Times Square - Are Pink Flamingos Next?

New York City is embroiled in yet another searing cultural debate - lawn chairs in Times Square.

Times Square, as part of the city's ceaseless drive to reinvent the former host to all manner of seamy entertainment, has been declared a pedestrian mall. As if the sight of the former adult entertainment mecca now populated by Toys R Us and the M&M's store weren't surreal enough, the neighborhood is now devoid of Manhattan's iconic yellow cabs. That's a whole lot of space to fill.

The Times Square Alliance, charged with outfitting the newly declared pedestrian mall, came up with a solution in the form of permanent furniture, which is due to arrive in August. In the meantime, the space is home to close to 400 rubber lawn chairs from Ace Hardware. Reaction has ranged from appreciation to outrage.

Skwoosh, always willing to take a stand on the hard issues, says rock on NYC! The kitschy cool of these retro lawn chairs matches beautifully the spirit of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, however, retro furniture is completely lacking in comfort. Enter Skwoosh gel seats. Our gel cushions would allow both native New Yorkers and the throngs of tourists who flock there to spend a lot more time hanging out. Either of our travel cushions, the Pro Traveler or the more humbly christened Travel Cushion, would do the trick. Or better yet, our exercise cushion. After all, it is hard work looking cool in Times Square!

The Ivy League Apparently Does Have a Sense of Humor

Although the stereotypical Ivy Leaguer is a rather buttoned up chap (or chappie), if their commencement speakers are any indication the schools in the Ivy League certainly do have a sense of humor. Harvard commencement speakers include Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien and Sasha Baron Cohen (he of Borat), Princeton has hosted Stephen Colbert and 1997 MIT commencement speaker Kurt Vonnegut has been (incorrectly) credited with delivering the infamous "sunscreen" speech.

Apparently Skwoosh needs to keep better company - having attended the final and umpteenth graduation ceremony of the season, none of them at an Ivy, nary a chuckle has escaped our lips.

In addition to the complete lack of brevity and humor, all of the ceremonies Skwoosh has attended were characterized by the lack of comfortable seating. Hardback folding chairs, church pews, stadium bleachers - you name, Skwoosh has sat on it. Fortunately, we were armed with an arsenal of gel seats.

The Skwoosh stadium seat saw us through the graduation in the football arena, the travel cushion got us through the five hour drive to a college graduation and the Pro Traveler came in mighty handy during the three held in churches.

Whew - now that graduation season has ended Skwoosh is grabbing a canoe cushion and heading out for some well deserved relaxation!

Drag Racing's Hot Evil Twin

Drag racing, typically depicted by the movies as the activity of choice on steamy summer nights in small Midwestern towns, has an evil, even hotter twin - sand drag. Sand drag pits all manner of four wheel drive vehicles against one another in desert races. Considered my many as an introductory step into the National Hot Road Association drag racing circuit, sand drag races are hotter, dirtier and, perhaps not surprisingly, sparsley attended.
Skwoosh, a rabid sports fan, would like to do its part to boost attendance. Even though sand dragsters themselves spend little time in their car during the actual race - Geoff Gill recently broke the standing world record with a time of 2.284 seconds - both the racers and the fans must travel fairly long distances to reach the race site.Our travel cushion could go a long way in convincing fans to make the trek - driving an hour or two into the desert without a gel cushion can, after all, be a rather unpleasant experience. Our stadium seats are anotherway to pamper spectators - if sand drag ever develops a logo we could even customize the sport cushions.
So keep on truckin' sand dragsters!

Time for Stand-up Comedian Jay Leno to Sit - with Skwoosh

Stand-up comedian Jay Leno recently retired as host of the Tonight Show, which he has officially hosted since 1992 but had been a regular substitute host since 1987. Over those years Leno has hosted luminaries from a post-Divine Brown scandal Hugh Grant to US President Barack Obama, all from behind the iconic desk formerly manned by his predecessor Johnny Carson. That’s a lot of sitting Mr. Leno!

Skwoosh, always concerned for the well-being of American icons, would like to support Leno in his semi-retirement. After years of sitting behind Carson’s desk, may we recommend some of our gel seats to ease the transition to your new desk on your prime time show? Our travel cushion, with its low profile and easy storage, would be ideal for your new desk. The travel gel seat will also perform double duty for you. Known for your penchant for classic automobiles, we suggest using the Skwoosh travel cushion when you take the Studebaker for a spin.