Advertising observation #2.

There's an ice cream place on 9th Ave at 55th Street called Dippin' Dots. I've been there a few times. It's a strange place. I like it. It's different. They don't really serve ice cream-- but rather, ball-bearing size edible 'dots' that fill up a small, medium, or large cup, and come in various flavors. It's not a bad idea. I guess it's not a good idea either because I looked in the window on my way home tonight and the store is empty. They're gone. The irony is, their sign, which is still stuck to the window, reads the following: "Dippin' Dots. The Ice Cream of The Future."

MTA. Going Your Way, and Pissing Your Money Away.

I was watching a news story the other day about how our beloved subway system has a BILLION dollar surplus. Wow. Aside from the fact that it is positively amazing that a budget with so many eyes on it could get so rampantly out of control, the story was more about what they're going to do with the money moving forward.

To my continued amazement, they're offering people a dollar off here and a dollar off there, during the holiday season. And slightly reduced monthly MetroCards purchased this holiday weekend. What a pathetic waste. Most of the people they interviewed didn't look like they could really use that extra dollar. I imagine even people who can use it aren't going to benefit from it nearly as much as if the MTA had done something really crazy with the BILLION dollar surplus such as: Invest it back in the subway system as capital improvements. Open the much-needed Second Ave. route. Invest it in new subway cars. Invest it in new track technology. Invest it financially (a BILLION dollars at 7% per year is 70 MILLION dollars) so it can generate some cash for those special times when the economy isn't so good. But of course, that never happens. Wait, yes it does. My point is, do anything useful with the money. But do something.

Instead, let's piss it away, one dollar at a time. Oops, they've done that! That way, we'll never feel the benefits at all. And I say 'we' referring to the masses. It is still called 'mass' transit, isn't it? Nice going MTA.

Advertising observation. First in a series.

According to their crappy TV ads, Kay Jewelers “hand selects” every diamond. You know, with tweezers and all. Well, duh. Have we always been under the impression that there is a machine that can do this?

My first post is going to be very short.

The End. Thank you.