Friday, January 20, 2012

What Were They Thinking?

In the past I have done articles on Friday about the less-than-mainstream news. My theory that people slack off a bit on Friday at work and need some fluff to talk about while waiting for the clock to give them  permission to get the weekend started.  Frankly now that we have our IPads loaded with Words With Friends and Angry Birds, we have our Facebook and Twitter accounts to stay on top of and can watch our favorite TV shows on our smart phones, I am not sure that anyone would actually need some time wasters. Truly the Internet is the SUPREME time suck if ever there was one.  Every day is loaded with time wasters.   No one will ever convince me that all this technology was created to make us MORE productive.  (Sorry, I had to stop for a second and look at Facebook...oh yeah, I am in the thick of wasting time along with the rest of the masses)


So, today, I was cruising around on the information highway (remember when it was called that?? If you are too young to recall that, just go with the fact that I am old) and came across a few items that had me wondering:


                      What the Hell, were they thinking?????


First out of the box is the story out of Atlanta about the school that had "questionable" questions on a THIRD GRADE math test.  Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Gwinnett County put word problems in a test such as these:




Seems the math test has taken word problems to a level that are less than politically correct, to say the least.  School official said the questions were meant to mix social studies with mathematics.  (REALLY??? Are you even trying to defend this?)

After outraged parents weighed in, the one teacher resigned and three others are under investigation.


The next story that hit me as a WTHWYT was the new advertisement out of North Dakota to promote tourism.  

North Dakota is trying to encourage people to visit their state so they have Odney Advertising doing some ads promoting reasons to come visit their state.   There are certainly reasons to visit North Dakota.  They have beautiful parks and topography.  Maybe they should capitalize on Yellowstone National Park. Just a thought.





And if that isn't pretty enough to entice you, you could go see the largest historical quilt in the nation, the longest straight highway, or see W'eel the huge turtle made out of hubcaps. All kinds of attractions are worth the trip for sure.   (check it out on  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/nd)

Still with all of that going for them this is the ad they think is what is going to have you driving to ND.





 

Well, well, LEAVE A LEGEND???? Really, aren't we full of ourselves?  These guys/gals don't look like they will be legends.  A hook up is a hook up.  I think there are 49 other states that you can accomplish this.  Why drive to ND?

Pat Finken, president of Odney Advertising that did the ad, was surprised at some negative responses to the ad.  It was supposed to be "a little fun and a little flirty" according to Pat.

North Dakota's director of ND tourism division, Sara Otte Coleman said they were surprised by the negative reaction to the ad as well.  Sara went on to say she didn't think the ad was in any way in poor taste.  Still the ad was yanked.


This last one is also, a WTHWTT but in a less sleazy and more comical way. 

In Cleveland a high profile court case concerning corruption is unfolding but the local courts are not allowing cameras into the courtroom.  So not wanting to leave the public uninformed (god forbid) station WOIO is broadcasting nightly a puppet show with a reenactment of the days trial events.   Yes, you read that correctly...puppets.   





There are just no upper limits to quality news programming?

12 comments:

leonaraisin said...

Don’t know if it's time wasting or an addiction, but Words With Friends is a great way to pass the time. Better than watching TV. … WHAT AM I SAYING! … There’s nothing better than TV, but I’ve come up with a great way to build your WWF skills and have fun with TV trivia at my blog. Let me know what you think of it.
...
Okay, when it comes to TV, an addict I am. Hello my name is Leona.

Cheryl P. said...

Hi Leona, so glad you stopped by. I haven't gotten hooked on Words with Friends but there is a game called whirly words...a word scramble that I can play for hours. Totally mindless so I can do while watching TV (sorta, kinda) Oh, yeah, I too am addicted to a lot of TV. It amazes me that I get anything done. I think the real answer is less sleep. I will be by to visit your blog.

Kimberly Wyatt said...

I hadn't seen the puppet story. That made me laugh. And yeah, those word problems are ridiculous.

Nicky said...

You know, I can totally understand those parents' negative reactions to those test questions. I mean, seriously, Little Freddy gets 2 beatings a day?! How is my poor child going to feel knowing his mom is an underachiever and only gives him 1 beating a day?! I'll tell you how he's going to feel! He's going to feel like Momma doesn't love him as much as Frederick's mom. And don't even get me started on the complex he'll develop knowing there are people out there with 8 slaves when we don't even have one and his Momma has to pick those oranges *gasp* herself!! Sheesh! What morons!

We may just have to pack up and move to North Dakota to escape the stigma and provide my son with the opportunity to become a legend and pick up chicks on street corners.

Of course, once he's a legend we'll move to Cleveland so he can become a city councilor and have chicks from street corners sent directly to him and get his own puppet show on television!

Awesome.

Cheryl P. said...

How clever your site is. You are way smarter about TV than I am. I get hooked on whatever the current fare is but don't retain the fine points of the old shows. I watched them, loved them but the minute they get axed I seem to forget most of ...well everything. With that being said, I also can't tell you what I had for lunch yesterday. I have selective memory. I can remember odd little things from 50 years ago.

Cheryl P. said...

I thought that approach to a court case was bizarre. I wonder if the family of the plaintaff is finding it overly funny.

I am so addicted to a couple of games, I am thinking of starting up a rehab facility for iphone/ipad users to wean us off the tech-crack.

Cheryl P. said...

Speaking of awesome...that is you. You crack me up. If I was into chicks and I am not (not that there is anything wrong with that) you would so be my type. I love your humor. Of course, I am so much older than you people would stare and think that you were after my money. (you would be so disappointed on that score)

Nicky said...

Seeing as I'm 43, I doubt anyone would accuse you of robbing the cradle or me of being a gold digger. I think people would probably stare at us because we'd be laughing like hyenas all the time. That, and the fact that I would flash my boobs at you in public. :-)

Cheryl P. said...

I agree, we definitely would be laughing. I would be grateful for you flashing your boobs as it would divert people from staring at the ravages of my 59 year old body. My boobs are staying hidden at this point.

meleahrebeccah said...

I live my life on the internet. All day with Facebook and Words With Friends. No wonder I don't have time for things like food shopping!

But umm HOLY HELL - what's with those Math questions. OMFG.

Cheryl P. said...

I spend WAYYYYY too much time dinking around on the Internet. I am not so much a participant as I am a voyeur. I love reading all the facebook status updates, googleing everything under the sun and reading blogs and such. I know I should be using my time more wisely but just keep getting sucked into the net.

I can't believe the teachers that made the test up were so stupid as to not see the inappropriateness of those questions. CRAZY

oldereyes said...

Good to have you back!! If the marketing firm can manage to associate North Dakota with flirty, some sort of marketing award. Then again, look at the light beer commercials ... the obvious way to hook up is to drink light beer. Marketing principle number one - Sex works anywhere: Johnny's Dad hooked up with two women every weekend. How many weeks before Johnny's Mom threw him out?