J. Walter Thompson’s mocking of Detroit

thePR1ME has an interesting blog entry about J. Walter Thompson’s want ads which blatantly degrade Detroit. I didn’t believe it until I saw it for myself. Click here.And then here. Make sure you click on the images to get the disturbing sound bytes.

I mean, what in the sam hell are they thinking? Is THAT suppose to be funny, witty, cutting edge? Would you apply to their company after seeing that garbage?

Go read thePR1ME’s blog entry for more information. Including how you might contact the company regarding these insulting ads.

Life Goes On

Last night we watched an independent documentary called “Sunset Story” (borrowed from the library I work). It is an intimate, humbling, and at times even funny window into life as a senior citizen. The documentary takes place at an LA retirement home for radicals and focuses on the friendship between two of the female residents, Irja and Lucille. The two share an active and special friendship; attending protests and rallies as well as “Free Thinker” meetings. It shows the realities associated with old age instead of perpetuating the myths our society attributes to the elderly. It is about wisdom, bravery, friendship, and sadness; the things that make up this thing called life.

I loved it.

View the trailor here . If you can’t read the choices on the page, it wants you to pick between Quicktime and Windows Media as well as the size of the video.

Hamtramck goodness

I have to admit Jeff and I don’t shop for groceries in Hamtramck as often as we should. Part of it is due to the fact that we can never find most everything we want under one roof and are far too lazy to travel store to store. That’s not the only reason for me though.

After Jeff and I’s weekly trip to yes, Trader Joe’s, we realized we forgot to stop and get bread somewhere. We don’t usually buy our bread from Trader Joe’s because their loaves usually go bad before we are done chewing our first slice. Because we needed bread like NOW I decided to walk up to Miron’s on Caniff. Little did I realize they were closed (it’s Sunday). So I walked home, jumped in my car, and headed up to Fresh Valley where the food is great and the price is right. I grabbed a French baguette as well as a loaf of light rye and headed for the checkout. I stood in line staring at my baguette wondering when it was baked and how long it would last before turning to complete rock. Of course there was no date to satisfy my curiosity, but it didn’t stop me from turning it over again and again for a whole minute thinking about how I might have overlooked it. A man behind me stared at my baguette and said something in another language (a common experience for any Hamtramck resident). I then said to him rather casually “Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t speak Polish” and immedietly I kicked myself as I thought how presumtuous that was of me. Now I was cringing in line and waiting for him to say in a rather offended manner “I was NOT speaking Polish I was speaking *Russian.” (Replace * with any other Slavic language). Instead he said “how did you know I was speaking Polish?” My response, after feeling a bit relieved was, “Well, my grandpa is Polish and I’ve heard him speak it on occasions, so I just know it somehow”. He then asked me “Why do you not speak it then?” Ahh….here we are, the other reason I don’t shop in Hamtramck as often as I should. It is due to the extreme guilt I feel inside when someone speaks Polish to me, assuming I am as Polish as I indeed look, and then having to see their face turn to utter disappointment as I acknowledge them in the only language I know, English. I always feel like I’m letting my Polish ancestors down when it happens. I turn to him and in response say, “my grandpa married a French woman and so he never spoke Polish anymore. His parents were dead so the language kind of stopped with him.” His response “Well, it’s part of YOUR history so you should know it don’t you think?” I said “Yes, I agree. ” I have wanted to learn it for a long time but I haven’t had anywhere to learn it (as sad as that is). Is there somewhere here in Hamtramck I could go?” In which his response was “I don’t know. I have never really known anyone looking.” I am going to assume that meant most Polish people he knows already speak the language which just added to my guilt a tad bit. Next, he said “it’s really good to know another language besides your own.” “I said, yeah, I know some French but that’s about it.” I prayed he didn’t ask to me to say something in French since my memory of it is so fuzzy I might as well not admitted it at all. Somehow I don’t think he would have believed me if I muttered “baguette” while holding mine up and grinning. Finally, he told me about how beautiful it is in Poland and how cheap the food is, etc. How I should go there and see it. I told him I plan on going someday and then we just stood there, in silence. It was almost my turn to pay so I put my bread on the counter. I looked down at my French baguette and (what I assume) was my Polish Rye, and thought how appropriate it was that I was buying these two items and what they represented for me at that moment (Polish grandpa & French Grandma). I thought how wonderful it was to be where I was and for a moment the guilt shifted from me not speaking Polish to why I don’t shop in Hamtramck more often. Convienance does not =better I thought. Connecting and having meaningful interactions with other humans=better. I need to remember this when I am running around and living in the fast paced-fast food world around me. A mentality that has catered to the busy lifestyles we Americans are so accustomed to and which has created an ever more alienated society. So often we just want to run in and out getting as much as we need at once. Sometimes the only interaction we ever have is with that of a machine. It is so easy to forget where we all come from since we are so far from where we used to be.

