Cingular Wireless and Jimmy Crack Corn

A week before Christmas, I caught Cingular Wireless's TV commercial (again) with an elderly Jim talking to his soon-to-be son-in-law and preferring to be called "Jim," at which the son-in-law starts making fun of his name: "Jim, Jimbo, Jimmy-Boy, The Jimster,"...And if you remember it well, he says "Jimmy crack corn and I don't care!"

But this night, "Jimmy crack corn" was missing. Gone. Edit-ed out.

A day later, wrestling against my urge to not sit down to National Lampoon's Vacation again, like I always do when its on TV, Clark Griswold sings "Jimmy crack corn and I don't care!"

So, something was up, and its not about this 24-hour span between two related observations: "Jimmy Crack Corn..." is an old slave song in mournful lament over one's master's death, but also contained anti-slavery undertones.

It took Chevy Chase to prompt me to look it up. Eminem just recently rapped it to center stage. But apparently no one told Cingular until last week. If they leave the ad as is, then it should have been no big deal because the line has its roots from anti-slavery. If they cut the line, which they did, they risk igniting observant and inquiring minds. They could have just retired the ad.

I hope no one's offended. But I wonder if the Cingular customer service lines are busy. Talk about the least dropped calls.

BT - This Binary Universe (2006)

A tangent away from ambient, trance and electro-pop invites itself to interesting dissection of what it is, what it's made of, what it's not. This Binary Universe deserves nothing more than playtime in one's music pod; undoubtedly beautiful; ambient and trance evolved. But inevitably, upon immersing in soundscapes as quizzical as its title, it begs an explanation, as if to discern whether to relax to a pleasant suspension in mid-air or to give in to a suspension of dis-belief. In the end, a guaranteed, unforced smile. It's that good.

Here's what else is going around:

Amazon.com's Op-Ed: ...taps into BT's classical side, with expansive arrangements and intricate, albeit minimalist, thematic development. BT reveals himself as a master of Eno-esque melancholy, as simple melodies evolve through an electro-orchestral instrumental palette...an album that seeks out joy and redemption, but not without traveling through the dark.

Stephen Fortner, Keyboard Magazine: "Labels such as “ambient” or “modern classical” fit for a few seconds, then the next passage in the song blows away the last...it could well be studied as the first major electronic work of the new Millennium. "

Other quick ones: Ambient symphony; electronic lullaby; visual and audio meditation; symphonic nuance; dreamscape...

I'd add: Fitting music when the dialogue stops in CSI Las Vegas and the experts go to work. Perfect score to close the last 7 minutes of any Miami Vice episode.

More techie details (it's not just music) are laid out in ThisBinaryUniverse.com and in Wikipedia.

The escapist would be long gone and happy into Track One rather than be reading these foreign descriptions.

All I Want For Christmas

A Nokia N95

Or a Google-Sony merger.

DIY YouTube

Do things yourself. Videojug will show you.

YouTube + Japanese TV = Die Laughing

No explanation required.

YouTube + Japanese TV = Die Laughing

Just too funny not to share.

Grammar Check

Do you say, "Are you going or not?" Or do you say, "Are you going or no?"
As insensitive and removed as I am with most things, this one manages to tick me off, having learned to use "or not" while more and more people truncate to save a consonant. I've posted the question to Yahoo! Answers and got these responses:

Christian W: "It's Are you going or not"?
zen: "Not"
Jane Y: "Are you going or not?" would be correct. "
tkdlindz: "are you going or not. Have never heard it the other way. "
boobyprint: "are you going or not.the other one sounds weird. "
Siegimai: "People say "or no" just to make it shorter, proper manners are "Or Not?"
moreacidthanalkaline: "Or not" is correct. In Scotland "no'" is short for "not" so we say "or no'?"
tony: "its or not.What you learn to be correct in school isnt what is practiced. Also sayings differ depending on geography. "
tmlamora1: "not "
David W. S:"Are you going" is sufficient or not/or no is tacit in the question."
drshorty: "They are both fine"

Even Yoda seems to get it: "Do or do not. There is no try"

Isn't it that "or not" refers to "Are you going or not going?" "Or no" would incorrectly mean "Are you going or no going?"

Is it red or not = Is it red or not red.
Do you agree or not = Do you agree or do you not agree.

I will go with David W.S's response and truncate myself: Are you going? Is it red? Do you agree?
Don't get me started with "Look it" as in "Look at it."

Thank You For Smoking (2005)

Bold, memorable dialogue from Big Tobacco's star lobbyist Nick Naylor and company in "Thank You For Smoking," last year's film satire of the smoking and anti-smoking campaigns:

Nick: "My job requires a certain moral flexibility."

Nick: "If you argue correctly, you're never wrong."

Nick: "It's in our best interest to keep [cancer-striken boy] alive!"

Kid Student: "My Mommy says smoking kills. "
Nick: "Oh, is your Mommy a doctor? "
Kid Student: "No. "
Nick: "A scientific researcher of some kind? "
Kid Student: "No. "
Nick: "Well then she's hardly a credible expert, is she? "

Nick: "My point is that you have to think for yourself. If your parents told you that chocolate was dangerous would you take their word for it? "
Kid Students: "No!"
Nick: "Exactly! So perhaps instead of acting like sheep when it comes to cigarettes, you should find out for yourself. "

Nick, about his collegue: "After watching the footage of the Kent State shootings, Bobby Jay, then seventeen, signed up for the National Guard so that he, too, could shoot college students. "

Former Marlboro Man: "You look like a nice enough fella. What are you doing working for these assholes?"
Nick: "I'm good at it. Better at doing this than I ever was at doing anything else."
Former Marlboro Man: "Aw, hell, son. I was good at shooting VC. I didn't make it my career. "

Nick's son, having convinced Mom to let him go to California with Dad: "It was an argument not a negotiation. "

Nick's son: "Dad, why is the American government the best government?"
Nick: "Because of our endless appeals system. "

Nick, to eccentric business partner Jeff: "When do you sleep?"
Jeff: ".....Sunday"

Now on DVD.