Lauren Proctor 32

Ch..Ch..Ch...Changes | Now Find Me At LaurenProctor32.com/Thinking

2010-11-27T12:20:00.001-08:00

"It's been a beautiful run but we're moving on up. Please find my new blog at LaurenProctor32.com/Thinking."

How did we get so lucky and who could have ever guessed that this would be our future? I've recently taken a bit of time to pause and reflect on my life and I'm filled with gratification. This has been a great blog, but I finally figured it was time. Time for my own website, time to move, and time to recap what's been going on over here. Below you'll find a bulleted list of what's happening and what it means.

Got a new website. You can now find me at LaurenProctor32.com. My blog is at LaurenProctor32.com/Thinking. I've also started to take my personal Twitter account more seriously. You can find it at Twitter.com/LaurenProctor32.
- What it means: I launched straight into helping everybody else with their new media marketing and branding strategy without looking at my personal brand for even a second. Now we're taking that second, and I've decided to spend a small fraction of my time practicing what I preach on my personal brand.

Recently became a research fellow at The Hybrid Reality Institute, an intellectual organization that examines human technology co-evolution as it relates to society, business and politics.
- What it means: Worldwide brainstorming salons, idea incubation labs, blogging on Big Think and research projects on the ripple effects of innovation clusters. This is pure love. It looks like my first research project will be with The Blue (man group) School on the future of learning.

Started working at Jen Bekman Projects, a SoHo, NY based gallery with art eCommerce site 20x200 and Hey Hot Shot!, an international photography competition.
- What it means: Art,new media, one of Fast Company's most influential women in technology. I adore the team, the way they work, and the work they put out.

Became the Director of Social Media at persuasive communications firm LawPadilla.
- What it means: Short and longterm consulting projects on brand strategy and new media marketing in a variety of industries. Talk about doing what you love.

Working on a rebranding project with PhiPower, an interactive research firm with multiple Fortune 100 Clients.
- What it means: I've fallen in love with the future of research and adore the process of nailing down the kind of verbiage that captures the financial world as much as it does major executives and big companies. If you want to see fliers, booklets, and other marketing materials feel free to reach out.

Still at L2 Think Tank.
- What it means: L2 is love. We were recently called the TED for marketers and received a tweet from outer space. We also expanded from "a think tank for prestige brands" to a "marketing innovation think tank."

Brewing with a startup.
- What it means: There are still a lot of loose ends I need to tie up before it's announced, but I think you'll like it. I sure do.

Reading like a madman. And I'm kind of obsessed with podcasts.
- Curiosity never dies. Some things never change.

Posted via email from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

A Quick Glance Backward

2010-10-13T10:03:00.001-07:00

I was walking through the East Village the other day when a dark sticker triggered a strong memory in me. Someone had decided to slap a One Eyed Doll sticker on a pipe jutting out of a building and the second I saw it I was transported to another place.

I'd written about One Eyed Doll back in 2007 when I was writing my way to some extra college cash with music reviews and feature stories. I talked to Tyrese, interviewed Paramore before they were on anyone's radar, and rubbed elbows with rappers. But there was nothing like the simple pleasure of receiving a CD in the mail.

One Eyed Doll was one of the artists that sent me a CD, and then when I wrote about her she followed up with a handwritten note thanking me along with a short stack of stickers. The same sticker I saw pegged to the pipe just a couple days back.

In honor of the romance of it all, I decided to do a quick search and dig up what I wrote about her three years ago...

"One-Eyed Doll is dirty, corrupt, and dangerously sweet. Her dark, humid rock tantalizes heavy metal fans and grants entrance to the mainstream with bustling popular harmonies. Adorned with humungous guitar riffs and Kimberly Freeman's sugared girlish voice, the debut album Hole will send you into a fit of pleasurable desolation.

One-Eyed Doll doesn't hesitate to reveal what's on her mind. Her candied voice praises suicide and Prozac, and sends and ode to needles in a mental hospital. To contrast the disturbed images of desperation, One-Eyed Doll also stands strong for what she believes.

She won't tolerate players, abuse, or hypocritical America. Freeman stands strong against an ex in "Scapegoat." The track is introduced with a plucking guitar progression before drums slide into the background as the track oscillates between slow composure and raging intolerance.

"And I'm not your scapegoat, / And I'm not your punching bag, / And I won't be sorry, / Cause I'm the best thing that you'll never have," Freeman fumes. "Scapegoat" has all the elements of the sweet and anti-authoritarian Avril Lavigne at her best. Only Kimberly Freeman takes on this role naturally, while it seems Avril has to strive to achieve the disaffected image.

The assailing side of One-Eyed Doll attacks listeners with "Suicide Serenade." We become acquainted to this track with the first four notes of the "Star Spangled Banner." Just as a singer might say "see," the guitars scream with fierce anger before coming to a close. Then a pop beat combines with Freeman's sweetest voice to bop a repetition of "Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy America!" The track quickly teeters back to harsh metal and descriptions of people falling to their graves.

"Master" broadcasts the artsy side of Kimberly Freeman's work. The subtle track holds an aura of slow paced surrealism. A sample of laughing and screaming kids quietly decorates the track as the simple track radiates with raw beauty. The quirky side of One-Eyed Monster reveals itself in "Hoochie Mama." Scott Sutton, who appears as a frequent guest throughout Hole, shines on the drums during this track. Sutton slams the percussion while changing tempo and rhythm. Freeman's intelligent and playful lyrics refuse to allow a seedy man to think he has a chance with her.

