The least we could do

April 17, 2007


I do care. I really do. But I haven’t seen anyone else say this yet – so I’m stepping on my liberal soap box and saying it myself. Don’t worry – I’ll get off soon.

The shootings at Virginia Tech are horrible. 33 people died, and most of them were young – bright students searching for their place in the world. It’s a horrible tragedy, to say the least.

I watched news of Columbine nearly eight years ago while sitting in my dorm commons at St. Cloud State University. I wondered then what would happen if this wasn’t in a high school, but in a college, where the atmosphere is so different. I wondered if something like this could happen in a place where people are supposed to grow up and create their place in the world, not be pigeonholed into a class because truancy officers force them to.

Well, now we know. It is possible. And it’s horrible. Many are lamenting the loss of so many young lives in such a cold-hearted, brutal murder spree.

With that said, I’m also very confused.

The media response to this is exactly what we’d expect – fevered, maudlin and intense. Special graphics. Swooping intro videos. A deep look into anything that sounds remotely sinister. I’d hate to think that if I killed someone, that they’d look through my bookshelves and find the most violent book I’ve ever read and use that as proof of my craziness.

That’s not what I’m confused about – I expected all of that to happen. We want to know what’s going on, especially with something so close – something that happened right in our backyard.

But it bears noticing two things.

First, over 3,300 Americans have died in the Iraq War in a little more than four years. These people are roughly the same age as those killed at Virginia Tech. Of course the Virginia Tech murders are ghastly and should be mentioned as much as possible. But so should these deaths in Iraq. Unfortunately, they aren’t. We’re numb to it now. The numbers crawl to slowly to be noticed. People have been desensitized to what is truly happening over there. And it takes a mass killing like yesterday’s college massacre to hit the front pages.

There will be sweeping changes in security throughout Virginia Tech campus affairs. New procedures will be tried and people will be held responsible.

If only the 3,300 dead in Iraq would cause some sort of sweeping change throughout our war policy.

Second, Virginia Tech should be happy there wasn’t a flood. George Bush has already made it a point to visit the school and console with the grief-stricken survivors. That’s good. It’s a noble thing to do.

It took him four days to simply fly over New Orleans after Katrina.

Let’s all mourn the loss of innocent life. It’s the least we can do as fellow countrymen and women. But let’s also not lose track of the rest of the world – let’s keep everything in perspective, allow the survivors to slowly piece their lives back together and attempt to get on with their lives without making this entire incident into some kind of three-week soap opera.

Especially, let’s take time to think about everything else that’s happening in the world, from Nigeria to Iraq, Virginia to Ireland, and think about what we could do to help curb senseless killing all over this Earth.

It’s also the least we could do.

Tags: Journalism, Politics |

8 Comments

Grilled

April 15, 2007


The smell of roasting carbon, attaching to your clothes, being carried around with you for hours, reminding everyone of a dark campground – the damp coldness that surrounds you in your chair as you poke away at the embers. It’s the smell of summer, matched perfectly with cut grass and cold beer. It’s what deep dark brown would smell like, the rigid hexagons of organic material just before it’s torn apart by heat and energy, the smell of natural chemistry, of destruction, of fresh life.

It’s a smell that you can taste, literally, charred into the flesh of whatever you’re cooking, darkening the corners and creating roadmaps across the front and back. Your mouth salivates. Your eyes start to water. Your entire body rushes to help put out the fire, sweating and creating moisture in a failed effort. It’s hot. It smells that way – like heat, like the most pure form of cooking ever discovered. The basics. Food. Fire. Smoke.

Is there anything more serene than staring into a black Weber grill, watching the charcoal change from black to grey, orange to red? Is there anything that proves the existence of warm days more than the warm, inviting smells of barbecuing?

It’s near perfect, if you ask me.

Tags: On..., Outdoors |

1 Comment

So it goes…

April 12, 2007


“So it goes.”
-Kurt Vonnegut 1922-2007

Another great writer dead. While widely known for Slaughterhouse-Five, I have great memories of the first Vonnegut book I ever read - Cat’s Cradle. From there, I tackled Slaughterhouse-Five, Mother Night and Breakfast of Champions - all of which I throughly enjoyed.

I never found myself to be a Vonnegut scholar, by any means, but I did enjoy his writing. It was incredibly unique - styled perfectly for his quirky narratives. He was weird, but sensible.

He fell and suffered brain injuries a few weeks ago. He’ll be missed. Goodbye, Kilgore Trout.

Tags: Books, Literature, Writers |

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Taste is relative

April 12, 2007


So I got a response from Kraft regarding Honeycomb cereal…

Hi Corey,

Thank you for visiting www.kraft.com/responsibility

Our policy is to be sure all advertising claims are supportable, neither false nor misleading.

Our Market Research Department conducts studies among representative groups of consumers. For nutritional claims, we make claims only after a thorough scientific analysis of the respective products involved.

We draft conclusions from studies that reflect consumers’ opinions on a national basis.

When appropriate, advertising is developed from studies. We take great care in the exact wording and overall impression of our advertising.

All advertising claims are reviewed before approval is given.

We base all of our advertising on this procedure; that is why we feel we may justifiably make such a claim.

If you haven’t done so already, please add our site to your favorites and visit us again soon!

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations

In other words, this was the act of a study group. They used the opinions of 10 people to come to this conclusion. I’m fine with that in practice. But as someone in the advertising field who believes that truthful and non-misleading advertising will, in the long run, pay off by not alienating customers and not giving them another reason to ignore your messages.

