Saturday, October 16, 2010

Saturday morning coffee

The past three days are why October is the best month of the year--crisp mornings and evenings sandwiching sun-splashed days with temperatures around 70 and fall leaves turning.

Here are some idle musings to get your motor running on this Saturday, October 16:

- Joan Collins wasn't being catty when she stated, in so many words, that Angelina Jolie was more beautiful than Jennifer Anniston. Collins was simply comparing the looks of Jolie with that of Anniston, but her long history of playing characters known for their biting language made life imitate art in how her comments were construed.

- Don't you love stories like this? Ike Ditzenberger is a high school football player in Snohomish, WA. Ditzenberger also happens to have Downs Syndrome. In a recent game, Ditzenberger's team was losing 35-0 with 10 seconds to play. His coach called the "Ike Special" play where Ike was given the football. Ike took the ball and weaved around the field, for 51 yards, while opposing players energetically failed to tackle him. He ended the rush crossing the goal line and promptly engaging in a dance of joy in the end zone. His mom's comment? "They gave him a gift of normalcy," said Kay Ditzenberger.

- Back to Joan Collins for a moment--for our uninformed readers who may not know Collins, she is the actress who played Alexis Colby on the very successful 1980's prime time soap, Dynasty. Collins was flamboyant in her personal life and, ahem, knew her way around a bedroom. Her most publicized romance was with actor Warren Beatty.

- Really!? Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, one of the stars (and I use that term loosely) of Jersey Shore, has announced a book deal to write a novel called A Shore Thing. The issue? Polizzi has admitted to only reading two books in her life. There was no announcement as to which two books she read and whether they contained pictures.

- Did anyone here know that Tiger Woods has an older brother? I didn't either. Earl Woods, Jr. publicly chastised his brother recently by saying that their father "would be very disappointed in him..."

- 37% of American teens admit that they have been ridiculed, bullied, humiliated or threatened, according to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation. I wonder how much that percentage has increased given the rise in social media?

- For all you NFL fans out there, you may want to check out the story in this week's Sports Illustrated on the league's labor situation. The impending work stoppage, after this season, is very real and could, at minimum, have significant impact on offseason league activities, including the NFL Draft.

- What's your favorite business buzzword or hackneyed phrase? The Association of National Advertisers and media company Starcom recently joined together to identify marketers' favorites and came up with an impressive list--so many that the two groups weren't able to come up with a winner. The list included: "At the end of the day," "glocal," "ideate," "holistic," "go viral," "out of the box," and "on the same page." I would add to that list with personal favorites "are we in alignment?", "open the kimono," "long pole in the tent," "box above our weight," and "go big or go home."

- Don't look now but the BCS standings have Boise State on top followed by Oregon and TCU. Uh, where are traditional football powers Oklahoma, USC, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida, Alabama and Texas? Pretty cool, huh?

- Prince announced plans for a series of concerts on the East Coast, including multiple dates in New York. Joining the Purple One will be guests which include Sheila E., Maceo Parker, Mint Condition and others. It's Prince's first U.S. tour since 2004.

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