"You think it should be easy to get in my pants. Well it took me five minutes to put these things on, I can hardly breathe let alone be turned on," Freeman seethes. "And I don't want to hear your new death metal riff," she adds to drive home her disinterest. Disturbing yet wonderfully addictive, One-Eyed Doll proves that Kimberly Freeman is the foul, daring girl that every man wants but won't necessarily get.

The Austin-based artist won't let men control her, and she's certainly not taking anybody's foolishness. One-Eyed Doll would prefer control your emotions with her hook laden tracks, incredible voice, and diverse range."

Posted via email from LaurenProctor32's Posterous

Study Reveals Which Dance Moves Attract Women

2010-09-23T10:32:00.001-07:00

And I thought I had it made in luxury, eCommerce, and online communities. This study is a riot. Apparently finding the male volunteers was the most difficult part of their research.

One of my favorite quotes from an accompanying article on the topic:

"Curiously, faster bending and twisting movements of the right knee also seemed to catch the eyes of women. As a potential explanation, the researchers noted that 80 percent of all people are right-footed, so most people "are putting their weight on their left leg and using that leg as an anchor while the right can do more fancy things," Neave suggested. "It is a bit of an odd finding, so we need more studies to see if this feature is replicated."'

The world really is a magical place.

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Readings: Intelligent Apps, Quicksand, and Hotel Bathrooms

2010-09-21T07:32:00.001-07:00

I've never been sure whether it was a good thing or not, but I've always read voraciously in some sort of fleeting effort to pack my mind with as much wonder and knowledge as possible. As far back as I can remember it's been like some sort or race against the clock, and I want to maximize every moment.

Until the internet came around reading was a mostly solitary activity, but the rise of link sharing has left me yearning to share a piece of nearly everything I find fascinating or well written. And so in an effort to share (and actually blog more), I've decided to start a reading series.

These posts will include the highlights, the life changers, and the reads that have meant the most to me as of late. So welcome to the reading series and I hope you enjoy.

The image above is a picture of Bethlehem. I found it looking for a display ad and had to find a place to share it.

A Bird App That Adapts on the Fly This app integrates live information feeds so birdwatchers know what they're likely to see in their area at any given time. These are the kinds of apps we will come to expect in the future, and the people who figure out how to retrieve influxes of data intelligently will win.

The Rise and Fall of Quicksand I thoroughly enjoyed this read on culture and quicksand and then (admittedly) watched the finale of True Blood. When one of the characters was getting buried in cement I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this the quicksand of the industrialized world?"

Hotel Boss Taps China's Luxury Market A good read for anyone interested in the China luxury market, but what stuck with me most was the part where The Regent claims that their guests spend a majority of their time in the hotel room's bathroom.

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Zynga Infographic

2010-09-20T07:52:00.001-07:00

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My Academic Faux Pas

2010-09-08T14:18:00.001-07:00

So I've been carrying around this big envelope with an authoritative Commonwealth of Massachusetts design on it for a couple years now. I've moved it three times and left it unopened but on my desk with a select few other items in my organizer. You know, the vertical leather desk organizer that houses only the very major things. The first few magazines that gave you paid bylines, a card from Mom and Dad, and an old financial statement from right before you went paperless. Because really, where else does one store their undergraduate diploma?

For whatever reason I glanced at my diploma envelope today and realized something quite shocking. The envelope I've been carrying around had a return address of "MIT." I went to UMass.

The sudden discrepancy was of momentous shock to me so I ripped it open only to find an invite waiting inside, worthless now that I've missed the sign up date by two years. A piece of junk mail that I've moved three times and glanced at (emphasis on the glanced apparently) every now and then. I'd say the MIT invite is almost sentimental if only for the solid laughter and the "You really graduated from college?" moment it delivered.

As for my actual diploma...I've never even seen the thing.

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Korean Pizza Hut Commercial

2010-08-08T18:12:00.001-07:00

via doobybrain.com

You've got to see this to believe it. As DoobyBrain said, "Apparently this is the only way to properly eat a pizza."

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Why MyTown Should Add Virtual To Their Product Check In Arsenal

2010-07-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

Booyah's MyTown just started implementing product check ins to its 2.5 million user base, adding a bit of Foursquare-like functionality to their app. Scanning item barcodes earn users points and the potential for real life perks, giving retailers the ability to track consumer patterns, geo-local info and more.

TheNextWeb praised the value of this kind of data, but said that MyTown will both suffer and reap the rewards of needing to stay tied to physical location. As it stands, app owners need to actually scan the barcodes on the products they want to track, meaning they have to be standing in an actual store to check in. This plays into the geo-location trend well, but if I were MyTown I would be looking beyond the strings of physicality.

I will admit I have never played MyTown's Monopoly like game and so I don't know the gameplay implications of adding virtual checkins, but let's put gameplay aside for the sake of spelling out the huge e-commerce opportunity here:

Imagine if product check ins could also take place online. Any participating retailer could add something like a QR code badge to their online product pages so that users could check in with online retailers as well as in physical stores. Retailers could gather a more complete data set for where consumers are discovering and lusting after products and with every online partnership MyTown gains increased visibility.

At first people would see the badge on product pages and wonder, possibly downloading the app and jumping on board. Then, if the app delivers on its promises, people get hooked, more retailers join the bandwagon, and virtual MyTown badges become the e-commerce version of Facebook's Like buttons on the web. Looks like MyTown could be poised to Run This Town Tonight.

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L2 Digital IQ: China

2010-06-18T11:35:00.001-07:00

We just released our China Report at L2 Think Tank and it is by far my favorite L2 report to date. As the largest and most robust study of its kind, this research brings to light the importance of China as an emerging market.

