Back to school ads...too soon

    It's that time of year again. Yep, back to school ads have arrived, and it isn't even August yet. Back when my brother and I were school, we would always get a sheet from the mailbox telling us what we'll need for school. My mom was the worst with her being a first-grade schoolteacher. Now, she's retired and by brother and I no longer go to classes (although I do take a class online once in a while) These ads don't affect any of us.

 

   Some ads would be seen in newspapers, magazines even tv. On-line sites pop up with back-to-school clothes and school supplies. Using kids wearing the new style for back-to-school from companies like H&M, Old Navy, Walmart and many more. Old vintage ads showed what the style of clothing was worn back in the day. 

   

   Back when I was in school, we had interesting supplies like a trapper keeper. I bought one with a cool design on the cover. It did what it was meant to do. Trap loose papers and you can write with other sheets of paper. Labeling every subject with each folder that was also trapped in it. I also bought these pencils that were considered funky. 

  They even have interesting ads that were pretty hilarious for what they were. Some of them had parents that would celebrate while the kids were.... well upset. Sometimes, they would have parents that would panic over the cost amount of school supplies and clothing. Even though some ads were sort of funny, some of them can just be a normal ad for parents to purchase clothes and supplies.

   I remember this one ad that came out when I was starting sixth grade. It was from Staples having a father joyfully going through the aisles as "it's the most wonderful time of the year" would play. (Yes, that is a Christmas song) as the kids follow their ecstatic happy father through the store. I think at the end, all the stuff they bought falls out of their car. 

 Even food can start showing up on Back-to-school ads. No joke. Some grocery ads have sales for a back-to-school with prices getting lower on certain food items. Like cereals, pop tarts, lunch meats, Lunchables and much more. Even Hunts snack pack pudding would have sales as well. Back when I was young, our favorite snacks were always the sugary stuff that would make your dentist cry. Now a days, everyone is becoming health conscious. So, most of the snacks would be approved by people knowing what their child is eating is healthy for them.

 

  The first back to school ads I did see was in early July. Around the week of Fourth of July. Does it mean ads and holidays are coming quicker? The truth is that we already are about to sell Halloween candy before the start of the school year. Let's enjoy summer, even if it's slipping through our fingers every year. I've seen many ads to choak a walrus, no kidding. Enjoy Summer while you can kids. Before you know it.... you're going back to school

Happy Birthday, Daniel Radcliffe

     Even if it is a day late, it is still his birth week. Today... we celebrate Daniel Radcliffe. Born July 23rd, 1989, Daniel Radcliffe was born in London, England and is an only child. He started his acting debut around the age of nine in plays like David Copperfield and many more.

   

  His huge break would into stardom would come from a book everyone was hooked on. My brother included. Daniel got the roll of Harry Potter in the Harry Potter book series created by J.K. Rowing. Through every Harry Potter series from the "Sorcerer's stone" to "Deathly Hallows" He, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were the main characters of the story of Harry and his amazing wizard friends.

 

   He recently got a star on the walk of fame in Hollywood. His parents, who has been there and praised him for his amazing acting were there as he thanked them for everything. He even has returned to Broadway doing plays such as How to succeed in business without even trying and even Kill Your Darlings

  Daniel has been trying to get away from being Harry Potter and doing more mature and adult roles. Even one where he portrays Weird Al Yankovich. Some tines, in some of the roles he has taken, he would portray a villain like in the movie Lost City. I can tell in some of the roles he has chosen, they far differ from what he used to do when he was Harry Potter. He still connects with some of the actors from the show, sadly losing a few of his fellow cast mates along the way.

  

   Recently, he has been in a new TV series on TBS. They called it Miracle Workers. They have been on for four seasons. Every season is different. The first season, they were people working on a cloud in Heaven....or something like that. Second Season, they were in the renaissance. Daniel portrayed a greedy king or something. Last season, they were in the Oregon trail as Daniel portrayed a priest. This season...they went for a Mad Max theme.

