Monday, February 12, 2007
Random Musings for the Week Ending February 9, 2007 – Super Bowl-Ads, Global Warming, Anna and Hugh
Again, sorry this column is two days late. Working on work projects. A relatively interesting week, though hardly news stopping. But here are my theologian style thoughts on the Super Bowl, Global Warming (week 2), Anna Nicole and Hugh Hewitt.
Super Bowl Ads – Yawn and Ick – When I say ick I am not referring to the Snickers ad with the two guys, um, meeting at the mouth. I mean simply that the ads were generally crass, boring, and overdone. For one thing, your Nationwide Insurance Company. Your customer base is people over 40, because that is who buys annuities…not people 25 and under (who are the only people who even know who, ack, KFED is). Nationwide, whoever bought this advertisement should be working washing the Nationwide blimp.
The rest of the ads were either stupid or overdone. The two ads I found most interesting – the Bud and Bud Lite commercials. The Bud Lite with the mass murderish person that the young couple picks up because he has Bud Lite – well it is very funny, but, really, if you are willing to risk your life for a six-pack, that is the sign it is time to check into a AA program.
The Bud commercials with the crabs? I think that this is a classic example of the rise of neo-paganism. The crabs are actually worshipping a Bud Bottle. What does that say about Bud’s hopes for their customers?
Anyways, boring game. Bad ads. Prince for the Halftime Entertainment? Oh well, Spring Training begins this week.
Global Warming War Continues – Well, I am continuing my reading and study on the issue of Global Warming. What is becoming more and more clear? Simply that we really do not understand our globe very well. We do not really understand clouds, how they are impacted by solar radiation. We do not understand how the different layers of the atmosphere absorb and let off heat. We don’t understand how much the climate and the earth’s coasts have changed in the past two thousand years. And we really don’t know if stopping the production of CO2 (which again, is NOT A POLLUTANT). And we should not, I repeat should not, be destroying the world economy to fix a problem that either (a) may not exist (b) if it does exist may not be fixable and/or (c) if it does exist may actually be better for the world’s population as a whole, especially the poor.
Oh, and proof again that those who are Global Warming Fascists (sorry, alarmists) don’t care about the poor – they are against importing roses from Africa for Valentines Day because it sends CO2 into the air. Don’t believe me? Read this:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/10/nbouquet10.xml
Yep. They are concerned about the poor. Poor scientists looking for grant money. The real poor? Well? Not so much.
Anna Nicole Overload – Okay, let me say first. I am very sorry for Anna Nicole. The woman had a disastrous life, she clearly cut her life short, experienced little if any happiness, and now has no further opportunity to repair the damage she has done to her own life and those who loved her. I take no joy in her death.
But neither does it really impact me, other than to point out that the path of Playboy Playmate is not one that leads to happiness. What really bothered me is that when our nation is at war, when we need to be having a real debate about Iraq, a real debate about global warming, about entitlement reform (I am one of those many of my generation who laugh at the statements I get from Social Security), and we need to fix our education systems. So what did FOX and the other cable channels focus on? Anna Nicole Simpson? Honestly, do you think most people could pick her out of a lineup? I don’t think so. Of course people eat up this garbage. We eat up candy when its thrown to us as well, but we cannot survive on candy alone. We got candy on Sunday at the Super Bowl. How about taking the high road?
The High Road – Hugh Hewitt’s Week on radio – I know I know, I am Hugh fanatic. I think that Hugh is easily the host of the most intelligent, thoughtful, but also fun radio show on the radio. Doesn’t matter if you are Left or Right, if you are a thinker you should be tuned into Hugh. Do I agree with everything with Hugh? No (truth in advertising, about 95% agreement, so if we round up, then yes). But Hugh brings on guests who are interesting and on topic, asks questions that make the guest and his audience think, and actually understands that the world is serious but he is not (as shown by his 15th hour of programming each week – the best Movie Review/List show anywhere in the media.
Last week Hugh had what might well have been the single best week of radio I have ever heard. Here are a few highlights:
Tuesday – hour long discussion with Thomas P.M. Barnett on Chapter 5 of his book The Pentagon’s New Map.
Wednesday – a talk with Christopher Hitchens on boarding school at Oxford, the Bible (he is an atheist, but a true liberal humanist), Iran and Iraq.
Thursday – Mark Steyn, the spokesmen for the American Ethnomusciologist Association, John Podhoretz, and the funniest thoughtful person in America, James Lileks.
Friday – Interview with NY Times journalist John Burns (one of the most compelling interview I have heard in a long time), Morton Kondrake and Charles Krauthammer, and Emmet the Unblinking Eye and his list of the Ten Best Astronaut Movies.
