Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Sometimes Things Get Turned Around And No One's Spared
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2010 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
I made it back to New York City just fine, and in time to catch our own snowfall. Leonard & I have again been using the infinite uploads of the mysterious bobtwcatlanta for entertainment.
"This theme song for Mr. Belvedere is really heavy on the slapstick.""Yeah, it doesn't convey the sophisticated wordplay that characterized the comedy in Mr. Belvedere."
Pause. "Did it?"
"No!"
We recently switched to commercials rather than opening credits/theme music sequences. This means that twenty-year-old jingles have like dormant infections reawakened in my brain. "Bonneville!" may now replace "YEAHHH!" for me as a non sequitur suffix.
Speaking of reactions to entertainment: Danny O'Brien, if you're reading this, Brian Malow is to nerdcore comedy what They Might Be Giants is to MC Frontalot. A few minutes into Brian Malow's Wonderfest act he mentions that tic I have that I think you have too -- instead of laughing at a joke, nodding once you've parsed and compiled it and judged it sound. We're in a great tradition, you and I. Around 9:20 in this compilation is an ad for...life insurance? a real estate company? no, Benjamin Moore paints. "When something means so much, see your Benjamin Moore dealer." Instantly Leonard and I took this literally.
"Bob! I just asked her to marry me! It just meant so much!""Bob! My dog just got hit by a car! It means so much!"
"Bob! Ulysses! Just look at this text! It means so much!"
"Bob! Encyclopedias! All those sentences and articles! They mean so much!"
"Revised commercial: 'When something means so much and could conceivably be paint-related, see your Benjamin Moore dealer."
Tough room. TO PAINT! (Bonneville!)
Comments
Leonard
11 Feb 2010, 12:49 p.m.
Leonard
15 Feb 2010, 11:54 a.m.
Also: "Sometimes things get turned around, Mr. Spencer... and no one's spared."
Other commercial riffs:
"Calcium. What could be simpler?" "How about hydrogen?"
And the "Dear Certs..." commercial reminded me of someone's bit about ridiculous commercials in which human being write letters to products.
"Dear McRib Sandwich..." (Sumana hums "Ashokan Farewell")