Last night there was a story on the WCCO 10 PM news about a little girl who was so scared of severe weather - even a passing dark cloud during an otherwise sunny day - who would get so worked up that she would vomit. Her fear of weather is so intense that she spends all day every day indoors. It was a rather sad story but I also felt angry while watching it.
I'm not a child psychologist but that level of fear has to come from somewhere. While the parents seemed rather normal, I am always ready to pin the blame on the parents. I'm guessing that one of the parents is a panicky Pete and plops down on the couch (or paces nervously while whiel taking breaks to peer out the window at the clouds in the distance) during severe weather coverage and gets borderline obsessed during the wall-to-wall weather coverage of channels 4, 5, 9 and 11 when the bad weather rolls through the Twin Cities.
I'm not perfect either but we've gone as far as taking our daughter out on the front porch and letting her watch the weather. She shows no reaction whatsoever to house-shaking thunder and the only time she has ever showed a reaction is when the cat jumped in to her crib during a severe storm and woke her up. She muttered the word "cat" to tell us what happened and was back to sleep in a few minutes.
Back to the WCCO story, though. The worst part, and the moment that should have made the main fear culprit instantly obvious to a few hundred thousand WCCO news viewers, was silver fox Don Shelby throwing things to meteorologist Chris Shaffer. He actually said something to the effect of "there's probably going to be more big boomers tomorrow, another severe weather day..." with Shaffer then beginning to whip up the weather fear.
I get it, the severe storms around her have sucked this summer. It's been worse than many previous years but the only thing that seems to get more news coverage is an oil slick covering the Gulf of Mexico or the election of our first black president. For whatever reason, weather equals TV ratings but with obsessive parents who should show their kids early on that even severe weather isn't anything to puke over, the media needs to sometimes take a step back and ask themselves whether or not the weather they are covering is truly as ominous and scary as they make it out to be. It's really a case of them trying too hard all too often.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Get this, I had a bad frozen pizza
Not to hone in on local pizza experts (@s4xton) but I have to tell the story of last night's frozen pizza misfortune. I'll preface this by saying that I'm both cheap and tethered to a young child so eating in is the typical thing for us. I had to pick up a few groceries on my way home last evening and had been curious about DiGiorno's Pizza/Breadsticks option which they recently unveiled to grocer's freezers nationwide.
After eating it, though, I wish they'd cart them back to the pizza plant hell from which they came. First off, the price is a bit steep considering that you're getting a rather dense pizza and an additional 3/8 of a pizza crust topped with mozzarella cheeese. Oh, who can forget about the miniscule bag of "marinara" sauce? That's a kick-ass bonus if ever there was one.
The pizza was disappointing and that was shocking. While a frozen pizza is what it is, DiGiorno (and its slightly superior competitor Freschetta) are the upper crust of the mass-produced frozen pizza market. The crust is fluzzy and light on the inside with a slightly crisp exterior. The pizza/breadstick combination, though, featured a dense, lifeless crust. It was heavy and thinner than usual and reminded me of a shitty take and bake mess from the Walmart "deli".
DiGiorno's breadsticks weren't half bad but they came out almost crispy on the edges. I guess that this is rather unavoidable when trying to do two things at once -- usually both end up being sub-par to a certain extent. While I will usually eat half of a frozen DiGiorno (or Freschetta) pizza, I had 1.5 slices of this trainwreck. Maybe I'll get rip-roaring drunk on cheap beer Friday and finish the rest of this crap but there's a good chance that this will make its way to the garbage.
Better than garbage, though, is MinnPics. It's the best of the best of Minnesota photos and you need to check it out.
After eating it, though, I wish they'd cart them back to the pizza plant hell from which they came. First off, the price is a bit steep considering that you're getting a rather dense pizza and an additional 3/8 of a pizza crust topped with mozzarella cheeese. Oh, who can forget about the miniscule bag of "marinara" sauce? That's a kick-ass bonus if ever there was one.
The pizza was disappointing and that was shocking. While a frozen pizza is what it is, DiGiorno (and its slightly superior competitor Freschetta) are the upper crust of the mass-produced frozen pizza market. The crust is fluzzy and light on the inside with a slightly crisp exterior. The pizza/breadstick combination, though, featured a dense, lifeless crust. It was heavy and thinner than usual and reminded me of a shitty take and bake mess from the Walmart "deli".
