Fringe -- Ford, Massive Sellout

My mind was partly on making cookies over the kitchen counter, but I knew Fringe should be on.  I looked up and saw some random family in a car for an extended period of time. I thought, that's not Fringe, that's a car commercial.

Then the car is almost struck by spooky lightning.  So I think, what a minute.  Maybe that is Fringe.

The the family escape with conspicuous use of a rear view screen, and a close up on the 'Ford Contour' logo on the back bumper.  So I think, no, this is a car commercial.

Then the scene changes to the hospital and Walter Bishop is watching over his unconscious son.  So, wait, what? This is Fringe.

Then there is a commerical break and the very first ad is for the Ford Contour.  And I think: you bastards!

Don't tell me that the overly long scene with throw-away characters and stunt driving  that did very little to advance the plot wasn't bought and paid for by Ford as much as the commercial that followed it.

A new low for product placement and right in the middle of what used to be my favorite show.

Do you know how fast you were...?

We know distractions during driving are bad.  Texting, eating, applying make-up.  But how about masturbating with a sex toy whilst watching porn. I have enough trouble understanding why the driver felt that this was a good idea, but the front seat passenger who was holding up the laptop playing the porn is also a special kind of stupid. None of the pleasure and all of the potential to be smeared down the side of the highway.

That's Just Wrong Friday: Toilet Mug

I don't get it....

The cover of Tina Fey's new book, that is.  WTF?

Apparently most people hate the new Lady Gaga cover art...

But I kinda like it.  Maybe you had to be alive in the eighties to appreciate the aesthetic?

As High Fashion Goes....

...this may be a little on the nose.

More On Miss Marple

Okay, so not only is Miss Marple to be in her thirties: "The movie will be set in modern America, rather that St Mary mead – the quiet English village where Miss Jane Marple acts as a crime busting amateur sleuth."

Yeah, um, well.  Mark Gatiss can pull of shit like that, but something tells me that Disney can't.

Grammys go Unisex

In a bold move the Grammy music awards are doing away with gender-specific categories. This is part of a move to drop the number of categories and perhaps increase the prestige of the award. Responses to the announcement have been fairly ambivalent.  It will be interesting to see what happens to the gender balance of the winners of the top awards.  I suspect they will be carefully managed to stay roughly 50/50.

Simpsons Porn

Now this is just... weird. There are many ways you could do a porn parody of the Simpsons, but I suppose this is the... cheapest? Just paint some people who don't bear any real resemblance to the characters yellow and go to. (No nudity or sex in the trailer).

Everything Old is Nubile Again

This is Disney's idea of the right actress to play Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

No, seriously. Jennifer Garner as Miss Maple.

Oy.

(Unless Chorion, which owns the rights, gets cold feet)