Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Christmas Creep. No, it’s not a nickname for the Grinch.

I’ve complained about it here before, how stores start advertising and selling Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier each year. But now it has a name: Christmas Creep.

The Consumerist, the Consumers Guide blog, has a whole section devoted to it.

This year, it seems to be even worse than before, as if retailers are desperate to make up for the bad economy in one big Christmas buying frenzy. We started noticing signs of it before Halloween this year. By now, nearly Thanksgiving, the TV commercials are already at a fever pitch…

[dewplayer:http://gritzmacher.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/suddenly-its-christmas.mp3]

You’ve got to admire the way Verizon is attacking Apple’s iPhone and it’s lousy AT&T coverage. They’re not going to take it like Microsoft…

Despite a lawsuit from AT&T over the red and blue maps, they’ve come right back with this ad that calls the iPhone a “Misfit Toy” – a reference to the place where broken and mis-shapen toy go from the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer story. Continue Reading…

The Soundtrack to My Life would be like a tapestry that extends from birth to death, but there is one section of it that is particularly special to me. I don’t know why I was thinking about it, but there is a period of time where some of my favorite music was made and still stands the test of time today.

The time was the years around my graduation from High School and the transition to the working, adult world. I suppose it’s a typical time where most young people have strong feelings about their music. But I think there was more to it than that. There was just something special about music of the time.

Here’s a list of music that I’m thinking of and it’s all music I still love today. Almost every album (and some of these were some of the first albums – remember vinyl? – I bought, not just heard on the radio.) is full of songs I know by heart. I don’t think there is more than one or two tracks in the bunch that don’t hold up today.

Don Mclean – American Pie
Paul Simon – Paul Simon
Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant
The Moody Blues – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
The Byrds – Fifth Dimension/Turn Turn Turn
Cat Stevens – Teaser and the Firecat

… there are more, but I’ve got to draw a line somewhere or this post will be too long… Continue Reading…

While watching TV, I’ve learned a few things. No, not from the programs I watch, but from the commercials that we’re hammered with every six-eight minutes. Here’s a few:

October is Ford Truck month. (So was September and so will November be…)

Today’s a great time to buy a new car. (Anytime is a great time, if you’re a car salesman.)

Mac Guy isn’t impressed with PC’s promises about Windows 7. (But forgets that people are having trouble with Snow Leopard.)

25-28mpg is a big deal to some car companies. (Didn’t we get 33mpg from a VW Beetle back in the 70’s?)

Erectile Dysfunction drugs can cause a “sudden drop in blood pressure.” (Yet, some blood pressure medicines cause ED. Maybe they should just give Cialis or Viagra for hypertension?)

If hurt, I should call Dewey, Cheatham and Howe* Attorneys. (I’d much rather call them ambulance-chasers or shysters.) * Not a real law firm. I changed the name because I don’t want to be sued. Of course, someone named Dewey, Cheatham, or Howe might sue me for calling them a lawyer…