A lot goes into the making of a television advertisement. When you think of it, the ad lasts only 29 seconds (:28 for the audio) and every second counts!
This ad was approved by executives at Heinz and then, quickly pulled after they received complaints. Click here to see the ad. See if you can find the offensive part. More importantly, do you think this ad will sell the product. Also, what is the product being advertised here?
It's been an interesting week! No, it hasn't. Three weeks ago the area was flooded. Two of my friends lost their cars to water damage. Both have purchased new cars, elsewhere without the courtesy of (at least) shopping at the lot where I work! (Thank God I don't need the money!) I look forward to the time when I may properly express my feelings to them.
So what the hell does all this have to do with the pretty lady on the left? (This is a stretch!) Well, it's the weekend! Time to forget the disappointments of the work week and enjoy yourself. This is Lianna Grethel. She's model #22 on TV's Deal Or No Deal. A native of Colombia, Lianna did not have any flood damage to her car. She tells me that she's been busy appearing on Spanish TV shows here in the USA, along with "Deal Or No Deal."
Shawn Chacon is (or was) a pitcher for the Houston Astros. He was suspended indefinitely by the team yesterday for insubordination after reportedly grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground. Chacon was upset after getting demoted to the bullpen over the weekend.
That's enough. We don't need to hear any more. Chacon has been in the major leagues long enough to know that you don't do this kind of thing. This is what happens when you hire a guy to pitch for you, he becomes a millionaire quickly, when he was better suited for the WWF.
It's no wonder that the world hates us! This is the case of Pedro Zapeta. An illegal alien who has been washing dishes in Miami for the past 11 years. Well, Pedro, who speaks no English, managed to save $59,000...with a miimum wage job! They should throw this guy a parade! Well, he wants to return to his native Guatemala, where he wants to buy a nice little house in the country for himself and his family. He's already paid income tax on his earnings. Hell, this makes him more American than some Americans! So Pedro is at the airport and Customs sees that Pedro is carrying $59,000 on him. Well, you can't leave the USA with more than $10,000 without declaring it. Pedro finds himself in a heap of trouble. The judge fines Pedro $49,000!
Folks, this blog is read by people from different countries, all over the world. Let me tell you that the judge who made this decision is what we in the USA call a "dumb ass." Yes, it's not polite language, but it's not polite to swingle this poor guy out of years of savings which came from actual work. Work (for 11 years) that most Americans would never do. Zapeta has been trying to get his money back for two years! He has an American lawyer and he has recently been given a judgement that the lower court judge took too much money! Public support is behind Pedro. More than $15,000 has been donated to finance his legal struggle.
If I ran things, I'd give back to Pedro all of his money + interest. (I'd take the interest from the judge's salary.) Also, I would encourage Pedro to contact a publisher. I'm sure that his story is more interesting than what you normally find at the local Barnes & Noble.
I found this picture on the internet. It's the cover of the current TV Guide magazine with Mario Lopez and Audrina Patridge. Actually, I haven't read TV Guide in years. I find it interesting that they are doing articles on celebrity diets. I guess there aren't enough TV stations to list. Maybe if I buy the magazine and eat what Mario Lopez eats, I can look like him. (Except for my white hair, I do notice a resemblance.) More importantly, if Mrs. General Tom follows Audrina Patridge's diet......nah, I don't think so.
The real reason for posting this picture is to boost hits to this blog and to prove to myself that deep down, inside, we are all rather superficial!
This would be sad if it weren't so dumb. WABC morning talker Don Imus put his foot in his mouth, AGAIN, today, during an on air conversation about the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Told by sports announcer Warner Wolf that Jones is "African-American," Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."
Al Sharpton is up in arms - thinking of what to do about this. Imus was fired from his previous show last year after he made a racially charged comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Careful, Don. Oh- and get a haircut. I know this is radio, but you look stupid.
Today is a sad day. Comedian, actor & author George Carlin died yesterday, heart failure. He was 71. The guy is most famous for his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" routine. A recording of this act was aired on WBAI radio. Complaints were made to the FCC and the matter was eventually taken to the U.S. Supreme Court where it was ruled to be obscene. If you listen to the material, even now, 36 years later, you'd have to be an idiot to put it on the public airwaves! WBAI was asking for it...but than's another story. He was also famous for his "Hippy Dippy Weatherman" routine and so many more. You Tube has a wonderful collection of his stuff. I also suggest a visit to his site: www.georgecarlin.com.
