I despair for America…

By kate on February 5th, 2007

Instead of wasting hours sifting through crap and football to see the Super Bowl ads yesterday, I spent an efficient 45 minutes or so today watching and ranking them here.

MSNBC has a cool, smart interface that puts the best 32 ads into brackets and lets you watch them and advance them, all on one screen, until you’ve picked your favorite.

Then, they show you the results. I almost fell off my chair when I saw that one of the stupidest ones, “Mouse” (from Blockbuster) is WAY out in the lead. WTF? Who is watching these? Who are the people who think that’s the best of all these interesting ads? This is the same feeling I got after Bush was re-elected: bafflement and despair for my country.

My favorite, for the record, turned out to be “Ultraman” by Garmin (although if it weren’t for the bracket system, I don’t think I would have necessarily chosen that one). Other favorites included “Finger” by ETrade, “Goulet” by Emerald Nuts, and “Lions” by Taco Bell.

In an example of where America and I are on the same page, Sheryl Crow’s Revlon ad was only voted #1 by 27 (or 0%) out of 63,489 votes. Ha.

Filed under: consumerism, media, pop culture | Comment now »

Is your company hiring?

By kate on January 5th, 2007

As you have probably heard, my company laid off 60 people this week. I escaped the ax, but many of my very talented colleagues did not.

As even our CEO says, the layoffs were not because of poor performance, but a restructuring of the company’s strategy. There are now 60 great people out there, looking for jobs, who I hope will be snapped up quickly. I’m particularly interested in helping out the three guys cut from my team (IT).

If your company is looking for smart and competent IT / Operations analyst / systems engineer types, please let me know by commenting here or emailing me. Beyond that, if you’re trying to fill a position, check with me and I’ll tell you if any ex-Jobsters might fit.

Filed under: work | 1 Comment »

Scootabout

By kate on October 10th, 2006

My office just moved to the north end of the waterfront (near the soon-to-open Olympic Sculpture park), and my bus commute involves a bit more walking than before. And, I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket… so I got one of these:

My very own Razor Scooter, in green, natch.

I tried it out on a lunch run just now and had a lot of fun. Going uphill is stupid (walking is much less tiring), but downhill slopes and flat stretches are a dream. I just cruise along. A good push or two will give me momentum for a while, even on bumpy sidewalk.

My current plan is to carry it on the bus (it folds up) and scoot to my destination on either side. I’m hoping it’s not too bulky for everyday carting around.

Filed under: consumerism, outdoors | 1 Comment »

Art is a Cat

By kate on September 8th, 2006

Modern art has always been my favorite kind. (I’m using the term “modern art” very loosely here, to refer to all art created roughly from 1950-present, not just by the modernists.) I’d much rather go to a gallery and see what new artists are creating today rather than go through stuffy old SAM and see the same “old masters” yet again. When Steve and I were in Paris, we skipped the Louvre and went to the Pompidou instead. Locally, we’re members of the excellent Henry Art Gallery.

I’m hard pressed, though, to find the right words to explain why I like modern art so much, aside from saying I enjoy the mental/creative stimulation it gives me.

That’s why I enjoyed this article by Village Voice art critic Jerry Saltz. His main point is to criticize “academics and theorists who…belittle art as a gratuitous…merely beautiful…amusement” (I removed a bunch of extra words to highlight his point) but in the process he does a good job of describing the power of art.

He ends with this clever metaphor:

Imagine calling two pets, one a dog, the other a cat. Asking a dog to do something is an amazing experience. You say, “Come here, Fido,”� and Fido looks up, pads over, puts his head in your lap, and wags his tail. You’ve had a direct communication with another species; you and Fido are sharing a common, fairly literal language. Now imagine saying, “Come here, Snowflake”� to the cat. Snowflake might glance over, walk to a nearby table, rub it, lie down, and look at you. There’s nothing direct about this. Yet something gigantic and very much like art has happened. The cat has placed a third object between you and itself. In order to understand the cat you have to be able to grasp this nonlinear, indirect, holistic, circuitous communication. In short, art is a cat.

I recommend reading the rest of the article as well (it’s not just clever metaphors).

Found via the Stranger Slog

Filed under: animals, art | 1 Comment »

Goats!!

By kate on August 16th, 2006

Today, we got this flyer on our door (click to read):

Seattle City Light is using a herd of GOATS to clear brush from the substation near our house! I’m thrilled that such a practical and unusual idea is not only being entertained, but put into action. It’s environmentally much more friendly than using electric or gas-powered tools.

Plus, I love goats! I think it all started with the adorable baby goats we saw in Mongolia…

I’m so excited I had to post right away, before I’ve even had a chance to get home and go see exactly where the goats will be hanging out.

Filed under: animals | Comment now »

Ruby’s Journal Has Moved

By kate on June 6th, 2006

You can now read about Ruby on our brand-new (WordPress-driven, self-hosted) blog: http://www.mynameisruby.com/blog. All the Ruby-related posts have been moved there, and that’s where new posts will be.

If you are using Feedwhip to follow Ruby’s updates, click this link to add a Feedwhip subscription for Ruby’s new blog.

Also, Steve will be posting entries about fatherhood and life in general in his new blog.