I think the key to becoming rich is to take something that already exists, and has existed for quite some time, and make it fashionable.
An example - poker. Why is poker a new fad? Suddenly everyone is obsessed with poker. Poker reality shows. Poker internet pop-ups. Radio ads for classes that will teach you how to play poker.
I don't understand.
I mean, I understand, because poker is awesome. It's always been awesome.
I'm sure there are millions of other examples of this that I can't think of right now.
I said to D "You know what we should do? Make like an Uno version of poker... like for kids... people would go nuts for that right now.... you know, like how Uno is CRAZY EIGHTS (thank you, Mo, for editing) but with Draw Fours and Skips."
Turns out that this has already been invented, and is called Phase 10. I was playing Phase 10 shortly before I suggested this. Apparently I hadn't consciously realized that Phase 10 is a combination of Poker and Rummy 500. I was too fixated on the Rummy 500 similarties.
The task of the week is to think of something that's always been cool and to start a crusade to convince people that this thing is NOW the coolest thing.
This might involve a reality TV show. I'm not happy about that, but if it makes me rich, I won't mind selling out.
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In other news a third Shins show has been added! I couldn't attend either of the original shows as I will be in The South. A third show was just added and I will be at it, thanks to a blog that just announced that tickets went on sale.
Blogs are good.
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D came back from FL last night. I called him as he was boarding the plane in FL, and he said "I have surprises. You are going to be so excited. You won't be able to sleep tonight."
When he arrived, before saying anything to me, he threw his bag on my bedroom floor and pulled from it a box of Lucky Charms. "Can you stand it?" he said.
"Ummm...."
D thinks that food can only be purchased in Florida. (Which is sort of true - its hard to find what you want in NYC, but I don't think you really need to go to FL to go grocery shopping). He also thinks that Target only exists in FL, even though there is now one in Times Square and has always been one in Brooklyn. Then again, the Target in Brooklyn is actually Scary Target, at which you have to put your shopping cart on an escalator in order to get it to the second floor, thus causing anxious people like myself to carry all sorts of awkwardly shaped objects instead of risking losing potential purchases to an unpredictable escalator with notches in it. I'm sure D would like me to tell you that the Target in FL is a Super Target. I'm not sure how much more super Target could be. Sadly I was not able to experience its Super-ocity firsthand due to its being closed on Easter.
I digress.
"CHOCOLATE LUCKY CHARMS!" he said. "This combines two of your favorite things - Lucky Charms and CHOCOLATE!"
Now.
D knows that variations on food that is already good is a pet peeve of mine. I've always been like this - for example, when I was little, I just adored My Little Ponies and loved all of the ones that I had. Then, as soon as little girls had all of the My Little Ponies, they'd come out with NEW My Little Ponies. Baby ones, ones with wings, ones with glitter, ones with fluorescent hair. I was always torn between loyalty to the original and enthusiasm for the new. It was the same with Cabbage Patch Kids. I finally got one, but then they came out with the premie ones, the animal ones (which now horrifies me - I haven't thought about those since elementary school), but I always remained loyal to Sandy, my original doll.
I just don't understand why there has to be flavored Pringles. Pringles RULE. Why do they need to have barbecue flavored ones when the original flavor is perfectly adequate? And Cheez-Its - Cheez-Its are the best thing ever, so why do they now have flavored ones? And pizza-flavored Golfish? WHY!?!?? Why can't we ever just be happy with what we have?
D is an experimenter. He likes the variants. I always say "D, what if you met a bunch of new people who were slight variants on all the people you know? With all else being equal, I guess you'd try? You'd just try new people?!?!? WHY SHOULD I TRY FREAKING WHITE CHEDDAR PRINGLES WHEN THE ORIGINAL IS AWESOME?!?!? WHY SHOULD I WANT SOMETHING ELSE WHEN WHAT I HAVE IS GOOD? WHY WOULD YOU BUY THESE!??! TRAITOR!!!"
