TWO CURRENT ITEMS WORTH NOTING:
a. Carl's Jr aggressively pitches their half-pound Most American Thickburger equipped with a hot dog on top of potato chips, over a slab of cheese, covering a hefty hamburger in between two big bread buns.
b. 67.6 million Americans over 25 years old are obese and an additional 65.2 million are overweight.
IN THE BUCKET OF FINE NEWS WRITING:
"If practice is what gets you to Carnegie Hall, as the saying goes, what gets you to the Music Center has always been a car." -- L.A. Times Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne's opening about access to the music facility.
ARDENT TEA PARTY FOLKS SAY: 'compromise' is a dirty word. General Motors' TV ads for their Cadillac SRX say the same thing: "It's a weak man who urges compromise." Who's writing this copy, Ayn Rand? From the Tea Party, it makes sense. But GM? If they're saying you won't compromise quality when you shell out more that 40 grand for a luxury automobile -- got it. But why are they broadening the message to broadly declare that all compromise is a weakness? An American president wisely said that governing is the "art of the possible." 'Possible' doesn't exist without compromise. Ask your business colleagues, spouse, partner or family.
ANOTHER ODD EDITORIAL CHOICE: Kai Ryssdal, host of American Public Media's daily financial program, Martketplace. His delivery is what psychologists would call cognitive dissonance: the uncomfortable tension that comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time -- such as an astute approach to global finances coupled with Ryssdal's pumped up, aggressively informal delivery. Note to producers: less is more.
IT'S A PUZZLEMENT: Citizan Kane, Orson Wells' classic masterpiece is built on a serious flaw in the script. In the opening scene, the dying publisher whispers one last word before dying: Rosebud.The rest of the movie is spent by everyone trying to find the meaning behind Rosebud -- and the man himself. However, there is no one in the room when he says Rosebud. A nurse enters after he dies. So how does anyone know what his last word was?
YOU'VE GOT TO HAND IT TO THE AIRLINES: for their stunning chutzpah. As we Americans get fatter, airline seats keep getting slimmer. The Los Angeles Times reports aircraft manufacturer Boing's 777 will squeeze in an additional 14 seats. Smaller bathrooms too, of course. The two things guaranteed to increase: airline profits and passenger misery.
FADING WORDS and Their Replacements:
super = hyper
swell = awesome
stoked = pumped
mellow = chill
trousers = pants
Hi-fi = Dolby
man = dude
men's package = junk
YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN LOS ANGELES: when the first subject Angelenos talk about when they get together is the route and traffic it took to get there.