Monday, April 27, 2009

Aha Moment


We've all had one of those moments, times where something clicks and we suddenly understand something we've struggled with for a long time. Teacher's live for these moments and can see it in their student's eyes. Comic strips show it as a light bulb going off above your heard and from this article at WebMD, it may not be too far off (the article says these moments are "marked by a surge of electrical activity in the brain." - What will Al Gore say when he hears this, try to legislate aha's out of existence?)
But it seems that TV Queen Oprah may have had one too many "Aha" moments. She found out that Mutual of Omaha Bank (is MOB the correct acronym?) is the "official sponsor of the aha moment" according to their website here. Seems the MOB thinks an aha moment is that "moment of clarity... a defining moment when you gain real wisdom - wisdom you can use to change your life." A little wordy, but a good definition.
Oprah's lawyers sent the MOB a letter telling them to cease and desist using the phrase, for fear it might look like she supports the MOB. She claims the legal rights to those words. Of course the MOB claims that even if she trademarked the phrase, "she 'abandoned' those rights by failing to 'police their alleged mark' when other businesses used it in the past. (source here). Seems the MOB thinks the words are free game (but then how could they be the sponsor?)
Looks like all of this is headed to court. I hope the judge has an "aha moment" and throws it out AFTER splitting court costs between the two parties. And I hope they don't see my post and start coming after me. But if they do, I'll just claim that with the greenhouse effect, I'm afraid to use any additional electrical charges in my brain for fear of the environment. Hey, I wonder if that excuse will work for my boss?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is in regards to what you asked me in Neil's blog, since I appear to have lost posting priveleges there:

And Randy:

You're right, I'm younger than a fair share of the people who post here. I'll be twenty in December.

I found Neil's blog through GMCWatch, which I found when I was vandalizing Conservadpedia's articles on homosexuality.

As for why I come back here: look at this from my persective. I am telling these people, as a gay man, that I was born the way I was, that I never chose to be like this, that what I do is in no way immoral or perverse, and they tell me that I'm wrong. Seeing people talk about homosexuality like this, like it's some kind of unnatural perversion, that's in the same vein as bestiality and pedophilia, offends me (to say the least), and I feel compelled to set these people straight.
Apologies for the off topic-ness, but I wanted to justify your questions with an appropriate response. If you have any questions, feel free to email me:

butterbuilding@gmail.com

Randy said...

Anon, welcome to my blog. As you can see, I post on a lot of diverse topics. I've responded to your comments via email, a lot of it just doesn't belong here.

TFSB* and come back whenever you can.

*TFSB is another one of those phrases that is probably trademarked - Thanks for stopping by. I think it was Esso (now known as Exxon) who used it. I guess they'll be after me too.

Brooke said...

LOL!

Better stop thinking, lest you wind up in court. :)