The Full Catastrophe » gripes

Bowling = 4 Thumbs Up

Anna — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:10:59 +0000

We were setting ‘em up and knocking them down last night during the kids’ first trip to the bowling alley. Oscar had the second highest score with the aid of gutter bumpers. Yeah, he beat me, but I shared my frames with Laurel. For those of you around San Diego, we recommend that you check out the SDSU bowling alley. It was especially fun for Brian, I think. He spent a lot of time when he was a kid skateboarding around the campus and hanging out with his friends (probably watching the coeds in their convertible Cabriolets!). Naturally, we brought the flip along and put this together:

On our way home, “Add It Up” by The Violent Femmes was on the radio and Brian commented that the song was a perfect soundtrack to his high school days and all of the time he spent at State. We stayed in the car till the song was done and decided that portions of that song were going to have to go into our kids bowling video. After many minutes of careful editing and loading onto You Tube, we found for the second time this week that the song and all of the audio is muted out by Warner Brothers (the kids love this cheesy Pink song, “Rock Star”, it is on par cheesy-wise with “Welcome to the Jungle”). I guess Warner thinks it is losing money somehow, but honestly it isn’t. No one makes money from their You Tube videos and if anything, Warner is getting free promotion of their products. We acquired the music legally and are bummed that we aren’t able to use it to its fullest potential. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones that are a bit p.o.’ed.

The Suggestion Box

Anna — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:33:57 +0000

A while back I wrote about some things in the world I wanted changed. Not big stuff, just a few ideas that had percolated up in my head. I’m pleased to report that the Toby Wells YMCA now has a shade canopy up in the big kids’ playground. I left this suggestion in their comment box many moons ago, but I’m still going to take credit for this improvement. All of you playground goers can thank me with pedicure gift certificates.

I just checked the Terrasoles website and it looks like that offensive picture is gone. YOU’RE WELCOME!

I haven’t been to Costco in a while. Can anyone report if Costco is selling muffins in Cafe 150?

Since I’m on a roll, here’s my suggestion for the powers-that-be at NPR: don’t cancel my favorite news show, The Bryant Park Project. I’ve sent messages, left comments, and joined the Save the BPP Facebook group but am also preparing myself for the void that will exist after their final show airs this Friday. Listen here for a small sample of the show. Please tell me what to listen to on Monday morning.

So That Was Lame

Anna — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:36:47 +0000

Today we had the bright idea that we’d head down to Seaworld to check out their new playground. Brian even took the day off of work for this fun family outing. They had a members-only opening for this “Bay of Play” area that has been under construction for the last nine months. We’ve really missed the old playground space and had high hopes for what they’ve created. It is drizzling, windy, and cold here (58 degrees today, 90 degrees on Monday–go figure) and we thought that the weather would deter the crowds from attending. Well, we were wrong. The crowds were there and with the exception of the three kiddy rides they’ve added, the playground is the same as it was before. Big Whoop. Oh, I should mention that we did get a free cookie. To further understand the bummer that was our kick-off to Memorial Day weekend, check out this video.

Don’t worry, we’ve got high hopes for the rest of our holiday. Happy summer, everybody!

Suggestions

Anna — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:55:06 +0000

Keeping a blog is a pretty self-indulgent thing to do. Whether or not the world really wants to read these little tidbits I’ve got on my mind, I get to post about them. So here it is, perhaps my most random post yet. The Full Catastrophe is my soap box to promote some simple ideas I have to improve the world.

1. Us DeHamer-Schulz’s practically live at the Toby Wells YMCA. I left a note in their suggestion box requesting they install a shade canopy at the playground a long time ago. No word yet on my request. This one should be easy, they’ve got lots of canopies they use for the preschoolers and day campers. If you go there and agree with me, please leave a suggestion inside.

2. Costco should sell their baked goods in their pizza cafe. I can take or leave any of their current menu items but if they were selling muffins or cookies at Cafe One Fifty (Brian got that name from his friend Cam–everything on the menu is $1.50) I would eat there regularly. You, too? Tell Costo by clicking here.

3. In December a magazine ad for a shoe company caught my attention. I found it so surprising that I had to leave a comment with the company. It was a full page color photo of a man and woman sitting on the ground in front of their kayaks laughing about the awesomeness of their extreme sports outdoorsy lifestyle. I’m guessing that the ad cost more than we live on each year to run in the magazine and I also imagine that the photographer got many shots of the models in different positions. Of all of the shots that they must have snapped, why is it that they chose to run this one?

Do you see what I saw? I know that my mind is in the gutter but come on! That isn’t what sells shoes, is it? Here’s the email that I sent to the shoe company:

to: marketing@terrasoles.com

Hi there,

I thought you should know that your magazine ad (and homepage photo!) for some reason highlights the male model’s…ahem…package. My husband thinks that this is your plan. We’ll never forget the name of your company, but probably won’t buy your shoes. We are still laughing!

I looked back onto their homepage just now and saw that the photo is not as prominently placed as it was back in December, so I might just have to take credit for that change. However, I won’t rest until the offensive material is completely removed from their marketing campaign!

In closing, these are just a few of the suggestions I have for world improvement. Being that I am a know-it-all blogger, there will surely be more.