prigioniero di azkaban...

So. My mother just returned from 10 days in Italy and she's in the process of printing/developing her photos but she told me that there was one I had to see now because she took it just for me. I had no idea what it could be. What I forgot is that my mother has always enabled me well.

( Italian Harry Potter PoA movie poster )

I have a subscription to Ad Age at work and there are always very interesting reports on ad dollar sales, etc. This week, there was an analysis of ad dollars spent in 2003 compared to dollars earned.

Wal-Mart spent $678 million in advertising in 2003 and earned $34.5 billion dollars in revenue. That's $307.13 dollars profit for every dollar spent on advertising.

( Some other big winners... )

It appears that those billions in advertising are well worth their while. I, for one, can tell you that I bought Excederin yesterday instead of Tylenol or Advil because I had a headache and Excederin is the "headache medicine." The psychology behind marketing is amazing.

multi-fandom men in hats...

There's something about a man who can wear a hat. Not just put it on but wear it.

( A whole mess of JC and Viggo and Justin and Orlando showing how it's done properly... )

There's something about summer that makes 9pm feel early. There are lightning bugs in the park and beer at happy hour was perfect and I almost feel like I should be waking up for camp in the morning instead of work. It's a good day.