iToy

It is definitely different this time.

No screaming throngs crammed into Moscone Center, shrieking when the TurtleNecked One steps on to the stage, and starts recreating life, as we know it, with the latest-and-greatest Apple product, all but throwing themselves at his feet, or rushing the stage with their first-born cradled in arms.



Apple has stores now, so they can spread around the Apple Worship, generating buzz with Mister-and-Misses-HaveEveryMacProduct bundled up in well-worn sleeping bags, days in advance, sure to become the local news crews' geek-of-the-week interview.

No, rather than sprinkle the new iPad around to all the acolyte tech bloggers, to gin-up that Cupertino-approved ground buzz, Apple only handed out a few, and detoured from the little guys to go gangbusters mainstream, in living color, on prime time television;

John Biggs, over on CrunchGear;

Something struck me about Apple’s handling of the iPad launch this week. Instead of countless nerds spouting off in early reviews, only a few major tech press folks got early samples. Instead, the iPad showed up in a show the missus and I watch, Modern Family.*

That’s right: instead of an overfed talking-head tech reporter pawing over the iPad on morning TV, the iPad got prime-time coverage in a sitcom. Think about the last computer company to get that kind of screen time. Only Microsoft, in their abysmal product placement in Family Guy comes to mind. But in Modern Family the iPad was a major plot point. While I’m sure Apple paid a pretty penny for the exposure, I don’t doubt the folks at ABC would have put the product in for free had Apple asked.

Well, John, it may be that is was a gigantic big, fat freebie wet kiss



Modern Family' Featured an IPad, but ABC Didn't Collect ...Why Apple Didn't Have to Pay for Play -- Again

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Apple may not have paid for its new and much-ballyhooed iPad device to be woven into a main storyline in last night's showing of "Modern Family" on ABC, but everyone is acting as if they did.

Apple has been telling other media outlets it paid nothing for "Family's" bumbling Phil Dunphy character to spend the better part of the program yearning for a new Apple iPad (due out this Saturday) and even stroking the machine wistfully at show's end. And two people familiar with the situation reiterate that notion, telling us Apple and the studio that produces "Modern Family" -- News Corp's 20th Century Fox -- collaborated on its hard-to-miss cameo. Also worth noting: On Twitter, actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell on the show, said "I will say that no 'Product' has been 'Placed' in my itchy little palm. I am excited about the iPad & will probably break down and buy one!"

[snip]

Apple historically doesn't pay for appearances in programming, moreover, and it may not have to. Its gadgets and computers are viewed as status symbols, even cultural icons, so it's no wonder to see shows that want to make characters seem hip -- witness the perennial appearance of an Apple laptop in HBO's "Sex and the City" -- happily weave its goods into scenes and hands.

[snip]

Even without Apple plunking down any cash, last night's episode was tantamount to a huge wet kiss of approval for a product that has yet to be tested by actual consumer use. And it comes after "Modern Family" has helped burnish the Toyota name, allowing its characters to drive cars from the automaker, which has suffered after some of its cars were said to accelerate unexpectedly.

The hallowed buzz Job's is seeking is coming in, a bit muted, a little fuzzy.

The new product has thrown the Tech Heads a curve ball.

iPad isn't a computer, as much as it is an enlarged iPhone, minus the calling features, a technological piece of catnip, designed to have all the little MacKitties rub up against it, and then pull out their wallets at Apple's Citizen Kane-level domination ambitions, the AppStore.

I doubt we'll hear of injuries, or death, of someone's iPad suddenly accelerating, however, and especially for 'Modern Family' fans, we can't vouch for the safety of someone jumping into their Toyota's, to rush off to the nearest Apple Store.

It's really sounding like, more-or-less, an iToy.

Joshua Brustein, in the NYT Bits column today;

Much of this excitement comes from people who would never give a second thought to the restrictions Apple put on those developing software for the device. As both David Pogue and David Carr pointed out, the iPad is really a tool to consume media, not create content.

WOW!

To have an iPad, we have to double-up, first, being "consumers", taking that first step of saying "I want to buy an iPad", and then, once we have it, we have to "consume" media.

Which, if you've followed us, will be ready, and amply-stocked, at the AppStore.

Brustein was responding to Cory Doctorow, over on Boing Boing (where his colleague there, Xeni Jardin, loves it), who is putting on the iBrakes;

Why I won't buy an iPad (and think you shouldn't, either)

Incumbents made bad revolutionaries

Relying on incumbents to produce your revolutions is not a good strategy. They're apt to take all the stuff that makes their products great and try to use technology to charge you extra for it, or prohibit it altogether.

