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A funny, but most interesting commercial

 Early this morning I was awakened by an agonizing pain in my left, little toe. I think I might have fractured it last night as I was putting my normally hurting feet — courtesy of neuropathy from a still undiscovered origin — up for rest.

 For some reason I had difficulty going back to sleep but it wasn’t just due to the pain. No, it was because I couldn’t remember all the lines in that hilarious Dos Equis TV commercial, “The Most Interesting Man in the World.” Click here to see the ad.

 The bearded, non-celebrity can be seen boating, playing jai alai or leading a night-time expedition with all in tow dressed in their finery. The voice-over proclaims that “His reputation is expanding faster than the universe. He once had an awkward moment just to see how it feels. He lives vicariously through himself. He is the most interesting man in the world.”

 Slate critic Seth Stephenson points out that the most interesting aspect of the ad is the subject’s line: “I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” Stephenson equates such an admission to Tony the Tiger saying he doesn’t like cereal but when he eats it, his brand is Frosted Flakes.

 It is difficult to imagine just to whom the advertiser is pitching. It would hardly be the “Whazzuppp???” crowds of bygone Bud Light ads or the other babe-laden  ads which equate drinking tons of beers with finding tons of fine women. Sometimes  it is hard to figure out just who an ad has been crafted for, especially when humor is involved. Humor crosses many different lines when it hits and just as many lines when it doesn’t.

 Nonetheless, hats off to the firm that came up with this campaign for its clever humor and its appeal to memory. It kept me up trying to remember it word for word this morning, didn’t it? Dos Equis has an accompanying Web site with the campaign, the funniest part of this medium is that the most interesting man supposedly leaves a note telling people to explore what’s around his place. There, in his study one finds a number of empty match boxes from foreign spots which can be opened and which contain local insults, something Mr. Most Interesting insists is helpful to know when operating in varied cultural climates.

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Happy Thanksgiving, World leaders!

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Even those at the highest reaches of world power need time for a little relaxation during the Thanksgiving holidays.  Here, White House aide Reggie Love tosses the Nuclear Football to President Obama in the outer Oval Office.

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Being thankful for bad things

 It is the beginning of five days off. My Thanksgiving holiday if you will.

 In days past I would be thrilled to have five days off for Thanksgiving. These days I am not so thrilled. Happy? Yes. Thrilled? No. The reason is simple: Money. Or a lack thereof. Payday is sometime between Saturday and next Monday.  Payday actually is a week from Thursday but since I have direct deposit, my money usually shows up on the Saturday before. Or the Monday. It’s like magic. Bad magic.

 I don’t know if this is an item falling under the “something to be thankful for” list, but it is somewhat of a relief for those of us whose government work (part-time in my case) carries us into some sort of a regular setting outside of the office.

 Authorities in Kentucky have finally ruled the death of part-time Census worker  Bill Sparkman as a suicide. Sparkman, as you might remember, was found dead in the woods nude and with a rope around his neck. The words “Fed” had been written in pen on his chest and his government ID was taped to his neck. His hands had been bound with duct tape. Police have determined Sparkman staged his death to appear as a homicide in order that his family could collect his insurance policies.

 We will have to take the Kentucky authorities’ word for it that it was indeed a self-inflicted death. I guess if other government workers turn up with bizarre deaths then perhaps law enforcement folks will want to take yet another look at this death as well.

 Some of our prominent loud-mouth right-wing nuts got all bent out of shape when people started pointing fingers at them for Sparkman’s death. I can see that. But there are plenty of people with animosity toward the government out there. Hell, the government pisses me off sometimes. But not to the point that some folks are enraged. Remember, Tim McVeigh didn’t start anti-government domestic terrorism just as Osama bin Laden didn’t start jihadist terror.

 My advice to Census and other government field workers is the same advice I give myself. Be aware of your surroundings. Leave yourself an escape route. Trust your instincts. If a place and people make you uncomfortable for some reason, avoid that place. Go back and talk to a superior about it or a co-worker. And be as nice as you can be … to your web-footed friends because that duck might be somebody’s mother.

 Second in the “thankful for” category: The Texans-Titans game last night. Being a Texans fan, I’m glad as heck that game is over. Two games in a row almost Mr. Perfect kicker Kris Brown missed a field goal that could have put the Texans into overtime. The first time was with undefeated Indianapolis.

