’Parrently the Mac turned voting age yesterday, and Blog of Note at Blogger happened to point to someone who points us to the story of the fantastic first advertisement for the original Banana Jr.

UPDATE: CBS is going to run a program called Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials II, and the ad for it indicates that the “1984” spot will be on it, but the web page doesn’t confirm.

posted by Tk at 4:59 PM | this entry's link |

A short/interesting article below. For those who wonder how I do what I do (i.e., corporate communications) without yakking on a daily basis, well, this won't clear up that mystery any...

-- CMM

Full op-ed from the NYT is here; excerpts below:

January 19, 2002
Enron's Vision (and Values) Thing
By JAMES S. KUNEN

Well, at least Enron's leaders thought it important to produce a statement of values. Imagine what they might have done had they found themselves without this moral compass.

Then again, maybe adherence to ethical conduct really should go without saying. Every company's statement ends up rehashing the same things, anyway: We will maintain the highest ethical standards, treat our employees with respect, encourage teamwork, make quality products, respect the environment. . . . As opposed to what? We will maintain fair- to-middling ethical standards? Treat our employees like old shoes, foment backstabbing, make shoddy products and lay waste the environment?

I know one writer who, while struggling to draft one of these corporate credos, threw up her hands in despair and observed: "Why not just come right out and say it? 'We will strive to make as much money as we can without going to prison.' "

She was joking, of course. But had Enron's leaders adopted her statement and lived by it, their employees and shareholders might be a lot better off today.

posted by M E-L at 3:15 PM | this entry's link |

Get your war on just gets funnier and funnier.

posted by Tk at 2:50 PM | this entry's link |

Blogrolling Department:

On Trip's site, he's been reviewing independent, non-corporate web-sites that are worth checking out: the Realm of Redheads, Evolt.org, Need to Know, UnosUnosYUnosCeros.com, Exploding Dog, and Linkdup. I'm sure he'll have lots more for us.

posted by M E-L at 2:48 PM | this entry's link |

Don't click here unless you've got some time on your hands; a seriously cool webtoy. Thanks to i.s.o. labs for the pointer.

posted by M E-L at 2:28 PM | this entry's link |

You have until Monday to comment to the DOJ on the Microsoft anti-trust settlement. Do it now.

posted by M E-L at 2:01 PM | this entry's link |

Why You Should Uninstall AudioGalaxy Now

posted by M E-L at 1:53 PM | this entry's link |

L’affaire Enron takes a turn for the worse.

posted by Tk at 1:02 PM | this entry's link |

How to LoJack your iMac. (via blogdex.)

posted by M E-L at 12:56 PM | this entry's link |

“Bleeding Gums” Murphy finally actually dead. Ron Taylor, the man behind BGM, was also the man behind Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway.

posted by Tk at 11:45 AM | this entry's link |

Civil Liberties Watch

This article in the SF Chronicle reveals that Ashcroft "vigorously urged federal agencies to resist most Freedom of Information Act requests made by American citizens" in an Oct 12 memo. Link via randomWalks.

posted by M E-L at 11:28 AM | this entry's link |

From today's Nothing Personal on Salon.com:
In what can only be called a coup for drape-headed actors everywhere, a production company called Five Mile River Films has bought the screen rights to "Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City," a biography of New York City's former mayor by Andrew Kirtzman. Actors including Robert Duvall and James Woods are said to be under consideration to take the lead role in the TV movie. According to the Associated Press, Five Mile River has backed such TV classics as "Abraham," "Moses," "David" and "Jesus." Maybe they'll call this one "God."

posted by Naunihal Singh at 12:44 PM | this entry's link |

Last week’s Voice describes the plight of Jones Diner, “one of the last great original hash houses in lower Manhattan”. Support your local (or regional) greasy spoon!

posted by Tk at 12:25 PM | this entry's link |

For those of you who missed it, there was a small piece in the NY Times a couple months ago about two guys who photographed the defacement of Britney Spears subway posters, the ones advertising her then-upcoming gig in Las Vegas to be broadcast live on HBO. I finally got around to seeing the web page they put up with their results, and it isn’t as interesting as it seemed from the Times’s piece, but it’s still worth a quick look. (You’ll probably get redirected to the main page from the link above, but look in the nav on the left frame of the main page.)

[NB: It's been a while since I visited Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, host of the Britney site, but it's worth looking at in its own right -- a mapping of stories to the grid of the city. Andrea's kind of thing. Also, you should check out the illuminating reactions to the Britney posters.]

posted by Tk at 9:48 AM | this entry's link |

Ooh, and I just heard on WBGO that today is National Measure Your Feet Day and tomorrow is National Compliment Day (confirmed at HolidayInsights.com). What’re the lobbying organizations that pushed these through our estimable national legislative assembly?

posted by Tk at 4:34 PM | this entry's link |

More on the selectively Ashcruftian moral government: Wired news says that we are punishing Ukraine, but just bumpin’ our gums about China when it comes to policing software piracy.

posted by Tk at 4:25 PM | this entry's link |

Yet another reason to love Microsoft -- January's XP Surprise: The Giant Paperweight

posted by M E-L at 4:01 PM | this entry's link |

Spinsanity is always worth checking out, if only to see what lies the pundits are spreading these days. Currently considered: The GOP straw man, "Daschlenomics," and the Dem's straw man, "Enronomics." OK, I'm biased, but I just have to quote this WSJ op-ed piece on Enron:

Rather, the ultimate lesson may turn out to be that Enron was able to play fast and loose in a financial boom and Clintonian moral climate, and was called to account in a recession when the moral climate has turned Ashcroftian.

Oh yes, and ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery, etc.

posted by M E-L at 11:43 AM | this entry's link |

Had a good discussion with my father this weekend about the nominal status of the Afghan prisoners, be it POWs or “Unauthorized Combatants”. Today’s Washington Post has excerpts from the relevant portion of the Geneva Convention, but I’d love to see what the non-excerpted portions read.

Whoa there! Found it. The little-known full title is the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and the parts not excerpted by the Washington Post are illuminating. Apparently there’s a touch too much nuance in them for the Post’s readers.

posted by Tk at 1:42 PM | this entry's link |

Right-Wing Politicians Seek the Hobbit Vote

Link via It's A Mystery.

posted by M E-L at 11:48 AM | this entry's link |

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