Underwear, Youtube, and Michael Jordan

Sometimes I try to write things that are intellectually stimulating. Whether it's a book review, an examination of scripture, or a mildly profound pondering, I like to think, examine, and learn.

But I also like to laugh...

And the new Hanes' commercials featuring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Michael Jordan make me laugh.

If you know me, you are probably aware of my appreciation (okay, fine: my love) for Michael Jordan. That appreciation/love is part of the reason I think these commercials are so funny. But even if Michael Jordan hasn't been your hero for 16 years, I think you'll still enjoy them.

I've only seen one of these aired on television...but that could be because I don't watch TV all that often.

Anyway, I hope you like them:

(Disclaimer: I'm linking to these commercials on YouTube, and YouTube videos become unavailable if they are removed for any reason. So if the links stop working, it was beyond my control.)


Commercial 1

Commercial 2

Commercial 3


And while I'm talking about commercials and youtube videos, I would be remiss not to mention that my friend Steve and I created our own commercial for part of a Heinz ketchup commercial contest.

The contest hasn't officially begun yet, but over 1700 entries are already viewable on YouTube (where else?).

Of course Steve and I would love to win the $57,000 first prize, or even the $5700 given to second through fifth place. But if we don't even make the top 15 (which is selected by a panel of judges before the two-week voting period can begin), we still had fun making the video.

It's not as good as the Hanes' spots featuring Michael Jordan, but hey, no one compares to MJ.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

Steve n' Tyler's Heinz Commercial

--Thanks for reading...and watching

Good Stuff

Today I want to recommend a couple sites.

The first is Good Search, a search engine powered by Yahoo! search. The nifty thing about Good Search is that for every internet search you conduct, $0.01 goes to the charity of your choice.

You can also save your preferred charity so that every search you conduct automatically donates a penny to your cause. When I use goodsearch, I choose LeaderTreks, a nearby missionary organization for which one of my best friends works.

Here's the only catch I've discovered. Unless more than $20 are raised in one calendar year, Good Search does not issue a check to that organization. This won't be a problem for organizations like Save Darfur (having currently raised nearly $3,000) and the ASPCA ($4,400) and other large organizations. Instead the smaller groups, like LeaderTreks, will miss out.

So I'm asking you to start using Good Search. And if you don't already have a cause to support, let me recommend LeaderTreks, which has currently raised only $2.70. And I'm fairly certain, sadly, that almost all of those have been my searches.

All of you search the web; everyone does. You might as well donate money as you do it. Right?
Here's the link:

http://www.goodsearch.com/



"If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist
hammering on our skull, why then do we read it?...A book must be
like an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within us." --Franz Kafka

The second site I'm recommending is called goodreads.

Once you create your own account, you have the chance to stock your bookshelves with books you "have read," are "currently reading," and those you plan "to read." Of course you can also add friends and see what they've read, or plan to read. And it can be one more online communication tool.

But that's not what I like about goodreads (which could be why I have 0 friends on their site). I like that it allows users to rank the books they've read. Using a 1-5 star scoring range, users have the opportunity to encourage others to read books they love and discourage people from reading those books they detest.

I could say more about this site. But instead, I'll just encourage you to check it out. It's worth it.

http://www.goodreads.com/

And if you choose to check it out...feel free to add me as a friend. My goodreads name is Tyler Charles. Lacking in originality, maybe, but easy enough to find.

And don't forget to start using goodsearch. It's worth it.

--Thanks for Reading

Ah, the days of bathtub gin...

The roarin' twenties.

It was a time of jazz music, the Model T Ford, and indoor plumbing. The Charleston; the first color movies; the first "talkies." Babe Ruth belting home runs.

It was a festive time in America. An age of jubilation.

Oh yeah, and it was a time when alcohol was prohibited.

I found myself thinking about this today. It's an interesting thing to consider, prohibition.

First of all, I don't know why our government ever thought they could outlaw alcohol. But they did: The 18th amendment to our fine Constitution.

Of course, it didn't work. Look at the sponsors for any major sporting event and you'll see that Prohibition fell a little short of its goal.

But why am I writing about the roaring 20's and Prohibition?

Because as I found myself thinking about this today, I began to long for those days---days I never experienced.

I long to live in an era when the most dangerous man in America was a bootlegger selling liquor from hideouts throughout Chicago.

In the 20's there was Al Capone. Now we have Osama Bin Laden. And others like him.

In the 20's the police and federal agents were sniffing out speakeasies and stills (which, for those of you who never watched The Andy Griffith Show, are used to create moonshine). Now our feds sniff out potential airplane hijackers and meth labs.

I live in the Chicago area now, and it's interesting to see how the roarin' twenties, and especially Al Capone, are glorified in artwork, restaurants, memorabilia. Not too far from me, on the Fox River, one can eat at a former speakeasy: Al Capone's Hideaway.

I think that alone says something about what it was like to live in the 20's. Capone, the decade's most notorious thug, is now glorified. Almost as famous as Babe Ruth.

Do you think we'll have a restaurant in this country that pays tribute to Osama Bin Laden in 80 years? I sure hope not.

And what will America look like in 80 years? It's scary to consider, actually. At least I think it is. Our world is complex, our country is economically interwoven with so many other nations, the technology (and weapons development) worldwide has closed the distance between us and other countries---both metaphorically and geographically.

And it makes me long for the days when our biggest threat was a bunch of guys brewing and selling alcohol. When a dance floor full of tipsy folks dancing the Charleston was dangerous enough to demand legislation to protect the American people.

I don't wish to reinstate Prohibition. (That would be a disaster.) But it would've been nice to live in a time when that was our nation's biggest problem. That's all I'm saying.

--Thanks for Reading

Note: Some of you might say that alcohol is still our nation's biggest problem. If you look at the number of drunk driving deaths each year; the number of alcoholics; instances of drunken rage. And if you want to make that argument, I will admit that it's a valid point. It just wasn't the point of this post. After all, drunk driving wasn't a reason for the institution of Prohibition laws.