Total Randomness this Week....Laundry Etiquette, Gum Tasting, Foo Fighters and Found Footage!

So I took a look at my blog today (thanks to the five of you who have made comments!) and I realized that it has been much more than a week since my last entry. I need to start keeping a book with ideas to write about. Plus, staying on top of this thing weekly is tougher than I thought it would be.

Anyway, on to my first blabbering...Laundry Etiquette

My theory on laundry is that the wet laundry of others should not be touched. This means that if you go to your laundry room and someone else has done a load of laundry, but hasn't moved the laundry tot he dryer, the person who has the wet laundry in the washing machine MUST move the wet laundry. He/She may also have another load to do and since he/she is already using the washing machine, they have dibs on the washing machine until he/she is done with the washer. The person waiting for the washer does not have the right to move the wet laundry. He/she must wait until the original person doing the laundry is entirely finished his/her wash before beginning the next "laundry cycle"

This theory was violated this morning, when I got up early and started our laundry at 8:30 a.m., as with Family Day, I expect the laundry room to be quite the happening place today, so I wanted to get a jump. There are 3 machines in the laundry machine in my building, but one is out of service, so I took the 2 and figured that I could plow through the 5 or so loads that I have waiting before anyone else is up.

So after 30 minutes, I go to move the laundry into the dryer and start another load and there is this old guy down there moving my wet laundry on top of the dryer and beginning his own "laundry cycle"! Not only does this go against the theory, but he is totally touching my wet laundry, which really bugs me for some reason.

I have no problem with once a load of laundry is done in the dryer, someone moving the clothes out of the dryer, but since the clothes are wet and the "laundry cycle" has been broken, I am a bit preturbed.

Does anyone else share my view on the laundry cycle, or am I just crazy?

Anywhoo, I guess it serves me right for waiting to do the wash until I have 5 loads of laundry to do!

New Gum

I am a big fan of Extra gum. In fact, Extra probably should also have been listed on my previous brand list. This weekend, I bought a pack of "Stride" the new gum that claims to last a ridiculously long time with its flavour. Here is a brief comparison of the two:

Packaging
Extra comes in what I like to call a "gum suitcase." Stride comes in a "gum book" that opens up with a fold in the middle. Maybe it was my man hands, but as soon as I opened the pack of Stride, the book ripped in half!

Taste
Extra has a hard hitting minty taste. Stride is more of a sweet minty taste that after awhile just tastes like you are chewing sugar.

Longevity
I will give Stride the nod in this category. I chewed a piece during a drive from Toronto to Waterloo and the gum still had its flavour by the time I hit Highway 85.

The Winner
...and still champion, Extra, even though the ads with the little scottish piece of gum annoy the hell out of me!

Here are some Random Thoughts (although after writing about laundry etiquette and reviewing gum, this post seems entirely random!).

30 Rock

This is the funniest show on TV right now hands down. Each character on this show is incredibly funny and has their own type of humour. Alec Baldwin has always impressed me when hosting SNL. Although his comedic movies have never been great (see fun with Dick & Jane? Me neither). His Jack Donaghy character proves that he has the comedic chops! Tina Fey and her writing team do a great job of writing good comedy for women, as well....or so I am told.



"Reodorize"

It's a word I made up to describe the re-application of deodarant. "After work, before I go out, I need to reodorize"

Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin

I don't watch a lot of music videos anymore. Probably because I am out of MuchMusic and MTV`s demographic and MuchMoreMusic doesn`t really show videos, but I stumbled across this one for the latest single off the latest Foo Fighters record. The song and video reminded me that there are still some bands with mainstream appeal that make good videos.

(sorry for the ad - this is the only embedable version that I could find!)

More Videos

The Road by Cormack McCarthy

As enjoyable as it was, I thought that after reading `Slash` that I should more of a literary heavy hitter. Cormack McCarthy`s The Road is a gritty story about a man and his son searching for safety after an unknown apocalyptic event. They trek down the road in search of the coast and other `good guys` and in the process encounter a cast of shady characters and interesting obsticles. The book had sort of a western type of feel and was a very dark, brooding story. I later found out that Oprah had picked this book for her book club. Please don`t hold that against The Road. It is definitely worth a read.

Found Footage Festival

Two guys travel all over the US in search of random videos in garage sales, thrift stores, old production studios, peoples garages. They then edit these found gems together and write some comedy bits in between and hilarity ensuses. I guess these guys have taken this show all over the world. I first heard about this on The New Music. My sister hooked me up with Vol. 1 and 2 for Christmas. If you are into this type of humour, it is totally worth watching!

OK - that is it for what is undoubtedly my most random blog so far.

Peace Out!

