Cru Jones Society

It’s time for one of the CJS HIgh Holidays: MLB Opening Day.Tomorrow we’ll be at the park with a beer in hand, cracking peanut shells and enjoying the greatest game on earth as it shepherds in the summer months. Around these parts, a new season not only brings a fresh sense of hope, but also a new batch of Rockies commercials. So let’s roll in the new season with the delightfully offbeat humor of the Rockies’ amazingly successful marketing efforts. Continue Reading »

Do you smell that? That’s the smell of spring, and that means baseball! As you’re all probably aware, The Cru Jones Society loves baseball and loves writing about baseball. With first pitch later this week we can hardly hold our excitement and had to bust out our first baseball articles of the season. But first the best way to encapsulate the start of baseball is with this classic WNYX promo.

OK, now grab your cap, a hot dog and a beer, and let’s play ball. Continue Reading »

I realize I’ve been wrong. I’ve been myopic in my focus, lacking in nuance in my approach, and needlessly limiting myself to but one form.

Why have I merely limited myself to poking fun at simple relationship articles, when there’s a whole internet full of stupid shit to make fun of?  

And first up: That bastion of delightfully pointless claptrap you don’t even bother to read in the waiting room of your dentist’s office – Reader’s Digest! Continue Reading »

At the intersection of technology and obsolescence sits the podcast. Without a doubt, the technology of the iPod revolutionized the way we consume our culture in its sleek appearance, easy-as-pie interface, and seemingly limitless storage capacity. The iPod made all technology from the charmingly archaic Walkman, the comparatively cumbersome Discman, and the thoroughly misdirected mini-disc player look like relics from the Temple of Doom.

Yet, what is one of the fastest growing formats played on this tiny little morsel of technology? It’s the most outmoded form of social interaction you can possibly have – a long, meandering conversation with someone else free from interruption, format restrictions, or FCC constraints. A conversation you can have at a pub in 2011, or on the goddamn prairie in 1835. Sure, the content would be different, but the spirit remains very much the same.

The podcast is the perfect marriage of technological advancement and that which we decry is missing from many of our interactions in day-to-day life: real depth, real connection, and real conversation. Technology we blame on alienating us is also bringing us together in unexpected ways. It’s a culture come full circle, and I’m here to tell you why it means so much to me. Continue Reading »

The movie Up was not at all what I was expecting. I texted CJS Regular Brad two nights ago; it read “The movie Up was not at all what I was I expecting.” He replied, “What were you expecting?” I said, “I have no idea, but it was way more action movie-y than I thought. And way more dogs too.” Brad’s response: “Yeah, same here, didn’t expect that much action… Or to want to cry at the end.”

That pretty much sums up every viewing experience of a Pixar film rather tidily, doesn’t it? Way more action than you expect married with a desire to cry. Why is that? How does Pixar achieve this strange balance? Let’s take a look. Continue Reading »

One of the joys of the corporate world is gaining an email that a ton of people suddenly have access to. I now get all sorts of emails I never would have gotten before, ok that’s not entirely true since I made the mistake of letting my grandma know my email. One of these splendid emails I got the other day was entitled 101 Small Pleasures You Can Enjoy Everyday. At first I was optimistic and thought, “Aw, this is pleasant.” Then I read the list and I slowly became filled with rage at just how stupid and ridiculous some of these things are. I felt it was my duty to share this list as well as the problems that exist within it. As it turns out I had more to say on these things than I anticipated so I have broken it into 4 parts. I now present to you the final stupid ass part. Continue Reading »

One of the joys of the corporate world is gaining an email that a ton of people suddenly have access to. I now get all sorts of emails I never would have gotten before, ok that’s not entirely true since I made the mistake of letting my grandma know my email. One of these splendid emails I got the other day was entitled 101 Small Pleasures You Can Enjoy Everyday. At first I was optimistic and thought, “Aw, this is pleasant.” Then I read the list and I slowly became filled with rage at just how stupid and ridiculous some of these things are. I felt it was my duty to share this list as well as the problems that exist within it. As it turns out I had more to say on these things than I anticipated so I have broken it into 4 parts. I now present to you the third part. Continue Reading »