It’s Like Open Mic Only Different
Here’s how it works.
It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME
The rules are simple — be nice.
There are always first timers and new things to talk about.
Tonight we’re talking our favorite commercials!
We might also talk about
-
Why choosy mothers used to choose Jif
The Geico Gekko and the Taco Bell Chihuahua
Fed Ex and cell phones
What were Fizzies?
AND THE EVER POPULAR,
Basil the code-writing donkey.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles
The Mic Is On and Cartoon Characters Are Here!
Whee, I made it on time for once 🙂
Hey, you are on time and the VERY first!
You know I was just thinking. Adsense probably counts under the term “commercials.”
Now you see the great thrill of showing up frirst,
Are you having a “red-eye” espresso?
Actually, today I’m bringing a norwegian fall special – well, the recipe anyway.
Though yes, it’s 2:03 AM here, so I’m always having a Red-Eye Special around now.
WHERE’S THE BEEF!!!
No House on tonight 🙁
I’ve seen a few commercials lately that I think are really funny, but I don’t remember what they are now.
Oh, one is that orkin commercial. One is some tennis thing which is like a pong game
The orbitz housewife battle.
Hi, y’all. I’m searching for a normal day, anyone have one I could borrow?
How about the Koolaid commercial?
Ohhh YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!
Hi Chris! Hi Trisha!
What a cold one?
Ha ha — that’d be nice. 😉
You know what’d be handy? I nice AJAX WP plugin so I don’t have to keep on hitting “refresh” 😉
Hi Tony! Hi Candice!
I hate to say it, but want some ice tea or some KoolAid?
I’ll take a beer if you got one – Root Beer, perhaps?
Ha ha — give the Koolaid a pour please!
Diet coke and wine. Today is the one year anniversary of The Thing, and if I didn’t have hours to bill I would already be drunk.
Trisha, How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?!
thanks Liz – I already have some!
Chris – I don’t know about Hawaiian Punch, but I’d love to be in Hawaii right now!
Hi everybody!
I’ve been away for a while — “real life” has intruded into my Tuesday evenings lately. But I’m glad to get synched up with this tonight!
Hey Chris,
How many years has it been since I heard “how about a nice Hawaiian Punch?
A-lo-ha!
“My beer is Rheingold, the dry beer…”
I can’t believe I remember that jingle. I don’t even drink beer. But somehow, it has stuck in my mind all these years. That’s SCARY! (even scarier is I remember the whole thing! GAH!)
Hi Liz, Hi EVERYONE!
I just finished adding a plugin to my blog that Rick recommended, LandingSites. It really works!
And of course, we’re watching TV — Big Brother.
Hi Culeann!
Sorry about that real life thing. What KoolAid, a beer or how about a nice Hawaiian Punch?
What commercials do you remember?
Liz, I don’t know how many years it’s been since you’ve heard it. Sometimes the TV lands on Nick at Night here for a moment or two…
FYI — Advice Librarian — your blog is down … did you know about this?
Scorpia!
Here’s your beer!
AdLIb! Scorpia is here! Over here!
Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer weiner,
That is what I’d truly like to be-e-e.
Cause, if I were an Oscar Mayer weiner,
Every-one woud be in love with meeee.
Is anyone else watching Celebrity Duets?
I’m lovin’ it!
Liz, I don’t drink beer. Any beer. But thanks for the offer. Now, if anyone has some Glenlivet, that’s different (promise me anything, give me single malt ;).
Joe,
We’re all in love with you already.
Dead Like Me, Sci-Fi
Scorpia,
A Glenlivet for you is my pleasure to provide. Here you go!
Anyone else?
And Joe makes his entrance singing a singularly appropriate jingle…
Oh, damn – again?
Hey all, just catching my breath after that song.
And – hi, Scorpia! Make mine a Laphroaigh, and we’ve got a deal.
MMMM. That’s good. Thanks Liz, you run a great bar here.
Of course, if I have too many, it’ll be “Plop, plop, Fizz fizz” time. 😉
(looking up) GlenLivet?
Yeah — what blogging software do you use? WP? Textpad? …
Here you go ADLib
Glad to see you finally met
Hey AdLib, nice to meet another person with good taste in liquor 😉
Plop, plop, Fizz fizz
I can’t believe I ate the whoooole thing.
WordPress. Here’s a link to the plugin
Ya’ll are a bunch of drunks.
Liz, that must have been Mamma Mia’s spicy meatball, eh? Hehehe.
I grew up under the 3 ring sign… and not in the circus.
Anyone remember Ballentine Beer, or is that too local to Philly?
Hey Katie, Big Roy,
Something to drink?
KoolAid, Ice Tea, Glen Livet:
How about a nice Hawaiian punch?
My father used to drink Ballentine. I also remember Bert and Harry Piel.
Why I remember all this beer stuff is beyond me.
I remember Ballentine, how about Schlitz and Black Label?
Hi Liz,
I’ll take whatever ale you’ve got handy. Something Canadian would be great.
Actually, I think of Canadian when I think of favorite (or favourite as Canadians spell it) commercials. When I go back up to Toronto to visit family, I always seem to get bigger guffaws from commercials there than here. I think maybe there’s a distinctly Canadian sense of humor (humour) — to some, it might seem a little bent but it keeps me laughing. 🙂
Hi Liz — Scorpia slipped me some Glenlivet and I’m happy….
(giggling)
Mabel, Black Label, yeah I remember that too. ARGHH!!!
I am sitting here desperately trying to remember something besides beer.
Are beer ads all we know here?
