A Duck Band Recovered by the Yellow Dog Patrol

For decades now, biologists and others scientists often "band" birds to study their migratory patterns. The band is a harmless, small metal ring that fits around the bird's leg, and it contains a record which ties it to a database which contains all the information known about the bird at the time is was banded. Once recovered, information on its recovery can be reported (location, date, etc.) to study the specific bird's migratory patterns.

As duck hunters, we sometimes harvest birds with bands. It is quite rare - every year less than 500,000 waterfowl are banded, and only 80,000 bands are reported.

While the Yellow Dog Patrol was on its most recent southern engagement, I happed to shoot a hen pintail that was banded. I'm not proud that I shot a hen, especially on the last day of the season in the continent. That hen should be laying eggs in a prairie pothole somewhere this spring.

It was a legal harvest, and in the first light shooting I truly believed I was shooting at a drake silhouette, but the fact that it was banded made up for my mistake some.

So how rare is shooting a bird with a band? Since the 2000 season I've kept meticulous records of the harvest of waterfowl we've hunted - dates, times, number, species, etc. In just that time alone, from Canada to Louisiana, I've been there for the harvest of 951 various waterfowl, and witnessed only four bands recovered.

Once reported, most waterfowlers add the recovered bands to their duck call lanyards, and I'm no exception. Here's my lanyard:

One of my bands is a promotional one from my days working at Herter's. Two other bands are my dad's. The rest are mine, collected over 35 years of hunting.

Reporting on Public Speaking - What Media Bias?

Steve Sack, the Minneapolis StarTribune's resident editorial cartoonist weighs in today with an expected and tiresome knock on Sarah Palin for having crib notes on her hand.

In the mean time, President Obama, the most gifted orator since Churchill, phonetically reads and mispronounces the title "corpsman" not once but twice in a recent press conference.

The Palin example is everywhere. Obama's isn't covered. Why? Because the stories (or lack thereof) meet a media stereotype. Palin is a stupid hick that must depend on notes to say anything cogent. Obama is a brilliant, Spock-like presence who made just one tiny simple gaffe, likely because he was so exhausted from the months of working at a breakneck pace cleaning up the "mess that he inherited."

Never mind that the Commander in Chief does not know a simple title of one of his command. Never mind that the substance of what is said, as long as it is delivered so eloquently and effectively.

What media bias?

Waconia Fire Department Calendar is Shameful

Last summer, a propane explosion took the life of a young worker at the Waconia Farm and Home Supply store. News details of the tragedy can be found here.

So imagine my shock when the doorbell rang and on our stoop we found the inaugural issue of the Waconia Fire Department with the following cover photo:

I fully understand that this was the site of the biggest episode in the Fire Department's history. Also granted, I'm sure the Farm Store wanted to thank the Fire Department for their expert performance in containing the damage and destruction.

I get it.

But, folks, a local kid died less than a year ago. My God, did his parents receive this calendar? Did his friends?

At its best, this calendar is ignorant, insensitive and classless. At its worst, it is creepy, macabre and ghoulish.

Shame on the Waconia Fire Department and shame on the Waconia Farm and Home Supply Store.

Best and Worst Superbowl Ads

As a marketer by profession, I pay close attention to the ads during the Superbowl. When done effectively, the notoriety around this advertising has created brands out of seemingly thin air, while ineffective ads find their brands panned for years. The stakes are high, as is the cost - the average 30 second spot cost over three million dollars this year.

So let's review the ads in three major categories: Best, Worst, and I Don't Get It:

Best Superbowl Ads

• The Last Airbender - I'm not a movie guy at all, but this one has me pumped.
• Snickers - The Betty White ad was hilarious, and was likely the most entertaining of all the ads.
• Bud Light - Multiple ads worked great here, including the Bud Light house, the T-Pain voice, the asteroid situation, the plane crash situation, and the book club. Outstanding ads, all.
• Career Builder - The casual Friday spot was troubling and comical all at the same time
• Coke - The Simpson's spot and the African Sleepwalker spots were outstanding. They were incredibly well done, tasteful, entertaining, and aligned perfectly with the brand. Coke completely capitalized on Pepsi's sitting this one out, which likely was driven by Pepsi's massive spend for aligning their brand with the Obama campaign. Oops.
• Dr. Pepper - Little Kiss, an actual cover band (actually named Mini Kiss) paired with the full-size boys made for a memorable spot.
• Etrade - The spot where the baby gets questioned about his spending time with a "milkoholic" tramp was hilarious, and got the biggest laugh of the night for me.
• Google - The French girlfriend was perfect, showing the utility of their product while telling a nice story.