Although much of the study is focused on ranking the digital competence of 100 prestige brands into five categories based on more than 100 quantitative and qualitative data points, there is also "The Ten Commandments of Commerce in China" from the Dean of George Washington's Business School and other crucial takeaways.

Perhaps most important, the results speak to a much bigger story of international significance.

Below you will find some data points parsed from the study and particular reasons why establishing a digital presence in China is so important for brands of the future:

China has 384 mm people on the internet, more than the US and Japan combined.
- In 3 years that number explodes to 840 mm, more than the US, Japan and Europe combined. (Mature markets will only experience modest growth.)
In China, 80% of luxury consumers are under the age of 40.
- 30% are under age 40 in the US and Japan's market under 40 is 18%
Similar to the path telephony took in India (skipping landline), commerce in luxury may skip traditional theater retail in tier one cities and meet consumers' appetites online.
A growing market coupled with a more digitally native (i.e., younger) consumer translates to a revenue line whose growth will eclipse any other growth market for prestige. In sum, online commerce in China represent the greatest opportunity in a generation for luxury brands. However, many are missing the boat. While 80% of brands surveyed offer a Chinese language site, only 10% are selling online. We (L2) work w/some of these e-commerce enabled brands, and they are enjoying quadruple digit (yoy) revenue growth in China.

Feel free to download the PDF directly from this link. We at L2 would love to hear what you think.

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Meeker: Latest Deck of Internet Trends/Data

2010-06-09T07:15:00.001-07:00

via paul.kedrosky.com

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Magazines on the iPad: Please Consider Your Loyal Subscribers

2010-05-26T07:15:00.001-07:00

Dear Time Inc, Hearst, Conde Nast, Here Media, Meredith, and all the rest of the magazine publishers moving to the iPad,

I get almost a dozen magazines delivered to my door and read almost every issue cover to cover, coveting old issues until I have time to go back to them. Conde Nast, Time Inc, Here Media Inc, I am your ideal customer, your fanatic, and the person who said that no matter how thin the issues get and how much the media world suffered, I would always find a way to get my New York and New Yorker on Mondays, as well as another magazine almost every other day of the week. I'm one of the magazine readers that boosts "the average time a person spends with a magazine is 45 minutes" statistic (as well as a bevy of other statistics). I take all your surveys, I renew on time, I talk about your finest articles, and I feel cheated.

Time, Wired, and a few others who have moved to the iPad, you are leaving your subscribers out of your media revolution. Wired Magazine's June issue has reached the iPad for $4.99 and after they had to go back to the drawing boards because of Flash incompatibility issues, I'm dying to know what it looks like. Not only because I'm a Wired fanatic, but because I care about the future of publishing and want to know what at least a part of the future is becoming.

I do not though, believe that I should have to subscribe to the print version of the magazine and then buy every issue from the app store at newsstand prices. I understand that the app needs to make money and we're trying to teach people that good journalism is not free. These are important points, but did you completely forget your loyal subscribers when you moved to the iPad? What happened to acknowledging and rewarding the customer who has paid to be a part of your brand for years?

Maybe I'm out of line. Maybe I should have to pay full price for every version of the magazine that I read but I won't. In my ideal world, when I got my iPad I imagined having the flexibility of a tangible magazine first thing in the morning and last at night, with the portability of access to the same words on my iPad on the go. I imagined that I would be able to enjoy your media property as a full brand experience that just gets better as technology advances.

But now I must choose.

Instead of having me on both sides, reading the magazine like I have for years and then showing off the crisp reading experience of Wired on the iPad to everyone I ever see, I'm frustrated. I'm your loyal fan, your influencer, the customer who will spread word of mouth recommendations to people who trust me, and you just lost me a little bit.

There's still a chance to change. Email your subscribers a promo code for a certain number of free issues on the iPad, give us a loyal customer benefit for digital/iPad access the magazines we happily pay for in print. Use us to bolster your app download numbers, let us spread your enthusiasm and help you through this tough time. Give us that 360 degree brand experience and value us the way it felt like you did for years. I'm telling you, you'll keep us forever.

Choose to ignore us though, and you'll force us to choose. And if it gets to that point we'll both be losing something important.

Signing off with a hopeful Always,

Lauren Proctor

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Faux Ghostbusters Invade the New York Public Library

2010-05-18T13:02:00.001-07:00

via mashable.com

NYPL contacted Improv Everywhere to draw attention to their budget cut plight so the troop recreated the intro to Ghostbusters in the Rose Main Reading Room. Tourists were more taken by the scene than locals (big surprise), but what's most amazing to me is the fact that an old world standby like the vanguard library system would experiment with the newest of the new in marketing messaging strategy...viral video.

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The Next Digital Experience

2010-05-17T05:57:00.001-07:00

via fora.tv

A great video on the future of online and mobile culture along with five year forecasts for YouTube and Facebook. This hour long video may take an hour to watch, but it's well worth the time as it hits on everything from Flash to privacy.

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Putting the Fun in Functional: Applying Game Mechanics to Functional Software

2010-05-12T07:57:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

Amy Jo Kim reviews the psychology and system thinking behind game design.

Imagine a world where we applied these principles to our real lives in ways that allow us to thrive in everyday workplace activities.

