Here’s what I’d call an Arrested Development/”Afternoon Delight” moment in advertising. On first blush, LL Bean’s new ad, using what most will find a genial-sounding, happy, olde tyme-y, folk tune, to accompany the joys of growing up in a family where your parents listen to Ira Glass every weekend. (Mine listened to Vin Scully, but that’s another story … )

Problem is, were these parents to peel the skin off of this onion, they may start cryin’. Take a listen for yourself of the unabridged version of Harry McClintock’s “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” which some might remember from the Coen Brothers film “O Brother Where Art Thou?”

Here are some of my favorite lines:

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,
There’s a land that’s fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
And the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There’s a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around it
In a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

Wow. Yep, this is a drunken hobo song. Is this a liability for LL Bean? Doubt it. Just a big hunk o’ irony that the hero of the song is just the kind of person parents are likely to yank their kids’ arms to keep them away from. Homeless people are just so much easier to handle on “This American Life.”

Classixx continues their roll of rockin’ remixes (they also did Phoenix’ well-worn singles last year) with this fun track from Portland duo YACHT.

I gotta say, if this one doesn’t put a smile on  your face, your soul is dead. Or at least taking a really big nap.

An interesting collabo, and an even more interesting project. Titled Here Lies Love, Byrne and the Artist Also Known As Norman Cook’s new work is a concept record based on the life of Imelda Marcos (!).

Dunno if Imelda deserves the Evita treatment (some pinoys might blanch at the thought, to say the least), but here’s Mr. Byrne on his website:

The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!

Luckily for us, DB chose more compelling cohorts for this concept than KC and the Sunshine Band. Although … is Giorgio Morodor still alive? Google says yes!

Royksopp have released an instrumental version of “Vision One” from their last record, ‘Junior.’ You can get it here.

They’re hoping someone will make a mashup out of it, and I am, too. I love this song, and I’m a big fan of instrumental versions, but Anneli Drecker’s moving vocal is sorely missed, and a distraction would be really useful.

Boy, you really have to admire Steve Balls Jobs. Check out what he had to say this morning at the launch of Apple’s new iPad device and how it manifests the company’s gentle foray into the land of e-books.

According to AppleInsider:

Also introduced was “iBooks,” Apple’s e-book reading application. Jobs credited Amazon with pioneering the e-book market with its Kindle, but said Apple intends to improve on that model.

“We’re going to stand on their shoulders and go a bit further,” he said.

Ha! Of course, this is Jobsspeak for “We’re going to stand on their shoulders and poop on their head. Just sayin’.”

Sascha Segan of PCMag wasted no time in writing the Kindle’s obituary:

The new Amazon Kindle DX has a few weeks to live—and the magazine and newspaper industries may not have much longer. As soon as Apple unleashes the rumored iPad, Amazon’s attempt at hardware design will vanish quicker than Betamax.

He argues that Amazon doesn’t really want to be in the hardware game, and will continue to thrive by selling content which iPad users will still need.

For its part, Amazon argues that the Kindle will likely be vastly cheaper than the iPad, but the fact that cheap MP3 players litter the market without consuming a significant share of it (compared to the iPod) proves that economy can’t beat sexy.

Oh, please believe that I have a very sharp ideology-based opinion about both Tim Tebow’s anti-abortion ad and CBS’ decision to air it during the Super Bowl this year.

But I think I’ll avoid being Cap’n Obvious this time. If you’re familiar with this blog and my other work, your anticipatory assessment will suffice just fine.

What really matters is … why? And I’m arguing from a completely non-political position. Who thinks this is the appropriate venue for such an ad? Sure, proponents of the sentiment will crow that it’s as good as any. But what about the beer-suckin’, chili-chompin’, funny-ad-watchin’ fair weather fan driving the demo?

In other words, what about me, what do I get?

Bupkus. It’s just like last year, when they ran that Zoloft commercial. You know, the one with the sad little guy, the one that stops your Super Bowl party in its tracks? I mean, God forbid your team is getting its ass kicked when that one comes on, or you’ll be putting that nacho down and reaching for a gun.

