Languages from a Distance

I was flipping through cable channels the other night and suddenly hit upon something that immediately made me stop. Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” was resonating out of my TV speakers. What was this? I sat dumbfounded for a moment before I realized what I was watching. A music video? MTV? No, it was the Weather Channel. Just a routine forecast for the week. Only this time instead of the usual generic, soulless elevator music, David Gilmore’s haunting four note riff : tum – tum – tum – tum” of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” was the accompaniment. I was mesmerized and watched the remainder of the forecast segment–probably with my mouth open. A commercial came on and snapped me out of my trance but I waited patiently to see what would come on afterwards. The forecast returned. But this time we were back to the weather channel of old. The dream was over.

I remember scoffing back when André Agassi made the famous statement: Image is everything but I finally have to give him credit for recognizing how the human psyche works. Packaging counts.

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