Understanding Search

January 24, 2008.  Got Mortified?  Then GetMortified.com might be for you.  It would be nice if I could tell you more about this site, but guess what?  Yes, the site is down.  From what I can tell, it’s basically a collection of people who share their poems, stories, letters, etc. from when they were kids.  You know, stuff like “my first kiss” and “the first time I smoked”.  Sounds like a lot of fun, so stop back in a few days to get your mortification for the day.

Another female sports television personality may have bit the bullet of her own tongue.  January 23, 2008 saw Dana Jacobson go on a rant on a radio roast that involved shots at the Lord Jesus Christ himself.  Jacobson, a Michigan alum, apparently made the inappropriate remarks towards a colleague, who is a Notre Dame alum, on ESPN’s Mike and Mike In The Morning.  The quotes included shots at Touchdown Jesus and the Catholic religion.  I think we should take a poll on who will be fired first, Jacobson or the lynch master Kelly Tilghman.  I’m taking Dana Jacobson but Tilghman is a close second.

January 22, 2008: If you are a fan of blockbusters such as Brokeback Mountain, A Knight’s Tale, Casanova, Monster’s Ball, The Patriot, and Lords of Dogtown…it’s a Dark night.  Heath Ledger was apparently found dead in New York today, quite possibly the result of a drug overdose.  I remember him in Ned Kelly and Monster’s Ball as well, and according to the news, he recently finished shooting The Joker too.  Not sure what other movies he made, but it seems like there were a few more.  Since the news broke this afternoon, the search engines have been hammered with searches related to Heath.

The search world of January 21st, 2008 showed the a well-deserved salute to one of the most influential figures the United States has ever known.  Martin Luther King, Jr. day was filled with searches for our man Marty King and one of the best articles I noticed in a while was on the front page of ESPN.com.  In town for today’s game against the Hawks, members of the Portland Trailblazers, including the injured number one pick Greg Oden, toured Dr. Kings childhood home, the YMCA he played at as a kid, and the museum honoring him (I did the same tour and would highly recommend it if your ever in Atlanta).  The article was impressive read it here.

January 20, 2008. Not sure where everyone else is seeing this ad today, but I saw it in my local Sunday paper, in the USA Weekend pullout.  “How to get 2 free heaters” is the headline, and national toll free hotines are now open.  48 hours is your deadline to order up to 2 Amish made fireplace mantles.  The online address is AmishFirePlaces.com.  Most impressively, these fireplaces roll anywhere to throw an instant heat wave.  No chimney, no vent, no wood, and no smoke.  No kidding?  At $299 each, these seem like some incredible ways to heat a room.  The ad goes on to say that Amish craftsmen are under a tremendous strain (emphasis added) of the winter rush, which is the reason they are limiting this to only 2 per customer.  I have no idea what these craftsmen get paid, but it sounds like a sweat shop in a wooden barn to me.  I am going to protest by not ordering any…just to give a couple of these Amish folks a little break.

January 19, 2008 saw people searching for information and results for the Adult Video Awards which was held tonight in Las Vegas.  Does it surprise that the famed “sin city” would hold the annual awards show for the pornography industry?  Vivid Entertainment dominated the awards taking home Best Actor (Tom Byron in Layout), Best Actress (Penny Flame in Layout) and the greatest award of all in my mind, Best All-Girl Sex Scene (Faith Leon, Monique Alexander and Stefani Morgan in Sex & Violins).

01-18-08 is showing a monster number of searches for Cloverfield, a new movie in theatres today.  If you haven’t heard about the Cloverfield movie, where in the world have you been?  I can’t recall a recent flick that’s been advertised more than this one.  When I saw I Am Legend (another Will Smith movie that starts with “i”…following Independence Day, I Robot, and others), the previews to Cloverfield reminded me of camera effects used in the Blair Witch Project.  Guessing it will be #1 at the box office this weekend, but likely will disappoint.

Thursday, January 17th was a day for the pirates.  The recent DVD release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has been the driving force influencing all the searches for www.piratesonline.com.  The site is really entertaining and contains a computer game where you are Captain Jack Sparrow and must defeat other pirate groups.  A very interesting marketing concept by Disney that has clearly been a success.

It’s humpday, Wednesday the 16th of January and people are out searching in record numbers again.  Here are a few of the most popular searches, in real time, happening right now, as I type!  Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I rented the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie just last night, and today there are a lot of people searching for PiratesOnline.com.  I took a peek at the site, and it appears you can download a trial version or pay a monthly fee for full access.  Anyway, if you’re a fan of the three movies, I have a feeling you’re really going to enjoy this one.

Today (Tuesday, January 15th) in search made me chuckle as I noticed one of the more comical search phrases we’ve seen so far, “Where Can I Buy HGH”.  This must be on people’s minds due to the rampant coverage ESPN has been giving the recently released Mitchell Report.  As we all know, this report had evidence that many current and former MLB players had used performance enhancing drugs (including HGH).  The question is, who was making all these searches??  I bet Roger Clemens knows!