oklahoma city has a new WNBA-err-NBA team. the "Thunder." thanks to a lack of support and greedy ownership in seattle, the supersonics - a respectably named team, with a history dating back to '67 - are...is...now the thunder.
in the tradition of the utah jazz, orlando magic, and just about every WNBA team, this non-plural, collective noun of sorts of a name now graces the face of a fresh nba franchise.
i would be embarrassed to carry the name on my jersey as a player, on my t-shirts and hats as a fan. while the name "thunder" does sound moderately better than other name candidates; the wind, or energy; it is genuinely a horrible name.
sure it makes sense for the midwest region, with frequent thunderstorms, but why not the "bison"- another candidate.
aside from the name, there is the logo. the colours are nice: blue(reflective of the state's flag), yellow representing the sun, and reddish-orange representing the brilliant colours of the sunset over oklahoma. not bad...but the logo is weak. "OKC" is kinda cool, and makes more sense than the Phoenix Suns' use of "PHX" on the front of their jerseys. But what in the actual logo shows thunder, the blocky font above it?
for a professional sports organization with plenty of resources, why not put a little more effort into the face of your business? you have merchandise to sell.
the name sucks, and the logo lacks any sort of inspiration and meaning. the thunder wouldn't even be in the top 10 names/logos in the WNBA...the Minnestoa Lynx, for one is a cool one. how about the detroit shock?
i aim to come up with my own logo for the thunder...maybe a new name too. i'm betting some of your children could draw something cooler than the logo pictured.
that's right, I deserve to have a pity party!!! I have had the worst luck lately! Yes....I am glad that Oregon won...and I am VERY happy that Bama won so Seth wouldn't be in a bad mood!
thats just what ya'll were thinking right? well don't jump off your seat just yet...i'm not back for real, yet.
i vowed - well, not really, because who does that (weddings and courts aside) - to not post on pleonast again until i got a job.
and.........no job, yet. HOWEVER, i did have an interview today that went great. i know a guy at this place (www.grafxtampa.com) that hired me for my internship at a different company. he is definitely pulling for me to get the job, and sat in the interview with the owner of the place.
he told me it went well, and thinks i have a great shot at landing the job.
so...i am almost back. until then, keep doodling my name in your diary and note pad, and keep your chin up.
i missed my flight this morning. had i over-slept just 15 minutes less, i might have made my flight, but alas, i apparently needed those extra few minutes...so, i sit here in the airport, for another 3 hours (already been here 45min.) to attempt stand-by on the next flight out.
lots of interesting people though, which is always fun. there's a lady over there by the window, scrap-booking, and very engrossed in her project. there's a dude walking by, with a poor man's fabio hair cut...with a tucked-in polo and deck shoes (no socks). i've already overheard two people asking others for their newspapers once they were done. is this another sign of the slow economy - not affording 25-50cents for a paper?
there's a lady with a skirt entirely too short for travel...or anything else for that matter. i could go on...but i'll hold back for now.
i've flown a lot in the last few years - since i started college really. and i have found that i now have a routine when flying. it starts once i sit down in my seat on the plane, though i usually always buy a pack of gum, the same magazine, and bottle of water before boarding - but this is not pertinent.
once seated, and after stowing away my laptop bag, i always check the little lever that holds up the tray table. if that thing ever comes off in my hands, i'm outta there! [see film "final destination"]next i belt in. i flip through the airplane magazine and find the crossword puzzles and begin. during the flight attendants' security information presentation, i do not pay attention, but read through the safety card fold out, noticing all exits and exit procedures, should it be a land or sea landing - all while imagining how amazing my survival of an ocean landing will be. once the plane is taxiing towards the runway, i begin my prayers. at takeoff, i say another prayer. once it is ok to turn on electrical devices, my iPod comes out, and crossword puzzles commence...or sleep.
thank goodness for free wiFi, and thanks to God for life, leisure, and the pursuit of something entertaining while i breathe recycled air for the next few hours.
that dude just picked his nose. dude, i saw you, yes i did.
Haha. Yeah, I pray while taking off and then I thank the Lord once I land. Especially because I used to fly all the time and every time I flew I thought "Chances keep getting better for THIS to be the plane..." I know, I'm weird.