   No matter what role he plays, he's very talented. Unlike his friend from Harry Potter who went ghost after the Harry Potter series wrapped up (talking about Rupert, not Emma) he is still going strong with his acting on stage and in tv/movies. Even if some of them show a different darker side, it shows he can truly act.

    Now, he is a father. How time has flown. Celebrating the age of 34 with his girlfriend (or wife I forget). His son was born in April and let's just say, being a father at 34 has not stopped Daniel from having a great life. All started from when was portrayed as a wizard, it seems Daniel's acting has taken him to new heights and made his parents grandparents. Happy birthday to Daniel (a day late, but still his week)

The end of iPods

     Back in early 2001, the late Steve Jobs gave us a device that would change music streaming forever. We only had CD's and Cassettes were staring to die. But it seems CDs were on their way out when this came along.

    He called it the iPod. It held over 1,000 songs in one device and it really changed music streaming forever.

   The first iPod was clunky and heavy. Before we know it. There were new iPods coming out with more gigabytes, able to handle over 5,0000 songs in one little device. It was changing Apple and making other companies.... obsolete.

    Ok not Obsolete, but around 2002, a second iPod was created calling itself the 2nd Generation iPod. Then a third came and so on and so forth. Soon, they showed to have a photo option and a camera installment. Video soon came along making the screen bigger.

   Then....came out the iPod mini. It was short lived with only two generations in 2003 and 2004. I think I might have had one during my college years. It was hard to remember but there were only two generations before it was discontinued.

   Why was it short lived? Because not many of them were selling as much as the new generation iPods.

    A new iPod was featured with no screen and only a wheel with buttons. It was called the iPod shuffle. You would never know what song you were listening to. It would just come up and... you would have to like it. 

   You can always skip it if you did not enjoy the song. This was one iPod I didn't care for. 

    Steve Jobs passed away from cancer during the time iPod shuffle was in production and did live long to see the last one called iPod Nano, which I did have. His final words were reportedly to be... "Oh wow, Oh wow, Oh wow."

     After his death, some people thought the iPods and iPhones would be gone. But nope.... they are still live and strong even after his death. It seems, even after he's gone and Wazowski left the company, Apple company has managed to stay strong to the technology that a Zune couldn't surpass.

    The iPod nano came around during the last days of Steven Jobs. There were over seven generations and when the sixth generation iPod Nano came out...the wheel was gone. It was more a touch screen where you could hold your music, videos and even photos.

    I enjoyed the iPod Nano until the fifth generation, then I went into another streaming service curtesy of Amazon which I still use today and stopped using iPods permanently.

   The final of the iPods was the iPod touch which had no wheel and was the final iPod ever made. It was more like a iPhone than it was the iPod. Having a huge screen and you can make calls on it.

    It was just a second iPhone with holding more music than the predecessor. I never got one, but I had some people using them mistaking it as an iPhone at times. I guess the confusion was too much for some people and now....iPods are gone.

    iPod touch 7th generation was considered the last iPod made. It was made from 2019 to May of 2022. The final iPod was made and after that....no more. 

   People were starting to use streaming sites like Spotify, Amazon and even Pandora. iPods were starting to become yesterday's news and Alexa by Amazon was the new thing where you can just get music from the streaming sites built into it.

  Technology is growing faster and becoming smarter making iPods obsolete. But it seems the iPhones and the iPads are still with us. 

   Using an iPhone is like having another smartphone. I use a Samsung and it still works today. Even with new upgrades coming every year, it doesn't mean you have to say goodby to one phone just to get another. Not until it is the right time for something new.

     We will always remember the technology it gave us along with the music. But now, it is time to put iPod to rest and have something new come in their way.

    iPods are no more since May of 2022. Most news stories covered the history of how iPods were started by one man who wanted to stream music one MP3 device. 

