Saturday Song Share: Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart - I'll Take Care of You

There is nobody out there that is doing more for blues music right now than Joe Bonamassa.  It is not even close.  The guy is not only a guitar virtuoso, but he's cranking out the content at a torrid pace.  

If I could play like him, I'd do the same damn thing.

Here's a beauty of a cover with help from vocalist Beth Hart.  While it grabs you right from the get-go based on Beth's incredible singing, just wait for the guitar solo at the 4:00 mark.

Best to remove all combustibles right now.

How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

For those of us that are Walking Dead fans, this is pretty darn funny:

REI Goes Dark - Brilliant or Boneheaded?

The retail world was set abuzz this week with REI’s announcement that they were going dark on Black Friday, and instead were encouraging their employees and their customers to #OptOutside.  It is one thing to be dark on Thanksgiving, but to give up Black Friday as well?  For a retailer - any retailer - losing a Black Friday is significant. and potentially even catastrophic, depending on the outcomes.

Many folks are weighing in on the decision, and it has the potential to be either a move of fantastic brilliance, or a move of boneheaded blunder.  Here is how things could break for the retailer:

BRILLIANT

• The announcement has already proved to be a Public Relations coup.  The story is everywhere, and all are talking about REI and their unique stance.  In a highly competitive retail space, garnering that much attention ahead of the critical holiday period is a significant advantage, and, to this point, has cost the company nothing.
• The move not only is aligned with their brand, but it cements it.  REI customers still feel a deep sense of ownership with "their" store, and it still retains the co-op feel in their dealings and operations.  A move to encourage folks to spend a shopping day outdoors is completely aligned with their customer and their identity.

BONEHEADED

• Black Friday is admittedly one of the company's top ten days of the year.  Given the hockey stick of sales that represents fourth-quarter retail, one of those top ten days can represent weeks of sales in a non-holiday time frame.  And, as any retailer who has been struck by being closed a day during that critical holiday period can attest (for a weather event, for example), those sales typically aren't made up in higher daily sales the rest of holiday.  They just aren't. They're lost.
• The move creates a bit of logical conundrum: if Black Friday is a day to #OptOutside, why not Sundays?  Why not Saturdays?  Why not the whole weekend?  While most folks are rational and realize what would be at stake in doing something so drastic, REI will definitely face some questions as it pertains to their overall store hours due to the rationale they've applied to their Black Friday move.  
• Say folks take REI's suggestion, and #OptOutside on Black Friday by going for a hike.  Unfortunately, some of those folks will need some last-minute gear ahead of their time outdoors.  With REI shuttered, those sales go elsewhere.  While I recognize those sales might not be significant at all, in terms of "being available" for their customer, I'd argue they're highly significant.

Ultimately, I think REI could have had their cake and eaten it too.  By "closing early" on Black Friday to allow folks to #OptOutside, REI still would have enjoyed a significant PR boon while still salvaging a massive sales day and taking care of their customer in the process.  Depending on how REI fares this holiday, perhaps that becomes the stance they adopt.

Regardless, this is a rare move for any retailer, and will be interesting to watch.

Minnesota's Best Athlete?

Occasionally I'll get sucked in by one of those stupid "click aggregator" sites.  Oh, you know the ones: They'll usually have some outrageous list or scantily dressed woman and the headline "You won't believe what happens next!"

I usually have enough fortitude to put off clicking on them, but if something really gets my curiosity, I'll weakly wade into it.  That was the case last week when presented with a list of "The Best Athlete by State."

For Minnesota, my first thought was, to me, the obvious choice (we'll get to that in a second).  As I waded through each state alphabetically (cranking up the clicks that the site owner will attempt to justify as value for their advertisers) , I finally made it to my home state and found that they had selected Kevin McHale.

Wait, what?  Kevin McHale?  WRONG!

For me, the obvious choice was Dave Winfield.  Consider the following achievements:

• 1973 college world series MVP (as a pitcher!)
• Drafted by four different pro teams in three different sports
• College baseball Hall of Fame
• 12 time MLB All Star
• 7 time MLB Gold Glove
• 6 time Silver Slugger
• MLB World Champion
• MLB Hall of Fame

It doesn't get much more athletic than that.

That got me to thinking as to who else could have been considered Minnesota's best ever athlete (beyond, of course, Kevin McHale).  There are a lot of great athletes that have done very well, but none stack up to Winfield, with the exception of one.

