Apt. 11D

Eye of the Tiger by Macaroni

by Macaroni

In December, Laura blogged about the Tiger imbroglio. Two months later, he issued an apology amid invited friends, family and journalists. The 14 minute scripted event left a lot to be desired for a several reasons. First, why wait two full months? (A: So he can participate in the closed-to-the-media Masters Tournament in April.) Second, who wrote this?  (A: A combination of people, whose writing was pretty awful. It was disorganized and repetitive) Third, did he rehearse this? (A: See the video; clearly not.)

Will this public apology actually help Tiger? I think not. In fact, I think this probably hurt him more than it helped. In January, Laura blogged about public forgiveness. Tiger's apology lacked many of the critical elements necessary for "public forgiveness." Are there good examples of public apologies? For example, do New York Governors Spitzer and Paterson's public apologies pass muster? While the situation is not entirely comparable, the First Minister of Ireland Peter Robinson's admission that his wife had an affair illustrates the gravity and sincerity, and personal nature of his wife's transgressions. Though he is the aggrieved, the public explanation is profound and heart-felt.

What makes a public apology a "good one" and when does the public forgive? A few of the elements include: timing, sincerity and contrition. While Tiger was contrite, he diverged from the apology to attack the media thereby diluting his message. So too, his timing is way too late. How can we believe he is sincere two months later? Apologizing so close to the Masters is suspicious at best.

Unlike Europe, Americans care about the sex lives of politicians and celebrities. Will we always care? And, will this type of public apology ultimately help Tiger?

Question of the Day -- Dinner Party

I'm making dinner for a small group of laid back friends tonight. I can't call it a dinner party, because it's not like we're going to be using the cloth napkins. They'll munch on appetizers in the kitchen, while I mash the potatoes. On the menu:

Appetizers: Cheeses, olives, and baguette from Fairway. Chips and homemade salsa. Beer.

Homemade Salsa -- 1 can of stewed tomatoes. Add chopped red onion, smashed garlic, salt, dash of white vinegar or splash of jalapeno juice, chopped jalapenos (we're using Steve's canned jalapenos), lots of fresh chopped cilantro, dash of cumin. 

Main: Pork, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, salad, wine.

Mashed potatoes -- It's all about the Kitchen Aide mixer. 

Question of the Day -- What's your dinner guest menu?

Question of the Day - The Use of Blog Power

Yesterday, my refrigerator went crazy. It heated up to 85 degrees. I lost $200 worth of food. And lost a day of work cleaning up the mess and waiting for a repairman. The repairman said that the fridge heated up, because of a bum light switch. The light in the fridge didn't go off when the door was closed and acted as a heating agent. He said that light switch is located at the bottom of the fridge and children often snap it off as they reach for juice on the top shelf. He said it was a bad design. He charged me $168 for the part and labor, because the fridge is 18 months old -- six months too old to cover under the warranty.

My mom said if bad design was the cause for the problem, then they should cover the repair and the lost food. She thinks I should use the blog and twitter to get the company to reimburse me for the repair and the lost food. I've been blogging for long enough that I have a decent Google Page Rank. If I repeatedly mentioned the product in a blog post, potential customers would find it. Other bloggers have successful forced other appliance companies to do the right thing.

Question of the Day -- Is getting back at a corporation an appropriate use of blog power?

Question of the Day -- Lottery and Work

Question of the Day -- If you won $20 million in the lottery, would you:

A. Quit work and retire, travel, read, raise children, pay video games, or do volunteer work

B. Work part-time at your current job

C. Work for pay in another field

D. Stay at your current job

E. Other

Question of the Day -- Weekend Plans

It's a crisp fall day in New Jersey. There are still some leaves lingering on the trees, and the sun is shining. The weekend is packed with events - two soccer games, one birthday party, a bridal shower, a hike, CCD, and an invite to my brother's for meatballs.

Question of the Day - What are you doing this weekend?

Question of the Day -- Swine Flu Vaccination

I got a flu shot one time in grad school; one day later, I came down with the flu. So, I'm not overly excited about getting my kids the swine flu vaccination. I'm also not relishing the thought of the tears and protests in the doctor's office. I'm leaning towards no shot. But the morning shows dire warnings are starting to get to me.

Question of the Day -- Are you going to get the swine flu vaccination? Are you going to vaccinate your kids?

Question of the Day -- Longer School Day

We briefly talked about Obama's proposal for a longer school day a few days ago. 

I told Jonah about this idea yesterday. He mouth dropped open in horror. He said nothing, but you could see that he was rethinking his very vocal support for Obama during the last election.

Question of the Day: Do you like the idea of a longer school day? Do you think that it would make your kids smarter? Would the benefits outweigh the necessarily increases in taxes?

Question of the Day - Favorite John Hughes Movie

We really need to take note of the passing of John Hughes.

It was the 1980s. I raided the thrift store for men's jackets. I would roll up the sleeves and pair it with capris and flats. My hair was big. My earrings were big. My sister and I ran into Molly Ringwald at Unique, a store on Broadway and 8th. We stalked her for a while as she tried to hide behind her frizzy red hair. I bought my albums -- XTC, Morrisey, REM -- at Tower Records just down the block.

It's hard to say if we were influenced by Hughes or if he was influenced by us, but, whatever, we loved him. (Nice op-ed by Ringwald about Hughes.)

Question of the Day -- What were the best scenes from John Hughes' films? My favorites include, Judd Nelson's turkey pot pie rant in The Breakfast Club, the suburban lawn mower dance in She's Having a Baby, and every Andrew McCarthy scene in St. Elmo's Fire.

Question of the Day -- Impact of the Internet on You

I'm completely engrossed in paper writing right now. In the zone. But maybe you all can help me out. I'm writing a paper on how individuals interact with the Internet. Here's my first paragraph:

When an individual sits down in front of her Mac in the morning, presses the on button, and hears that cheerful warm-up chord, her experience after that will be entirely shaped by the political skills and experiences she brings to the computer table that morning. There are opportunities to learn about the war in Iraq, to sign a petition, or to sign up for a political newsletter. There are also opportunities to find out who is ahead in the American League pennant race, to read about Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, and to shop for new shoes. The individual’s personal pile of political experiences and interests will determine whether she spends an hour buying sling backs on Zappos.com or whether she sends a letter to her congressman.

And then I discuss how the Internet accellerates political skills among those who already have a lot of political skills. For everyone else, not so much.

Question of the Day: Are you more aware of political issues since you started reading blogs and having access to Wikipedia and all that? Are you more energized about your politics in general? Do you see any before and after transformations in yourself, because of all the time that you spend online?

Question of the Day -- Quantify Your Interest

I would say that my interest in Michael Jackson's memorial could occupy the free space on Steve's desk.

Question of the Day: How would you quantify your interest in Michael Jackson's memorial