Today’s Gin and Topics are brought to you by Michael Schechter.
When the Dietrich is away, the kids will play!
It appears Gini may have cracked into the New Year’s champagne a little early. So much so, she is giving me free reign over the final Gin and Topics of 2011.
With great power comes great responsibility (or with great vacation comes guest posters), so hopefully I do right by her weekly posts of web goodies (can you really compete with posts titled, Boobs and Wind-Blown Ducks anyhow?!?).
I’m intimidated by the caliber of adorable animal videos and Internet memes Gini has collected this past year, but duty calls…
Let’s enjoy a little Gin and Topics before the bubbly starts flowing!
5. The requisite cute animal video. I’m not certain, but I think it’s a legal requirement of this weekly series to have an animal doing something adorable. While this falls out of my particular area of internet expertise, I was fortunate enough to find this extremely well mannered bear biding adieu to a passerby courtesy of the fine folks at The Next Web and Reddit.
4. Guilty pleasures and good deeds. Louis C.K. continues to prove the power of Internet experimentation, boasting more than one million dollars in cleared funds, collected $5 at a time from those of us who love his shame-filled humor. More than 25 percent of that cash is going to charity, so you get to feel good about your desire to buy and watch something so utterly inappropriate! Bonus: For those of you who can’t quite put your finger on why you love his dirty, dirty brand of comedy, Frank Chimero sums it up nicely!
3. Five-year resolutions, anyone? Because Gini always seems to sneak a little medicine in with the spoonful of sugar that is Gin and Topics, it seems fitting I follow suit. I know many of us are getting ready to attack our resolutions in a couple of days, but you may want to consider thinking longer term like Jeff Bezos does at Amazon. I know my beloved Apple and the late Steve Jobs tend to get the lion share of the love when it comes to vision, but it’s hard to read this New York Times article (via Kottke) and not have a newfound appreciation for both the company and their long term approach.
2. And it wouldn’t be year-end without talking about douchecanoes. We tend to complain about douchecanoes, but in truth, they are actually kind of funny… Especially when someone starts collecting all the things Douchey Account Guys say on Tumblr. If you want to both punch and secretly laugh at those who says things like “I need you to close the loop…” or “put that on the back burner, but make sure you keep it on your radar”, than this is the Tumblr blog for you!
1. Dogs in Cars. While one animal video is a requirement, a follow-up seems like a fitting way to end this year’s Gin and Topics posts. Anyone reading this site knows of Gini’s love for her dog, Jack Bauer. While he is missing from the video, I think he’d agree Dogs in Cars is a perfect way to ride out 2011.
Happy New Year, Spin Suckers! I’ll be drinking one for all of you fine folks tomorrow!
Michael Schechter is the digital marketing director for Honora Pearls, a company specializing in freshwater pearl jewelry. He writes about all things digital on his blog.