I wasn’t looking for company.

I was at HammerHeads for part of Monday, June 8‘s  town council meeting, riding out the closed-door executive session by catching up on work and drinking Coronas. It was a slow night, but not too slow. I watched it gather momentum, following the cherries of cigarettes as they disappeared down side streets, betting which girl would fall off her heels first.

Then I was joined by Kara and Brianna, two twentysomethings in white undershirts and long, loopy necklaces made of iridescent blue beads and plastic Bud Light pendants. They’re beer girls, and their job is to convince barhoppers to buy not what’s on special, or what’s good, but what they’re holding in their hands. They don’t need mascots or super bowl ads. They have charm.

And they put a Bud Light on the table in front of me.
Read More "Selling Beer With Sex Appeal" »

On the Web site for the Clive Owen - Naomi Watts thriller The International, you can click on a link for the IBBC -- aka the film's source of all evil -- that takes you to a full profile of the institution, including a working email address for customer service.

I tried it out and got this auto-reply:

The IBBC welcomes your comments. Your email has been forwarded to the appropriate person who will review your email in full. If we determine that a relationship with the IBBC has the potential to be mutually beneficial, you will be contacted within five business days by a local bank coordinator.

Die IBBC schätzt Ihre Kommentare. Ihre E-Mail ist zu einer angemessenen Person weitergeleitet worden die Ihre E-Mail lesen wird. Falls wir uns entschliessen dass eine Beziehung zur IBBC gegenseitig nutzbringend ist, werden Sie innerhalb von 5 Geschäftstagen von einem Bank Coordinator vor Ort kontaktiert.

Now, I admit that meta-thoroughness in film marketing can be kind of cool. But there's a fine line between impressive attention to detail and a complete waste of time, and I'm thinking a bogus email account falls into the latter category.

Regardless: Can anyone translate the German portion? Does it say the same thing as the English graf, or something mysterious or deliciously profane?