Pre-vacation Youtube links.

A few links and notes before I take off for warmer climes…

First off, there’s a lot of bad information out there about the arbitration process in baseball, and one error I have seen, heard, and been asked about repeatedly is how multiyear contracts factor into the process. The answer is that they don’t. Because of the disagreement over whether to consider AAV (average annual values) or actual year-by-year salaries, and the question of what sort of “security” discount the player might have taken, these contracts are usually ignored or discarded after cursory arguments in any arbitration negotiation or hearing. So the second year of Prince Fielder’s deal does not affect Ryan Howard’s hearing. (How could it? You can’t compare Howard’s “platform year” to Fielder’s, because the comparable season for Fielder – second time through the arb process – hasn’t occurred yet.)

Subway:” A vintage song from Sesame Street – or so they say, since I don’t remember it at all even though it’s from my era. It’s, um, a bit dark for the target audience: “You could lose your purse/Or you might lose something worse/On the subway.”

SlapChop: I know JoePo has been talking about the Snuggie and the ShamWow!, but this is the best of the new breed of infomercials. The line at 0:37 is just priceless. I would work it into a KlawChat, but there’s no way they’d let it stand.

Easy Reader: It’s groovy. But mostly it’s a segue to talk about the new version of the Electric Company, which I caught by accident last week while trying to get Barney off my television before my daughter noticed. It’s good – very good. Not quite the same as the original, but the original – while brilliant – looks pretty dated now. The new version is a little more frenetic, and the opening song is a little awkward, but the sketches have some of that second layer of humor that good children’s shows have, there’s a lot of music (like this song by Wyclef Jean with Canadian jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky, who is very cute and can’t dance a lick), and the language is never dumbed-down for the young target audience. The breakout star here is Chris Sullivan, who plays the character Shock; he’s an an amazing beat-boxer, enough that I would turn and watch whenever he was on the screen. (I’m trying to figure out who he reminds me of – I’m leaning towards a cross between Jamie Oliver and Daniel Radcliffe right now.) My daughter’s too young for the show, although it did hold her attention for 15-20 minutes, and I’m hopeful that it will stick around long enough for her to grow into it.

Comments

  1. Have a good vacation Keith!

  2. Vince is the LeBron James of informercial guys. Redefines the game.

  3. You really will love his nuts, Keith.

  4. Vince owns, that is certain. He is the Rickey Henderson to Billy Mays’ Vince Coleman.

  5. That slapchop video is classic, just like that Nads infomercial. Have a good vacation (soft c).

  6. Wow that’s pretty sad I meant hard c. Time to hit the books.

  7. I’m not a fan, but why hide Barney from your daughter?

  8. There’s no way Vince doesn’t know what “You’re gonna love my nuts” can also mean, right? Also, why does he insist on wearing a headset even in the kitchen?

  9. He did another infomercial where he said something like “…it’s made in Germany, and you know they make some great stuff”.

    Vince > Billy Mays

  10. Vince is pretty terrible/great. I like the comment someone made about his “smooth-talking condescension”. Terrific.

  11. It’s all about the Magic Bullet and the character “Berman”, who seems to be a perpetually sarcastic shell of a human being (just search Youtube for “magic bullet berman”). If anyone else has seen that infomercial, what exactly is the plot there? Do all those people live in that house?

  12. I’m still dumbfounded watching the SlapChop commercial.

  13. Keith: Just picked up Conrad’s The Secret Agent for my reading while you’re on vacation. If you thought that the Slapchop commercial had unintended consequences, check out this clip at 00:11 – how these people get and then keep their jobs is beyond me

    http://blogofhilarity.com/2009/01/22/michelle-and-barack-obama-are-kinky

    Enjoy the sun!

  14. Who knew they made fold-able cutting boards?

  15. Quick question on Pimsleur; I’d like to gift the French program to someone who can read and write proficiently but can not speak/converse at nearly the same level. Can you recommend any specific Pimsleur programs to improve conversational French?

  16. You know what’s a favourite advertising clip of mine (and there’s a baseball link)? Mark Littell for the Nutty Buddy. Couldn’t have felt as bad as what Chris Chambliss did I guess

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9aiWr0Vfg

  17. Thanks for exposing me to the SlapChop. This will be good in case somebody breaks into my home and steals all of my knives. Or if I’m ever too lazy to take the 30 seconds to chop carrots (or whatever) on my own.

    What an exciting life I’m going live!!

  18. I was at the Rose Bowl swap meet a few months back, and this guy was selling the SlapChop live and in person. My wife was busy looking at some earrings or something at the booth next to his, so I got to hear his pitch over and over again for what seemed like 30 minutes. All I can say… I was mesmerized the whole time. He actually sold 5 of them in the 30 minutes I was there.

  19. … One other thing I never understood about the ShamWow commercials. They always have the testimonials from the people who claim the ShamWow has changed their lives – but those people are always standing in front of the booth that is selling the things with a brand new one in their hands. Are we supposed to believe they actually have one at home and just showed up to buy another one while the commercial was being taped?

  20. just as a side note to the beat boxer vids, lin manuel miranda is a pretty talented dude himself. hes the brainchild (writer, lead actor) of ‘in the heights,’ which won multiple tonys this past year including best new musical. super talented kid.

  21. So, wait. No Klawchat today, but instead we get Jared from Subway? I wonder what his thoughts are on Alexei Ramirez’s excellent defense…

  22. Keith,

    I keep reading that the Wilpons (Mets) do not want to go above the $160 million (est.) luxury tax threshold. But I remember reading that because they’d kicked in private cash in addition to public funding for Citifield; they wouldn’t be subject to luxury tax. Have you heard of such a thing?

    Maybe I’m confusing luxury tax and revenue sharing, or are they one in the same?

    I’ve been looking around for info on this but it seems as though stadium-financing discussions with the league aren’t readily available to the public.

    Any info on this would be great. Hope your enjoying your vacation.

    (if any readers have any info I’d appreciate it as well)

    -Chuck