...a TOBACCO company offering quit-smoking help?
What the HECK is Philip-Morris up to here?

I keep seeing their commercials on TV. The ads say something like, "are you trying to quit smoking? Are you trying to find the right way to tell your teenager not to smoke? Visit our website; you'll get all the details at Philip-Morris-dot-com." And once again, I have to ask, in best bewildered fashion, "Huh? What?" (My stock-in-trade confusion indicator) Wait a minute here...isn't Philip-Morris a TOBACCO company? Isn't the chief use for tobacco to be stuffed into Cigarettes, which KILL people? And every time I see one of these commercials, I get steamed. Remember the big issue which revolved around McDonald's and how a cup of their hot coffee got spilled, burned a lady in her car as she was at the drive-thru, and how a nasty lawsuit ensued, and the lady was awarded DAMAGES? Well, now, on all paper cups used by every drive-in in the universe, it says, "The beverage you are about to enjoy is hot, so be careful", yadda yadda yadda. That's "politically-correct-ese" for "Hey, idiot! The coffee is hot! Don't say we didn't warn ya!"

And I say, that's what Philip-Morris Tobacco and Carcinogen Distribution Company is doing by putting all kinds of "don't smoke stuff" in their TV ads. In other words, it's their way of saying, "well, if you smoke our cigarettes and DIE, we're not responsible, because after all, we've WARNED the masses that cigarettes are dangerous!" In a vainglorious attempt to cultivate a positive public image, Philip-Morris is attempting to SNOW us all! I actually sent Philip-Morris an e-mail, chastising them for hiding behind this indefensable smokescreen. Funny thing, though, I got no answer back. I guess whoever's responsible for e-mail replies was taking a "smoke break". If someone wants to smoke, then that's their "thing". What I hate is glitzy P.R. stuff trying to portray a company's image into something that it's NOT. Well, yeah, you and no one else should smoke, and if you smoke, you should STOP. But ironically, if these P.R. messages help keep Philip-Morris off the hook, then ironically, their "don't smoke" commercials will enable them to keep making cigarettes, which will continue to KILL people. I said, CIGARETTES KILL PEOPLE! And no, I am not employed by Philip Morris. They wouldn't want me.

This comic-book world is truly going to hell dept.: Biff! Bam! Pow! Zowie! Let's hear it for "D.C. Comics" SUPERHEROES! Holy cow, Batman! Hey, it's the FLASH!!! It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's SUPERMAN! And, BATWOMAN is being resurrected for publication; she will once again reside with all of the other superheroes at D.C. Comics. And, get this! HOLY SEX-CHANGE, Batman...she's a LESBIAN!!!" Hey, I didn't believe my eyes either, but there it was, on the entertainment page in today's paper. (an article, not the comic strip. Whew!) So little 7 year old Ricky, D.C. comic-book in hand, will be asking, "Mommy, what's a lesbian? And why is she kissing another girl?" Of course, in today's fractured families, that may be par for the course. Who knows?

I got a woman, mean as she can be dept.: I hope you all got to see "A Black and White Night", the great Roy Orbison concert recorded the year before he died. (It is showed every now and then on Channel 7, PBS) In that concert, he was backed up by Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, K.D. Lang, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and the musicians who were in Elvis' band. And Bruce Springsteen was so excited to be there; the expression on his face as he harmonizes with Roy, or trades guitar lines with James Burton, quite possibly the world's best guitarist, is unforgettable. Musicians absolutely loving the fact that they're playing together, and feeding off each other. The excitement shared by everyone on stage literally brings me to tears every time I watch that show. THAT'S what I miss when I play music...supportive people, fun people, people who create and have a good time playing together. Music is the only thing that makes me feel anything anymore. It may not be as fun to play anymore, but I still do it. Because it's important for me to do it. Why, I'm no longer sure...