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Gen Y Brand Affinity

2010-05-03T10:48:00.001-07:00

See the full gallery on posterous

Gen Y spending is poised to eclipse that of Boomers by 2017 and this generation is about to move into its prime spending years. L2 saw this and decided to delve further. The result is our Gen Y Prestige Brand Ranking, a survey of 450 Gen Y high-earners from 45 countries (83 percent are expected to make more than $100k+/year in the short term). As the most robust study of its kind, this ranking reveals what L2 founder Scott Galloway calls the the closest thing to a crystal ball in measuring the future success of luxury brands. It's also a grander statement on

In addition to the above photo gallery with my favorite charts from the study, you may also enjoy a few of these statistics about Gen Y.

65% of females and 61% of males consider themselves "brand conscious." Only 1% of females and 3% of males do not consider themselves brand conscious.
Print is not dead. Print continues to be a primary source for information on prestige brands. It is the #1 source for women and #2 for men. Recommendations from family and friends via word of mouth are also crucial, ranking #1 for men and #2 for women.
One in five Gen Y respondents like a prestige brand on Facebook and one in ten follow a prestige brand on Twitter. Almost half have signed up to receive email from a prestige brand and alomst one in five Gen Y's consider blogs to be one of their top three sources for information on prestige brands.

Click here to download the report in full.

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Top 10 Luxury Brands’ Sites Fail To Work On iPad - PSFK

2010-05-03T06:34:00.001-07:00

via psfk.com

Brilliant ideas for moving the world forward with creative technologies. This is technology bringing people together.

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Love the Whole World

2010-04-20T10:16:00.001-07:00

via paul.kedrosky.com

This is brilliant. And totally and completely my theme song for life.

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Cindy Gallop at Home in New York City

2010-04-19T08:31:00.003-07:00

via theselby.com

Scribblings from the genius of Cindy Gallop, from The Selby.

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Cindy Gallop at Home in New York City

2010-04-19T08:31:00.001-07:00

via theselby.com

Scribblings from the genius of Cindy Gallop, from The Selby.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Innovation in an Era of Upheaval: The E-Reader Wars

2010-04-14T10:13:00.001-07:00

Check out this website I found at fora.tv

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Chart Wars and the Importance of the Visual Transmission of Data

2010-04-05T09:41:00.001-07:00

via americandigest.org

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Apple Sells More iPads Debut Weekend Than iPhones in Their '07 Debut Weekend

2010-04-05T08:05:00.001-07:00

Despite the divided love you/hate you camps on the iPad, sales figures have been nothing but robust. Apple sold an estimated 300,000 iPads in one day with total weekend estimates at about 700,000. That beats first weekend sales projections by a landslide, but what's most interesting to me is the fact that Apple limited sales of the iPhone to 270,000 in its debut weekend in 2007.

I can't help but wonder why Apple chose to let their stock supply meet demand. Is it because they wanted to pump out as many iPads as possible, hoping to convince the world that the device would soon reach ubiquity? Or maybe they underestimated the initial demand for iPhones and got this estimated sales number correct? Whatever the case, I'd like to know how many iPads Apple thought they would sell debut weekend and hear more about their numbers strategy on the release of both units.

Posted via email from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Nina DiSesa: What are today's best advertising techniques? | Nina DiSesa | Big Think

2010-03-20T21:43:00.001-07:00

via bigthink.com

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The New Dork

2010-03-08T08:29:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

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When People Threaten our Values

2010-02-25T10:31:00.001-08:00

via npr.org

Great clip about the importance of creating an environment where people can feel open minded if you want them to listen (especially if you're challenging their worldview).

Also an interesting point that comes up: We are more likely to believe information from people who are "like us."

P.S. Thanks to my good friend Dave, who sent me this great four minute piece.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Will This Revolutionize How We Consume Energy?

2010-02-23T09:21:00.001-08:00

via smartplanet.com

Google, FedEx, eBay, and Staples are among the first 20 companies already testing the Bloom Box, a new piece of technology that might power everything from the White House to remote villages in Africa.

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I'm not a player I just crush a lot...

2010-02-04T09:07:00.001-08:00

via twitpic.com

Talk about a hot shirt.

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Determination and Training: A Breath-holding Journey

2010-01-20T10:15:00.001-08:00

via paul.kedrosky.com

"As a magician I try to show things to people that seem impossible. And I think magic, whether I'm holding my breath or shuffling a deck or cards, is pretty simple. It's practice, it's training and experimenting while pushing through the pain to be the best that I can be. And that's what magic is to me, so thank you." - David Blaine

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The Wave Pictures - I Love You Like a Madman

2010-01-19T10:28:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

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The Art of the Idea with John Hunt

2010-01-11T09:22:00.001-08:00

via mad-blog.com

Creative founding partner of TBWA and author of "The Art of the Idea" John Hunt delivers a thought inspiring talk on innovation, branding, and much more. See part one above and then watch part two here.

Favorite Quote: "I think agencies should feel the genuine obligation to help society."

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Japanese Social Networking – It's All Mobile

2010-01-08T10:39:00.001-08:00

via socialmediatoday.com

Japan led the revolution in text. Here comes everything else.

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Graffiti Analysis on the iPhone

2010-01-08T08:05:00.001-08:00

via fffff.at

See through OLED laptop screens, the internet on your dashboard, and now tagging on your iPhone. New technology is so panache these days.

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

A(nother) Crafty Way to Promote Your Art

2010-01-05T08:21:00.001-08:00

via selectism.com

This video adds some panache to the process of craftsmanship, triggering interest and inducing thought in the consumer. Talk about a great way to promote Selectism/Highsnob's “Thanks for 2009″ Drink Coasters.

