News Cut: January 30, 2012 Archive
We're melting! (5x8 - 1/30/12)
Posted at 7:20 AM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(3 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8
Embracing water, Dakota 38, the law of unintended consequences, the things that don't stop us, and photographing Duluth.
Continue reading "We're melting! (5x8 - 1/30/12)"
More Super Bowl ads
Posted at 10:43 AM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Marketing and advertising
You just can't keep secrets in the ad business anymore.
More Super Bowl ads are being "unmasked," before they can generate any buzz next Sunday.
Last week a web site released the details of the "Ferris Bueller" ad for Honda. So Honda released it over the weekend, including an "extended version."
Ad Week's Ad Freak blog also reveals that Elton John and Regis Philbin will be teaming up for a Pepsi ad:
Elton John and Regis Philbin. John, 64, will appear with Amaro in the 60-second Pepsi spot, while Philbin, 80, will anchor a 30-second spot for PepsiMAX. The Pepsi :60 is described as "a rock-fantasy version of medieval times" with Amaro performing her own version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect." She sings "in front of a 'royal court of rock,' including Elton John's character, the King. The ad establishes Pepsi as the brand for people who are not afraid to take a chance, raise their voice and give it their all. It also highlights the fact that Pepsi has an irresistible taste worth challenging a king for. With epic Pepsi scale and a big dose of humor, the commercial ends with a twist and the tagline, "Where there's Pepsi, there's music." Pepsi fans who Shazam the spot during the game will see Amaro's accompanying music video. There's less info on the PepsiMAX ad. Presumably Philbin won't be singing. It will be interesting to see how Coca-Cola's bears, who'll be watching the game in real time, react to the Pepsi work. Active heckling, or stone-faced boredom? Behind-the-scenes footage from the Pepsi :60 is posted below.
Here are the details of the Coca Cola bears...
At this rate, we'll be denied the joy of surprise that comes with Betty White getting tackled in a football game or Roseanne Barr getting destroyed by a log.
By this time next week, the only thing we may have to talk about is the game.
Update 5pm Monday 1/30/12 - And another:
The Super Bowl and economic superstition
Posted at 12:09 PM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Sports
Well, now, this is a problem. If you're a New England Patriots fan with money in the stock market, you have to decide which is more important: another Super Bowl trophy or the ability to retire.
The Boston Globe takes apart a superstition -- that the market and economy do better when the NFC wins a Super Bowl -- and finds that it's true. Sort of:
Since the first Super Bowl in 1967, this superstition has held true 80 percent of the time (36 for 45); prior to 1997, the indicator was correct 28 times in 31 years, including going 12 for 13 between 1984 and 1996. Lucky for investors, in 40-plus years of Super Bowls, AFC teams that were not originally part of the NFL have won just a dozen times.
Still, whether or not a Patriots win historically hurts the economy is debatable. Of the six seasons the Pats have made it to the Super Bowl, the theory has held true four times; Brady & Co. beat Carolina in 2004, a bull year, and lost to the Giants in 2008, the third-worst year on record. In the four years where the Super Bowl indicator has held up, New England is 2-2, and stocks have gained a net total of 27.8 percent. But if you count all six Super Bowl seasons, stocks have lost a net total of 7.94 percent.
Police chief quits in town made infamous by 'taco' quip
Posted at 10:17 AM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(3 Comments)
In Connecticut, the police chief of East Haven has resigned, days after the arrest of four police officers accused of tyrannizing Latinos.
More than 15,000 people signed an online petition calling on East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., to replace the police chief.
It was organized by the same organization that sent tacos to the mayor because of this remark.
Where winter went
Posted at 1:22 PM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Weather
Even though we know that the weather outside and climate are two different things, it's not difficult to wonder whether the winter that wasn't is evidence of a warming world.
If you say it is, how do we explain Kiev?
Temperatures reached -15 celsius today and 15 people have died from hypothermia in the last four days.
In Bucharest, the area was paralyzed by snow over the weekend.
The Associated Press reports that one woman froze to death in a snowstorm in a central Serbian village, while two elderly men were found dead, one in the snow outside his home. Further south, emergency crews are searching for two men in their 70s who are feared dead.
The winter weather comes after a period of relative mild weather.
Sculpture interruptus
Posted at 2:04 PM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(3 Comments)
Filed under: Weather
With temperatures pushing the 40s, it was the smart ice sculpture fan who spent lunch hour in Saint Paul's Rice Park for the viewing of the Winter Carnival snow sculpture contest. Unfortunately, various limbs have already fallen from some of the sculptures, and the rest of them might not be far behind in the January heat.
(click the image to see a larger version)
(more below)
Continue reading "Sculpture interruptus"
Should kids be allowed to drink with parents?
Posted at 2:51 PM on January 30, 2012
by Bob Collins
(12 Comments)
Filed under: Politics
Judging by the immediate -- and limited -- reaction on Twitter, a bill to allow 16 year olds to drink in the company of parents is a winner, although it probably has little chance of passage.
State Representatives Phyllis Kahn and Joe Mullery filed the bill at the Minnesota House of Representatives today. It allows people as young as 16 to drink in bars and restaurants when accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
The bill also lowers the drinking age (in bars and restaurants) from 21 to 18.
Why limit it to bars and restaurants? This story out of Pennsylvania offers the answer. A woman bought a half-keg of beer for her son's graduation party. Three kids were killed about a mile away. She just pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in three months. (h/t: Dennis Jansen)
Wisconsin allows kids to drink in bars and restaurants when accompanied by parents (just don't try to play a guitar). There is no minimum age requirement for kids in those situations.
But some lawmakers in Wisconsin want to set the minimum age to 18. A bill passed the Wisconsin Assembly in 2010. It was opposed by a "youth rights group," which said it's a family matter. The bill never made it into law.
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