...Variety...

I too often blog about the NBA. Not that there are rules, but if I want to get the attention of even 30% of my friends, I should talk about other things. I used to talk about politics more, but honestly the social media policy at work is scaring me off of that, as strange as that may sound. Even writing that sentence scares me a little. But I do love me some Big Brother, I really do.

So I figured I'd sorta just rant, Dennis Miller style, about all the different things that have interested me over the past few weeks. I know this is lame, and not articulate, but I'm feeling the urge to just put things down.

Straws

I am not a "They don't make 'em like they used to" kind of guy. I like change, progress, evolution, I like when things go in a different direction. One thing I don't like, however, are straws nowadays. I don't know what it is, if its the material of the paper sheath, or the material of the straw, but straws are harder to open, and they bend/break more easily than they used to.

I interact with straws a few times a week for iced coffee, so this may be a Dunkin Donuts issue, and I cringe that it most likely was a cost-saving measure, dropping the price of straws from .008 cents to .005 cents per straw worldwide, and it results in my crimping 40% of the straws I open and making it so I get equal parts Air and French Vanilla on every sip. This aggression on behalf of Dunkies won't stand.

Actually, it will stand quite easily, I have no leverage.

Nyjer Morgan

This is about baseball, and I'll keep it short, but this guy is bonkers! I don't have an opinion of him personally beyond that, but this guy is going to be my poster child for why throwing at batters is the single biggest nonsense thing in sports. It has no lasting benefit, it doesn't serve any purpose besides perpetuating some kind of false aggression, and it has no place in civilized sports - its like brawling in hockey but with less logic.

Morgan is completely nuts, but the reality is that the pitcher has said he threw at him partially b/c he didn't like that Morgan stole with a lead - that kind of thing drives me crazy. There isn't nearly as much of that in the NBA or NFL as there is in baseball - I swear to gosh so much crap comes out of baseball b/c these guys are playing a boring sport. Anyway, Morgan is crazy, baseball is silly, and fights make me queasy.

Jobs

I saw an analyst this morning on CNN that was saying she was shocked that there hasn't been an uptick in hirings in the marketplace. She said that temporary or part-time/freelance work is increasing, and she was stunned that companies weren't yet offering the full-time benefits route.

This is something that someone in the business has trouble seeing, but some of us outside of the business can see so easily. What business am I referring to? Simply put, the business of Greed.

If you are running a company, and you are driven by getting the shareholders more money, this economic downturn is the greatest thing for you. You have a 2 year built-in excuse for poor performance, which may be justified. Your company is no longer judged by the last 24 months, but by the next 24 months, which is great. As a private company, you have no incentive to increase your workforce - the reality that millions of hard working people need, and want, jobs isn't your responsibility.

Of course companies are hiring freelancers, of course they aren't paying benefits. The reality is there isn't enough work to go around for all of us to sustain our current lives - the myth of being busy at work all the time (for other people, of course) is something that we can't afford to let go of, so we act shocked when corporations can get the same output/input from an employer on 20 hours as they did on 40 hours.

The whole algorithm of what its going to take from a workforce/headcount perspective is changing.

The Mosque

I really don't have any intentions of discussing this beyond the fact that this is one of those times where people who are in charge, the leadership of this country, New York City, and even neighborhood level folks, need to stop considering the voice of every individual and what they think is right, and simply act.

My personal opinion is that Obama should step in, and become more vocal than he ever has been, about his feelings on this, and apply a pressure that has been unseen on the local level, prior to this. I would have the same opinion of G.W. Bush was in office - the person leading this country has to stand for something, and in the absence of standing for something vocally and without question, confusion reigns. Even if I don't agree with what the result is, courage in conviction and believing your own honesty is what matters. What this has all turned into is so sad, so analytically depressing, and it doesn't need to be. Someone either make this thing happen, or not happen, but lets stop dancing.

Dairy Queen

For the past 10 or 12 years or so, I decided to get Blizzards. Probably on average, 1 time per year, I'd get a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. When I was young, they were so unique - candies mixed with delicious-ish ice cream, what can beat that. Cookie Dough, Snickers, M&M's, Reeses...each flavor was so awesome. Then I had Nerds, and it was gross, but I pretended to like it.

Then I tried other flavors, I can't recall what they are, but it was always just "too much"... A blizzard is just "too much."

A few weeks ago I decided to go to my old standby - a combination at Dairy Queen I hadn't gotten since, oh I don't know, 1988? Swirl Soft Serve, cone, cherry dip.

The Blizzard has absolutely nothing on that combo. The Blizzard is auto-tune to The Cherry Dip Swirl's Joni Mitchell. So delicious. The blizzard is dead - its time for everyone else to stop pretending they like it.

Apple TV

In the spirit of fairness, I want to give Apple it's due props on how awesome Apple TV is. I never wanted Apple TV before for a few reasons. (1) It didn't stream HD, which really is a reason to not make a product, but in true Apple form, they made it anyway. (2) Apple TV didn't have a deep enough library, and without the relationship with a company like Netflix, it felt very limiting.

They fixed both those things, and for only $99 bucks we're finally seeing the future of what TV will look like in a tangible way, and that is awesome. I'd be shocked if my house didn't have an Apple TV by October 1.

Mad Men

I can't speak for every show on TV, but right now I watch about 3 shows. I watch Mad Men religiously, I watch Survivor and I watch Hard Knocks. The rest is live sports, or sports highlights programming. If Real Time With Bill Maher is on, I'm all over it.

I know this though, the last 2 weeks of Mad Men have been unbelievable. There is 1 show that comes to mind that was as good as this one late in it's 4th season, and that is The Wire. The Sopranos was good, but had tailed off, and the same goes for The West Wing.

But watching an episode of Mad Men is an education, it reminds me of my film class days, or even my English class days, where an art form was created in a way that gave you license to take leaps, create thoughts, go beyond the notion that "I just need to be entertained." Listen, I have no problem with entertainment, and I have no issue if people only want to watch Reality TV, I won't fault you for it, (unless its Jersey Shore - I fault you for that) but for me, personally, I'm at a time where I want a TV show to mean something to me, and Mad Men takes care of everything.

I'm looking for a good Mad Men email buddy - someone who will let me rant about my favorite parts, the most disappointing parts, and the parts that made me want to scream with joy and/or agony. I'll be accepting applications in the form of an essay. You wanna be my buddy, you have to explain to me why you think Peggy hasn't left Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price yet.