A "Do" and a "Don't" from Mia Farrow

Yesterday, Mia Farrow demonstrated to me a "Do" and a "Don't."

At this year's PRSA International Conference, Mia Farrow was presented as the keynote speaker. As some of you know, she's a humanitarian activitist, having done good works around the world (working with UNICEF to eradicate polio) and adopting 10 kids. She's the pre-Angelina Jolie, the pre-Bono.

Mia evangelized during her keynote, speaking of the genocide in Darfur (western region of Sudan) and all the tragedy that the Sudanese Janjaweed (Arab militiamen) have been senselessly wreaking havoc on Darfur-- killing, raping, torturing, and pushing them out to Chad and the Central African Republic.

Despite my opinion that she got too political (bashing former President Jimmy Carter and decrying China for underwriting the Sudanese in the genocide) and despite my thought that it was a somber way to open a conference, Mia's speech was certainly eye-opening-- enough to get me to log on to her website, http://www.miafarrow.org/, to see what I could do to help (I've signed up to contribute a monthly donation to Doctors Without Borders). She effectively persuaded me to participate; this was a "do."

But, you ask, how did Mia's keynote relate to PR? I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it out myself. Though it would have been pretty simple to do, Mia failed to make the connection between the Darfur genocide and PR. It could have been: "With your influence as professional PR practitioners, you have the capability to communicate through the mass media the atrocities of Darfur. You have the power to empower those around you, to take advantage of the media as a significant vehicle to bring attention to Darfur" blahse-blah. And, that's just an elementary connection that I created off the top of my head. (I'm sure a strategic speechwriter could have helped Mia concoct a much better connection.)

Further, not only did Mia not relate PR to Darfur, but she also wasn't aware of who her audience was. Apparently, she didn't realize she was evangelizing to a group of 3000 PR practitioners. When the presenter/moderator said to her, "Well, Mia, you are talking a group of professional communicators who can help get out the message..." Mia exclaimed with sheer and genuine glee, "WOW! I am talking to the right group!" It was like, "Oh my goodness, would you look at that? I'm talking to a bunch of PR people! What a coincidence!"

Yeah, I understand that some speakers use one canned speech the entire year and tweak it a bit for their audience. But, hello: can you at least be aware of who your audience is beforehand? That faux pas is the worst mistake you can make as a PR professional: not understanding your audience. Despite her enlightening speech, here, Mia was a clear "Don't."

Haircuts

Izzie finally got a new hairstyle. She cut off some of the length and got some layers. Now, if only Meredith would get rid of those annoying bangs that hang at her temples. They're especially annoying when she pulls her hair back in a ponytale and they're just hanging there. Makes me wanna give her some bobby pins.

Susan is still annoying

I'm in Philly now, so I have the pleasure of watching Desperate Housewives earlier than my friends on the West Coast. Here's a spoiler: Susan is STILL annoying.

More spoilers ahead...

She wanted so bad for her her gay neighbors to like her (gee, I wonder why they dont' like her?) by hiding their runaway dog in her garage. That way when they came looking for him, she could be the hero who finds him. Of course, her I-Love-Lucy-but-not-as-endearing-as-Lucy plan was foiled when Mike opened the garage door and the dog came charging out towards his owners, his paws smothered with yellow paint.
Susan is so lame.

Foreshadowing

Remember this song "Lucky" by Britney Spears? I didn't think much of it at the time, but now it's quite CLEAR that she's singing about herself. I wonder if she was bright enough to figure out that she would become such a wreck 8 years later that she wrote this song...no wait, she doesn't write her own songs. Silly me! So, I bet it was her producer or songwriter who foresaw Britney's life in the shambles that it is now.

I've ammended the lyrics to make them more....uh, current:

This is a story about a girl named Britney…

Early morning
Brit wakes up
Screaming Frap, Frap, Frap at the door

It's time for Cheetos
And a...Perfect Wig
It's who they're all waiting for

They go, wasn't she lovely
This train wreck of a girl

And they say
chrous
she's so last week, she was a star
Now she cry, cry, cries with her lonely heart, thinking
There's now so much missing in my life
So, please bring my kids back tonight.




P.S. I realize I just made fun of Britney, but I'm seriously pulling for her. Everyone likes a comeback story.

Why?

Questions from last week's TV:

1. Is Dwight Schrute that evil that he would kill Angela's cat?
2. Why is it that the men whom Izzie grows fond of die? Is George gonna croak next?
3. Why does Lexie continue to try to ask Meredith questions? Why is she so ditzy?
4. Why are there so many interns on Grey's Anatomy? They look so obviously like extras.
5. How did some of the models (like Jenah )on America's Next Top Model make it on their show? Get a professional makeup artist on me and an art director directing my shoots, and I can be just as FIERCE.

I'll Buy You Rogaine...

The Yellow Hummingbird introduced me to Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am" -- from Grey's Anatomy and the current Old Navy commercials, advertising their sweaters.

Of course, Old Navy only plays the excerpt that speaks of sweaters:

If you are chilly, here take my sweater.

But, I'm thinking Rogaine should start using the song in their commercials too. This lyric would be perfect:

I'd buy you Rogaine if you start losing all your hair.

If that doesn't speak of love and commitment, then I wouldn't know how else to express it.

A Southern Californian Autumn

I know that I live in Southern California, where there are only 2 seasons: windy and hot. I also know that I've never actually lived anywhere else where people experience 4 distinct seasons. But, I travel a lot, so I do have an idea of what a true autumn is.

And, despite the fact that it's been quite warm and dry here, it's starting to feel like Fall! So what if red, orange, and gold leaves don't adorn all the trees here? And, so what if our palm trees stay the same shade of green and brown throughout the year. There's still a sense of a seasonal change here. You wouldn't be able to tell unless you were a Californian native.

Tonight, I feel the seasonal change. It might have been more because of the produce the local markets carried rather than the leaves and the air. But, regardless: it is October, so it's Fall.

Early today, I walked into the grocery store to be greeted by these fragrant cinnamon brooms-- to which I instantly I wanted to buy it but I didn't know what to do with it. I thought you might display it in the home, next to a cornucopia or pumpkins. But when I did an image search for a "cinnamon broom," it came up on wican websites. So I guess they're used for witchcraft!



Another thing that reminded me of Fall was the abundance of squash in the market. Acorn, spaghetti, carnival, buttercup and butternut-- so many varieties of squash, begging to be cooked. I went squash-happy and bought 3! Spaghetti, acorn, and carnival. I tossed half of the carnival squash in the microwave amidst 2 tbsp of water. Five minutes, 1 tsp of butter, 2 tsp of brown sugar, and a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon later, I had a piping hot, sweet squash for dessert. Fantastic!



Two more indicators of Fall: it now gets dark at 6:30, 7. And, the Fall season of television, with my favorite (non-reality) shows: Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Heroes (haven't watched any yet; still on the DVR), and Desperate Housewives.

Another Annoying Lady of ABC

I just watched last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy, and hooray! We have another annoying character to roll our eyes at (alongside Izzie): Lexie Grey, Meredith's half-sister.

She is just so spacey. If you watched the episode, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Who reveals herself as someone's half-sister, blocking the emergency double doors to a hospital, in the middle of an ambulance/hospital crisis?