Hugh Kenner's gone and died. He was a hero of mine.

Death of a Polymath - Hugh Kenner's passing marks the end of an era. By Jeet Heer

"Anita Elberse, an assistant professor who teaches marketing at Harvard Business School, said the last HSX [Hollywood Stock Exchange] trading price of a film before it opens is a more accurate indicator of how a movie will do than any other single measure."

It’s Just a Game, but Hollywood Is Paying Attention

Trends in Logo Design. I love stuff like this.

Graphic Design USA - Feature - Corporate Identity - 15 Trends Taking Shape In Logo Design

Do you remember that book "Summer of the Monkeys"? I think at the end, he used his monkey-money to buy a .22 and a new leg for his sister Daisy.

See also that Onion infographic, "How are we dressing our monkeys"?

Grad Student Deconstructs Take-Out Menu "out of sheer force of habit". This is a damn good one.

http://www.theonion.com/onion3826/grad_student.html

There's this burger restaurant called "Steak and Shake" that has a new ad campaign. This is a description I found.

"In another commercial, a plate drops and the customers gasp. "It's real," the waitress says, deftly underlining the idea that the ambience is better than at fast-food outlets. Some spots end with a shot of a crock of beans tacked on incongruously as an announcer urgently says, "Bean crock!" The effect is intended to freshen ads that viewers may have seen before."

Here are some lyrics from this extremely catchy band I'm listening to today, called the Moldy Peaches. This one is a very sweet ballad sung as a duet by two women.

Just because I don't say anything
doesn't mean
I don't like you
Without forty ounces of social skills
I'm just an ass in the crack of humanity
I'm just a huge manatee
A huge manatee

The more uptempo song "Steak for Chicken" is sung as a duet also, this time with a man and a woman. Sometimes they sing slightly different lyrics.

Mardi Gras came and went
All my money has been spent
How'm I gonna pay the rent
Sitting on [she: my ass/he: your face]
Who mistook the steak for chicken?
Who'm I gonna stick my dick in?

O get on the Greyhound and ride away
Live on birthday cake each day
Tell your grandparent's they're OK (he: they're gay)
Kiss their cheek and run away
Cause me an my friends are so smart
We invented this new kind of art
Postmodernist throwing darts
Smoking crack and cutting . . . crack
Who mistook this crap for genius?
Who is gonna stroke my penis?

O people are shiny like a brand new book
But if you get a closer look
There's shit on every hand you shook
If you don't believe me,
Look at your hand!