Mailbag Time!

You'll have to pardon me if I seem half-focused on today's blog...I just went to the mailbox for the first time in about three weeks and am sorting through the letters. Let's see...bill...bill...past due...final warning...you are going to be evicted...OH, HERE'S A READER LETTER!

Dear Thinking Hard,
Longtime reader, first-time writer. I won quite a sizable chunk of change on a reality show a little while ago, but I can't figure out how to spend the money. I'm not a girl, so I can't spend the money on a boob job...well, I COULD, but...and I'm too self-absorbed to donate it to charity because, hey, I won a reality show. So, any suggestions?
Signed,
Adam Jasinski

Well, Adam, it appears you've decided what to do with the money since you wrote this letter. Jasinski won last year's "Big Brother" and police say he spent his $500,000 winnings on OXYCODONE! But to prove that entrepreneurship isn't dead, police say he turned around and RE-SOLD the pills for a profit! Too bad he sold 2,000 of them to a government witness. Adam...did you learn NOTHING from reality TV??? Big Brother is ALWAYS watching you. Here's another letter...

Hey, Blaine, some days I feel like the media is trying TOO hard to keep me up-to-date on the day's news. For example, a newspaper in New York put this story on its website:
A New York State Trooper pulls over a vehicle near the three-way intersection on Joslen Boulevard in Greenport Monday. The reason for the stop and the outcome of the investigation remain unknown.
What the hell is wrong with the media?
Love always,
J. Hartsell

Well, J., first, thanks for dishing out a daily dose of love. Second, there's simply no gatekeeping with the gatekeepers of the media. News outlets have long been presented as THE source of FILTERED information. The media have been known to check, double-check and quadruple-check their sources before a story hits air. Not so much anymore. Consider this news conference held by the lobbyist group "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce." The group spent a record $34.7 million in the third quarter this year to lobby against the Obama administration's proposals to overhaul energy policy, financial regulation and health care. So it only makes sense that when the group called local media outlets in D.C. to announce a complete 180 in its lobbying, some reporters jumped at the chance to talk to members of the group. Except...the news conference was a hoax by a group of pranksters called "The Yes Men." Check it...


(I personally enjoyed the blond reporter in the middle of the room STILL raising her hand in the middle of all the chaos. "Yes, dear, you can go to the bathroom.")

Let's read another letter...

Hey, Thinking Hard,
Those people in that clip are pretty dumb. They must have landed on their heads as children, huh?
Jessica S.

Well, Jessica, yes, they are pretty thick. But I don't know if they could survive something as painful as landing on their head. I mean, look at this poor girl from the World Gymnastics Championships earlier this month...

EMBED-Jessica Gil Ortiz Epic Gymnastics Fail - Watch more free videos

Here's another letter:
Thinking Hard,
I am simply A---PPALLED by the Home Shopping Network. I was watching last week as they were selling the $199 Nintendo Wii system and several plastic toys to attach to the controllers...for a total $329! What's worse, they proved ON AIR that they're selling cheap crap to the little old grannies with money to burn:

Here's my question...are there any OTHER game systems that are dangerous for flat-screen TVs? I just bought a PS3 AND a new flat-screen...and the PS3 is giving the TV the evil eye.
Also, you're adorable!
Signed,
D. Metz

Well, D., thank you. And YES, there IS a PS3 danger to flat-screen TVs:


We have time for one more letter...
Blaine,
You're really intelligent...I would dare call you smrt. (editor's note: she really spelled it like that. no joke.-b) And you know TV pretty well. What's the best television ad you've seen recently?
K. Hart

Well, K-hart, it happens to be this new spot from American Express...which really challenges the way I see everyday objects:


Keep those letters coming!
-B-