An interesting piece, because it isn't knee-jerk Wal-Mart bashing, but a look at how companies choose to present themselves.
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When Jim Wier told Wal-Mart he wanted them to stop selling his lawnmowers, was he being a good businessman or was he "the dumbest CEO ever to live"?
One of my favorites was left out. From Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers: "It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me."
A Nielsen/Netratings survey suggests they might. Favorite alcoholic beveridge? Hard cider. Favorite car? VW. Favorite TV network? Cartoon Network, followed by BBC America and HBO.
So I guess that Super Bowl ad isn't really necessary, eh?
Turns out the theories about this have changed over time. This fascinating article reminds me of the great Simon Frith essay, "Why Do Songs Have Words?" Frith posited that pop song lyrics teach the young men of our decidedly unpoetic era the language of courtship.
The music samples should not be skipped.
Mark Levinson has thick, black eyebrows and big, beautiful hands which flutter with energy and something more.
And ruffle through invisible pages. And fret at imaginary strings. As he speaks.
And when he speaks, he takes deep pauses that seem to ask: "Which is the best word?" And "What do I really mean to say?" And "Is there a right way to convey this feeling, this thing?" And when he pauses, his body sways, as though he is under warm water — yes, it must be warm because he seems too comfortable for it to be anything else — as though he is being taken by the kindest waves…
I've spent my time throwing bales of hay onto wagons and into barns. To think that I now complain of a hard day's work at the keyboard!
The first day I spent haying, I wore shorts and a teeshirt and laughed at the "old" farmers (probably about my age now) who wore canvas pants and long-sleeved flannel shirts. By noon, I was sunburned and covered with scratches from briars and jagged hay, and stung by bees trapped in the bales (they were perturbed by the experience, understandably). You better believe I showed up fully garbed, gloved, and hatted the next day.
This paean to hay almost…