There are two television ad campaigns that are bugging me right now. They both happen to be for pharmaceutical products and they usually air during the Today Show and Greta Van Susteran, two shows I watch regularly.

Why am I bringing this up to you? Because this is my blog and I can do whatever the hell I want.

The first ad is for Rozerem. This is the sleep aid for people with insomnia. It features “Honest” Abe Lincoln and a furry beaver playing chess while a man in a space suit is making eggs on the stove. The whole scene freaks me out like you wouldn’t believe.

The image is supposed to represent some dude’s dream. Its no wonder he can’t fall asleep. I’d be fighting hard to stay awake if I knew that was the dream world I was waiting for.

The whole 60 seconds is ridiculous, although it is somewhat amusing when the beaver accuses Lincoln of cheating.

The second ad that irritates me is for Cymbalta. This is the commercial for an anti-depressant that asks “Where does depression hurt?” and “Who does depression hurt?” All this, while showing very sad people and playing very sad music. I’m a happy guy and this commercial leaves me depressed–it must leave depressed people feeling suicidal!

Don’t advertise an anti-depressant by depressing people further. Show happy scenes, with happy people and happy music. Show us what the pill can do, we already know why we need it!

And that’s the rest of the story…

Advertising, Media, TV

In this morning’s Los Angeles Times, education columnist Bob Sipchen (right) wrote a piece on a new book called High School Confidential. The book is an expose written by a 24-year-old named Jeremy Iversen after he spent a semester undercover at a Southern California High School.

I saw Iversen on Good Morning America last week and it led me to pick up his book. As I read through it, he confirmed every suspicion that I had about high school today. High School is basically an out of control, wild party from the opening bell until the end of detention.

I’m not sure it was like that when I attended high school last decade (at least I hope it wasn’t because then I’d kick myself for missing out on all the fun) but it sure looks like it is now. And I believe it. Just walk through the mall and see how 13 and 14-year-old girls are dressing the way 18 and 19 year-old girls used to dress. Is it such a leap to believe that they’re also behaving that way too?

Iversen describes a scary world of in class drinking games, teachers coming onto students, teenager sex tapes being emailed around and parents and administrators with their heads in the sand. But now, thanks to Iversen, its all exposed and maybe our public schools can get back on track and ensure that our test scores don’t lag behind those in third world countries. Right?

Wrong! In comes the aforementioned LA Times column by Bob Sipchen. All the good that Iversen has done trying to open the nations eyes to this crisis in education including changing the name of the school to protect the underage innocent and guilty,) Sipchen systematically and recklessly tears apart.

Sipchen, who lauds the student newspaper staff for covering this story and indicates that they awarded those student reporters with “student journalism awards,” then quotes those same students as being outraged by Iversen’s actions. Butter up your sources with prizes and then get quotes to support your opinion. How is that legal?

Incidentally, the one non-student journalist quoted in Sipchen’s piece stood by Iversen and supported his findings. Probably because Iversen’s claims are true. Its time to stop trying to convince ourselves that everything is okay.

Sipchen’s column exemplifies the very reason why our public school system is in such disarray. The moment you hear something that is unpleasant to think about, you go and shoot the messenger instead of taking in the information and doing something about it–just like the friend who never talks to you again after you tell her that her boyfriend is cheating. Nothing is going to be solved in this way. The longer our heads are in the sand, the dumber our kids are going to get. I think Sipchen has done his community a big disservice by not taking Iversen’s findings seriously.

And, yes, I am just pissed that I didn’t get laid in high school!

education, high school, news, book, author, california, Los Angeles Times, sex, party

Not since Punk’d has there been such a great candid camera show as Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator series.

The premise, as if everyone isn’t a hard core fan of these, is NBC teams up with online vigilante group Perverted Justice to lure unsuspecting child predators into a house rigged with cameras and swarming with law enforcement.

Team PJ chats up these creeps online, invites them over and lures them into the house with a young looking 19-year-old actress. Then, just as the dirtbag, who by the way, truly believes that young Brittany wants to be deflowered by a 41-year-old truck driver with pock marks all over his face, gets comfortable, in walks NBC reporter Chris Hansen.

The scumbags don’t know what to think. Is Hansen a cop? Is Hansen the girl’s dad? Its fantastic watching these men caught (sometimes literally) with their pants down.

Then the men try to wiggle out of the situation, not realizing that Hansen is equipped with the rat’s entire chat transcript. The excuses are priceless: “I got lost and stopped in to ask directions,” “I was never going to do anything, just wanted to talk,” or “I’m R. Kelly.”

Eventually, these pervs walk out of the house with their head down in shame only to find a whole S.W.A.T team waiting to take them in. The best part is that all these sceevy men are kept together in the same holding cell! I wonder about the conversations that go on in that place.

Thanks to NBC, “Hello, my name is Chris Hansen and I’m with a show called Dateline,” now overtakes “My dad has a shotgun” as the phrase least wanted to be heard by a child predator.

I don’t understand why they just don’t make this a regular series. This is absolute Must See TV!

Sex, News, crime, Internet, chat, Chris Hansen, Dateline, Punk’d, Ashton Kutcher

I think that I now officially feel bad for celebrities and what they have to go through with the paparazzi. Or do I feel bad for the people that want to see the pictures that the paparazzi try so hard to get?

celebrities eating dot com is a website devoted to photos of (guess what) celebrities eating. Most of the photos are mid bite or of the celebrity shoving something into their mouth (the Paris Hilton joke is way too easy here.)


My question is: “Why?“