Oh Dear God…the Snuggie

I’ve been obscenely opposed to this commercial since returning to America and finding it plastered all over TV (oi vey CNN…I suppose it beats HeadOn). So, imagine my surprise when I read an article today that the Snuggie (the blanket with sleeves!) has sold 4 million units. That’s $40 million in retail sales?!?! So many blankets, in fact, that they are on backorder from the factory that produces them in China.
My objections to this in demand article layered in sarcasm and distaste. I should start firstly with the ridiculous nature of the Snuggie. I’m sorry, get a big blanket and deal with it. Which genius (and where) decided that making a backwards coat would be a good idea if it was made out of fleece. Apart from its awful design that likens to Technicolor Halloween ghost costumes or 14th century monk robes, the fleece itself isn’t actually comfortable. I recently had the displeasure of being in bed bath & beyond this past weekend and snuck a feel at the Snuggie to find it more of a coarse, thin and undeserving material than the advertised ‘ultra soft’. And don’t get me started about the 3 attractive colors that they decided would be good choices. Simple point is, if I catch anyone wearing one of these absurd backwards gowns, I will laugh in their faces firstly for ordering anything from Direct Response TV and secondly for, of all things, ordering the Snuggie.

Other people have the same aversion to this bizarre product:
'the WTF Blanket'

I’m fairly sure Jesus wore one of these.

Getting UP in DOWN Times

Subtitle: Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto and Tip the Van: Toads Place, New Haven CT 1/23/09

There is no denying that Ska music can be some of the most entertaining, energetic and enthusiastic music around. So was it really a surprise that the 1300 person venue, New Haven’s Toad’s Place (CT), sold out one of the biggest Ska tickets currently touring.
The show opened with Tip the Van, whose home state roots shone through and the crowd vigorously got into their music. The 6 year old Ska group led by two sisters (Nicole and Simone) brought the venue to life and were substantially better than my sometimes musically challenged comrade made them out to be.
Of course, Tip the Van was just the opener to the two bands that made this venue sell out. Streetlight Manifesto took the stage and the crowd took to them. Despite some sound issues during the first couple of songs (given that Toad’s Place’s sound system isn’t that good to begin with) the Streetlight feeling broke though. With songs from both old and new album (almost a year old now) and the always good ‘Point/Counter Point’, ‘Keasby Nights’ mash up. This was the third time that I had seen Streetlight (currently holding the record for most views), and they rock the house every time and this was no different.
With little to no further ado Reel Big Fish was on the stage with a band and launched headlong into ‘Trendy’. Having just released their new album this week, the Fish mixed in some of their new songs from that record (all of which were thoroughly enjoyable), some of the better songs from their Previous Album and the crowd classics that have come to define Reel Big Fish. By the end of the main set they had had both lead singers of Tip the Van back on stage to sing with ‘She has a girlfriend now’, trumpet player from old Tyler Jones (pre Johnny Christmas) and the trombone player from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to sing along too. With these cameos, their relentlessly animated music and comedic intercourse with your brain the Reel Big Fish showed how to get up and dance when times are down. As always, it seems, the Reel Big Fish take the energy level to new highs and by the end of the night, nearly 2 hours from taking the stage, they had achieved this once again.
Oh, and if you were wondering who started that rousing ‘Ole Ole’ to which the Reel Big Fish answered by coming back on stage playing it in the beginning of the encore, well it was me and 6 other friends in what has become a tradition for Reel Big Fish shows.

Seaworld is NOT Disney

…so why is it trying to be? Seaworld is actually owned by Anheuser-Busch, the same company that owns Busch Gardens, which I guess I didn’t know until getting down to Florida this week. But this has nothing to do with the title save for the fact that Seaworld is not Disney. In fact it’s always been a break from the sometimes overbearing Disney atmosphere. So imagine my surprise sitting down for the dolphin show and being overwhelmed by the imagine-a-fantastic-once-upon-a-dream-magic schemed show reminiscent of any Disney production.
Not cool SeaWorld.
They took what I remember being a fairly sane and informational show mixed with lots of cool dolphin tricks with balls and jumps etc, and replaced it with a few dolphin tricks, dancing, happy-go-lucky orchestral music, parrots, flags, water jets and sprays, trapeze artists, plumes, feathers and the rejects from the USA Olympic diving team.
They did the same thing with the Shamu show too, although for that they kept a lot of the tricks that make an aquatic show great.
So shame on you SeaWorld, I can’t believe what a fantastical mess you made of this show. Also boo for not having Atlantis open yesterday either.
A quick note: Kraken is a great roller coaster and Manta looks like it’ll be good too (summer 09).

POTM: Iced Up

(Picture of the Moment)
A recent storm dumped ice and freezing rain on most of the tri-state area and what resulted, especially in my area was a town-wide virtual skating rink. This is just one path in the back woods where i walk my dogs which had anywhere from a coating to 1/2 of an inch of ice...2 days later.

Testees

I’ve been laughing along with the first season of FX’s show Testees for the past couple of night. I’d never even heard of this show before discovering it on Hulu.com, but have since jumped headfirst into this perverse and humorous half-hour comedy.
The show centers around two twenty-something’s whose job is to test products before the general public gets them. The products are bizarre to say the least but create the bulk of the situational humor in the show. Even though the majority of the show centers around the two main guys, Peter and Ron, and the occupational hazards of working at Testico, there are sub characters who contribute either to the main and subplot (sometimes constructively and sometimes not). Kate and ‘Nugget’ dysfunctional friendship often leads to humorous antics. It’s the show’s creator Kenny Hotz’s Character, Larry, plots that really irks me to the point where I dislike episodes in which he features heavily. Having said that the best episodes are by far:
Ep 03. Memory Loss (Awkward (read: Awkward!) Humor)
Ep 05. Uber-Glued
Ep 09. Jelly Bean Omelettes (Ron/Peter sections are LOL-funny)
Ep 11. Pineapple Shampoo
Ep 12. Project X

Here's to hoping this show gets renewed for its second season with more shows like the ones listed above.