My Quiet Life

So, every time it snows in Nashville, people invariably fall into two camps:

1. The "AAAAAAAH WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE, DON'T DRIVE OR YOU'LL DIE AAAAAH" camp
2. and the "pfft, i'm from [insert northern state here] and you dumb southerners are so silly if you don't know how to drive in snow" camp

I will admit that despite my Wisconsin birth, I fall squarely in the first camp -- since I never lived there when I was driving.

Every year I make this point to anyone who will listen, though, so I figured I'd post it as well:

Snow in the south is not the same, sorry. First, there's the rather obvious fact that we don't have as many (or hardly any) plows or trucks to salt adequately for the rare occasions we do get salt, so that makes things harder. Second, and more important: because the south straddles the line between "warm climate" and "cold", when we do get snow, it's usually a product of a front that brought in a lot of rain, first. So, everything gets nice and saturated with water and then freezes, and then it starts to snow. So, typically, around here, when you're driving on snow, you're not just driving on snow -- you're driving on ice covered in a deceptive layer of snow.

I've driven in snow on occasion up north and it was actually very hard to shake my instinct to be deathly afraid of driving on snow, because of this fact. Going up north and driving on snow and actually having traction is just ... weird.

The amusing side-effect of this is that you often have people in camp #2 (arrogant northerner) who scoff loudly at the snow we get here and go out and try to drive in it and nearly kill themselves. I'll never forget years ago when I was working at the Stockyard, we got some snow in typical rain-ice-snow fashion. There was some hot-shot server from New York loudly and nearly endlessly proclaiming Nashville's wussiness with regard to snow. He then left, and promptly fishtailed his pickup into a telephone pole right outside the restaurant. Open up, bitch -- time to eat some crow! Would you like some help pulling your truck out of the ditch? Holler at me when it thaws, jackass.

Anyways. So, I realize that being able to drive in snow is a point of pride and whatnot, and I also realize that Nashvillians are a bit wussy about driving in snow. But, you should realize that it's not quite the same as driving in well-plowed/salted ice-free roads in the north, and that maybe we're wussy about it because we're averse to dying.

So, I knew that Cary Ann Hearst and her husband Michael Trent (Shovels and Rope) had come to town a few months ago to record some videos, because I swung by briefly to take some pictures as well, since they were gonna be at the Marathon Motorworks with some nice light.

What I didn't realize is how many videos they made and how good they are.. I've wanted for the longest time some good quality videos of their work, and looks like someone has finally delivered. (Although I hate that silly shallow DoF focus in/out effect that seems to be so popular now that DSLR video has become affordable, but I digress. [/photonerd]).

Check em out:

(more...)

I realize that in many ways I am not a representative target demographic for lots of products in some ways. But I thought I'd highlight a few weird marketing things that are interesting or funny to me:

1. Re-branding.
   • Many products seem to be caught in the throes of constant re-branding. We've all seen the products at the grocery store where the re-branding itself is advertised: "New Look! Same Great Taste!". This is hilarious alone for being so meta, in that they are advertising their own advertising. But what's really aggravating/hilarious to me is when it backfires. I am a huge fan of St. Ives Apricot facial scrub. You know how I have delicate, pristine skin that bounces back like a baby's butt, and exhibits luster and sheen as if I was a descendant of the gods themselves? Well, that's mostly just my inate greatness. But the apricot scrub really helps. A few months ago, I spent like 5 minutes (this is a long time at the grocery store) trying to find this scrub, because I was out of it. I nearly gave up before I realized they had "re-branded", complete with "New Look!!" splattered on the tube. Congratulations: your "new look!!" meant I almost didn't buy your product because I couldn't fuckin find it. The point of a brand is to be readily identifiable, not something that needs to be fresh and redesigned every 2 weeks. Fail.
2. Condoms. (in which I make all my family and coworkers uncomfortable by thinking about this)
   • Maybe this is a sign of the times, but I think condom package marketing is basically all wrong. They all focus on how thin the condom is -- you won't even know it's on! Call me crazy, but I want to know my condom's on. I'm wearing it for a reason. Screw sensitivity -- really, please, it's okay. Make it thick. Put fuckin flashing LEDs on it with sirens that blare it if it comes off, for all I care. Defcon 5!! BABY ALERT!! If condom manufacturers really want to get my attention at the store, how about advertising "GUARANTEED TO PREVENT BABIES".
3. Apartments.
   • This is one I've noticed recently. We're looking for an apartment and I've been keeping my eye on the craigslist apartments RSS feed. One pattern I've noticed is that all the shittiest mega-complex apartments in the dregs of the shittiest suburbs use these effulgent, templated eBay-style titles. Some real examples:
     • R~E~M~A~R~K~A~B~L~E Apartment Home!
     • Wake up smiling at WATERFORD PLACE!~We take care of you here!!
     • L@@K-2 Bedroom ! 1 FABULOUS PRICE!
     • PUT UP YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE THIS WEEKEND AT ROLLING HILLS!

     I assume they think that these are attention-grabbing and really giving them an edge over the bland, banal private rental ads -- and maybe they do. But, ironically, these titles actually serve as an awesome visual cue/reference for me to ignore them. The listings that I'm interested are straightforward, downplayed and obviously written by a normal person: "2bdroom/1bath in 12south. pets okay".