[snip]

But with the iPad, it seems like Apple's model customer is that same stupid stereotype of a technophobic, timid, scatterbrained mother as appears in a billion renditions of "that's too complicated for my mom" (listen to the pundits extol the virtues of the iPad and time how long it takes for them to explain that here, finally, is something that isn't too complicated for their poor old mothers).

The model of interaction with the iPad is to be a "consumer," what William Gibson memorably described as "something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It's covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth... no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote."

The way you improve your iPad isn't to figure out how it works and making it better. The way you improve the iPad is to buy iApps. Buying an iPad for your kids isn't a means of jump-starting the realization that the world is yours to take apart and reassemble; it's a way of telling your offspring that even changing the batteries is something you have to leave to the professionals.

Read all of Doctrow's post, as he goes on to slap the MSM upside the head, calling their fawning over Apple "Journalism is looking for a daddy figure," as he lays out more reasons to avoid the iPad.

Apple has the status-thing down pat, so we will soon be seeing breathless stories of the iPad "flying off the shelves", which may, or may not be followed, in the months ahead, of complaining, that all the iPad can do is "consume media", or the caterwauling of all the different apps one will have to purchase, to have that "iPad" experience.

It is in the end, a gadget, and there will be other gadgets to follow, to compete with the iPad. minus, of course, the glitter of Apple Status, that will drive down cost, and populate the landscape with all kinds of "media consumers".

All well-and-good, until Apple puts out iPad.02.

That is, of course, if Job's didn't misread the "consuming media" thing, and doesn't suddenly turn into Adam Osborne.


Bonus Riffs

Emily Holleman: A roundup of the early iPad reviews ...Apple's new tablet won't be released until Saturday, but the early notices are favorable -- with a few gripes

Danny O'Brien's Oblomovka: cd-roms and ipads

Juli Weiner: iPad Backlash: The Time is Nigh

Ravi Somaiya: iPad Backlash: The iPad is Not Your Savior

More iToy/iPad at Techmeme


Bonus Bonus Riffs

Apple Settles With Cisco!; Rolling Dice With New iBeckham Phone ...Jobs Promises Aging Soccer Star Can Store "Billions of Photos" of Himself; New "Posh" Command Added

New iPod Phone Requires Downloading Calls

Apple Takes Blog Ruling As New Club On Criticism and Dissent

This Date ... On The Garlic

3 April 2008... On The Garlic

No Doubt, Lou Dobbs Will Go Absolut-ely Apocalyptic

The Hillary Deathwatch


3 April 2006... On The Garlic

White House Chides Media Again; Calls For “Better Daylight Saving Time” Stories

Top Ten Cloves: Things About ESPN Televising Dominoes Events

Haven't They Seen The Movie?

Talk about Sisyphus, pushing the rock uphill.



World's 'freshest organic' cola set to launch next week

LONDON - Cow Cola is to be launched next week with backing from a number of leading US investors, and the positioning 'Made on farms. Not in factories'.

The company aims to challenge Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the soft drinks sector, positioning itself as a more natural, healthier and better-tasting product than its rivals.

[snip]

The product gets its name from the way that it has been manufactured, as the drink is made from genetically engineered cows, as opposed to being created in a factory.

The origins of Cow Cola go back to 1996, when a farmer in Lithuania discovered his milk was cola-flavoured. It was later discovered that his neighbour, a bar owner, was pouring waste cola from his bar onto the field where the cows grazed to make the grass grow better.

Scientists at the agricultural chemical giant Copsi acquired the cow and, over 10 years, have genetically engineered a breed of cow to produce a pure cola (without any milk content).

(Here's their website, though, it doesn't appear to be working properly)

Holy Cow!

They've got two major-league fastballs to hit here.

One, taking on Coca Cola, Pepsi, and the gaggle of other second-tier cola drink-makers, is going to be formidable, to understate it .

And, secondly, they have to sell the concept of genetically-engineered cows, that produce cola, instead of milk.

Let's throw that one into a Heartland focus group.

Here's a video on this 'Cow Cola' and note how, in Part II, the farmer laments his cow producing cola, how "that is not right" and how the chemical company took the cow and now it only produces cola, and that he wants to change over and become a chicken farmer;

Cow Cola, the Camper & the Farmer



A commentor offers "Copsi are a big agricultural chemical company who have been dealing in GM for years. This is really frightening stuff."