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Two simple questions that can change your life in 2010 | Daniel Pink

2010-01-04T11:57:00.001-08:00

via danpink.com

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A Brief History of Social Media

2010-01-02T09:36:00.001-08:00

Check out this website I found at socialmediarockstar.com

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Social Media ROI

2009-12-18T13:10:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

Yes, social media is here to stay and we can save money and increase sales.

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Hermès and Gucci Use Sponsorships to Demonstrate Constant Authenticity in Brand Image

2009-12-14T23:39:00.001-08:00

Yet the heart of the sponsorships is not commerce but the soul of the brands.

via nytimes.com

Hermès and Gucci expand on their brand stories in the equestrian world.

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Where I Grew Up, From the California Coastal Records Project

2009-12-10T19:09:00.001-08:00

via californiacoastline.org

This is the first view I've gotten of the beach town where I grew up since 2002, thanks to the California Coastal Records Project.

The place is hardly recognizable but I can still pick out the elementary school on the left where I first fell in love with learning and can spot the red roofed stucco houses in the back left corner where I got my first boom box, fell in love with the Beach Boys and realized what it meant to have a forever friend.

We may be just getting the technology to have pictures of all the places we've ever loved, but think about years from now. People could potentially keep pictures of their hometowns and watch the landscape changes like height marks on a wall. All this information is just so beautiful.

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The Sound of Human Potential

2009-12-02T14:06:00.001-08:00

Sometimes at night I look at the skyline and imagine all the potential resting in every window of every building. What would it look like if it exploded, I wonder? And would it illuminate so bright it would block out the sun? Of course that doesn't have to do with anything, or at least I didn't think it did until last night.

I walked into a bar (don't all the best stories start that way?) and the second the door behind me swung closed I found myself catapulted into another world. Sugary voices, fingers caressing guitar strings, and the types of drum beats that change the way your heart beats all have a way of doing that for me.

Sometimes it scares me. I stand there defenseless to the way music makes me feel and I wonder if I'll ever be that happy again in my life. Will something ever take me in so deeply and will anything ever make me feel that same exhilarating comfort again?

That happened to me last night in the bar, and with choppy breath I wanted to find all blank spaces in all the world and fill them with "This is everything." In thick Sharpee printed on the surface areas of my skin, splattered in paint on the walls, and written over and over again through the air with ribbons and movement.

"This is everything" I kept repeating over the soft bass line. "This is everything."

But all I could do was stand there, wishing I could slit my body straight down the center and let sentiment and sound flow and fill in the spaces where my blood goes. That's when I realized something important.

That music, that stage before me, everything there represented the explosion of human potential. This was it, the sound of light so bright it blocks out the sun. Or maybe art like this is just everything that compliments the sun and keeps us thriving.

In some ways sharing experiences like this feels like the purpose of my life. I want everyone to feel this, if only for a few measures or for that instant when you first lay eyes on a painting. I don't want them to just say it, I want them to feel it fill all the blank spaces in their world.

I want it to help them realize that if you put tools in four people's hands and then place them on a stage then they can achieve anything. After all, this is everything, and in a moments like this it all feels like a gift.

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Four Tips for Brands Embracing the New Methods of Storytelling

2009-11-30T23:08:00.001-08:00

4. Build a world, not just a story. Jenkins' fourth principle of transmedia storytelling focuses on the importance of creating a world for your story to live in, not just a story that works in this world. While creating an elaborate universe for characters is a basic element in most storytelling, brands outside of entertainment should consider it, too. What kind of world could you build around your brand's story? Around your users? Around your mission? Maybe its fantastical (Coke's "Happiness Factory") or maybe it's just our world, but better (Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty").

via adage.com

"Transmedia isn't new. What makes it particularly interesting to us now is the speed, variety, reach and interactivity of today's platforms. We are on the frontier of technology and new forms of communication that are changing the ways we create, experience and share stories (take a look at Jonathan Harris's Whale Hunt if you want a good example). The law of conservation of energy doesn't seem to apply in this world—because the stories we create and consume are no longer defined by time, space or material object."

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

The New Perception of Wealth and Its Implications: A Report

2009-11-26T21:20:00.001-08:00

Consumers are attaching increasing importance to experiential consumption over wealth accumulation.

via officialwire.com

And so it is written again and again...

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

The Future in Luxury Brands and Social Media

2009-11-26T21:14:00.001-08:00

Social media is about conversations, about consumers, but mostly about communities. It’s no longer enough for brands to communicate, people have to communicate with each other about your brand.
All of our current work is focused on communities, understanding the connective tissues that joins people together, and how to involve brands in their conversations – and in particular we focus on cults as an extreme version of communities – ones with the most to teach luxury brands. That’s the real future of social media

via agendainc.com

Posted via web from LaurenProctor's Thinking Posterous

Easy Wheels

2009-11-13T00:16:00.001-08:00

I think I may have met God tonight. Not in the "I found Jesus" sort of way, but Jesus may have found me. She walked up when a friend and I were on the corner of 1st Avenue and 3rd Street, debating whether or not we ought to pick up the scrap wood slats we'd found laying on the sidewalk. "To bedbug or not to bedbug?" we asked each other, and of course the prospect of using the strong wood pieces for an insulated rooftop-fort beat any risk imaginable. Just as we were gathering everything in that awkward 10 foot tall Christmas-tree sort of way, a woman walked up with a black four wheeled granny cart labeled "Easy Wheels." "Put it here Mami," she insisted, and so we had no choice.

