February 2004 Archives

...blow $200 with your brothers...

Now that my brothers and I are grownup, my parents usually give us pretty sedate presents - clothing, books, stuff like that. But last Christmas, both of my brothers opened packages that contained $200...in $5 bills. Ok, a stack of money. But the money had a purpose - it was to be spent at a casino of their choice. That's right, my usually staid parents, encouraging their sons to live the dissolute life and gamble their money away. They had both been before, but I'd never been - had plans to a few times but something had always come up (usually work). And rather than just have the two of them go, they invited me along as well. Although work tried its best this time around - I was there until 11pm on Thursday and 9:00 on Friday - I NEEDED to get away from work for a day and just have some fun.

They stopped by around 9 yesterday morning and we were off. I had no idea the place was so close - it only took us two hours to get there. For those of you who have never been, the place is HUGE. It's ridiculous how big this place is. Apparently it's the biggest casino in the world, and I have no trouble believing it. Now, I've been to Reno - in '89 or '90 when I went with my father to a fantasy baseball camp - so I've seen casinos, but nothing like this. Something like four separate casinos, a hotel, stores out the wazoo, thousands of slot machines and room upon room upon room of gaming tables. Dice games, dominoes, and the big attraction, cards.

Now, like many others, I've kind of gotten caught up in the whole Texas Hold 'em craze that's sweeping the nation with the popularity of the World Poker Tour. I even know that the "flop a nut straight" line from Rounders has nothing to do with a sexual move (though it IS fun to say). But my brothers were after another game - a game called Spanish 21. Spanish 21 is basically a variant of blackjack, with the tens removed from the deck. The rules are the same - you want to get as close to 21 without going over - but there are some extra bonuses and perks that make Spanish 21 a little more interesting than regular blackjack. For example, there's the option to make a side bet on every hand where if either of your first two cards (which are dealt face-up) matches the dealer's face-up card, it gets paid off at 3-1. Match the card and suit, it's 6-1. If you have TWO of that card, it's 12-1. And if both cards match the suit, it pays off at a cool 24-1. Now, this doesn't happen often, but it's enough to save a hand that otherwise goes nowhere. You get extra bonuses for a 7-7-7 21, or a 6-7-8 21, or if you take five, six or seven cards to make 21. The best perks are that 21 *always* pays off immediately (there are no "pushes" - if you tie the dealer you keep your money) and that the dealer always hits on 16 and always stays on 17 (at some tables, the dealer will hit on a "soft 17" [an ace and a 6] but our table didn't).

The table we started on had six players and one open seat, so Matt sat down with $250 in chips and started off hot. Within an hour he was up to $455. Joey had a seat open within 15 minutes while I continued to watch, also started with $250, and immediately started losing money. I got a seat just after 12, but Joey went broke about three hands later. I treaded water for a while but hit some REALLY bad luck (I hit on 12 - like you're supposed to do - four or five times, and drew face cards, which broke me. The dealer then proceeded to break as well, meaning I would have won the hands if I'd stood on 12...which you really shouldn't do unless the dealer is showing a 6). A mere hour and a half later I was completely down and Matt was still playing. Joey went and took out $100 but I was done...even though I'd done everything according to the book. Joey played another hour or so but we had to adjourn early to get home in time for dinner. All in all, a pleasant first experience but I do wish the cash had lasted a bit longer...

When last we left our intrepid Scrabbler, he was 7-3 and in sixth place after the first half of the Eastern Championships...on to the second half!

Jeremy Frank, for some reason, owns the Mallick family. Not anymore after Game 11! A second-rack bingo of AGITaTO, ZOOS for 54 two racks later and SENARII (the plural of a Greek or Latin verse consisting of six metrical feet) on the next rack put me up 100 points. He closed the gap with PUTZ for 45 and MORALIST for 80 but a 46-point VESTED sewed up a 435-400 win.

Game 12 pits me against former national champion Rita Norr, the only woman to ever win the title. I played her to a standstill two years ago and she had to bingo out with LOAMIER to beat me. This time I gain the upper hand, starting off with TAUTING off the bat. She challenges, it comes back good, and I gain a turn. She gets down INHALES a couple of racks later, but I immediately respond with SOLATION (the act of changing to a fluid colloidal system). She catches right back up with GAFFS for 36 and AZO for 50, but I manage to get down CHEAPER for 44 (though I missed the bingo OCHREAE!). She bingos back with BROCADE and I'm holding ?EIMOSS. I play ISOMErES through the E in CHEAPER. Turns out the word is phony, but she doesn't challenge so I get away with it (EpISOMES and SEMIOsES would have played). And that's the game as I win 425-398.

