Liloia.com

Wii Don't Like It

So one way to get people talking about your product is to codename it with a really cool name, like... say "Revolution," which calls to mind men in long leather coats and infinite gun racks sliding around cyberspace, but then annouce the real name, which calls to mind a pig call. Oh yes, people will talk:

I tried telling my friends about the new name and I was embarrassed. It sucks. I'm just gonna say 'new Nintendo' from now on. —John S.

When I first saw the announcement on the boards I read it as Nintendo "Why", and thought, well that's odd. And then when I saw the official Nintendo statement realizing it was prounounced "We" I realized it wasn't just odd anymore, it was simply garbage. Nintendo says the idea of the name is to show that it's a system for everyone, but when you can't even pronounce it the first time you see it, there has to be something wrong there (I've heard someone as going as far as thinking it was called Nintendo W-2 at first impression). —Dan

I've always been a big fan of "Revolution". I mean, it's wordy, but "Rev" has already been a sturdy nickname for awhile now and the console isn't even out yet. And beside that, "revolution" seems to make work so much easier for Nintendo's historically-retarded marketing department. Put "revolution" in any sentence and suddenly you've got a hot ticket marketing slogan. "My wife has an inner ear infection REVOLUTION." Oh yes. —Jared

Introducing, the Nintendo Wii.

It's pronounced "we." And any time you have to include a pronunciation key with your product name, you're sure to have a winner. It's from the Latin, meaning "we picked this product name out of a hat. Or from a consultancy making 2k an hour. Same thing."

I've heard tell that the choice was supposed to be friendly—to indicate the console is accessible to everyone. Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo's marketing VP says, "It sounds like the word ‘we,’ which emphasizes the all-inclusive nature of the system." I'll tell you what, Nintendo, even soccer (or baseball) moms want to be edgy. Wheee!

Marriage Code: Your Lawyer's Dog

In every marriage (at least, I surmise so) there are certain phrases which evolve over time to have coded meanings for the two of you. Let me translate one of those terms from "Liloia" to English:

Your lawyer's dog:

1. Indicating a large amount of people. He was holding a place in line for his girlfriend, her three friends, their three boyfriends and his lawyer's dog.

2. Any person who has somehow been assigned an importance out of line with their actual relation to the situation at hand. They asked for a reference letter from my high school Biology teacher. Do they also want one from my lawyer's dog?!

Snakes On A Plane Quiz Game!

Tara and I have been cracking up talking about "Snakes On A Plane" and how transparent the title to that movie is. Last week I was talking to Adam and he and I agree that at least with that movie, you know where you stand.

Tara and I got off on a tear about how we would create a new quiz game on Liloia.com called the "Snakes on a Plane Movie Quiz" where we rename movies with a completely transparent title and people guess. So, welcome to the first week of

Liloia.com Snakes On A Plane Quiz Game

Guess the movie...

Q: Cute Alien Opressed By US Government.

Great Links

I thought that Look At Me Being Serious was awesome when Clay sent it along the other day, but now I have changed my mind.

Comrade Mario Rocks out. Thanks Adam.

Don't let your membership lapse!

I received an urgent note this morning from the fine people at Hilton. It appears that my membership in their free points program will be canceled unless I take action now! If I do nothing, my accumulated points will just disappear into the ether. And if that isn't cheesy enough, here are some of the actions I'm offered:

1. Spend $154.00 on a hotel room
2. Sign up for Earthlink for a year
3. Buy more of their fake point currency outright.
4. Sign up for their Hilton Visa
5. Be a surrogate mom for Paris.

Okay, maybe not #5, but the basic deal is, "spend money on our (purportedly free) points program, or we'll boot you." But most of the things on the list are high-commitment items. I'm not going to sign up for a Visa card just to stay in the free points program. I'm not going to get rid of my ISP and go to Earthlink just to stay in the free points program. I don't need a Hilton hotel room immediately. I might in three months, but that's not what Hilton has in mind.

Now I'm annoyed with Hilton and likely to not stay in a Hilton property on my next trip.

Oops

This morning as I pulled out of my community, imagine my surprise as I saw the sight below!

The question is, how does something like that happen? The parking lot faces the opposite direction, with plenty of room to turn around and potentially even pull a full 360 in the space. Hmmm. Better them than me.

Playing catch.

If you think about that title too hard, as with anything it loses all meaning. Are we really "playing" catch, or are we just catching? Are there other versions of catching besides the playing kind? Anyway...

Trevor is starting baseball this week and considering who his parents are, we thought he would be less interested in sports. Not the case...he is really excited. We have been going outside many nights, and his fielding skills are starting to really improve. To her credit, Tara took him out a few times last week and played catch too. (Important note here: Tara doesn't own a baseball mitt. Also, Trevor throws pretty hard - OUCH!)

Just today Trev and I went outside and played catch twice, which was awesome. Some of my fondest memories with my Father are those times that we spent outside playing catch. Chatting while we threw the ball, about nothing, about something, it didn't really matter. Sometimes we didn't say anything and the only sound was the consistent "thwap" of the ball against our leather mitts. I don't think I will ever tire of that, or ever turn down the opportunity to play catch. It's such a simple thing, but there is something very satisfying about it.