Taken by her kindness and sure that the two of us would manage the wood one way or another, I tried to object and she responded only with direction. "Oh Mami, put it this way, si si si." Before we knew it we were rolling down the sidewalk, Katie, God, and me. Shoulder to shoulder, Katie balanced the wood sticking vertically out of the cart, it was my job to warn all concerned parties of trepidatious cracks, and God told us about her life.

"I'm on my way to pick up ice and milk from Whole Foods," she told us. She likes the ice from there apparently, because she has no teeth. How the two factors correlate, I'm unsure, but the heavens don't always make sense and so I accepted it all as a matter of course. After Whole Foods, God (who by that time had told us that her name is CC) was off to the local bakery to pick up the day's leftovers and take them to a homeless shelter. CC had been homeless herself for six years, and she didn't feel like visiting her boyfriend in Brooklyn, so she decided to take on the night with her black Easy Wheels cart and a bike water bottle full of something alcoholic.

"Mami, I worked in a sausage factory for years and I have carpal..you know," she said, unable to find the word. CC knew struggle, and so she wanted to help us and the homeless because she could. It didn't matter that we were two white girls who looked like they'd always had everything, we were people she could help, we were both "Mami."

As we shuffled down the road avoiding potholes and navigating inconsistencies in the cement she would interrupt her life story with a map of the neighborhood through its occupants. "Benjamin and Susan live on that corner over there and my friend Christine lives in that building right over there," she rattled off in a list. I wondered if these people were her friends or a collection of passerby's she'd helped. For all I knew they were a few of the people who had prayed to God recently. Whatever the case, I felt like we reached my apartment much too soon.

CC helped us unload the wood pieces and before I could stand up to thank her sincerely she was a half a block away. I must have stood there for minutes, staring at Katie, shocked by her kindness. There was nothing to do or say, and suddenly I panicked. I didn't give her anything, I'd probably never see her again, and I didn't even look into her eyes. Still shaking I looked at Katie and broke the silence. "I think we just met God."

She shifted her weight from one foot another, put her hand on her forehead with her head tilted to the left the way she always does, and said quietly, "God is in everyone." Or maybe she said that everyone is God.

Either way, no matter what you believe or how you came to believe it, tonight I was reminded of something magical. It's bigger than I can explain, stronger than I could convey, and simpler than I would have ever imagined. God or no God, fractured or imperfect, each of us is capable of something God-like. Sometimes all it takes is couple blocks and other days we must traverse worlds, but the potential is always there. And somehow, someway, on particularly special nights, all the love in all the world can fit vertically in a black four wheeled granny cart made of wire.

And so I met God tonight. And then she walked away.

Posted via email from LaurenProctor32's Posterous

The Way That Dreams Come True

2009-10-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

I spent the night weaving in and out of the roads surrounding Bleecker Street and thinking about the way dreams come true.

I'm not sure how it happened, or even if I was aiming in this direction my entire life, but as I walked anonymously through the waves of sound seeping out of restaurants and bars, I realized that I am living the life I've always aspired toward.

That's not to say that I've always wanted to live in New York City. In fact, I grew up in a tiny California beach town and swore I'd move to a smaller place right about when the pizza delivery man started taking our orders all the way to our house. New York City is a long way off from the country life I'd imagined or the future pirate career I'd envisioned, but somewhere along the way something in life lured me here and now it feels perfect.

Sure, we always want bigger apartments and smaller challenges, but New York City breathes something indescribable. I've stumbled into my the life of my dreams and hopefully within a year I will be able to say that I make my living making other people's dreams come true.

How? That's something I'm starting to figure out. But trust me, this dream will come true.

Oh What A Cupcake!

2009-10-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

(Food blogs bring me great joy and many pounds. This cupcake comes from Duhlicious.)

Fall in Love with the "Fell in Love at the Apple Store" Song

2009-09-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

FattySpins recorded this awesome rap at the 5th Ave Apple Store in NYC. Give it a listen and enjoy all the watch your heart "spin right round like a click wheel."

My favorite verse:

I don't mean to be aggressive or a sleaze.
I don't mean to mac, I'm just not PC.

I know how to treat you,
This ain't a reboot.
I'll never find a need to
Control Alt Delete you.

8 Beautiful Reasons to Love the Rain

2009-09-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

There's something about rain. It's magical in this indescribable way, like something that feels best bundled up and kept somewhere safe. The soothing pitter patter is keeping me awake tonight/this morning, and so I feel compelled to explain my fondness through a partial list of reasons why I love the rain.

1. Rain makes spinning in the streets not only acceptable, but also nearly irresistible.

2. In addition to playing in the rain, I've recently become quite fond of drinking juice or ice water as I meander up and down my New York City block as if it weren't raining. Maybe it has something to do with carrying a glass on the road as if the entire city were my kitchen, but I also think there's something grand about strolling around and leisurely drinking as rain water falls and mixes in my drink. There's something about the situation that feels circular and complete, like the cycle of life on a really small, seemingly effortless scale.

3. There's a point when we totally and completely surrender ourselves to getting wet in a storm. I'm intensely in love with that sudden loose feeling and the realization that letting go and getting wet doesn't hurt after all.

4. When you don't feel like frolicking about, introversion is perfectly acceptable in the rain.

5. I once waded through a flooded area unprompted in a Massachusetts sleet storm and pushed a panicked woman and her floating van to a place where her wheels could grip the road again (about 50 feet). Other people were having similar problems so I spent the evening wading about with numb, bright red legs and a chest so happy I didn't care about being soaked to the bone in the sleeting rain. I think I only told one person (until today), but it was invigorating, like helping people find themselves in a really small way. Rain always makes me think of that rush.

