Friday, July 26, 2013

KIDS ARE SO FUNNY

Alison Morris posted this on facebook and I thought it was so funny I just had to share:


You know what I love about this? The fact that she made the letters for "COLOR" in different colors. She's showing by example! And she also added extra stars and some exclamation points to smooth over the criticism. Ha!




Wednesday, July 24, 2013

SHAPED BUILDINGS

I have always been obsessed with buildings shaped as things. I remember going to the Enchanted Forrest when I was little and loved it. The child-sized amusement park had all sorts of buildings shaped as things like shoes, boats, etc. It's since been abandoned and I'll be posting photos of them on my photography blog (stay tuned).  I've also been obsessed with buildings shaped as objects thanks to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen. I loved looking (still do!) at all the cans and other items turned into sky scrapers. And then there was our family drive to Boston and we'd pass by the big milk bottle. 

Anyway, I stumbled upon these historic photos and thought I'd post them. Long live buildings shaped as other things!





Wednesday, July 17, 2013

BYE BYE CEO OF B&N


William Lynch (then CEO) resigned last week and BN stock shot up by 5.3% the next day.  I think everyone is wanting a change. Not to say "I told you so," but heck... I told you so! Okay, okay, no BN bigwigs are listening but perhaps that's a big part of the problem. The folks at BN corporate don't seem to care about what the lowly booksellers have to say. Perhaps... just perhaps booksellers see things and deal with things on a daily basis that could be useful. But nah... why bother.

I'll give you all a good example: BN corporate decided it was a genius idea to arrange the toys in a very interesting way: the baby chew toys, colorful rings, buttons that make noises, and other toddler-esq devices are in rows. What is behind those rows, pretty much hidden, are several shelves of remote control cars and airplanes for the 12-16 crowd. Um... am I the only one who thinks that this arrangement might be a tad foolish for several reasons? But of course no one at corporate cares to walk around and look or ask how it's going, etc. Alas. And of course a bookseller would get in reprimanded if he or she used their brain and moved the older toys to a better location.

I also thought it was a really bad idea to try and compete with the likes of Apple. Sure enough, down goes the Nook. Excuse me Nook. There's no "the." Anyway, BN spent a whole lot of dough on the kiosks to house these color Nooks and now they may be selling them off. Waste of money there.

There's a lot more going on. Lots of waste. Lots and lots of stupidity. I could give you a laundry list. I think that the store is going to go down like the Titanic unless it makes some major restructuring.

Monday, July 1, 2013

THEIR LOGO. MY LOGO.

Here's the new log for PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE:

The issue with this logo is that it's really two logos stuck together. The penguin is clearly bolder and it looks like it could crush the house in a second. Plus the penguin doesn't seem to give a crap about the house. It's like, "Mmm, whatever house. I'm doing my own thing over here." Not a good way to start a new company!

Here's my take on it:
That's right. The penguin is riding high on top of the house. I simplified the house because I figured the penguin needed something smaller and easier to manage for its cartoon size. They're going somewhere. That's what the new company should be about: going somewhere! Forward motion! The penguin is pointing: He's saying, "Hey guys, this way toward success!" Did I give the penguin big eyes? Yes I did. Why? Why not. Did I give the house tiny wheels? Yes. Oh yes I did.

PENGUIN AND RANDOM HOUSE HAVE OFFICIALLY MERGED

I got the official letter today. Random House has merged with Penguin. Or is it that Penguin has merged with Random? Well... either way you want to put it the decision is made: the new company will be called Penguin Random House. I think we all know why they didn't go with the reverse. Too many jokes about that one. I think if they had a huge sense of humor they would have done it.

Hmm. Now I think they need a new logo! A penguin sitting on top of a house? How about a half penguin half house? OR... a penguin taking a ride on a house! Yes! I think I'm going to draw a picture of it. I will show the results when I'm done.

Um... like I don't have other things to do?