July 27, 2013
Smoking Hot Boxer
From the Sept. 16, 1939 "Saturday Evening Post." Back when smoking was so ubiquitous, even boxing events were packed with puffers. "Says Joe Williams, Famous Sports Expert." Not sure why that distinction qualifies him to opine about a longer, milder, cooler, mellower smoke, but he seems pretty sure of himself. The boxer in the corner is either interested in the smoking going on behind him, or he's slightly weirded out by the creepy massage guy wearing a turtle neck in a boxing ring, while a young Johnny Carson talks strategy. "And more puffs per pack," which was important back then, in addition to CAMELS HELD THEIR ASH FAR LONGER. No filters on these lung spikes; ring announcers hocked up viscous blorbs of lung butter between rounds, which was the definition of "contentment."
Old Ads
One of my wife's purchases for our store several months ago included an old wooden crate chock full of old "Better Homes and Gardens" and "American Home" going back to 1936 - 1960s.
Some of the ads are hilarious, by today's standards, so I'm going to start posting them here, just for the hell of it, complete with my own unique brand of flippant commentary.
July 25, 2013
Damn Right
I hate search engine optimization (SEO) theories with the white hot intensity of a billion suns, because I think they're all basically bullshit and have the effect of turning writing in a formulaic paste of numbing conformity.
Once again, James Lileks nails it:
When you wander around the web every day you take highways and footpaths. You hit the big sites, meander through your bookmarks of niche sites. I don’t know what you visit and I don’t consult any logs that tell where traffic comes from, but I’d be willing to bet I don’t get a single hit from sites devoted to blogging or writing. To be specific: sites that tell you how to be a better blogger. I believe there are several hundred thousand of them, bursting with tips on how to snag the unblinking eye of the Google Spiders, how to boost your search-engine results to the toppermost of the list, and all the other things too depressing to consider. They’re all about content! and their content has all the joy of eating a plate of peppered putty.