6. It also makes me think of hot chocolate.

7. And Billie Meyers' song "Kiss the Rain," which I like even though I shouldn't admit that fact to anyone.

8. I like the soothing musicality of rain in the way that it violates all conventions for time signature and music theory. It's just there and constant. Then it's gone, only to return on its own time. It's to be enjoyed and appreciated, but not relied on or taken for granted. Maybe like friends or life.

I suppose that pitter patter against the cement in my courtyard is in fact there to remind me of something. No wonder I don't want to do anything but listen.

Brand Rankings of Luxury and Social Media Competence

2009-09-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

I may work for LuxuryLab and therefore hold some bias, but this unprecedented study and subsequent ranking of 109 brands and their digital competency (especially related to the luxury industry) is worth checking out.

Download it here (after spending lots of time on our website where you can stay abreast of luxury news).

Still think I'm biased and trying to coerce you into yet another reading assignment you don't have time for? Then listen to AdAge, Jeremiah Owyang (overall guru, author of Groundswell and partner at Altimeter Group), or Hwanjin 'David' Choi, a Seoul, Korea based Tweeter who said something I don't understand about the Digital IQ Index but marks the first person I know of to spread the research internationally. (Serves me right, for my ignorant American bilingual nature. If his Tweet was negative, at least he was gracious enough to add the link.)

Whatever the case, check it out. If you do anything related to branding or online media it's truly worth your while.

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Awesome New Music Find: UK based master of fun, Jamie T.

You Can Still Watch the Girl Throwing Ball Back Here and Other Thoughts on How Companies Handle Copyright

2009-09-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

The daughter who threw the ball back at the Phillies game quickly became an internet sensation with viral power until the MLB pulled the video from YouTube. Apparently they don't want to play ball and share the rights to their content, but I found a clip that still works and you can see the video below (at least at the time of this writing).

As an aside, I don't think it should go unnoticed that Fox News got in contact with this family via Facebook. It's an interesting time for journalism and media.

Disney is taking a completely different stand on user generated content. When a group of flamboyantly gay guys went to Fire Island and remade Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA" Disney employees not only embraced, but also encouraged the viral nature of the remake by emailing the video to each other. Rich Ross, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide even took the time to call up Mr. Fudge (the video maker) and tell him he liked the video. So what does this reaction vs the MLB reaction mean for branding, copyright, and the nature of the internet? My opinion is right out of Lessig.

Miley Cyrus - "Party in the USA" Fire Island Ramake

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Music Recommendation: The astonishing, beautiful Catherine Feeny

Catherine Feeny - "Mr. Blue"

Visual Statistics, Brand Perception, and Other Cool Stuff From The Shortlist

2009-09-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

Yet another best of the web from a person who spends more time on the web than I care to admit.

Cool: The mural at Barter Books, featuring a whole lot of great artists in one portrait of revelry.

Surprising: eBay, WebMD and Facebook all made the top ten of most trusted companies in the United States according to a study by the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe.

Feeding my love for well presented data. Steve Rubel recently compiled a list of great internet statistics in beautiful data. My favorites are below but you can see his entire list here.

A song I've got on repeat from a band I adore: The Maccabees - "Love You Better"

Why Google is Really Investing in Solar

2009-09-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

During the past week or so I've heard a lot about Google's plan to reduce the cost of solar power. Surface journalism has called this a benevolent act that will lower our electricity bills and other reporters have said that this is a strategic way to earn positive PR points. I give both opinions credit, but it seems strange that no one has even mentioned how important this is to Google's business.

Is this so apparent to everyone that it isn't worth mentioning, or have we overlooked the important part? As it stands, Google spends more than $2 million dollars per month on electricity. Of course they want to research lower cost energy consumption. It'll only help business.

***

Music Recommendation: Sin Fang Bous - Indie rock that will swing you through the day with quick beats and pleasant cherades

It Gives Me Chills Every Time

2009-09-15T12:13:00.001-07:00

The first time I saw this tennis shot I screamed. By the fifteenth time I was still screaming. I love moments like this, little victories that seem like miracles but are really the sum hours and hours of endless work and determination.

Overnight successes don't really exist, and I think that's why record breaking races, academic discoveries, and world championships leave me shaking from the inside out. People work toward their goals never knowing (but mostly believing) that they can break ground. They don't ask for guaranteed success, but continue faithfully on a single belief and with a single goal.

Pursuit like that is beautiful. Maybe that's why I'm still shaking when this shot plays through my mind. This comeback isn't a second or even a moment in the highlight reel. It's years in the making, and so are we. So here's to wishing you success. Here's to moments that keep you shrieking with delight on take 15 and leave you shaking with excitement for weeks.

Reading Shortlist

2009-09-14T12:38:00.003-07:00

In an attempt to archive some of my favorite internet content, here is a shortlist of great articles, blogs, and post.

- In honor of 9/11 I give you a beautiful NY Times article that captures the attitude of New York.

- People infer a lot based on the emails you send. Check this out to see how.

- A new political party has formed around our perception of ownership and copyright. They're called the Pirate Party of the United States.

- Users click on links from Facebook Fan pages 9% of the time on Mondays, 10% of the time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and much less frequently on other days of the week. (Business Insider)

- Great Steve Rubel Post: The Power of Pull

- Cool Blog Post: What Baby Names Teach Us About Viral Marketing.

- An interesting article that looks at Twilight from a feminist perspective: Is Twilight Bad For Your Love Life?

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Music Recommendation: Jupiter Wave, stripped down alternative rock with a little bounce.