DiGiorno's breadsticks weren't half bad but they came out almost crispy on the edges. I guess that this is rather unavoidable when trying to do two things at once -- usually both end up being sub-par to a certain extent. While I will usually eat half of a frozen DiGiorno (or Freschetta) pizza, I had 1.5 slices of this trainwreck. Maybe I'll get rip-roaring drunk on cheap beer Friday and finish the rest of this crap but there's a good chance that this will make its way to the garbage.
Better than garbage, though, is MinnPics. It's the best of the best of Minnesota photos and you need to check it out.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
LeBron James vs the World Cup
Inspired by a tweet I saw today about our recent obsession with sports, it just clicked with me. As a nation, we have been more obsessed with sports lately than I can remember at any time in my life. Sure, there have been moments that were huge -- like the Twins winning the World Series in 1987 and again in 1991 - but those were only regionally important because the various teams are, for the most part, only regionally important.
Then came the World Cup. Suddenly soccer (or "football" as the rest of the world calls it) was huge in America. Chalk it up to the Vuvuzelas which produced a noise so hideous people could barely stand to watch the matches on TV but were so captivated that they tuned in in record numbers anyhow. Sure, the U.S. team didn't advance but people still watched -- all the way to the end to see Spain beat the Netherlands. But why? It didn't effect us. A soccer match played half way around the world was watched by over 24 million people in America. That's more people than watched the series finale of "Lost". Was it that many has invested dozens of hours of time watching earlier rounds of play and wanted to see the final match played? Or was it something more?
Could the recent obsession with World Cup soccer be a turning point in the game's popularity in America? It's already popular but could this take it to the level of Football and Baseball?
Then there's the whole LeBron James saga. This is an example of everything that's wrong with sports. People obsessed over where "King James" would play basketball next season. Would he stay in Cleveland? Would he head to the glitz and glamour in New York? Would the Minnesota Timberwolves pull out a longshot and land him and finally build a decent team? Personally I didn't care but avoiding the manufactured hype surrounding his impending decision was almost impossible. The specualtion was rampant on Twitter, blogs, ESPN (which should be ashamed for creating a circus about the decision of a grown man playing a kid's game in Miami) legitimate news sources and sports talk radio. All told, it was just short of infuriating.
But something like 7 million people sat, glued to the TVs on a warm Thursday night in the middle of summer, to watch the spectacle of an overly self-important man-child pondering his future. A man-child being paid more money than the gross domestic product of many small countries to dribble a leather ball and shoot ti through a metal hoop. When it's broken down like that, it seems even more ridiculous to me.
Maybe I'm overly cynical but after the NBA's latest round of manufactured hype and fake drama, I'd much rather watch a hundred hours of slow-moving soccer than be subjected to watching an NBA game ever again.
With this rant concluded, check out the killer photos of Minnesota at MinnPics!
Then came the World Cup. Suddenly soccer (or "football" as the rest of the world calls it) was huge in America. Chalk it up to the Vuvuzelas which produced a noise so hideous people could barely stand to watch the matches on TV but were so captivated that they tuned in in record numbers anyhow. Sure, the U.S. team didn't advance but people still watched -- all the way to the end to see Spain beat the Netherlands. But why? It didn't effect us. A soccer match played half way around the world was watched by over 24 million people in America. That's more people than watched the series finale of "Lost". Was it that many has invested dozens of hours of time watching earlier rounds of play and wanted to see the final match played? Or was it something more?
Could the recent obsession with World Cup soccer be a turning point in the game's popularity in America? It's already popular but could this take it to the level of Football and Baseball?
Then there's the whole LeBron James saga. This is an example of everything that's wrong with sports. People obsessed over where "King James" would play basketball next season. Would he stay in Cleveland? Would he head to the glitz and glamour in New York? Would the Minnesota Timberwolves pull out a longshot and land him and finally build a decent team? Personally I didn't care but avoiding the manufactured hype surrounding his impending decision was almost impossible. The specualtion was rampant on Twitter, blogs, ESPN (which should be ashamed for creating a circus about the decision of a grown man playing a kid's game in Miami) legitimate news sources and sports talk radio. All told, it was just short of infuriating.