Next up is Lloyd Mills, the top seed in the tournament. And we play what's quite possibly the most exciting game for both of us. He hits the ground running with BINDLES for 76 (bundles), which I play JATO (jet assisted takeoff) above and parallel to. He uses the ON to make PHON (a unit of loudness), and I lay down IMPOSTER through the P, on two double word scores, for 98 points. He takes a minute to think about it, but eventually decides not to challenge (it's good). He comes right back with REGROUND for 63, I get HELPS for 39 and ZONK for 34. He drops BLISTER for 92 and I answer with INWEAVE for 88. I make my big mistake and forget that BLISTER takes a Y - I play WYN (the rune for the letter W) elsewhere and he makes BLISTERY and YOGA for 54. Still, I manage to play MEOWED for 34 and XU for 40, and after dumping an A, an I and a U with AUREI (the plural of AUREUS, a gold coin of ancient Rome) I have ?AIITDV and my eye settles on an open ON on the board. Unfortunately, he blocks DeVIATION with ERE, I have to play DAVIT elsewhere, and he's able to bingo with COUNTIES and withstand my ACQuIT for 36 and win 472-459.

After a break for lunch, I get rematched with Lloyd and while it's the same result, it's somewhat lower-scoring. I manage to outbingo him two to one (getting down ELeMENT and ANTEATER to his VISITED) but my other players are fairly weak and I can't play my last rack of HISSIER, and lose 405-357. I did get down the nifty play of CWM (a steep walled basin formed by a glacier), though - one of a few vowel-less words (CRWTH, a Welsh harp, is another).

In game 15 I get my revenge against Matt Laufer - five of my first six turns score 30 points or better (JEANS, KOB, FORTY, YAWL and WIZEN) to open a 100-point lead. After drawing AAAEDIS, I fish off two A's with AA (a kind of lava) and draw GR, allowing me to make DISAGREE for 70 points and go up by 150. I continue to punish him with WIGGLE for 39, DECAL for 51 and LAX for 53, though he manages FETERItA (a cereal grass) for 61. I finish him off with QUiPS for 38 and win going away, 477-287 - a rare sub-300 game by an opponent (over half of my opponents finished with more than 400 points - not a great statistic, but I was fortunate to outscore them more often than not).

A rematch with Bob Linn yields the same result as my first game with him, though the margin isn't as wide. I get down ACrEAGE for 67 followed by JAUNT for 40; he responds with NARCEINS (an opium derivative) for 74 and JUNK for 45. I hit back with FLAP and ZIN (short for zinfandel) for 32 each, and after he throws in a bad rack, I lay down HENRIEs (a unit of electrical inductance) for 77. By the time he gets down REPOSERS, the lead is too wide and I take the win, 468-409.

Next comes the pair of games any Scrabble fears - two in a row against the defending National Scrabble champ and former world champion, Joel Sherman. Joel does not disappoint, opening with UNATONED for 63 and following that with CATLINGS for 90 on two double-word scores. I claw back with MOWER for 42 and CARAVELS (a small sailing ship) for 64. After I make a five-letter overlap with FOOTY for 43 (forming FID, ON, OD, TI and YE), he replies with his own five-letter overlap, PEASE (forming UP, NE, KA, ES and RE) for 50. Then, a blunder - I try REAROsE but it's challenged off...no good. He squeezes IZAR (an outer garment worn by Muslim women) down for 39 and though I get down TREEINg for 81, it's not enough and I fall 434-388 to end the day 11-6 and within shooting distance of the money, in 6th place.

After another late night of gaming, I come out of breakfast the next morning to play the final three games, and find that I was indeed rematched against Joel. This time I struck first, laying down HARDIEST, but he was quick to respond with RELIVING. Two racks later I'm holding EILSTUY and really hoping that Joel doesn't block the DE that's been made with the D in HARDIEST - but he plays CEIBA (a tropical tree), which blocks my second possible nine-letter bingo, YULETIDES! I have to play STYLI for 39 instead. That puts my up 30, but no lead is ever safe against a world champion - I get to make QURSH (a monetary unit of Saudi Arabia) for 19 and ADZE (alternate spelling of ADZ) on the next turn for 33, but he slapped down ENOLASE (an enzyme) for 74 to pull back within 13. I draw both blanks and have a great rack (??AEIRT) but there's nowhere to bingo and the tiles don't score well. He does have scoring tiles and makes WOMEN for 30, JIB for 12 and ASK for 23 to outrun me - I can make VARY for 16 and InsET for 16 more, but it's not enough. Even after a recount, his three-point lead holds up and he takes a 327-324 squeaker.

