Great game yesterday.

The ads weren’t particularly awesome but here are a few I liked.  I thought Career Builder’s “46 banana daquiris” was funny.  Because monkeys like bananas.  I thought Chevy’s “Apocalypse-proof” trucks were a creative twist and appropriate for 2012, even taking a dark but good-natured shot at Ford.

Bud Light Here We Go.  Need to train Moch to fetch the beer!

Volkswagen Fat Dog.  Cute and creative.

Hyundai Think Fast.  Pretty funny and actually features the product.

I’m on the fence about Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler ad.  I really liked their’s last year, and I really like the “Halftime in America” metaphor, but I’m not sure if Chrysler is the best messenger. I think their bailout is still fresh in everyone’s mind, and makes the bootstrapping/innovative/optimistic/self-reliant message of this ad seem hypocritical.  What do you think?

Ferris Bueller in a CRV didn’t do it for me.  Nor did Seinfeld, Uncle Jesse, the Coca-Cola bears, or even my usual fave the E*Trade baby.  But these were some of the worst:

Cars.com Confident You.  Good idea, not well-executed.

Pepsi King’s Court. Meh. Does Elton John need money?

-Nick

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Does the evil antagonist Voldemort share any similarities to our own Republican party?

Did You Know?

Author JK Rowling has compared Voldemort to Hitler, and the Wall Street Journal has drawn parallels between Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

-Nick

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My econ professor has another video out!  Great stuff.

“The Tea Party: People who believe in Social Darwinism, but don’t believe in Darwin.”

-Nick

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Yesterday I called Wells Fargo in an attempt to make some progress on one of my goals for the year.

I explained to the customer service rep that our house was “severely underwater”, and that I wanted to find out what my options were.

She asked if I’d filed a Damage/Loss of Value claim.

I replied no, and asked what that was.

Turns out, she thought “underwater” meant we were suffering from flood damage.

If only.

-Nick

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We’re off to Beijing this week so probably no more blog posts.  Excited… it’s our first “real” trip in a long time.

China is the land of Mochi’s ancestors.  Apparently Shih Tzu means “Lion-Dog”….  Rarrrr!

-Nick

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My new page-a-day calendar was filled with interesting trivia. Yes I skipped ahead for your reading pleasure:

1. Both male and female reindeer have antlers, but only female reindeer keep their antlers through the winter months.  Therefore Rudolph and the rest of Santa’s reindeer are really girls?
2. Bert and Ernie are named after a policeman and taxi driver from It’s a Wonderful Life.
3. A liger has a lion dad and a tiger mom.  A tigon has a tiger dad and a lion mom.
4. The lowest scoring NBA game of all team was a 1950 defensive struggle between the Fort Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers.  The Pistons won 19-18.
5. Cats rarely meow at other cats.
6. During the middle ages, people put thyme under their pillows to ward off nightmares.
7. A dairy cow produces 6 gallons of milk per day.
8. A chameleon’s tongue moves 5x faster than an F16 fighter jet.
9. A mid-day nap lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart attack, and improves post-siesta learning ability.
10. “Most people are about has happy as they make up their minds to be.” –Abraham Lincoln
11. Supposedly, dogs can see movement up to 985 yards away.  Don’t tell Moch.
12. Scientists believe the reddish-orange sweat of a hippopotamus acts as a sunscreen.
13. Baseball wasn’t invented until 1845, but the word first appeared in print approx. 50 years earlier in a Jane Austen novel.
14. The highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was 134 degrees in Death Valley in 1913.
15. The bicycle was invented in 1817, but pedals weren’t added until 1865.  In the meantime people just had to propel themselves with their feet on the ground, Flintstones-style.
16. Susanna Salter was the first female mayor in the US.  She was elected by 2/3rds majority in 1887 Argonia, Kansas. 2010 population: 501.
17. A giraffe’s tongue is 15 inches long, and is occasionally used to clean out their ears.
18. A vexillologist is flag expert.
19. Vinegar can be used as a weedkiller.
20. Mother’s Day became a nationally dedicated holiday in 1914.  It was conceived by Anna Jarvis in 1908 who organized local celebrations for moms in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
21. Eating chili peppers releases endorphins in the brain.
22. An ant can lift an carry more than 50 times it’s own weight.  I’m so weak.
23. In 1983, the first commercial cell phone cost $3500 and weighed a full pound.
24. A male clownfish will undergo a sex change if the adult female in a school dies.  Finding Nemo?
25. The world’s smallest “park” is Mills End Park in Portland, OR. It measures approximately 3 square feet.
26. Felines are unable to taste sweet foods.
27. Richard Nixon’s wife Pat was the first First Lady to wear pants in public.
28. Invented by an Italian monk in AD 610, Pretzels claim to be the world’s first snack food.  The folded shape was meant to emulate arms folded in prayer.
29. When Superman was introduced in 1938, he couldn’t fly.  To get around instead, he would leap from building to building.

-Nick

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Patton Oswalt, hilarious comedian of “Sky Cake” fame, bears a striking resemblance to conservative pollster Frank Luntz.

Luntz is the talented wordsmith that brought us the “death tax” for estate tax and “climate change” for global warming.

-Nick

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I got a scratch ticket in my gift bag at last week’s San Francisco Affiliate Summit meet-up — and it was a winner!

With my newfound riches, I bought two more scratch tickets, aiming for the big prize.  (Which is exactly the behavior I’m sure the lottery people want.)  To my surprise, one of those was a $4 winner too!

So I got two more.

And of course they were losers.  Nuts… Really could have used that $20k!

-Nick

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Scored a sweet Bear Valley long-sleeved tee at last week’s ski show. Can’t wait to hit the slopes!

I also got some Bear Valley chapstick, which is always good to have on hand.

Sidenote:

Can’t hear the word “bear” without thinking of this guy:

-Nick

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I thought this was an ironic email to receive from a “Quality Control Manager”:

***********************

Dear Nicholas Loper

Firstof all, thank you very much for choosing us &for sharing with us your feed back. Your comments and suggestions are veryimportant for us, and are tools to grow and improve as a company.

Weappreciate your reviews; we do our best to provide our guestsunforgettable experiences.

I apologize for failing short in yourexpectation; your observations have been evaluated byall our different divisions’ managers, and taken upon consideration, resulting of specific actions andimprovements in their areas.

Thank you once again for taking the time to give us your opinion, if there isanything I can do for you in a near future please feel free to contact us through [email] or myself at[email2].

Ihope to welcome you back again in a near future, and experience our everydayimprovements in our services.

It is a pleasure

Ivette

Quality Control Manager

*************************

Quality control starts with fixing your spacebar :)

-Nick

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