Bastille Day- POEM

 

An Independence,

For a Nation,

Like US,

And Canada,

This one,

is all French

A Revolution,

For France's Independence

A War fought,

Lives lost,

but every Independence,

is that way,

From US,

to Canada,

And many more

If you're French,

Throw a Party,

Celebrate the red,

white,

and Blue,

the French way

Pass the Baguette,

and the other French foods,

dishes to celebrate,

A French Holiday

I am,

not French,

And I don't celebrate,

Like I do,

with Canada,

and the USA,

Bastille Day

A Parade,

A party,

decorations,

Fireworks,

near the Eiffel Tower,

We celebrate,

every Indepence,

but ours,

the USA,

is more,

known,

to us

The Sky,

lights up at night,

beautiful glowing,

of Firework shows,

Illuminating the sky,

with blue,

white,

red

Smoke of jet engines soar,

into the sky,

with smoke,

colorful smoke,

soaring through the skies,

of Paris

If you are French,

Enjoy today,

Because it is,

your time,

to shine,

like every July,

the 14th,

Bastille Day

Dumb insurance ads

 

    We all have a tv, all have to watch commercials, or fast forward through them. But we always know an insurance ad for car or house or what not. Sometimes, they can be interesting, but then there are the ads that make a mockery of the company by using mascots of their own.

    Her name is Flo (or Florance), she would be doing Progressive ads for a long time. She got annoying yes, there were other ads that were ok and didn't have her in it. Like 'first time being a homeowner and acting like your parent. Or having the actor from Family Matters in your commercial. Those are funny, but every time Flo comes on, it just makes want to change the channel so much and find something else.

    AAFFLAAC! Always had this annoying duck screaming out the name of the company. Fun Fact, the Late Gilbert Gotfried voiced this duck before a tweet got him fired. I don't know voices this duck now, but if I liked the taste of duck like I do chicken, well....this AFLAC duck would be on a dinner table in somebody's house. Why was this duck trying to annoy everyone. I think people would understand which insurance company to call.

   Oh lord this company is just too much. First off, this is one of the companies that has the most ads shown on TV. Second, an Emu? Well, they were trying to get an animal mascot like the Aflac duck. But they are so annoying. First off, it was interesting, but now it's just gotten... oh lord annoying. Some of the ads don't have the emu. Some of them just have people in a setting talking about how much they saved their money. Those are ok, but once that Emu's on....bye, bye.

   All State used to have an ad with an African American actor forget his name, always saying, "That's all states stand, are you in good hands?" Now, they have this other actor, forget his name too, playing someone named Mayhem who would show how their home, car and other things destroyed by him and if they had All State, their property would be saved. Yeah right. The commercials are getting worse than the last time they changed actors.

   State Farm has entertaining ads, mostly because I like that guy in the commercial. What's his name? Jason? Anyway, unlike the others that have horrible mascots, State Farm doesn't have one. They even made fun of the Mascot on SNL using Michael B. Jordan as the State Farm mascot. It was funny, the ads are somewhat forgettable. Not annoying or cheesy.

   Geico is the king of the most annoying ads with Progressive coming in second. Their ads range from a talking Gecko to different situations happening to the homeowners like living downstairs from clog dancers, or aggresive vines, or having "Animal" from the Muppets in the attic. Some range to funny to irritating. It's all in the commercials itself. They even had a camel for Wednesday known as hump day. Ugh

   HONORABLE MENTIONS: Met Life had ads, but they weren't annoying or even attention grabbing. They were just harmless featuring the Peanuts characters. I find these ads very memorable. Was a long time ago since I saw one and well...unlike the ones I mentioned they don't grab your attention to have you use their insurance. They just...show it to you.

    Another Honorable Mention goes to State Farm. Not only do they have one mascot, they have another portrayed by actor J.K. Simmions showing people what can happen to their cars or homes if not careful. They're ok, and funny sort of.

   These ads can be ok to a headache. It depends how you look at it. To me, some of them are entertaining to irritating. Which one do I like the best? The Progressive ads where people become their parents. Because, believe me, it is so true. I am a lot like my father, but I don't own a home yet. You enjoy anyway you want and remember their slogan more than their mascots.

Most annoying cartoon characters

      When I was a kid, I loved watching cartoons. The only thing was.... there was always an annoying character to... I guess balance out others. There were some that were annoying, but enjoyable like Angelica from Rugrats (I guess because I was like her) and there are ones that you want erased from your memory.

