I was checking out in the self-check out aisle at the local grocery store today. One of my items was Colgate Total toothpaste. As soon as I scanned that item (before I hit the pay not button or anything) a coupon printed out from the machine for Crest Pro-Health toothpaste. It offered $1.50 off a same size tube of toothpaste. The idea is that you probably buy the same toothpaste every time. A number of people would probably switch if an equal competitor was offered for less. Then, if you like it, you might just keep buying that new brand out of habit. Easy conversion.

How clever is that? I really did a double take and thought about canceling my Colgate and going to buy the Crest. The problem is that I didn’t want to wait in the line again all over.

The crucial factor is time. I am buying the toothpaste because I need it. I don’t want to go through the hassle of waiting to buy it again. This was good marketing, but to be truly great they should have a stand at the checkout. When you scan the Colgate, a coupon would print out, but since the switch is quick and easy they success rate would probably be much higher. It would cost Crest a lot more to have the stand there, but I bet long term it would pay off with more conversions.

Google dropped “Beta” from its Gmail product today.

I wonder if my generation is generally getting married later than previous generations because we have seen our parents get divorced in greater numbers. We realize instead of going through an ugly divorce and having to find a second spouse, we just wait and don’t settle down until later. In effect we are skipping that first marriage and going straight to the second one, but avoiding the heartbreak and pain of a previous broken relationship.

Version 3.0 is on the way. It has some cool new features.

1. The “new” News Feed
2. Like
3. Events (including the ability to RSVP)
4. Notes
5. Pages
6. Create new photo albums
7. Upload photos to any album
8. Zoom into photos
9. Easier photo tagging
10. Profile Pictures albums
11. A new home screen for easy access to all your stuff, search, and notifications
12. Add your favorite profiles and pages to the home screen
13. Better Notifications (they link to the comments so you can reply)
14. Quickly call or text people right from the Friends page
15. Messages you are typing will be restored if you quit or are interrupted by a phone call

I’ve been told at several points in my life that I have a good reading/speaking voice when I “turn it on”. It also probably helps that I have a face for radio as well!

In Intermediate school, I was picked from the entire 4th grade to open “colonial day” by running up and down the halls yelling that the day had started. I also was the town crier who read the news on the corner.

In high school, I continued with announcements by being selected to be the “announcements guy”, where I read the morning and afternoon announcements over the school intercom.

I also worked for the city owned radio station WFOS where I DJed for several hours a week. I got compliments on my voice through phone calls on several occasions.

Even in college, I remember having a professor compliment my reading voice after I read a passage. I think his quote was “sorry I got wrapped up in hearing you read there for a minute”, which would be creepy, but was meant in a kind way.

Of course, those of you who know me are thinking- really? that guy’s voice is awful. But I kind of have my “reading” voice. I can turn it on and concentrate on my diction and tone.

I was reminded of all this because at work today, a coworker told me I didn’t sound like I was from VA, I didn’t have what he would think was a typical southern accent. I’ve taken an accent test before, the results of which stated I have a regional accent free voice. A plus in voice work. So, I guess I could just say I grew up anywhere if it came down to it.

I wonder if I could somehow turn this into some kind of work. Perhaps some voiceover work or something. Anyone have a contact?

Chuck Bass, of Gossip Girl fame, was photographed with a deep v neck shirt here. Proudly displaying his Tom Selleck esque chest hair.

Is chest hair back in? I hope so. I hate feeling like a freak because I don’t get my chest waxed during swimsuit season.

There has been an Omega watch commercial running recently pointing out that 40 years ago an Omega watch was used by the astronauts on the first moon landing.

What struck me more than anything else is how little progress we have made in the FORTY years since we landed on the moon. Seriously, that is President Kennedy speaking about the space race in the ad. I don’t think we even have the capability to get back to the moon now if we wanted to.

