A while back I posted a blog asking where you could find good pizza in Amarillo. This coming from a New Yorker who is a bit of a pizza snob. The responses I received were Domino’s, Papa John’s, etc. so I concluded that there must not be really good pizza in Amarillo.
The other night I was at Carolina’s and had their pizza. It was very good. Brick oven style crispy thin crust.
So there is good pizza in Amarillo after all…
Normally no Super Bowl discussion would be complete without talking about the ads. This year they seemed pretty uneventful. Many of the commercials were just ordinary commercials. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, you just expect a little something extra in a Super Bowl commercial.
It also seemed like one long promo for upcoming CBS shows. At times I was begging for a regular commercial.
My comments on the ones I can remember:
Budweiser: You can always count on Bud for some good ones. I would consider this a down year for Bud, but I still enjoyed most of them. The rock, scissors, paper one was good (rock really should beat everything). The auctioneer at the wedding wasn’t bad. Some people liked the dog one, but I wasn’t in love with it. The fist bump/slap one I thought was dumb. The gorilla trying to steal the Bud Light was ok. The Bud Light hitchhiker with the ax I liked. The king crab one I thought was dumb. Jay-Z and Don Shula didn’t work. Where were the Clydesdales?
Careerbuilder.com: I thought the whole “do more than survive the workweek” campaign was weak. Definitely sub-par for them.
Doritos: They were one for two. I didn’t think the car crash one was good, but I liked the check out lady one.
E-Trade: Also one for two. The bank robbery one was bad, but the “one finger is very powerful” one was good.
Sierra Mist: Didn’t like the comb-over one. The others were ok. Overall I thought this was kind of weak.
Snickers: Some people thought this was hilarious, but the guy-kiss, then rip your chest hair out just wasn’t that funny to me.
Heart Association: These were just dark and spooky. A bunch of thugs beat up your heart in a dark alley. Nice. I was glad my four year old wasn’t watching. Didn’t like them at all.
Garmin: They paid money for this one? Could have possibly been more lame? Well, maybe if it had been more lame then it could have reached the “so stupid, it’s funny” stage, but this was just stupid.
Coke: These were all interesting and creative but not particularly memorable. I can’t really remember any of them the next day.
T-Mobile: This was one of my favorites just because of Charles Barkley. Simple commercial, but perfect use of a celebrity. Maybe it’s just because I like Barkley.
Emerald Nuts: Silly, but I liked it. Robert Goulet wreaking havoc in a sleeping office made me chuckle.
Nationwide: I had heard about this one in advance so I knew what was coming. But it was still good. “Federline! Fries!”. Funny, and about all he’s good for…
I know there were others, but nothing sticks out. Maybe I missed some good ones. Overall a weak Super Bowl commercial crop.
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Update:
I was reading another review of the ads (I like to see if other people had different opinions) and two things leaped out at me. First of all, this guy thought the Garmin ad was the best of the night (I guess it takes all kinds). But he had a great line on a commercial I didn’t see. Apparently Frito-Lay had an ad celebrating the fact that there were two African-American coaches. “Who’s winning?”, “We all are”. The reviewers comments:
The ad is low-key and likable. And wholly fitting, given the vital role Tostitos played in the civil rights movement.
lol.
First of all, I’d like to give Billy Joel credit for proving me wrong and not milking the national anthem. I lost the over/under on length of the song (1 min, 44 seconds) with the Piano Man going slightly under (with a nice rendition).
I won the coin toss bet with heads.
I took the Bears with 7 points and I took the over on total points (48 1/1). I was close on the over/under but I lost both of those. I was rooting for the Colts all the way (Packers fan – hate da Bears).
My pick for longest touchdown play was Bears on a kick return. I won that, but I was thinking more along the lines of a punt, not the first play of the game…
I took the over on total yards for the Colts (374). OK, who didn’t? They covered that after three quarters.
I took the over for Rex Grossman touchdowns plus interceptions (2 1/2). I thought that was a good bet whether he has a great game or a lousy one. I would say lousy, and I won that (1 TD, 2 INT)
I also took the over on total sacks (3 1/2). I lost that with only 2 (though I think when Grossman just fell down that didn’t count as a sack).
I picked Jason Kidd to have more assists than Brian Urlacher would have solo tackles. Kidd had 11, about what I’d expect from mister double-double. Urlacher had 7 so I won that one.
I picked Lebron James to have more points than the Colts. Lebron only had 21 so he let me down a bit. That’s a loss.
And for the one pick that I won’t know for a week, I picked Payton Manning to have more rushing attempts than the Dixie Chicks would win Grammys. Payton had 1.
So I’m 5-5 with one bet pending. Like I said, I’m not a gambler…
OK, I’ll lay it all on the line. Here is every predication I can think of to make. Of course, I’m not a gambler so I won’t be putting any actual money where my mouth is.
On the game, I’ll take the Bears getting 7 points. I think the Colts will win a close one (I always root for a close game, even though it seldom happens).
Over/Under (48 1/2): I’ll take the over. I’m thinking 27-24 or something like that. Vinatieri comes through in the clutch again.
Random bets:
Over/Under on length of time for Billy Joel to sing the national anthem (1 minute, 44 seconds): Definitely go with the over. Performers always over-milk the national anthem. It cracks me up that this is an actual bet.
Coin Toss: I’m going heads
Team to have longest touchdown play: Bears on a kick return
Over/Under on total punts (8 1/2): Under
Over/Under on Total Net Yards by the Colts (374): Over
Over/Under on Total Sacks by both teams (3 1/2): Over
Over/Under on Total TDs plus Interceptions by Rex Grossman (2 1/2): I like this one because Rex is usually either good or horrible so I think you have to go with the over either way.
