Tom Waits on his suit against Opel AG and McCann Erickson: “Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor.”

Thanks Tom! (Bad mental image! Bad!)

In one of my all-time favorite cartoons from Non Sequitur, one of my all-time favorite comic strips, a radio personality proudly and excitedly pronounces the age of Political Correctness to be over. His announcement is written over several panels, one of which consisting of a couple of people wearing T-shirts with “It’s Their Fault” and an arrow pointing to the side (a la “I’m with stupid”).

I really hate it when something happens in life that recalls this exceptionally funny cartoon, such as this recent blog entry by a guy at ComputerWorld: “iPod: Killing Us Loudly”. A class-action suit against Apple (and every other consumer electronics company that makes a product with a headphone jack, I’ll add) because people’s kids play their music too loudly? For freakin’ sake, how about taking some personal responsibility for once? Would that be completely out of sorts? Aside from being a living, breathing example of how the US got itself into its current Lawyer Problem, who is this guy?

Of course, the really sad part comes with the synchronicity between real life and the last panel of the Non Sequitur strip: The radio personality is on a chaise lounge, saying “…and then that’s when I wake up” and the psychiatrist, wiping a tear from his eye replies, “That’s such a beautiful dream! Tell it to me again.”

So my new job has had me scrounging the web for “Electrical Engineering for Dumbasses” and anything else that would get me up to speed on the what, when, where, how and why of computer power supplies all last week. This week had me melting at a small event held at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix (you know, of Frank Lloyd Wright fame). [Note to Tim: Sorry I didn’t get in touch, as I pretty much correctly guessed that this was an all day, all night type of event. As a consolation prize, a free drinks tip for ya: if you find yourself in the neighborhood of the Biltmore between 5-7pm, head over to the Embassy Suites.]

RetailVision has been a strange experience. Despite it being tech-oriented, and it otherwise being a natural show for previous employers, I had never heard of it before - nor did I know what to expect. Good news: It’s the only show that I’ve ever been to where drinking is on the menu (and expected) during show hours. Bad news: It’s also the only show I’ve been to where a business partner got food poisoning and a co-worker broke his leg. I was originally going to fly home alone while he and the Director of Sales play golf tomorrow, but he changed his flight so I can help him on the way home. So needless to say, tomorrow will be interesting…

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