And if this isn't making an impression on their chances of marketing this stuff successfully, somebody needs to get them a DVD, or video, of the 1985 movie, 'The Coca Cola Kid' (A nice little film, very funny, with a young Eric Roberts and young, as well as quite fetching, Greta Scacchi; Here's the trailer for it).



Maybe, along with producing cola, they can get the cow to push that rock up the hill.

Me thinks, if cows could produce cola, simply by feeding them coca-cola-saturated grass, Coke (or Pepsi) would have had this wrapped up decades ago.

Perhaps it would evolve, into a story today, of a rum-producing bovine.


Bonus Riffs

Retro Garlic ... “There’s a food Ponzi scheme going on’’

Strap On Your Tinfoil Chefs' Hats

M'm! M'm! Good!

Spam-A-Lot ...The Eating Kind!

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Spinach Industry Plans To Overcome E. Coli Setback

Send Ronald McDonald To The Cornfield!

Where's Timmy, from that classic Twilight Zone episode, when you really need him?

To me, it has always seemed that Ronald McDonald was like the obsequious, caddy, bad-dressing friend/uncle/co-worker, take your pick, that doesn't get it that he is not cool and hip.

Even that they have regulated him, primarily, to their charity work, he still pops up and it still provokes a gastrointestinal groan.



So, we have someone out on the front lines, looking to address the situation;

Group Aims to Send Ronald McDonald to Retirement Home ...Compares McD's Clown to the Late Joe Camel

One of the groups that led the ultimately successful campaign to banish Joe Camel from advertising now has a new target: Ronald McDonald.

"It's time that Ronald McDonald joined Joe Camel in retirement," argues Corporate Accountability International on its "Retire Ronald" website. "These tired mascots should be spending their golden years relaxing and sharing tales of their bygone days spent targeting children with deadly products."

(Here's CAI's website)

It's past the level that Ronald McDonald does a disservice to clowns, real, funny, entertaining clowns.

And, it has long been specious for McDonald's to target the youngest of our population with the use of a manufactured, second-rate, corporate clown.

A commentor, on Ad Age's site has it;

The clown is over anyway. He has no appeal to children and despite sad attempts to yank him into the 21st century (slimmed down, riding a skateboard and using 'hip,' txt-speak) he is not relevant or fun. I mean, have you EVER known a kid who was into Ronald? CAI's campaign could be great for McDonald's. They start a dialog, act all concerned, then phase out this outdated brand figure. Or better yet, retire him to some bronze plaque outside the Ronald McDonald House Charity.

If they don't retire him, at least they can change their signs to read "Over 1-Billion Duped".

Another Great One Gone ... Jazz Guitarist Herb Ellis

We caught a post this morning that, truly, brought with it a good deal of sadness.

Legendary jazz guitarist Herb Ellis has passed.



I had seen him perform live, countless times, back in the 80;s and 90's and it was always, always, an uplifting, in-the-groove, performance.

Emma Brown notes that "Mr. Ellis was a member during the 1950s of the Oscar Peterson trio, which served as the house recording band for Verve Records and accompanied a who's-who of jazz greats, including Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison and Ben Webster."

Legendary is almost an understatement.

From the New York Times;

Herb Ellis, Jazz Guitarist, Is Dead at 88

Mr. Ellis was an early disciple of Charlie Christian, whose deft improvisations, built on long single-note lines, established the template for modern jazz guitar in the 1940s. But he was always more than an imitator: his style mixed the harmonic sophistication of bebop with the earthy directness of the blues and seasoned the blend with a twang more typical of country music than jazz.

While never a major star, he was long a favorite of critics and musicians. In 1959 a fellow guitarist, Jim Hall, praised his “fantastic fire and drive.” In 1990 Gary Giddins of The Village Voice raved about the “easy, loping quality” of his playing, “buoyed by familiar dissonances yet surprisingly free of cliché.”

[snip]

He first attracted wide attention during his five-year stint with Peterson’s popular group, which, like the Soft Winds, included a bassist (Ray Brown) but no drummer. The absence of a percussionist required Mr. Ellis to provide the rhythmic foundation for Peterson’s energetic playing as well as the guitar solos; he did it so well that when he left the trio in 1958, Peterson replaced him not with another guitarist but with a drummer.

