So Many Choices, So Little Time

When I was a kid, my older brother and I were given many opportunities to set up camp on opposite sides of a line drawn by Madison Avenue. Perhaps the most memorable was the big Quisp/Quake feud. I found myself on the Quake side, and sensed that with the redesign of Quake's physique and costume that my team was doomed. When the moods and tastes changed in the seventies, I was quick to stake my claim on Count Chocula, with those chocolaty marshmallow bits. My older brother threw in a half-hearted way for Frankenberry. My younger brother was happy to get in on the tumult with the late addition of Booberry. At least we could all agree on King Vitamin. Nobody liked him.
And so the trend continued throughout our childhood. I became indoctrinated into the ways of brand-name loyalty. I hung desperately to the Captain Action franchise while the GI Joes overpowered the action figure market. My younger brother was left with the sad shadow of the Adventure Team GI Joes. At least they had life-like hair. I felt a little schadefreude for my brother as the Beatles broke up and had quiet satisfaction when I saw the Monkees reunite. My younger brother listened to the Residents. And so it went for years and years.
Now that I'm all grown up, I still find myself in conflict, only nowadays it is most often with myself. My DVR is set to record Jon Stewart every night. We get a little tease at the end of most of those recordings for Stephen Colbert's upcoming show. Even though I have been witness to some of the most incredibly amusing moments on television recently via Mister Colbert, I just can't shake that brand-name sure thing of Stewart. Now I understand that the two of them will be staging competing rallies in Washington: Stewart is promoting a "Rally to Restore Sanity" on October 30 for people too busy with their normal lives to go to other political rallies. Nearby, Colbert is promoting a "March to Keep Fear Alive." He is encouraging participants to bring an overnight bag and five extra sets of underwear. I which rally my brothers will attend.