Saturday Night Live Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Celebrity endorsement QUESTION

I was watching a Boniva ad featuring Sally Field when I realized, “If I were a woman with osteoporosis, I think I’D be taking Boniva because Sally seems so sincere.”
I also recall, many years ago, Andy Griffith’s popular ads for Ritz crackers, which didn’t get me to try the product, but did get me to go around saying, “Mm-MMM. G-o-o-d cracker.”
William Talman, who played DA Hamilton Burger to Raymond Burr’s Perry Mason, appeared in a number of anti-smoking ads, such as this one; as an avid watcher of Perry Mason, this definitely enhanced my anti-smoking position, especially with my father, who smoked a pack or more of Winstons at the time.
The Jerry Seinfeld AmEx ads, such as this one were clever enough, but had no effect on getting the card in my wallet.

My questions for you fine folks:

1. Any celebrity endorsements actually lead you to purchase an item or at least supported your position to do so? Any celebrity endorsements turn you off from a product?

And, unrelated to the topic:

2. Will Sarah Palin’s appearance on Saturday Night Live help her, hurt her or make no difference? I say it helps slightly. She comes off as engaging when reading cue cards.

3. What is your favorite Four Tops song? The great Levi Stubbs, the lead singer, died yesterday. For some reason, 7 Rooms of Gloom came immediately to mind, but appropriately, I suppose it’s I’m in a Different World..
***
Just say no!

. ROG

A Cornucopia of Stuff

The good news here is that after six weeks of having her teeth wired shut, my wife Carol can now open her mouth. This doesn’t mean she can have steak, but she can have soft foods such as scrambled eggs. After a month and a half of not using one’s jaw, one must relearn to use it.
One problem is that she cannot yet open her mouth sufficiently to use her toothbrush, something she was REALLY looking forward to. Fortunately, her clever husband, quite possibly inspired by this workshop, suggested that Carol use a smaller toothbrush, and as it turned out, we had a couple replacement brushes for Lydia that Carol could use.
***
One of my sisters works for Wachovia bank – well, she did until there WAS no Wachovia. Like just about everyone dealing with a bank, she didn’t originally work for the former giant, but rather First Union out of Charlotte, NC, where my mother also used to work. But First Union got taken over up by Wachovia and now Wachovia is owned by Citicorp. It reminds me of fish in the food chain being swallowing up ever larger creatures. In any case, she still has a job, for now.
***
While my retiring Democratic Congressman, Mike McNulty , voted for the bailout, the frosh Congresswoman from the area, Kirsten Gillibrand , voted no. So did Maurice Hinchey, a liberal Dem from my old district, whose state Assembly campaign I supported in 1974. And of course, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who’s been marginalized a lot this year, but is often correct. Someone sent me this alternative proposal; we’ll see if THAT passes.
Seriously, they’ll be some sort of deal soon, if only because there is no credit available for businesses large or small.
***
The Veep debate is tonight, and it ought to generate real interest, mostly to see if Sarah Palin will self-destruct. Based on her performances in the Alaska gubernatorial debates, excerpts of which can be found here, she may fare better than most people think. On the other hand, check out this link. After the 50 seconds of the Today show description of Tina Fey channeling Palin, you will watch a side-by-side comparison of Palin and Fey. As SamuraiFrog asked: “You know what the difference is between Tina Fey and a pit bull with lipstick? Tina Fey didn’t have to keep looking down at her notes.”
***
Bill Moyers’ interview with Andrew J. Bacevich on his book “The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism”, which is “one in a series called the ‘American Empire Project.’ Several noted scholars and writers are examine American aspirations at home and abroad, looking for ways to foster democracy without succumbing to imperial ambitions.”
***
Because you need to know: an Internet Memes timeline.
***
That’s all I’ve got, but I’d be curious to get your reaction to my piece Is getting people interested in politics REALLY a good idea?