How about the new Sprint ads for the phones with the new built in theft deterrent systems?
Schaeffer just came to mind. NOOOOO! Stop! Stop I say. Please…pleeeeeaaasse…..
What about all those old rock and roll songs that are showing up later?
Roy,
Did I just hear you call a Saloonkeeper’s daughter’s friends a bunch of drunks?
Now that’s sumptum special. 🙂
I mean don’t get me wrong. I think the Guiness ads are BRILLIANT!
So far, the only thing that anyone has come up with is food or beverage… 😉
I think this is moving faster than last week. Or is it just that mister’s home tonight and he optimistically thinks I’m listening to him…
The Sprint system works good. But they need something like Akismet that takes care of theft when you’re not there.
Cuileann
At the SB sidebar we have any beer you can imagine by the caseload, the truckload, the trainload and it’s all cold and it’s all free!!
Schaeffer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one!!!
Can you hear me now?
I don’t know nuthin’ ’bout modern commercials, Miz Scarlet.
Hi Chris — I checked out your new blog today. Wow! Kudos for scraping together the time for starting another one! I can barely keep one going. Anyway, it looks great!!!
Let’s see – walk down to the grocery store and buy a couple big cabbage heads, the kind you’d be thinking of making into coleslaw. Get roughly 3 pounds. You’ll also be wanting some potatoes.
Step over to the butcher and buy 3 pounds of fresh lamb from neck, shank or breast, together with the bones, cut into serving-size pieces- not the lamb chops or any of the other choice cuts. They’re no good for this, you need meat that will stay in chunks when boiled.
You’ll need about 4 tsp peppercorns, a couple spoonfulls of wheat flour, and some salt, but that’s probably in your kitchen already.
Go home.
In the kitchen, you section the cabbage into wedges – probably about 8-10 per cabbage head unless you have a giant one. Don’t do anything to the lamb.
Place a layer of lamb at the bottom of your largest kettle, add a layer of cabbage, more lamb,cabbage and so on until you run out of lamb. Put a layer of cabbage on top of the last portion of lamb.
Oh yeah – sprinkle peppercorns, salt and a little flour on each layer of lamb. Me, I like at least 10-12 pepper corns on each layer, because this will boil for hours and with less you won’t get much flavour.
Add boiling water until it just covers the top layer of cabbage, and put on a slow boil for at least 1.5 hours. 2 hours if you think the lamb might be a little tough.
Boil some potatoes when you think your lamb has simmered long enough.
Serve on heated plates – goes well with water or beer and aquavit.
Oh, yes – you want equal weight of cabbage and lamb when scaling up the recipe for fifty of your closest friends 🙂
Why is it that you are watching a TV show at just the right volume, and when a commercial comes on, you jump out of your skin it’s so LOUD???
How did this recipe get into the middle of all the commercials?
You don’t brown the lamb at all?
Scorpia,
I think the recipe might be a commercial in the middle of the comments.
Thanks Cuileann! The new one will become my primary focus. My original has always been just for fun. (Oh, and a learning tool.)
AdLib, I’m not so much for cooked cabbage of any kind. Raw is OK. But cooked… Not so much.
The lamb sounds wonderful, though.
Whew, that took a lot of typing, but I DID say I’d be bringing the recipe, right?
The 3/3 pounds serves about 4, depending on how big eaters they are.
Well, even that didn’t help. I’m drawing a blank (here it is: [ ] ) on commercials. Of course, I can only recall the old ones, since I haven’t owned a TV in years.
What were your favorite brand foods when you were a kid?
Scorpia are you Amish?
This is what I’m making on Sunday for some friends since it’s my turn to host the annual “fÃÂ¥rikÃÂ¥l” dinner.
It’s also one of the simplest and tastiest lamb dishes ever, to the point when I see all the litte white newborn fleecy ones following their mamas in spring, all I can think is “FÃÂ¥rikÃÂ¥l” on the hoof….
Anyone remember the Cat Herding Commercial when it ran during the Superbowl a few years back? Gorgeous and I nearly peed our pants when we saw it. I can’t believe they didn’t play it over and over.
I only ever saw it on TV that once.
We didn’t really get brand name foods when I was a kid. I guess with 8 kids, it was just too expensive. My mom specialised in making 10 sandwiches out of one can of tuna. It took a lot of mayonaise.
Y’know Liz, I’m not sure I had any. Well, there was Dad’s Root Beer. That’s all I can come up with. Oh yeah, and Jiffy Pop.
Jiffy Pop
Pop pop jiffy pop
that was sooo coool
Okay, I think I’ve snapped out of my food obsession for the moment – where were we?
Oh yes, commercials.
Were we doing alternative slogans for companies too, like “Coke – beacuse caffeinated sugar water is addictive and keeps your kids hyperactive in school”?
This is pretty good too.
Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun.
I wrote something touching about tuna. I wonder where it went?
Roy, nope, not Amish. Just realized one day how little I was watching, and stopped completely.
One reason was (ahem) all the commercials, and I know it’s worse now 😉
Who remembers… Hertz, let us put you in the drivers seat.
Where the guy comes floating from nowhere into the drivers seat of a convertible?
I remember that one, Joe.
One Word Scorpia: TIVO
I have barely watched commercials-live tv in years.
Hey, I stopped watching TV a few years back too – I just didn’t have the time and the box took up so much space in the living room.
Besides, all the time I save by not watching TV lets me have more time to indulge my computer games obsession more.
Birkenstock
Because shoes weren’t really meant to cover your feet.
What games AdLib?
Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors
Because Larry ate 32 when we got stone and we cant remember
Oh yeah, sorry I missed your question, Roy. No, you dump the lamb in raw – that’s why you’re boiling it for so long.
There’s no leftover problem either – you’re supposed to have them. The dish is even tastier when you reheat it for leftover dinner the day after.
Thanks for that Cat Herding link, Chris! I hadn’t seen it before now. Great ad!
AdLib — all the recipe talk has reminded me that I still need to have dinner. I think I’ll go pop a frozen meal in the microwave. Just a fast and easy supper tonight. Your lamb dinner sounds so much better though!
Cuileann — GO CANADA! 🙂
“Porsche – because your mid-life crisis would be incomplete without one”
Starbucks
one on every corner
so you always feel home,
but never know where you are
I need to take a little break – I’ll be back a little later.
Joe, that commercial is on YouTube somewhere… It was shot in New Orleans in the 60s.
AdLib, I hear you have to take the games off your drive to get any work done. True? Or should I ask: is it real or is it Memorex?
Avis: we’re number 2 so we try harder 😉
I tend to obsess over one game at a time – I spent two weeks trying to beat all the campaigns of Command&Conquer: Generals at the highest difficulty setting, for example…
Right now though, it’s Civilization IV and the new expansion set Civilization: Warlords that has me hooked.
*in his best Yoda voice* There is no try! There is only do. And do not.
I played Civ IV when if first came out. I haven’t played the expansion.
Ah. Yes the war/strat games have the most legs of any genre. A friend of mine burned out on the original Civ. He’s doing Civ IV now; I wonder how long he’ll keep with it.
Well, if my blog was up – I’m poking around in the installation now and I can’t find the error – you’d notice a loong gap where I didn’t post anything on account of falling off the Civilization wagon.
And I was doing so well too, until a fellow addict offered me just one litte round of over-the-net gaming…
Friends can be so helpful 😉 Maybe you should start Gamers Anonymous. Of course, that would probably keep you from your blog even more.
Whoa Chris!
You have Yoda down.
I thought he was right here in my computer.
Whoo.
Hey everyone! Boy I’m late tonight!
How’s everyone doing?
Dell — Speed
Set your laptop on fire!
Into the other room, go I must. Calling is Gorgeous. Eureka we must watch.
‘nite all! I’ll catch you next week.
Enjoy!
I stopped gaming when they started putting ads (covertly) within…
If you don’t see them, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
That’s where they came up with the term subliminal.
Hey Ben!
Where’s Basil?
Good night Chris,
We’ll miss your wit!
Joe, what games? What ads?
Hi Liz…Basil’s in Scottsdale, Arizona with the Austins — Bill and Kathee. Seems like he’s having a good time.
He’s heading to Australia soon!
Well, I’m over the worst “Ooooh, new stuff! Shiny! I need to work out the optimum strategy for this!” initial phase, so I can now do other things in my spare time without getting too twitchy…
Ben,
Does Basil watch TV?
See ya Chris, that’s why I have a TV here, no TIVO for me. 😉
Hey Ben, suup
Of course Basil watches TV. He loves TV. Watches it all the time.
These days he’s probably not watching it as much cause he’s touring so much, but I bet he’s watching a ton of HBO cause we don’t get that in Canada.
I don’t know what his favorite commercial is, I’d have to ask him…
I just had an extraneous thought. If you made a timepiece for a pharoah, would that be a Khufu clock?
Hmm, Basil’s a Donkey, right?
I bet he’s a fan of Democrat political ads – isn’t their mascot a donkey?
I believe their mascot is a donkey, but Basil’s Canadian, so he’s not that up on American politics.
I bet if he saw some Democratic ads he might enjoy seeing the donkey in them…
Scorpia, any game, all of them.
Hit pause sometime, if you see a bottle of coke on the ground, or and ad on a billboard for a new game, or a skateboard that has a name on it, or a car that goes by that has Ford or Chevrolet or Volvo.
Take your pick of which game.
Hmm, haven’t noticed anything like that in any games I’ve played recently. Wouldn’t do any good with me, I don’t buy any of those things anyway. But thanks for the info, Joe. I’ll keep a closer watch from now on.
Katie,
I just found a comment that Akismet ate. Sorry.
*snorts*
Dang, Scorpia – you came very, very close to owing me a new keyboard with that pun 🙂
No prob, Scorpia.
Kufu clock… 🙂
To Scorpia
I thought Eve was a realistic type game where the players made the world. In the real world people embezzle money from the bank all the time.
heh, Adlib. I was just sitting here licking my Cheops waiting for someone to notice it 😉
Roy, yeah, I hear about that. Online games can be dangerous, which is one reason I avoid them. But that was certainly a classic scam. Nasty, too.
That’s OK Liz — things have been moving so fast, it’s impossible to keep up anyway. And you’re checking for spam at the same time? You’re good!
I don’t dare get any MMORPG games – based on what happened when I played Baldur’s Gate 1/2, they’d eat my life completely.
But some of the stories coming out of EVE online are just beautiful…
Hey,
Got some pizza and a few snacks here.
Is this a new form of obsessing on games???
I’m with everyone about getting too hooked by games. I haven’t played any in a long time, at least of any significance, cause I get too hooked.
Baldur’s Gate was bad for me.
Anyone used to MUD?
Liz, just give me a little time, I just had Chinese. 😉
Foo! Just when I have to be leaving. Well, I’ll grab a slice (the one with mushrooms and pepperoni) before I scoot away. There are critters to kill, goodies to grab and Foozle to frag!
