Monthly Archives: March 2010

e-Trade gets spanked by Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan is digging the bottom of the baby bottle to scrape together some cash.  We’re not talking a couple of bucks either — we’re talking $100 million cool ones.   She has tried — and failed – in fashion, and also as a DJ diva — so what else is a girl to do when her acting career has tanked?  I imagine she was sitting around, rolling pennies and reflecting on where her life went wrong, and it wasn’t much of a stretch for her to leap to the lawsuit conclusion when all she had left was her ego.

Lindsay got her panties in a bunch after watching an e-Trade commercial.  There was a reference to a “milk-a-holic” named Lindsay, and now she’s claiming a violation of her civil rights — the unauthorized use of her name and/or personality for advertising purposes — as well as two other common law claims. 

I hadn’t even realized that Lindsay Lohan had become a one-named mecca  — similar to that of Cher, Madonna or Oprah.  Perhaps Miss Lohan believes that we all keep her on the forefront of our minds — in everything that we do.  The possibility of pure coincidence in character naming, or that another Lindsay could exist within the confines of the e-Trade family  — is outside her scope of reason.  But, just for simplicity sakes, let’s give Lindsay a math lesson.

According to namestatistics.com, 0.06% of all females in the United States are named Lindsay.  If we use the 2008 statistics, the population was 304, 059, 725, of which 50.7% were female.  If I’ve done my math correctly — that’s about 92, 495 Lindsays – in the United States alone.  Now, of course we have to take into consideration the “milk-a-holic” reference in the ad, and follow that obvious implication to alcohol.  According to the World Health Organization, 15% of the U.S. population experiences alcohol related problems, with 4% being out-and-out alcoholics.  For this example — we’ll use the 15% and assume that this “Lindsay” has had some sort of tangle with alcohol.  Although, we all know that a jealous woman can be quickly provoked into name calling — even when the accusations are pure fabrication.  Let’s also not forget that we are talking about an advertising work of fiction — where babies are married and spend their evenings at the local bar. 

OK, so we’re looking at around 45,608, 958 people in the U.S. with some sort of alcohol affiliation.  Women make up 1/3 of that number, giving us 15,050,956 drunk females. (I sense a lawsuit or very strong letter coming from AA members and women activists all over the world.) So, if .06% of all females in the U.S. are named Lindsay, that gives us a possible 9, 030 of drinking-Lindsays for e-Trade to choose from, if — in fact — they were modelling the reference after a real-life person.

The whole thing kind of stinks like sour milk.  It’s a clever ad, and most of us never would have drawn the line to her, if Lindsay hadn’t stood up from her penny rolling and shouted, “Hey! That’s me!  I’m the alcoholic whore they are talking about in that ad!”

Way to stand up for yourself Lindsay.  I applaud your cunning with a great big shout out of “ATTA GIRL!”   If you haven’t seen the ad, check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXZ2hfD3bU and see for yourself.

~uberscribbler

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The Alaska Whisperer — Sarah Palin Reality TV

Sarah Palin has been shopping around with Mark Burnett, the producer of Survivor, for a reality TV show.  I suppose the 2008 comedy-of-errors we called a presidential election wasn’t real enough TV for us.  But who can refuse all Palin — all the time?  I get goosebumps with the anticipation of it.  Every time this media diva opens her mouth — something tragic escapes it.    She’s a train wreck.  How can you not stand transfixed by this political abomination that the Republican party vomited into our very own living rooms?  You know it’s wrong to watch – but you just can’t help yourself.  That is the recipe for good reality TV.  One part WTF? and one part bewilderment as you watch her backpedal her way out of that WTF in the course of an hour.  That’s show business folks. 

John Doyle recently reported on Palin’s urge to get into reality TV and says that “the more ordinary, unthinking and unsophisticated you are, the better.”  Well, that secures her time slot then.  Sarah Palin is going to make really good TV.    But what are they going to call it?  

I know that right this minute there are middle-aged keyboard warriors — all over the world – hunkering down in their parents basements pounding out their personal suggestions to each other in their Palin community chat sites, so I need to get a head start.  

The Biggest Loser — yeah, it’s been done, but it’s catchy, no?
My Life on the D-List — yeah, I know, but Kathy Griffin might just hand that one over.
Survivor: Palin vs Alaska — it’s just got that villain and hero feel to it.
Are you Smarter than a Sarah Palin? — I’m not suggesting she quit school in grade 5 when it started to get hard, I just wouldn’t say that.
Alaska’s got Palin — America’s got talent, so does Britain.  And Alaska, well, they got Palin.
Sarah Palin: Mindfreak – Criss Angel’s got nothing on her.
The Alaska Whisperer — well, just ’cause it makes me giggle.
Sarah Palin Family Tools — Gene Simmons got the jewels, but I don’t know, can a family member be a tool?  Is that good TV?
I Survived a Sarah Palin Election — I think I’d rather survive a Japanese game show.
The Quit Factor — The irresponsible leading the irresponsible.
Last Palin Standing — A family showdown for the media spotlight.
My Big Redneck Beheading –  a violent, trauma inducing witch-hunt by the Alaskan people.
Sarah Palin goes to Hollywood — swag bag bully’s and red carpet sneaks
 

Now, if only I hadn’t stepped down from my job as forum moderator in the Palin chat site community — I might have been a contender.