So looking forward to being with all of you next week! I missed a flight in Tampa recently and sat there ALL DAY before I finally got a seat..I was SOO aggravated! And, to think it could have been avoided if I'd just remembered to print my boarding pass at the hotel!!! ARGHHHHHH!!!
Love this post. I love to people watch when I fly alone too. It would definitely be more fun if I could share it like this! Hope you had a good flight!
yep! bout a year! I couldn't tell you the last time I had seen your dad, though! It was great to see all of yall. I hear our moms are planning another beach vacation.
Wish I could have hung out with y'all more (that's right...I said y'all;). It was so cool to be with ALL of you again. Hope we can all go on that beach trip next summer...our moms were talking about it.
the economy is in some sort of downturn for the moment. some are calling it a recession, while others prefer an "economic slow-down." i know neither what it is called, nor do i care. i do care about $4/gal. gas, and bad tips in the restaurant. i do care about how the effects of the suffering economy will effect our futures.
mostly, i believe it is a good thing for us in the long run. even now, we live in the best country in the world, (you are not allowed to disagree unless you hold citizenship elsewhere). but admittedly, we have been spoiled. taking inflation into account, gas prices and other 'necessities' have been cheaper in recent years than they were decades ago.
right now, things are tight, but perhaps many of us can use this crash course in frugality; budget a little more, live a little less frivolously, consider the value of the things we spend our time and money on.
one observation i do have, from the prospective of a server in a nicer dining establishment, is that amidst this economic craziness, not everyone is as effected by it as others. a lot of the guests in the restaurant i work in have money. it is located in a wealthier community in tampa. we have a lot of regulars that will eat or drink there multiple times a week, with a menu that features prices a few dollars more in most cases than your outback. (i am in no way comparing my restaurant to outback - outback in no way compares in class and product)
anyhow, since gas prices have escalated from $3/gal. to $4/gal., i have not noticed a significant slow down in business. people still come out and spend $28 on a filet mignon, and $8 on a vodka martini. i haven't sold as many bottles of wine lately, but that tends to go in waves anyways. the one thing i have noticed is over-all suffering in people's tips.
i hate to speculate on the reason behind this- but when you work in the service industry, it does tend to induce an irrepressible cynicism. maybe some guests justify spending so much on dinner despite gas prices, by holding back a couple dollars on the tip. maybe...maybe...well, maybe they just don't know how to tip, and are too selfish and self absorbed to care. servers still get paid $3 dollars an hour (before taxes) and depend on tips to make a living - keeping in mind also, that in most restaurants, servers have to tip-out (give money) 3-4% of their TIPS to bartenders, hostesses, bussers, etc. so if you leave an 18% tip, the server generally will only take home 15% of that.
side note: do your best to tip 20%, 18% at the least next time you eat out, if the server did a good job. it is standard...not 10%, not 15%.
oh, and thanks for that $600 economic stimulus, u.s. gov't. not that i've counted, but that only accounts for barely 10 tanks of gas in my car. you think i'm taking that cash to the mall? ha! nice try.
David starts at 20% with a server and rarely goes below that. However, the server has to earn that and he deducts percentage points for inattentiveness and rudeness. She would appreciate this post - some people don't tip their hairstylist at all! And definitely nowhere near 20% most of the time.
Two things, first move to Oregon and be a server, they make bank. Second, Bush acknowledged in a recent press conference that the price difference in gas from the time he signed the 'stimulus' program till now made it all but virtually worthless. Hey, they tried.
I agree with the tipping. Like Jamie said, I do appreciate this post. :) I think because people figure the whole amount of the service is coming to me they don't need to tip. A tip isn't because I NEED the money. A tip is a sign of appreciation and acknowlegement that I did the best I possibly could for you and was friendly and accomadating in the process.
I like this post. I agree with all of it, I especially like that you said we live in the best country in the world and are not allowed to disagree unless you hold a citizenship elsewhere. Good for you!
Oh, and a lot of people don't realize that there is a "cheat sheet" on a lot of the credit card reciepts where you leave your tip. The machine I use puts one on there. It gives you 15%, 20%, and 25% of the total that you owe. It can't be any simpler!
(Disclaimer: Getting your hair done can be expensive, I understand if someone can't necessarily afford to leave a good tip. Just wanted to clear that up. ;)) Okay, I'm done using your post as a soap box. *Stepping down.*
Sounds rough! Sorry about the tipping problem - although coming from a poor person, sometimes it is hard to tip well. But I will definitely think twice about how much I leave now!