Bye all! Thanks for a fun time!
Pizza? Dang! I wish I was allowed to eat between meals.
My wife has played World of Warcraft since it came out. She likes it.
Hi Ben!
I was saying earlier that I found Canadian commercials funnier sometimes than the ones in the US. I grew up near Toronto and enjoy the ads when I go back to visit. I don’t think the ads themselves are necessarily “funnier,” just that I perhaps have one of those Canadian senses of humour! I think the humour might be in the heart of the beholder rather than the ad itself.
This all reminds me of when I started complaining about the road signage getting worse, until I found out that I needed glasses. The beholder definitely makes a difference!
Ah Katie,
This is magic pizza it’s from Neverland.
It Never lands on your thighs.
Completely malapropos, by the way – my favourite fun Pyramid dig find was the work sheet of a stonemason working on the Cheops pyramid.
He took three days off to brew beer – and a few weeks later he took a week off to get drunk.
It’s one of the more compelling pieces of evidence for the theory that the Pyramids weren’t built with slave labour…
katiebird,
You can eat virtually anything in a virtually enhanced world.
Cuileann,
I love that about the signage and your glasses.
That’s classic.
American signs
Proof that your eyes are getting bad
Joe, not eating between meals is virtually my life (sighing sadly)
Ooh, MUD’s! Yeah – first year of college was a naaarow squak when I discovered Discworld MUD…
AdLib,
Wins tonight’s prize for saying the secret word in a sentence . . . malapropos
And I was hoping to keep this lovely
box before which Carol Merrill is standing.
(cough) Liz too (sorry I missed your comment) — I can’t even imagine it anymore. So sad, too.
Damn I was just about to use that too.
Oooh, do you mean I win back the exiting No-Prize you won off me for the Blog Snipe Hunt?
I must confess, Liz, that the signage story is related to complaints I made before moving to the US. I got glasses long before moving to Austin, and I still love what I see here! Awesome!
Tricks were made for kids…
So, anyone got plans for Labour Day?
AdLib — I had a feeling you’d be a MUDder.
Cuileann — Canadian sense of humour eh? Sweet! We are a funny country…
Labour Day?
Celebrating my son’s 2nd birthday on Saturday! Wow. 2 years. Crazy.
MUD
I can’t walk on water
That I understand
But just what am I walking on,
When I walk on land?
Sometimes land is dark and black.
People call that dirt.
When I trip on dirt or grass
It doesn’t really hurt.
Other land has lots of stones.
Some folks call them rocks.
Rocks are hard to walk across
So I wear shoes and socks
I’ve seen land that’s made of clay,
It’s kind of wet and red,
Land in Georgia is that way,
That’s what my brother said.
My favorite land is on the beach
It’s made of grains of sand
But when you try to pick it up
It falls right through your hand.
Yesterday, I slipped on land
I fell down with a thud.
My sister said the dirt was wet
But I knew it was MUD.
Making an all-too-rare appearance here – hi, everyone. Hi, Liz! 🙂
I love this one commercial for … Snickers, I believe … where a Kansas City Chiefs player turns to the guy painting the end zone and asks, “Who are the Chefs?” (Not going anywhere for a while? Grab a Snickers. Hehehe.)
Cool 🙂 The “nephew” I borrow sometimes to play with is five – they’re adorable at that age, aren’t they?
Well, his parents call it babysitting when I go to play with my five-year old friend….
Easton!
Great commercial and comic relief!
Thanks for stopping in!
Labor Day depends on what Ernesto does. I may be cutting trees. And putting gas in the generator.
Hey Easton…good to see you around.
That is a funny commercial.
Recently in Canada, Bell (telephone/Internet company) has these commercials with two animated beavers — comedians are voicing the beavers (names escape me). Some are so-so but a couple of them have been very funny. There was one where one of the beavers was watching hockey and coughed up a hair ball.
Ahh…beavers…
Easton: Snickers: Happy Peanut Song!
Can’t really get into topic mood tonight, but the flood insurance commercials are getting really annoying.
Can I recommend stocking up on lamb and cabbage?
Sorry, sorry – I’m just looking forward to making it Sunday 😛
Frogs?
How about the Bud-wis-er Lizards?
They went on well after the SuperBowl Phenom.
Hey everyone!
Happy Birthday to your son, Ben! Two is cool. The terrible twos – just to prepare you for the teen years.
Budweiser did some great commercials.
I like the Polar Bear commercials from Coke too.
Hey Rick– thanks.
The terrible twos are in full swing. All he says these days is “mine, mine, mine.” Ok, he says more than that, but everything is prefaced with “mine.”
I plan on posting a picture of him on September 2nd or the day before on my blog…a little self indulgent, but it’s such a cool picture, it still cracks me up.
Hey Rick!
Welcome . . . how about a Hawaiian punch?
My son had wonderful twos and terrible 3s to 17s
Some of the Coke light commercials that parallell the “swedish bikini team” beer commercials makes me pretty creeped out…
Oh, right, sorry – we were talking about favourite commercials, right?
On two totally unrelated topics —
1. Anyone want the BEST BROWNIE recipe ever? I’m serious. I just made them last night. My wife was supposed to, but she abandoned me for a phone call. I powered through and the brownies are insane.
2. Anyone want to be interviewed by me for a small business podcast? I’m playing with the idea of doing some interviews (and trying to figure out how to do that technically.)
Feel free to email me for either — byosko@gmail.com
Huggies.
only until they are ready for Depends
That would be great, Liz. Let me get my Hawaiian shirt first. And a piece of B-O-L-O-G-N-A.
