College Students Seem Less Insipid in 2008
01 Dec 2008, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in Playground, 1 Comments
The results from Advertising Age’s annual survey of college students’ tastes are in. Times rose in the rankings of favorite magazine while Cosmo slipped from its spot at the top. Advertising Age attributed this and other changes to “weightier” preferences among those surveyed to Barack Obama:
Why so serious? Tom Anderson, managing partner of Anderson Analytics, attributed many of the changes to President-elect Barack Obama and his campaign, which grabbed the attention of young voters and, in particular, college students.
In other rankings, McDonald’s took the top spot on restaurants, and Coldplay stood out as a favorite band. Clearly there is no correlation between higher education and culture. Or good taste.
R.I.P. Irony
23 Nov 2008, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in Playground, 0 Comments
According to the New York Times, irony is dead. From John McWhorter, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute:
“When you vote for Obama,” he said, “you are showing that you are past the nastiness, and that’s a natural feeling and a healthy feeling for white people to have.”
So much for hipsterdom.
Obama pool follow-up
17 Nov 2008, Posted by Jeff Ditzler in Backpages, Backtalk, 0 Comments
The answers to a couple of the questions I posed in my most recent column are becoming a bit clearer:
—I’ve noticed a lot of fist-bumping lately (for example, the players at the Duke-Presbyterian game fist-bumped the refs after their introductions). President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t even been inaugurated yet, and he already has a legacy. I’m impressed.
—Prof. Peter Feaver (who served in the Bush administration and was one of my potential GOP challengers for 2012) seems to be the faculty point man on the underloading proposal. This might be his way of cutting into Obama’s advantage with the youth vote.
Grammy-winner Barack Obama
13 Nov 2008, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in Lists, Playground, 1 Comments
Via Vulture, a list from the UK’s Telegraph. It highlights 50 little-known facts about Barack Obama.
• His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars
• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia
• He can speak Spanish
• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
Yes, Barack Obama has a Grammy. And he is our president. Click for the full list.