But something like 7 million people sat, glued to the TVs on a warm Thursday night in the middle of summer, to watch the spectacle of an overly self-important man-child pondering his future. A man-child being paid more money than the gross domestic product of many small countries to dribble a leather ball and shoot ti through a metal hoop. When it's broken down like that, it seems even more ridiculous to me.
Maybe I'm overly cynical but after the NBA's latest round of manufactured hype and fake drama, I'd much rather watch a hundred hours of slow-moving soccer than be subjected to watching an NBA game ever again.
With this rant concluded, check out the killer photos of Minnesota at MinnPics!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The evolution of Sierra Mist
I remember the first time I had a drink of Sierra Mist. For whatever reason (I suppose it was on sale) my mom arrived home from the grocery store with a two liter of this new soda. Being adventurous, I poured myself a glass of it after a proper amount of time spent chilling in the refrigerator. That first drink sealed the deal for me. I never wanted to drink that bile, tasteless shit ever again. I remember it as sludgy and syrupy. I practically yearned for Pepsi to bring back Crystal Pepsi rather than have my fellow Americans subjected to this form of punishment.
Was this some kind of elaborate joke? Did America really need a third variation of Lemon-Lime soda?
As time went on, this disgusting brand of nasty obvious gained a certain amount of market share, otherwise it would have been pulled from the shelves faster than Surge (remember that one?).
Whatever the case, Sierra Mist still exists but after looking at the logos through the soda's mere ten year history you'd quickly realize that PepsiCo would have been better off sticking with Lemon Lime Slice. Honestly, how do you expect to build brand recognition with a logo revision or outright overhaul every 30 months on average? That only works if your original product and its subsuquent alterations were straight-up shit. That's obviously the case as I'd rather drink water from my workplace's toilet than have another sip of Sierra Mist.
Oh, and if you haven't figured out what I though about the first time I drank Sierra Mist, I didn't like it very much.
Alright, move along and check out MinnPics and the stunning collection of photos from all across Minnesota - it's celebrating its second birthday today!
Was this some kind of elaborate joke? Did America really need a third variation of Lemon-Lime soda?
As time went on, this disgusting brand of nasty obvious gained a certain amount of market share, otherwise it would have been pulled from the shelves faster than Surge (remember that one?).
Whatever the case, Sierra Mist still exists but after looking at the logos through the soda's mere ten year history you'd quickly realize that PepsiCo would have been better off sticking with Lemon Lime Slice. Honestly, how do you expect to build brand recognition with a logo revision or outright overhaul every 30 months on average? That only works if your original product and its subsuquent alterations were straight-up shit. That's obviously the case as I'd rather drink water from my workplace's toilet than have another sip of Sierra Mist.
Oh, and if you haven't figured out what I though about the first time I drank Sierra Mist, I didn't like it very much.
Alright, move along and check out MinnPics and the stunning collection of photos from all across Minnesota - it's celebrating its second birthday today!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
You can see the future from here
In case you've forgotten, my photo blog/aggregator MinnPics turns a whopping two years old this week -- Thursday to be exact and I still update it most every weekday. For whatever reason, its popularity has slipped recently but it's not about popularity (but that doesn't hurt). Maybe two years is the course of something I had no intention of evolving. Maybe I'll keep it going or maybe I'll hit the delete button and the whole thing will vanish into the great beyond.
But whatever happens with it, I've got a new project. I call it Minnesota River Valley Photos because that's where I live and that's where I take the bulk of my scenic photos. I've got an archive of about 15,000 photos to dig through and I take a lot of photos so I think I can sustain it for a while. Follow it on Tumblr, subscribe to the RSS feed, ignore it completely or poop on your neighbor's front porch -- I really don't care as long as it's not my front porch.
So the cat's officially out of the bag on Minnesota River Valley Photos. If you give a damn, this place will still be the home to whatever random crap I feel like spewing so don't give up on us, baby, we'll make it through.
Lastly, to stay up to date with everything I'm doing, follow me on Twitter.
Oh, and one more thing, I don't care how old you are, don't pee in my back yard.
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