our particular brand of madness

Don't you really feel betrayed when a company or product you detest more than just about anything has a campaign that's just about better than anything else in the commercials market?

So has it been for me since I landed here and started listening to radio ads for Budweiser in their "Real Men of Genius" campaign.

Yes, I work for Starbucks so you might expect me to be less than amused at the "Mr Fancy Coffee Shop Coffee Pourer" ad, but I thought it was funny, and so is "Mr In the Car Nose Picker". And that's part of my issue, they're all really funny.

Apparently, though, Airtran and Southwestern, two of the larger low-price airlines here, got a little miffed by "Mr Discount Airline Pilot Guy"

The text is posted below since Bud are hunting the audio down and removing it, but you might still find it here.

Bud Light Presents...Real Men of Genius

Real Men of Genius

Today we salute you, Mr Discount Airline Pilot Guy

Mr Discount Airline Pilot Guy

Your minimal experience flying a plane will never land you at a reputable airline. Luckily, you don't work for one.

Look at me, I'm flying!

Sure, we're concerned for our lives; just not as concerned as saving nine bucks on a round trip to Fort Myers.

Waaaoooh!

The most direct route to Houston? Through Fort Lauderdale. With layovers in Detroit, Vancouver and Kalamazoo.

I can't feel my legs!

So crack open a nice cold Bud Light, oh Skipper of the Skies. You put the "fly" in "fly by night operation".

Mr Discount Airline Pilot Guy

Budweiser Beer. Anheuser-Busch, Missouri.

So pissed off were Airtran, that they have threatened to stop serving Bud on their planes (the real question for me is why they were serving it in the first place) until Budweiser issue an apology.

I'm assuming it's an apology for the commercial they want, not the quality of their beer.

boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew.

(serve 'em with steak.)

our trip to the Georgia coast was a little more rain-soaked than we'd planned. Tammy didn't give us much of a chance for the ramble through the historic district that I'd hoped for, but we did manage to:

• walk on the beach at night, one of my favorite things ever.
• wander around a charmingly Gothic cemetary in the rain.
• eat more seafood than I had thought physically possible in one sitting.
• follow up the seafood-orgy with the best key lime pie we've ever had.
• argue non-conclusively about which type of pralines are the "real" ones and also what exactly fudge is.
• do the traditional tourist stroll along River Street.

other highlights of Ben's visit (for me) included a late night of wine and cheese and bread and good conversation with Meggie when she came over after class, a whirlwind trip to the lake, the Wererabbit, two trips to my new favorite sandwich shop, Dad taking us all to see Serenity, sorting out the venues for the World Cup in 2018 (really, FIFA should just let us run things), a delightful (and mostly productive) afternoon of shopping for very large running shoes and other goods.

come back soon, Benny. sorry about the CNN Tour, we'll hit it next time.

this year's chili recipe

try with baby goldfish! they're small and yummy.

there's this song by the Eels that I've been listening to a lot lately. it starts out with a beat that reminds me of a Crash Test Dummies song (probably off God Shuffled His Feet) and you're maybe thinking about tapping your foot or something. then the strings come in with this exquisitely simple line, first a viola and then the violin, and something inside me just breaks and I dissolve into a little boneless puddle on the floor. I don't know why I find it so heartachingly gorgeous but I do.

so this is for Duncan, because he doesn't mind when I "discover" his favorite bands and appropriate them for my own even though he's been listening to them for years, and also because tomorrow is three years.

you don't have a clue
what it is like to be next to you
I'm here to tell you
that it is good, that it is true

birds singing their song
old paint is peeling
this is that fresh, that fresh feeling
words can't be that strong
my heart is reeling
this is that fresh feeling.