As if life couldn't get more bizarre...

Had one of those incredibly bizarre, potentially life changing moments over the weekend. Finished my workout late Saturday afternoon (yes, I’m finally trying to get healthy) and get back to my apartment tired and sweaty and turn on the TV only to see something that has made me question my very existence.

It was a commercial for Yakov Smirnoff’s variety show in Branson, Missouri. Honestly, when I turned on the television I had no idea what channel I had left it on and I really hoped that I had left it on Comedy Central and that this was some awful Mad TV sketch. Because what I saw before me was an animated Yakov (as in they took a picture of him and had him moving in front of pictures as opposed to a full of life Yakov) vaguely rapping the virtues of seeing his show in Branson. He wasn’t informing me of the show or encouraging me to make my way to see him. It was more like “It is you patriotic duty to see my unoffensive family friendly show to indicate just how wonderful a country this is compared to the place where I came from, which is now a democracy anyway so the entire heart of my act is pretty much meaningless.” It was just thirty seconds of Yakov pleading with you to see his show and to visit his website, www.yakov.com. And all I could think was, “Please let this be on Comedy Central.”

And then the news came on…

And it dawned on me, I’m living in Yakov Smirnoff’s target market. It’s tough to explain and I know that I rip on this town and this area a lot but this might just put me over the edge. I mean, I went to business school, I took (well, showed up for) a marketing class, and I know that someone spent time and money making this commercial and thinking exactly where and when would be the most effective time and place to show it. Countless hours were spent combing over demographic details to answer the question, “Just who in their right mind would be dumb enough to want to travel to Branson to see Yakov Smirnoff?”

Well, the answer is apparently the people who watch the evening news in Kansas City.

Look, I know that this isn’t going to be LA or New York. And it’s not going to be Chicago, as much as this town likes to think of itself at times like a smaller Chicago. But can I at least avoid the commercials about Branson? Please Kansas City, just think of the pain that it causes your residents. You want to be a hip, growing city? Do everything you can to avoid publicizing that you are within driving distance of Branson.

Ok, some other business to take care of. The profile is finally updated (yes, it is missing a picture but for that I need to do one other step so just give me time) and I’ll make changes to it as I find some new favorites to list. I’ve also finally figured out how to post pictures to the blog (as you can see below) so watch out for the multimedia extravaganza that will be coming in this place soon. Or, just pictures of Julie Delpy. That’s probably more likely.

And on the picture below of Maggie, one of the first people to say to me, “You’re a good writer, you should start a blog”, I’ve got a favor to ask of all of you. Maggie is starting off her music career in Austin and is doing a remarkable job of it (go to www.maggiewalters.com to check out her debut disc). She’s even made XM radio’s unsigned channel. Which is where I need your help. Go to http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_guide.jsp?ch=52 and you can click on her link under the most requested/most played bands (or even request that they play one of her songs (I’d recommend Fingerprints)). That’s all you need to do. If you’ve ever wanted to help out an artist just starting off her career (or just feel guilty about all the music that you’ve stolen online) here’s your chance.

The five random CD’s for the week
1) Liz Phair “Whip-Smart”
2) Sinead Lohan “No Mermaid”
3) Bruce Robison “Country Sunshine”
4) Jeff Buckley “Mystery White Boy”
5) Laura Cantrell “The Hello Recordings”