Your Tire’s All Flat and Junk

There’s a new Geico commercial with a talking pothole. It is completely ridiculous. It is not really offensive, but the pothole has the voice of a southern woman. The voice is somewhat stereotypical, and reminds me of what Designing Women would sound like if that show were made today.

Here’s a link if it doesn’t show above Watch on YouTube

Behind the Scenes

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the local NBC tv station while they were broadcasting the news. Here are a couple of photos.

Weatherman on the set

Control Room

Compare and Contrast

I just saw a contraceptive ad that ended with the tag line “Keep Life Simple.” This was immediately followed by a Vin Diesel movie preview, where he is armed to the teeth and said, “Life is simple.” I don’t think they’re talking about the same thing.

Good Morning America Update

Update 1: I put the tv on this morning to see Good Morning America. Before yesterday I had no idea who the anchors were. Now, after their UNC taping, and finding links for my blog post, I recognize them. I also know their names and a little bit about them. It was interesting to see them back in the studio, all dressed up, rather than wearing “College” sweatshirts and stepping gingerly around ram droppings.

Update 2: ABC News has made a big deal that it has set up bureaus on college campuses, including UNC, to get closer to the stories on the ground. There is an On Campus blog, which previews the visit to UNC from a post on Friday. There is no update on the actual event, other than comments on the post. They are missing a major opportunity to connect to their audience using social media. I did post a link to my flickr photos, which have copious tags, so maybe someone can get an idea of what they should be doing.

Update 3: Here’s a comment from Dr. Charles R. Coble posted on the blog post:

I just wanted to share a little about my experience at the ABC Good Morning America visit to the campus of UNC-CH early this morning.

Of the thousand or so people assembled for the 5:30-8:00 a.m. broadcast, probably 30% (including the band and cheerleaders, plus the Chancellor) were Carolina students dressed or painted in “Carolina blue” and just having fun. Minimally 60% were additionally adorned with home made and printed Obama signs. At the most 10% were carrying McCain/Palin signs.

The Obama supporters had come as early as 4:00 a.m. (and earlier) to claim the most visible positions during the broadcast. But, as the time for the program airing neared, the ABC staff demanded that the Obama supporters give up their space for McCain supporters – and furthermore demanded that at least half the visible positions be given to the small number of McCain supporters there! Many students resisted, but one of the “handlers” actually shouted that it wasn’t about being fair – it was about $$ and keeping management happy – in fact she was being screamed at over her head-phones by the producers, so she felt she had no choice. It was a dramatic lesson in moral decision-making for the young people who witnessed these events.

The Obama supporters started chanting “Yes We Can” until the “handlers” quieted the crowd so that the taping could proceed.

So, this ABC news and entertainment broadcast, as seen by the public gives the impression that the campus is nearly divided in support of Obama and McCain. It was all choreographed and in no way represents the reality on the ground – just like the managers wanted it. This is what the free press does when it is no longer free from corporate manipulation.

It was a stark reminder of why this election is so important. The secrecy and manipulation of information that has escalated so dramatically over the past 8 years has to end and the recovery of our democracy must begin – under our new President, Barak Obama!.

Good Morning America Comes to UNC

This morning ABC’s Good Morning America came to UNC as part of the 50 States in 50 Days coverage leading up to the November election. I heard about this from a Chapel Hill events email, although my friend John heard about from the local Obama campaign. Even though many UNC students are Obama supporters, the campaign wanted to make sure other local folks had the opportunity to represent their candidate on national tv.

People would start arriving at 5:30am, and shooting would begin by 7:00am. I had planned to meet John at 6:00am, but due to an alarm malfunction caused by user error, I didn’t arrive until nearly 7:00am. I took lots of pictures of UNC students, Obama supporters, GMA anchors and tv production people. Coordinators were working from a shot list, moving anchors, and crowds from one location to another. As it turns out, they were mainly shooting intros and outros to pieces that they had recorded earlier in the week. Some of the canned pieces were shot solely at UNC, while others included interviews and footage from other universities. It is a pretty good package of stories that covers many aspects of college, not just politics.

The ABC website does not provide the code to embed their video clips, so I will provide links to each clip. I will also include one of my photo that relates to that clip, if there is one. And finally, scroll to the bottom for a link to the rest of my photos that don’t appear in this post.

The weekday anchors of GMA have been traveling around the country by train, but when it was time for weekend anchors Marysol, Bill, Kate and Ron to head to Chapel Hill, they rode in a VW Mini-Bus.

Watch the Will Youth Rock the Vote? Video

Watch the What Would You Do Over from College Video

Watch the College Life in 2008 Video

Watch the UNC Iron Chef Competition Video

Here’s a link to the rest of my photos.

Below are links to other videos where I didn’t have a good photo of the intro or outro.

Watch the What’s on Student’s Minds Video

Watch The High Cost of College Education Video

What I Am Watching

Tonight I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I really enjoyed this movie that was true to the series and to its roots in Saturday morning serials. It also bristled with the spirit and pop culture of the 1950s. I wasn’t sure how Harrison Ford would portray an older Indy, but he did it exactly as expected.

Other Movies
Ironman
The Counterfeiters (imdb)
The Dead Zone
The Brood

DVDs
All the Kings Men
Donnie Darko
Hero (with Jet Li)
MI-5 (Season 1)

New Reality Shows on the Way

With the success of Dancing with the Stars, and the lack of new shows in development due to the writer’s strike, Hollywood executives are working out the details of the following shows:

Dancing with a Dwarf
Dancing with Your Teacher
Dancing with Your High School Lab Partner
Dancing with Your Mom (oh, wait, that’s already on Lifetime)
Dancing with Your Dog
Dancing with a Millionaire
Dancing with a Super Model
Dancing with a Flight Attendant
Dancing with the Creepy Guy behind the counter at the Convenience Store who gives you a free refill on your Slurpee (working title)
Dancing with Oprah (and her crew builds you a new house while you are dancing)

24: The Unaired Pilot

As the technology culture changes, things like cell phones and email become integral plot devices in modern stories. This parody is an example of just how critical the latest technology is to a show like 24. Early adopters will recognize their past. I was on AOL when they hit 200,000 subscribers.

Why I Love YouTube

Here is REM’s national tv debut on the David Letterman Show in 1983. I remember when this aired.

24 Too Unreal for Military

There was a recent article in the New Yorker, and some response in the press, including the Washington Post, about the tv show 24. I watched this for the first 2 seasons, but have not seen it since. It is now in its sixth season. Apparently, it has gotten very popular, especially among right-wing hawks in the government.

According to the article, military brass from West Point visited the set of the show and asked the shows producers to tone down the torture. Since the show is based on the “ticking bomb” scenario, the idea that unless the good guys can get the info right now, the bomb will explode, the only way to get that information is to use torture. And no surprise, they always get the information.

Well, the West Point cadets are trying to rationalize this fictional approach to prisoner information gathering, and its total success, with some of the suggestions being offered by the military. One example is helping a prisoner write a postcard to his family. I am not surprise they are confused by our recommended methods, but people who are the top in their classes, this is West Point, remember, are having trouble distinguishing between a tv and their training? The solution for this is not to talk to the producers of the show. The probably need to check their admission process.