Keith Thursby/LA Times - Herb Ellis dies at 88; jazz guitarist

Mike Finnigan - C&L's Late Night Music Club, RIP Herb Ellis

Herb Ellis, on Wikipedia


Here's some tunes, and we highly encourage you to explore, and seek out, some of Herb Ellis's music.


Herb Ellis - Sweet Georgia Brown (1986)




Freddie Green Herb Ellis Orange, Brown and Green




Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis - Flintstones Theme




RIP Herb Ellis!

This Date ... On The Garlic

2 April 2009... On The Garlic

It Never Entered My Mind


2 April 2008... On The Garlic

A Little Yoo Wop

I Missed Home Ec For This!


2 April 2007... On The Garlic

Look No Further, Your Handy Baseball Primer


2 April 2006... On The Garlic

Special Essay - Play Ball! ... Batter Up! Could You Please Tell Me, What Is This Thing Called Baseball?

Garlic Poll Results: Most People Think The PNAC Is ...

Google Reciprocates ...

Earlier this month, we brought to you the news that Topeka, Kansas, in their channeling of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, was changing their name to Google, Kansas, in an effort to land a fiber optic deal Google is rolling out.

So, today, Google CEO Eric Schmidt returned the favor;



A different kind of company name

Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We’ve been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM (Central Daylight Time) April 1st, Google has officially changed our name to Topeka.

[snip]

A change this dramatic won’t happen without consequences, perhaps even some disruptions. Here are a few of the thorny issues that we hope everyone in the broader Topeka community will bear in mind as we begin one of the most important transitions in our company’s history:

• Correspondence to both our corporate headquarters and offices around the world should now be addressed to Topeka Inc., but otherwise can be addressed normally.
  

• Google employees once known as “Googlers” should now be referred to as either “Topekers” or “Topekans,” depending on the result of a board meeting that’s ongoing at this hour. Whatever the outcome, the conclusion is clear: we aren’t in Google anymore.
  

• Our new product names will take some getting used to. For instance, we’ll have to assure users of Topeka News and Topeka Maps that these services will continue to offer news and local information from across the globe. Topeka Talk, similarly, is an instant messaging product, not, say, a folksy midwestern morning show. And Project Virgle, our co-venture with Richard Branson and Virgin to launch the first permanent human colony on Mars, will henceforth be known as Project Vireka.
  

• We don’t really know what to tell Oliver Google Kai’s parents, except that, if you ask us, Oliver Topeka Kai would be a charming name for their little boy.
  

• As our lawyers remind us, branded product names can achieve such popularity as to risk losing their trademark status (see cellophane, zippers, trampolines, et al). So we hope all of you will do your best to remember our new name’s proper usage:

Michael Arrington wasn't amused, but Boing Boing jumped into the spirit of things;

Also, Googlers are henceforth to be known as Topekans. Employees of Topeka who were originally from Kansas, be prepared for long, confusing conversations with your parents. No word on how this will effect stock holders. But if things go poorly, and you end up owning a hunk of the Sunflower State, the Konza Prairie is lovely this time of year. Just saying.

Additionally, Vladislav Savov, over on Engadet has a round-up of AFD hijinx, and it is hysterical.

We were rather partial to the "World's First Inflatable Lap Top" and "Real Helicopter Controlled by Nokia N900".

Happy April Fool's Day!

Bonus Google Riffs

Top Ten Cloves: Possible Reasons Google Flu Tracker Didn't Pick Up Swine Flu

Life Imitates Art ... Or, Did Burt Lancaster Invent Google Earth?

Breaking News! Giant Search Engine Downed By GOP and RNC Staffers ...Google Crashes! Besieged With “I’m Feeling Lucky” Searches From White House, Congress ...Amazon, D.C. Novelty Stores Hit With Run On Magic 8-Balls

Hey Davenport Iowa, Use Our List Next Time!

Much in the spirit of Eddie Izzards "Flag" routine, or Burgess Meredith's grunting "You need a manager" mantra in Rocky, Davenport, you need to have a better plan.

Davenport, Iowa, that is.



See, they took the bold step of actually doing that "separation of church and state" thing

Iowa Town Renames Good Friday to 'Spring Holiday'

One week before the most solemn day in the Christian year, the city of Davenport, Iowa removed Good Friday from its municipal calendar, setting off a storm of complaints from Christians and union members whose contracts give them that day off.

