luck so far).

But I can truly say I read it for the articles.

Posted in Publishing, Secrets of Men's Magazines | 1 Comment »