On the way home last night, I attended a lecture in Vanderbilt’s new Martha Rivers Ingram Center for the Performing Arts by author and UCLA professor Jared Diamond, winner of a history Pulitzer for Guns, Germs & Steel. Diamond also is an entertaining, witty lecturer with a stereotypically disheveled professorial appearance. He didn’t cover much new ground for those who have read his book, but did present an enjoyable 45-minute recap of the 13,000 years it covers. I’m a fan of the book and now of the author. And of the new 600-seat concert hall for Nashville.

I’ve attended only one Super Bowl. The Wall Street Journal today has an article about that very same Super Bowl. It’s a “where are they now” story about all the dot.com companies who ran advertisements during the game. Since I attended the game in person, I missed all those commercials. Super Bowl XXXIV is regarded as one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever. I know that evening must have been exciting for those advertisers, as well. Today, many of them are regretting that evening as much as Kevin Dyson.

Since the WSJ article today does not mention who played in the Super Bowl with all the dot.com ads, I thought I would supplement their coverage with a “where are they now” update on the two teams.

Where Are The Super Bowl XXXIV Teams Now?”

The Saint Louis Rams

The Tennessee Titans

I’ll watch Sunday’s game for the commercials. I’m waiting until next season before watching any more football.

While working on a writing project regarding the State of the Union Address, I ran across this piece in today’s Wall Street Journal by Peggy Noonan, who wrote the book on what makes a good speech. Not surprisingly, the former Reagan and Bush I speech-writing virtuoso, liked W’s message the other evening:

Quote:

In the old days elite opinion held that Mr. Bush was a scripted trust-fund dullard whose rise was greased by luck and birth. Those were the days. Those of us who stood with Mr. Bush then were a small and hardy band of criticized contrarians. It was fun. We had secret handshakes and everything. Now everyone’s in on the act.

It is not, in general, good for presidents to be so universally praised. Politicians are made dizzy by love. They lose their edge, their purpose, and coast. But Mr. Bush has earned this support, and in any case wartime is a good time to unify behind a president–particularly this war, particularly this president.

Ever-annoying reviewer of TV, movies and style Tom Shales poses punditry on the important aspects of the State of the Union Speech: tie colors, camera angles, and how on TV, some people look like other TV people.

Quote:

Kennedy looked hale and robust, though one couldn’t help notice a certain resemblance to SpongeBob SquarePants, the popular Nickelodeon cartoon character….As for Bush, when smiling he looks a little like Paul Newman (though too much of the smiling last night seemed self-congratulatory in nature), while his physical stature suggests a folksier version of Dick Cavett.

I’ll have to admit that I’d never heard of SpongeBob, but when I read this, I had to see for myself. I’ll let you decide for yourself, is Tom Shales correct? Were SpongeBob and Ted Kennedy separated at birth?

Bob Ted

I must admit, I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with Tom Shales. So much so, I had to compare his other two TV people who look alike. What do think, could the President and Paul star together in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Old Guy?

W Paul

Wow, that Tom Shales really has an amazing ability to see resemblences where I’d never see one. But I’m inspired. I think I’ll try just one:

Ad Icon TV Critic

While I still use Google as my primary search engine, I’m beginning to suggest Altavista.com (a blast from the past, huh?) for searching news headlines. It uses technology and data from moreover.com.

Writing a story for NFIB right now and did a search on “small business” and turned up lots of recent stories:

Small business is big again for IBM (cnet news.com)

HP launches small-business server (cnn)

Small Business Owners: Recession over, recovery slow (bCentral)

AT&T Sells Off Small Biz Hosting Accounts (Silicon Alley News)

(Crain’s Chicago Business)

Bush Says There’s One Word for Economic Security: Jobs (NFIB.com)

NFIB Hails President’s Call for Making Small-Business Tax Relief Permanent (NFIB.com)

Actually, those last two weren’t in the search, but I added them anyway as I know who wrote them.

Ever wonder who gets to sit with the First Lady during the State of the Union speech? Me, neither. Except last night, there was an NFIB member invited along with war heroes, flight attendant heroines, Olympic organizers, a union boss, a bishop and an Enron shareholder who lost $8,000. Here is the official White House First Lady’s Box bio on the NFIB member:

Mrs. Rhoda Reeves, Cape Girardeau, MO
Rhoda is President, Founder, and Production Manager of Horizon Screen Printing. An entrepreneur, she has a family owned business employing 25 people. Rhoda founded her business printing t-shirts for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. From 1981-1984 she worked out of her basement with no advertising. She now has commercial space.

