Lo, these 15 days.

Hello there. It has been some time since my last post, and some water has passed under the bridge, as they say.

I don't have a whole ton of new information for you, expect to say that my house is still for sale and the democratic nomination still isn't sewn up. Alas. May the winds of change blow through Milwaukee and Washington, D.C.

Today is St. Patrick's Day, which in this country is merely an excuse to wear green, drink heavily and leer at others for the purpose of either fisticuffs or intercourse. Sometimes it's hard to determine which leer is which. I will drink today, but I have to be in class tonight to give a presentation with my group on a project we haven't really begun yet.

I have to share a random observation with you, because it's the kind of thing that is truly ripe for dissection. There is a new commercial on television for the Toyota Sienna minivan. If you've seen it already, the mere mention of it should have you in hysterics.

The commercial is done in black and white. It features the not-remotely alluring Sienna parked on what could only be a California beach (rocky coastline, crashing surf), a stunning bikini-clad model circling it and caressing its shapely curves while a voice-over announcer says platitudes in a bedroom voice. Enter a buff, shirtless man, who promptly sidles up to the woman and... am I watching a commercial for personal lubricant or a swanky hotel chain? NO - IT'S A FRIGGIN' MINIVAN! What on earth would a minivan be doing on a beach? Why would these people with lust in their eyes be anywhere near a minivan? The kicker is what happens next - the woman pulls the van's key fob from the pocket of the man's shorts and opens the rear passenger doors while the voice-over guy closes with Toyota's line about moving forward.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting where some agency hacks were dreaming this one up - "see, we're just going to rely on the natural and stratospheric sex appeal of the all-new Toyota Sienna. It will practically sell itself..." But hey, I'm all for satire, and if this is merely satirizing Calvin Klein like others are saying it does, then more power to them. Personal lubricant not included. Watch the ad here.

No wonder everyone wants to work in advertising.