a discussion of self-reflexivity in postmodernism

"television and postmodernism" by jim collins:
a paradigmatic example of [self-relexivity] is the opening scene of the simpson's thanksgiving special, in which bart and his father, homer, are watching television in their living room on thanksgiving morning. as they watch the thanksgiving day parade, bart keeps asking homer to identify the balloon float characters, complaining that they could use some characters that "were made in the last fifty years." his father tells him that the parade is a tradition, that if "you start building a balloon for every flash-in-the-pan cartoon character, you'll turn the parade into a farce." at this point the television-within-the-television depicts a bart simpson balloon floating by while the "real" bart simpson looks on.

some of life's lessons

i don't know how many people have caught tlc's "life lessons" campaign going around, but i think it's just great. i saw a few print ads in the latest 'entertainment weekly' and searched online shortly after to see if there were any commercials. tada! there are.

i love how the "lessons learned" resonates perfectly with their targeted audience and the commercials are served up with an excellent dose of dry humor. to top it off, the strange statuettes are crazy reminiscent of the precious moments ones (sans halos and dopey eyes) and are actually being sold through tlc's website for anyone interested in having their own life lesson reminder.

vespa scooters: assignment #4

vespa is not only stylish, but of high quality and a classic.

be an elitist while driving around the hippest scooter in town.
i'm picturing romantic, grainy shots for the art direction and long tell-tale copy. or not. any thoughts?

was david cross right all along?

are 'squagels' or oddly shaped food equivalents the future of eating?
well, if eating with a dunkable oreo is wrong, i don't ever want to be right.