More Ad Talk

One thing I like about these new Walmart commercials is the thought behind them. It's the ones where they show the blue Walmart bag and people magically pull stuff in and out of it like it's some multi-dimensional device. They explain something logical to you about your money; if you eat breakfast at home you can save this much over the course of a year or if you eat ice cream at home instead of eating out you can save that much.

The thing I like is that they the ads aren't saying 'don't eat out' but they are saying 'if you eat out this many times less a month you can save money'. Its as if Walmart is trying to promote other businesses as well, trying to keep the general economy alive.

Who ever thought you could say that about Walmart? Of course, they still want you to get the groceries from them so maybe it's not that different.

Comedians

I continue to listen to the Comedy 'radio' channel available as part of the TV package. They play a lot of Bill Cosby. This is not that bad a thing to me as I like Cosby's work in general. The other day I started working why there's no retrospective of his career.

Many of his albums were re-released onto CD within the last decade, but not all of them. George Carlin and Richard Pryor had box sets released that collected the bulk of their work and added previously unreleased audio. Is there no unreleased Bill Cosby audio? Seems unlikely.

Speaking of Carlin and Pryor, I've got a VHS tape somewhere that collects an hour of stand-up routines from sixties TV. Cosby appears as well. Why is there no collection like this on DVD? Did I miss it? I've got a DVD collecting most of the Muppet appearances on the Ed Sullivan show. How about a DVD set of comedians? It seems odd to me that this footage doesn't seem to be out there at all. Is it missing? Is it just on YouTube and I haven't looked yet?

I want some footage please.

Short Notes to Clear Some Topics from My Brain

- Watched the season ending episode of 'SNL' this past weekend. Missed the beginning but caught the bulk of what was an amusing show. Admittedly, part of the amusement was due to the sudden unexpected (by our group at least) cameo appearances of former castmembers and friends of the show. In retrospect, it wasn't unlike a late 1990's episode of Monday Night Raw or Nitro, where the bulk of the entertainment was due to the twists and turns involved in the spectacle, more than the overall quality of the product. Having missed the beginning, I don't know if they did anything special for Don Pardo. He has apparently retired after announcing all but one season of the show. The man's 91. He's allowed. Three cheers for Don Pardo!

- I hate to chance a jinx by mentioning it but, man, are those Milwaukee Brewers playing good baseball of late! Even with Rickie Weeks out for the season, they are currently looking like a team to beat in the National League. Three games into this nine game road trip the team is 3-0. Of course, now that I've said something, they'll end the trip 3-6. It'll be my fault.

- The last couple days have felt weird. I did some shopping. I'd gotten used to not doing that. It was fun. Got more remastered Stooges on DVD (all the Curlys have been released and we're onto Shemp now) as well as some Lucha (hooray Parka!). You know, because I don't have enough of that already.

- Last night in between innings of the baseball game, we flipped over to RAW a couple times to see that Ric Flair was back. Weird as I thought it was working with ROH as an 'ambassador'. During one segment we saw, he talked about wanting to un-retire. Really. The Flair - Favre comparisons continue...

Throwback Beverages

I've now had a couple beers that returned to their classic formulas. They were good, certainly better than the 'updated' versions that existed for years.

I'm guessing this has become a trend now as today I saw sodas doing the same thing.

I'm not a soda junkie like I once was in my youth. Soda became too handy and convenient. I drank too much of it. A few years ago, I started substituting other beverages in sodas place and soda mostly disappeared from my drinking habits. I have it occasionally, like a treat, and it's okay. Seeing the throwback sodas, I decided I was interested in trying one. I had a Mountain Dew.

Yes, a Mountain Dew made with natural sugar. Not a MTN Dew. It's the old style logo as well. I liked it. It tasted like the soda I remember falling in love with as a kid, not the heavy syruped stuff that I last remembered drinking from cans.

The in-store ads said its a limited time deal. Try one before they go!