Don't You Just Love a Bargain?

The new Jib Jab animated short, Big Box Mart, has arrived! While previous Jib Jab cartoons have skewered politics, the group has now turned its satirical eye towards mega retailers, overseas outsourcing, and American consumerism. Check it out if you have a chance.


There is a moment in the cartoon where our "everyman" shops at "Big Box Mart" and places a useless knick-knack in his shopping cart. His choice of purchase is supposed to appear a little over-the-top. But, for those of you who live in New England, I have one thing to say: Christmas Tree Shops.

Have you seen the Christmas Tree Shop commercials?

For those of you who don't live here, you should know that the name of this discount store is misleading. They don't just sell Christmas stuff there. They sell useless knick-knacks all year long. Their slogan is "Don't you just love a bargain," and the commercials showcase real Christmas Tree Shop customers looking at the in-store circular and showing off all the amazing "bargains" in their shopping cart.

Each commercial showcases a different group of shoppers, but they all share one thing--an anxious quality. It's like these customers are addicts, and they are at the Christmas Tree Shop for their fix.

"These little ceramic ghouls for Halloween are only $2.99 a piece! So I'm buying 20 of them! And look at this jack-o-lantern chip and dip set! $8.99. I just have to have it! Don't you just love it?!?!!! I love it!!!"

When I look at the stuff, all I see is this customer's future yard sale. I'm not kidding. And I guarantee that this is exactly where these purchases are going to end up a few years from now.

Of course, I'm sitting here all smug, but I am not immune to impulse buys. You know those small items at the check-out line? I have a mini flashlight, a pocket stapler, and an extra deck of playing cards collecting dust in my kitchen junk drawer.

If you are interested, you can buy them at my next yard sale.

"Why, why, why??"

I adore the Great American musical. I am really excited about the upcoming opening of the movie Rent based on the hit broadway musical, and I am especially excited because so many of the cast members are from the original broadway cast.

Conversely, I think I'll skip Nancy and Tonya: the Opera which will be produced at Tufts this spring. Ahhh...The "whack" heard 'round the world. For those who don't know about this tawdry incident in the world of figure skating, you can read about it here.

Cliff's Notes Version of the Nancy and Tonya Incident

In 1994, Tonya Harding (a talented ice skater from the wrong side of the tracks) and her husband (with a last name that reminds me of "gigolo") hired a couple of bungling idiots to trail American Sweetheart Nancy Kerrigan (a talented ice skater from Massachusetts) and to "take her out" (well, not kill her, but maim her by injuring her "landing leg"). The moment that Nancy lay clutching her knee in an ice rink hallway wailing "whyyyy, whyyyyy, whyyy???", figure skating was catapulted to prime time. Nancy went on to come in second in the olympics (pouting all the way to the medal podium), Tonya came in eighth and then was banned from competitive figure skating for life. To this day, Tonya claims that she was an unwilling participant in the whole debacle (it was all her husband's idea).

The fact that I can recount this whole sordid saga from memory goes to show you how saturated the media was with this story. By the end of it, I was just as sick of the whole thing as everyone else. But...I will admit, I'm curious to know where they are now. Aren't you?

Toyna Harding: Where is she now?

I found this Willamette Week Online story about Tonya. Here is an excerpt:

"...Over the next 11 years, Tonya occasionally popped up in the press, hitting her boyfriend with a hubcap, sliding her truck into a ditch, beating the tar out of Paula Jones in a celebrity-boxing match and, of course, still answering for her role in the Kerrigan saga...

...After her March 2002 bout with Jones, she began to train six days a week under the tutelage of ex-boxer--and mortician--Paul Brown, who has worked with heavyweights such as Leon Spinks...

..In addition, Harding has taken up archery and prefers a Martin compound bow, with which she can pierce a heart-sized target at 50 yards."

Nancy Kerrigan: Where is she now?

According to Variety, she is going to participate in a figure skating version of Dancing with the Stars entitled Skating with Celebrities. Nancy will be paired with Dave Coulier (Full House, Surreal Life, and the topic of Alanis Morrisette's hit song from the '90s, "You outta know"). The show will not air on ABC which brought us Dancing, but will air on Fox (which is copying a show idea yet again). But I digress.

She is still skating in professional ice shows, and--get this---has recorded a song for a Tina Turner tribute album. From folks who have heard her rendition of "The Best," it sounds like Nancy should stick to skating.

So there you have it.

"Why Buy When You Can Borrow?"

You can lease your car...How about renting your purse?

According to an article today in the Boston Globe, this is exactly what many women are doing through companies such as Bag Borrow or Steal and From Bags to Riches. As one of the websites asks:

"Why buy when you can borrow?"

To me, this works for books. The library is great! Why? Because I rarely read a book more than once. Same thing goes for movies. I have a few favorite movies on DVD, but otherwise I rent. But clothes and handbags?

Maybe I'm not the right person to ask though. Don't get me wrong, I believe that a great handbag is the perfect accessory. And I have a few bags in my closet that I absolutely love. But chances are I bought them at TJ Maxx or Marshall's. I wouldn't buy a $2000 hand bag even if I had the money. Do you know there are handbags that cost $15,000? You can buy a new car for that price!