Common practice, yes. Truth (or accuracy, more specifically) in advertising, barely.

Simply put - don’t tell your customers if something tastes better. Let them figure it out for themselves.

Advertise a great new taste. Promote a new recipe. Challenge the customer to try the cereal. But don’t make the judgment for them – regardless of what your study group says.

Nothing will change, it’s just the nature of the business.

Carry on.

Tags: Advertising and Marketing, Annoyances, Random |

1 Comment

Interviewed…

April 11, 2007


Brian at Ekonoline asked.

I answered.

An interview, at Ekonoline. Check it out now.

BG: Do you feel writing about a variety of topics has helped your readership grow, or hindered it? Do stats and readership levels matter at all?

CV: It has definitely hurt, without a doubt. I find myself being, to use an old cliché, a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” I’ve been categorized primarily as a book blog - but only about 25% of my posts focus on reading or books.

In order to build readership, bloggers need to really hone in on one subject. But because readership is secondary to BMOWP being my own personal sandbox, I’m able to be free. Not that I wouldn’t love to have millions of hits per day and a dedicated fan base - it’s just not how the site was designed. And it doesn’t bother me, really.

Though sometimes I still find myself screaming out into the blogosphere, seeing if anyone’s actually reading.

Tags: Blogging, Meta, Vilhauer |

5 Comments

Now better tasting!

April 11, 2007


Honeycomb - NOW BETTER!Our cereal is making a strange claim.

We just bought a box of Honeycomb cereal. Kraft foods has placed a new label on the front – Now Better Tasting!

Wait. Says who?

Who has decided that Honeycomb is truly “better tasting” than it used to be? What research have they done to back up this claim? What changes did they make?

I’m sure verbiage like this sells cereal all the time. The cereal industry has conducted plenty of focus groups on what to say and how to product their cereal.

So maybe I’m a cynic when I say, “If it’s better tasting now, what was wrong with it before?”

“Why wasn’t it the best it could be previously? And how did you quantify a subjective claim?”

So, with these questions in mind, I decided to ask. I went to kraft.com and sent an e-mail:

I have recently purchased a box of Honeycomb cereal. The box says “Now Better Tasting!” right on the front.

My question is this — how can you quantify “better tasting?” What research or changes were made to make Honeycomb “better tasting?” How can you account for personal taste on a cereal box?

I’m just a concerned customer wondering how accurate your cereal’s claims are.

Thanks,
Corey Vilhauer

Let’s see what they say. I want to know how they can make such an unquantifiable claim – to become so subjective in saying the cereal is now “better tasting.” It can’t be proven. I might not like it at all now.

Let’s see if this was an empty marketing ploy or a true-to-life statistic.

Tags: Advertising and Marketing, Annoyances, Random |

12 Comments

Off with its head

April 10, 2007


When does an institution become more trouble than it’s worth? And when can you cut the head off of a body in order to save the rest of the body?

We just watched The Queen – the Oscar Award (Best Actress) winning movie about Queen Elizabeth II’s reaction and non-response to the death of Princess Diana. It’s really quite entertaining, if you’re into any aspect of anglophilic nature or British history.

One of the topics touched upon in the movie is the growing hostility towards the Crown. Simply put, it’s an outdated institution that costs the nation millions of dollars each year and gives nearly nothing but drama in return. It’s a position of privilege gained by nothing more than birthright. It’s a source of anti-nationalist views, obviously, and many wish it would just go away.

And usually, I would be with them. The constitutional monarchy model – which takes away complete control from the monarchy but still gives them a slight, puppet-head decision in governmental procedure – doesn’t really make sense in today’s democratic world. I should be against the monarchy. Throw them out on the street. Tell them to get a job. Stop feeding them so much money and letting them live in the lap of luxury.

But I can’t do that. Because I’m so in love with the history – the idea that these people are somehow descended from the monarchial greats – I can’t do much more than forgive the extravagance that has led to the monarchy being overpaid and under worked.

In The Queen, both sides are shown through Tony Blair’s character – a reform P.M. that, by the end of the movie, really feels a certain soft spot for Liz the Second. There’s a need to get rid of the monarchy, yes. But what would England lose?

For those of us on this side of the pond, we equate the royalty with England. And many on the home front probably feel the same way. It’s more than just a fictitiously slanted head of state – it’s part of the identity of England. It’s a huge part of its history, of its sensibility and of its allure. It’s the movie star effect – worthless in act but brilliant in action.

I don’t have the same perspective as most would have. I am watching all of this from afar, and for all I know there isn’t as much uproar to displace the Royal Family. I’m sure Tony from Other Men’s Flowers would have a much better view on the entire process.

But as someone who fell in love with country, who finds a great allure in knowing the current Queen, granddaughter of Victoria, is in some way directly connected to the Henrys, the Williams, Elizabeth I and all of the rest of the great names in English extravagance, I’d hate to see the monarchy go.

I hate the monarchy almost as much as I love it. And I think that’s a pretty common opinion to have.

It wouldn’t be so hard if they’d just do something to warrant sticking around.

—-

For an interesting take on putting the monarchy out on the street, read Sue Townsend’s The Queen and I - a book about the royal family living in dire straits after being thrown out of Buckingham Palace. It’s wickedly funny and, actually, kind of sad at times.

Tags: Movies, Travel |

7 Comments

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