I'm a PC (another new set of commercials from Microsoft)

What's with Microsoft lately?

Here's a NEW set of commercials barely two weeks after the premiere of the Jerry Seinfeld - Bill Gates fiasco. (Which you can read and watch here and here.)

These are better than the previous set, I guess, in that they're more human and therefore more believable.

But wait.

What's the real message here? Oh yeah. "Normal people like you and me use PCs, not Macs."

Uh, dude, we knew that already. Most of the human race uses Microsoft. So what's the big deal about that? (I don't know.)

I also disagree with the strategy of defining or creating a campaign as a response to a competitor's campaign. You're throwing the ball in Apple's court, Microsoft.

Oh and by the way, I think this would've been cute and effective if you had done this when the original Mac vs PC ads aired --- three years ago.

(And somewhere in Richmond, you have some marketing guy muttering: "Oh crap -- back to the drawing board!")

Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates' horrible SECOND Microsoft commercial

Ok. It's not as bad as the first one.

It's actually a bit funny too.

But I still don't see how Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld trying to get a "Simple Life" as a middle-aged Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie can help Microsoft sell more software. Or be perceived to be thought leader in software, the Internet or whatever.

If any, the only thing I'm getting out of this is .... hey, Bill Gates looks like the PC guy in the Mac commercials, doesn't he? He's a goofy, nerdy, even a bit loveable kind of a dork.

Waittaminit, is this supposed to be about refurbishing Bill Gates' image?

But okay, it's funny -- so watch it to get a laugh (it'll try your patience because it's long at 4 minutes 30 seconds) but I don't expect you to change your opinion about Microsoft just yet.

Why you should never hit your computer

Lots more at the Youtube page of the BBC's show, The Wrong Door.

Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates' horrible new Microsoft commercial

Jerry Seinfeld is back in a commercial that, in true Seinfeldian fashion, is actually about nothing.

Come on: The Future... Delicious??? Eh?

This is another one of those Crispin Porter Bogusky creations so it's actually working according to plan: I'm talking about it.

Never mind that I'm talking about how BAD it actually is.

And never mind that I'm talking about the creator of the ad and NOT the product / brand either.

This is not the first time I've said something about them, incidentally. (Look here.)

Something's gone wrong somewhere, boys. Again. Shouldn't you guys be rethinking this whole idea of "publicity is good, no matter what kind of publicity"?

Is this the end of Kimi Raikkonen's career?

This year has been a listless one for Kimi Raikkonen's championship challenge.

In previous years, it was always a case of the car not being good enough. Last year, he was in a Ferrari and managed to win the championship by a whisker -- and by a stroke of luck as well because Hamilton didn't get close enough at the end to get enough points.

This year, Lewis Hamilton has remained strong -- Felipe Massa has gotten stronger -- and the BMWs have managed to get into the top spots occasionally. All of which have conspired to make my favorite Finn's chances slimmer by the week. It doesn't help that he occasionally makes mistakes -- more than in previous years.

Is he losing the drive to win? The nerve? I don't know.

All I know is that when Mika Hakkinen retired, he told McLaren boss Ron Dennis that "If you want to win, get the Finn." Maybe Mika meant some other Finn. Kovalainen, perhaps?

Rumors abound -- and circulated as early as last December -- that Kimi is actually thinking of retiring.

Five races left in the 2008 season and it looks like our ride to the championship has ended.

Here are some videos of the last race at Spa -- they may be the last vids you'll ever see of Kimi going head-to-head with the emerging new F1 hero (and I mean it), Lewis Hamilton. (I'm putting in several just in case some get taken down, as inevitably they will be. You know how the FIA is...)

What if Pacman was the Villain? (Pacman: The Movie)

What if we could see what it was like to be the ghosts in Pacman, the popular videogame from the early 1980's?

Watch this vid and see.



I suddenly have an empathy for the ghosts!

YouTube's Been Around Since 1985

Really.

Found this via Scary Ideas.

Eraserheads Reunion Concert - Ely Buendia Rushed to Hospital

Turns out that the long awaited -- sixteen years in the making, did you know -- reunion concert of the Eraserheads was cut short. Ely Buendia, legendary frontman and prolific penman for OPM classics 'Pare Ko', 'Tindahan ni Aling Nena', 'Toyang', 'Alapaap', 'Huling El Bimbo', etc had to be rushed to the hospital -- but not after having performed the first set.

With fifteen songs to go, the concert was considered ended. Cut short again, like the stellar career of the Eraserheads.

We hope though that another reunion is still possible -- and of course, that's dependent on Ely getting better. Say a prayer for the man, will you?