My bologna has a first name
Its o-s-c-a-r
My bologna has a second name
Its m-a-y-e-r
I love to eat it every day
And if you ask me
Why I’ll say
Cause…
Oscar Mayer has a way with
B-O-L-O-G-N-A
I just remembered the “my NHL” commercials last winter when the NHL started up again. I didn’t like those…they were silly.
Recently Canadian Tire (obviously a Canadian company) has come out with some funny commercials…anyone seen them?
Oh Rick,
Then we can ask Charlie what he says,
Charlie says “Love that Good ‘n Plenty”
Well, since I’m in Norway and don’t watch TV anyway… no, I haven’t seen it 😛
Right now I’m looking at a google ad that says
TV Commercial Jingles
All Originals Better Prices 100%
Guaranteed Faster Recall.
http://www.jinglebrokers.com
Latest TV Ads
Watch all the latest TV
Ads as they break for free
http://www.thinkbox.tv
Since when did you have to pay for them?
I don’t remember the Good n Plenty commercials, probably due to a strong dislike of licorice. You say Charlie and all I see is Charlie Brown flying through the air after Lucy yanks the football out from in front of him yet again.:)
We don’t get Canadian commercials here. I like the squirrels from the insurance company commercials that purposely wreck cars. I think one of them lives on my street.
I’m making another Red-eye special by the way – anybody else want one?
ooo yes. I have a big creativity thing tomorrow. That should get the brain in the right frame for it!
No thank you, AdLib. I’m good with Hawaiian Punch.
AdLib — you don’t get Canadian commercials in Norway? What a rip-off.
If you go to http://www.frankandgordon.ca/ you’ll see the website dedicated to the beavers. Frank and Gordon.
I thought Liz was talking about Charlie the Tuna, from Starkist.
The Geico gecko can be pretty funny…fairly swarthy little gecko.
No brownie takers? Interviewees for small business podcast?
Well, I did get canadian commercials on the TV when I was living in Canada, but they didn’t follow me home to Norway.
I can’t remember which Canadian commercials I really liked when I was in Toronto in May/June, Ben, but Canadian Tire was probably in the bunch.
I crave Canadian programming sometimes down here. I used to be able to see a Sunday night version of “The National” for us ex-pats, but that’s been discontinued.
AdLib – when did you live in Canada, and where?
Hey, Ben? Just do what I do – ursurp Liz’ blog to post recipes 🙂
Rick!! I don’t know if you remember, but you suggested that I install related-posts and landingSites to my blog & I just this minute got them both installed.
I’ve even got the related posts set so it only displays on single pages. I’ve never successfully negotiated the loop until today!!
Thank you so much — I think they look and work fantastic!
Ben!
That’s totally not fair.
First you Canadians know everyone.
Then you have Basil the code-writing donkey — who you are nice enough to share with the world
Now you have Frand and Gordon, the Beavers?
Come on!!! What do we get?
Ooh… I forgot all about Charlie the Tuna. “Sorry, Charlie”.
I’ll take a Brownie! Chocolate should never be refused.
Dunno ’bout commercials elsewhere, but over here, they have banned commercials on,
cigarettes,
alcohols,
scantily dressed women.
dull huh?
I was a HS exchange student – lived in Varna, Central Huron and I went to CHSS that year. About 20 minutes bike ride to the Huron shore- and 40 minutes back as it was a loong slight slope that direction.
Cuileann — you must be able to get some Canadian broadcasts via YouTube. I think CBC has some stuff on there.
Ben,
I’ll have a brownie and if you need a podcast I’ll do that too. 🙂
Rick is right, It would be impolite of me to turn down chocolate at my own party. 🙂
ah pek,
We don’t have cigarette or alcohol either. Worse we have Paris Hilton commercials. Now she should be banned — ugly.
Oh, Katie, do you want my sure-fire miracle weight loss recipe? I’m following it myself at the moment…
AdLib, Sure — would you like me to feature it at eat4today?
I will email brownie recipes — it’s a bit long for posting here.
Liz – I may call you on the interview thing – it’s for the Great Big Small Business Show (http://www.gbsbs.com)
And this just in — 2 keys just BROKE OFF my Dell laptop. The N and the M. I’m typing on the little plastic nubs underneath the keys which I can’t reattach!!
Liz,
You don’t have alcohol commercials in Chicago?
I guess Elliott Ness did his job better than I thought.
Hi katiebird. I’m glad they worked out. They’re a cool way to let other people know what’s going on at your blog. I found out about them at Darren Rowse’s http://www.problogger.net . He has a page with the plugins he uses. Unfortunately I can’t remember its URL now.
The Library of Congress seems to keep an archive of TV commercials. Their Coke archive is at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colahome.html . They have a complete history and videos of all the TV ads Coke has done.
DELL
where you don’t need all of the letters
just learn to spell words creatively
Ben — I’ll check out YouTube. I’m sure you’re right about some Canadian content being there.
Everybody — I’ve really got to go! See you all next week!
Liz — Thanks for the ale and for being an awesome host! See ya next Tuesday!
Only beer commercials allowed, no hard alcohol. Maybe the FCC thinks beer is food.
Well, it’s really simple.
1. Buy a bike.
2. Sell your car.
3. Eat the same.
Sell, your car, because then you’re not tempted to use it when it rains – and if you’re going somewhere out of bike range there’s always buses and taxis. The exercise and fresh air is good for you, and builds muscle which will help you burn off the fat even when you’re not going somewhere.
