The Cold War Is Over!

Last night, I somehow made friends with the Russian woman next door. It turns out that she wasn't the person I saw a while back putting the cart under my stairs again. There are no less than three old Russian ladies living in apartments off that stairwell who all look the same to me (I can't tell white people apart), and it was a different one I caught with the cart. And then, the other day, I caught the third lady trying to put another cart under my stairs.

I was heading out to Trader Joe's last night when I saw my next door neighbor at the sidewalk coming home with a cart of groceries. She saw me and, amazingly, stopped her cart and took her bags out to bring them to her apartment -- thereby leaving the cart on the sidewalk and not on the walkway where it is in my way. I was touched, so I offered to carry her bags back for her. She, in turn, was similarly touched, and told me (the best she could, not knowing much English and me not knowing any Russian) that she bought headphones so she could listen to her TV without turning the volume up and bothering me! I can't believe it! How considerate of her! She also said she has a bad shoulder, so I told her to come get me anytime she needed help with her groceries and I'd be happy to carry them for her. And then I returned the cart to Trader Joe's, where the sample station was giving out delicious pumpkin bread.

I Love You More

I keep seeing this commercial and it creeps me out every time so I thought I'd share it with all of you. I hard a really hard time finding it, and the best I could do was this site that isn't really in English which made it difficult to figure out how to embed the video in my blog. So you'll have to click on the link, but it's worth it:


"Love You More" Sinupret For Kids Commercial

Why would anyone ever buy this product? It turns you and your kid into creepy fake-smiling zombies who lie in fields all year round, staring up at the sun but the eyes seeing nothing ...

It Sells Itself!

I watch a lot of random TV shows on weird channels at weird times. Therefore, I see weird, cheap commercials selling weird, cheap stuff. I think this one is my favorite:



So many questions. Why is the fact that it's made by Germans one of the big selling points? Why is Vince wearing a headset like a Gap employee? Do they think we won't notice when they show the carpet with a huge puddle in one shot and then cut to another angle and the puddle is magically gone? Why does Vince call his cameraman "camera guy" when he must know his real name? Is there some kind of tension between them, or is Vince letting his ShamWow spokesman fame go to his head? When will a ShamWow tent be coming to a parking lot near me? Why do I always want to buy one of those things when I see that commercial even though it's sooo annoying and I don't need a ShamWow in the first place?