Game 19 is a rematch with Sal Piro, and a bit of fortune early on permits me to hang on to this one. I open with CROC, and Sal holds BLANKER on his rack. He knows that CROC takes an I on the end (plural of crocus) and an S...but forgets about the K to make CROCK and plays BACK instead. His next rack gives him ROTTENLY through the O for 62, but I come back with GRANULES through the L for 72. After he plays AREA, I luckily play JEHU (a reckless driver) and also make AREAE, and inadvertantly block his play of QUITTERS/CROCI. He plays QUIETER for 64 on two double-word scores instead, but I'm able to get down TOADIES for 73 two racks later to pull back ahead, followed by MOZO (a young man) for 48. He's a bit frustrated until he gets STEALING on his next rack, but it sets up a spot for me to play ILEX for 57 and go back up by 50. That's enough to hang on and win 436-391. I'm still in 6th place going into the last game, which will be paired up "king of the hill", where the player in first plays the player in second, third plays fourth, and so on...and as it happens, my brother is in fifth place.

It gets off to an inauspicious start when he tosses all of his tiles, and I exchange three. He plays QAT (an evergreen shrub) and my rack is ?ADEMOT. Turns out the only bingo is OEDEMATA, an alternate plural of an alternate spelling of EDEMA, an excessive accumulation of fluid. I spend three minutes trying to find a bingo, but give up and play MOD instead. After Joey plays LECH, I manage to get down lAMINATED (that's a lowercase "L") through the AM - finally, a nine-letter bingo! He responds with ZEIN (a simple protein) and then runs into a skein of horrible letters - four straight turns in the teens, followed by two exchanges, while I build up an 80-point lead. He tries VISTAING, which I challenge off after a minute of thinking about it (VISTAED is good and Joey almost *never* plays phoneys, but I took it for a desperation play, which it was) and it's frustration central for him as I close down the board further. He opens it up enough for me to sneak SENARII down (again!) and that's the ballgame. A 407-277 win to finish things off.

Now comes the interesting twist - going into the last round, the standings looked approximately like this:
Joel Sherman 15-4, +1100
Bob Linn 14-5, +600
Lloyd Mills 14-5, +450
Matt Laufer 13-6, -???
Joey Mallick 12-7, +1150
Me 12-7, +290

Joel ended up blowing Bob out by so much, and I won by so much, that I ended up passing Bob by a mere 28 spread points to finish in third place - good for a cool $210! Also won a Scrabble puzzle book for having the high loss in my division (the 472-459 decision I dropped to Lloyd). I calculate my new rating at somewhere close to 1850, good for top 60 in the country. Not my all-time high (that was 1865, in May 2001 - 58th in the country...compare that to my brother's high of 3rd!)

Next stop, the Boston Area Tournament - includes a one-day newcomers' tournament for those of you who haven't played before. Interested? :)

Still at work. Some random thoughts.

Poor penguin.

Driving back to work this evening and I heard these songs on consecutive channels:
- Janet Jackson's "Someone To Call My Lover"
- America's "Ventura Highway"
Either a bizarre coincidence or someone's got a sense of humor.

Will the Yankees stop at nothing?!

Speaking of whom, you may have heard that they're voiding Aaron Boone's contract and releasing him, but are "leaving the door open" to bringing him back next year. How generous. Screwing him out of $6m, but saying they'd love to have him back once he's healed, so he can sit on the bench and back up the best, most durable player in the game. What's not to like?

Ok, back to work.

Usually this would be a more frequent blog topic but for whatever the reason, I haven't played in too many Scrabble tournaments over the past year. Usually it's two or three a year - one in Danbury, Connecticut in February, one near Boston in April and one on Cape Cod in October. But last year I skipped Danbury because I didn't feel like shelling out the money, then got slaughtered in April after I unexpectedly was asked to play up a division (the "Premier" division is restricted to the top twelve rated players and ended up with the elite of the elite, including national and world champions), and missed Cape Cod because I'd already made other plans.