 

FANBOY & CHUM CHUM- Their show only lasted a few seasons. For me, it lasted a few seconds. I could not stand one minute of these two psycho children wearing underwear over their pants. The show insisted on using fart jokes, pulling noses off, making loud noises. It only lasted two season and I'm blessed that we don't have to hear these two anymore.

JUBILEE- An X-Man character that wines and

gets captured almost every episode. She's a crybaby when she wants to help out and I guess... the other X-men find her annoying. I find annoying and I don't even watch the show. I guess they made

her more heroic and less irritating. Depends on the movie I think.

THE MINIONS- Ever seen the movies 'Despicable me (first, second and third)? Well then, you've heard of these yellow fellows that are called the Minions. I don't hate them, but for some reason they can get under some people's skin. I agree, once in a while you gotta just not think of anything yellow and pray they don't enter in your nightmares. They even had two movies revolving around them.

DW REID- Or Danielle Winafred Reid which was her real name. Well....I loved the show Arthur and DW is his little sister. She is a winey brat who always wants her way. She screams, bites, curses (ok maybe not curses but she did learn a bad word) and well fights sometimes. Always ends up getting her way, and when she doesn't.... watch out. In my opinion, I was somewhat like DW when I was little, but I didn't know better.

GURGI- I didn't know what the hell this was since I never saw the Black Cauldron. A Disney Movie that failed once released but now has a cult following. I don't think Gurgi is one character people are going to like in this movie. If they ever do a Live Action version (pray they don't) don't bring this Hairball in any scene. The pig is fine, but he is an annoyance.

SPARKY- Oh dear god this dog was a nightmare. First off, Fairly OddParents were going downhill after introducing the baby named Poof. I was ok with that. The baby was harmless, but I could tell the show was declining. They decide to add a dog that was also a fairy. OMG. Even the actor who voiced this dog hated it. I think they....well, put Sparky out to pasture in the final season. But that dog wasn't the worst.

  

CHLOE- Remember when I said the fairy dog wasn't the worst,,,, well, this is the character that was the final nail on the coffin of what was once a good show. The baby was fine, but after that.... you should have stopped. Chloe is the most irritating, obnoxious brat ever on this show. I watched a few episodes with her in it, before I came to my senses and stopped watching this show all together. I hated her. More than the dog even. She is the worst character ever on that show.

SNARF- I've heard of Thundercats, I seen a few episodes, and this character makes my ears bleed when he talks. All he mostly says is 'SNARF'. Why? Why was this character needed? Just for the younger kids who shouldn't be watching this show? Was there a reason for this headache of a character? Well....I guess we'll never know. Thundercats reputation has died anyway with the reboot. Thankfully the Snarf in that version doesn't talk. However, I don't think they should have made a reboot to begin with.

CAILLOU- Oh god. What once was a children's book, like Arthur, became a tv show. I know a lot of people can't tolerate DW, but hearing and seeing this little brat will make DW look like a saint. He's whiny, reprehensible, irritating to hear as well as see. He's just a 4 year old who can't get along with other kids or his sister. He always needs to have everything his way, and guess what.... his parents are complete morons. Just don't let any of your preschool children see this as they think what Caillou is doing is right, because it's WRONG!

SCRAPPY-DOO- Ok, I'm going to say this. If this little puppy is euthanized...I won't cry. OK harsh but hear me out. I am a huge Scooby Doo fan. Watch almost every show from the first to Scooby Doo, Guess who! (VELMA does not count. That's a horrible show) Scrappy-Doo was introduced around the seventies and people thought he would be a good addition. Boy were they wrong. All he wants to do is fight when he's only a little pipsqueak. He was destroying Scooby's reputation, as well as making the show plumet. They even made him a villain in the first live action Scooby Doo movie. He is the number one most annoying cartoon character that was ever created for a show. Guess what Dora, you've been outranked by a dog.

    There are so many annoying cartoon characters that can get under our skin. I listed ten of mine. My honorable mentions will go to Dora from Dora the Explorer to Slimer from the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. There are too many to list and it best to leave the headache to a minimum. If you have ever come across these cartoon characters, mute your tv, or turn it off.