Amusing

Paul Kedrosky has a little snippet that I find amusing--I"m not sure why, I just do:

I was just re-reading some of Malcolm Gladwell's old articles and I came across one of his I had forgotten about: a profile of pitchman Ron Popeil. It is wonderful reading, better, I'll argue, than Gladwell's current fondness for faux academicism that has captured so many people's attention. This anecdote about Popeil's approach to pitching his GLH hairspray is a nice case in point:
But now that [Popeil] had told me about GLH it was unthinkable that he would not also show me its wonders. He walked quickly over to a table at the other side of the room, talking as he went. "People always ask me, `Ron, where did you get that name GLH?' I made it up. Great-Looking Hair." He picked up a can. "We make it in nine different colors. This is silver-black." He picked up a hand mirror and angled it above his head so that he could see his bald spot. "Now, the first thing I'll do is spray it where I don't need it." He shook the can and began spraying the crown of his head, talking all the while. "Then I'll go to the area itself." He pointed to his bald spot. "Right here. O.K. Now I'll let that dry. Brushing is fifty per cent of the way it's going to look." He began brushing vigorously, and suddenly Ron Popeil had what looked like a complete head of hair. "Wow," I said. Ron glowed. "And you tell me `Wow.' That's what everyone says. `Wow.' That's what people say who use it. `Wow.' If you go outside"--he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out onto the deck--"if you are in bright sunlight or daylight, you cannot tell that I have a big bald spot in the back of my head. It really looks like hair, but it's not hair. It's quite a product. It's incredible. Any shampoo will take it out. You know who would be a great candidate for this? Al Gore. You want to see how it feels?" Ron inclined the back of his head toward me. I had said, "Wow," and had looked at his hair inside and outside, but the pitchman in Ron Popeil wasn't satisfied. I had to feel the back of his head. I did. It felt just like real hair.