So after ten months off without even a minute of studying, I made the trek down to Danbury a week and a half ago with my brother for what's billed as the "Eastern Championship". Unlike the Boston-area tourney there's no "Premier" division so it was open to anyone rated within 100 points of the 1800-rating cutoff. It ended up being 30 players, including two national champions, a few who had been named to the US team at the world championships and several others who had at one point or another ranked among the top ten in the country. The field was actually missing a few regulars who were out for one reason or another (one person's wife was in a car accident, another player was in Canada and couldn't re-enter the US for some reason, and another had tried to enter at the last minute only to get denied by the organizer because it would have thrown all the pairings into disarray) but still some stiff competition.

Friday night we started off with three games; my first opponent was Bob Linn, who had qualified for the last world championships (held in Kuala Lumpur). On my third turn I managed to get REASONER down on two double-word scores for 82 points, and promptly drew BLMQVVS. Yuck. I threw in everything but the S, and was then faced witH ACDGPSX. Not auspicious, but I dumped four letters by playing CADGE, and after Bob used both blanks by playing TuSKERs for 79, I rebounded with XI (yes, Greek letters are acceptable) for 54 and STEEPED the next turn for 70. Sitting next to me at the table was a fellow by the name of Frank Tangredi, who won $32,000 on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" a few years ago. We were actually talking about his appearance before the game (the money had helped him get out of debt and play in more tournaments) so while holding EEFIILN on my rack, I thought it only appropriate when Bob hung an L out in the open...allowing me to dedicate my play of LIFELINE to Frank. Next turn I dumped the Q by playing the fun word QUOTHA (an expression of surprise), followed up with JUT, and then surprising the hell out of him by laying down ZORIL (a small African mammal) for 73 points (I hooked the Z onto the end of AD to make ADZ, a cutting tool). Final score: 493-333.

Game 2 pitted me against my brother. He plunked down ROILIEST on his first rack, dropped UNEARTHS on my a few turns later, and by the time I got down YEARNING he was too far ahead to make a difference (though I couldn't play MOLDIER the next turn, and missed EVILDOER the rack after that). Final damage, 520-381, Joey.

Game 3, the last game of the night, was against Mitchell Brook. I missed RHAPHEs/RHAPHaE on my first rack but did play EPHAH (an ancient Hebrew unit of dry capacity) instead, and followed up with CaRINATE (shaped like the keel of a ship) next rack. Mitchell played GAIETIES two racks later and it was close for another five turns until I managed to play CAROLERS and take a lead. He managed JARS for 43 but I had just played XU (a Vietnamese coin) for 50 the turn before to sew it up. Final score, 449-352 for a 2-1 finish on Friday night, good for third place.

Saturday we played seven games, and I got off to a good start with a slugfest against Sal Piro. After he opened with TATTLED for 64 and followed with AGAROSE (a type of sugar) for 63, I slammed down DIORAmAS through the A of AGAROSE to hit two triple-word scores at the same time and rang up 131 points. My next rack, BDEELMO, was good for REBELDOM from the R in DIORAmAS, which also drew a challenge, meaning Sal lost his turn - the edge I needed. I managed to stay ahead by a good margin until he laid down PANFRIES near the end of the game, but it wasn't enough. Final score, 460-403.

Game 5 handed me my second loss, against Peter Armstrong, whom I'd never played before. He took a narrow lead but I managed to pull ahead with FINISES (plural of FINIS, the end) and BIZ until he struck back with WOAD (a blue dye) for 42 and GaRIGUeS (low scrublands) for 81. A 403-360 win for Peter.

Paul Avrin was my opponent in Game 6 and despite missing CYANATE (a chemical salt) on my first rack (I played YENTA instead) I did get a "natural bingo" (a bingo made with no blanks) of NATURAL two turns later. I added 55 for SQUIRE on a triple-word score, which was enough to withstand his double-double JUNKIES the next turn. He actually ended up having both blanks in his last rack but couldn't lay down a bingo with them, and I escaped with a 365-318 win.

Game 7 was an easy win against Joanne Cohen - after a double-double FEINTED for 44, I got down OX for 52 (I *really* wanted to play OXYSALTS but didn't have an open Y or T) and then laid down ISOLAtES for 74 to go up by 100. She got down STRAINER for 77 near the end but I cruised to a 392-334 win.

