How do we refer to the last decade?

It has always been a bit awkward anytime someone would refer to the previous decade (2000-2009). When referring to past decades, it was much easier. You had the roaring 20s and the turbulent 30s. We had the birth of rock and roll in the 50s. The 50s gave us Elvis while the 60s gave us the British invasion with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. The 70s had disco and punk and the 80s gave us new wave. In the 90s we had grunge. So what exactly do we call the years between 2000 – 2009?

According to Wikipedia, it’s called the 2000s. However, that seems more likely to reference the century than the decade. What about the Ohs (00s)? Back at the turn of the previous century, they referred to the 1900s as the aughts. (ought-1, ought-2)

So how should we refer to the previous decade? And which word sums up the decade?

Hey Starbucks, FIRE YOUR COPYWRITER!

The other day I stopped in Starbucks and ordered a coffee and a muffin. My muffin was packaged in the bag above. I read the copy printed on the outside of the bag. I almost couldn’t believe it. I read it once … then again. It read like it’s written by an 8 year old kid!

Here is the copy as it appears on the bag:

Hi,
We’re making a change. Using simpler
recipes and taking out artificial
ingredients. So your food not only
tastes better, it is better. It’s a good
start. But we think it’s a good one
Hope you do too  Enjoy.

Your Friends at Starbucks

P.S. More to come.

Missing punctuation, capitalization errors and overall – it lacks style!

Is it a Basket, Buggy, or Cart?

Everybody looking at the photo above instantly recognizes exactly what it is. The big difference is what people call it. I listed a few examples – basket, buggy, cart – for starters.

I have to tell you it drives me crazy when I’m at the grocery store and I hear someone refer to it as a “buggy.” A buggy? Isn’t that what parents use to push around their little baby as in “baby buggy.” Just the other day at the grocery store I heard a little old lady ask her husband rather loudly.. “ARE YOU GOING TO GET A BUGGY HENRY?  HENRY, THE BUGGY, GET A BUGGY HENRY!  I had this horrible expression of disgust on my face. I can’t really say why it bugs me so much but apparently it does. Of course the loud screeching voice didn’t help matters.

On the other hand, I don’t really mind the reference – Basket.  Although I don’t personally use the term, it doesn’t really bother me. I can sign off on basket. It seems to fit. But not as well as cart. I like the term cart. Let’s face it, you’re shopping on the internet, do you click the buggy button. Uh, NO!. It’s called a shopping cart. And that’s just the way I like it!

What are some of the names you have called it?

Mindtoss.com is worth $6,174?

According to Stimator.com that is. After four years of blogging and I can cash out for an unbelievable $6,174! Wow, really?

Here are a couple of other sites I checked:

Mashable.com – 18,276,753

Techcrunch.com – 15,105,868

Check it out a site for yourself here.

Continental is NOT jetBlue

Clearly not all airlines are created equal. Flying Continental Airlines is something else. Sitting up straight in my seat with my knees jammed into the seat in front of me is absolutely no fun. I guess once you fly jetBlue or Virgin American, the others just don’t stack up!

Are the Simpsons better than South Park?

When it comes to the characters voices,
YES, THE SIMPSONS ARE BETTER!

The most annoying thing about watching South park is the similar two sounding voices used for every character.

South Park’s incredible arsenal of voices:

Trey Parker & Matt Stone:

Continue reading »

It’s called Facebook … Where’s your face?

So you finally signed up for Facebook. You filled out your profile and you’ve already started inviting friends. You’re adding applications, sending drinks, goofy cards, images, games, and the like to everyone you know. You’re even inviting friends who are NOT on Facebook. You are a Facebook madman! You’ve uploaded 20 or 30 of the most embarrassing photos of your friends you can find. You are adding cute little comments on each photo. You’re posting links to funny Youtube videos, links to your blog, and general Ha Ha funny links. You are one happy social networking freak!

So how long do we have to wait for you to post your photo? IT’S CALLED FACEBOOK! WHERE’S YOUR FACE? When I search for John Smith, and several thousand John Smiths show up, how the hell am I supposed to distinguish you from the other John Smiths with the default Facebook sillouette showing up? Go ahead friend, PLEASE, PLEASE POST A PHOTO OF YOURSELF!