A compelling case can be made for Roseu's Neil Broten.  Consider his bona fides:

• NCAA hockey champion
• Hobey Baker award
• Olympic gold metal winner with 1980 Miracle on Ice
• NHL World Champion
• 2 time NHL All Star
• US Hockey Hall of Fame

While Broten does get close, Winfield is still too much a stud to not be considered the clear winner here.  

The only thing that gets  Broten closer is that he is one of the few in the NHL that kicked Wayne Gretzky's ass.

Look out with who you're messing with, Great One:

What Politics Boils Down To

We're seeing a pretty incredible display going on right now as it pertains to politics.  We've seen the preemptive Democrat candidate for president caught in lie after lie, and instead of admonishing her, the press compliments her on her ability to not make any charges stick.  We've seen a Muslim kid take apart a clock, bring it to school in an obvious move of political agitation, and when folks act with concern, gets rewarded for it.  With an audience with the president, no less.

These are the two latest examples where the truth just flat doesn't matter anymore.  The only thing that matters is that the liberal agenda continue; unabated and unchecked.

Give credit where credit is due - liberals have succeeded in making liberalism "cool" and conservatism "stupid."  It really is that simple.  Ask any idiot on the street, and you'll get some kind of summation of the above.  

It's branding in the truest sense.  It has nothing to do with reality, or honesty, or objectivity.  It has everything to do with appearances and feelings and projections. 

I encountered a good example of this last Friday.  I had a lab appointment, so was going into work late.  Since I had the time, I took a leisurely work out at the club.  While minding my own business on my elliptical machine, three newly-retired gentlemen climbed aboard the machines to my right, and proceeded to have a political conversation.

I had my headphones in (and I like my music loud), but these guys were screaming back and forth to each other.  The subject was how stupid conservative people were.  These guys' world view could not envision someone in their right mind not being liberal, and if you weren't, you were an idiot.  And they were so convinced that they were so right and such a majority that they conducted themselves as if every other person in the place felt the same way.

I held my tongue, and the fury they raised in me aided my workout.  But what I saw is what is happening in our country right now.  Years and years of popular culture, media, and education control have wrought a brand that is as powerful as any I've seen as a marketing professional.

Liberals = cool.  Conservatives = stupid.  Simple, brilliant, effective. 

Not true.  But as is the case in branding, truth doesn't matter.  All that matters is how the brand makes you feel.

As in the case of my retired buddies feeling like intellectually superior douche bags.

Jenner: Glamour Magazine's Woman of the Year

In another astounding situation of "more politically correct than thou," Glamour Magazine is widely rumored to be featuring Caitlyn Jenner as their 2015 Woman of the Year.

Of over half the world's population, Jenner is the one to be celebrated?  There were absolutely no women that accomplished anything other than getting a boob job and hacking off their penis?  Really?

We've recently reached a point as a society where achievements don't matter.  Hell, they're not even achievements.  What's admired is ones ability to "skate" by lying under oath, how "cool" one is, and certainly how one embraces the hinterland of social mores.  

Our world has turned upside down.  We will absolutely deserve what will ultimately happen.  Until then, cheers to Ms. Jenner.  It appears that your decision to be a woman is the female gender's greatest accomplishment in the past year.  Congratulations, women everywhere!  You should all be so very proud.

God help us.  

Sunday Prayer

My brother-in-law has turned me on to a religious writer, Richard Rohr, and I subscribe to his daily affirmations.  Some of it is kind of Eastern, some a little new-agey, but most of the time it gets me to think.

Yesterday's post included a prayer to be said aloud, and it's meaningful:

May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger. May I be safe and protected.
May I be free of mental suffering or distress.
May I be happy.
May I be free of physical pain and suffering.
May I be healthy and strong.
May I be able to live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease.

You know what really makes the prayer more powerful?  When we can get beyond ourselves, and say it aloud by replacing the "I" with someone we love.

What's more powerful, still?  Replacing that name with someone we don't love.

Think of what that could mean.  Are we up to such a challenge?

Saturday Song Share: Michicant - Bon Iver

There is something about Bon Iver's music that touches me so deeply.  Somehow the keys, the falsetto, and tempo that conspire to create this melancholy tapestry that always brings about an emotional response in me.

I usually always think about the people I love in my life that I miss when I listen to their music.  

While it may not impact you in a similar way, I hope you'll enjoy this quiet waltz all the same.  

And for those of you whom I love, know that I'm thinking about you.