Time Machine - Sell And Spin: A History of Advertising

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The Mount Rushmore Of… is a new blog that is one of those obvious-in-hindsight ideas I wish I’d thought up, because it satisfies the "Top X List" jones of twitchy web surfers everywhere. Everyone knows what Mount Rushmore is, right?  Mount Rushmore is a National Memorial featuring the sculptures of the heads of the most influential Presidents of the first 150 years of the United States.  The Mount Rushmore Of takes that same principle and asks the question of who’s head should be carved in stone for other subjects, like: Who is on the Mount Rushmore of Baseball? Who is on the Mount Rushmore of Punk Rock? And so on… Debate encouraged. Naturally. Incidentally, Neal Stewart, the mastermind behind it, also writes the highly entertaining Turkey Sandwich Report. Oh yeah, he works in beer, too—a marketer, but I don’t hold that against him.

A portable text game console. Yes, please.
Boing Boing Gadgets asks the rhetorical question: Who’d like a portable text game console? With some neat mocked up possibilities, too. I’m raising my hand, by the way. The intent behind such a device would be, in their words, to "open up the possibilities to the world’s vast back catalog of ASCII-style titles." In other words, to play any and all ASCII text-based games. Like Nethack. Or text adventures (hundreds, if not thousands, of them). Or any other game that just used plain text. As long as it was a cool gadget. With a long battery life. For that matter, why don’t they have this type of thing for Commodore 64? Basically a handheld C-64. With keyboard and everything. It could be done.

Summer steelhead season on Columbia opens June 16
SALEM, Ore. The summer steelhead season on the Columbia River above the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line opens Monday, June 16. The river will be open for adipose fin-clipped summer steelhead from June 16 to December 31 with an aggregate daily bag limit of two adult salmonids. oregon and Washington …

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know about Ashland…
I’m referring to Ashland, oregon, naturally, and something I found out from this article (via Jack Bog) (emphasis mine): Ashland city ordinances allow nudity anywhere in town, but genitalia must be covered in city parks and the downtown commercial district. I was pretty surprised when I read that; I don’t remember a single naked person while in Ashland last year. But overall—that’s pretty crazy; I had no idea it was that liberal of a town. You can bet I’ll be reading the bend city code pretty closely the next few days to see what our local ordinances say about the subject. (The article overall is about a fruitcake "activist" who likes to wander around around (nearly) nude, and the city of Ashland’s refusal to allow her to be in their Fourth of July parade. She’s claiming "discrimination" against her by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, claims she’s "not trying to get attention" (riiiiiiiiight), and for good measure even throws in a hint of creepy pedophilia in there. Seriously, she sounds mental. I’d deny her, too.)

So, TV
This is one of those TV posts that I hate to do because I feel like I become a parody of a cliché of myself, but I need to scratch the itch so I’ll just keep the commentary down to short one- or two-line comments rather than long-winded diatribes. And no, I’m not going to talk about "Lost." "American Idol" — they really, really need to get rid of both Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest (or, as I like to call him, "America’s Douchebag"). "The Office" — the funniest show on TV. Last week’s first new post-writer’s-strike episode: funny and uncomfortable! "Scrubs" — the other funniest show on TV. "CSI: Miami" — I don’t watch it. "I Survived" — the few bits of this I’ve seen? Damn, the most depressing show ever. "ER" — I don’t watch it. "Law & Order" — I like the new cast members this season; didn’t realize ’til later that Linus Roache also played Thomas Wayne in "Batman Begins." Nice. "24" — what? There’s a show called "24"? Oh, maybe next year.

The past 6 Aprils
Since I’m celebrating six years of blogging this month, I thought it’d be interesting to go back through the past six Aprils and link to some highlights. April 2002 - Really not much to see here… I was just starting blogging, playing with the software I was developing, and it’s really just mundane stuff. I think Pong was a highlight. April 2003 - Even less than in 2002. We saw Bon Jovi for the first time and there was more work on the software. April 2004 - I was blogging up a storm. Pretty geeky stuff, an equal mixture of technical posts and non-technical-but-still-geeky posts and some random things. My musings for an A-Team movie first appeared, and—strangely enough—I first noted the use of the word "blog" on Law & Order. April 2005 - I feel like I was hitting my stride in blogging style. A lot less of the technical posts and more… I don’t know, "general" posts? Fun posts? More of a mix of links, ideas, commentary, irony… Not sure if that’s the best way to describe them, but here’s a sample to judge for yourself: Superman is a dick Globe Sesame Street top 25 Scrapple $40 a day Cougar! (and Cougar! The Return and Cougar! Reloaded) The Burger King creeps me out (with 673 comments!) Things about bend that I miss April 2006 - More of the same. I really think it was around 2005 and into 2006 that I found my "voice" and I don’t really cringe when I read those and later posts. You can see the seeds of Hack bend being sown with this post (and I started Hack bend the following month, in May ‘06), and this post and this post still make me laugh. A lot. April 2007 - I blogged a lot less—no kidding, right—but I prefer to think of it as "quality over quantity" in this case. My favorite for that month has to be this post, showcasing just how wonderfully twisted San Diego-area activities can be.

Central oregon Hunting Report 06-13-08
Spring bear and spring turkey seasons have ended so please take the time to report your hunt now. Also, if you haven t yet done so, report your 2007 hunts. Be ready to enter your hunter/angler ID number, two-digit Wildlife Management Unit number where you hunted, and total number of …

Indy
First summer blockbuster of the year: we went and saw "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" this past weekend. I rather liked it, as I knew I would, though for me it’s not as good as "Last Crusade", although that’s forgivable (for me) because it’s only been nearly two decades since the last movie was released. More to say, but spoilers are in effect… click through with caution

Central oregon Viewing Report 06-13-08
Look for Lewis Woodpeckers With their distinctive flight pattern, magnificent coloring and preference for open country with scattered trees, Lewis’s woodpeckers are not too difficult to spot if you are looking in the right place this summer. ODFW biologists suggest targeting burned forest areas and open juniper woodlands with snags. …

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