Taking a recommendation by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission to change the holiday's name to something more ecumenical, City Administrator Craig Malin sent a memo to municipal employees announcing Good Friday would officially be known as "Spring Holiday."

[snip]

"We merely made a recommendation that the name be changed to something other than Good Friday," said Tim Hart, the commission's chairman. "Our Constitution calls for separation of church and state. Davenport touts itself as a diverse city and given all the different types of religious and ethnic backgrounds we represent, we suggested the change."

Ahh, as you might anticipate, it got a bit noisy, so they backed down;

City employees, beginning with local police, feared the name change would violate their union contracts with the city, which specifies Good Friday as an official municipal holiday. Employees that work city holidays are paid time and a half.

Davenport officials called the name change an "error."

"The City of Davenport will be observing "Good Friday" as a City Holiday on April 2," read a statement released today.

"City Administrator Malin, in error, forwarded the recommendation to staff for further review and action, leading to release of a holiday notice with the holiday named 'Spring Holiday,' rather than "Good Friday," read the release.

All you had to do, Davenport, was contact us here at The Garlic.

We could have helped you out on selling this thing.

We have a list, you could have pulled from, to punch up the proposal;

Top Ten Cloves: Things The Vatican Has Done To Make Good Friday Even Better

Next time, call us.

This Date ... On The Garlic

1 April 2009... On The Garlic

New Math


1 April 2008... On The Garlic

Don't Tell The Lincoln Group About This ...

Rififi Director, Jules Dassin, Blacklisted, Dies at 96


1 April 2007... On The Garlic

Hey, Wait A Minute ... We're Not Falling For That One Again ... The Results - The Garlic Weekly Poll


1 April 2006... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves 1 April 2006


1 April 2005... On The Garlic

Happy April Fools Day! Entire World Clicks Onto The Garlic Sets New Web/Blog Record

Top Ten Cloves: Special April Fools Headlines We'll Never See

How's Goldman Sachs Going To Exploit This?

Certain individuals, particularly centered on those with a gambling problem, have been known to "bet the house", from time-to-time.

Now, thanks to some new "innovative financing", they can also "bet the stadium" (perhaps, along with the house).



Colleges offering ‘sports mortgages’

Now, combine that frustration with cash-strapped college athletics departments, struggling to upgrade aging stadiums, and you’ve got the latest innovation in marketing for big-time athletics — the sports mortgage.

At Kansas, Jayhawk fans who sign up to pay up to $105,000 over 10 years will earn the right to buy guaranteed top seats for football over the next three decades. In return, the seats themselves will stay locked in at 2010 prices.

[snip]

The new pricing plans are known as “equity seat rights,’’ and are being pitched as a win-win for fans and teams. Diehard fans can be certain of what they’ll pay to see their favorite team well into the future — and can always sell tickets in the secondary market while taking a tax write-off for donating to a school. Teams can bank on extra revenue and avoid borrowing.

Stadium Capital Financing Group, the Chicago company behind the change, says it has the potential to transform how both college and pro teams court their most loyal fans. They’re confident sports mortgages will overtake the personal seat license, which doesn’t necessarily lock in ticket prices.

Okay, we're coloring outside the lines here, putting the ol' thinkin' caps on.

But what happens if the mortgage company, perhaps due to other investments, tanks?

How's Goldman Sachs going to exploit this?

Does, say, Goldman Sachs raise there hand, purchase the company, chop up the companies debt, and start selling "Stadium Derivatives", essentially just repackaging their programs that helped tank the world's economy?

Sports Mortgages?

Sounds like "three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-a-financial-mess" getting ready to come out of the locker room.


Bonus Goldman Sucks Riffs

Matt Taibbi: The Great American Bubble Machine

Paul Krugman: The Joy of Sachs

John Cook: Congrats Goldman Sachs! You're the New Symbol of Banker Greed

Survey Shows Name Should Be "Goldman Sucks"

Yet More Reasons The Survey Says Goldman Sucks!

Today's Ignorant Dolt - Brian Griffiths, of Goldman Sachs

This Date ... On The Garlic

31 March 2009... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Great Things About Obama Taking Over General Motors

And, In The Coma Department ...

