In Soviet Russia, the product endorses YOU!

I've always said that the marketing people at Ford are pure genius for snagging Kiefer Sutherland to do the voice overs in their commercials. Not only is he Jack Bauer and a pirate, he's a total fox. That voice. He could sell me anything.

But now my beloved Zach Braff is water. Yes, he is the voice of water in the current PUR Water Filtration campaign.

Although celebrity endorsement is nothing new (hell, good ole Eddie Bernays got a bunch of celebrities to party with Coolidge at the White House so people wouldn't think he was such a sour-puss before re-election), it seems to be getting a little out of hand, no?

 

Is the fact that Zach Braff is the voice of water going to persuade me to buy a PUR water filter for my tap? Probably not, because I'm a poor student and I have a Brita pitcher. It's ridiculous that we can be convinced to buy things because actors are in the ads. You know they're just acting in those, right? That's what they do for a living. Pretend. So stop trying to sell stuff to me. Did you hear me, Andie MacDowell? I already use L'Oreal products!

However, I just saw this celebrity election ad for the first time in my Consumerism class this week (yes, I'm several months behind) and it's actually quite hilarious. Give me a break though, Harrison Ford is in it!

Backwards, into a wall of fire

I've come to two conclusions today.

Uno: I really hate it when people eat a cup of pudding or yogurt by sucking the substance out of the top rather than using a spoon. Either bring a spoon with you or bring a snack that doesn't require you eating like a small child.

Dos: The infamous and sexy Hobo Matt (guy on campus who looks like Matt Good in his Strange Days video who I always see and brings me good luck) must actually have graduated for I have not seen his perfectly scruffy face yet this school year. I wonder if he realized how many times he saw me since we made eye contact so many times (due to my staring). He opened a door for me once. I felt compelled to tell him he resembled Hobo Matt but my small slice of sanity advised me against it. I like to think of his as "the one who got away."

I don't smell bacon

Today was my first day as an intern at the London Free Press. 

On my way home the 2 Dundas stopped a block or so west of Richmond and a well dress young man wearing black shoes and a grey coat and clutching a gym bag stepped onto the bus followed by a few more young people. Instead of gym bags they had signs which appeared to be protesting the war. If you're familiar with the Dundas-Richmond intersection you know the variety of dodgy people these youngster were. They were followed by two policemen. 

The protestors, who had apparently caused a disturbance, were asked to disembark. One of them, the only one who would return to the bus, made some comment like "Oh, he thinks he's such a tough man because he has a gun." From what I heard his friend didn't make it back to the bus because he was arrested. 

I spent the rest of the ride pretending to listen to my iPod while actually listening to this idiot bitch about the "pigs" and that the loophole to dealing with them is to ask, "Am I being arrested or detained?" and if they say "no" then you're free to ignore them and leave. I also learned they were protesting Starbucks. Good thing the girl he was talking to was drinking Tim Hortons.

On my way home from campus this morning the bus driver splashed a pedestrian with slush as he pulled up to the curb when approaching the next stop. By the time everyone got on the bus the splashed guy had passed by us. So the driver crept the bus forward and motioned the guy over to the vehicle. The driver apologized and the guy told him it was okay, there was nothing the driver could have done.

So, with that, I think my faith in humanity actually leveled up today.

Anakin, you're breaking my heart

Got that right.

I'm watching Revenge of the Sith on TV.

That conversation between Padme and Anakin is just golden:

Padme: Anakin, all I want is your love.

Anakin: Love won't save you, Padme! Only my new powers can do that!

...

Padme:...Stop now, I love you!

Anakin: Liar! You brought him here to kill me! Tries to strangle her with the infamous Force Grip.

And let's not forget Yoda's out of control sentence rearranging and the incredibly emotional speech Obi-Wan gives about his love for Anakin after he slices off Anakin's legs and leaves him engulfed in flames. Oh, there are far too many lines to list.

But the epic lines don't end there.

Has anyone seen trailers for the new V-Day movie My Bloody Valentine 3D?

Because nothing says "date movie" like a 3D ride to Hell.

I'm just falling in love with film all over again.

Music is my safe drive home

It's 2, 3, 4am and I'm driving myself home along the route I know so well. Warkworth to Campbellford, Campbellford to Warkworth. County Road 29 to Highway 30. I must have travelled it hundreds of times. A passenger, a driver, a child, an adult. The grain silos, the house with the moose painted on one wall, the flea market, the golf course. I don't even pay them any attention now. Each curve and rise and fall of the road could be my own body.

Then one night, it snows.

A lot.

Nothing has changed, the route is the same, but now I fight to concentrate as the smallest drops and flakes compete for my limited attention. All I want to do is get home but I can only see the road directly in front of me and it's impossible to tell where the road ends and the shoulder (or ditch) begins. I'm quite certain I know what each rotation of the wheels will bring but the change in the weather is making me doubt my instincts.

I keep my eyes wide. I don't want to miss the warm and hazy orange glow that resides in the sky above the Warkworth Penitentiary. It means I'm halfway there. The traction control is supposed to help me. If one wheel is spinning out of control it keeps the other three gripping for stability. But the stabilizing pulls me in different directions and I don't want to move forward. I just want to stop. Take a break. Take a breath.

So I listen to music. I turn the volume up and I drive. The familiar synth lines of Depeche Mode will ease my anxiety. The pounding melodies and falsetto screams of Muse will energize me. Never underestimate the power of a well-constructed playlist.

Music is my temple.

Music is my drug fix. 

Music is my safe drive home...