Talk about necessity being the mother of invention. A country has to endure suicide bombers who kill and maim its citizens. It tries to defend itself and even wants to come to some peaceful arrangement with its destructive neighbours. All to no avail. Continue reading
Year: 2008
Offensive Artline advertisement
For quite a while I have been scratching my head in wonder at the unethical Artline by Pelikan ad which describes their pens as “the pen more people pinch.”
This ad works on the assumption that Artline pens are so wonderful that everybody will pinch them. I would have thought that it would be unwise to buy a pen that will be stolen because I’ll never have it when I need it.
On an ethical level it teaches people that stealing is acceptable and I find that very offensive. Furthermore, I don’t want children to be taught that it’s okay to steal other people’s possessions, no matter how tempting they are.
There is definitely a sadistic streak in commercials today and that’s because they are created by those ridiculous men in pony tails or those whose hair is gelled together into some kind of Great Wall of China effect.
I’m also put off by the ad in which the woman kicks her date out of her apartment because she wants to drink the cup of coffee all by herself instead of sharing it.
There is also that terrible ad about a little girl lying to her mother about some incident and blaming her brother for bad behaviour when she is the guilty party. The boy is sent out of the room while she pokes her tongue out at him and has the treat all to herself. No doubt she’ll grow up into that woman who hogs all the coffee after a date. Very admirable…
I’ve already criticised that dreadful ad in which the schoolchildren rush to falsely claim a Kellogg’s LCM Bar that has been found in someone’s blue lunch box.
It all smacks of selfish and unscrupulous behaviour which is being promoted by these companies. Blame someone else, steal, refuse to share. Sound familiar? These are the mores of the thirty-something and under ME generation. No doubt they are amused by all these ads just as they are by hooning, swearing and intimidating the rest of the world. These are the same people who see nothing wrong with living off their parents forever while they travel, party and spend their parents’ super.
Those parents who think that they can depend on such offsprings in the future had better stop dreaming and wake up and smell the coffee. That’s if the coffee has not been all used up by some greedy parasite who sees nothing wrong with pinching pens.
What are the authorities doing about these immoral ads?
In case you are wondering if I like any ads on TV, I absolutely love the DHL Sea Rescue ad in which a number of lifesavers and rescue vehicles are featured going through their paces. The background music to it is melodic and it always makes me watch the ad even if I’m reading a book in front of the TV. And surely that’s how ads should grab your attention. It’s soft sell with a lot of class.
Good on you, DHL! You support a fine cause.
If it’s not for sale don’t put it in the window
I have just watched a Parkinson interview with Sir Michael Caine who is not only a fine actor but also an admirable man. He was telling Parkinson that his mother asked him what mini-skirts were, so he took her into trendy London to show her some women wearing them. This happened in the Sixties.
When he asked her what she thought about them she commented “If it’s not for sale, don’t put it in the window.”
It’s seldom that I would agree with the likes of Sheik Hillaly who described the clothes on some young “ladies” as being like uncovered meat. But in my opinion, if you send out an invitation don’t be surprised if some people accept it.
On seeing the occasional music videos with women spreadeagled in the pap smear position and so-called celebrities who flaunt it all makes one feel very ashamed for them. They are the first to scream rape and sexual harassment when they go out of their way to prop up, inflate and Lord knows what else to their body parts just to get some attention. When they do get attention, they complain. How hypocritical is that? I could be wrong, of course. Perhaps they do want that sort of attention.
Feminists would screech at me for saying that women should have some decorum. Feminists expect women to be theoretically able to wear whatever they like and behave in any manner they choose and then be respected no matter what message they send. Well, it doesn’t work like that. People have to earn respect. If you don’t want people to think you’re an idiot or a slut, then don’t behave like one.
Sir Michael Caine’s mother might have been a poor charlady but by George she was smarter than those Generation X-cess, Y-nots and Z for zero brains, who are parading half naked all over the place. That’s if they are not passed out drunk on the pavement. And she certainly had more dignity in her little finger….you know the rest.
Shades of Kath and Kim
Just like Borat put Kazakstan on the map, so did Kath and Kim make Fountain Gate Shopping Centre famous. We felt it was about time we visited this icon. Continue reading
An Australian Curse. May your cable provider be Telstra!
I would have written about the toaster yesterday except for the fact that neither our internet nor our Foxtel was working when we came home from Chadstone Mall.
We spent many hours on the phone to Telstra and Foxtel. We were told that there was an outage in our area. We told them that everyone else in the building had a working reception BUT they maintained that there was an outage and that it would be fixed by 4pm, then 5pm then 8pm, then 9pm and so it went on.
We tried to tell them that earlier in the day a Telstra operative had been mucking around with the cables. Telstra would not listen.
Today, another Telstra technician took a look at our cabling and discovered that our cables had been disconnected so that a new resident could have his connected. Apparently, there weren’t enough cables to go around and so the unscrupulous technician thought it was easier to steal our cables than install new ones.
The mind boggles at the unethical behaviour of one of our biggest companies. I wonder if Sol Trujillo, who heads Telstra, helps himself to someone’s else’s gas tank when he runs out of petrol.
