Putting aside that he’s a despot, murderer and international criminal, Muammar el-Qaddafi exudes the kind of cool one would normally associate with a jazz musician. Stylish, enigmatic and an unstoppable creative force, I particularly enjoyed this pictorial evaluation of his choice fashion, “Style Dictates: The Many Moods of Muammar el-Qaddafi.”

For us discerning fans of kitschy infomercial entertainment, two recent examples show how things should and should not be done.

First up is Vince, of ShamWow fame, hawking the Slap Chop, yet another vegetable chopping tool. While Vince’s technical pitchcraft is sound, the script is forced, crammed with sophomoric one-liners:

The ad is rambling nonsense– an insult to the intelligence of its viewers.

Now compare this to the newest Snuggie ad, which borders on exquisite, an instant masterpiece of the genre. To be fair, the Snuggie product is, itself, a sublime creation, perfectly crafted for the infomercial world. But the ad really brings the Snuggie to life. From the beginning, the funky bass line sets the tone– the inexplicable dancing whilst pouring coffee, raising the roof couchside. Are you waving to me, knitting grandma? Why, hello. It’s nice to see you so cozy, as you knit with your free hands. And cranky old man at the outdoor sporting event? Didn’t you get the memo? We’re all wearing our Snuggies to the game. It’s going to be a cold one today!

The new Snuggie ad is everything that’s right and good about the infomercial genre (and a remarkable improvement on the original Snuggie ad, which was itself an instant classic). It’s hilariously absurd, and it’s addictive. Surly, I can’t be the only that finds it hard not to sing along: “That’s right!”

As a sometime listener of rap music, and a follower of the conservative media, I particularly enjoyed this Slate-like comparison of the two forms in today’s NYT:

Rappers tend to be fans of the Second Amendment, though they rarely frame their affection for guns in constitutional terms. And rap has an opinion about human nature that is deeply conservative — namely, that criminals cannot be reformed. The difference is that gangsta rappers often identify themselves as the criminals, and are proud of their unreformability.

Thanks to MM, I’ve given up the idea that a BlackBerry phone could ever satisfy my needs/wants in a mobile phone experience.

Since I’m now a family man, I need a family plan, and Sprint has the corner on the most bang for buck when it comes to data/voice/txt multi-line plans. I’m casting off from AT&T, and therefore, the iPhone.

That leaves me with the choice of a device. Clearly, the Palm Pre is the best phone that Sprint carries right now, but they are supposed to get the HTC Hero in October. The (who comes up with these names?) Hero is powered by Android, Google’s mobile OS.

Lauren and I will both be getting new phones. I have been researching all the usual sites and watching head-to-head comparison videos on YouTube, but I’m still left with a little anxiety (relative anxiety, that is–it’s only a phone, after all). My question for you guys is whether you’ve had any experience with either one and/or do you have a recommendation or things to consider beyond “you should really get an iPhone.”?

Thanks!

Well, 1-8 anyway, and this is only if you ignore “Brian Eno & David Byrne” up there (which I’d argue should just be combined with #1 the Talking Heads, unarguably the best band in music’s long history).

Oh, and #3 only works if I’m allowed to combine Sunset Rubdown with Wolf Parade (#10 on the 6 months list).

BTW, if you’re not on last.fm, WTF? It’s great. Joel (browndotjoel) and I (indiemaps) are neighbors — not to mention friends — up in there.

I really can’t believe these allegations have not been refuted by Glenn Beck. Why won’t he merely refute these obviously made up charges and tell the world he didn’t murder a young girl in 1990? Read more about these heinous charges here!

I’ve been playing with this really cool GPS app for the iphone. If you are rockin’ a 3g or 3gs, you should be rockin’ this app. It will let you do most of what you’d want to do with a dedicated hand held gps (maps, tracks, waypoints, etc.), plus it lets you download those maps over wifi or the cell network, take and geotag photos, and share your location via FB, twitter, or email, send yourself kmz or gpx files of where you’ve been. In addition to google and bing maps, you can download maps from the totally open source OpenStreetMap, which I didn’t even know about (Zmurder, did you?). I seriously think that in a post iphone world, electronics that are not connected to the interwebs will seem increasingly dumb.

The light version is free and awesome, but I think the 2.99 upgrade is worth it, if for no other reason than to support what they are doing.