I had heard somewhere that the wealther people like the expensive food, but are cheap with the tip. But I only have hearsay to back me up so it won't hold up in a court of law.
in reference to the comment above this, there are a lot of wealthy people that come in and buy $100 bottles of wine, and a round of filet mignons, and then tip like crap. and you KNOW they can afford a better tip. guess it affords them that 3rd cup of sbux a day.
A loooooooonnnnnng time ago my parents had a HORRIBLE waiter at a restaurant. I mean think about the most horrible waiter you can think of and that's the guy they got. My dad left him 2 pennies on the table as a tip. The guy CHASED my dad out of the restaurant and threw the pennies at him!!!
i just saw a commercial that made me cringe. not in the way those absurdly stupid and annoying freecreditreport.com commercials make me cringe, or how local car dealership ads make me cringe...but cringe because it's bordering on inappropriate - and some group of professional ad execs and corporate execs approved the ad to run.
it was a dairy queen commercial. the first time DQ ran their first commercial featuring the talking lips (inspired i'm sure from the lips-like looking dairy queen logo) i wondered why? floating red lips on a black background, talking. kinda scary, kinda rocky horror picture show freaky.
however, this commercial was set in a dairy queen restaurant - a mother and daughter sit down to eat, but only have one ice cream treat (whatever the featured dessert was). the mother comments on how nice it is for the daughter to share her treat. she says that she's not sharing - at that moment, a DQ employee delivers a new treat "compliments of..." the boy across the way. she looks back, he waves confidently, she says thank you. then she turns to her mother and states "it's like shooting fish in a barrel."
are you kidding me?? i am terrible at judging ages, but i would take the girl for 10-11, maybe 12. this prepubescent girl is acting like a 40-something divorcee on the prowl in a bar...skanking for free drinks.
parents worry about under-age girls dressing beyond their age, looking like hookers when they haven't even had their first kiss yet. but encouraging, or teaching these *kids* how to score free stuff by using their not yet developed female wiles on boys...just makes me cringe. this girl is a good 10-11 years from legally scoring a free drink in a bar, and yet she is already in training, scoring free ice cream.
That's crazy. I get more and more worried about the future state of our society and what our children will see when they get a little older and more impressionable. You can't even turn on the TV anymore it seems.
Adrian, you are going to be one of those overprotective fathers when you have a daughter...it is going to be so funny to see that! But you make a good point! That is sick when you think about the long run! Crazy..I too think the talking lip thing is a little creepy and not at all making me want to go and eat there! Love ya
i teach those 10-11 year olds and they each have a new boyfriend/girlfriend a week and talk about how they have been kissing them and i have to take inappropriate sexual material notes up and take them to the counselor. and i teach in a small town in texas. we can thank MTV for babysitting many of todays children while both parents are not home and the kids are left to grow up way too fast!
wow - I haven't seen that commercial yet and am glad! Sorry about what I said below - I didn't know you wrote it and then I go and make it sound insignificant. You did a great job writing it! Please forgive me and my sarcasm that tends to get me in trouble (or at least end up looking like a jerk!)
Adrian, this is Daphne. I've seen this commercial, and I concur! Also, sadly enough, Kyle knows every word to the freecreditreport.com commercial in the seafood restaurant!
That's sad, our society get more and more corrupt and immoral by the day it seems. I just fear we'll become too much like Sodom and Gamora (sp?) and he'll bring us to our knees somehow, apparently 9/11 wasn't big enough to make a lasting impression. On another not, I just read your last post and wanted to say that what you wrote was really beautiful, is it a song or a poem? Hope you're doing good.
yeah well i'm cool with it...maybe they will fire me and i'll get severence....i think we will see more of eachother if you decide to be a lunch worker...i'm part of the development team for 6 months (or so).
I have seen this and I totally agree with what you've said and your guess on her age! I was very disturbed by it...
I miss all you Gibson people!!!!!!!
no i havent seen it yet. are you telling me i wont like it? im pretty determined to like it. everyone ive heard just said it was cheesy, but they were always cheesy! did you like it? i was just kidding about speedracer it looks like a kid movie. i just wondered if you would see it because of your name and all!
