Source.

Talk show host David Letterman revealed to his audience last night that he was the victim of a recent extortion attempt. Read this article from Time if you’d like to learn the details. I’m going to put on my PR hat and discuss Letterman’s actions.

After he made sure his family would be safe Letterman announced on his show what had happened. He was candid and didn’t try to “spin” the situation. Letterman responded quickly and honestly, before the media caught wind of the extortion attempt, which is the basis for any crisis communications plan. The negative side, of course, is that he is forced to admit his infidelities on national television.

And what this will do to his “grandfather of late night” image also remains to be seen, but I will mention that his ratings have never been better.

image via UsWeekly.com

Save the Boobs is the latest campaign to support breast cancer awareness. It’s clearly sexy and attention-grabbing, but it’s not overly naughty; you can see this much cleavage at the local pool. I’ve read that the ad is aimed at getting young men’s attention, interest, and eventual action to donate to the cause, but I don’t see it that way.

“Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in young women ages 25 to 49,” according to The Los Angeles Times. Instead of the mundane PSA’s urging women to perform breast self-exams, this puts the disease into a new light. It appeals to vanity. Let’s face it: Women love their boobs! While some want them bigger, smaller, firmer, perkier, etc. the truth is we still love them and would rather have them than not. Some, like this woman in the sexy string bikini, love the attention they get for having them. That’s the honest truth.

Now, for those people who think this PSA is too sexy and exploitative I ask them this: If it is drawing awareness to breast cancer and increasing donations then who cares? Turn your conservative filter down a notch and appreciate the fact that it’s a step toward eradicating this deadly disease.

What do you think? Tasteless or attention-grabbing with a good purpose?

P.S. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Click here to donate.

It’s not exactly accurate, as I’ve learned. The first photo I used was admittedly pretty awful, but it was the first one I had on hand. I tried that and this was what I got:

Now, you might be noticing that I am female and the majority of my matches are men. And not even attractive men like George Clooney or Rob Lowe- I would love to look like either of them- but no, I get Larry King and Phillip Seymour Hoffman! I won’t settle for this.

I tried again with a much more flattering picture. A picture that (unlike the first one) does not reflect how I look every day. But this is about vanity, isn’t it? I need to redeem myself. So here’s my second result:

Grace Kelly, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry? Pretty hilarious results, but also pretty flattering. I think I’ll accept this and quit while I’m ahead!

Don’t expect to turn a profit in the first year but do try to break even!

Use free help. Lots of students and recent grads are willing to work for free. (Hmm… better make sure it’s not illegal first!)

Dont quit your day job- test the market first. Go part time, moonlight, work weekends.

Seek out a variety of mentors. Find one at score.org.

Bonus:

Done? Ok, let’s move on. As everybody knows, MTV has gone from “Music Television” as its acronym suggests, into a vast wasteland of “reality” shows aimed at teenage girls. It’s been years since the network was even relevant and I don’t like the way they have treated the stars that made the network what it is today (Michael Jackson and Britney Spears), but that’s for another discussion. Still, I watched, drawn in by my love for all things Michael Jackson.

Here’s a rundown of the night’s events as they happened, according to me. Because it’s my blog. I can do that.

1. Here comes Madonna. She looks fabulous! She looks exactly the same as she did a decade ago on the same show. Pop culture junkies remember the interview with Kurt Loder that was interrupted by an inebriated Courtney Love throwing things at Madonna. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of Madonna presently (left)  and in 1995 (right).

Looking fabulous, right? I wonder if she uses a bumpit…

She spoke for about 7 minutes on Michael Jackson, beginning with really eerie similarities between the two of them. She received a lot of flack from people who felt she made the speech was too Madonna-centered but I disagree. She comes from the same world as Michael and can understand what he went through. She didn’t claim to be his best friend, but she did spend some time with him and shared personal anecdotes. She humanized him. I think her speech made a lot of people take pause and think about the way the media treated him and maybe how each of us have treated him. He was the victim of such cruelty and he would never have hurt a fly.

2. The Michael Jackson tribute. Lots of dancing- good to see some female dancers. Thriller, Bad, Smooth Criminal (including one guy who failed at the infamous “lean”) were all represented. Here comes Janet, busting through the glass! Dancing in front of a giant screen showing their duet Scream. She was edited out of the video and at one point they were dancing in sync. It was nice and she danced hard. She’s still got it!