PLEASE NOTE I phoned Telstra just now to complain about what happened to us and was lucky enough to have a sympathetic listener. He said he had never heard of anything like that before and that he would report it to the powers-that-be. He also reimbursed us part of our bill as a goodwill gesture. I demanded an apology from the company and requested that the thieving technician be disciplined. I was told that he would be “coached” which is the term they use in Telstra, apparently, to which I added “Don’t leave any bruises.” lol
Verdict on Lawson’s Bread and the latest toaster…sigh
Well, Lawson’s Bread is as good as I remembered it. I hope other people love it too.
For that reason we decided not to put up with the inefficient Sunbeam Toastum that was purchase number four. We wanted a toaster that can fit larger slices and which also doesn’t burn your fingers when you try to remove the toast.
So off we went to good old Chadstone Shopping Mall again (we’ll soon be charged rent there since we spend more time there than at home) and brought a slice of Lawson’s with us so that we could test the replacement toaster.
None of them, not even the very expensive ones had enough space for it. We searched further and finally selected a four slice Ikon by Breville which was the only one that could take the bread and which rose high enough at the end of the procedure.
Choice Magazine should take note of this. I think I’m becoming a reluctant maven on toasters.
So how’s the new toaster? Where’s the quality control?
This morning I was asked whether I had found a good toaster yet. Those of you who have followed the saga will be familiar with my search for a toaster that toasts well. Was it an ask too great for modern technology? Apparently so, because I had to return the various toasters three times before getting this one. Apart from the nuisance of having to go back to the shopping mall, there was the fundamental question of why can’t they make things that work properly?
Manufacturers used to make toasters that toasted very well. Sure they cost a lot more before the Chinese came onto the scene with their cheap appliances that either don’t work reliably or don’t last more than a couple of years. So where’s the economy in that?
The person who asked me about my latest toaster is still using the one that he received as a wedding gift from William the Conqueror. It works, has been repaired a couple of times, but does the job.
I wonder how many of the appliances we buy nowadays would last more than a couple of years. That’s if they work well in the first place.
The Chinese don’t care cause they’re selling millions of them around the world and if they have to replace them for free within twelve months, it doesn’t bother them because setting up a good system of quality control would cost them more. Actually, nowadays, the quality control is done by customers, so it’s up to the customer to complain and return the darn thing. That’s if the customer has the time to do it. The problem with that is that sometimes the customer suffers from poor control in production e.g the melamine in dairy products fiasco which led to the death of babies.
China is now one giant factory. It has cheap labour and lots of it and thrives on turnover. It has many customers all over the world. Famous electrical brands set up their factories in China and the market churns out products that will end up in the refuse dumps within a short period of time.
In 1960, Vance Packard wrote a seminal work on the disposable society called “The Waste Makers” about planned obsolescence. Well, he certainly described how things are now and they aren’t going to get any better.
if we are really serious about all the garbage we produce perhaps we should demand that factories monitor their products more strictly. Perhaps the price will go up but then products may become more reliable.
So how is the latest toaster? Well, it’s okay. Its brand name is Sunbeam Toastum. The result is not quite even all over the bread, but at least the thermostat is working for the time being. What is unsatisfactory, however, is that the bread does not rise high enough at the end of the toasting, so you have to be careful not to burn your fingers removing the toast. Ouch!
Lawson’s Bread has finally arrived!
Today, 6th October, is the day that Lawson’s Bread came to Melbourne. I can recommend it to anyone who likes real bread instead of that mush that is usually sold. Just because a loaf looks like it’s been trampled on by hippies in Birkenstock sandals does not mean it tastes good or that it is even healthy. Those sort of loaves look so bad that we mistakenly believe that something as ugly as that must be good for you. Reminds me of the time that my husband was the controller of CSR’s sugar and he revealed that all those people who believe that brown sugar is healthier are being conned. Apparently, sugar is refined into white crystals and then molasses is added to the crystals to make them look “natural” and “wholesome”.
As I have always maintained it’s all about perception. Reality doesn’t come into it.
Sarah Palin delivered
I couldn’t imagine that Governor Palin could stand up to Senator Biden in the vice-presidential debate today, but boy was I wrong!
She showed that she’s a quick learner and can take advice from experts. There were times that even Biden himself looked smitten by her. Yesterday I was convinced that the Republicans had had it but now for the time being, anyhow, it looks as if Governor Palin has delivered a coup de force to the elections once again.
She certainly is quite impressive. If the Republicans lose the election it will probably be because it’s time for a change, but then perhaps Palin and McCain will be viewed as the necessary change. Very interesting.
Vice-presidential debate.
No matter how much preparation Governor Sarah Palin receives, she will not be able to convince voters that she would make a good vice-president in the next debate. It’s not that she’s dumb because she’s not. Palin is a smart lady with loads of charm. Even women like her despite her good looks!
But she lacks political experience and knowledge of the world. The job is too demanding for a person with her limited experience. Had she been active in national and foreign politics for two decades then she would be a formidable candidate, but she simply hasn’t had enough hours of flying.
The problem is that when one elects a vice-president, one is electing a potential president in case something happens to the incumbent and one just can”t imagine the U.S being run by someone as inexperienced as Governor Palin.
So whom would I have selected? Joe Lieberman, but I can’t imagine that he would appeal to the conservative right or to African-Americans.
LiliGans.com 