Anthem – the impersonal touch

 

I’ve been hacked, via my company’s healthcare plan. (I’m sure Fox News will blame it on Obamacare operatives.) Millions of other folks who have Anthem healthcare are in the same boat. Below is the note all of us got, not from the CEO, but from the DESK of the CEO of Anthem.

anthem desk

Apparently inanimate objects can write emails – who knew? I knew this chair could talk though…

miss-yvonne-broadway

If you’ve just put the personal data of millions of people at risk, do you really have to use “from the desk of” in the headline? Basically you’re saying “I didn’t write this and I didn’t send this.” I’m sure the CEO has better things to do than, oh, say, ensuring the safety and security of the healthcare records of the millions of subscribers who help him earn millions of dollars each year.

Hey Mr. Swedish (if “Joe Swedish” is indeed your real name – sounds kinda fishy to me), own the mess – don’t pawn it off on your desk.

 

Step up to the Mike

Michael Gannon is my cousin’s son. (Does that make him my second cousin, or first cousin once removed, or third cousin to the nth degree?) He’s an extremely talented musician, songwriter and singer. Here’s his video tribute to Joe Cocker.  Rock on!

You can check out more of Michael’s videos on his YouTube channel, and hear more of his music on his website.

And if you want to get a chuckle out of someone misinterpreting Joe Cocker’s singing, check this out:

Candygram for Pete Townshend

Never thought I’d be thankful for JC Penney, but today I saw a TV ad from them that featured a cover of the song “Let My Love Open The Door” by Pete Townshend (to paraphrase Abbott and Costello, “Who is Pete Townshend? Exactly!”)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aruvmOpnkhE

The song is from Pete’s first solo album, Empty Glassfrom waaaaay back in 1980. It’s a fantastic LP (that’s short for long-play, kids), and today I listened to the whole darn thing for the first time in eons. So thank you JC Penney. I’m still not buying any Valentine’s Day gifts at your stores. Nice try, though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ4MOkK2MOM

 

 

Naming rights, naming wrongs

The recent snowstorm that hit the Northeast was called “Winter Storm Juno” by the Weather Channel. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, “Back in my day, they didn’t name puny little storms. You had to be a Hurricane – you had to earn your name. Now get off my lawn… after you finish shoveling my driveway!”

APTOPIX Northeast Storm

Here in Cincinnati, one of the local TV stations has started issuing rather ominous-sounding “Weather Alert Days.” I’ll translate that into plain, non-alarmist language for you: “It might snow.” They issued one last week, and we got 0.3″ of snow. Get a grip, you Doppler dunderheads!

weather-alert

Really, if they’re lowering the bar for naming, why stop at winter storms? Soon every local TV weatherperson will be talking about “Sunny Day Sandra” and “Thunderstorm Terry” and “Partly Cloudy Sybil.”

(hat-tip to Mookie for the idea.)