A Shel Silverstein Remembrance


31 March 2008... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Excuses Hillary Clinton Is Giving For Not Paying Her Campaign Bills

We Bring You The Head of Alphonso Jackson

It's Now Dirt Nap Time In America


31 March 2005... On The Garlic

Yankee's Have More Than The Unit For Sox Opener; Tensions High As Many On Team Bringing Big Brothers For Retribution

Media Hunts For Next Med Case; Looking For High Tensions, Legal and Rights Extras

NIST Warns Of Caution In 'Springing Forward'; Cites Annual Deaths, Injuries Climbing

Top Ten Cloves: Highlights of First Lady's Trip To Afghanistan

Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain Lays Odds He'll Suspend His Campaign Again

Maybe he shook hands with Ms. Ya'Bet'cha last week, and hasn't washed since, the ink from her hand causing some level of brain-swelling.

Or maybe, he's just hitting the Stupid Juice again (as he must have done, two-years ago, when he chose The Wasilla Whiz Kid as his running mate).



The Hill has a report today, that Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain "can draw a scenario" that President Obama is going to fall on his knees, beg the PartyofNoicans for forgiveness, and completely repeal, and rewrite, the Healthcare Reform bill to their liking.

"If the intensity level is as high as it is, I can draw you a scenario where the president would be forced to repeal or really replace it with the provisions [Republicans] wanted," McCain said in an interview with KFYI 550.

At the very least, Republicans could refuse to fund healthcare, the Arizona Republican added.

"You could basically repeal major provisions of it" by refusing to fund them, McCain said.

By the time the Midterms roll around, the only one's carping about the Healthcare Reform Bill will be the PartyofNoicans, and their army of Teabagger puppets.

And, besides, McCain will break his own pledge, of doing nothing for the rest of the year.

I don't know, if he starts dropping in the polls, I smell a "crises" brewing, and that means McCain may have to suspend his campaign, again.


Bonus Stumblin' Bumblin' McCain Riffs

The Bob Dole For The New Millennium

"The insinuation, that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, doesn't know how many houses he has, is outrageous!"

Everything He Learned?

This Was One Cool Cat ... RIP Donald Frey

For anyone, about 10-years-old, or older, in 1965, you couldn't escape drooling over, fantasizing about owning one, daydreaming of tooling around in the hippest, sharpest, coolest-looking automobile on the planet.

We speak, of course, about the Ford Mustang.



News came out yesterday, that the designer of the Mustang, Donald Frey, passed away.

Donald N. Frey, Designer of the Mustang, Dies at 86

Though much of the Mustang was borrowed from other Ford vehicles, including a Falcon chassis, the car developed an identity all its own for a younger generation in search of new looks and experiences. It was designed to appeal to both men and women, had a dash of elegance copied from European sports cars, and featured a galloping steed in the middle of its grille that buyers thought was, well, really cool.

Steve McQueen was almost upstaged by the souped-up Mustang he drove in the movie “Bullitt.’’

Dr. Frey and his team created the car in just 18 months, and expectations were modest when it was introduced on April 17, 1964, at the New York World’s Fair. Ford figured it would sell 80,000 Mustangs in its first year. It sold more than a million in its first two years.

[[snip]

At his death Dr. Frey owned an original Mustang, his son Christopher said, adding that he liked to drive it fast.

From the days that 'Madmen' would envy, Wikipedia offers;

At times besieged by autograph seekers for his role with the Mustang,[1] Frey had been most proud of assisting Ford in including safety improvements including disc brakes and radial tires in their lineup.[1] In 1967, TIME called Frey "Detroit’s sharpest idea man".[1]

Jonathon Ramsey, over on Autoblog, has more;

Frey, who was assistant general manager and and chief engineer of a Ford Motor Company still suffering dry heaves over the Edsel, said he watched GM put bucket seats in the Corvair and rename it Monza, and it began to pick up with customers. There was also the dinner table motivation of his kids telling him his cars stunk.

Frey's first take on the Mustang was a mid-engined convertible in 1962 which, while working with Ford General Manager Lee Iacocca, he would develop into the car introduced to the World's Fair in 1964. When the coupe predicted to sell 80,000 units a year actually sold a million-plus units in its first two years – and then sold and sold and sold – Frey became an American legend. The rest is not just history, it's the present and the future, with the Mustang certain to be a staple in the Ford portfolio for years to come.

All that, and then, what has to be the all-time greatest product placement in history;

Bullitt - Steve McQueen Famous Car Chase




RIP Donald Frey!


Bonus Auto Riffs

Retro Garlic: HuffPo Still Impacting Auto Industry

What's Good For Tesla Motors ...

