Commercial Madness

I hate TV commercials... pretty much all of them.
I tolerate smart commercials better than others, and Jack in the Box has some good ones.
But, some advertisers go above and beyond when it comes to misleading info, or just plain stupidity.
Take the two Army commercials that are currently running:
#1 Dad and son are arguing about the son's entry into the Reserves
Son: "they'll train me around here until they need me"
Dad "Good training?"
Son "It's the ARMY..."
[Notice that the question does not get answered. In Truth, most army training has NO real world applicability]
#2 Son and Mom at the dining table, Mom notices expectant look on Son's face and asks about it...
Son "I found somebody to pay for me to go to College"
{First, this is incredibly stilted language that NO high school senior would use casually. Kinda like those Lawyer commercials when people casually mention getting 'monetary compensation' for their injuries}
But this line is also too long, Your brain cannot prosess it properly if you have even a touch of ADD. What you hear is:
"I found someone To Pay for...College."
It doesn't.
Look at it really closely. What the kid is saying is that the Army will give him bus fare to GET TO college. That's the entirety of the promise here. No tuition payments, no books or dorms, just a ride. Now, some people actually get their college paid for by the army. Many find that wringing their GI bill out of the government is a losing proposition.

And let's not forget that we ARE AT WAR! You enter the army, and you're not going to college, or even getting any training for upwards of a decade. Everyone that passes basic training is forgoing their AIT (Advanced indiv. training, like Engineering... you know... "Good Training") and getting shipped directly to Fallujah. Only those people who choose AITs that are currently in need, and qualify for them, are getting "good" training. And since you're not exiting until after Bush is well out of office (assuming the Repubs don't steal another election) A teenager entering now may well be my age before getting into college.

*sigh*

Yes, I had a bad Army experience. Yes, I felt betrayed by my training, my country, and the shady-ass contract they had me sign. Although, I know most of the reasons that people are volunteering now, I still weep for our youth.

Tagged

I was Tagged by Cody, heres the scoop.

RULES - Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog with 8 facts/things/habits about yourself, saying who tagged you. In the end you need to choose the 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs.

1) I spent 2 years in High school as a professional clown and mime. I have a registered face with the International Clown Registry.
2) I was in theater from before Kindergarten until my Junior year in high school. Not a year of my life has been spent without performing on a stage.
3) I was an avid meditator for several years. My favortie game at the time was manipulating EEG machines.
4) Every member of my family that has died has chosen the time of their death. My heart has been stopped on a number of occasions, however none were permanent (twice I restarted on my own), which I attribute to not selecting that as -my- time.
5) I have had two verifiable telepathic experiences, and one autotelekinetic.
6) I was trained in Myocardial massage and accupressure. I'm told I have a "gift" for the latter, and a talent for the former.
7) While neither are crippling, I suffer from acrophobia and arachnophobia. [heights and spiders]
8) I've had one spiritual experience, I acted as a shaman and retreived a sick friend's totem.

Hmm, I guess Ill tag Dr Magma, Bellz, Gwen, Kiki, Paula, and Unkle Sarah

Fodder's day

Well, Father's day is coming up and, if you're like me, you're as far away as an overloaded Escort Wagon could carry you. But I still get him a gift, the kind you get when you live a half country away (a DVD player). However, for those of you who live close enough to get personal with a Dad, I think I've come across the perfect gift.

You see, I do a little side spinning with a burlesque troupe. They call me whenever they'll be at a fire friendly venue, but sometimes they overload the bill. This just happened and they asked if I could do the next one. I agreed but added a cupcake with a candle in it as part of my pay. When they asked why, I informed then it was my birthday. They said they'd do me one better and get me a special gift:

Boobies and whip cream.

Now, If you've got a lonely Dad, this just might perk him up for the rest of the year. And if your man is gettin that 7 year itch, this might shake things up. Heck they make 'em in a bunch of flavors now, and most still have a Nitrous carrier for a trip down blue lip lane. If you really want to get crazy, take him down to a strip club or ren faire with a can of whip cream, because permission to lick a strippers titties beats a bad tie any day.

Day of the devil

Okay, june 6th, 2006, or 6/6/06, the mark of the beast. I love that it's almost tongue in cheek to wave about the book of revelations. Ahh well...

If you're in california, you can express that most devilish of rights: voting.

If you're in the industry, you can see what promices to be a "meh" remake of a "meh" film: the Omen.

If you're a rational human being, it's Tuesday, just another Tuesday....

If your my friend Jim D, then you're turning 40 (born 6/6/66). Welcome to the club.

Banking issues, round 2

Okay, so, depite telling me that it wouldn't happen, it did. Wesom double bounced a transaction. This time, I got a really clear explanation of how things work:

You have $100 in your account (actual balance)
You charge 3 items to your account, each for $25 (3x$25=$75)
Available balance is now $25. [It takes a couple of days for some Visa transactions to hit]

Now, a $30 automatic bill payment (say, DPW or cable) hits your account.
They charge you a "courtesy pay" fee on the $30 despite having enough money to actually cover it.
The reasoning is that you have "reserved funds" set aside to pay the incoming $25 transactions.
Fine. It's reserved. Cool.

Now, One of the $25 transactions come in. And they charge you a courtesy pay fee for that too.
The theory is that there isn't enough money to cover ALL of the pending transactions ($48 left) so, the first one is the one that doesn't have enough money (they're still reserving money for the other two). And you get hit with another "courtesy pay" fee.

You see what's happening? They're charging you for having funds reserved for other transactions AND for fulfilling those transactions. This is completely dishonest. I may have to switch to a bank. These credit unions play way too shady.

Gone Mobile

Okay, so I broke down and bought a beater. I got a white 84 Cargo van (the one that's REALLY long) under the idea that if it beaks down, I still have storage space. But, I think my plans for Burningman have changed a bit. If I can get this thing ready for the trip, I may just have to cover it, inside and out, in glow fur, blacklights and xmas lights. It also has a towing package, so I have a lot more options now.

Frankly I'm just happy to be able to get groceries without calling a cab. :)