There is no doubt that Paul Newman was one of the all-time giants of Hollywood. He was a true superstar, starring in such films as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Sting, and The Color of Money just to name a few.
Just last night in the wee hours when I was watching TV as is my practise to do so to help me fall asleep, I came across The Sting, a movie I had seen when it was in theatres back in 1973. It is a delightful film that succeeds in getting the audience on the side of the bad guys. I imagine it's quite a treat for the ladies, containing two heart throbs, the other being Robert Redford.
Newman was nominated for an Oscar ten times winning three of them. So, why does the title of this article refer to him as "philanthropist"? Paul Newman never felt comfortable being showereed with every accolade from "brilliant" to "icon". Forgive my presumption, Mr. Newman, that "philanthropist" is a label you might be more at ease with.
In the early 1980s, Newman started up the "Newman's Own" brand as a way to sell his homemade salad dressing. The company, which also made popcorn, spaghetti sauce and other products, has turned into a multi-million dollar business and has donated $175 million to charities.
Paul Newman was married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years, rare by Hollywood or any standard.
When asked by Playboy if he was ever tempted to cheat on his wife, Newman replied, "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Friday, 26 September 2008
Rogers update #2
This afternoon Rogers responded to my complaint about their deceitful ad. Rather than research it through their marketing department, their representative asked me to gather documentation so that he can investigate it further. I went through the time and effort to get screen shots of the ad and the website the ad directs one to, and sent them along to him. Tick, tock, tick, tock...
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Another Ivy leaguer, this one from Cornell, was on the show. The previous three all flunked out.
The $50,000 question was: Which Great Lake does Pennsylvania border? The contestant said "I didn't even know Pennsylvania bordered a Great Lake". The first thing that entered my own mind was "Hmm, there must be a good reason they named it Erie, Pennsylvania."
He took a wild guess since it was "free"--that is, if he answered incorrectly, he wouldn't lose any money. He guessed "Erie". None of the classmates said "Erie".
I don't have a degree from anywhere, let alone an Ivy League school, and I'm not even an American but the answer came to me in a flash.
He knew enough to quit when he heard a question he did not know the answer to and "dropped out".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next contestant clearly wasn't as smart. When faced with the $5,000 question "If you were in Mexico City and walked due west, which is the first ocean you'd run into?" He had no idea, and therefore chose to "peek" at his classmate's answer. It correctly was "Pacific" and he agreed.
How could anyone not know that walking west from any point in North America would have you arrive at the Pacific Ocean? This character actually said "I've never been to Mexico City and that's what's giving me pause". I guess this man in his 40's still hasn't grasped that whole "directions" concept.
Needless to say, he wasn't smarter than a fifth grader.
The $50,000 question was: Which Great Lake does Pennsylvania border? The contestant said "I didn't even know Pennsylvania bordered a Great Lake". The first thing that entered my own mind was "Hmm, there must be a good reason they named it Erie, Pennsylvania."
He took a wild guess since it was "free"--that is, if he answered incorrectly, he wouldn't lose any money. He guessed "Erie". None of the classmates said "Erie".
I don't have a degree from anywhere, let alone an Ivy League school, and I'm not even an American but the answer came to me in a flash.
He knew enough to quit when he heard a question he did not know the answer to and "dropped out".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next contestant clearly wasn't as smart. When faced with the $5,000 question "If you were in Mexico City and walked due west, which is the first ocean you'd run into?" He had no idea, and therefore chose to "peek" at his classmate's answer. It correctly was "Pacific" and he agreed.
How could anyone not know that walking west from any point in North America would have you arrive at the Pacific Ocean? This character actually said "I've never been to Mexico City and that's what's giving me pause". I guess this man in his 40's still hasn't grasped that whole "directions" concept.
Needless to say, he wasn't smarter than a fifth grader.
Rogers update #1
When I e-mailed Rogers about their devious ad, I got an automatic notification e-mail indicating that someone would respond to my query with 24 hours. Here it is 48 hours later and I'm still waiting. I guess it shouldn't surprise that one who is devious is also a liar. The clock is ticking, Rogers...
Interesting note that while they have failed to respond to their loyal customer's enquiry (me), in the last 24 hours alone, I received two items from them seeking more of my business. Yesterday, I got some snail mail, and today, I got an e-mail. These were both targeted, bearing my name and or indicating the recipient is a a "valued Rogers customer". Apparently, they do not have access to a dictionary if this is their idea of "valued".
Interesting note that while they have failed to respond to their loyal customer's enquiry (me), in the last 24 hours alone, I received two items from them seeking more of my business. Yesterday, I got some snail mail, and today, I got an e-mail. These were both targeted, bearing my name and or indicating the recipient is a a "valued Rogers customer". Apparently, they do not have access to a dictionary if this is their idea of "valued".
Q & A's from around the web
Which schools for studying architechture?
I'm about to apply, but I'm still not sure which are the best choices of schools because I haven't been living in the States for a long time...
Art Vandalay School of Architecture
I'm about to apply, but I'm still not sure which are the best choices of schools because I haven't been living in the States for a long time...
Art Vandalay School of Architecture
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