Envelopes and Rubberbands and the widespread economic impact in San Francisco

I was in San Francisco two weeks ago when I came across a man groveling for cash. I briefly read his sign as I was passing. I had to take a double take. Here’s what the sign said:

I HAVE NO MONEY BECAUSE YOU ARE UNSING ENVELopes AND Rubberbands. fold THE CASH

I don’t exactly know what it means but apparantly it has caused this man much hardship. I questioned the man and he asked me if I saw him on television. I told him I was from out of town. He then mumbled something under his breath. I gave the man a dollar and asked if I could snap his photo. He seemed happy to oblige.

The sign was interesting but not as good as the one I saw last year in San Francisco. An African American man was holding a sign that read:

I am collecting money for the U.N.P.F.
(United Negro Pizza Fund)

As I walked by I stopped, did a double take, and laughed. He said “You like that?” “It’s worth something” he grinned. I agreed and promptly whipped out a buck. He said thanks and I went about my business.

Urban Saints

As some of you may or may not know, I’m a big fan of interesting and unusual toys. So when I found these beauties over at Urban Outfitters, I couldn’t resist (Not to mention they were on sale plus an additional 25% off).

However, I don’t think St. Anne (patron saint of lost objects), St. Martha (patron saint of waiters and waitresses, Huh?), or St. Homobonus (patron saint of business) ever imagined they would one day end up immortalized in plastic.

Infinity minimilist wine holder

A brilliantly designed wine holder by Ron Arad. The pieces can be arranged to create an infinite number of rings to store bottles thus the name infinity. It’s made in Italy and is available in 4 different colors.

Available at Hive

What do Tom Petty and The Who have to do with the NBA finals?

In a word… nothing.

The music played throughout ABCs coverage of the 2006 NBA finals is old man classic rocker Tom Petty. The Mavericks are introduced to The Who’s “Eminence Front”. What? Eminence front? Yes siree.

It’s hard to imagine in 2006 that we would be watching a finals game with old dinosaur rockers at the helm. Last time I checked it was 2006. Basketball is all about attitude. It’s about a lifestyle. It’s about tatoos.
Heard any:

Black Eyed Peas…
50cent…
Mike Jones…
Kanye West…

Nope!

Instead it’s good ‘ol boy TOM PETTY and one foot in the grave rockers THE WHO.

Hey ABC, time to make some producer changes at your outdated network. Pay attention to what’s going on in the world cause here comes the newsflash… TOM PETTY and THE WHO signed off in 1982.

Shakira vs. Pink

Here's a Mashup of Shakira's "Hips don't lie" and Pink's "Stupid girls" that I created with Soundtrack.

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Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee

I stopped by my local Starbucks for a Venti Chai Latte today. Upon entering the Starbucks I couldn’t help but notice ALL the ads for the movie “Akeelah and the Bee“. First I noticed all the signs on the windows. Each sign depicted a different winning spelling bee word from various years. They all had bright green backgrounds with large words reversed out like “shalloon” – winning word from the 1971 spelling bee. They had a travel edition of Scrabble that had “akeelah and the bee” spelled out on playing board. A very crafty ploy but perhaps a bit over the top. Okay, I get it. Starbucks is now shoveling movies down my throat. I guess it wasn’t it enough that I frequent the store to buy an overpriced tea or coffee. Now they need to make more money by putting advertising all over the place.

As I sauntered up to the counter to place my order, a lovely young girl asked if she could get a drink ready for me. I asked for a Venti Chai Latte. She asked my name so she could write it on the cup. I replied “Akeelah” She said “REALLY?” I said “No”. “With all the advertising about “Akeelah and the Bee, I thought it was only fitting to have a hand written advertisement.” So she says “great!” and proceeds to write my so-called-name on the cup.

When the barrista finished preparing my drink she announced “Akeelah?” “Akeelah?” I picked up my drink and noticed that the girl who had originally written the name on the cup actually SPELLED IT WRONG. Interestingly enough the movie is about a spelling bee. The wrapper that’s on the cup has the movie name on it. Funny enough, there are signs all over the store. How ironic that a movie about a spelling bee and that has signs and tons of advertising should be spelled wrong by a Starbucks employee! Nice attention to detail.

A more interesting movie may be Akeelah and the Bee and a Starbucks employee. Yeah, that’s a movie I would go to see.

Why are the yellow pages still being used?

Last time I checked it was still 2006. This is the age of the internet, right? I can jump on the internet and google any address and get a match in mere seconds. Not only that but I can get an amazing map to go with it. From there, I can customize the map view, print it out and can be out the door a minute later. So why are the yellow pages still being delivered? Last year I think I received two or three shipments. They get tossed right into the recycle bin.

I want to know where the concerned environmentalists are. Shouldn’t they be complaining about our poor trees being killed? Don’t they care about the massive amount of waste that is taking place? Surely they must be concerned that across the U.S.most people are also tossing the yellow pages in the trash as well. The good news is that some may recycle. Whoopee!

Because of this nifty new invention, called the internet, I see no use for the yellow pages anymore. I can see it for the older population who still prefer traditional methods. But let’s be realistic here. Most companies have web sites and would be better off spending some money improving their sites rather than spending it on a yellow pages ad. Apparently a major paradigm shift hasn’t occurred here yet.

Of course the flip side is that people are still buying the ads in the yellow pages so some must still be using them. As for me… NO. I’m not using the yellow pages. I may use a book to light a fire the next time I go camping. I could stockpile a bunch and have a great camping trip. No need for kindling.

The yellow pages are dead! Viva el internet!

San Francisco Apple Store

The past few cities I’ve visited I’ve snapped shots of the Apple store. Not only are the products works of art, the stores are as well.

New immigration policy – Reward those who break the law

By now everyone has witnessed the large immigration rallies and protests in Dallas and L.A. It’s been the hottest topic on the cable news stations.

My stance on immigration is simple. If you want to live or work in the United States there are a couple of things I want to know:

1. Who are you?
2. Where are you?
3. Are you paying taxes?
4. Are you law abiding?
5. Do you want to make a contribution to this country or just in it for yourself?

Sure, it could sound harsh. However, millions of Americans each day are subject to these rules. The government knows exactly who I am, how much tax I should pay, and where I live.

What about the people who are waiting in line to come to the U.S. the legal way? What about a Chinese person who has been waiting for more than nine years to get a Visa. What about my Romanian friend? He immigrated to Holland to make a better life for himself. He has been trying to get a visa just to visit the U.S. for a week and has been denied for the past five years!

What about people who gave up everything to come to live in the US via political asylum?

Hey, if you’re ex-Taliban leader, you can easily come and live here and attend an Ivy League school! Terrific!

So what’s the message here about immigration?

Immigrate to the U.S. the legal way and you may be waiting years. Hop across the border and you are rewarded for breaking the law.

Yeah… That makes sense.