The future of malls for Cyber Monday, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

Happy Cyber Monday!  I'm going to celebrate today counter-intuitively by looking at brick-and-mortar retail.  Watch the future of the American mall from CBS This Morning.

Almost 1,700 stores inside malls closed in 2018, according to Bank of America, and so far this year, closings have reached more than 4,000. But one company believes it has found a way to reverse the trend. The enormous American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will have a lot more than just stores behind its walls when it fully opens next year. Nikki Battiste reports.

This report displays some skepticism, which is appropriate given what I wrote in Wired on dead malls, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse, Business Insider on dead malls in the Retail Apocalypse with assistance from Dan Bell and Radiohead, and Vox on America's dying malls as failed third spaces, which was the entry that got me started on covering the Retail Apocalypse as an overarching phenomenon instead of the just the failure of my local mall.  Still, I wish the investors luck and success.  I hope they manage to buck the trend.

Stay tuned for Giving Tuesday.

PBS Digital's Hot Mess asks if climate fiction can save the planet

While I was writing Vox explains how thawing permafrost is already releasing dangerous diseases and looking at all the examples of science fiction media in which a disease is released from climate change ("Interstellar," "The Last Ship," "Fortitude," "A Plague Tale : Innocence," and "Resident Evil."), I was thinking about a video from Hot Mess that came out at beginning of October, Can These Books Save The Planet? The Rise of Climate Fiction feat. Lindsay Ellis & Amy Brady.

Climate Fiction comes in all sorts of forms, there’s your Mad Maxes, your Games of Thrones, your Parables of the Sowers, and your WALL-Es. But are all these Cli-Fi books, movies, and TV shows just capitalizing on a hot topic, or do they actually change people’s perceptions of climate change? Lindsay Ellis, of It’s Lit, and Amy Brady, the editor-in-chief of The Chicago Review of Books, help us find out.

On the one hand, I'm glad science fiction writers are examining the topic of climate in books and other media.  I'm one of them, albeit in non-fiction reviews of climate fiction and other "eco-horror, such as the worst eco-horror films early in the decade about to end and more recently in Polygon explains how climate change is changing horror.  On the other hand, science fiction addressing current anxieties may make people more aware, but it may not actually make them do anything about it.

That's not all bad, as awareness is still the first step in environmental literacy.  Action is the last one.  The intermediate steps are knowledge, attitudes, and skills.  For the past eight-and-one-half years, I've been working on the first three steps with myself and my readers, something I alluded to last year in A reminder of why I write this blog.

"I have been advocating for all aspects of sustainability, viable natural environments, nurturing communities, and sufficient economies, on my blog Crazy Eddie's Motie News since 2011.  There, I educate my readers on these topics and hope to inspire them to work for an equitable social environment, sustainable economic development, and a sustainable natural and built environment."  I also "discuss politics, science, technology, the environment, education, and entertainment."

Here's to my continuing to increase my readers' awareness, knowledge, and attitude about the environment, whether through fact or fiction.

That's it for the Sunday entertainment feature.  Stay tuned for Cyber Monday.

WDIV and WXYZ celebrate Small Business Saturday in Metro Detroit

Once again, Happy Small Business Saturday, a day I've been observing since 2011, the first year of this blog!  As I wrote earlier today in Shop Small as Seth Meyers, the Small Business Adminstration, and Yahoo! Finance all celebrate the 10th Small Business Saturday, "I'm not done with Small Business Saturday.  Stay tuned for an entry about local businesses here in Metro Detroit."  WDIV provides an excellent overview of the National Day in Small Business Saturday: Where to shop local around Metro Detroit.

Small Business Saturday was an idea created by the credit card giant American Express in 2010. The campaign was launched in order to help small businesses gain additional exposure and to change the way consumers shop within their own community during the holiday season.

That's the big picture here in southeast Michigan.  For a series of close-ups, follow over the jump as WXYZ invites local businesses into their studio and also goes on location.

Shop Small as Seth Meyers, the Small Business Adminstration, and Yahoo! Finance all celebrate the 10th Small Business Saturday

Happy Small Business Saturday, a day I've been observing since 2011, the first year of this blog!  For this year's celebration, I begin with Seth [Meyers] and Amber [Ruffin] Celebrate Small Business Saturday in Partnership with American Express.

Late Night with Seth Meyers in partnership with American Express celebrates the 10th annual Small Business Saturday.

