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I’m not in the habit of reposting things, but this In Praise of Older Women thing popped up again — this time on my Facebook feed. This is something I wrote in 2005:

Speaking of dopey internet stuff, folks, always check out the junk people send you before you forward it, even things from your friends.

How many bogus virus warning have you gotten from people you know? Or ridiculous urban legends? And it’s not just scary stuff. Yesterday, a woman I know quite well (who happens to share my house and parenting duties) sent me an essay called In Praise of Older Women, by Andy Rooney. Maybe you’ve seen it. It’s a wry, self-deprecating appreciation of seasoned ladies that includes lines like this:

An older woman will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, “What are you thinking?” She doesn’t care what you think.

Shut your eyes and you can sort of imagine sitting at the Palmer House Cafe and hearing it come out of Andy Rooney’s mouth. But it didn’t.

Like the infamous Kurt Vonnegut Sunscreen Speech, it’s a case of misattribution gone wild. Baltimore Sun writer Susan Reimer asked Rooney about it in 2003:

“It just bugs me that anybody would put my name on something I didn’t write,” said Rooney from his New York office. He’s been the object of this kind of hoax before, and another, he said, had just crossed his desk. I asked him if he shared the author’s affection for older women, and he said, “Not particularly.”

Two years later I’m still getting the email…

I can’t wait for Trader Joe’s to get here. Cant wait, can’t wait, can’t wait!

It’s not because I’m craving the Trader Joe’s Shrimp with Spicy Green Curry or the deliciously crispy Beer Battered Vidalia Sweet Onion Rings. Or because I’m jonesing for that Carmelized Nut Trio. Nope. I can’t wait because I’m so fu**ing sick of hearing about Trader Joe’s.

Trader Joe’s, the groovy kid sister of German mega-mart Aldi, is opening in Rochester — and the local Trader Joe’s cultists are foaming at the mouth because Albany may be next.

Or could their mouths be foaming because they’re not eating enough fresh food?

Trader Joe’s is heavy on prepared packaged products — in fact, those are the things that TJ fanatics rave about. Imagine a Stouffer’s frozen dinner, except all organic and stuff. Or pretzels made without genetically modified flour — which is probably good if you eat tons of pretzels.

Industry watchers agree that Trader Joe’s is a lousy place to buy meat, bread, produce, and fish so I’m thinking it’s not a good choice for serious cooks. And if you like to cook, you would never buy a frozen dinner from anywhere, organic or not.

So what if Trader Joe’s does come to Albany? Most people will never go there. The next largest group will go there occasionally, the way they go to the co-op now and then for kicks. And a very, very, very small and elite group will practically live there.

I shopped at Aldi recently and kinda liked it. I needed $20 of canned beans and paid just $10. Like Trader Joe’s, its strength is packaged goods –  and I really didn’t mind that it only helped me stretch my dollar, not my hipster cache.

THERE’S NO “J” In RATINGS
Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Entertainment, told the NY Times earlier this month that the network would consider Jay Leno a success with just a 1.5 rating in adults 18-49. Yes, that sounds low —but the program is so cheap to produce it can make loads of money with the same ratings that would get another show cancelled. NBC affiliates must be thrilled. They were promised that Jay would help revitalize NBC’s anemic schedule. If a 1.5 is revitalization, I’m Warren Littlefield.

MIND SHIFT
They’re working on the movie “The Other Guys” in the streets of Albany outside my office this week. I’ve heard several people say they’re “taping” scenes. This is funny because when I worked in TV folks would always refer to what we were doing as “filming.” No, we’d smugly think to ourselves, “We’re taping.” Now people just assume everything is tape —and we may be coming to a day when film is as quaintly passé as vinyl.

TAG TEAM
Came home from work and found one of the dogs eating a loaf of bread. What?! It appears that the kitten knocked the bread off the kitchen counter and the dog went to town. Freihofer’s Double Fiber Wheat in case you’re interested.

Does anything say ’80s excess like Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart? In this re-mix the video gets the treatment it’s deserved for 25 years.

Trivia: Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan of Springsteen’s E Street Band played on the original.

A lot of bad advertising is a result of the Larry Tate Effect. Remember Darrin’s boss on Bewitched, Larry Tate? The Larry Tate effect is when you say or do what you think the client wants to hear  instead of what you know is right.

I read recently how Intel’s agency rejected what the chip giant wanted -ads that talk about how important their products are- and instead convinced them to launch a bold new branding campaign. 

For years Intel advertised its microprocessors —but regular people don’t buy microprocessors they buy a whole computer. Convince folks that Intel stands for superior quality and technology, and they’ll want their computers that have Intel chips. The question is how to do it in a memorable and meaningful way —and that’s what the new campaign, Sponsors of Tomorrow, is all about.

Watch this spot that elevates Intel from cold faceless corporate giant to king of geek chic. And their product isn’t ever shown or talked about.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2496430&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

From the Arizona Republic. Please pay particular attention attention to the final sentence:

Vomit From ASU Frat Members May Have Caused Crash
Eight to 10 members of an Arizona State University fraternity are believed to have caused a car accident by vomiting milk onto traffic below an ASU footbridge on University Drive Tuesday night.
The incident caused a woman to rear-end another vehicle at about 6 p.m. after that vehicle stopped to avoid the vomit, according to Sgt. Scott Smith a spokesman for the Tempe Police Department.
The woman and her young daughter suffered minor injuries. The woman was cited for the accident, according to Smith. It is unknown why the men were drinking and vomiting the milk.