~uberscribbler

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“But now the LORD opened the mouth of the ass…”

Believe what you want.  Just don’t bring it to my door on a Sunday morning — unless you were invited — or come bearing gifts.  And just to be clear — a sampling of scriptures in ’The Watchtower’ magazine you leave with me is not considered a gift.

Jamie is Jehovah’s Witness — not that there is anything wrong with that.  He has been visiting me on and off for about 5 years now.  He blows in like the wind – always with a friend – dressed to the nines in his black suit and tie.  Under his arm he keeps his good book.  His bible.  His truth.  I have never invited Jamie in – we seem to have a front porch understanding.

We have talked — at length — about his beliefs, as well as mine, and never could two people be more different.  He believes he has the truth.  If he doesn’t spread the message of GOD — as he believes it — then he has failed.  He’s doomed.  I believe religion is personal – that all paths lead to the same destination.    I do admire his tenacity though.  His relentless willingness to convert me — to instill me with “the truth”.  We’ve adopted a sort of fair-weather friendship and sometimes I miss chatting with him when he hasn’t been around. 

This past Sunday he came to me with his ‘book’ and quoted to me from the Book of Numbers — an obscure bible passage about a talking donkey.  I didn’t quite understand his point but his conviction amused me — so I obliged him with wide-eyed interest.  And then it happened.  He came to the passage where he quoted, “Why have you beaten your ass these three times?”, and the child in me giggled uncontrollably with a “you said beat-your-ass” maturity.   Jamie kept reading — although the veins in his forehead pulsed with his frustration and disapproval.

I’m not certain what keeps him coming back.   Am I the ass whose mouth the LORD has opened?  Perhaps.  I have always thought of myself as a Jack-of-all-trades — the truth may be that I’m the Jack-of-all-asses.

~uberscribbler

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The two-for-two forward campaign.

Two questions — two minutes.  It sounds simple enough.  Do you think that you can get a really good sense of who someone is in about two minutes — with just two questions?   I’m suggesting going beyond first impressions and the ol’ judging-a-book-by-its-cover theory.  If you were able to ask a total stranger only two questions about themselves – in order to grasp the kind of person they are – what two questions would you ask?  What if you asked those questions — received the benefit of their wisdom — and then asked them to come up with the next two questions for the next stranger?  And what strangers would you pursue?  With the current technology and our social media indulgence, we have the availability to rub knuckles with, literally, anyone in the world.  How long would it take to get the whole world asking questions if we all spent two minutes — asking two questions?

I can almost hear Arsenio Hall saying “Hmmm…” 

Maybe I’ll start with him.  I wonder what his questions will be for the next person?

~uberscribbler

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“I haven’t put on weight. Your eyes are fat.”

Some of us might lay awake at night waiting for the inspiration of our next greatest success to strike.  For Karen Slavick-Lennard, she lay awake listening to her mild-mannered husband, Adam, become a potty-mouthed, egotistical philosopher while he slept.  Karen admits that she would initially listen and giggle as Adam would fire out his — sometimes saucy — nuggets of unconscious wisdom.  And after months of listening — and still giggling — to his zany pillow-talk, Karen started writing down his musings and then moved on to recording him with a voice activated recorder, when her own sleep began to suffer.

Karen started a journal of his nocturnal ramblings for their family and friends at http://www.sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/ and it wasn’t long before the blog, connected to a twitter account, went viral.  Her blog-site now sells t-shirts, mugs, ringtones, aprons, bags, mouse pads, and pretty much anything else you may want with her husbands after-hours “greatest hits” printed on them.   

A few of my favorites include; “Don’t leave the duck there. It’s totally irresponsible. Put it on the swing. It’ll have more fun.’  And of course, “I’m telling you: your voice, my ears. A bad combination.”  And my all-time favorite, “Vampire penguin? Zombie guinea pigs … we’re done for.”

Check out the blog and sign up for a daily dose of his cheeky chit-chat, but be warned — there is a very STRONG language warning.  He speaks with reckless abandon and uses every colorful adjective available to the uncensored mind.

I predict an upswing in market sales this quarter for voice activated recorders!

~uberscribbler

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Really Mr. Harper? Chatroulette?

The Olympics are over and Stephen Harper’s box seats have been disassembled and returned to storage.   So what — you ask — has the prime minister got next on his agenda? 

It seems that he is back to commanding the confidence of the House of Commons.   Keep your eyes peeled during your next Chatroulette experience – there’s a working webcam at 24 Sussex Drive.

~Uberscribbler

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