"There's one for you, 232 for me" dept.: Why? "Cos I'm the TAXMAAAAAAN"...It seems George Harrison's 1966 Beatle Tune is really apropos for what's happening around these parts; I read about one resident who lives on Lake Pend Oreille (near Sandpoint) whose property taxes went up 232% THIS YEAR!!! People are willing to pay through the NOSE for lake property, which means that "plain ol' folks" who have lived on lakefront property FOREVER, run the risk of getting taxed out of their homes. It's happened down here on Coeur d'Alene Lake, too. I know that there's such a thing as "grandfather clauses", and it's a shame that an Idaho Resident who's lived on the lake a long time, can't have "grandfathered-in" taxes, rather than new ultra-high taxes caused by affluent rich folks who are trying to escape their personal hells by coming up here and making it hell for existing residents. No one ever said the world is "fair", but this just ain't right, y'know? Hint to all politicos out there: High Taxes have contributed to various instances of political downfall in this area. Consider yourselves WARNED.

Can it be that the M's are HOT right now? Ichiro is hitting the ball like a man possessed. Raoul Ibanez is tearing the cover off the ball. The pitching's been looking pretty good; J.J. Putz, the new closer, has been putting the pedal to the medal. The starting pitching is looking pretty good right now, too. Yeah, there are still "holes" in the lineup; pitcher Joel Piniero has been wildly inconsistent lately, and Richie Sexson might as well wear a blindfold when he goes up to bat (maybe he'd hit more if he did), but things are 'beginning' to look rather good for the M's. I don't wanna say FOR SURE that they're a better team these days; I don't wanna jinx 'em. But they have definitely been worth watching the last few games.

Playing for small potatoes dept.: Whenever I see a well-known musical act playing Casinos and county fairs, etc., I know that their careers are on the downhill slide. Leann Rimes, that young country songbird who was the hottest thing since scrambled eggs a few years ago, is playing the casino circuit. Hmm...washed up before 25, how about that. And now it comes to my attention that Los Lobos, the band who hit HYOOGE with their version of Richie Valens' "La Bamba", is playing at Northern Quest Casino. And, Wynnona (half of the Judds), is playing at the Casino in Worley. Maybe her Mom quit the music business just in time, huh? I will still never forget the time that I saw an ad that said Black Oak Arkansas was playing in Butte, Montana (the town where old FBI guys are farmed out to, from what I've heard).

Back to things local dept.: A big business in Coeur d'Alene's downtown area, Wiggett's Antiques has been forced to move into a new location practically overnight, because a new moneygrubbing landlord or property owner or developer (they're all the same to me) bought the building and wanted to use it for something else. (Translation: there's more money to be made if the antique store gets kicked out, which is what happened.) But, Wiggett's is moving just down 4th Street a couple of blocks, and I poked my nose in there today, and their store's looking pretty good. I told 'em I was looking for hydroplane pins and buttons, and they said they'd be on the lookout.

Yesteryear on the pier dept.: I found a view of the old Playland Pier taken from the LAKE, which means it's a view that I've never seen before, and I've got that view on display for you here. If you "click it" after you "pick it" (paraphrasing the WSP's seat-belt campaign), the photo will enlarge. May I present...Playland Pier...



Perhaps this view was taken from Tubbs Hill; it looks in a northwesterly direction. You can see the Ferris Wheel, and that "tower" to the left of it is where the swings that went out over the lake were located. Of course, Playland Pier is now Independence Point. And, along the seawall of City Park, you can see shorter trees nearer the lake, with bigger trees in back. Those trees have since disappeared, victims of all kinds of nasty tree infirmities. This old photo was taken by Leo's Studio in Spokane, probably late '40s or early '50s, and I managed to sharpen and brighten it with my photoshop program.
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One observation: I posted above about musicians on the downhill slide who are playing casinos and other two-bit dives...still, they're out there doing what they wanna do and they get money for it. How many people in the workforce can say that? I can't say I've enjoyed very many jobs I've had.