Carlin grew up in the Morningside section of Manhattan, NY. A place that he later called "White Harlem." He was a high school dropout & served in the Air Force. He dropped out, there, too. Carlin was the very first host for Saturday Night Live! Comedy Central ranks him as the number 2 stand up comedian of all time - behind Richard Pryor and ahead of Lenny Bruce. Most of Carlin's humor came from a distrust of authority and religion. He managed to be simple and usually rational.
Funny guy. He'll be missed.
I'm not making this up, I wish I were. There's a group of bored girls at Gloucester (Mass.) High School who thought it would be a real good idea to get pregnant. This way their kids could all grow up together and the girls would finally feel love and some self esteem. In all, 17 Gloucester trampettes got knocked up...on purpose...none is older than 16. Maybe nobody told them that newborn babys are expensive....but that's OK, we'll pay for them. One of the daddys is said to be a 24 year old homeless man. (Good choice for your kid's gene pool!)
Oh, girls, I hope you feel the love at 3AM when baby wants to be fed. Same with the dirty diapers. If you ever meet a respectable boy/man,you'll always have your "baggage" to explain. The good part of all of this is that in less than 9 months you'll discover that maybe you girls should have all hatched a pact to get pet dogs or cats. You see, babys are different.
I don't think that there's anything less attractive than a stupid girl with a bastard child, sucking money from her taxpaying neighbors, all because she's a bored teen who ain't feelin' the love.
Jamie Lynn, see what you started...
Christie Brinkley & Peter Cook's divorce trial begins on Wednesday, July 2 in Islip, NY. They've been on the rocks for years. Word is Christie's 49 year old hubby likes internet porn, swinger sites and teenage girls. Two years ago he got caught with his...uh...well it was a teenage girl. I've often wondered why the really attractive, drop dead gorgeous, heart stopping women seem to have trouble in the marriage department. If I were married to a super model, would women find some kind of interest in me? Doubtful...but not impossible. Oh, by the way, she's 54. They have two kids, together, Sailor, 9, and Jack, 12. At the moment, they're trying to figure out if the public (cameras) should be allowed in the courtroom. It's the classic American Divorce - SEX & MONEY! Stay tuned, film (possibly) at 11!
Last week I woke up in the middle of the night and turned on the TV and caught a rerun on the E! channel of Chelsea Lately. I had never see the show, but being that I have an open mind, I thought I'd check it out. Chelsea Handler is the show's host. She's mainly a 30-ish stand up comic with a no-nosense attitude and yes, she has a mouth on her! The show is fast paced - a lot faster than other shows that air at 11:30PM. It runs 30 minutes, which is good. 
With the show's pace, she packs a lot of material in the half hour segment. The estimated audience is 450,000 - rather modest, but it'll grow because it's different, produced well and since Chelsea ain't hard to look at, guys will watch!
Mets manager Willie Randolph finally got the axe. Official word came at 3:14AM EDT today. The timing was probably to make this "old news" for ESPN's SportsCenter. You still have to wonder, what kind of organization makes this kind of an announcement in the middle of the night? The Mets are not doing as well as expected this season. They're one game below .500 at 34 & 35. They did win last night to make it 3 wins in their last 4 games...but Willie had to go. Maybe it was because of their historic choke last September. If you look at the bad, shouldn't you also look at the good? Wasn't Randolph the genius who guided the Mettsies to 5/6 of a spectacular 2007 season?
Willie can now check his answering machine and review offers from other teams after a day of serious fishing. I should point out that he wasn't really fired. He still gets paid through the end of his contract. The way the Mets have been playing, this is actually good for Randolph - same benefits without suffering in the dugout!
My prediction is that the Yankees (or Cubs) will offer him some kind of a position - very soon.
He always seemed to enjoy his job. Whether it was hosting "Meet The Press," or managing NBC's Washington DC News Bureau or explaining a nonsensical political action to Tom Brokaw or just hanging with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, Tim Russert always seemed to be having a good time. If I could choose to have lunch with any living person, Russert would have been in the top 10. He came from humble beginnings, growing up on the southside of Buffalo, NY, the son of a sanitation worker. Russert died today, doing what he loved. He was at work in his Washington NBC office. A heart attack is the preliminary reason for cause of death. He was 58. His work gave him joy, and stress.
