MTV’s much anticipated “competitor to iTunes” presents an interesting naming puzzle. What do you name a service that will pull together the multicultural audience of MTV’s 100 plus global television stations, not to mention their CMT and VH1 viewers? What do you need to do to name a music downloading service that must have a bit of the MTV edge, yet still intrigue classical music fans worldwide? Hold onto your fat, apparently you call Igor ( we don’t get it either).

Some of the finest time we have ever spent on the corporate teat was on this job, but now the weaning must begin, as the results are in, the job is done, and a sippy cup will have to do. . . But hot damn, that’s one fine name. Stay tuned, right now we’ve got some refrigerators that need moving.

Deep Freeze Nine weighs-in on Microsoft’s new OS tagline, “Clear, Confident, Connected: Bringing Clarity to your World”. Actually, the clunkatude fits nicely with, “Our software does stuff that helps your potential reach its full inspiration by giving you the ability to…”, or whatever the heck it is.

And a New York Times article offers this nugget about Windows Vista, the new OS name:

The name was chosen after eight months of research and focus groups because it “captures the idea of clarity,” the company said.

Apparently we’ve been officially refuted: naming is rocket science, after all. Now it’s all becoming clear to us.

We just got an interesting job that requires traveling to Wilmington a time or two over the next ten weeks. Much to our chargrin, we know very little about the place, at least about things that matter, like this:

Coffee Milk is the official State Drink. Coffee Milk is similar to chocolate milk but is made with coffee syrup. A coffee “cabinet” is coffee milk with ice cream (a coffee flavored milk shake). The main ingredient of this shake is “coffee milk,” first introduced to Rhode Islanders in the early 1920’s. Coffee milk became so popular in Rhode Island that in 1993 the Rhode Island state legislature voted coffee milk as the official state drink.

Oh wait, that’s Rhode Island. See the problem? Here’s one, did you know that in addition to a state motto, state flower, state bird, etc, Delaware is the only state with an official state macroinvertebrate? Check it out:

On May 4, 2005, the Stonefly (Order Plecoptera) was designated as Delaware’s State macroinvertebrate, because it is an indicator of the excellent water quality in the State. The designation of the stonefly was a means whereby Delaware State government could recognize the importance of excellent water quality and the vital role played by healthy aquatic ecosystems in Delaware. Designating a State macroinvertebrate is a highly appropriate means to raise public awareness of water quality issues, and complement citizen action programs like Delaware Stream Watch.

It’s insider information like this that will make or break our Delaware experience. If anybody has any tips on local slang, where to eat and lodge, or most importantly where not to buy drugs, post a comment.

And since we don’t want our own state to lag behind in its branding efforts, we hereby nominate Landor to be California’s official invertebrate. The petition will circulate shortly.