Healthy Influence - Persuasion Blog » Sincerity

Happy Anniversary, Gumdrop

Steve Booth-Butterfield — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:02:16 +0000

Today we celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary. How well I remember that day. The snowstorm of the decade smothered the roads and no one out of town made it in. At the house my greatgrandfather Wil Hains built in 1903, gathered a very small group: my parents, brother, and grandmother along with the minister, Shaky Burns, who started the ceremony by reading from the wrong page – he came to Bury not to Marry! Melanie walked down the stairs and the rest is the greatest history of my life.

From a warmer anniversary in Acapulco a few years ago.

The girl of my dreams and a Martini. Life never gets any better, even on a beach with that sunset in Acapulco.

WVU and the Sugar Bowl 2012

Steve Booth-Butterfield — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:53:26 +0000

Let’s Go! Mountaineers!

Melanie will be in her cheerleader outfit, glued to the TV, and since she’s in that cheerleader outfit, I’ll be glued too!

P.S. Sorry again. No pictures. Watch the Game!

And the 2011 Peitho Award Goes to . . .

Steve Booth-Butterfield — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:03:12 +0000

I start this year with the public award for the second year of a new honor for distinguished work in the field of persuasion: The Peitho Award. It is given to those who’ve already achieved high distinction in the past year, mention in the Persuasion Blog. Among those noble few, each year I will chose the One that rises above the others in skill, cunning, and creative expression of the most important Rule: All Bad Persuasion Is Sincere. Judging thus only upon the inSincerity and the effectiveness of the persuasion expression will the One be known.

Last year I awarded the 2010 Peitho to Senator Joe Manchin’s election ad.

The Award itself is a highest quality graphic image of an ancient Greek pitcher of incalculable worth that displays an artist’s rendition of the Goddess herself, Peitho. The Award winner may simply right click on the image and save to the disk of his, her, or their choice.

The nominees for the 2011 Peitho Award are:

Skin Deep Persuasion

Posted on Monday, December 26th, 2011

Here’s an interesting field experiment that tests the impact of future facial appearance on quitting tobacco. You can take an image of a person’s face and run it through a software program that will show the effects of aging and of smoking. Consider this example. Grogan et al. recruited a group of 70 young women [...]

Who Is Sincere? Who Is Persuasive?

Posted on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Consider these two statements. First . . . OCCUPY BOSTON RAIDED On December 10, 2011 at 5:00 AM #OccupyBoston’s Dewey Square encampment was raided by the Boston Police Department and other officials. Thirty-five peaceful protesters were arrested on the Rose Kennedy Greenway just two days after Mayor Thomas Menino issued a notice of eviction. Eight [...]

Rep. Broun’s twitter Persuasion

Posted on Friday, September 9th, 2011

You recall from this earlier post that Republican Paul Broun, US House Representative from Georgia, decided to skip President Obama’s speech in a joint session of Congress and instead watch it on TV and twitter his responses in real time. How did that go? Here are twitter stats for 3 US House Representatives, Broun; Nancy [...]

It’s about bin Laden, Stupid

Posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

This is based on a news story with hard hitting investigative reporting, so shakers of salt and shots of tequila. But . . . You’re part of the team trying to find Osama bin Laden. You would like to get compelling evidence of his location, say something 2.0 and high tech, say something like DNA. [...]

There’s a Sucker Born Every . . . 4th and 1

Posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

So, you’re watching the Game and it’s 4th and 1. What will your homies do? Punt or go for it? Hey, you’re a fan, you know what the coach will do, but you can’t prove it to anyone except for shooting your mouth off into space. But, what if you had a betting app on [...]

David Cuaron – 2011 Peitho Nominee!

Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Google introduces yet another social media attempt (Buzz, Wave, etc.) to confront Facebook. Google calls it Google+. Google+ is in beta right now with invitation only members. At least one Google+ member thinks the platform is great. Mr. Cuaron demonstrates the mark of a persuasion maven and I nominate him for a Peitho Award!

Green Thumbs Up!

Posted on Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Here is a great and inSincere Persuasion play that hides in plain sight. My compliments to Mr. George Ball. He wants to win the War on Obesity. First, here’s his take on the Problem. Childhood obesity is now the nation’s disease—an ailment crippling the body politic . . . The lineup of culprits includes school [...]

And the 2011 Peitho Award goes to . . .

It’s about bin Laden, Stupid

P.S. Read this PB Post for Spec Ops background on this persuasion play.

It’s How We Roll

Steve Booth-Butterfield — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:25:48 +0000

From the Booth Christmas, 2011.

Phil the Knifemaker (back row third from right with the over-under shotgun and baby Vivian) bought Nerf guns for the family. We opened them as the last gift, then the fight broke out.

Appearances are deceiving. School Marm Emily (back row second from left aiming her gun at my head) is a sweet killer who favors ambushes. She trapped Melanie under the table with her dog Levi, the pure bred boxer (not pictured here) – Melanie was out of Nerf bullets, but threatened to shoot the dog if they came after her. I stood in the middle of the living room to have a clear line of fire at everyone. Sure, this gave a clear line of fire at me by everyone else. However, I could always find a lot of Nerf shells lying on the floor around me. Gangster Clif (the chef in the middle of the back row) hid up on the staircase, shooting down on everyone like Tony Montana, then ducked behind the banister as he reloaded. Saxophonist Patrick (back row, extreme left) liked to hide in hallways and bedrooms, then shoot around the corner when I blundered into range. Clair, Cheri, and Vivian played in the kitchen staying out of the fray, but I think Vivian wanted a Baby Nerf Gun.

We then posed for the family picture. Open flame. Baby bottle. Cookie tray. Empty wine bottle, but filled wine glasses. Shotguns ‘n Baby. That’s how the Booths roll. You are warned.

P.S. It appears that only myself and Nephew Patrick remembered our gun training. Note the trigger fingers! Okay, I get serious point deductions for aiming it at Melanie, but she kept tricking me during the gunfight, smiling that beguiling smile of hers as she walked up to me to either beg ammo or shoot me in the face. Kind of a metaphor for a good marriage, huh?

Fame and Fortune in Film

Steve Booth-Butterfield — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:03:47 +0000

I’ve disclosed in prior posts and revelations, my illustrious acting career, and while I wish in my Garbo way only to be left alone, the career continues to tug at my sleeve. I received a residual check from the Screen Actors Guild.

Grossed $0.79. They withheld $0.19 for Federal Income, $0.03 for Social Security, and $0.01 for Medicare. Three sheets of paper with a detachable check for $0.56. The Screen Actors Guild must be close to broke on my account.

I vant to be ah-lone.