Also, what about poor Coors Light or E-Trade or whatever advertiser unfortunate enough to get their hilarious spot (meant to launch an entire campaign and costing millions to produce and air) slotted next to the buzzkill ad of the century? Kinda dims the spotlight on your spot when some genius has just introduced the most divisive issue of our time into the collective American living room, right before yours with the talking monkey.

(And spare me with “That’s the point.” If you think valuable dialogue that moves us forward as a nation is gonna happen with bellies full of booze ‘n’ beanie weenies poised before a demonstration of both militaristic violence and supercondensed capitalism, I’ll assume punditry is not your profession.)

Oh well. Luckily, progress has provided a new tool in exercising democracy and speech equity – the DVR. Tebow is no match for Tivo.

However, if they run that ad during the Puppy Bowl, I’ll be REALLY upset.

Here’s SF’s Thao Nguyen & crew to try to remind all of us socked in by inclement weather north and south that in an alternate reality we’re all having a ball at the beach.

One word: penis. Or rather, lack thereof.

I won’t pretend to know for sure the reason that women politicians don’t get caught up in this kind of nonsense. It’s not like women don’t cheat. But I can’t think of a single political sex scandal that involved a female politician.

Maybe there’s not the same kind of hubris brought into the, erm, position. Maybe women are too busy proving themselves on the job. Or maybe young men aren’t attracted to power in the same way young women are, these situations often revolving around the familiar power dynamic of older guys with younger women.

Whatever the reason, others like columnist Robert Scheer have riffed on this phenomenon of arrogance and abuse of power that seems, for now, to be distinctly male, and there could be something to it.

Anyway, what a sad waste. Edwards always seemed a bit slick to me (and that’s from someone who can easily tolerate Bill Clinton!), but he DID try to advance a populist agenda during his campaign, and his theme of two Americas was spot on.

Problem was, dude, just ‘cos there’s two Americas doesn’t mean double the hot young chicks. It’s pretty astounding that Edwards had the stones to do this smack dab in the middle of a presidential campaign. It’s kind of like winning the gold medal in the Scumbag Olympics.

And let this be a lesson to the rest of ya – the world is watching! (And by the world I mean the National Enquirer.)

Anyway, isn’t it time his website went the way of the dodo? Geez.

UPDATE: Jeff points out that there are exceptions to this rule, true true.

Oh, the challenges of being an assimilated half-breed Mexican. One must constantly deal with messages of racial insensitivity while bracing for inevitable cultural oversensitivity.

File this one under the latter.

How on earth anyone could construe Orbitz’ “Valet” ad as the former is beyond me. This is what counts for controversy these days? The source of the comedy is the GRINGO, mi gente. The Hernandez’ in question are obviously depicted as upper middle class at worst (they ARE at a place where valet parking is available, after all), and in manner and depiction are no different than gueros.

So where’s the controversy? I don’t know if the company was under external pressure to edit out the pluralization punch line, but edit it out it did, and AdFreak hit the nail on the head in terms of the marketing perspective and how it was a sucky decision. When you’re trying to do cool ads (and I’d argue these have been decent in pre-edit form), whatever cool quotient you gain is not only lost from such a over-reactionary decision, but you actually lose ground.

I think as racial relations and perceptions shift over time, and minorites become not-so-minorities, we need to be carefel not to create controversy just for the sake of it. This won’t be easy for organizations and institutions whose entire existence is owed to centuries of what might charitably be called intentional misrepresentation.

Nevertheless, when it gets to the point that gringos can’t even make jokes that most Mexicans find funny without hearing the same grousing and groaning that was relevant decades ago, those complaints become more oppressive than the assumed bias they seek to “expose.”

And if the best they can do is call out a commercial that shows two attractive Hispanics (hello, as commented on rather more coarsely in the YouTube comments section, Mrs. Hernandez is h-o-t!) acting totally normal, for better and for worse, we might be closer to that point than we know.

I think I’m kind of excited.

Public Image Limited! (Back from the grave!)

Faith No More! (Also back from the grave!)

Orbital! (Also too back from the grave!)

Sly and the Family Stone! (Not so back from the grave, but still, whoa!)