Who will have more on February 4th? Lebron James total points or Colts total points?: Lebron
Who will have more on February 4th? Brian Urlacher solo tackles or Jason Kidd assists?: Kidd
Dixie Chicks total Grammy wins or Payton Manning rushing attempts?: Manning
OK, first of all I need to admit that as an old guy I had no idea what this was. I was aware of Adult Swim (though I’ve never watched it) but I’d never heard of ATHF (I love how one day we’ve never heard of it and the next day it’s an acronym).
I was home with bronchitis when all hell broke loose in Boston. When I’m sick I typically leave CNN on the TV, so I saw the story unfold. It is somewhat amazing how out of control this was for a bunch of lite-brite figures.
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Knowing how paranoid NYC has been about terrorism, I can understand the over-reaction somewhat. But damn those things look harmless. And it’s not like they had just been put up. This blogger posted an entry about them two weeks ago. And somehow they managed to not panic any other city (including New York).
I love the YouTube video showing them putting these things up. I actually think they look more harmless at night when they are lit up. And the actual item is going for over a grand on eBay.
The press conference was pretty comical. Instead of saying “no comment” as most people would (their lawyer told them to say nothing), they decided to mess with the reporters by saying they only wanted to discuss hair styles of the 70s. It might possibly be the funniest response ever to a reporters question:
I’m sorry, that’s not a hair question
Hey, guess what reporters, there’s no rule that says people can’t mess with you. Get over yourselves.
Some of the comments from the Boston authorities are just over the top. From the Boston DA:
It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location
No, the exact opposite is clear.
Some people are viewing the artists as heroes in all of this. That’s not the case either. I think you can make a case that what they did was vandalism. The “public nuisance” charge could certainly stick. They played a prank that was designed to as a marketing ploy. This sort of thing has become common in marketing, especially for things that appeal to the college age crowd. It had a bad reaction that certainly wasn’t intended. And they are playing up the overreaction by being silly in a press conference.
Not heroes, but hardly criminals.
One final thought. These things had been up for weeks. Perhaps they hadn’t had enough effect. Is it possible that someone phoned in the warnings to the Boston police to increase the buzz? If that were to be proven, then you have a real crime. There’s a conspiracy theory that probably will never be proven…
This is one of those topics that many people think about a lot. Frankly I don’t think about it much, mainly because I never play the lottery. I don’t have anything against gambling. It’s a vice like many others and I have my share, but most vices are acceptable in moderation.
Gambling doesn’t appeal to me for a few reasons. First of all, as a mathematically inclined person, I’m acutely aware of the odds. Long term, it’s a losing proposition. I also don’t get a big rush out of it. That’s what I see as the primary allure, but I don’t get nearly excited enough about winning money (perhaps because it’s mostly luck?) and I really don’t like to lose money (I worked hard for it). So it’s just not much fun to me.
I’m also philosophically opposed to the government running a gambling operation. Sure, it’s easy tax revenue (though a fairly regressive tax primarily on those who can least afford it) but I don’t think the government should be in the business of encouraging gambling just because it’s easy money.
But I understand that most people do enjoy gambling. And most people like the lottery fantasy (hey, someone has to win, why not me?). It’s especially appealing when you’re fed up with your job, which all of us are from time to time. And anyone who has looked at New York real estate prices has certainly thought, damn, if only I had a big chunk of money to buy a nice place.
So let’s fantasize. Say you won $10 million dollars (after taxes). I like using that amount because it’s a lot of money, but not “quit your job and buy an island” type money.
Let’s examine options. First, the quit your job option. Say you just invested that money and tried to live off of the interest. If you made a constant 10% you’d be living on $100K for the rest of your life. Not bad, depending on where you live. But then what do you do? Your money is tied up so it’s not like you can go see the world. Sleeping until noon gets old (not that I’d know – with a four year old sleeping until 8:00 is luxury). You could find some type of work that is really rewarding to you without caring how it pays. That would be one good approach.
Then there’s the “kick start your life” approach. This assumes that you could make a dramatic change in your life if you didn’t have to worry about money for a short period of time. For example, quit your job and start your own business. You don’t have the pressure of being successful right away. Or go back to school to work towards a totally different career. This, to me, is a very good strategy if you aren’t satisfied in your current career and you have some sort of idea. It’s dangerous if you don’t have a real plan. Then it becomes “blow your money randomly for a few years until it’s gone”.
If you generally like your life and your career, there’s the “subtle upgrade” strategy. Keep your job, live your life, but knowing that the money allows you to buy a slightly nicer house, take a slightly nicer vacation, etc. For this approach you don’t take the lump sum payment up front, you take the longer view. This becomes much less of a life changing event, so most people don’t go this route (the whole point of playing the lottery is to change your life, right?).
Of course there’s always the “buy a bunch of really cool stuff” strategy. This is a common approach since there is tremendous immediate gratification and it is immediately life changing. But it’s also very common to find actual winners who took this approach five years later back to the same life they had before they won the lottery, often in worse shape. The primary fallacy here is thinking that having nicer things will make you happier.
What would I do? I would probably buy a very nice brownstone building in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. That would be my life changing event. Then I’d probably play the “subtle upgrade” strategy using return on investment money. Not that flashy, but I’m not a very flashy guy.
The other thing I would seriously consider would be coming up with an idea for a technology company, grabbing a few people I really respect and like working with and trying to run with it. But you need that truly inspirational idea. And frankly, if I ever get that, I might not wait to win the lottery…
“…Has air quality improved so much in New York that we can actually notice an odd smell?”
I was certainly not aware of this, but it’s useful information
Steve Fischer's Random Blog 