Trust Me...

I see this actual ad on several large well known websites as I surf around...including The Weather Channel's, Weather.Com. Every time I encounter the ad I have to wonder what kind of creative process went into it.

Did a focus group of Madison Avenue Ad guru's sit around musing what graphic they could use to go with a mortgage ad. "Let's see now, in these tough times, what visually depicts safety and security in a home loan? I've got it....how about a picture of someone who looks likes Charles Manson. Great idea, who doesn't love and trust Charlie Manson".

Was that it...or are they just dopes? I think the later. I know I personally never do business with a company using Charles Manson as their logo.

Up and Coming..

Darby Ledbetter is an up and coming new talent in Nashville, he's also a Warrant Officer in the Tennessee National Guard. These two occupations have converged for Darby and he's now the singing spokesman for the Guard nationally. Oh yeah, and he's from Midland. We're planning on a visit from him when he returns from Iraq this fall.

Dog Gone It....that's interesting

As I was processing 100's of basketball photos Wed. night, I caught most of an interesting science program, The Human Spark, on Basin PBS. The show explored the evolutionary similarities and differences between human reasoning abilities and those of the great apes [gorillas, chimps and orangutans]. The show focused on decades of intense research, mainly at the Max Plank Institute. Amazingly the concrete reasoning abilities of the apes was at least as good as young human children and sometimes better. But the apes fell far short in connecting abstract relationships.

An example of abstract thinking pointed out by one scientist was the simple act of a human pointing at something. Even very young children made the connection that pointing at something meant to look in the direction for something of significance or meaning. But after 10 years of experiments, the apes just don't get it. And with intensive training....they could not be taught to do so. A pointing human finger may as well be a banana.

But, the scientist pointed out, there is one, and only one, animal species that gets the message of pointing. And that is.....the modern dog. Alan Alda, the host, seemed amazed and asked why this is. The scientist pointed out that other wild canines such as wolves and coyotes in captivity don't exhibit this trait and can't be taught, so it must be that modern dogs, having lived and working with humans for at least 10,000 years have had this genetically imprinted on them as a useful tool. She pointed out that some dogs naturally do this, but almost all the dogs they worked with could be taught fairly quickly to look where a human is pointing.

A special bond indeed.

Catastrophe: Al Gore comments..

Smithville, Tenn [AP]:

Former Vice President and Leading World's Expert Al Gore has issued the following statement. "Friends, supporters and neighbors in our global village, after evaluating recent weather trends, considering "cooked" climate data and noting that my 100 ft. houseboat, CO II is frozen to the pier, I want to emphasize that I stand by my recent predictions for a global climate catastrophe; with one exception. I believe that my comments have been misinterpreted. What I have meant to say is that we are all about to freeze to death unless something is done now!

Recent studies have shown that Polar Bears are now on the outskirts of Montreal, eating small Canadian children and the elderly. Glacial activity and blizzards nearly caused me, Al Gore, to perish while at the Environmental Conference in Copenhagen Denmark. I'm Al Gore I would not decieve you!! With the future of our planet, and my houseboat, at stake I urge you to drive around aimlessly. With your help we can produce a carbon dioxide shield that will once again warm our planet

Dear Al......

Dear Al Gore, where can I get me some of that Global Warming? I'm freezin' to death out here. And don't worry about the glaciers melting a little. A new one is forming on my roof.

Why I'm Freezing.....

If you get away from the frenzied dialogue of Global Warming, you probably know that the earth has been warming and cooling it's entire life. From the founder of The Weather Channel, an explanation.

A CHRISTMAS for CAROL

This will be the fourth Christmas I've spent with my Mom since my Dad passed away in November of 2006. Last year my Mom moved into the retirement community...to a nice little house just about right for her, but it's not the old family home on Douglas we're she had lived for the last 50 years. Those who have lost a close family member know how their absence changes the holidays. So, I've tried to think of ways to make our Christmas alone a little more special but, frankly, it's been a little hard and it hasn't felt much like Christmas to me.

My Mom has always been a hard person for me to find the appropriate gift to present to her. Being a child of the depression her answer to "what do you need, or want for Christmas?" has always been, "Oh nothing really, I don't need a thing". And now, later in her life being in good financial shape, this is all the more true.

So last year I was amazed when she volunteered that she had a present in mind for me to give to her. The present she wanted, and she brought it up several times, was ...........Stamps. Postage stamps. We both laughed, but she said she was serious. So, making me feel a tad ashamed, that's what she got for her present....and some festive flowers. But for several week I thought to myself, "great son....you give your Mom stamps for Christmas". But all through the year she brought up how wonderful it was to have these stamps. She is still a letter writer so she does use them.

And so this year she asked me with a gleam in her eye, if she was going to get more stamps. I said if that's what her heart desired, then stamps it is. But she added, "...and a Timex watch, I just need an ordinary watch". Today I went to buy the stamps, double the amount this year, and I bought her the most expensive Timex watch I could find. Total tab.....under $50. But you know, I'm going to see her smile broadly at these gifts which will bring a little more joy to me this Christmas.