A Muse

Dear People Who Read This Site, “George”, Girl, That Euro, Special C, Dr. Chris, The (Other) O.C., (Get Back) JoJo, and Potential Investors,

So, I'm back in the swing of things here at the Mint HQ. Back working at work, gorging on Thanksgiving treats, and catching up on my Ti-fauxed programs. Let me give another shout out to the music supervisors at The O.C. Last week's episode featured an excellent cover of REM's "Orange Crush" during the "Bodies in Motion"-like montage of Chino working out on the beach. Between the beach locale and sleeveless shirt, Chino was working the Gilad impression so well I half expected Summer to show up as his paramilitary sister who runs a boot camp. Seriously. Tunes-wise, though, it was very nice, and it's nice to see the Editors get some mainstream play, anyway.

Speaking of flashbacks...have you ever been listening to a CD, thinking to yourself, gee, I really like this CD I just bought, it's so strange that that keyboard-y, late 80s sound is back, and then looking at the CD to see it was recorded in 1989? You haven't? Yeah, me neither. I was just wondering.

Gah! Jennifer Aniston just appeared on my TV in an ad for St. Jude's -- I'm all for curing pediatric cancer, but girlfriend needs carbs. Jen, please, have a doughnut, or even a Triscuit. It's good to have a little fat in your face, and it'll keep me from falling off the couch in shock when you materialize unexpectedly on the TV.

Let's look at the lovely vacation photo and refocus. Ah, much better.

Back to the mint news...I had a smurf-tastic outing with Special C, and he has been quite helpful in helping me re-think and regroup for the next onslaught of mint marketing. And I'm meeting with my beloved investors this weekend, which I hope will also bring inspiration and more momentum. And helpful Friends of the Mint Mogul (FoMMs) have also passed on tips. So, all in all, I'm optimistic and ready to work hard to get some Oprah-riffic results.

Running Up That Hill

Dear People Who Read This Site, “George”, Girl, That Euro, Special C, Dr. Chris, The (Other) O.C., (Get Back) JoJo, and Potential Investors,

Make that running up that hill...and tiptoeing down it due to my abject fear of heights. It is a lovely hill, and totally worth the intermittent terror downhill. Anyway, enough about my vacation.

I leave the country for a couple of weeks and everything is coming up roses -- who knew? The Democrats are back again, Pa Bush is probably getting his friends to clamp down on W, and Britney has chucked K-Fed and his demon seed.

The best development, however, is the triumphant return of The O.C. Marissa's death really seems to have pulled that show together -- everyone looks taller now that she isn't around to tower over them. And the Sandman has gotten another wonderful nickname -- Crazy Eyebrows Man. Those eyebrows -- they are crazy indeed. But, the best part of this season of The O.C. has got to be Tiny Cagefighting Chino. Because that's what any of us would do when his sort-of-ex-girlfriend-who-dumped-him-for-a-long-jawed-surfer died in his arms. Getting beaten to a pulp by people twice my size sounds like a perfect way to grieve. I will say this, the montage of Tiny Cagefighting Chino in the season premiere is also the best Chino has looked the entire series. What hairspray couldn't achieve, a can of whoop-ass has.

On a slightly more serious note, the music supervisors at The O.C. continue to be at the top of their game -- Placebo's cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" was the perfect soundtrack to the Tiny Cagefighting Chino montage, and a fantastic song in its own right. Placebo managed to combine the emotion of the song with a slightly industrial feel to the production -- something that Madonna has been promising us (and failing to deliver on) since Ray of Light (by the way, Madge looks really angular in that "Jump" video -- how about a diffuser to soften her face? she is still very bendy, though). I have to say that (for those of you who don't spend every spare penny on Embittermints) the soundtrack CDs from The O.C. are really quite good, even when the show isn't (which is most of the time). Maybe they should give Tiny Cagefighting Chino his own series. I'd watch that.

Now that I'm back in the fold, I am working on more leads for retail and press placement of the mints, and I am preparing for the annual investors' meeting. I think that, like our friends in The O.C., we're on the right track.