Superbowl, Brands and Exploding Whales

It’s Superbowl Weekend, which for many means the biggest sporting event of the year. It is also an advertiser’s dream, with way more people watching an event on TV than usual. Usually, the audience for the Superbowl is about 130 million people worldwide. Advertisers are paying 2.7 million for a 30 second spot, all in an attempt by companies to get people to buy things and to increase loyalty to a brand.

A few nights ago, I had a discussion with my wife about brand loyalty (that was not spurned by a Superbowl discussion, but my love for a certain brand of coffee). How many brands are you truly loyal to? Think about it for a second. If Starbucks, Tim Horton’s, Second Cup and Timothy’s were all within a 2 minute walking distance and you were going for a coffee, is there one that you would go to every time? This is how I define brand loyalty. You would consistently buy a particular brand and never look to vary your choice. There are not many instances where this happens. There are not that many things, let alone commodities in life that one person is truly loyal to. Bands and sports teams don’t count. Here are a few that we came up with:

Starbucks. I answer to the beacon of the “green lady.” Seriously, this one is not even close. My parents got me a $25 Tim Horton’s gift card for Christmas and I was disappointed because it wasn’t Starbucks. We went to Barrie for New Years and after dinner, we wanted a coffee. While we didn’t know the city of Barrie, we knew that there was a Tim Horton’s on the way back to the highway and a Chapters down the road. What lovely, Seattle based chain is in most Chapters stores? That would be Starbucks.

Heinz Ketchup. I don’t know if it is the consistency of the ketchup or the taste, but I haven’t found a better ketchup than Heinz. There is that “country” brand, the name escapes me, but you’ll find it when you stop at truck stops on road trips, or in restaurants in northern Ontario. It comes in a wider, glass bottle and it just looks “country.” It’s pretty good, but sweeter than Heinz. President’s Choice brand is too runny. I have heard some people argue that the ketchup that McDonalds uses is the best. Guess what? That’s Heinz, too! Heinz all the way.

Subway. Despite the ridiculous “Resolution Time” ads that are on a ridiculous amount of times during any recent sporting event and are annoying as hell, I am a fan of the Subway. Quiznos is overpriced and the quality just isn’t great. The problem that I have with Mr. Sub is the lack of freshness with their bread, although Mr. Sub’s ad’s are kind of funny. I would take Subway over any other chain sub shops.

The question of true, unbridled brand loyalty is a tough one. Other than those 3 brands, I am struggling to come up with any more. I am curious as to what you think? Are you loyal to any one brand and if so, why is that?

Here are my Random Thoughts of the week:

TTC Metropass Sales
I am usually good at buying my Metropass before the first of the month, to avoid line ups on the first of the month. But for February, due to a series of unfortunate events, I was unable to buy one before the 1st. The morning of the 1st, I thought that I would beat the line and purchase my Metropass from the Dominion and Yonge and Eglinton. They were sold out. I went down to the station and they were sold out at the automated kiosk. The manned kiosk had Metropasses on sale, but sales were cash only and I didn’t have the $110 on me, so I had to pay a cash fare to get to work. Not the end of the world, but frustrating. You’d think that the TTC would know by now what the demand is for Metropasses and would have a surplus on hand. Everyone knows that the TTC isn’t known for its well thought out planning, I suppose.

The Exploding Whale
I lifted this video reference from Bill Simmons on ESPN.com who writes a very funny blog. This is what happens when a bunch of people have a problem that should involve engineers, but instead, just involves a bunch of Hillbilly’s with some dynamite. VERY funny...and a bit gross.



The Bees
A friend asked me last week about bands that I have been listening to a lot lately. I left The Bees of the list by mistake. Here is a live clip of “These are the Ghosts”, my (current) favourite Bees song. How come these guys never tour in North America?



Bob Marley
I stumbled across this clip last night and watched it 4 times in a row. Genius. Such a clean, comforting sound. This song chills me out and makes me happy every time I hear it.



Kobe Bryant
The man KILLED the Raptors by himself last night. There is not a better INDIVIDUAL player in the NBA right now than Kobe. LeBron? No, he is too much of a team guy. Kobe is an assassin.

Superbowl
So who am I cheering for on Sunday? Got to be the Giants (even though they are going to lose) for two reasons:

1 – The Patriots cheated. It has been argued that every team cheats. While this may be true, not every team gets caught. They are a great team, with lots of great players but I hope that karma prevails. Plus I can’t stand that cocky, arrogant Rodney Harrison. And I’m a Bills fan and the Patriots are division rivals.

2 – I feel for Eli. Every accomplishment that he has had has been overshadowed by his brother. Even on the field before one of the Giants playoff games, he was asked about Peyton’s team (the Colts) being eliminated from the playoffs. Playing in New York can’t be easy and Eli has gotten ripped a lot. Also, I love that the Giants have made it to the Superbowl without Shockey, who is not one of my favourites to say the least!

Enjoy the game on Sunday. Go G-MEN!!