Sure, there are probably more important things to devote resources to right now (the environment comes to mind), but I bet the scientists who worked on that moon mission would have thought that in 4 decades we would have been to Mars by now. What’s the holdup? Are we lazier now? Has space lost its luster?

There is a line in the commercial where JFK says we chose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. I am concerned that my generation, and society in general now, seeks the easy path now, instead of taking up the challenges “because they are hard”.

I’ve spent just over a week in LA now. To be honest, I haven’t gotten around too much because I just got my car 4 days ago, and have been working at my internship for most hours anyway.

However, I have gotten a taste of the city. One can’t help but draw a comparison to New York. For one, they are the two big coastal cities. Secondly, they are the entertainment capitals of the country, and I will probably end up in one or the other if I continue this career path.

New York, when I visited earlier this year was fantastic. Most of the sterotypes held true. There was always something happening. The city felt alive. At first this was overwhelming, but once you embrace it and realize the potential that comes with the situation it is thrilling. Strangely, I also liked not having to drive anywhere. It was nice just using the subway and avoiding the stress of parking, etc.

Los Angeles certainly has better weather. So far it has been between 72 and 80, and gloriously sunny every day. I have yet to see more than  a mist of precipitation. Definitely glad I have my car here, as getting around without it is far more difficult than in NY.

Both cities are full of beautiful people, and contrary to popular belief, I run into generally friendly and happy people in both cities. The reputation of a “hard” NY or “snobby” LA are blown way out of proportion. I think no matter where I end up, I will be happy, but I am definitely glad I finally got over here to the west coast to see it first hand.

Today was Apple’s WWDC. Everyone is mostly paying attention to the new iPhone announcement.

However, people are overlooking the potential for something really exciting. Apple announced they have moved the traditional 13 inch aluminum macbook into the macbook pro lineup. This leaves only the plastic body 13 inch macbook as the sole computer in the plane macbook lineup.

What does this mean? Well, netbooks are one of the greatest growing segments of laptops now. Apple could have purposefully left open some spots in the macbook lineup for a Apple branded netbook. Further, they could potentially unveil a tablet laptop, as has been speculated to be in development for some time now.

Can we all agree that Will Ferrell has jumped the shark and has stopped being funny? I have said this since Anchorman, but while then I was mocked for saying so, it appears the rest of the world has finally caught up.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Old School. I think however that the definition of what is “funny” is fluid and changes over time. Ben Stiller style comedy was funny in the late 90s – think Meet The Parents weird real world that could potentially happen to a normal guy comedy. Then Will Ferrell took over with Old School, and what I would call stupid, brazen, asshole comedy. That waned and Borat style “reality” comedy was big. Now it is Apatow and crew comedy where with the lovable loser and one liners (Knocked Up/40 year old virgin).

After Old School, came Anchorman. Even then, I felt it was more of the same. But most people loved it. Anchorman was followed up with Talladega Night: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Here most people had fallen off the bandwagon. The basic laughs were just rehashes. Nothing new or provocative.

Sure, he had his ups. I love “Stranger Than Fiction”, but even in reviews it was noted that this was not typical Will Ferrell fare. And who can forget Pearl the Landlord?

This was largely successful because it was shockingly different. It might have been Will Ferrell humor, but we were startled by a toddler saying the lines instead of a man-baby.

Ferrell then went back to what he knew. Semi-Pro, which was god awful, followed up quickly with Step Brothers, another terrible attempt.

This past weekend, Will tried again with the same tired routine. Land of the Lost opened this past weekend. It got terrible reviews. It did even worse in sales. It opened third behind “Up!” and “The Hangover”. Up! was in its second week, not even a debut weekend. The Hangover didn’t have any A-list celebrities but still beat out Ferrell’s film. (by the way, Hangover was really funny – go see it!). In fact, it didn’t even make half of what Hangover did.

Will needs to revamp his comedy. I know he is used to recurring characters on SNL, but we can’t laugh at the same material 8 times. His core audience of 12 year olds is growing up. He should grow with them.