Top 5 Commercials

Today I'd like to introduce a new feature I'm going to have here at the Neighborhood. A top five list. I like making lists. People like reading lists. This seems like a match made in heaven. Plus, I'm working hard on an incredibly difficult programming assignment and I'm reaching an impasse, so finding a way to kill some time is a great idea.

The first top five I'd like to share is my favorite commercials of all time. I'm going to count down in reverse order, so that I build suspense up to my number one. Enjoy!


5. "This is Sportscenter" - Steve Irwin vs. the Florida Gator

The "This is Sportscenter" marketing campaign from ESPN has been a hit for probably more than ten years. While Sportscenter is turning to shit, the commercial levels have not dropped off. It was tough to pick a favorite (the Y2K test was a close 2nd, but I didn't want a Y2K overload in this list). Most of them are hysterical. Check it out.



4. "Man Fights Bear" - John West Salmon

I have to admit, I've never seen this commercial on TV, except for maybe on a show that chronicles the best commercials of all time. I watched this commercial for the first time probably somewhere near my first few years of college, right when I first got personal DSL+ strength internet, and found viral videos. Any commercial that features a bear with boxing moves gets my vote.



3. "Y2K Jogger" - Nike

I alluded to the fact this list would have more Y2K in it in my "This is Sportscenter" description. This commercial for Nike was directed by Spike Jonze, and if my memory serves me correctly, aired before the turn of the millennium. The commercial shows what amounts to be almost a worst-case scenario of the Y2K crash, while a jogger keeps his cool and goes about his daily routine. Although I am not a jogger, nor do I pretend to be, I love this commercial.



2. "Drumming Gorilla" - Cadbury's

If you want a commercial with a zany idea, featuring a song that takes me back to 1988, and a gorilla, then this is your commercial. I don't really know how to describe this commercial, other than to say it's almost the perfect commercial.



1. "Glenn" - Starbucks

A running theme in my favorite commercials is picking a cheesy song from the 1980s and parodying it. The fact that Survivor, the band who wrote "Eye of the Tiger" agreed to do this commercial just raises the awesome factor twentyfold. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself...



Honorable Mention, favorite commercial of this year: "Beer Closet" - Heineken

Beer commercials usually deliver the laughs. I've always enjoyed Heineken's commercials. The Holiday 5-pack is a good one. This one takes a tried-and-true method, projecting female characteristics or actions on males. An instant classic.



Hope you enjoyed my inaugural top five list. Have a great day!

Best. Lab Meeting. EVER.

Every Tuesday at 3:30 our lab group meets to discuss how our research is coming along. It's usually an extremely boring meeting that drifts from tangent to tangent, leaving me ready to decapitate myself and feed my severed head to the nearest dog. Or drink heavily. Whichever is easier. However, today we did something different. Everyone in the lab brought a six pack of beer or other beverage, and several people brought snacks and desserts. We relaxed out on the CCRC patio, where the weather was perfect; upper 70s, and we were in the shade. A light breeze kept things from overheating. In order to keep cold, we stored our beer and assorted soft drinks in the cold room until the meeting, which, while hilarious, was also dangerous, in that any other researchers using the cold room could have easily come in and taken the liquid booty. And knowing most of the rest of the CCRC personnel, it would have taken maybe ten minutes.

Needless to say, while our range of topics in typical lab meetings are usually xylan structures in certain land plants, glycosyl transferase activity and genes, today we discussed cheap wine tasting, Mad Dog 20/20 (incidentally, I always thought Mad Dog was a malt liquor; I guess you learn something every day), the pros and cons of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger in their respective Joker roles, and encounters with the cops my P.I. had under the influence of whatever he was under the influence of when he was in undergrad.

Like the title said, this was the best lab meeting ever.