RIP Louis Gossett Jr.
To quote Taylor Hackford who directed him in An Officer and a Gentleman:
Lou Gossett’s Sergeant Foley may have been the first Black character in American cinema to have absolute authority over white characters.
Posts
Poo with confidence
In a new campaign, toilet paper brand Andrex is encouraging Britons to dispel their fear of using toilets outside the comfort of their homes.
Spot 1: First Office Poo
Spot 2: Post Poo Euphoria
RIP Daniel Kahneman
Probably the best written tribute that I can think of, is a ~3000 words piece by Jason Zweig, from way back in 2001— before Kahneman won the Nobel Prize, and much before his 2011 bestselling book. A few excerpts:
When people ask me which investment thinker I’ve learned the most from, they expect names like Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch and John Bogle. But I always give the same answer: Daniel Kahneman.
He’s not a great stock picker like Buffett, a masterful fund manager like Lynch or a crusader for investors’ rights like Bogle. Instead, Kahneman is a psychologist at Princeton University who studies how people estimate odds and calculate risks--the very essence of investing. To my mind, Kahneman has done more than anyone else alive to shed light on how to improve our investing judgment and manage risk intelligently.
For each of us, risk doesn't reside only in the market. It lurks inside ourselves--in the way we misinterpret information, fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we do or overreact to the market’s swings. By teaching me the paradox that the most powerful thing I can learn is how little I can ever possibly know, Danny Kahneman has set me free.
And here’s the man himself, talking about overconfidence: link to video
Taste ID
In its continuing efforts to take potshots at the quirks of others, Globant finds inspiration in the world of ‘lickable tech’.
For your ‘inner swampy self’
The Shrek franchise is the inspiration for a limited edition collection of personal care products by cosmetics brand Lush. To quote from the press release:
Just like onions, this collection has layers. Inspired by Shrek’s journey from a self-loathing to a self-accepting ogre, the range aims to bring joy and Shrek’s irreverent humour to the worlds of beauty and wellbeing – showing that there is no one way to be beautiful and feel good – wellness can be a swampy ogre bath too!
Coffee, uncomplicated
Philips is promoting its bean-to-cup coffee machine Baristina by poking fun at the diversity of choices for serious drinkers.
If you’re looking for the perfect dog…
Cat food brand Whiskas makes an adoption pitch to potential dog owners.
‘Literally Anybody Else’ for President
I’ll let this report out of Texas explain:
Before a Dallas Stars hockey game at the American Airlines Center last week, fans were met by an ordinary, eager-looking guy wearing a TCU ballcap and a shirt that read 'Literally Anybody Else 2024' by the steps of PNC Plaza.
His mission? Impossible. But the sentiment driving it all? Wholly relatable, sympathetic, and engaging to many voters who don't want to see former President Trump or now President Biden win the race for the White House come November.
That guy's name in the TCU ballcap is first name: Literally. Middle name: Anybody. Last name: Else.
Not joking.
He's a 35-year-old Birdville ISD 7th grade math teacher and Army veteran who legally changed his name to 'Literally Anybody Else' earlier this year to run for president in the first year he's eligible to do so.
We checked -- a Tarrant County judge signed off on the name change, though Mr. Else mentioned they weren't amused.
Text IRL
The frequent strangeness of what our texts literally mean is the subject of this amusing 2 minute short.
RIP M. Emmet Walsh
Stanton-Walsh Rule: No movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.
-Roger Ebert, Ebert's Bigger Little Movie Glossary
Customarily grumpy, disheveled, or bewildered (if not all three at once), Walsh is the quintessential character actor. His lumpy everyman look allows him to play everything from cops to hoboes to killers, and he’s just memorable enough that his appearance in a movie or TV show is like a serving of comfort food.
-Peter Hanson, Peter Hanson's Field Guide to Interesting Film
Blood Simple (1984)
-Messenger
I Don’t Need To Know
A curious question starts off an awkward conversation between a couple about their fantasies.
Time to correct autocorrect
It seems that 41% of names given to babies in England and Wales are unrecognized as legitimate words by Microsoft’s English (UK) dictionary. This can be especially problematic if autocorrect is enabled. And so a social collective that calls itself ‘I am not a Typo’ has decided to spotlight this issue with a campaign intended to draw the attention of tech giants.
Jon Hamm does nothing
The actor plays a version of himself in a series of amusing spots for Minute Maid.
Petition to return alligator ‘son'
It’s a petition on Change.org and it has so far amassed over 100,000 signatures. I’ll let this news report from last week explain the background:
It has been an emotional week for Tony Cavallaro of Hamburg [in New York state]. On Wednesday, the DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] seized his alligator, Albert.
Cavallaro got Albert from a reptile show in 1990 when he was a baby and calls him a son. Now thousands have signed a petition to bring the 11-foot, 800-pound gator home.
The Hamburg resident said on Wednesday the DEC swarmed his home, with the help of police and the SPCA Serving Erie County, took his phone out of his hand, and would not let him say goodbye to Albert.
“It was really upsetting how it was handled,” said next-door neighbor Laura Lautner. “They loaded Albert on the back of a cargo van, and just laid him there.”
The Princess Sale
A promotion inspired by the Princess of Wales’ recent “experiment”. To quote:
Buy a T-shirt from the We Love NYC Collection and get a free Photoshop course.
AI-powered dog food vending machine
From Finland: an initiative by dog food brand, Hau-Hau Champion to address the matter of dog food wastage. Or, as one report calls it, “ensuring canine culinary satisfaction and minimizing food waste”.
The Dog Vending Machine incorporates state-of-the-art technology, featuring AI-powered facial recognition software and disinfectant blue light technology. Shaped like a whimsical cartoon doghouse, the machine offers dogs the opportunity to sample different dog foods before purchase, ensuring canine culinary satisfaction and minimizing food waste.
The primary motivation behind this ground-breaking initiative is to tackle the issue of food wastage in the canine culinary world. When dogs reject purchased food at home, it often leads to nearly full bags of dog food going to waste. The vending machine acts as a solution to this problem, providing a fun, safe, and practical way for dogs and owners to find the perfect match.
Feliz St. Patrick's Day
To many people, St Patrick’s Day is synonymous with drinking stout. Coffee liqueur brand Kahlua is challenging that notion with with its own black and creamy alternative: the Espresso Martini.
Poll promise: World’s largest chocolate fountain
Dubai is home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa. Nepal boasts Mount Everest. Soon, if Jeremy Rockliff gets his way, Tasmania could be home to the world’s largest chocolate fountain.
The Tasmanian premier on Sunday appeared to take inspiration from Willy Wonka by pitching himself to voters as the dreamer of dreams during a visit to the Cadbury chocolate factory – the largest in the southern hemisphere – near Hobart.
Channeling his inner Wonka, Rockliff said that if re-elected his Liberal government would deliver “the greatest thing to happen to tourism since Mona”.
What could rival the Museum of Old and New Art? The world’s largest chocolate fountain, which would “rewrite the ‘must-see’ list for every visitor that comes to Tasmania”, the premier enthused.
Hot &Toxic
A PSA that uses reality show tropes to spotlight the health and environmental risks of natural gas.