Katherine Heigl of Grey's Anatomy is withdrawing her name from this season's Emmy nominations. She says that she and her role are unworthy of such high consideration, blah, blah, blah. What she is really saying is that she wants a more significant role in the show. To me, this means, well, no award but oodles of publicity. What's more important than publicity to a performer? I've done posts on her, here, before. She strikes me as a class act, in a business where class acts are rare. She's also not hard to look at.
I've found that awards are often over rated and are often given to people who are also over rated.
Oh, for the record, she already has an Emmy and, judging from the picture, she has everything she needs.
Paul Newman says that he's doing nicely. This is in response to reports that he is suffering lung cancer. There are unconfirmed reports that he's being treated at NY's Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital on an out patient basis.
The 83 year old Newman is probably best know as Butch Cassidy from "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid." The current generation knows him for his salad dressing and spaghetti sauce products which benefit the "Hole In The Wall Gang" children's charity.
We at General Tom's Blog hope that the health reports are false.
We wish him the best.
This time around, Hillary is history. What happened? She had the nomination wrapped up 16 months ago! Basically, here's what happened. She presented an "edge" to the public which was not very becoming. I don't think she ever showed up for an appearance on time. This is important to me. It shows arrogance...and poor planning. Your president should be a good planner and if you want my vote, you should not be arrogant about it. She seemed to make it up as she went along..."dodging bullets in Bosnia" made her a joke. It also made her unbelievable. Regardless of her possible qualifications, how can you vote for someone you can't believe in? Yeah, she got 17 or 18 million votes. How many of those came from racists? or feminists?
Then there was Saturday's speech where she officially withdrew from the race and offered her full support to Obama. She may as well phoned in that speech. Excuse me, I sell cars, I can smell "phony." Whether it's in a sound bite or in it's entirety, phony is phony. Sweetie, honesty would have gotten you more votes. As they say, "If you can fake sincerity, you've got if made!"
Mark August 3 on your calendar. That's when Pamela Anderson's reality show, "Pam: Girl On The Loose" debuts on E! She says that doing a TV series is hard work. It might be harder work if it were funny enough for the network to renew! (Stacked on Fox)She says that reality TV is easier because you don't have to learn lines or rehearse. (And you still get a paycheck) Producers like it because you don't have to pay writers.
Pam says she may get married on the show because sometimes she has trouble trying to control herself. Yeah, right! Actually, whether she knows it or not, it's a double tease for the show.
Eight episodes are scheduled. (Psst! Pammy, don't look for an Emmy.)
If you're keeping score at home, it's 9 wins in a row for the Chicago Cubs. Normally I wouldn't give a rat's rear end for the Chicago northsiders - I'm too busy suffering with the poor Yankees.
Lou Piniella, former Yankee player, manager, and GM is the reason why I feel good about the Cubs' success. It also gives Pat Hughes and Ron Santo something to talk about on WGN Radio during the games. They're a great broadcast team. Last year, I remember when a fan e-mailed Ron Santo with a household hint. He explained that Ron should try washing his toupee in the dishwasher!
All this entertainment and winning baseball. It almost makes burning $4-a-gallon gas on the ride home....well...okay.
Brigitte Bardot thinks that Muslims are destroying France. A year and a half ago, she wrote to France's Interior Minister, Nicholas Darkozy. Later, she published her remarks in her foundation's journal. What'd she say? That France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts." Now, why would she say such a thing? She was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep. Bardot is famous for her animal rights convictions. Speaking of convictions, this is her fifth race related conviction. This time it'll cost her $23,325 + $1,555 in damages for provoking discrimination and racial hatred.
To translate: The fine is not high enough to shut her up, but it is high enough to give the impression that she is being punished.
Vanity Fair has an article coming out soon on Former President Bill Clinton. The piece was penned by VF natioal editor, Todd Purdum and Slick Willy isn't happy! The article says that Clinton's people are concerned that his "state of mind" was altered following his 2004 heart surgery. They say he's been "seeing a lot of women on the road" as wifey chases the nomination. Miss Hillary calls it, "...journalism of personal destruction at its worst."
Perhaps, but how about a denial? Anyone?
35 year old Hollywood actress Gina Gershon, pictured here, has been named as a recent intimate companion of Bill's.
What we are seeing here is a series of mistakes, including Bill's public displays of anger.
Chill, Bill - nobody cares. I'm surprised that I'm even posting this. It was either this or Tatum O'Neal's explaination about her crack bust.