Ever-annoying reviewer of TV, movies and style Tom Shales poses punditry on the important aspects of the State of the Union Speech: tie colors, camera angles, and how on TV, some people look like other TV people.

Quote:

Kennedy looked hale and robust, though one couldn’t help notice a certain resemblance to SpongeBob SquarePants, the popular Nickelodeon cartoon character….As for Bush, when smiling he looks a little like Paul Newman (though too much of the smiling last night seemed self-congratulatory in nature), while his physical stature suggests a folksier version of Dick Cavett.

I’ll confess. I’d never heard of SpongeBob, but when I read this, I had to see for myself. You decide, is Tom Shales correct? Do you also notice that certain resemblance?

Bob Ted

I must admit, I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with Tom Shales. So much so, I had to compare his other two TV people who look alike. What do think, could the President and Paul star together in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Old Guy?

W Paul

Wow, that Tom Shales really has an amazing ability to see resemblences where I’d never see one. But I’m inspired. I think I’ll try just one:

Ad Icon TV Critic

Permanent URL: http://rex.weblogs.com/stories/storyReader$145

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz points out the irony of pundits taking money from corporations and then criticizing politicians for taking money from those same corporations. Says it may be time for “journalistic finance reform.” Another reason I point to it is his use of the word “lard.”

Quote:

It’s hard for journalists who work for big companies, write books and appear on television to avoid all conflicts these days. But many of these commentators wax indignant when politicians of all stripes appear to be doing the bidding of those who fill their campaign coffers. For media people to line up at the same corporate trough is just asking for trouble.

Well, one’s not coming my way, yet.

What would happen if you translated this page from english to spanish and then back to english? A lesson in miscommunicaton. (Use your “back” key to return here.)

Addendum: This reminds me of the way companies often communicate with their customers.

Help: How to do this yourself.

Perhaps because I was in PR myself at the time, I used to marvel at Reagan image-meister Michael Deaver’s amazing gift of knowing the precise spot to position his boss in public appearances for just that right photo. I don’t know what, but something about this picture of John Ashcroft in the Great Hall of the Justice Department building made me think of Michael Deaver’s attention to detail.

Universally panned by marketing pundits at the time, the change of name from Anderson Consulting to Accenture a year ago seems brilliant today. Rance Crain (who in real life is not nearly as cranky as his writing suggests), explains why.

Quote:

But I’m not here to malign Accenture ads. My point is that Andersen Consulting’s name change, though panned, was a colossal stroke of good luck. My vote for the real Marketer of the Year? It’s the arbitrator who forced Andersen Consulting to change its name.

With state legislatures convening across the country, we’re going to be hearing lots about budget blues in the coming days. As many states have constitutions that require balanced budgets, the pressure to raise taxes, especially on small businesses, will be intense. Here in Tennessee, the issue is difficult due to our total dependence on a sales tax rather than any personal income taxes. Here, the Tennessean looks at the pressure to expand the sales tax to services not currently taxed. Several folks at Hammock Publishing work with state directors of NFIB to keep their members up-to-date with what’s going on in their state capitols regarding taxes and other important issues.

Bill Hudgins and his Road King readers are always quick to notify marketers when their advertising casts truckers in a negative, cliched light. Latest blunder is by Radio Shack, a marketer who otherwise courts truckers for all sorts of merchandise. The offending ad is at left with offending headline enlarged.

Finally finished reading Theodore Rex (after reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt). Bully. Fascinating man and time, for sure.

If Teddy were alive today, he would blog; the guy wrote everyday: articles, letters, books, speeches. Reminds me a lot of Churchill’s prolificacy. Roosevelt’s topics ranged from bird watching (and listening) to naval warfare. A voracious and multilingual reader, as well.

Author Edmond Morris, (despite the panning of his Reagan biography, Dutch) is a tremendous storyteller. Roosevelt and his times provide excellent material for Morris’s skills. I couldn’t help drawing parallels with today, as Roosevelt’s era (turn of last century) saw so many changes taking place in transportation, communication and technology. The roles of and relationships between government and business were also major issues as they are today.

There are parallels in his years in the White House with today’s Microsoft antitrust case and Enron. Also some striking similarities to today’s challenges militarily and geopolitically. Politics aside, Roosevelt is a fascinating historical figure. And did he ever know how to get a way from it all. Even though it is not mentioned in either book, I seem finally to understand why Teddy Roosevelt made it onto Mt. Rushmore with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.