Breaking News! GM Cancels UAW In Favor of Adopting Huffington Post Business Model ... Celebrities, Auto Enthusiasts and Bloggers To Build Cars For Free; Huge Spike In Profits Forecast

Obit - Avis Founder Pulls Off The Road at 92

Obituary: DeLorean Founder Dies at 80

This Date ... On The Garlic

30 March 2009... On The Garlic

What's Good For Tesla Motors ...

You Don't Hit With Your Face

PNAC Going All Xe On Us

For The Want of A Catscan ...


30 March 2008... On The Garlic

It's Here! ... Baseball and The Garlic's Infamous Essay!

Some Slaps For His Taps


30 March 2006... On The Garlic

Politics and Sports Collide: Paperwork Mix-Up Has Feingold Censuring Bonds and MLB Investigating Bush

Top Ten Cloves: Problems Iraqi P.M. al-Jaafari Has Telling Bush To Stop Interfering In Iraqi Politics


30 March 2005... On The Garlic

Google Acquires Urchin; Sets Up For Revenue Windfall

White House Eyes Role For Annan

Top Ten Cloves: McDonald's New Hit Rap Tunes

This Date ... On The Garlic

29 March 2008... On The Garlic

Future Stella or Darwin Award Winner?

So Much For The Family and Friends Plan


29 March 2006... On The Garlic

“Mission Accomplished” and “The insurgency in its’ final throes” May Be Put On Card.”; White House Tense As Many Wait, Impatiently, For Card Exit; Rove, Hadley, Cheney Watching Clock For Timing; Have Smear and Blame Programs To Launch Against Former Chief

Top Ten Cloves: Testimonials Of Support That Didn’t Work For Jack Abramoff


29 March 2005... On The Garlic

Garlic Exclusive! Easter Egg Hunt Yields Sadam's WMD's

Hughes Plans International Tupperware Party For First Image Effort

Top Ten Cloves: Ways To Tell Your Identity Has Been Hacked

Paging Andy Card ...Or: From The "What If Paranoids Are Right" Department

Funny, in doing a Google search this morning, on the Obama Campaign for President, I couldn't find "A covert CIA Manipulation Program you can believe in", anywhere



Earlier this week, Adrian Chen, over on Gawker, brought to our attention the organization Wikileaks, and how the U.S. Government wants to put a serious ass-whipping on them.

Is the U.S. Government Spying on a Tiny Secret-Sharing Website?

Wikileaks.org is a website legendary in certain circles for posting documents people want hidden from the world. The Pentagon is not a fan. Now, Wikileaks is accusing the U.S. of spying on its editors.

[snip]

Wikileaks, which is run by a 9-person advisory board, has built a reputation based on its impressive record of posting secret documents like the ones that threaten the U.S. Army. These include emails hacked from Sarah Palin's private account, 570,000 pager messages from 9/11 and the infamous climate change scientist emails. They have also posted sensitive U.S. military documents—most prominently the standard operating procedures for Guantanamo Bay.

Holy Spooky Shadows Batman!



But wait, there's more!

Glenn Greenwald, today, has some startling info, in his "The war on WikiLeaks and why it matters";

A newly leaked CIA report prepared earlier this month (.pdf) analyzes how the U.S. Government can best manipulate public opinion in Germany and France -- in order to ensure that those countries continue to fight in Afghanistan. The Report celebrates the fact that the governments of those two nations continue to fight the war in defiance of overwhelming public opinion which opposes it -- so much for all the recent veneration of "consent of the governed" -- and it notes that this is possible due to lack of interest among their citizenry: "Public Apathy Enables Leaders to Ignore Voters," proclaims the title of one section.

[snip]

It's both interesting and revealing that the CIA sees Obama as a valuable asset in putting a pretty face on our wars in the eyes of foreign populations. It is odious -- though, of course, completely unsurprising -- that the CIA plots ways to manipulate public opinion in foreign countries in order to sustain support for our wars. Now that this is a Democratic administration doing this and a Democratic war at issue, I doubt many people will object to any of this. But what is worth noting is how and why this classified Report was made publicly available: because it was leaked to and then posted by WikiLeaks.org, the site run by the non-profit group Sunshine Press, that is devoted to exposing suppressed government and corporate corruption by publicizing many of their most closely guarded secrets.