In Hamtramck, a store may not have EVERYTHING under one roof, a credit card reader, a check yourself out machine, or even short lines. But what they do have makes up for all of it; meaningful human interaction that can sometimes make one think about where they have come from, where they are now, and where they might be in the future if they don’t hang on to a bit of their past:)

Alert!!

Trader Joe’s has discontinued yet another great item from their stores. This time it is the Woodstock Water Buffalo yogurt I grew to love (strawberry especially). So devastating. Where oh where will I ever find it again? There are no locations in Michigan selling it according to Woodstock’s website. Why does Trader Joe’s continue to discontinue the things I like most? WHY trader joe’s? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????

Andrea & Griffin

Andrea & Griffin
Originally uploaded by Sarah_S.

My sister sent me some adorable photos of her and her son (my nephew). This one is my fav:)

Where oh where will Jay-Z host his Superbowl Party?

I was just doing some research on the Detroit Public Library when I came across an article about the Detroit Public Library saying “no” to Jay-Z for his Superbowl party. How interesting. Ann, do you know anything about this? I wonder what happened. Fill me in. He can always try the undergraduate library at Wayne State if he is looking to be around books specifically. Somethin’ to keep in mind Jay-z:) hee hee

On another note it sounds like Puffy has his venues lined up. One of them (the Elysium) I have been inside. I was interning at WXYZ 7 when they first opened and got to go inside where the cameraman and I interviewed the owners and checked the place out. It was pretty slick and definitely had a high class New York feel to it. Definitely not my style but for Puffy and his crew…they’ll absolutely love it. Lots of animal print couches and V.I.P. rooms to make one feel really special. I’m more of a dive bar kind of girl if and when I go out. Too much dance music gives me the twitches. Not to mention the strobe lights at clubs almost cause me to go into seizures/convulsions. Give me a jukebox and some christmas lights to light up the bar and I am a happy camper:)

FYI: At the end of the above linked article it says that CPOP is in talks about hosting Jay-Z’s superbowl party. Hopefully it works out for him this time.

Snowboarding return

Back from snowboarding!! I’m in one piece. Yay!!! Even better is the fact that I did not get another bruised ass. This time I got only a few bruises on my knees. Nothing a few ibruprofen and Tiger Balm can’t take care of. Now let’s play a game. Which of the following did we NOT see on our way to Blue Mountain?

A) Jack White
B) Amish people
C) Fire hydrant with hose attached spraying water everywhere while flying around
D) car accident
E) all of the above
F) A,B,C

Before heading out for our first bout of snowboarding Jeff placed foam in my pants (to protect my rear end) which sort of gave me an old Vicky Lawrence look (from Mama’s Family). Yeah, I felt pretty silly. The only time I complained though was when trying to zip up my snowboard pants which quickly became more spandex-like due to the layers underneath. Oh, and when I had to bend over to strap my boots to my board. It was a little tight bending and I was a bit paranoid someone would see the foam peeking out. Overall, the foam paid off. My rear end was safe and I had a ball. After falling most of the day Saturday, by Sunday I was cruising down the hill carving in and out like a pro. I truly felt like I could fly as I went whipping down the mountain full speed. It was awesome. I think I am addicted.

On the trip I began a new knitting project. A scarf for myself. I am almost done with Jeff’s Finally. I will post a picture soon.
Sorry this post is so brief and lame. Just tired.

The answer to the above question is D:)

Snowboarding 2006

The View
Originally uploaded by Sarah_S.

Jeff and I leave for Blue Mountain Canada tomorrow (Friday). We will be snowboarding with a group of friends all weekend. I’m looking forward to it but am a bit nervous at the same time. Click here to see why. Not very attractive now is it “anonymous”? Thas right!

This picture is from last year. We had a great time. Hopefully this time will be just as fun.

Pray I don’t break my neck puleeeez!!

No really there’s two of us in the car officer!

Common Sense. Where has it gone? I can’t believe this woman Candace Dickinson tried to convince a judge that her fetus counted as another passenger in her car while driving in the carpool lane. Check the article out here. The lengths some people will go to to try and get out of a ticket. Sheesh!

Thoughtful design

I don’t mean to be going so crazy about the new Macs but indeed it is called for. I got an e-mail from Jeff while I was at work which had a link and the words “They do think of everything…almost as if we were talking to Steve Jobs ourselves.”

See, I am super clumsy and have failed to inform all of you as to WHY some of our computers have stopped working from time to time, and in the present stopped altogether. I often trip over the laptop power cord nearing ripping it out of the computer (usually Jeff and I use langauge not appropriate for this blog to deal with it). I have done this sooooooo many times that the power adapter port on the wallstreets have broken loose from the board inside. Jeff has had to solder the Wallstreet adapter ports on multiple occasions.

But it seems I was not the only clumsy person out there tripping over the cords.

Thanks Apple!