Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Rocky 6?




















Click the title header, you fool.

Interviewer: Do you hate Rocky?
Clubber Lang: No, I don't hate Balboa. I pity the fool.

Faces From Memory Lane




Ninjas, yeah, ninjas

Sunday, November 19, 2006

The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Why Priests Remain Single To Practise The Way

Peter: "Tanya. This is my friend Ralph.
Ralph's take: (Wow, she's hot. I'd like to date her.)
Tanya's take: (Oh no, it's a set-up. Peter is going to try and set me up again.)


Tanya: "Hi Ralph, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Ralph's take: (She likes me! She really likes me!)
Tanya's take: (He's probably like all the rest. Oh well, let me get it over with.)


Ralph: "It's a pleasure to meet you too. It's not every day that I get to meet such a beautiful lady."
Ralph's take: (You're hot!)
Tanya's take: (Of course it is, and I bet you want to get into my pants.)


Peter: "Ralph, are you still into collecting African sculptures?"
Ralph's take: (This will definitely impress her.)
Tanya's take: (Oh great, Peter's going for the "you have something in common" approach.)


Ralph: "I sure am -- especially the expensive ones."
Ralph's take: (Score! She's impressed.)
Tanya's take: (Showoff!)


Peter: "Well Tanya is a big collector herself. She's especially interested in early British stamps." Ralph's take: (Oh my God, we have something in common. I want to date her.)
Tanya's take: (Okay, here comes the compliment.)


Ralph: "Really, wow I really admire a woman who collects stamps."
Ralph's take: (Complimenting her will make her happy, which in turn will make her like me.)
Tanya's take: (I'm sure you do.)


Tanya: "Well it's no big deal and my kids get a kick out of it too."
Ralph's take: (Damn she has kids! That's okay, I like kids. I can deal with kids.)
Tanya's take: (That should scare him away.)


Ralph: "Oh, you have kids?"
Ralph's take: (I should compliment her again.)
Tanya's take: (Gotcha!)


Ralph: "Well I would never have known. I mean you have a very beautiful figure, I'd never guess that you already had children."
Ralph's take: (That should make her night.)
Tanya's take: (Been there, done that.)


Tanya: "Thanks."
Ralph's take: (I'm on a roll.)
Tanya's take: (Will you leave already?)


Ralph: "You know, I'm sure I'm not the first to say this tonight, but you look really beautiful in that dress."
Ralph's take: (You're really hot!)
Tanya's take: (What a pervert. He'll say just about anything to get into my pants.)


Tanya: "Oh look, there's my good friend Mary. I haven't seen her in such a long time. Will you excuse me for a moment?"
Ralph's take: (No, no, no, don't leave.)
Tanya's take: (Yes, so long sucker.)


Ralph: "Great, I scared another one away."
Ralph's take: (I'm a loser.)
Tanya's take: (Loser.)

Friday, November 10, 2006

KFC

In 1991, Kentucky Fried chicken announced that it was officially changing its name to "KFC" (as well as updating its packaging and logo with a more modern, sleeker look). The public relations reason given for the name change was that health-conscious consumers associated the word "fried" with "unhealthy" and "high cholesterol," causing some of them to completely shun the wide variety of "healthy" menu items being introduced at Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets. The new title and image were designed to lure back customers to a restaurant now offering foods branded as "better for you," we were told.

It sounded good, but the real reason behind the shift to KFC had nothing to do with healthy food or finicky consumers: it was about money — money that Kentucky Fried Chicken would have had to pay to continue using their original name. In 1990, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, mired in debt, took the unusual step of trademarking their name. Henceforth, anyone using the word "Kentucky" for business reasons — inside or outside of the state — would have to obtain permission and pay licensing fees to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was an unusual and brilliant scheme to alleviate government debt, but it was also one that alienated one of the most famous companies ever associated with Kentucky. The venerable Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, a mainstay of American culture since its first franchise opened in Salt Lake City in 1952, refused as a matter of principle to pay royalties on a name they had been using for four decades. After a year of fruitless negotiations with the Kentucky state government, Kentucky Fried Chicken — unwilling to submit to "such a terrible injustice" — threw in the towel and changed their name instead, timing the announcement to coincide with the introduction of new packaging and products to obscure the real reasons behind the altering of their corporate name.

Kentucky Fried Chicken were not the only ones who bravely refused to knuckle under. The name of the most famous horse race in North America, held every year at Churchill Downs, was changed from the "Kentucky Derby" to "The Run for the Roses" for similar reasons; many seed and nursery outfits that had previously offered Kentucky Bluegrass switched to a product known as "Shenendoah Bluegrass" instead; and Neil Diamond's song "Kentucky Woman" was dropped from radio playlists at his request, as the licensing fees he was obligated to pay the Commonwealth of Kentucky exceeded the peformance royalties he was receiving for the airplay.