This trend in borrowing-as-a-lifestyle is everywhere all of a sudden. Napster's new ad slogan is

"own nothing, have everything."

Where is all this going?

There is something weird to me about the whole thing. It somehow seems artificial to me, but I can't figure out why. Can someone explain this "rental" phenomenon to me?

Adriaaaaannnnn!!!!!

I grew up with Star Wars, and athough the movies were short on character development and packed full of cliche, I adored them. So when the lights came up in the movie theatre after the final credits rolled for "The Revenge of the Sith," I felt a sense of closure, but also a little sadness. Star Wars was over. There was a bit of a void.

Now, a movie is coming along to fill the empty space in my heart.

This just in from comingsoon.net:

In the film, lonely and retired boxer Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement, intending to fight a few low-profile local fights just to keep his hand in. But when he's approached to fight a match with reigning heavyweight champ Mason "The Line" Dixon, Rocky's modest little comeback becomes the center of a media firestorm.

Apparently, Rocky 6 begins filming in December.

Now, all I need is a Rambo sequel, and my life will be complete.

The Sky is Falling!

In a story on the coyote that attacked a 76 year-old man and his grandson in Massachusetts, the Associated Press reports that coyotes are an "increasingly common presence in the suburbs."

That's kind of alarming isn't it? But before you go out and purchase a shotgun to protect yourself, think about this: did you know that you are 100's of times more likely to be killed by the neighbor's dog, then by a coyote? And far more likely to catch rabies from a pet than from a coyote? In fact, you are far more likely to contract rabies from your cat than from a coyote. In the past 12 years of lab testing in Massachusetts, 110 cats tested positive for rabies compared to 6 coyotes and 6 dogs.

What is it with news stories these days? It's as if the newspapers and news programs are in the business of trying to scare us to death.

Let's get some perspective!

I first noticed this phenomenon shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Like many people, I became fearful. I felt unsafe. I worried about a terrorist attack. How could I prepare? Should I have bottled water in my apartment? Should I purchase duct-tape for the windows in case of a chemical attack?

Then I was reminded by a very level-headed friend, that if I wanted to give myself the best possible chance of a long and happy life, I should channel my energy elsewhere. Since I had a much better chance of prematurely dying in a car accident or of a disease than I did in a terrorist attack, the best way to increase my chances of long life was to wear my seatbelt, look both ways before I crossed the street, eat right, and exercise.

Sounds like a plan.

photo by SuperDaveNM

A Toast to the Happy Couple

OK...I'll admit it. I love reading the wedding announcements in the New York Times on sundays.

They always read something like this:

The bride, 28, graduated magna cum laude in 3 years from Harvard, and is an associate with the the best law firm in New York City! Her father invented aspirin, and her mother is the president of a greeting card company franchised in 48 states. The groom, 30, is a novelist on the NY Times best seller list. His father performed the first successful double lung transplant, and his mother is a philanthropist who hosted Princess Diana at intimate dinner parties in their $2 million upper east side apartment. The couple will honeymoon in Fiji and will reside in New York City.

Alright, so that is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my drift. They are always people I don't know, from New York City or Los Angeles. Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to read a wonderful announcement for a couple from the Pioneer Valley. No, I don't know them, either. But aren't they fabulous?

Martha Jeanne Nelson and Laura Louise Patrick are to be married today at the Pines Theater in Look Park in Northampton, Mass. The Rev. Arthur Lavoie, a Unitarian Universalist minister, is to officiate.

Ms. Nelson (above, left), 42, will be known as Martha Nelson Patrick. She is the director of community relations at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She graduated cum laude from Smith College. She was the founder and owner of Pride and Joy, a gay and lesbian gift store in Northampton. Her first marriage ended in divorce.

She is a daughter of Sandra Bruce Campbell of Easthampton, Mass., and John R. Nelson Jr. of Amherst. Her father is an English professor at the university. Her mother retired as the counsel for the Chicopee Housing Authority in Massachusetts. She is a stepdaughter of Irene Nelson and of Johnstone Campbell.

Ms. Patrick, 43, is an immigration paralegal at Curran & Berger, a law firm in Northampton. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College.

She is the daughter of Gloria Hoye Scott of New York and the late Leonard Allen Patrick. Her father was a stage manager for the original Broadway production of "Death of a Salesman," at the Morosco Theater in 1949 and 1950. Her mother, an actress known as Gloria Hoye, appeared in "Law & Order" and in "Somerset," a 1970's soap opera. She is now a landscape designer in New York.

Congratulations Laura and Martha!

Engagement photo by Jeannie Riley
Photo at top by andyproctor

Happy Birthday, John Lennon

Today would have been John Lennon's 65th birthday.

photo by frenchy_rjp

How Many People Does it Take to Change a Nickle?

Doesn't the new nickel look spiffy? And is it my imagination or does Jefferson look like he might be in a better mood than he has been in before?

Do you know that a law had to be passed by Congress to change the nickel, and, as with every bill that becomes law, the President of the United States had to approve it? A panel for the National Endowment for the Arts evaluated the candidants for the new design, and then the 12 most promising designs were reviewed by the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. Finally, the Secretary of the Treasury took these recommendations before choosing the final design.

You can read the press release from the Treasury here.

It sounds like one of those "light-bulb jokes"....

How many public servants does it take to change a nickel?