Category: What Midlife Crisis

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Heartwarming Pseudo-Sequel Or Cynical Corporate Bullshit?

I submit to you that it can be both. Here’s the full version of the commercial that aired during yesterday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

From io9 …

Xfinity, if you are scratching your head for the connection here, is the digital cable, internet, phone, etc. provider owned by Comcast. Comcast owns NBC, which aired the parade. It also owns Universal Pictures, which owns E.T. So, basically what you’re looking at is major corporation dipping into a considerable bag of tricks labeled “Nostalgic Intellectual Property” and throwing Super Bowl commercial money at it.

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Making Doc Martens

Nerdiest post yet? Maybe. I didn’t realize how close this company came to going under in the aughts. You’ll pay more for “Made in England” – about 50% more, in fact – but you’ll know where the money went when you slip ’em on. I’m wearing a pair RIGHT NOW.

We visited Dr. Martens’ only UK factory on Cobbs Lane in Wollaston, Northamptonshire. This is where Dr. Martens makes its iconic “Made in England” collection. The factory employs 50 workers that make about 100,000 pairs of boots per year, which is only one percent of what the brand makes as a whole!

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Truth

It also has aches and pains they weren’t there before. Tennis elbow sucks…

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Good Girl Says Dirty Things

Surprise! Liz Phair has a new memoir coming out in October called Horror Stories. In the meantime, here’s a fan-fucking-tastic Vulture interview.

So when your indie record Guyville became a phenomenon, was that difficult?

Yes. If I’d only had success in the indie world, my music would have been contextualized more accurately. They would have understood a little more of the art project behind it. Rather than thinking that I was literally saying I wanted to be your blow-job queen, you know?

Once you’re in a wider world, and People magazine picks it up, the nuance is gone. And of course, Matador was like, “Keep going! We’re doing great!”

Full article here.