Stupid Ads: Rogers Wireless

I hate advertising.

Rather I hate most ads that I see because they are usually lame, lazy, stereotypical, or ridiculously transparent.

Take the Rogers Wireless TV commercials (done by Publicis).

They are so bad as long as you like sit-com entertainment, but the token brown guy pisses me off.

Well not to say that he pisses me off, but that in this day and age, an advertiser thinks that sticking a token minority in their ads will make them seem worldly and multicultural.

In these ads, this Indian dude hangs around with a circle of annoying white friends who drone on about how much they love Rogers products. Meanwhile the brown guy never gets to say anything. He just kinda sits there looking pathetic and thankful that he gets to hangout with the white kids.

Here is a bunch of commercials from the series where he is just sitting in the far corner doing and saying nothing. See if you can actually spot him.

This series of ads can only mean that either the over-paid execs who ok these ads are targeting only airhead white middleclass kids, or that they missed their one day seminar on workplace diversity.

Maybe they even might think that by choosing another minority instead of the classic "token black guy", they are being progressive.

You suck Rogers.

Time Flies Y'all

Been awhile since my last post, but that's neither here nor there right?

Anyhow I was getting a bit reflective tonight (tends to happen after the 4th king can of beer), and my mind started to drift over the last couple of years.

Times past. Friends come and gone. Old songs that used to mean something. And how life was supposed to unroll versus how it did.

Then I kinda got fixated on this picture.

This singer isn't this young anymore, and she never made superstardom like Britney, Madonna, or Bono. But this snap shot was taken back when her passions were young and she had no idea how successful (or unsuccessful) she was going to turn out. She sang for the moment. She sang un apologetically for what she was worth. Even now in her annonymity she still sings and cuts albums.

Anyhow I hope we all have at least one or two moments in our lives like this one. Better still if we can share it with someone else. Cheers y'all.

ps: Bonus point: I'll buy you a pint if you know who this woman is.

Three Thousand Miles of Water

It's been a long while since my last post, and quite honestly I've been thinking about retiring from blogging.

But a friend of mine reminded me that the blog was to help friends remember each other.

About two months ago my good friend Michael left Toronto to return home to Xi'an in China. Michael and I were buds back in the MBA program in Vancouver.

Funny thing about the program: In the begining you are friendly with 100+ people, after grad maybe 20 people are still your friends. Two years later about 5-10 are part of your family.

Michael used to quote the classic Chinese novel, "Dream of the Red Chamber" and his favourite saying was "Three thousand miles of calm water, and I have only a single scoop" (sounds better in Mandarin). Roughly it means that the world is a huge wonderful place and you will only experience a drop of it... so don't waste time.

Anyhow, Michael I will see you in Xi'an one day. Then we will toast each other with a thousand cold beers... and then chug some calm water to stave off the hangovers.

On the Shelf

Just came back from a great trip out to Vancouver to see my family and friends.

Now I am off the liquor for a month to give my liver a break from the "creature".

I got 26 days left before I can hit the beers again.

May be dark roast coffee can give me a substitute buzz.

The Bet Report: 3 of 3

It took a year, but the bet is over.

Yesterday marked the last time I was obligated to purchase food for the homeless.

Once again on the way home from work I passed by this crippled dude who was calling out for food or money.

So as usual I went and grabbed some food for the guy.

I walk up to the dude and ask him, "How's it going?"

He shrugs and says, "Eh. It's alright."

It felt like I was walking up to a regular type person who was on the job. Then again I got the sense that his "Food or Money" line was his job and daily routine.

I pass him the bag of food and move on.

So now that the experiment is over, I guess I may continue to give food when I am asked for it on the street, but now it is my choice to decide if I feel like it at the moment.

Burp

I had a couple shots of Havana Club. Now I am burping fire. Sweet.

New Snack Combo

Check it out: Peanut M&M's with Dark Beer.

When we went out to see the new Iron Man movie, we hit the consessions... concesions... (screw it) the snack counter to get some popcorn and drinks.

Well we took the bait and got one of their "economy" combos to save a nickel on a sum total we didn't intend to spend (Economics 101: Price bundling to skim utility).

Anyhow, along with the drinks and corn came a small bag of M&Ms. I normally don't buy candy so this extra spiff wasn't so valuable to me.

A few nights later while sitting around the TV, I popped one of my Barley Days Brewery beers. These beers are awesome local brews from an outfit outside of Toronto. I got a case of the "Wind and Sail" dark ale! Its a dark flavoured beer and when you read the ingredients it just says: water, barley, hops. That's it! None of that fake crap you get in Bud.

So I was on my second or third bottle when I broke open the M&Ms. To my surprise, the combination kicked ass! Damn it was good!

I haven't been this impressed with a food pairing since I dunked my first Orea cookie in a glass of Amaretto. Sweet.