Eye On Advertising
Well, here's a new one I believe. They're running advertisements for a war! Boy oh boy, somebody sure loves that War in Iraq and wants to keep it going at all costs. Of course the main selling points are: (1) they attacked us on 9/11, and (2) if we don't keep it up over there they'll come over here and blow us up. On point #1, it's been well verified that Saddam and the country of Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. But hey, they're a bunch of towel-heads so we might as well kill a bunch. Kill, kill, kill... we love to kill. That'll solve everything. Kill, kill, kill and kill some more. On point #2, I've never understood that logic. I don't see how this war would prevent an attack of any kind. Some group of terrorists would just need to avoid the place altogether and do their thing. But I'm sure a few more advertisements will help me see the light.

Here in the US, we're more concerned with things like car insurance. This is something else I don't understand -- namely the Geico commercials. Some of them have been so slick and elaborate that I wonder if they even need to make any more money. Warren Buffet is the head honcho, and he's about as rich as anyone. He seems like a decent guy though. Anyway, what's with those ill-tempered cavemen? I sort of get the shtick... they're mad because people think they're dumb. Okay, that's a premise. What it has to do with insuring my car, who knows? I also object to the fake cockney accent on their stupid lizard. They had to do something, and the voice actor probably ran through a bunch of voices. But a cockney sounding lizard for an American company just doesn't do it for me.

There is another foreign accented animated critter out there. This one is a bee with some sort of Latin accent (probably the same guy that does the lizard). He's peddling allergy meds. Something occurs to me every time I see one of these pharmaceutical ads. They always urge me to "talk to my doctor." My doctor, as if I have one. I have not seen the same doctor twice in a row since I became an adult. I saw a chiropractor for a while, but I don't think that really counts. So MY DOCTOR, who is familiar with my medical history etc. is as imaginary as a cockney gecko.

D'OH!
I did a rare thing this weekend -- I went to the movies! I saw THE SIMPSONS MOVIE. I had to fly solo, not being able to interest anyone else in seeing a feature length cartoon. Go figure.

I liked it. Of course, I'm quite a fan already. For some reason I "get" the Simpsons. Not that I'm alone, of course. There are a gazillion fans on the planet. For non-fans, I would recommend you stay away. Check out an episode on TV and see how you like it.

The movie itself starts out really well, lots of funny jokes and gags. Quite frankly, it tends to wear a little thin after a while. My only complaint was that the story focused almost completely on the Simpsons family. Personally, I find many of the side characters to be the most amusing thing about the Simpsons. We were all yukin' it up pretty good in the theater though.

I always allow myself to indulge in animation of any kind. I privately claim that I'm doing "research" which is more or less true. That's my bread and butter -- writing scripts that are hopefully heading to production (albeit at a glacial pace). In the meantime, I invite you to EAT MY SHORTS!