Happy Memorial Day!

With both the NBA and NHL playoffs in full swing, we've been watching a lot of sports, and in turn, a lot of American commercials. Two in particular stand out, but for completely opposite reasons.

The first:

The Craftsman automatic hammer that doesn't require you to swing the hammer. The commercial opens saying, "Logic says you can't pound a nail where you can't swing a hammer. So much for logic."

Holy cool.

As the wife of a carpenter I'm especially interested in this, and I foresee this being a part of our household in the future.

The second:

Speed Stick deoderant that asks "What's your pit type?"

The first time I heard it I thought it was an auto racing tie-in. Nope.

It goes on to ask:

- Sweaty?

- Hairy?

- Sensitive?

Are you kidding me?

Now, I worked in advertising for seven years so I know full well the kind of weird, strange, and "outside the box" ideas get tossed around at late-night brainstorm meetings -- especially if alcohol is served -- but we never actually pitched those ideas to our clients. And even if we did, they didn't go along with it.

Maybe they figured any kind of attention is a good thing, but I don't know. Gross.

So, I'm assuming you're all drooling over the hammer. My question for you today is... which one are you? :P

Movie Night

I was all set to write another post about editing today, but then we went to the movies last night and saw Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood. Have you seen it? I'd heard bits and pieces, and recalled that it was nominated for an award, but other than that I didn't know much.

Saturday night we went downtown for a celebratory ice cream after I finished my rewrite edits (!!!) and we stopped to chat with the owner of the movie theater. I asked what she had playing in English, she pointed at Clint Eastwood's scraggly mug, and back we went last night.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Clint typically plays hard-nosed guys who are set in their ways and won't listen to anyone, but this role takes that to the extreme. He plays Walt, a racist widower in a poor Detroit (I'm assuming) neighborhood, who hates his Vietnamese neighbors and the priest that his dying wife insisted check in on him.

I don't want to give too much away because it's really good and I think everyone should see it, but the movie follows the developing relationship between Walt and his neighbors, particularly the two teenagers who live next door. Oh, and there's a '72 Grand Torino that hangs out in the backyard. ;)

One warning: if racial epitaphs offend you, make you uncomfortable, or go against everything you stand for (like me), you may find yourself squirming a bit. Well, a lot. But it's done in a way that instead of hating the character, I kept finding similarities between Walt and my deceased grandfather. (Not that my grandfather was mean, Clint just looks a lot like him in this film and I couldn't help but compare the two men.) He's a mean old man, but you can't help but care about him.

As for my edits, I finished the rewrites and now I get to start the close edits. Eek!


*****

Today is the deadline day for Owen's Due Process Legal Fund.

You can read my original post here. A friend of mine from college is taking on his local school board to make sure his autistic son gets the education he deserves, and they need help raising the money to pay their legal fees.

Thank you to any of you who've helped!