That’s also government policy overe here by the way – people who can document that they bike to work get tax breaks 🙂
Hey Cuileann,
Thanks for coming. We did miss your cheer!
Good night and when the time comes, sweet dreams.
I’m glad you can build your own desktop. That’s a drag, Ben.
Good night, Cuileann. Take care.
It’s near impossible to type quickly without keys.
Good night Cuileann!
Hi Liz, Hi all. For US commercials I’m about 20 years behind so it won’t count (but I do remember “where’s the beef”).
And being busy (snowed) I’ll leave some link love and run …
Although not strictly commercials, the below are some of my ad favs.
Advertising/Design Goodness has some amazing stuff http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/
Same with Adpulp (along with a bit of industry gossip) http://www.adpulp.com/
Thirdway Advertising has wide range of critiques of the different ad campaigns (excellent stuff) http://www.thirdwayblog.com/
Another fantastic ads collection can be found at Ads of the World http://adsoftheworld.com/
And for a bit of fun, I head over to what’s happening in Russia. It’s a hoot! http://dlutskiy.com/eblog/eblog.html
Have fun all … I’m off to rangle with catching up …
cat
That Cat,
She’s almost a streaker – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Since my keyboard is now officially broken I’m going to sign off and … read a book!
Don’t forget — brownies and small business podcasting — get in touch with me. My contact info is all over the place.
Have a great night y’all! Follow the donkey! He’s going to Australia soon!
Good night, Ben,
Sorry about that keyboard. . . .
Hi and bye, Cat. I wonder why we don’t have tattoo commercials in the US?
AdLib, your diet made me tire thinking about it. It wouldn’t be practical around here. I can walk to one location, but others are up to 10 miles away (17 kilometers), and I have to go to two or three a day. Bus service is too rare to be reliable.
G’night Ben. Enjoy the book.
I’m going to bid adieu, also. Thank you for the punch, Liz. Y’all take care now, you hear? 🙂
Well, buying a bike will help even if you can’t dispose of the car – and considering how long it takes to get through the bumper-to-bumper morning commute, driving doesn’t save you much time… plus, you’ll be better prepared for when gas his $5 a gallon…
Good night, Rick,
Enjoy the rest of your evening.
I’ll be out of the office tomorrow so you guys keep an eye around here. 🙂
Umm, y’all we do have alcohol commercials in the states. Snobby grey goose vodka comes to mind.
Your state might be too conservative to air them?
I’m not what the rule is on alcohol commercials. i thought it was all hard liquor. Guess that’s not right . . . .
After Liz’s poem on mud,
and dirt and sand and crud.
I can’t write one myself,
afraid it would be a dud.
Berma Shave,
Nite Liz
Nite All
From my impression on american advertising it’s only hard drugs that must be advertised in a somewhat circumspect way.
Why on God’s green earth are pharma companies allowed to advertise prescription medication if they just stick “consult your doctor” on the ads?
Joe,
Don’t be silly,
I would be so disappointed if you did that ever.
Sweet dreams. 🙂
AdLIb,
The doctor still has to write the script for the drugs. It’s a pain to go through the acquisition process, believe me. I have to renew my scripts every 6 months.
I feel terrible, I got caught up in tweaking things and didn’t get back to talk to Rick. It’s funny he said I should look at ProBlogger’s list. I had just finished checking it to see if they put the related posts above or below the ads in the single post view.
Because I wanted to do it the same way…
And is Ad Lib still around — I like that diet technique. I just wish I could ride a bike on I-70.
HI Katie!
Yes, AdLib is still around.
My favorite commercial was the old DoubleMint twins commercials. Those, and those old “Freedent’s the one that took the stick out of gum,” if for nothing else but the silly jingles that always stuck in my head.
Hi Liz — this has been a busy night, I could just barely lurk here while doing all my little tweaks. But, I think I’ve made great progress.
Now I just need to fix it so I display one big-fat-ad on the second post of the homepage.
(sigh)
All because of you and Rick and our conversation yesterday.
I’m usually the last to leave 🙂
Well, sometimes it’s not practical to do the “sell the car” bit, but everyone can buy a bike.
Not one of those crappy “exercise bikes” either – what’s the point of pedalling away if all you ever see is the bedroom wall?
Besides, I like bicycles – I remember getting my first one as a kid. I loved that bike – it was speed, freedom and mobility all rolled up into one. Plus some gruesomly skinned knees…
My new favorite is the Dairy Queen series. There’s actually two. A bickering couple who eat gigantic ice cream treats and another with two men friends who always eat sandwiches. They’re very funny.
Hi Phil!
Welcome!
Yeah, when we were kids we made up new words to the Doublemint jingle. . . . 🙂
Hi everybody! Just got back from dinner here in Billings, MT (yes Liz another “Rockies drive” today – sweet). My favorite commercial – that cell phone commercial about the older business guy who talks about “sticking it to the man”, and his assistant says “but YOU are the man”. Priceless.
There is a oppossum out on our deck right now! Sorry, that has nothing to do with commercials.
Ad Lib — I don’t need to buy one. My son is storing 27 of them (all sorts, racing, mountain, trick, etc) in the garage. I don’t think he’d ever know if I borrowed one.
In my youth I commuted 15 miles and back to a job for 3 or 4 months. This town isn’t made of that now. I think drivers are deliberately trying to kill bicyclists.
Hey Starbucker,
Did you see Phil’s here.
I’m jealous of your Rockies drive — again!
