First, right on to Cary about the "fulfilling his needs" line. I know I will be uttering that to myself many times due to a similar family situation.

Secondly, People, PLEASE think of estate planning. I work at a firm that does planning for these step-monster situations (and daughter-in-law trusts" - so the wicked d-i-l doesn't swipe all of junior's money). If a person wants to, they can put language into a trust document spelling out exactly how money should be divided, after their death, in the case of a spouse re-marrying, in case of an adult child who cannot be trusted with an inheritance, etc. You can get people to supervise the trust and the distribution, so as to keep it neutral.

Really, these kind of trusts are not just for "rich" people, but for anyone who is concerned about these situations. Look into it. many firms do free consultations.

AND DO NOT, under any circumstances, use legalzoom or the other estate docs you find in office supply stores. Trust me, you just don't know what you are doing and could really screw yourself over with the IRS when you start putting other people's names onto assets in the guise of sharing or inheriting. lawyers are there for a reason and honestly, not all of them are sharks. Look up gift taxes if you need proof.

I peeked at the ad...ugh. Should not have been eating at the time. That's just weird!

I hope Broadsheet covers the weird cnn story I saw this am about how girls don't want to be in power (aka - president or a ceo) but want to be mother teresa nurturers. made me wonder what is going on in girls' heads. Not that everyone should want to be prez or skip the nurturer thing, but the story was weird.

Also, that commercial about painting, shur-something, where the wife is yelling for her husband like he was a lost 6 yr old. I am sooooo fucking tired of this mommyism depicted in ads. oy!

ps - bacon ad is a great idea. Reminds me of some 80s movie where the ad guy goes nuts and tells the truth: "Volvo - boxy but good", "Porsche: it'll get you laid" etc. Anyone remember this movie...

It's very annoying that the ad is very "sex & the City"-ish. know what I mean? I'm surprised they didn't say "Pork: as pink as the cosmo you're drinking. It's very strange how female "empowerment" in our culture involves high ticket fashion from NYC tastemakers and how the use of the word bitch, as in those "Skinny Bitch" books is some kind of tag of sisterhood.

grrr...

some ultra-freaking-sensitive people out there. It's a summer beach readling list b/c...it's going to be summer and more people have time to read...like when they are at the beach, taking their vacation. It doesn't denigrate the merit of these books, IMO.

I would agree that it would be nice to have less "commercial" or big name books on the list, but guess what, bigger authors get a bigger push and more copies of the book are sent around. The media only publishes "new news" so it is unlikely that paperbacks would be pushed by publicity department, as they have already been out for a year or so as hardcover. Used to work at one for a major NYC publishing co., so I know that's just the way the system works.

And you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get books review at all, not just b/c media is cutting out the sections. In my experience, they too want a mainstream thing that will appeal to the greatest amount of readers. After all, more eyeballs=more sales=more ad revenue.

On a personal note, I would always like to see more international writers, more diversity, more women, etc. b/c it seems that there are a lot of the same books coming out. Hello, Da Vinci Code & The Secret, I'm talking about you.

Wish I could watch it...cable's too damn expensive as it is.

The movie scared the crap out of me...my stomach was in knots. Far more effective than any horror movie.

I beg to differ with the post about how the previous design of Prius didn't sell well b/c it didn't scream hybrid. It didn't sell b/c it was new technology and to many people it was just boring or even ugly.

Sure some people want the "screaming hybrid" and some people like a reliable car and good design. And therein lies the difference between consumerism as defined here and design. I like good design. I can respect good advertising. But like Kraftwerk guy, I don't want to beaten over the head with it or have it interefere with the event I am at so such an extent.

exactly, ditto what that guy said about the ecologic issue and method. That's the big reason I do or don't buy a lot of things now. And you do have to reach beyond the front label and hit the ingredients list & the fine print. Plus, it's nice that method is *refillable* with refill packaging that takes up less space/materials.

but i understand the branding thing, especially among poor urban kids. It's a tough environment where showing who you are and your quirks can be a weakness. Plus brands are a quick way to show your power (ie - money). And it's nice feeling (however fleeting or insincere) to look expensive when you don't have money.

flame on.