ROG

Eveningwear, swimwear

I had gotten this e-mail from SiteMeter last week and gave me the impression that I was supposed to do something, so I did and lost about 15 hours of data (2 pm Sunday-5 am Monday). Ah well.
***
Albany airport weather
Time EDT(UTC);Temp.F(C);Dew Pt F(C);Pressure Inches (hPa); Wind MPH

10 AM (14) Sep 15 71.1 (21.7) 57.0 (13.9) 29.72 (1006) WNW 17
9 AM (13) Sep 15 73.0 (22.8) 57.9 (14.4) 29.68 (1005) WNW 13
8 AM (12) Sep 15 73.0 (22.8) 57.0 (13.9) 29.65 (1004) WNW 9
7 AM (11) Sep 15 73.9 (23.3) 57.0 (13.9) 29.59 (1002) W 13
6 AM (10) Sep 15 77.0 (25.0) 57.0 (13.9) 29.54 (1000) W 23
5 AM (9) Sep 15 81.0 (27.2) 61.0 (16.1) 29.48 (998) W 20
4 AM (8) Sep 15 79.0 (26.1) 68.0 (20.0) 29.42 (996) SW 15
3 AM (7) Sep 15 79.0 (26.1) 70.0 (21.1) 29.41 (995) S 16
2 AM (6) Sep 15 80.1 (26.7) 71.1 (21.7) 29.44 (996) S 17
1 AM (5) Sep 15 80.1 (26.7) 71.1 (21.7) 29.45 (997) S 18
It never got above 85 all the day before, but it was so muggy that I turned the air conditioner on for the first time in nearly a month and still couldn’t sleep past 3 a.m.

The wind knocked out power for about 15,000 customers locally. It was out in Saratoga County, primarily in the town of Wilton; Warren County; and in Rensselaer County, mostly in Troy. But in Albany, avoiding the branches on the bike was all I had to deal with.
***
I was pleased to see that Bike Accidents Decline As Ridership Rises. But I had one of those bike moments last week. I’m riding over a land bridge across Henry Johnson Blvd. in Albany, going with traffic as I should. Another bicyclist is crossing the bridge toward me and he waves me to go left. Not a chance. The universal rule, at least in the United States (as opposed to, say the United Kingdom) is for everyone to stay right. Besides 1) he’s in the wrong AND 2) HE can see oncoming traffic without turning around. So I kept coming, yelling “no” and shaking my head. He went around.
***
The widely distributed SNL opening, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin; Fey does a GREAT Palin.
***
Yesterday morning, I’m remembering this commercial from some years back. Certain elements I recall quite well: the voice of the woman saying “daywear, eveningwear, swimwear” actually it was more like “swinvear”. I know that the point of the commercial was about making choices or the lack thereof. But for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what the commercial was FOR.
My wife remembered it too, but she thought from just a few seasons ago, and doesn’t recall the product either.
You probably remember, though: it was one of the creative ads from Wendy’s, “Soviet Fashion Show”, from 1985. The mind goes strange places at 4 a.m.

ROG

I Have a Headache

This one in particular:

I made the mistake of reading some of the comments on some of the YouTube videos about racism. There’s some weird stuff in the videos themselves, but the opinions of some people – oy. Try the conversation about racism in Alberta, for one. Or better still, don’t bother.

There’s a December 2006 CNN poll on racism shows that most Americans do see lingering racism — in others.

Meanwhile, Hispanic Business magazine reports that bias costs companies billions. So, bigotry is not just wrong, it’s expensive.

Not so incidentally, John Mellencamp has a new song called Jena:

It can also be found on his website. BTW, the name of the town is pronounced Gina, not Jenna.

Anyway, I think every once in a while, the fact that we’re still dealing with this stuff makes me feel as though my head were in a vise.

But I don’t think the answer is to pretend that we don’t SEE differences in race, because we do, just like we see red hair or a burka. It’s how we ACCEPT differences, in my view.

ROG