After a break for lunch, I sat down with the "Millionaire" contestant, Frank Tangredi, in one of the best games I played. I got ARSENAL for 78 after a bit of fiddling with my rack, and then cleaned up some drek with HOAGIE for 34 and IVY for 17. Frank scored well with HOYED for 57 and COUPLET for 83, but patience paid off as ADVISOR fit neatly for 92 to pull me back within 7. EIILNUW yielded WEN for 27, BIILNUT gave BLINI (a plural of BLIN, a blintze) and FMNTUWY let me get down FUMY for 35. My last full rack, ELNUTWZ, didn't look promising, but an open O gave me OUZEL (a European bird) for 34 more and let me withstand his QUARREL (which he slipped neatly between the Q and the L!) for 32 to hang on, 419-405.

Game 9 was against Scott Appel, a guy about my age I'd gotten to be friendly with and whom I roomed with a couple of years ago at Danbury. Unfortunately, he was having a rather poor tournament and I didn't give much relief, leading off with ONeRIER (an alternate spelling of ornerier). He countered with INERTIAE, and a couple of turns later I made a mistake and tried ARGH (AARGH, AARRGH and AARRGHH are all good, interestingly). It was challenged off, but but rebounded with GYRI (plural of GYRUS, a ridge in the brain, also extending MAX to MAXI), KIF (hemp) and ESTOP (to impede by legal restraint), all over 30 points. He got down AUDITOR, I countered with VEALIEST (VEALY means "immature") and then eked out a 412-400 win by squeezing in PEAG (wampum) and JOB for 40 while he made LEY (meadow) and CLIME.

Matt Laufer then proceeded to hand me my worst loss of the tournament to wrap up Saturday. He started with a seven-letter bingo (FAIREST), a nine-letter bingo (REPEATING from RE) and an eight-letter bingo (OUTSTAND). I didn't even bingo - best play was PEDRO (a card game) for 33 (it would have been more appropriate for *34* points, but 'twas not to be). A 486-302 spanking in game 10, but I'm still 7-3 at the midway point, boosting my rating from 1766 to approximately 1819 (top 100 in the country).

After a dinner at a local restaurant we came back to the hotel and went to the late-night gaming room. Games included Boggle, anagrams, and variations of Scrabble like team (pairs) Scrabble, playing against a computer simulator (we ended up with a dozen people huddled around a laptop, simulating every move individually). Anagrams was highly entertaining; the object is to use letters in a pool, turned over one at a time, to build words and/or steal them from other players. I managed to build EXTRACTIONS into EXTRICATIONS, and then turned YEARENDS into SEDENTARY and REPACKING into OVERPACKING. Very intense. I finally turned in past midnight - usually not a good idea to forgo sleep but it's too much fun to pass up in my sphere of geekdom.

More to follow in part 2...

From now on, I wish to be known as Devastatin' Dave, the Turntable Slave. That is all. Thank you.

priceless image courtesy of the 10 worst album covers. you have been warned.

Write your own! See comments.

Ok, so Viv and I are employees #1 and #2 of Vivid Green Productions (our fledgling production company for when Josh opens the Arctic Lounge jazz club and puts us in control of booking and sound production, of course). Today, I got an email from someone who wants to be employee #3.

Now, I'm not going to name his name, because of course, I don't want to give this self-promoting spammer the satisfaction of publicizing his personal information, but since such an opportunity presents itself so rarely, I couldn't resist presenting some non-identifying information. And of course poking fun at it in the process.

First, the salutation: "Dear Dave". Dispensing with the formalities when asking for a job is always a good idea.

I was especially encouraged to see that he was "interested in securing a position with your company". It's heartening to see that a prospective employee has done the thorough research to determine that we are indeed a company that has positions available to be secured.

He continues: "Throughout my career, I have been directly responsible for the successful planning, development and implementation of numerous systems..." An amazing coincidence - me too! In fact, just last month I hooked up our VCR, DVD player, cable box and TiVo to our TV. That took some serious planning to implement, so I definitely am impressed that he's planned and implemented numerous such systems. Of course, he could be implementing hair systems for all I know. Or septic systems. Or solar systems! We could use one of those - always good for business to have a gigantic mass of nuclear fusion orbited by flying rocks.

What's more, he has "experience with a broad set of applications including financial, investment, media, retail, CRM, B2B/B2C E-commerce, and the Application Service Provider (ASP) solution-delivery model." Which is all good and well, but considering Vivid Green Productions has no financial investments, no media other than this site, no retail, commerce or customers to speak of, is not a business, and doesn't have to deliver model solutions of providing services via applications...this doesn't bowl me over. Oh well.