[snip]

If that doesn't sound familiar to Americans, it should. At exactly the time when U.S. government secrecy is at an all-time high, the institutions ostensibly responsible for investigation, oversight and exposure have failed. The American media are largely co-opted, and their few remaining vestiges of real investigative journalism are crippled by financial constraints. The U.S. Congress is almost entirely impotent at providing meaningful oversight and is, in any event, controlled by the factions that maintain virtually complete secrecy. As I've documented before, some alternative means of investigative journalism have arisen -- such as the ACLU's tenacious FOIA litigations to pry documents showing "War on Terror" abuses and the reams of bloggers who sort through, analyze and publicize them -- but that's no match for the vast secrecy powers of the government and private corporations.

Holy Foreign-Policy-Mess-Waiting-To-Happen Batman!

It's almost as if The Bush Grindhouse still has an office putting alongside the new Obama Administration.

Or has the Obama team launched, based on their predecessors model, a new "White House Afghanistan Group"?

Maybe they'll have to dust off Rummy's Propaganda Agency plans to sail past this one

Paging Andy Card!


Bonus CIA Riffs

We Looked In the DIY Section, But Bob Vila Didn't Have A Handbook On It ...

Top Ten Cloves: Things About The New CIA Personality Test

Paid News Scandal Widens; CIA Said To Run Network Of "Blue Hole" Newspapers ...Detainees Forced To Work As Copy Editors Or Write Stories In Isolation; Old Typewriters With No Wite-Out Used

Breaking News! ...Leak of CIA Covert Prison System May Affect IPO, Franchising Rights ...Early Heavy Investment Cools In Wake of Story; North Korea May Trade Nuke Program For Multiple Prisons

One Love

Leave it to the PartyofNoicans.

Their obstructionism is so rooted in their DNA, they drink it, they eat it, the wash themselves in it, that they can't come halfway to meet the Democrats in a toothless, boiler-plate press release to call out, and damp down, the growing incidents of violence.

In part, due to their "Armageddon" rhetoric, over the recent Healthcare Reform war, bricks have been thrown through windows, members of Congress have been spat on, had racist and homophobic slurs hurled at them, even, received death threats, even having their families and children threatened.



So, how does 'Noicans' handle this?

GOP says "Hell No" to civility

Kind of in the "water is wet" category but it's useful to archive that the DNC asked the RNC to co-sign a joint statement condemning the death threats and violent acts being committed after the reform bill was passed and RNC chair Mike Steele effectively said Hell No.

[snip]

Steele's response was, “we don’t need to do anything on their schedule or on their timetable.” Or in other words, if Democrats are for it, we're against it.

Steve Benen has more;

What a surprise.

We are, after all, talking about an RNC that recently put together a fundraising presentation filled with donor insults, offensive caricatures, and an admission that the party will rely on little more than "fear" to win. In the wake of the health care breakthrough, the RNC is desperate to make right-wing activists as angry and agitated as possible -- which is why Michael Steele is describing the Affordable Care Act as "Armageddon" and demanding to see Speaker Pelosi on "the firing line."

I don't know ...

Perhaps everybody should take a step back, light up a big, fat spliff, and let Bob Marley take it from here;


Bob Marley - One Love




Bonus PartyofNoican Riffs

Frank Rich: The Rage Is Not About Health Care

David Jarman: Little difference between tea party and Grand Old Party ...Polling evidence indicates that tea partiers are just conservative Republicans by another name

Charles Blow: Whose Country Is It?

Heidi Przybyla: Tea Party Advocates Who Scorn Socialism Want a Government Job

The Next PartyofNoican War

Assforwards, For Mark Halperin

This Date ... On The Garlic

28 March 2008... On The Garlic

Oh Ronnie, How I Long For You ...

"Have darkness ... Will travel."

Retro Garlic: Did D.B Cooper Jump Out of Hillary's Plane In Bosnia?


28 March 2007... On The Garlic

The Laura Bush Bummer Bombing-of-the Day; Warning - Bypass this post if you don't want to be discouraged


28 March 2006... On The Garlic

Bolton: Card Had White House In Coma; White House Shake-Up Causes Bolton Snafu

News In Brief: New Immigration Bill Sidelines Fox News; Dobbs Says “Ruins My November Sweeps”

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Afghanistan Prosecutors Found Abdul Rahman Mentally Unfit


28 March 2005... On The Garlic

President In Late Push To Add Daylight Saving Time To SS Bill

Red Sox To Remain At Fenway For Long Term; Seeking Eminent Domain Ruling for Large Chunk of Boston

Top Ten Cloves: Ways To Tell Spring Has Sprung