Here are a couple of tips:

1. Avoid using blurry photos
2. Avoid using dark, dimly lit photos
3. Avoid using photos where you are hardly recognizable
4. Avoid using photos where 5 or more people appear in the photo

Here’s another fun little trick. Instead of posting a photo of yourself, you cleverly post an image of your cute little son or daughter. Adorable. I get it. You love your child. Is it necessary to post their photo where your profile photo should be? Hmmm … I’m going to go with NO! How about starting a new photo album with photos of your child. That would be a great place to start.

So for all my friends out there. Grab a hold of the clue bag and dig deep for a clue. Post a clear, cheerful, fun photo of yourself and make us all proud!

The United States Postal Service cares!

A severely damaged piece of mail arrived today courtesy of the US Postal Service. It was so badly mangled that the address could be barely be seen. The Postal Service placed what was left of the mail in a plastic bag that read:

WE CARE

Dear Postal Customer:

We sincerely regret the damage to your mail during handling by the Postal Service. We hope this incident did not inconvenience you. We realize that your mail is important to you and that you have every right to expect it to be delivered in good condition.

Although every effort is made to prevent damage to the mail, occasionally this will occur because of the great volume handled and the rapid processing methods which must be employed to assure the most expeditious distribution possible.

We hope you understand. We assure you that we are constantly striving to improve our processing methods in order that even a rare occurrence may be eliminated.

Please accept our apologies.

Sincerely,

Your Postmaster

I felt much better after reading that message. It warms my heart to know that the US government actually cares. They’re just doing their best and this sort of thing should be expected. Who could blame them for mangling an occaisaional piece of mail? Certainly not I.

Thank you Postmaster for your apology and kind hearted words. I wish you a happy new year and eargerly look forward to your next coorespondence.

Top five reasons The Dark Knight didn’t work for me

Maybe I expected too much but the Dark Knight didn’t quite cut it for me. I loved the last Batman, don’t get me wrong – great story, plot, etc.

Before I get into what didn’t work, here’s what I did like.

Christian Bale is by far the best batman cast out of all the Batman movies. I’m a huge fan. If he’s in a movie, I’ll probably go see it because of him. Michael Caine was brilliant as Alfred. Played perfect. Morgan Freeman beautifully portrays the integral Lucius Fox character to a tee.

Here are my top five miscues:

1. The casting of Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes.
   This was a train wreck decision. I questioned the casting of Katie Holmes in the last Batman however, Katie would’ve been a better choice. Ms. Gyllenhaal is indeed a talented actress but I just felt like I was watching the understudy on screen instead of the real actress. She didn’t really pull off the soft sophisticated persona that should have been. I didn’t buy Maggie as the subject of desire the two most eligible bachelors are lusting after. It didn’t work. Sure it was a surprise to kill off the love interest but too be honest, I didn’t really care. I didn’t get enough of the character to care.
2. Health Ledger’s as the Joker
   It was a bit creepy watching the movie knowing that Ledger is not longer with us. He had a solid performance without a doubt. Although, I just couldn’t help thinking that he was doing a bad Johnny Depp impression. At times I almost forgot I was watching Health Ledger on screen. He came across as kind of wimpy. So he’s a psychotic clown.. I get it. But that goofy voice didn’t seem to fit. The lip licking started to annoy me as well.
3. Anthony Michael Hall as Mike Engel
   Again, I love Anthony Michael Hall. Heck I love anyone that uses three names. Most of the time when you hear about someone with three names it’s on the news when we’re learning of a new mad man on the loose. This character could have been left on the cutting room floor. It really didn’t fit at all.
4. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon
   The Gordon character was underplayed. Gordon is a pivotal character in the comic books but here appears as an afterthought. Such a great talent wasted. Oldman was great as always. I just wanted more.
5. Not enough chasing or cool gadgets
   So the Batmobile is cool. It’s so dark in the movie and there is such limited time with the batmobile. The motorcycle was big and clunky. It looks great once it hits full speed but it must be tough to manuever. It left me wanting more gadgets, more chase scenes and less dialog. I guess I’ll have to wait for the next Bond flick.