The Nappy Cat Chronicles

The ringle is coming soon to a Wal-Mart and a dictionary near you.

The ringle is a slip-sleeved CD single of a hit song that will feature a couple of bonus tracks from the same artist and a code to allow buyers to go online and download a “free” ringtone of the main song. For $6 or $7, this sounds strangely reminiscent of the French decision to sign off on the Louisiana Purchase: it’s a bad deal.

I agree that it’s a bad deal for the consumer but it’s obviously not a bad business decision. I can picture the consumer excess now: Polo wearing 40-somethings loitering outside of lobby doors between their paid vacations to Las Vegas dropping “ringle”s and calling each other to hear their latest 5 second song clips.

Apparently:

Amtrak is chugging toward its fifth-straight record year for ridership nationwide, helped by high gasoline prices and congested highways and airports that seem to have encouraged people to keep their vehicles parked.

I don’t get it. Any sensible individual who’s been a guest of Amtrak leaves with a greater appreciation of Sartre’s “l’enfer, c’est les autres” (”hell is other people”).