Trisha, I once had an opossum in my living room for a week or so. It’s one of my ‘stories’ and always a hit.
Trisha,
No worries. It’s not like we actually stay on topic around here on open comments night. That topic is only a suggestion. 🙂
Hey Phil, Tricia, katiebird, Ad Lib – do we still have a quorum? At least to keep Liz’ bar open!
Starbucker, I’m here for sure — what’s on the table?
I had hedgehogs on my doorstep last week 🙂
Whatcha drinking Starbucker?
I’ve still got a virtual juke box playing. Don’t want to wake the folks on the next blog.
The hard stuff – club soda and lime. Got any disco on that juke box? Maybe a little dancin’ is in order on a lazy summer August night!
I’m looking forward to the new Iron Maiden album – “Up the Irons!” – it’s being hailed as the best thing they’ve done since Seventh Son…
Iron Maiden! How long have they been at it Ad Lib – quite a ways back, no?
You should be dancing, yeah!
I dreamed of doing that Travolta solo he did in “Saturday Night Fever” to that song at my local disco, but never had the nerve to try. In hindsight I should have said “the heck with it” and gone for it.
There should be a dance version of Karaoke
Iron Maiden started waaaay back – 1977, if I’m not off my rocker. They, along with Judas Priest and Motorhead were the best of heavy metal… and they’re still rockin’.
Iron Maiden’s kept going like the Duracell Bunny at least partly because of the band motto: “No-one here is gonna need rehab”…
I wanna do the Travolta walk down the street to “Stayin’ Alive.”
Good for them Ad Lib – 30 years is one good run. Long may they rock.
Liz, I like the dance Karaoke thing, but I wish it existed say 20 years ago, when I could actually do the moves! Now I’d be hopeless.
27 bikes? Hmm – so, Katie… which errands during your day can you replace the car with a suitable bike?
Heck, as long as you’re willing to get on your bike and cycle the 5 miles to the drive-in, I’m willing to spot you a milkshake when you get there 🙂
So, Starbucker, we just be the old fogies who start the Karaoke place, make it popular, and then franchise the concept.
Gosh yes , the Travolta “strut” – how cool was that!
If you’re embarrased about danicng in public, get a Playstation and “Dance, Dance Revolution” or one of the other dancemat video games – good fun, I’ve heard 🙂
Yes Liz, we’re the “franchisers”! That’s what fogies do. And watch “Dancing with the Stars” 🙂
My shy introverted son does that Dance Revolution thing. He says he only picks the stuff where he can stomp through it. 🙂
I sometimes do the Travolta strut down the street when no one’s looking. That’s when I’m not trying to balance on the street curb without falling. 🙂
Iron Maiden had one of the most original media relations approaches I’ve ever heard of – for the launch of their last album, they invited the music press to play them in a press-vs-band soccer match.
Their lead singer, Bruce dickinson, is an airline pilot in civilian life, by the way – he was one of the pilots flying refugees out of Lebanon this month….
Dancemat video games? Those really exist? I’m so out of the Playstation thing – maybe I need to get in.
They sound pretty interesting Ad Lib – and quite a dual life that lead singer leads!
AdLib, is it enough that I walk between 3 and 6 miles every single day? For example, 4.5 miles today..
I’m pretty old for bike riding these days.
Oh yeah, Katie,
You’re like 300.
katiebird, 4.5 miles is pretty darn good – I’m happy to get a mile in on the treadmill every morning.
I walked once. 🙂
Good on you Liz! I take it the limo died that day? 🙂 🙂
Nah, I was feeling feisty. 🙂
Hi Everybody. ~waves to the crowd
Commercials: Posted on my other site a while back … Russian Beer Ads .. “They’re Getting Better”
ok then. Will be reading the last couple of pages to catch up on the conversation.
Liz, it seems like it some days (especially on the days after I walk 8 or 9 miles!) I’ve got a 31 year old kid, if that’s any clue to my age.
And the only reason I walk that much is that they say people who’ve lost weight and keep it off walk an average of 3-4 miles a day and weigh themselves everyday. And they participate in a support group, which was the original inspiration for starting my blog. (whew)
I’m actually very lazy.
HART! How ya doin? How are things in the great white north?
Katie,
I think we’re probably close to the same age. I’m lazy too so I understand.
Hey HART!!
Great to see you!
What should the theme for comment night be next week?
Sure, you can walk if you want to – but try one of the bikes too, please. It’s just fun riding around too – if I concentrate just a litte while riding I can remember that kid with his brand-new bike all those years ago back when the world was shiny new. Go on, give it a go – you know you want to 🙂
wow – a opposum in your living room! Once we had a chipmonk run into our house for a few minutes, but that is all.
I like Bruce Dickinson, he seems like a nice guy. I only have one Iron Maiden album though. Is he still into fencing?
Well, as long as you don’t really make me drink a milk shake after. Do you know that those Dairy Queen Blizzards in the commercial I mentioned earlier have 845 calories? In each one?
Heck, we had a bull snake in our kitchen.
Dickinson’s still fencing, yes – but he’s not at the level he was at back when the British National fencing team wanted him to join up. That would have gotten in the way of staying with the band though – and all things considered, I’m happy that the singer on “Number of the Beast” and “Fear of the Dark” to name a few didn’t jump ship.
Iron Maiden without Bruce Dickinson was sort of like Judas Priest without Rob Halford – just plain Wrong on so many levels.
Both my bands have their real singers back, thank the Gods of Metal 🙂
Hi Starbucker .. I’m great up here in the Great White North, although, the temperature has been cooling down gradually. Damn you Global Warming taking all our Great Canadian Warm Air!!
