What to do with 756??

For those that don't know, the 756th baseball that Barry Bonds hit out of the park was bought by Mark Ecko. Now Mr. Ecko plans to conduct an on-line poll to see what the fate of the baseball will be. Please go and vote!! If you are any sort of baseball fan you need to let the world know where you think this little piece of history belongs.

VOTE HERE

The Internet can Kill YOU

So as I sit in front of my computer at 6:10am on a Monday morning I read about a man who died playing Internet games for three straight days. What, did he forget to order a beverage or a snack? Jeez! He was in a public Internet cafe...don't they serve food or, better yet, realize that that guy over here hasn't left in the last 72 hours.

I wouldn't consider myself any sort of Internet gamer. I haven't played those types of games for a few years now unless you count the 3 months I played Kingdom of Loathing. However, I do spend a good deal of my time in front of a computer between work and taking on-line classes for my MBA and trying to run an on-line business.

So I wonder how many years I have taken off my life by staring at all those wonderful pixels day after day?

FRANKENFISH??

Here is yet another example of the Human race trying to interfere with another species.

The Frankenfish are here!

Why do we always feel like we need to fix everything? Probably because we are causing a lot of the problems, but our solutions usually lead to bigger disasters. This result seems harmless enough, but can you imagine how this idea will spread? Just think...pretty soon we are going to hear about women giving birth to endangered Panda bears or something screwed up like that.

Advertising Choices in Men's magazines

Could anyone out there expain to me the marketing thoughts behind some of the cologne ads I see in magazines like Men's Health?

I don't feel inclined to buy a scent that is shown by having a man wearing tight black clothing look deeply into my eyes. The only thing that I think is, "Man, there must be a lot of gay men out there reading this magazine..."

In another ad, a man is shown in a ruffled shirt and his chest is exposed showing off his black, curly, chest pubes. To top it off, they must have sprayed some fake sweat on him. SEXY!!!! I would buy that cologne in a second to go with my ruffled shirt collection.

The underwear ads are just as bad. Why can't they just use some barely clothed women getting on some average looking guys in these ads? That would be a lot more enticing to me. Oh well, maybe after I finish my marketing class this semester I will understand why this trend persists.

The first night of COUPLES BOWLING LEAUGE!

Last night, Michelle and I started a couples bowling league that is sponsored by our neighborhood association. We had our fingers crossed that we wouldn't be paired up with a couple that we could call Mom and Dad, but rather a couple that was within 10 years of our age.

We hit the jackpot! We ended up paired with probably the only other couple in the league that fit the criteria we were looking for. They are very nice and I think the rest of the season is going to go very well. Michelle ended up with an average score of 92 over her first three games and I managed an average score of 172 with a nice second game of 212. We beat the other team 5-2 in points and we are looking forward to playing the serious team next week.

The serious team is pretty good. They all probably bowl at least a 150 average and they have "custom" Miller High Life bowling shirts. Ohhhhhhhhh!! The highlight of the night was when Troy (the other guy on our team) went over and asked where they got their shirts. To which they replied, "These are special orders, you can't get them."

Well last time I checked Mr. Serious, they are available at the Miller gift shop and I can get my name embroidered on it Thank you very Much! This dude actually tucked his shirt in!! Come on! Are you on the PBA!?!

Check out this bowling style...

Week 2 NFL picks

Here are my picks for week 2...

Buffalo at Pittsburgh
Houston at Carolina
Atlanta at Jacksonville
New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Green Bay at NY Giants
San Francisco at St. Louis
Cincinnati at Cleveland
Indianapolis at Tennessee
Minnesota at Detroit
Dallas at Miami
Seattle at Arizona
NY Jets at Baltimore
Oakland at Denver
Kansas City at Chicago
San Diego at New England
Washington at Philadelphia

Update #1: I am a lousy 7-8 heading into tonights showdown between Washington and Philly. What the heck happened to Kansas City? I realize it was Chicago but LJ is not the same back I remember. I still can't believe Houston is doing what it is doing...

The Economics of Napa Valley

Tonight I had my second class in Managerial Economics. My professor likes to travel off the beaten path with side stories and tonight he told me a story about a marketing lecture he attended with respect to selling wine.

Being an Economics Professor he felt compelled to ask about how to price wine. With that, that Marketing Professor from Napa Valley responded that the more expensive you price the more people will buy it. Of course, anyone who knows anything about Econ knows that this is exactly the opposite of the classic Price vs. Quantity Demand Curve that is taught in, I dare say, ALL Econ classes.

This got me thinking, however, about the customers that typically buy wine in Napa Valley and those who drink it with a certain disturbing passion. What if these people are not rational like the classic model suggests, but are irrational?

If the answer is Yes, then the Marketing Professor's answer is probably correct to a degree. A certain level of quality is implied by charging a higher price for a bottle of wine. And if what matters most to wine consumers is quality, then why would they bother with a $10 special? Especially the tourists looking to burn cash and the local wine crazies...

This story amused me because I have family very close to Napa Valley and while I don't believe that their brains have been molested by the aroma of the Pinot Noir or the blandness of the Merlot, they have friends that fit into the Marketing Professor's answer very well.

So, Peace out to all the Winos hangin' out in Napa!! Keep screwing up the demand curve and livin' large!