By Carol MacPherson
Even if you don’t give one whit about college basketball, it’s still fun to ask people, “How’s your bracket?” Let’s advance through the headlines:
“Mercer shocks Duke 78-71 in NCAA tourney opener”: Yay. This is one reason why the tournament is fun. Seeing some Goliaths go down. Meanwhile, it’s a good bet that some in Duke basketball community will find a way to blame the loss on the Duke freshman and Gonzaga Prep graduate who has been in the news lately for revealing that she’s financing her education by appearing in porn videos.
“Color-coded smart tag tells you when food has gone bad”: Or you can just trust nature’s color-coded system: Green or black mold means it’s past its prime.
“New ‘antisocial’ network Cloak helps avoid people using location data”: (Do they have a sister gossip site called “And Dagger”?) Good times, indeed. But can it still be possibly be true that “Life is a cabaret, old chum”? Those were the days, my friend.
“More drivers positive for pot in Washington”: That makes sense, since they’ve only just recently begun routinely testing for it since the legalization of marijuana last year and the setting of a legal limit…
“Oprah gives Starbucks a celebrity shot”: So nice to hear of two little guys working together so they can both finally take a step up the success ladder.
(The deal with Winfrey to market Teavana Oprah Chai Tea comes as the company seeks to “reassure investors that it can keep growing,” the Seattle Times reported. At the company’s shareholder meeting, CEO Howard Schultz said the Starbucks can attain a market capitalization of $100 billion, up from about $57 billion now. Hence the tea deal with Oprah. Billions upon billions of “market capitalization.”) But it’s not just tea. Starbucks wants to conquer the entire beverage kingdom. To wit:
“Starbucks plans to sell alcohol at night”: Gosh, maybe they can team up with 7-Eleven for another blockbuster deal. (“I’d like a grande lime Slurpee with a double shot of Howard ‘n’ Oprah’s Secret Recipe Tequila Tea, please. To go.)
“Human nose can detect at least 1 trillion odors — far more than thought, says study of smell”: Yes, that’s your dog rolling around on the floor like it was a dead fish and laughing at your measly 1 trillion score, which you think is a lot.
“Quick (Business) Tips: Handwritten notes making a comeback”: The USA Today video, “looks at how in our fast-changing communication landscape, a handwritten note can actually help you stand out in this era of overflowing electronic in-boxes.” Particularly thank-you notes. In other words, old-school manners make good business sense. What a concept.
Write a sweet, hand-written note to your antisocial network Cloak “frenemy” this week.
Carol MacPherson: 425-339-3472, cmacpherson@heraldnet.com
