So let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal.
Archive for February, 2007
New York City, about a week ago, started distribution of its own NYC-branded condoms, in an effort to improve public health. They distribute over 1.5 million city funded condoms per month and on the Valentines Day this year handed out over 150,000 of the new city branded condoms.
The NYTimes: A New Condom in Town, This One Named ‘NYC’ says:
With the government’s imprimatur and a wrapper inspired by the subways, New York City’s first municipally sanctioned condom arrived yesterday, and it was hard to miss, given that city workers and volunteers handed out more than 150,000 of them across the five boroughs.
While [the city’s health commissioner] Dr. Frieden noted that condoms can prevent the spread of H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as unintended pregnancies, he added, “Abstinence is fail-safe, and reducing the number of sexual partners reduces risk of infections. But for sexually active people, using a condom is key to staying healthy.” Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, a conservative group based in Tupelo, Miss., said, “By and large, I agree with what he said. It’s a statement that conservatives and liberals should be able to embrace.”
[The NYTimes also reported on the issue here]
via Flickr, more nyccondom images
BUT, says Kenneth (in the 212)
The city launched the new official condoms on Valentine’s Day with volunteers handing out free samples throughout the city, including on a street corner near St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midtown Manhattan. Catholic leaders immediately demanded that the plan be stopped and that everyone get AIDS.
From NYTimes’ ‘In Advertising’ newsletter (separate from the Media&Advertising section) comes the tale of the campaign for a restaurant chain called Legal Sea Foods. The radio spots sound hilarious.
The radio commercials are produced like fast-paced mini-
episodes of a quiz show or game show. A right answer elicits
a bell ringing, while a wrong answer gets a rude buzzer.The contestant in the first radio spot is “Chef Nigel of the
Buckingham Fish Palace.”“I spent years mastering the nuances of preparing seafood,”
Nigel says. Buzzer.“I spent months mastering the nuances of preparing seafood,”
he says. Buzzer.“I took some night classes, okay?” Bell.
Nigel then boasts his restaurant has five stars. Buzzer.
Four. Buzzer. Three. Buzzer. Two. Buzzer.“It’s not that bad,” Nigel says. Buzzer. “It could be worse.”
Buzzer.“Blimey, that’s ‘orrifying,” he concludes. An announcer comes
on to reassure listeners that they can trust Legal Sea Foods.A second radio commercial features “Francois,” a maitre
d’hotel with a comically thick French accent who proclaims,
“It is of utmost importance to me everyone loves their meal.”
Buzzer. “Likes their meal.” Buzzer. “Pays for their meal.”
Bell.Francois says his restaurant uses “the same fish as Legal Sea
Foods.” Buzzer. “The best fish we can afford.” Buzzer. “We
use fish.” Bell.
My last post, on who I was when 18 years old, made me think of what my site used to look like. I miss some of those designs. Actually, the one I miss most was one I never really managed to get working, where the top looked like a post-it note and the whole page was designed to work like it was a piece of notebook paper. It sounds cheesy but I would have got it to look subtle. Anyway, working with blogger at the time was just too hard. Now I just don’t have enough time/patience. Maybe someday.
But look at Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine for sortroom.net. It’s amazing the changes! Most interesting to me is how some of my earlier designs looked a lot busier than my current or at least recent ones. It’s hard to make design look simple and yet put a lot of information out there. That is always my biggest challenge: not to give myself a headache!
And I can tell you, it’s a trip down memory lane this one…
I don’t know if it’s a quirk of the Yahoo! system, but I’m sure I would have known how to spell Tracey Emin. Maybe not.
The image above comes from the Flickr photostream of a Frenchman, called Loutseu whose work I stumbled across earlier today. His photos are fantastic: a combination of macro, HDR, black and white, long-exposure and just well framed interesting shots. Of course I also appreciate the fact that there’s always a bit of french thrown in there. It makes learning easier!
I was in Leeds from last Friday. I took morning flight from Bruxelles that got me into Leeds for about 10:30. I had been planning to see my friend Helen that morning, as I was staying at her house, but she’d just started a new job the morning in question so that idea wasn’t possible. I killed some time by heading into the University and sorting out admin that I needed to do for my own piece of mind. Not completely necessary but good to do. That’s kind of how the whole trip turned out: not necessary but good to do.
Continue reading ‘The thought process is what counts…’
Most Superbowl ads are not very subtle. One can’t really expect companies, for their millions of advertising dollars, to broadcast an advertisement that even a small percentage of the audience aren’t going to understand. It’s like a Pizza Hut commercial one hundred times over: the messgae, though at times funny, hits you in the side of the head. This FedEx commercial, I’m rather embarrassed to say, was almost too subtle for me, having been put to sleep by most of the other commercials on offer. It’s hilarious and simple and, always a plus, still gets the point across.
AOL Sports Superbowl Ads
My trip was a mixture of heaven and hell, being Leeds and Paris respectively. Overall I had an amazing time and I love my friends. I miss them already. But not too much. Only enough! 
I’ll tell you all tomorrow.