 But goat times two that Brown might be, he didn’t lose either game alone. Titans quarterback and former Texas QB sensation Vince Young did some fancy footwork that made the Texans defensive line look as if they had come only to watch the game. It’s good for the Titans they had Young  going for them because they didn’t have much else. Although, the Texans could have done much better. They could have been sitting in the playoff catbird seat, whatever that is. Oh well, 5-5 once again. That’s even-Steven. Be thankful for that at least.

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One certain prediction in health care debate

 If I were to say I knew everything there was to know about the Democratic health reform plan, then I think you could pretty easily say that I was lying about such a statement.

 The  truth is that I, like probably millions of Americans, know little about the plan which originally targeted health insurance of some kind for all our citizens.

 But I think deductive reasoning will get one toward some pretty good suppositions about some of the proposed features of the plan floating around out there. I say “suppositions,” not “suppositories,” although I am sure the latter would be an apt word to help describe what Republicans would like the Democrats to do with the plan.

 With respect to the so-called “public plan” that polls show Americans favor, it should be easy to see that the only way any kind of positive change will happen is through some kind of a public options. Perhaps the majority of those polled like a public plan because they want health care available to all Americans and the public plan will be the only way such a plan would fly. If  you have no public plan, you have the status quo, which is nada.

 Another non-starter is the ability for states to opt out. In red states such as Texas, where I live, the  state legislature would never pass  a public plan no matter how much the voting public wanted it. Why some state leaders, like our screwball governor, think the state should pull out of the whole United States. Public health insurance in Texas if it is not mandated? You got to be jivin’ me.

 I may not know a lot about the health reform package but I know if you let states skate on major issues those states will never capitulate until the greater republic decides enough is enough and some form of carrot-stick approach is used to bring the states into line. When I talk about carrot-stick, I refer to examples such as the federal government withholding highway funds until states pass stricter auto or public safety laws. The seat belt and 18-year-old drinking laws come to mind. Pick your own congressional blackmail.

 So we shall see what we shall see in the next month or so. I can’t see too far off in the future but I do have one prediction that will probably hit with near-perfect accuracy. That is, I predict everyone will not be happy when the health reform debate is done. How’s that for sticking my neck on the line?

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How much hoohah will shooting by school cop bring?

 An officer from our local school police force shot and killed a man near a school this morning in what the Beaumont Independent School District calls “self-defense.”

... and to shoot center mass, apparently.
... and let's see what kind of stir this will cause.
Police Sgt. Don Gordon was on what was characterized as a “routine check” near the Paul Brown and Pathway schools when he ran into a disturbance, said a Beaumont ISD press release. The shooting happened off the campus near the intersection of Pope and St. Helena streets
 A “black male” allegedly attacked Gordon as the officer prepared to investigate the fracas. The police officer “had no recourse but to pull his weapon and defend himself,” BISD police chief Clydell Duncan said in the press release. The 26-year-old who was fatally wounded in the shooting was identified as Matthew Beckett of Beaumont, according to the Beaumont Enterprise.
 The officer supposedly used pepper spray on Beckett before shooting him, according to KBTV-TV. The news station quoted school district spokeswoman Jessie Haynes as saying Beckett appeared to be high on drugs. No other reports have surfaced this afternoon concerning whether Beckett pulled a weapon on Gordon, prompting the officer to use deadly force.
 This is the first fatal shooting for the department, which began patrolling schools and areas near the schools two years ago. The agency has more than 20 officers.
 Beaumont ISD has seemed to be continually in the media spotlight, or crosshairs, depending on how one see it during the past several years. The school district has an enrollment of more than 19,000. The district pays its superintendent, Dr. Carrol Thomas, more than $320,000 per year, which makes him one of the best paid school administrators in Texas if not the most well-paid.
 Thomas and his advocacy of a multi-million dollar bond issue have been lightning-rods for criticism during the past year or two. Usually, discussions in online comment sites about Thomas and the district end up with the subject of race. Thomas is black as is four of seven school board members. Some would say that shouldn’t come as a big shock since the population of Beaumont is 47.2 percent black compared to a 44.1 percent white make-up, according to Census figures.
 One may only expect this shooting, regardless of what the facts from the investigation bring, will stir the BISD controversy pot even more. One also might hope for race not to inflame this latest incident since both the police officer involved as well as the victim are both black. But one shouldn’t hold their breath. This is Beaumont where everything seems racial these days.