Food remixes.
Lame.
Anyway, I didn't launch into my food diatribe because he was so excited, but now I am torn, because I have to try the Lucky Charms even though I hate them just because they exist. I love original Lucky Charms. I never thought "You know, this could be better."
But, more importantly, D has purchased more Star Wars legos for us to play with!!! Now we will have ships for our TIE fighter to play with. Weeee!!!!
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I listened to my friend's radio show this morning. I was torn, because I was listening to Howard Stern prior to his show's beginning and Howard Stern said "How long is the Mitch Hedberg bit? Should we play it now or... well... let's go to ads..."
Torn.
The reason I mention this is because I can rarely find anything on the radio worth listening to, and there I was, for the first time in my life, with a radio conflict!
Mitch Hedberg never came on and I couldn't get a good stream of my friend's show, so there wasn't much of a conflict in the end.
Oh well.
It was, for a moment, cool to be excited about radio.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
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6 comments:
Holy Stream of Consciousness, Batman!
I agree about the chocolate lucky charms. It sounds to me to be disgusting, but perhaps to a boy it is a good idea. Let me know. I do, however, LOVE the new strawberry banana cheerios. It sounds like a bad idea... mixing in freeze dried fruits with a regular, good stand-by like cheerios, but it is really delicious.
Regarding "retro" bandwagons... supposedly BOWLING is "in" again. Whatever. I think this myth is being perpetuated by the people who took over Jillian's and made it into a bowling alley rather than an amusement park in the city. Never mind that there are already like THREE bowling alleys in the Fenway area...
Joe and I are really into playing pool right now. I'm trying to convince my parents that if they buy a pool table, I will visit them more often. I am evil and manipulative, huh?
Dude, I'm telling you. White Cheddar Cheez-Its are laced with heroin or something. They are so good.
And I also do not understand why poker is suddenly EVERYWHERE. And why only Texas Hold 'Em? There are tons of different kinds of poker. But now poker is becoming synonymous with TH'E.
Lastly, Uno is not Old Maid with Draw Fours and Skips, it's Crazy Eights with Draw Fours and Skips. And so much the better for it.
I would love for bowling to be in again. But candlepins. Candlepins should be the only bowling.
My poker group used to play dealer's choice, which was my favorite, because I'd always come up with crazy rules ("Seven-card draw, hearts don't count, worst hand wins."), but now it's all Texas Hold'em, all the time.
I think it's because it's easy to learn, and since everything comes down to two cards, the variance is high enough that it's more likely than other variations to allow the lucky player to beat the skillful player. And the majority of people are unskilled and don't know it. Therefore, lots of unskilled players who are lucky think they're skilled, and keep playing so they can keep winning. PLus, it moves really fast, so it also appeals to everyone's ever-shrinking attention span.
I also like it because I haven't played cards since Whist and Hearts games in college, and shuffling cards keeps my quasi-OCD happy.
Thanks, Mo, for your mad editing skills. Sorry. I was delirious when I wrote this. Yes, Uno is Crazy Eights with bonuses. Word.
regarding old things that become popular again: it has to do with the generation gap, i think. what's old to one person is brand new to someone else. it's going to get weirder and weirder.
I guess I just don't think of Poker as an "old thing." I feel like people have been consistently playing it forever, so its weird that its suddenly chic. And I feel like its ubiquitous - like people everywhere play it, of all ages, but as soon as celebrities play it on TV, BAM!!! We must ALL become good at and play poker.
Whist. Sigh. Banalities, you should move to NYC and we can play Whist again, just like the old days.
When I was playing Phase 10 in FL, the family was tres impressed by my mad dealing skills. I am glad to still have them, since I haven't played cards in about 6 years. Ridiculous.
And yes, it is completely acceptable for bowling to come back (which it is, although was it ever gone?) if its candlepin only.
Rollerskating is the next thing. Mark my words. I bet this happens within the next two years. Skating rinks will be resurrected.
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