the flow

no, i'm not talking about aunt flo. i'm talking about this pretty neat game that i really like (and have given a half hour of my life to).


















it's very calming and yet somehow- survivalistic and intense.

yep

i have to remember- i've got a lot in my life that is going well. i just need some time to sort all this stuff out. need to get some perspective...

messin with sasquatch

everytime we see this commercial on tivo, we have to rewind and rewatch about 4 times. it's hilarious.



makes me miss carmichael lynch a little.

random live webcams

live webcams, is this still in?

my favorites are the ones in other countries, don't know why. there's a cool one in a bakery in italy.

here's a cool pick from a sunset somewhere in america west of here:














okay, yeah, it's good to focus elsewhere for awhile. is that so wrong?

michael j fox just got political on your ass

okay, this is just plain brilliant...



...and very well done.

so if i were going to do a response ad like this one...



... the most i could hope for is that it would confuse people, and i think that worked, which might just take the wind out of mjf's sail.

damn, this election season is HOT!!!

beck cellphone's dead- i like it

okay, i'm usually late to the whole cool music scene, so please forgive me if that's the case here, but i like this one.



yeah, i think it's cool, but what do i know?

oh yeah, and aaron showed me this one:



yeah, i'm almost too shy to say it, in case ya'll will judge me, but i like it.

Warthog Launch

senseless, but somehow fulfilling.





















the sound effects put this game over the edge for me.

smoking can seriously damage your health

another excellent non-smoking commercial.



i love you, sister.

i smoked weed and nobody died.

'pete's couch' is one of the best, but all the commercials on The Office of National Drug Control Policy channel are kinda fun to watch.



aaron loves this ad, and i bet it's very popular with kids too, but maybe not in a serious way. i wonder if kids actually get the true message...

pretty spirals

it doesn't take much to amuse me today.















what am i saying, these are cool!! they would be cool to anyone!! i like spirals, do you?

tide- could you be more insulting?

i went to target to buy laundry detergent (and a travel coffee mug for my friend aaron dewitt).

when i approached the laundry detergent aisle, one package in particular stood out to me right away. it said '25% More' across the top.




















well, of course i'm drawn to the package because i assume that what it's telling me is that i'll be getting 25% more than i usually get, at the same price of the original size.

not so fast. those clever tide package designers aren't really gonna give anything away, but they don't mind implying that they are.

when i get up close and read further, i'm stiffly insulted to find that i'm really going to get 25% more 'ounces' than a 100 oz package...














yep, you guessed it. that means, i'm getting 125 oz of product.












with no mention of a cost comparison, i have to assume i'm paying for all 125 oz of the product.

woohoo!

i was so impressed with their marketing strategy, i had to have my very own 125 oz package of tide detergent.

just wait until everyone catches on to this plan, then we'll have even more outlandish packaging, etc... i can hear the info-mmercial, now:
you get not ten, not twenty, NOT THIRTY, but 50% more than 10 oz. of coffee. that's right folks, you get a full 15 ounces of coffee, right here, for what you would normally pay for 15 oz of coffee!! what a bargain!

tide, you should be ashamed of yourself.
buyer, you should beware.

gucci launched their new site

and it's pretty sophisticated. shows all the brands, full screen imagery and video (find their runway shows right on there).













pretty.

okay, it's cheesy, but i do like DAWN dish soap

so i go back and forth on it. part of me is annoyed that dawn is a little over the top with their self promotion, and then the other part of me thinks, well, they are doing a damn fine thing, and i've always liked their product. they have a right to brag, i guess.

and, their site is an example of good promotion, since it's well built, provides good information and a little interactivity, too.
oh, and ellen degeneres is involved, and i've always thought she's had her head on pretty straight.

so anyway, check out the site if you want, and their webisode on youtube which is a little heavy handed as well.

and don't dump grease down your sink (freeze it instead).
and cut up your sixpack plastic holders before you throw them away.

okay, sorry... i'm done.

saire and mark cookson

yep, they got married.



















check out all the picks here.

and here's a little video i put together of some of our favorite moments.



please disregard the part with me dancing like a freak. aaron made me put that in (bastard).

why are you picking on amy klobuchar?

no matter who you plan to vote for, you have to agree (okay, i guess you don't have to, but it would be hard NOT to agree) that this ad is just plain fake...



'because it's true' just seems weak.

also, that actress (beverly carlson) does a great job, and aaron and i walk around the house mimicking her all the time. you should hear our 'she wants to raise social security taxes and will give social security to illegal immigrants'. it ranks right up there with 'help, i've fallen, and i can't get up!

mark, think about getting a new ad producer.

dove- pretty cool commercial

i'm not sure if companies like dove really get the whole thing, as suggested by their latest ad...

what do YOU think this little animation is about?

a co-worker tom sent me this link this morning (thanks tom), and as i watched it in my monday morning stupor, a few thoughts occured to me:

1. wow, did that chick just slice open that rabbit? damn.












2. what the hell kind of message was the animator trying to convey?
3. i better blog about this and ask others to respond.

so that's all i got. lemme know what you think of it.

i got a letter from al franken!

the envelop says 'please help me get rid of republicans'...

the letter starts 'dear person i'm writing to ask for money' and continues on with a pretty persuasive, and hilarious, plea...
_____________________

'i've gotten more politically involved because i'm sick and tired of watching radical republicans mislead us into a costly and tragically stupid war, sell our government to the highest bidder, ignore the real priorities of real americans - and then have the nerve to question OUR patriotism and OUR values...