Hi Liz .. Hope you are well 🙂 I was lost in cat’s commercial links on page 9 i believe.
For next week .. why not something like .. “What I did on my summer Vacation” or “What I did on my Winter Vacation” for all you down unders ?
uh-oh, I just caught myself yawning . . .not the company, you understand, it’s the 4a.m. rising
845 calories? Good lord, what are the milk shakes made out of in your country? Cotton candy and cream?
A bullsnack in your kitchen? Maybe next week’s theme could be “the animals that took over our houses”?
Snacks in the Kitchen. It has a sort of flair
Sounds good. HART
We could sing
“Though we gotta say good-bye to the summer, darling I promise you this . . .
Hi katiebird ~ I like those Dairy Queen commercials too .. there’s a bunch of them .. the bees .. that was my favorite
Liz, don’t you think replying to 300 comments in about 2.5 hours could have an effect too? 4:30, whew!
AdLib — Cotton Candy and cream!! Probably. And High Fructose Corn Syrup, I’m sure.
I love Rob Halford!
Ad Lib, they are made out of ice cream!
(And katiebird dear, those are Sonic commercials.)
HART — I’m terribly embarrassed, but I was totally wrong. They aren’t Dairy Queen commercials that I was talking about (although I like those too) it’s the Sonic Commercials and the Sonic Ice cream that has 845 calories. I must be tired too.
Oh, and Hi, sibling!
(sigh)
Candice — I just caught that! Thanks, you’re absolutely right.
Like the “what I did this summer” theme too, although some of you could probably guess what I’ve been doing (involves tall peaks and endless roads) 🙂
I need to hit the hay too – early wake up call. To HART, Ad Lib, katiebird, Tricia, all who blogged before my arrival, and of course, our dear host, all the very best, and good night!
Well, anyway – yes, you don’t have to drink milk shake if you don’t want to, but do try the bike 🙂
I buy one milkshake a year at the start of summer – I don’t think of that as breaking the diet in any way…
*Offers the crowd some excellent local iced coffee. (way way way too hot outside to drink regular right now.)
Oops, and Candice too! Sorry to miss ya.
Goodnight, Starbucker — it’s been fun.
Good night Starbucker,
Tell those roads that I miss them.
Sweet dreams.
Good night, starbucker!
* wonders why anyone would ice good coffee, when there are microwaves now
Hi candice. Hey.
Starbucker.. How’re YOU doin’? (in best “Joey” voice)
HART,
Starbucker just left, sorry.
Hey you guys. I’m throwing HART and AdLIb the keys!
I’m at a client most of the day tomorrow and Thursday, but I’ll be checking when I can. 🙂
good night!
Hart, “cold-press” coffee. Never sees hot water. Great stuff. Mixed with a little bit of whole milk or cream.
Microwave-reheated coffee tastes terrible anyway.
Sleep tight, Liz! I’ll take good care of the place for you – promise!
…now, which of these keys unlocks the liquor cabinet?
Oh, and bye y’all!
Goodnight Liz, you throw a great party. I hope tomorrow goes well. Thank you very, very much.
And HART, Starbucker, candice, AdLib — It’s been grand. I’m fading out too.
xxoo
Thanks for heads up Liz. I should probably just say my goodbyes too, and get back to work ..
G’night everybody .. maybe next week!
Okay, looks like everyone’s signing out… so I guess that means it’s time for me to start putting the chairs up on the tables and mop the floor?
*sneeze*
Late again =(
Late is fashionable at times.
Point taken, Hart! =)
Hope you all had fun – I’m off to study again O/
That’s okay – I’ve started on the furniture, but the bar’s still open and the coffee’s still on, so take your pick and stick around 🙂
Hi Adv.Lib. .. first to arrive, last to leave .. reminds me of .. me .. from my youth to the present.
Heh, so you’re a caffeine-addicted insomniac too?
Yup .. there’s nothing like going to a party, and having the owner say .. “FOR PETE’s SAKE.. LEAVE! HERE! TAKE THE KEYS! GET OUT! OR DON’T GET OUT! JUST LOCK THE DOOR AFTER YOU!
Now, that ~could be because of coffee .. 🙂 sure! That’s it. Coffee. // What furniture are you building?
Well, I put the chairs up on the tables in Liz’ metaphorical Bar/Coffe shop/Blog in preparation for mopping the floor, before Yvonne came through the door and made me reconsider turning out the lights…
I’m looking at a new apartment though, and I’m going to get some more book shelves for it. My books have outgrown the current shelf space.
bookcases? Isn’t that what Empties are for? You need 24 cases and 12 cases of beer and stack them correctly however. I think I learned that on the “Great White North” with Bob and Doug McKenzie (SCTV)
Well, I’d have to drink more beer to have cases around – I’ve got 7 banana crates full instead.
They’re the ones that don’t fit into the current shelf space – I’ve stacked the books double in the 5 bookcases I’ve got up now, and I’ve still got crates and crates that I don’t have the room for…
Hey Yvonne!
Sorry I missed you by such a short bit. I was falling asleep — old ladies do that. It’s embarrassing to do that at a sidebar in public. People talk you know. . . . 🙂
HART,
*whispers to him* if I might have a word
um . . . er . . . THAT’S NOT WHAT I SAID!
You know my home is yours and always open to you. You are like family to me. You never have to leave. . . . 🙂
AdLib,
Thank you for everything.
By the way I think you have it right. When you have too many books, it’s time to get a bigger place to live.