More: "In addition to my technical strengths, I also have considerable experience in the areas of sales and marketing, facilities and personnel management, and recruitment and team building." Facilities management...well, we could use someone to clean up around the house, especially around the litter box. Our cats make a total mess of the place. Personnel management isn't really needed. I mean, I kind of like the personnel we have right now, except when she forgets to put a new roll of toilet paper on the dispenser.

"I am accustomed to dealing with a diversity of personalities and skill-sets" Don't we all. I mean, you won't have much success if you're always dealing with people who have the same personality. Unless you're running a clone farm. Let's move on.

"and have the ability to effectively convey solution benefits and ROI to client technical and executive members." Dude, you can convey ROI?! Why not the whole band? Give me Boyd, Stefan, Dave and Carter! Ahem.

"One of my strongest assets is my ability to function as a 'trouble-shooter', in that I can quickly bring resolution to lingering or dysfunctional issues." Hmm. Lingering or dysfunctional issues? Are you implying something about my fledgling marriage, pal? Don't make me get all up in your shit, man. Though I do have some trouble that needs to be shot - I'm less than pleased with the range of my AirPort base station. Any ideas?

"I also bring with me that critical ability to evaluate systems and implementations with regards to how they will affect the company's bottom line. " I rather like my bottom line, and my wife's bottom line, for that matter. And if I catch you evaluating implementations in our bottom lines, I'll twist your nose so far around, you'll part your hair every time you sneeze.

"I am a U.S. citizen. I am well-traveled, and am open to extensive travel and/or relocation." How about a relocation to the "Deleted Messages" box? Or a lateral move to a l'orange? Welcome to /dev/null, buddy!

I'm really tempted to email this to the guy...I still have his email. What do you think? Leave comments...

...that's on eBay...

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later - one of the shows I taped was put up for sale on everyone's favorite (?) auction site. There's actually a fairly active discussion on a tapers' board I frequent where there's one seller in particular who downloads stuff from sharingthegroove and then offers it for sale on eBay. We go in, bid the shows up to ridiculous prices, and he's forced to shut the auctions down. But it's just mind-boggling that these sellers can sell a few shows, get banned from eBay, and then just come back under a different alias and do the same thing. Why is eBay not making it harder to list this stuff. For a company as high-profile as them to pull a Napster/Kazaa/gnutella and essentially say "It's up to users/bands to make sure you're not using the site to distribute anything illegally" just smacks of irresponsibility, especially when they're so quick to jump on other silly sales that you always read about in the paper (Grady Little, the state of West Virginia, a fart in a bag, snow from Buffalo, someone's soul, etc.). But then consider that they get a cut of every item listed and another cut of the sale price, and it starts to make a little more sense. Very disappointing.

This also only further serves to blur the line between tapers who are legitimately allowed to record shows and the bootleggers that sell them, because to the bands, I can imagine their standpoint - why bother policing who's legit and who's not when it's just easier to ban taping altogether? I have nothing but immense respect for bands that continue to allow taping despite this bullshit behavior from a few select assbiscuits who do this just because eBay is too lazy (or interested in listing/selling fees) to keep them from getting away with it over and Over and OVER again.

What disappoints me the most is that I even have to consider limiting the venues I use for doing all this free promotion for the bands I love...

This looked so much like something I would write that I'm just going to give Chuck Hirshberg of ESPN.com's "Page 2" credit and print part of his "Writer's Bloc" contribution today.

Anyhoo, what I can't help thinking about is this: If the breathtaking stupidity of the ads was entertaining, can you imagine how much fun it would have been to attend the MEETINGS that green-lighted 'em?

Seriously, think about it: A week or two ago, somewhere on Madison Avenue, a group of ad execs gathered 'round a conference room table to watch that farting horse spot. A serious presentation was then delivered on the theoretical basis for a campaign based on equine flatulence. Which demographic subsets would find it most appealling? How much was it likley to contribute to long-range brand loyalty? Etc, etc. Said presentation was, pardon the expression, digested by the marketing experts. The pros & cons were duly weighed. And ultimately, a Decision Maker, who pulls in more dough in five minutes than you or I do in a year, announced: "Alright then, it's a go. I want to thank each and every one of you who put in so many late nights to make this project a success. The Gassy Stallion Campaign is something we can ALL be proud of."