Would you look at this? I'm writing two days in a row! You'd think I could carve an hour out of each day like a succulent slice of turkey (that's two Thanksgiving references in two consecutive blog entries, for those of you who care about the trivial and the self-indulgent side of me), but it's not that easy when you have no self-discipline or "goals."
But here we are, one week after I introduced Randy's Favorite Things, and I'm back and ready to promote, wag, push, sell, extol, celebrate, honor, and hail the fabulous, the funky, and the funny things I run across each week. It'll always be a little different, it'll always be the same: One man's opinion (albeit a totally awesome opinion).
First up, my friend Barak (pronounced like military sleeping quarters, not our president-elect) is a funny, funny man. You'll find a link to his site over there on the right side of the page. He's been getting some fairly steady work lately in commercials and he's always the sarcastic guy with indie glasses and a beard. I thought he was being unfairly typecast until I remembered that's he's a sarcastic guy with indie glasses and a beard. At any rate, he recently shot a commercial for Swedish Fish. Remember those things? Sorta like gummy bears, but better and more, uhmm...european? They're an odd little snack. The marketing is just as odd. As a side note, apparently it was in the 90s when they shot this outside Los Angeles.
Swedish Fish from 50YearPlan on Vimeo.
Next, in an attempt to come across as "smart" and "well-read" and "able to type quotation marks," I found a great quote by one of my favorite writers, Jon Meacham. He's the managing editor of Newsweek and a native Tennessean, which explains why he wrote a new biography on Andrew Jackson, arguably the most scandal-ridden president in U.S. history. You think Clinton had problems? Jackson was in an entirely other league. The quote is from Meacham's new book, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.
"The number of scandals that threatened to consume Jackson between his admission to the bar and his election to the White House--declaring Marshall Law in New Orleans, the execution of mutineers in the field, invading Florida (arguably without proper authority), killing British subjects, his murky marriage, his slaying of Charles Dickenson, the gunfight with the Bentons--would have ended most political careers."
Funny.
Last up, is a shout-out to a hometown homie (and my former boss), Tim McGraw who got called in at the last minute to host Saturday Night Live, my favorite show on television for the past 20-something years. Apparently, Justin Timberlake was supposed to host but had to cancel. This could give a bit of a boost to his plateau-ing career. Anyway, I'm happy for the guy and here are a couple of promos for tomorrow's show.
For those of you who care, Katie and I have been 99% successful in our quest to stay off bread. We indulged in the occasional pinch of cookie or cake when it was offered. We don't wan't to be rude.
(rw)
You are just the sweetest thing!
Posted by: Barak | December 02, 2008 at 04:31 AM