... the GOP has threatened our basic liberties, lined the pockets of speical interests at taxpayer expense, left our nation's most vulnerable citizens to fend for the themselves, and embroiled our country in a misguided war with no end in sight. not to mention cheney shooting that guy in the face...

...growing up in minnesota, i was taught to value the things that really matter - like honesty and hard work... equal rights and opportunities... strong and healthy families... common sense and integrity in government... and the belief that we're all in this together. also, following a friend to the hospital after you've accidentally shot him in the face...
_____________________

okay, so two 'shots' at the vp mishap, but in there he couches a very important point- cheney didn't even follow his friend to the hospital!! i love the way the GOP throws around the word 'values' so easily, but has no sense of what it really means...

so when al franken says 'please help me get rid of republican's', i'm in, and more importantly, i'm reminded of the strategy i envisioned back when W 'won' the second election... each democrat/independent/green party person should 'eliminate' one republican, doesn't matter how. then we'll solve all the countries problems with one fell swoop (including social security)!!

i think i'll send some money to al and tell him about my strategy!

understanding usa

so there are a couple of user issues with this site... big ones, actually. but it's still an interesting display of information.

















first of all, the information in most cases is too small to see, and when you click on the 'view full size' button, you get an error page. so if you really want to see the detail, and let's be honest, the details are what this site is about, then you have to 'download printable pdf's' from the bottom of the page and view them in acrobat.

but anyway, i like the premise of the site, and the information is well compiled, even if you can read it, really.

oh well, enjoy if you can.

congratulations mark and saire!

mark cookson and saire dummer are becoming mark and saire cookson this weekend. we're very excited to go to their wedding tonight. they had their rehearsal dinner at buca's last night and it was a blast.

desert was especially yummy.














congratulations mark and saire! enjoy your special day!!

how did we not jump into this fine pile of leaves??

i love the fall. i love this time of year. aaron and i raked our first pile of leaves in our first home and bagged them all up.

and halloween is around the corner. i bought a bunch of candy for the neighborhood kids and hid it downstairs hoping aaron wouldn't find it and eat it all.

on saturday i realized he's found it, of course, and had eaten some of the snickers. i left him a little note and when he got home tonight, he was very upset with me for ruining his candy pillaging fun.

my note said:

shame on you! you're stealing from kids!


i can just imagine the disappointed look on his face.

pillowfight

http://movies.aol.com/short_film_festival?defaultItem=1461407

'for my wife'

aaron puts up with me the same way, but he knows better than to ask me what my dream was about.

thanks buddy!

if you're not voting, who are you electing?

these ads are pretty cool...

i think i like 'bag of leaves' best

but i can't help but think of my good friend lori when i watch 'spoiled yappy dog'

=)

home runner!!

you're so good at covering my ass, i love it!

here are a few pics...

an emotional pile of snot

my friend lindsey sent me this link to check out, with a warning that it was a little long and set to the tune of a jesus song, but that it's worth watching.

after watching it, i learned i'm a little emotional right now in my life, cause there were definitely tears.

the reason for the tears isn't as simple as just awe and inspiration, as might cause others to tear up at watching this.

unfortunately, my tears are in sadness and even anger (even now as i write).

stephanie, my sister, is going through such a hard time in her life right now. and i'm so amazed at the difference between a) what the guy in the video would do for, but more importantly with, his son, and b) what i feel like my mother is able or willing to do for my sister.

i'm so angry at her right now because i really believe she should support my sister right now- call her, visit with her, offer her comfort, don't tell her she is wrong, don't dismiss her needs, share experiences, share empathy and sympathy, be open and available, be a mother.

she either can't or won't.

but Dick Hoyt, he runs marathon's simply to see the happiness on his son's face.

and i'm angry because all this has reminded me that when i needed her most in my life, my mom really wasn't able to give me what i needed either.

i thought that she and i were past all that, but seeing the way she has been with my sister right now brings it all back for me.

i feel like i've ruined this wonderful story with my poisonous jealousy.

sometimes, living in another state still isn't enough space for me.

3/1/07 update- i wrote this post, published it, and then unpublished it. all this was real and heartfelt, but so much more about me than it was about my mother. she has supported my sister well, in her own way, which i accept and love her for. i'm only posting this now to be truthful and accept myself in my many moments of growth and struggle.

fall colors camping trip- worth every moment of wrath from my kitty

in my humble opinion, there's no better way to celebrate a birthday than to go camping with some friends in northern minnesota at the peak of the fall color season. lori, lindsey, michael and aaron are definitely good camping friends.















we drove up on friday in the dark with no idea how gorgeous everything around us would be until the sun came up the next morning. we were in for a treat...















first, we hiked to the top of carlton peak near tofte minnesota. the hike follows the temperance river waterfall area for about a mile before heading into the woods, which were gorgeous and smelled like only fall can smell.




















then we headed up the side of the peak and were rewarded by a breathtaking view.















so after we exhausted ourselves, we headed back to camp for a nap and a little dinner over the campfire.

the next day we headed to split rock lighthouse for a bit.



















i've been to the lighthouse a few times, and i never get tired of it. there is a black sand beach nearby that i could visit for hours.















all in all, the weekend was amazing. just a group of good friends hanging out and loving nature.

check out all the pictures here.
here is a little video-

camping was phenomenal!!

i promise to post pictures soon.

hiking was great!

lighthouse was great!

fall colors were great!

hanging with friends was great!

fun.