Consumer Escapes - Firing Up the Backyard Grill

I love to barbecue. The whole process from igniting the grill, to cooking, to eating, to the simplicity of clean-up. I find that time spent - beer in hand - waiting to flip whatever is cooking is a primal escape. And the grill is mine.

Jeff Foxworthy did a wonderful job capturing the lighter side of "why real men grill." Here are a few of his observations:

It brings men together. Then there’s that bonding thing. It’s hard for guys not to tell other guys how to do it. Let’s face it: My wife probably would not like it if other women were standing around her stove saying, “You need to turn that spaghetti up,” or, “You need to take those noodles out—they’re ready.” Women don’t do that to each other. But guys gather round the grill and go, “You need to flip them. You need to flip those steaks!” I don’t know why guys have to be right about everything, but we do.

It’s exciting. Men love grilling for the sheer danger of it. You got a breeze, you got a flame, you’ve got lighter fluid and a miniature pitchfork. You got people imbibing alcohol. What could possibly go wrong here? Let’s just say that there’s a good chance that the fire truck or, you know, the ambulance is coming out. Men like that. Someone could get hurt before the food ever makes it to the table. If there’s not a chance of calling 911, men don’t want to bother cooking it!

Consumer Escapes - D-I-Y Investing

I'm a lousy do-it-yourselfer when it comes to home repairs and improvements. The joke in my family is that a handyman is needed to fix my fixes. Whatever the markets, I've been an effective do-it-yourselfer when it comes to investing. Interestingly when it comes to fixing "stuff" I'm a "breaker." But when it comes to financial stuff, amazingly we've never had a broker. So admittedly I'm better with Schwab than with spackle.

Recently I got turned on to an investing website that is stunning in its design and ease. It's called Kapitall and it employs oversized drag-and-drop icons that brings a visual flavor to investment research unlike anything else I've used. I'll happily trudge through the microscopic type of Value Line at the local library. Kapitall now gives me a way to go online and organize that data. Give it a look. It's educational, it's fun and it's free.

Wish I could say that about fixing the toilet.

Consumer Escapes - In-car Radio

Yesterday I posted an article about men's joy and escape in driving on the open road. Today we take a look at what men are doing while driving, specifically what they're listening to. I've pulled out pieces of a story in The New York Times that ran last November.

American men have a naughty little secret. Sometimes, they like to relax with a little Céline Dion. Professed classical music fans have one, too: as it turns out, they don’t tune into classical radio nearly as much as they claim.

These are two of many findings shaking up the radio industry as it converts from measuring ratings through surveys to monitoring listeners electronically using so-called Portable People Meters. As radio executives are discovering, what people say they do and what they actually do is different — especially where “My Heart Will Go On” is concerned.

“It may be a case where men didn’t want to admit they were listening to a light A.C.,” said Greg Ashlock, president and market manager for Los Angeles at Clear Channel, using industry shorthand for adult contemporary, or soft rock. “ ‘No, I don’t listen to Céline Dion. I’m a sports guy.’ ”

Some male soft-rock listeners say they simply like the music. Ezra Feinberg, 33, a psychologist in San Francisco, listens to KOIT, a soft-rock station, on his commute. “One in 10 songs on soft-rock radio resonates, but it really resonates,” he said.

“The meter is sort of making radio more homogenous, because the stations that do best are the mass appeal stations,” Ms. Albright said. That may be another explanation for why men are listening to soft rock.

“There’s no good radio,” said Jason Pontius, 39, a technology executive in Oakland, Calif. “Soft rock radio is like, ‘Am I really listening to this?’ But it’s the best thing that’s on.”

So take a look in your rearview mirror and when it appears that the guy behind you is rocking out, he just might be doing it to Lite FM.

Consumer Escapes - Driving Alone on the Open Road

The following is excerpted from an article in Men's Health, April 2010, by Dan Neil. I noted it as a MUST post. On this beautiful spring day it also makes me want to go for a ride. Enjoy ...
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It's a trope of pop psychology that a man needs time to sulk and suck his paw -- that men are different from their it-takes-a-village counterparts. And yet it's the truth. This bit of wiring in a man's brain may be the evolutionary product of eons of lonely hunting and gathering; however he came by it, his impulse to be alone runs deep.

The solo car trip is one of the few activities that lets men be alone without having their solitude pathologized. Try telling your friends and family that you'll be spending a few days at the beach alone, or going off sailing by yourself. The reaction is likely to be disbelief or worry. One of the many amusing aspects of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford's fall from grace was his alibi -- that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail alone. (He was in Argentina, in fact, visiting his girlfriend.) The very notion of hiking alone seemed enough to make people doubt his mental health. What if he'd said he was just going for a drive?

Long-distance driving has emerged in literature, from Jack Kerouac to Stephen King, as a kind of American zen, a practice of falling into the massive hypnotism of the road, mindful of the moment, the scenery scrolling by in its peripheral totality. A week on the road alone is a rare and fantastic gift to myself. I can start to hear myself think. On the first day, I rehash arguments with former girlfriends and wives. On the second day, I commune with the spirit of my father, gone 30 years. By day three, I can actually start producing new thoughts. I start thinking about changing the world.

A bad day on the open road is . . . well, there is no bad day.

Link to full article

Consumer Escapes - Retro Decorating

We've been talking about renovating our kitchen for years. One element in our plan is to install a double oven. I find the planning itself to be an escape. The actual remodeling is painful. It takes longer than expected and costs more than planned.

Inspiration often comes from flipping through remodeling magazines. Although everything starts to look the same. Maybe if the appliance advertising was more like this classic from the 70's our kitchen would be done by now.

Come to think of it, my parent's house had a Thermodor oven when I was a kid. Hmm, wonder who was reading remodeling magazines back then?

Consumer Escapes - Reading around the edges

This morning I had the pleasure to listen to a talk at The Roeper School by Don Ambrose, Ph.D. Acting Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Education, & Sciences and Professor of Graduate Education at Rider College in New Jersey. Don was speaking about the foundations for gifted education and creative intelligence. One topic area he covered gave me permission to keep doing something I've been doing. He called it "reading around the edges." Basically as students and organizations deal with a rapidly changing world we must have greater interdisciplinary understanding. So a scientist can get inspiration from art; a writer gains discovery through an appreciation for music; and so on.

My wife with her Kindle (see earlier post) said that the device will only gain in popularity because people can't judge you by what you're reading. No one knows if you're reading a trashy romance novel or today's newspaper. But as I think about what Dr. Ambrose outlined, I can read anything proudly, so far as it's contributing to broadening my horizons. This weekend we'll see just how effective reading Maxim is in helping me escape from cognitive traps.

Consumer Escapes - Vintage Advertising

A colleague turned me on to a great site to spend a few minutes with called “Found in Mom’s Basement.” It's a well-organized collection of vintage advertising. In many cases the Mad Men were mad. Dust 'em off and take a look.

Link to Found in Mom's Basement