Happy Tree Friends Gone

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I killed my subscription to the Happy Tree Friends video podcast yesterday. I'm not sure why, but episodes I had already downloaded were downloading themselves multiple times through iTunes. The additional downloads were identical to the first ones, except this time they contained ads. I'm not sure it was intentional, but to me, it came across as an attempt to push ads at me. Maybe it wasn't deliberate, but I'd be awfully tweaked if someone decided to waste bandwidth and HD space by pushing a new versions out just to get the ad impressions. That ain't right.

On another note, I can't believe that companies are so lacking in creativity when they sponsor podcasts. A while back, I posted that the really good podcasts are just the push portion of a push-pull mechanism that encourages interactivity. The podcasts ads I've seen don't really seem to want to be a part of that dialogue. The advertiser just runs their :30 or puts their logo on Amanda Congdon's shirt or whatever. I don't see companies soliciting audio comments or linking back to their blogs or anything like that. It just seems to be more of the same "buy my crap" messaging.

Virgin Territory

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This may be relevant tomorrow after my Spin is posted: Sometimes, companies weave advertising into media that haven't carried advertising previously, or vehicles that aren't typically thought of as advertising-friendly - 'virgin vehicles,' if you will. The advertiser and its agencies wonder beforehand whether people using the vehicle will tolerate their presence there.

The mere presence of the marketer there isn't usually the thing that sets users of the medium off. The presence of an inappropriate "buy my crap" message is.

Scary Fast

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I haven't ridden a two-stroke dirt bike in a long time. I've been woods riding since I bought my first quad about five years ago, but before that, I was probably in my teens the last time I rode a two-wheel dirt bike. In a two-stroke, I don't think I ever rode anything bigger than a 125. Craig got his mitts on a 500cc 2-stroke recently, and he asked me to take it for a spin yesterday (just to the edge of the property and back - no biggie). Obviously, this is a lot more powerful than anything I had ridden in a while. I just wasn't exactly sure HOW MUCH more powerful.

After kicking it over, I rode it up a short hill, crested the hill and came down on the other side. Confronted with another hillclimb, I did what I usually did on my quad - I got my weight forward on the pegs and goosed the throttle to get up some speed to carry me up the hill.

Imagine my surprise when the bike took off like a rocket and it was all I could do to hang on for dear life. I came off the throttle, locked up the brakes and stalled the bike out at the top of the hill. It scared the crap out of me. I rode the bike back to the house with a wide-eyed look, never daring to take it out of first gear. "This thing is scary fast," I told Craig. I'll never ride it again.

To me, the bike is nice but there's way too much power for the type of riding we tend to do - woods riding with a lot of tight turns. I'm sure Craig, as a much more experienced rider, can handle it, but I got the sense from my brief ride that it wouldn't be long before I'd hit a tree with it. (And it would climb the tree.)

I'm sticking to four wheels and four-stroke motors.