Worst Superbowl Ads

• Go Daddy - I'm really getting tired of Danica Patrick and the alluded lesbian encounters she gets herself into. It's not titillating; it's boring at best and crap at its worst. An aside: I find it funny that NOW gets so uptight about the Tim Tebow "abortion" ad yet lets this crap pass year after year. Nice priorities.
• Kia - The kids toys driving the Kia was a total miss. Who was the agency that thought that a good use of funds?

I Don't Get It

• Quilted Northern toilet paper bought a Superbowl ad. $3MM for a 30 second spot buys a lot of newspaper coupon inserts. A whole lot. I have a feeling a Marketing executive on their team might be looking for a new job in the near future.
• Dove for Men - In a day filled with beer, football, and girls, these guys are trying to sell beauty products for men. Someone needed to tell them that metrosexuality officially died in 2006.
  

Special Category - Your Precious Tax Dollars at Work

• The 2010 Census - Are you kidding me? In the guts of the worst recession in 70 years and with unemployment nearly 10% we just spent $3MM for what, exactly? Why in the world does the census need to advertise, and why during the Superbowl? It is bad enough that some bureaucracy felt it necessary to buy the ad, but just the ad itself was complete garbage. I still don't get it. And we want these guys in charge of our heath care...

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints: Superbowl Champions

As stated in a previous post, I really like the Saints. I love the city, their people, their ownership, and their players. So it was a thrill last night to see the game that they produced.

Brees was outstanding and put up a performance for the ages. In fact, if you consider the drops by his receivers, he was nearly flawless.

The coaching was gutsy. From going for it at the end of the first half and getting stopped, to the huge call of an onside kick after halftime, the leadership was going to pull out all the stops to try and secure victory.

Finally, the rest of the players came to play. Bush and Thomas carried the ball well, their talented receiver corps played a solid game, and Jeremy Shockey got a horrible monkey off his back with a critical touchdown.

But by far the best moment was the genuine interplay between Brees and his son at the end of the game. That's a moment that will forever be replayed as Superbowl lore is reviewed.

And for New Orleans, and the rest of us for that matter, that will be something to relish.

Concert Review for The Who Superbowl Halftime Show

Random thoughts on The Who's Super Bowl halftime performance:

• I kind of have an issue with them billing themselves as The Who with Keith Moon dead since 1978 and John Entwistle dead since 2002. I know bands go on after personnel changes, but damn guys, the whole rhythm section is pushing up daisies. Why not bill as Daltrey and Townsend?
• Pinball Wizard was a huge mistake. If Daltrey can't hit the high notes anymore, just skip it.
• The light show was outstanding, and Townsend showed he still has significant guitar chops.
• When Pete Townsend's shirt came up during one of his patented windmill moves to reveal his dead-fish old man gut, I about tossed my football snacks.
• Who Are You and Won't Get Fooled Again were really solid.
  

Of all the recent halftime performances, this was pretty darn forgettable.

New Album from The Rocketboys Via Paste Magazine!

Paste Magazine's VIP members get access to the full download of The Rocketboys' 20,000 Ghosts. The album is amazing, front to back, and for the price of a VIP membership it is a steal. Highly endorsed.

The bonus album is from Alva Leigh. It was more hit or miss for me, but still a couple of fine downloads made it to my machine.

Good stuff, people. Check it out.

Yellow Dog Goes AWOL

It was 30 degrees last night, and the deck had over a foot and a half of snow on it. In Minnesota, that means it was a perfect environment for grilling!

A quick stop at the grocery store to secure some fine Angus steaks and fresh asparagus, combined with a really nice wine from the rack downstairs (John Gott 2005 Zinfandel) meant that the home team would be feasting restaurant-style right here in our humble abode. It turned out to be a fantastic dinner.

As a reader of this space, you know that the Yellow Dog's job every morning is to fetch the paper, and the next morning was no exception. Unfortunately, the route she takes requires that she run right past the deck (and, subsequently, the grill) on her morning fetch, and sometimes the freshly-used grill just tweaks that incredible nose of hers and calls her in for a review of the situation.

Hence, when I let the dog out, I figured her delay in returning had everything to do with the grill. When more minutes had passed, I knew something was definitely up, officially counted her as AWOL and went on a recovery mission.

That's when I came upon her, engaged in a frantic effort to open the sample box of Fiber One that had been delivered with the paper. By the time I pulled her off, all that was left was this carnage:
Luckily the package held, although how it resisted those motivated and razor-like canine teeth of hers remains a miracle. And a good thing too. You see, the Yellow Dog is pretty darn gassy just on standard Eukanuba. If she ingested fiber cereal, she likely would have had to spend the rest of the day in the garage until the flatulence storm had past.

Dog ownership is never, ever boring.