Monday Mash-up, 2/4/08

1) While a couple of good things happened in January (most notably an unexpected promotion at work to Online Ad Sales Director for all of our properties!), overall it was as bad a start to 2008 as I could have imagined. Nothing major, but a lot of bumps in the road that tested my constitution and nearly shook my resolve. I’m very glad that it’s February.

2) I’m not a big shopper but I’m a complete sucker for a handful of things, including bags and electronic gadgets. While picking up a new wallet from Macy’s on Saturday (one of those slim, front pocket types that I’m still getting used to, frantically patting my back pocket every couple of hours) I saw this great Fossil messenger bag that kept screaming my name, no matter how many times I said it was too expensive. I make fun of Salomé all the time about the many, many, many bags she owns (rivaled only, perhaps, by her shoes) but I can appreciate a good bag and this is a nice step up from the cheaper, smaller bag I’ve had for the past year or so. It fits all of my gadgets comfortably plus has plenty of room for all of the books and papers I’m invariably carrying around, whether I need them or not. We also came close to buying an HD TV as Best Buy had a great deal on a 32″ Westinghouse but I still couldn’t quite bring myself to pull the trigger. Soon, though. Probably when we get the Wii.

3) Salomé and I snuck in a DVD yesterday afternoon (two weekends in a row!), finally watching Hot Fuzz and loving it. It’s an outrageous action romp that is to “buddy cop” movies what Scream was to horror movies, but with a wry British edge. Simon Pegg shines as a no-nonsense super cop transferred to the seemingly innocent countryside, Nick Frost is perfect as the bumbling sidekick who looks up to him, and Timothy Dalton chews every scene he’s in with the kind of relish that was always missing from his brief stint as James Bond.

4) Despite my professed lack of interest in the Super Bowl this year, both the game and the commercials, I had it on in the background the whole night and was completely sucked in by the 4th quarter as the Giants rolled towards their improbable upset victory. I’ve mocked Eli Manning mercilessly over the years but, credit where due, he stepped up the past few weeks and found his groove and was well-deserving of the MVP trophy last night. Props also to Plaxico Burress for being bold enough to guarantee the win and human enough to be overtaken with genuine emotion when they got it, and to Michael Strahan for calling out all the doubters, including Terry Bradshaw to his face. While I was technically rooting against the Giants, as a Jets fan, I’m not at all disappointed to see the Patriots’ perfect season go down in glorious flames, especially after the always classy Bill Belichick couldn’t even be bothered to stay on the field for the final official second of the game. Best Commercial was a tie between Budweiser’s “Hank” and Tide’s “Talking Stain”.

5) Tonight, I’m hitting 13 for the 5th week in a row, the kind of streak I try to avoid but I can’t miss Marty McConnell’s impromptu featured set of new work (based around Tarot cards, a fledgling interest of mine), nor the chance to do some last-minute hyping for tomorrow’s primary since I’ve been unable to do any more visibility events since that first one in Union Square last month. The plan is to drink much less than usual and leave right after the show ends, but you know what they say about plans and first contact with the enemy… so we’ll see.

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.

2 comments