3. Poor little Taylor Swift. She’s the sweetest thing and Kanye had to go ruin her moment by showing no impulse control.  We’ve all seen the video by now but the pictures are even funnier. This moment in pop culture history broke Twitter and has spawned a new internet meme and tons of hilarious websites.

“Imma let you finish…”

4. Russel Brand: I don’t want to hear about your penis anymore. I never wanted to. Kindly stop.

5. The kids that MTV hired to be in the crowd during Green Day’s performance don’t know what crowd surfing is. Billie Joe really took a risk with that one. I’m surprised he didn’t get dropped.

6. Jay Z and Alicia Keys were good, if you like that sort of thing. The best part was the end of the performance when Lil Mama pulled a “Kanye” and appeared on the stage.

One of these things does not belong…

7. Beyonce is pure class. As she accepts her award for video of the year she pulled a move that would melt even the most cynical of hearts: she asked Taylor Swift to come back onstage and properly accept her award. It was sugary sweet and people just LOVED it.

So there. My assessment of the VMA’s.

On Friday I attended the New York State Festival of Balloon in Dansville, a short drive from Rochester. Though it was the 28th year of the festival, it was my first time going. My friend and I pulled in to the festival site- the airport- just in time to see the balloons launch at 6pm. One by one the balloons were inflated and took off into the hills carrying brave passengers willing to pay $200. It was really beautiful to see the brightly colored balloons littering the setting sky, eventually disappearing into the distance.

After the last of the balloons set sail, we strolled through the vendors. There was beautiful handcrafted jewelry, lawn ornaments, commemorative t-shirts, all the usual festival goodies. An international food court provided us with all the greasy, fried foods our hearts desired (though we both opted for a more healthy dinner; veggie wraps).

We were accompanied mostly by families and residents from the Dansville area. The festival site had pony rides, face painting, a rock climbing wall, and inflatable “bounce houses” for children, either for free or a nominal price. There’s also live music and a lumberjack competition that I’m kicking myself for missing.

For only $5 a person, the Festival of Balloons is definitely worth going to, so be sure to check it out next year! I know I’ll be there.

Other than the grinding noise, Wanda (every car has to have a name, right?) had been performing fine. So I figured it would cost me a couple hundred bucks, maybe $300. Wrong. I was so wrong.

The required maintenance itself was about 500 dollars! I nearly slapped the guy when he told me that. That’s practically everything in my rapidly depleting bank account. If that wasn’t bad enough, they called a few hours later to suggest other parts that needed to be replaced: Catalytic converter shield, timing belt, water pump, drive belt, etc. These would add another thousand dollars to the total. I didn’t opt for all the things they suggested, and when all was said and done I drove away with about $800 less in my bank account.

I realize that it’s important to maintain my car because I depend on it so much but it’s just such a slap in the face to have to pay SO MUCH for a vehicle that isn’t even broken when I have no income. Kick me while I’m down, ya know?

Anyway, one more day of my ferocious job search until the weekend. I’m going on a job interview tomorrow with a marketing company that deals with promotions. If I got this job I would be working at events around Rochester and Buffalo, dealing with customers and selling them things. It doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven but I’ll go and see what this job is all about anyway.

Since I’m cranky I might as well end with something too cute to be legal:

But I’m doing it differently this time. I’m being more proactive. The resume is tweaked, the cover letter reworked for every single potential employer, and my hopes are high. The most important thing I’m doing is working on my Internet presence. Basically, in order to find a marketing job I must show that I know how to market myself. I need to prove that I know the ins-and-outs of the Internet if I am expecting to land a job using this medium. It makes perfect sense.

Maybe I’m being too transparent, but is it wrong of me to hope that Kodak gets a google alert informing them that I’ve blogged about their new exciting “Chief Listener” position opening up? Maybe I shouldn’t admit it, but I want people to know that I am out here and eager to start working. I want everyone to know. I’ve Tweeted it, put up my Facebook status, and my LinkedIn profile.

So I guess I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. Networking. Updating. Learning. Trying. And maybe someday somebody will give me a chance.