Anna Fields's Blog, page 3
October 30, 2010
October 26, 2010
October 20, 2010
This Week's Celeb Rebel Deb: Jimmy "The Rent is Too Damn High!" McMillian
by Matt Cherette
We told you that tonight's New York gubernatorial debate—with seven participants!—would be crazy, but we could have never anticipated this level of it: watch as Jimmy McMillan, of the "Rent Is Too Damn High" party, uh... introduces himself.
October 15, 2010
October 5, 2010
Yep, that's right: We're. All. Doomed. And Here's Why...
— By Kate Sheppard
| Tue Oct. 5, 2010 10:00 AM PDT
— Flickr/bastardo! (Creative Commons).
I don't typically weigh in on green consumer products or environmental marketing. But I'm making an exception given today's troubling news that Frito-Lay is ditching the biodegradable SunChips bag it unveiled 18 months ago because consumers have complained it was "too noisy." Seriously? The company is bagging the bag because American couch potatoes can't hear their TVs over the sound of their chip sack?
I don't necessarily blame Frito-Lay. It's a corporation and its job is to keep customers happy (and make money), so I can forgive them a little timidity on the issue, given that SunChips sales were apparently plummeting. What miffs me is that a little noise was apparently too much for Americans to handle. SunChips sales have reportedly declined more than 11 percent in the past 52 weeks because of the bags. The bags are made from plant-based materials and are 100 percent compostable, which was a pretty big deal—that means you can keep your chip habit without producing a ton of landfill waste. But due to the noise complaints, the company is pulling them immediately, USA Today reports:
The company is returning them to their former bags that can't be recycled — but won't wake the neighbors — while it works frantically to come up with a new, quieter eco-friendly bag.
The noise of the bag — due to an unusual molecular structure that makes the bag more rigid — has been compared to everything from lawnmowers to jet engines.
The article notes that there's a Facebook group with more than 44,000 members called "Sorry But I Can't Hear You Over This SunChips Bag," further evidence that the bags aren't all that popular. Actually, there are at least 153 different SunChip-themed Facebook groups, for whatever that's worth. For now at least, the company still has up its website touting the wonders of the bag, which notes: "Although our compostable bag is a bit louder, we hope you'll appreciate its environmental benefit." There's also a video showing how the bags break down in 14 weeks that concludes with the tag line "Change is irresistable" (which, um, apparently isn't the case).
I'll admit that the bags are certainly a lot louder than your regular non-biodegradable type. The noise is certainly enough to alert your living companions to your snack problem. (Maybe Frito-Lay should re-market it as a diet product if the noise is enough to discourage constant munching.) But is that really impacting Americans' ability to enjoy their chips? Is this what it comes down to—we want our chips crunchy but our bags have to remain silent?
I can't think of a more absurd example of how resistant to change Americans really are. It's not unlike the never-ending debate over compact fluorescent light bulbs; now that all of the other dumb arguments against the more efficient bulbs have been refuted repeatedly, the only one opponents have left is that they simply don't care for the way they look.
Of course everyone is entitled to have opinions about the relative aesthetics of consumer products, but should those really trump the environmental benefits? In the grand scheme of things, this is the absolute, bare-minimum level of sacrifice Americans are asked to make. They still get to eat the same chips, they just come from a different bag; they still light their homes, but with a slightly different bulb. But apparently that's still too much. Even worse is the fact that Americans can't muster the support to pass a climate bill, but a bunch of angry couch potatoes can successfully mobilize to force Frito-Lay to drop their innovative packaging. If the sound of a crinkly eco-chip bag is too much to handle, then the human species really is screwed.
October 1, 2010
This Week's Celeb Rebel Deb: Tony Curtis
"At 17, I dreamed of seeing the world. At 19, I had been around the world and back." - Tony Curtis
RIP, big man.
xoxo,Rebel Deb
September 29, 2010
The Rebel Deb on "Reading with Robin" - WHJJ 920
I was up in Providence, RI, last Saturday, being interviewed by the lovely, adorable Robin Ringer (and her cutie daughter, Emmie!) at WHJJ 920. Her live show, "Reading with Robin," promotes all things books, and she regularly interviews some of the heaviest hitting authors of our age. I felt privileged to become one of them.
Click HERE to listen to my interview. And HERE to check out Robin on the web!
xoxo,Rebel Deb
September 13, 2010
Happy Roald Dahl Day, Everyone!
I, for one, will be celebrating by reading "The BFG," followed by "The Vicar of Nibbleswick," all while devouring a sugar-sprinkled peach. :)
xoxo,Rebel Deb
September 9, 2010
a HA! "I knew those Thin Mints tasted ungodly!"
Seriously, just look at that logo. SO gay.
"We're a wee late getting to this, but it's just too good not to mention. And no, this is not an Onion headline.
When the Girl Scouts aren't helping young girls become confident and productive members of society, they're apparently serving as a feminist training ground for godless, man-hating, pro-abortion lesbianism — at least according to Hans Zeiger, Republican candidate for Washington's House of Representatives.
That's right, this GOP candidate thinks that the nearly century-old organization has been brainwashing your children by feeding them lesbian abortion cookies, according to a statement that was found from earlier this decade:
One might wonder why the Girl Scouts have been spared the painful attacks that have been launched upon the Boy Scouts by the Left in recent years. The reasons are simple: the Girl Scouts allow homosexuals and atheists to join their ranks, and they have become a pro-abortion, feminist training corps.… If the Girl Scouts of America can't get back to teaching real character, perhaps it will be time to look for our cookies elsewhere."
I knew those Thin Mints tasted ungodly! While Zeiger has tried to cover his tracks by having the statement removed (along with a number of other problematic remarks found), the media beat him to the punch. So what was his response? That he removed them because the statements don't represent his values anymore, adding that they would be a "distraction" from the campaign. Yeah, no shit — well, at least a distraction from the campaign he's trying to put forth. Because I'd consider this pretty eye-opening information regarding the campaign, not a distraction, if you ask me."By | Published: SEPTEMBER 8, 2hed: SEPTEMBER 8, 20
September 8, 2010
The REAL Rolling Stone Magazine "True Blood" Cover!
You're welcome. :)
xoxo,Rebel Deb