With Trevor, we are still at the point where there is a lot of instruction, and plenty of missed catches. The one thing I have been trying to get him to understand is how to cover the ball after catching it without getting your fingers mashed as the ball lands in your glove. This has proven to be harder than the ball itself. I can't wait to play catch again, maybe tonight.

Happy Easter!

Easter is a time for celebrating rebirth. And is there anything that symbolizes rebirth more than a fetus? I don't think so. Well... maybe a fetus in an Easter Bunny costume.

Hooray fetus!

Some people spell "fetus" as "foetus." To those people I say, "Welcome to America. Enjoy our local colour."

Proud Dad / Husband (a.k.a. Chaos Ensues)

This year has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride of new jobs, excessive travel, new challenges, and other "firsts" in the Liloia household. Don't get me wrong, we like it this way. I don't think we would be happy if things went smoothly, days rolled past like the mile markers on the highway. "Chaos Ensues" should be the tagline on this site, and I think that the rest of 2006 will prove this statement out without fail.

For a decent amount of the last year (I use the word "decent" very loosely and not in the sense of "good" but in the sense of "a lot") I haven't been home. Part of the reason I left working with PerkinElmer (very reluctantly I might add) was because I wasn't home as much as I would have liked. Guess what, I jumped from one boiling pot to another. Regardless, I unfortunately have to leave T&T frequently (which I hate) and they are left to fend for themselves.

What I wanted to say here is that I am really proud of Trevor (and of course Tara for being the great Mom that led him here). He is such a great, sensitive kid and has changed so much over the last 12 months. Good work Trev.

What are you treasure hunting for?

As a working mother with a young child, I am always on a treasure hunt, but until today I had no idea that this pattern of treasure hunting and trading up was a national phenomenon. In Treasure Hunt, Michael J. Silverstein explains the complex and difficult-to-predict behavior of middle class families (women, in particular) who make tradeoffs on some purchases in order to afford the luxury items which fit their value system.

The books begins powerfully, with serveral "a-ha" moments, which led me to notice the areas where I "trade down" (like buying economy cars) in order to "trade up" in other spots (like fabulous restaurant dinners). I'm willing to bet most readers will have the same kind of epiphany of recognition in the first few chapters. This instant identification with the patterns Michael Silverstein describes had me hooked for a marathon four-hour reading session in which I finished the book.

Detailed -- and sometimes intimate -- narratives about actual consumers clarifies how Silverstein's business models translate into real-world situations. And though personal stories illustrate the concrete concepts, the book never slips into being merely a collection of vague anecdotal evidence. There are enough real numbers associated with each example -- household budgets, charts allocating and indexing spending, and survey data -- to lend validity to each profile.

The intertwined story/principle structure seemed to lose focus toward the end; the chapters on McDonald's and FleetBank meandered a bit more than the first two-thirds of the book. Yet this is still a valuable read for both businessperson trying to make sense of a changing market, as well as the savvy consumer who is interested in why she justifies $400 shoes while leaving the heat off in her apartment.

Liloias are famous... not really.

VT Sen. Peter Welch

Originally uploaded by taragl.

Dave, Trevor and I joined the filming of a commercial for Sen. Peter Welch, who is running for US Congress.

We were background people in a diner for a while, which entailed playing hangman with the guys (Luigi sat at our table) and explaining to Trevor why Sen. Welch came by the table and asked his name five times in a row.

Then we moved to a nearby park and did some family shots with the three of us talking and shaking hands with Sen. Welch.

And you know, after making all of the arrangements to get Dave out of work early and Trevor out of school early for the filming, Dave fed the boy orange Cheetos right before the shoot. Hello?

Happily, Sen. Welch now has the orange-mouthed-seven-year-old constituency firmly in the bag.

Winter, The Sequel

April 4th in Vermont 1

Originally uploaded by taragl.

There is a long-standing spring tradition in Vermont. On April 4th, young children leave their snow pants -- ragged and soggy from the last nine months of winter use -- under their pillows. The Snowpants Fairy comes through their storm windows that night and leaves a fresh new pair of snow pants for use during the remaining three months of winter.

Podcasts

A few weeks ago Tara surprised me with an iPod, something that I have wanted for quite some time. With all the traveling I have been doing, and the amount of time I spend in airports it is a great addition to my travel tools. As part of my use of the iPod, I have been checking out some podcasts and I am looking for more.

So far I subscribe to:

- 1UP.com TV
- 43 Folders
- Intimate Strangers: Video podcast from the American Society of Microbiology
- MicrobeWorld Radio: Audio podcast from the American Society of Microbiology
- Nintendo Podcast
- Opie and Anthony Audio Highlights
- Science Friday from NPR
- Strong Bad Emails and More
- The Onion Radio News
- The Ricky Gervais Project
- They Might Be Giants Podcast
- VH1 Best Night Ever

So the question is, what else should I be checking out? What do you listen to? Let me know!