And To All a Good Night

Sometimes nothing beats the classics.





This blog post is sponsored by Bailey Brothers Building and Loan Association.

Glad to be Wrong

Apparently, I was overly pessimistic in my last post. Instead of choking mightily, my fantasy team, on the back of the dependable DeAngelo Williams, came from behind for a dominate 15 point win in the championship game. Instead of whining about what might of been I was able to send gloating videos, like the one below, to my vanquished foe. Let's just say I am not a gracious winner. And well I shouldn't be. After many, many, many fantasy leagues over the year, this is my first championship in a competitive league. So I think I am going to enjoy it as I clearly possess the unmatched managerial and strategical skills necessary to stand head and shoulders above my so-called peers. I just hope they present more of a challenge next year.

This blog post is sponsored by Buy N Large.

This Is How It Ends?

After 16 long weeks of setting line-ups, scouring the waiver wires, turning down ridiculous trade offers, dealing with the dubious activities of a ethically questionable commissioner, and racking up big points and a spot in the championship game, my fantasy team decided to take the week off. Anquan Boldin breaks his face earlier in the year and takes a week off to get over it but a sore leg keeps him out of the most important game of year. The Ravens defense waits until this week to play like a team of elderly steroid freaks and unconvicted criminals. Oh wait...check that last one. Anyway, they stunk up the joint and I am left with an empty feeling.

This blog post is sponsored by Omni Consumer Products.

Real-Time PCR, More Than Meets the Eye

I have already written about two high-production value, web-only, musical advertisements for the tools of science. Well, now Roche Applied Sciences has taken it to the next level and produced the eagerly awaited sequel to Transformers. And in a huge twist, - SPOILER ALERT! - the Decepticons have apparently taken on the shape of the DNA double helix. Although, if that is the case, why would the Autobots take the shape of a machine that makes more DNA? So many questions. I guess we will just have to trust the genius of Micheal Bay and wait until the official release date to get all of our answers. For now we will have to make due with this Roche-sponsored trailer. I don't know if this CGI-heavy advert makes me want to spend several thousand dollars on a PCR machine, but it does make me want to watch WALL-E again. And it continues this new tradition of spending a ton money on commercials that noone other than the dedicated nerdy will see.

For a point of contrast, let me also offer-up this truly awful example of attempted viral marketing by Promega. Matching this effort with the four I previously presented is an insult to the other four. They look to have had $5 and a Big Mac as their production budget. Even by YouTube standards this is sad. Heck, I am not entirorly sure that some undergrads didn't do this to fill time between running gels and pirating movies. I wouldn't even embarrass my blog by including this commercial if it weren't for an OCD-like drive for completeness. So in the interest of cataloging all of the efforts of the biotech giants to use new media to sell their wares, here is "Vlad in the lab".

This blog post is sponsored by the Ajira Airways
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When Shows are Nothing but Product Placements, the Commercials are the True Entertainment

I continue to contend that the best advertisements never make it to our TVs. Whether it is because they focus on too narrow a target audience (like lab coat clad test tube jockeys) or they are a tad bit too edgy (how this stuff is considered too edgy when the questionable content is bleeped out and shows like Grey's Anatomy are allowed to continue their assault on all that is good and descent I will never understand), we are missing out on some quality salesmanship. If my argument wasn't strong enough already, I now have two new pieces of evidence to present to the court. First is a combination of two of my most favorite things - geeky science in-jokes and boy bands (Why oh why have you forsaken us N*SYNC). If Eppendorf had the gumption to pony up the money for a TV broadcast for these entertaining productions, every kid would be asking Santa for a pipette in their stocking. For under the radar commercial number two, I give you a movie house exclusive. Not sure why this one hasn't seen the small screen yet. Catchy tune, funny lyrics. What am I missing? Is it the explosive combination of Wal-mart and Coke? Those two revelutionary brands being on the screen at the same time too much for the average consumer? Anyway, now that the commercial is on YouTube, I can finally learn the words to the new Christmas classic, "Joy! Enough to go Round". "My judo coach, my allergist, my MySpace friends, my Twitter list."

This blog post is sponsored by the Nakatomi Trading Corporation.

The Economy Does What Good Taste Couldn't

Today was an historic day in South Florida. The scourge of taste buds and stomachs alike has finally been defeated. R.J. Gator's has closed its doors. Sure, the novelty of eating gator meat makes for a nice change of culinary pace but not the way R.J. Gator's does it. I ate there once. Quite a horrible experience. All the food, including the non-gator items, was drenched in grease. My stomach was not happy that I subjected it to that greasy mess. It complained about it, quite loudly, for the rest of the night. My stomach and the gators of South Florida sleep a little more soundly tonight.

This blog post is sponsored by Goliath National Bank.