Macbeth the children's show?

Arthur the tv show-  another look into an adult masterpiece integrated.


 - Out darn spot -  I heard this Macbeth reference and laughed to myself.  At first I thought it was just a standalone reference thrown into the episode for amusement but after paying attention to the episode I realized that the whole story is a Macbeth parallel.
The episode revolves around setting up Brain to make it look like he stole something. Though not murder is a children's show. It started with a fortune telling scene (though only one, not three witches) which led to a prophesy. From there the whole episode is based off of guilt and the fight with covering up their crime. The title of the episode should be the first give away "MacFrensky" and they threw in a random Scottish character (Thunder Macduff) to round out the theme. The episode ended with Ratburn quoting  Shakespeare.



-MEW

Black Friday and other deals

Im am a very experienced shopping, to me its like a sport. I dont buy anything expensive thats not worth it and I get a thrill out of finding expensive quality items on clearance, which Im really good at with out putting any real research or effort in other than showing up to a store.
Black Friday was upon us recently and I only attended one time, to buy a computer, which I feel is a decent reason to go out also I only stood in line for like 20 minutes.  Though the context of my computer purchase was that I hadn't had one in 6 months ( I know ridiculous) and I needed something cheap. I would not recommend buying any electronics that you want to last during black Friday. Most items that are put on super clearance or brought in just for black Friday are made specifically for this shopping holiday and the quality reflects the new crazy price. Dont get sucked in. After this recent black Friday I watched several popular Black Friday Haul videos on Youtube and noticed a few things. Common sense is not existent. The first store that everyone hit up was Victoria's Secret. Yes the quality of the clothing etc is pretty decent, though a bit over priced, Black Friday there are not any deals that I would even open my eyes for. Each year they have an option when you get to the door of leggings or a hoodie and at first I thought oh thats nice, no you still have to pay 25$ for them, Oh wow thanks for the honor of letting me pay 25$ for this item that again was clearly mass produced with even less quality for this event. I poured over black Friday adds and I thought I found something worth my time. A tablet that had a key board attached from Walmart for only 168$ish. I looked around and for the RAM and processor (2/quad-core) the deal really couldn't be beaten. I used it for a week and it annoyed mje so much I returned it. I have never returned an electronic devise ever, I was pushed off the cliff with this one. Everytime I wanted to use the key board I had to hold the tablet on the edge and press it down into it and tilt it slightly. Obviously buying cheap computers is not a good idea these days, but dont worry I found a loop hole! I was desperate after I returned the tablet I needed a good computer for only 300$. I was looking at target.com casually and saw that they sell computers (I know odd). I looked around and my desire for something with an i5 processor minimum and 8gb of RAM as a goal. (knowing this unrealistic) I found a section of refurbished computers offering everything I wanted for the price too, As a person who has worked in retail and repaired computers for a living I know the ins and outs of crap in the electronic world, though as a person who preferred non used items I always thought of refurbished computers a dumb idea. I was wrong. New especially with electronics these days, which are very flimsy and replaceable, isnt the best option. I, with out any other options, bought the refurbished computer. It arrived yesterday and I could not have fallen into a better gold mine. I saw the model when I unboxed it and it is an older looking laptop, not super old but not from this year. It was heavier and the parts were sturdy. Though at this point I was of course still skeptical ready to lean on that 30 day return option. I could not find the system key to activate the operating system so I called their costumer service department, I was on hold for about an hour and the person who helped me solved my problem immediately. I was very impressed. After I started the computer I fell in love, The speed is exceptional and the quality is that of a time when quality existed. After running through three computers that were cheap and new this is a breath of fresh air in an unexpected place.

    Coupons, Im not a big coupon user, at least in person, but online there are codes you can use and its so liberating to see money drop off the cart price. Cyber Monday was pretty good with overall discounts. I found many sites that offered 20% to even more off of total purchases. So I bought what I normally would, and spent a lot less.

   TO return to YouTube hauls. When I said there was a lack of common sense i was proved right and right again. Every person that I watched on youtube got a lot of their items for full price and were given the false sense of deal success. I know its easy to get sucked in but just because it is black Friday it doesn't mean you are getting a good deal.

A Genius Detective Homage

Ok I am not a consistent blogger but I don't know where to post these interesting TV findings other than here. 
 I happened to be watching Arthur the cartoon tv show...I noticed something very interesting .... adult culture mixed into children shows really interests me since the children watching this have never experienced the adult reference. In this episode of Arthur, "Fern and the case of the stolen story" Fern tells a detective story and it is clearly a spoof of Agatha Christie's Poirot, the main character has a Belgian accent and her name rhymes with Poirot, and her partner (Bastings) is a play on Poirot's partner Captain Hastings. The phrases and detective style is literally the same as that of Poirot. Ironically the episode is about stealing other peoples works and changing the names slightly. Then not only is this knock off Poirot in this episode but also "Phony Fern" It was that episode that it went from walking the line with a subtle hint of imitation to full blown character paralleling. The simple phrase involving "little gray cells"  It is a common phrase of Poirot when he deduces and solves a crime typically him being cocky at the end of an episode essentially saying he is smart.  

-MEW

READ!

Opinions... they are impossible to avoid. I find myself coming across many people who respond to my inquiry of their political opinions indifferent. Not caring must be a fine tuned skill. If an issue or scenario is presented to me, no matter what format, I typically form an opinion. The problem with my generation isn't that most of us don't vote, its that most of us don't take the time to care to listen or learn about the issues to begin with.

Opinions are usually formed instantaneously so i think people in general need to listen to some of the worldly issues, just knowing about them is the first step to bettering our country.

-MEW

Retail sales up, and so are hopes.

Recently fox news published that retail sales were up 0.4 percent in August. Tenth a percent up since July and overall the best numbers since March. CIT Group Inc stated that "retailers and suppliers are optimistic that consumer spending will pick up in 2011." (Retail Sales Up 0.4 Percent in August, Published September 14, 2010. Fox news.com). Of course retail stores have more sales in August, that's when children go back to school. From my experience no matter how poor someone is they make sure they save up their money so their kids can have nice school supplies. That would be like being surprised that sales are up in December right before Christmas. I do agree that spending overall will start to increase though not as much as it did in August. The economy seems to be getting better and people are not panicking now like they were in 2008. "Things" seem to be a tiny bit more stable from a consumers point of view, and the more we hear about health care in the news the more we will forget about our financial fears and decide to spend spend spend.

the entrepreneurial factory

Though his show is on MTV, not the greatest forum for any intelligent findings or revelations, I found some diamond in the rough salvation bedded with in the depths of Rob Dyrdeks fantasy factory. At the core of the show lies Rob and his extreme determination and entrepreneurial skills. Every week he takes a seeming immature sport, skateboarding, and such activities and makes them look like good investments. He sells himself like a professional. He leaves small nuggets throughout the show that he gives to his friends and potential clients that are therefore delivered to everyone at home if they listen closely. There are surprises in many places on T.V. Who said you can only learn from the discovery channel?