Random Thursday

Scattershooting while pondering the email I received overnight with a subject line of “Your income depends on the watch you wear.” That would explain a lot, actually, given that I generally wear no timepiece.

• I understand that Elin Woods was so taken with Tiger’s contrition during his “public statement” last week that she’s given him a present: a Toyota.
• Speaking of silliness, I for one am enjoying the resurrected Filet-o-Fish TV ad from McDonald’s, the one where the guy gets an MMS text from the singing wall-mounted bass while in his buddy’s car. I’d like to see those two (the two guys, not the fish…although that would be interesting as well) become the new spokesmen for Sonic Drive-In. When I shared this observation with my wife (a prime example, by the way, of the kind of intellectual content typical of our dinner conversation), she replied “Why? They don’t say anything.” I nodded and smiled knowingly, confident that I’d made my point.
• I do wonder, however, how Apple missed the exquisite marketing tie-in, as the ad prominently features a BlackBerry instead of an iPhone. I’ll bet Steve Jobs is a big consumer of Filet-o-Fishes. Or is it “Filets-o-Fish”? Anyway, perhaps the thought of seeing a perfectly good iPhone tossed from a car window was too traumatic.
• Speaking of trauma, it would almost be worth breaking an arm or a leg in order to show off one of these. Well, to be honest, it would be worth faking a broken arm or leg. But what would be even cooler is if your Castoo revealed a Terminator-like framework under your skin.
• Of course, Terminators aren’t afflicted by broken bones, so that would be a little silly.
• Speaking of movie characters, I plan frequent visits to the “That Guy – Character Actors” website. It’s a visual database of actors who have appeared in many movies and television shows, but who are not exactly household names. Be sure to read the criteria for inclusion at the bottom of the page. I particularly like the “No picture on IMDB” qualifier.
• And, finally, if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to pedal a 5-seat bicycle, complete with three daughters under the age of eight, from Kentucky to Alaska, you should check out the Pedouins (get it? Pedouins…Bedouins? Nomads? OK, anyway…). They’re now in the Malibu, California area, on the last leg of their year-long journey. It’s quite a picture of “relying on the kindness of strangers.”