That was just as funny as a live promotional spot could be.  For a more serious and informative clip, I present the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)'s Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday, two days after Thanksgiving, is a day to celebrate small businesses and all they do for communities across America. Support your local entrepreneurs by shopping and dining at a small business.

Since this is a National Day created by American Express, I'm giving it a more direct voice through one of its vice presidents being interviewed by Yahoo! Finance in Local economy sees big impact from Small Business Saturday.

Andy Goldberg, SVP, Global Brand Planning & Content at American Express discusses opportunities like Small Business Saturday to help small businesses thrive.

One of the types of business both the SBA and American Express is promoting is restaurants, particularly coffee shops.  On that note, I'm sharing American Express's Support Local Coffee Shops.

Want to know how to support local businesses this Small Business Saturday 2019? Stop by your favorite neighborhood coffee shops and get energized to support all the great small businesses in your community.

I couldn't resist this ad, especially since I'm an officer of Coffee Party USA and plan on sharing this post at their Facebook page.

I'm not done with Small Business Saturday.  Stay tuned for an entry about local businesses here in Metro Detroit.

The death and rebirth of Toys R Us, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day

Happy Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day!  Last year, I covered the Retail Apocalypse by focusing on Macy's and Bon-Ton.  This year, I continue with the tradition by re-examining the death and rebirth of Toys R Us, one of the first two chains I followed in covering the decline of brick-and-mortar retailers.  I begin with Wall Street Journal's How Toys 'R' Us Went Bankrupt, which concludes with the chains rebirth under new ownership.

For decades, Toys "R" Us was not only one of the top toy retailers in the United States, it was one of the top retailers period. Until it suddenly wasn’t. Toys “R” filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and liquidated six months later. This is the story of how Toys "R" Us went bankrupt.

The part about the private equity firm that secured their loans to Toys R Us's intellectual property, including Geoffrey the Giraffe, was a new facet of the story to me.  It ties into what I wrote in June about the revival of the name.

Toys R Us is like Twinkies.  The products are too valuable and someone will make them.

Companies will do so even if it involves killing off the original company and stripping the carcass.  To paraphrase Steve Martin, capitalism is not pretty.

Follow over the jump for two videos about the opening of the first Toys R Us store under Tru Kids, the new ownership.

FiveThirtyEight asks what the Democratic candidates should be thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm going to be more serious than usual this year; no balloons and marching bands today, although I won't be able to resist pie drinks for Thanksgiving.  I have to uphold at least one of my traditions.

For a serious take on the holiday, I'm sharing FiveThirtyEight asking What Should Each Candidate Be Thankful For?

The podcast crew play a Thanksgiving-themed game in which they try to guess what the candidates in the Democratic primary are thankful for.

I tend to agree with all of the panel's answers about what their top seven Democratic candidates should be thankful for.  On the other hand, if I were Amy Klobuchar, I'd be annoyed at being left out for Michael Bloomberg.  Even Cory Booker got a mention.  Hmph!

Follow over the jump for a pair of drinks from Tipsy Bartender, as I uphold one of my holiday traditions.

Thanksgiving travel forecast plus double driving update for November 2019: Pearl and Snow Bear

Both Pearl and Snow Bear have rolled over another 1,000 miles on their odometers, so it's time for an American Thanksgiving travel report.*

I begin with CBS This Morning reporting More than 49 million Americans hitting the road for Thanksgiving travel.

Giant Thanksgiving storms are pummeling roads across the U.S. and snarling travel plans. Kris Van Cleave is about to do what more than 49 million Americans are doing: loading up the car and hitting the road.

I hope Kris Van Cleave makes some new friends, as Gayle King suggests.  It certainly will make his trip more interesting.

While the bulk of Americans traveling for our Thanksgiving are driving, millions more are flying, which is why 13 WMAZ in Macon, Georgia reported AAA: 54 million people traveling this week for Thanksgiving.

The AAA said more than 54 million people are hitting the road this week for Thanksgiving. One of the worst times to travel will be Wednesday afternoon and evening.

I included this video as much for the mention of gas prices, which are slightly higher overall in the U.S. than this time last year but still falling, as I did for the expected total number of Americans traveling, not just driving.

For the situation for flyers, WDIV in Detroit reported on the Thanksgiving travel rush underway at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW).  Of course I had to include a Detroit angle on this story; this is a Detroit-based blog.



It's always one of the busiest days at the airport.
Like all the rest of the clips, the anchors and reporters are trying to have some fun with the situation.  I just hope their viewers enjoy it as much as the TV personalities seem to.

Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.

Michael Bloomberg just officially entered nomination contest and is already second in media spending

Michael Bloomberg has officially entered the Democratic presidential nomination contest.  VOA News reports in Billionaire Investor Joins Democratic Presidential Race.

The crowded field of U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls added a new name this week, when former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially joined the race on Sunday. VOA's Ardita Dunellari reports the 77-year old billionaire investor and philanthropist has name recognition and millions of dollars of his own fortune for campaign spending.

As Larry Sabato mentioned, Bloomberg has already spent $37 million on media buys within days of declaring his candidacy.  That figure places him second in campaign media spending behind only Tom Steyer.  CBS News pointed that out in Billionaires lead presidential candidates in ad spending.

2020 Democratic presidential candidates Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, both multi-billionaires, are leading all of their competitors in ad spending with a combined total of nearly $90 million. President Trump is in third place for his reelection bid. Axios media reporter Sara Fischer joined CBSN to break down the data and explain what it means for the race to the White House.

Steyer was able to convince enough people in Iowa and New Hampshire to contribute money and pick him in polls to make the October and November Democratic debates, so maybe Bloomberg can raise his poll numbers up high enough to qualify.  However, as I noted in SNL has fun with impeachment hearings and Democratic debate, he's not taking any donations, which means he won't qualify for debates as long as that's a criterion.  Let's see how well that works out for him.

Meyers and Colbert take closer looks at last week's impeachment hearings

I concluded Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert react live to last night's Democratic debate with a prediction.

I'm sure the other late night talk show hosts will have more to say about the debate tomorrow.  In particular, I'm looking forward to what Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel have to say, although they might do what both Noah and Colbert  did — move on to impeachment.

That's exactly what happened in Late Night with Seth Meyers' Second Week of Impeachment Testimony Ends with More Damning Evidence: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at a week of impeachment hearings that have been nothing short of jaw-dropping.

As I foresaw, Meyers introduced the bit by mentioning the debate, then immediately moved to the impeachment hearing.  He also largely ignored Fiona Hill.  That was not the case with Stephen Colbert the same night. His monologue concentrated on impeachment and featured Hill prominently in Stephen's Catchy Jingle Makes The Trump Impeachment Inquiry Easy To Understand.

For some people, the impeachment inquiry has become an epic saga with too many characters to keep track of. That's why Stephen Colbert and Jon Batiste created this simple yet effective way to remember how the President landed in this mess in the first place.

That is a catchy song about the phone call that could get Trump impeached.  Here's to hoping people find it as memorable as they found it funny.

SNL has fun with impeachment hearings and Democratic debate

For this week's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm showcasing three clips from SNL about this week's political news, the impeachment hearings and Wednesday's Democratic debate.  I begin the same way last night's show did, with Trump Impeachment Press Conference Cold Open, which is also the most viewed clip from last night's show..

President Trump holds an impromptu press conference outside the White House near a loud helicopter.

The comments to this clip are priceless:

"Alec Baldwin is a better Trump than Trump."

"Trump said windmills cause cancer but he stands next to a chopper everyday."

"'Well, I know him but I don't know him know him.' Trumpism, perfectly summed up."

"'There was no quid pro quo' is going to be the next 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman.'"

"Nowadays, you don‘t mock the president anymore, you just re-enact his words... :-) That‘s hilarious. And sad. So sad."

It is.

The next most viewed clip is 2020 Democratic Debate with an all-star comedy cast.

Presidential candidates Andrew Yang (Bowen Yang), Pete Buttigieg (Colin Jost), Cory Booker (Chris Redd), Elizabeth Warren (Kate McKinnon), Amy Klobuchar (Rachel Dratch), Tom Steyer (Will Ferrell), Michael Bloomberg (Fred Armisen), Tulsi Gabbard (Cecily Strong) Bernie Sanders (Larry David), Joe Biden (Woody Harrelson) and Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) speak at MSNBC’s 2020 Democratic Debate.

One of the best things SNL does is make fun of its parent company's other shows and channels.  Also, of course Michael Bloomberg would show up as a party crasher with big gulp cups.  Considering that he's refusing donations to his campaign, he won't be able to make future debates any other way.

I bring this entry full circle by returning to the impeachment hearings with Weekend Update: End of Impeachment Hearings.

Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like Trump considering testifying in impeachment hearings.

And Bloomberg crashed this segment, too.

I like the news better when I can laugh at it.  I think my readers do, too.  Happy Sunday!