Lookalikes: Kate Walsh & Ben Katz, from Dr. Katz

I've been doing my lookalike thing for years now, but this is one of my all time favorites.

Kate Walsh, of Grey's Anatomy fame ...


Image Source: CanadianBaconIsHam

... Bears a striking resemblance to Ben Katz, from Dr. Katz


Image Source: Animation World Magazine


Image Source: A Shot in the Arm

The 24 Effect: David Palmer & Barack Obama

Image Source: Wiki24

This thought occurred to me on February 9th, but apparently I was waaay behind on connecting these dots. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But I did a search on it this morning to see just how wide spread the thinking was. Here's what I found:

* An article at TheSimon.com by Lucia Bozzola, dated 1/30/2007


* And now 84,200 search results for Obama David Palmer


* Including a Newsweek article dated 2/11/08

I'm not sure what to make of this yet.

Giving Cougars a Bad Name

Some observations about this pod:


1. Nothing wrong with the whole Cougar lifestyle -- if that's what you're into --- but these d-bags and the unfortunate women they roped into the clip give it a bad name.

2. The 'director' looks like the runt cousin of David Faustino

3. What do you call the dudes who acquiesce or succumb to cougars? In this particular clip, I think Wikipedia gets part of it right:

"it hunts species as small as insects and rodents"

Extreme Sustainability - as seen on Current

This is ridiculous.



Maybe it was edited out of the clip that aired, but why aren't these two processing their own urine into drinking water? Or using their own feces as garden fertilizer? And they claim to be pursuing sustainability? Hah.

Criticism: Incredibly Awful & Insulting Infomercial for 'Presto'

While watching some Current on TiVo (see this post for full review of Current), I was stopped in my tracks by the worst commercial I have seen in quite some time.

The spot was for Presto, which lets you "send email and photos to people who don't have a computer". I haven't been able to find it on YouTube yet, but the 'view demo' link on the Presto site provides a good approximation for it.

The net message is 'Do you have a weak, feeble minded, lazy moron that you know couldn't possibly understand something as complicated as a computer? Would you like to send pictures to that moron every now and then? Of course you would. Lucky for you that we are selling this ugly grey box for only $150 plus $10/month for 'service'. Nevermind that you could FedEx pictures to your moron twice a month for the same amount of money, Presto is a great deal."

Here are some key frames from the online 'dramatization' of the commercial:

Frame 1: Mom is an easily flustered dullard



Frame 2: Mom is such a moron it would be a crazy time suck to have to try and teach her how to use a computer



Frame 3: Everything could be so much better if Mom had a magic photo box in her parlor



Frame 4: Mom almost has a heart attack because the magic machine from the future is trying to show her something



Frame 5: Mom and Dad chuckle together in relief once they realize the magic box is friendly and doesn't mean them any harm

Question: What's the Saddest Part of Miss Teen South Carolina's TV Debacle?

Image Source: Onion.com

Like most people in the U.S. with a TV, I couldn't avoid the widespread coverage of Caitlin Upton's meltdown during this year's Miss Teen USA broadcast.

Yes, she embarrassed herself. Yes, both the question and her response might well synopsize all that stinks about the current state of education in the U.S. Just another not so subtle reminder that it is only a matter of time until we fulfill Mike Judge's prophecy.

[Note: According to Jeannie Moos of CNN, no 'credible study' could be found to substantiate the stat used in the question. Check out the following link for video of Moos' report, under "dumb moments"; I'd link directly, but don't see how that is possible/easy given CNN's site structure. Also note that MSNBC has a more sympathetic piece about Caitlin that tries to provide readers with a broader sense of who she is.]

But here is a question to both everyone and no one in particular:

What really is the saddest part of all this?

- Is it the fact that some soon to be model / actress / wife of successful alpha male flubbed her speaking part in a non-event and now might be derided by people she doesn't know for a few days?

- Or is it the fact that we're still having beauty pageants in the year 2007? Why are we still having these ludicrous exhibitions of tastelessness anyway? And why are people still watching? "You're pretty - yaaayy."

[Sidenote: If someone hasn't already done a documentary that intersperses clips from beauty pageants, dog shows and livestock judging events, they should. Free idea for any enterprising filmmaker who wants it. Here's the sell: Drop Dead Gorgeous meets Best in Show meets Miss Heifer USA -- but it's all real. Done and done.]

Or, if that's either too radical or too obvious of a question, here's another:

Who does anyone think they are fooling by including in these pageants a portion that solicits intelligent responses and opinions?

Disclaimer: please, anyone who stumbles across this, spare me comments about how many beauty pageant contestants have IQs >130 or have XYZ advanced degrees, etc., etc. I'm certain there are exceptions. Though I would like to believe most attractive, intelligent women realize there are many better things to be doing with their time and abilities than field questions from the likes of Aimee Teegarden and Mario Lopez.

Appreciation for Capital One's Commercials

I am not certain if both of these are from the same agency. They are both for Capital One, but for different lines of business. I suppose I could investigate, but that's one step further than I am willing to go right now.

Neither of these is the exact execution I recall seeing on air, but they are close enough to get the gist of them.

First one is below -- a timely spot given what is going on in the mortgage market. I saw this the same day I heard about their closing of a wholesale mortgage unit, but apparently the division that was closed wasn't the one advertised in this spot.



I just think the spot does an excellent job of tangibly representing the concerns about and ramifications of financial contracts that can backfire on you. I actually think it's a better conceit than what Capital One has been doing with their credit card commercials, like the tooth fairy, or the visigoths. However, among those, I do have a soft spot for the dragon slayer spot below, if only because the line "...and not just a big lizard" is brilliant.