Things I just don't understand

Okay, this could be a REALLY long list -- starting with something like string theory, but then again does anyone really understand string theory? Anyway, it could be long, but for today I have two things in mind.

First, I saw an ad in this morning's Birmingham paper for something called Menopause The Musical. Evidently it "puts a hilarious spin on the dreaded 'change'," but that's not what I was really looking for with my morning coffee.

Second, what's the deal with the TV commercial for Valtrex? Have you seen this one? I thought those "not so fresh feeling" commercials were the worst ever, but I think this one is "better". The spot opens with an attractive late-twenties or early-thirties couple looking very much in love. The guy looks at the camera and says, "I have genital herpes." His lovely lady then, with a serious look on her face, says, "And I don't." The guy then comes back with something like, "And we'd like to keep it that way."

I promise I'm not making this up. Nowhere in the spot does it deal with just how Mr. Handsome came to have the herpes and why this lovely lady is having anything to do with him. Maybe she's just a saint ( it's his inner beauty that counts) or maybe he got genital herpes in some non-scuzzy guy way, but we don't know. We never see the scenes played out at home.

"Honey, would you take out the garbage?"
"Aw, I'm too tired. Can't you take it out tonight?"
"YOU HAVE GENITAL HERPES AND YOU DIDN'T GET THEM FROM ME!!!"
"Okay, I'm going."

It looks like an SNL skit based on the Friends episode where Joey posed for the VD poster, but I think this is real. Geesh!

On a related "unbelievable" note, there are signs Nick Saban's honeymoon at Bama may already be coming to an end. I can't find the original newspaper colunm, but evidently some folks thought it was in poor taste for Coach Saban to wear a PURPLE SHIRT to Coleman Coliseum on the night he was to be introduced as the new football coach. Oh, did I mention the Tide was playing LSU that night? For the sports-impaired: Purple is LSU's dominant color and Saban used to coach LSU, before running off to the NFL.

Now I'll admit that was one boneheaded move from Coach Saban. Even ignoring the question of whether the shirt was purple (eyewitnesses say maroon, magenta, etc.), how could you were any color other than CRIMSON to that basketball game? I heard one guy offer, "Oh he was probably trying to show a "hat tip" to the Tide fans and that was the closest thing he had to a red shirt." HELLO! The guy just signed a bazillion dollar guaranteed coaching contract. I think he could afford to stop by the bookstore and pick up a red shirt.

In all seriousness, I am amazed that folks are so fired up about what color shirt Saban wore to the basketball game. I really don't see how his shirt color relates to his coaching ability, but I do wonder just what he was thinking. From all I've heard, Nick Saban is one sharp cookie. How could he not realize a purple(ish) shirt would not be the best thing to wear to his first Bama sporting event? Even casual fans know, you wear Crimson to Crimson Tide sporting events. The alternative explanation is that he realized exactly what sort of reaction he'd get and he did it as a statement -- to show he's in charge and he doesn't give a damn what the fans think of him. Either way, it seems as if things will be interesting as ever down in T-town.

By the way, it's not just Bama fans that went nuts over this. The LSU fan sites have been lit up with Tiger fans who think Nick did it as a "slap in the face" to them. I don't get that at all, but fans aren't necessarily the most logical folks out there. Regardless, welcome back to college football Coach Saban.

Grr, photo uploading is not working again. So here's a link to a picture of the shirt. Not that I care (see above), but it does look purple to me. Of course I am a man and I've long maintained that men could get by very well with just the 8 colors in the "fat crayon" pack you get in first grade. Any color shades/hues/tints more subtle that that just slip right by us.