For Typography Buffs

2009-09-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Anyone with insatiable curiosity and an affinity for typefaces should check out Typedia, an encyclopedia of all things typography related. Spend time learning about ascenders and apertures or explore popular types while clicking on a jungle of reference links that will refer you to similar typefaces. I'm being schooled in typography and I can't stop.

In other typography news, Heroine released a new typeface promotional video. This is the first video of this kind that I've ever seen, but my love for typeface promotion is already both deep and very dedicated.

***

Music Recommendation: Locksley, a lighthearted rock outfit of exceptional quality and broad head bobbing appeal.

NYC To Do: The Shortlist

2009-09-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to receive multiple inquiries per day regarding the going ons about NYC and I must say, I'm honored. I would like to continue to send customized event recommendations to friends (and would like even more to monetize this hobby of mine...help welcomed), but in honor of a friend being in town from the other coast, I've devised a short list of upcoming events that caught my eye. Rather than leave the events list as a private email, I figured I'd share the love. See the (not comprehensive) list below:

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10

Fashion's Night Out in various places all evening, free unless you shop - 800 New York retailers are participating in a collaborative effort to get us shopping again. I can't decide if this is going to really be cool, but I'm sure it will inevitably lead to some interesting interactions and worthwhile after parties put on by emerging fashion labels who see this as a perfect opportunity to gain visibility.
Cimema 16 in Dumbo, Smack Mellon, 7pm, free - A series of silent 16mm films set to music scores. This monthly event aims to recreate the magical atmosphere of the excitement of going to the movies in the era of silent film.
Manjinga, APT, 10pm, free - DJ Cato and OBaH spin Reggae, Afrobeat, rare grooves and house classics at this head nodding live and let live party.

I need to get some shut eye and I'm sure everyone already has plans for Friday and Saturday, so I'll jump to Sunday.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13

Brooklyn Book Festival - Brooklyn Borough Hall, 10am-6pm - The author list for this festival is enough to make this the literarati's version of walking straight into the real life version of People Magazine for bookish types.
Brooklyn Flea's Superstar DJ Record Fair, Manhattan Bridge Archway, 11am-6pm, free -
Coney Island Boardwalk Music Series, Coney Island Boardwalk, 3-11pm -
Live in Your Living Room Concert, Helen Engelhardt's house (805 e. 21st St BK), 7:30pm, $15 recommended donation (You must reserve a spot at reservations@liveinyourlivingroom.nl) - Artists Lee Mason and NYC based Greta Gertler finish off the weekend with beautiful, soothing sounds for the soul.
OBJECTify NYC - I haven't checked out this new monthly event but it sounds interesting. Who could pass up a costume bash for "inteligent technophiles" who are supposed to costume as their favorite fictional character or embody theif favorite book? Bring a bedtime story to read...

ONGOING//BEFORE THE WEEKEND ENDS

Taste NiEuW Amsterdam - September 5 - 20th (Two week) Restaurant Week - In honor of Henry Hudson's discovery and the cheap price the Dutch paid for New York, participating restaurants are offering a $24 pre fixe.
NY400 - More festivities in honor of the 400th year since Hudson's discovery of New York. Scan through the pages of events and take your pick of anything from industrial ceramics to history walks on the "New Amsterdam Trail" and tours of Dutch frigates and Navy ships.
Live In Your Living Room continues through September 20th.

Worldwide Monopoly, Odes to Puncuation and Other Recent Bests of the Internet

2009-09-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

O'Reilly announced a 14 day tour called Geeks On A Plane. This European expedition takes VCs, entrepreneurs, bloggers and thinkers on a trip filled with the best in technology, people, events and overall geek talk over the pond. I'm in love.

***

Do not pass go, do not leave your computer. At least don't plan on leaving it on Wednesday when Google and Hasbro release their anticipated Monopoly City Streets. With an initial $3 million dollars and the ability to buy property anywhere in the world using Google Maps you can hope to collect a whole lot more than pass go and collect $200 dollars. Join up and see if you can become the world's richest property magnate in existence.

***

Grammar Girl is hosting a favorite punctuation mark contest. You send in an ode to your favorite punctuation mark and on the week of September 24th (National Punctuation Day) the website will feature the best of the best. COOL!

***

Mashable's "Mobile Melodies" article pointed out ten great cell phone music performances. Here's one I really enjoyed, one that makes me believe this is Gen Y's version of memorizing how to solve a Rubik's cube or win Pac Man every time.

***

The Telegraph recently released an article that spells out 50 Things that Are Being Killed By the Internet. The list includes "the art of polite disagreement," "trust in Nigerian businessmen and princes," "the usefulness of references pages at the front of diaries," and much more.

Kurt Vonnegut On Why We Crave Drama In Our Lives

2009-09-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

Derek Sivers recently posted a great piece (with charts) where Kurt Vonnegut explains why people crave drama.

***

Music Recommendation: Joseph Arthur

Joseph Arthur - "Witches Broom"

Realizing Our Potential and Other First Impressions From Would Be Internet Powerhouses

2009-09-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Remember when Facebook first started? The homepage looked like the picture on the left and if you didn't type "the" before "facebook.com" you'd find yourself lost in cyberspace.

Why was the transition so seamless? When did we stop typing "the" and did anyone notice?

Or how about four short years ago when YouTube looked like this? We've come a long way. (If you're interested in seeing the way 20 other sites looked when they launched check out this great Telegraph collection here.)

Perhaps more important than memories of MS-DOS, floppy disks, and external hard drives though, is the fact that it's easy to forget the power we hold. It wasn't all that long ago when people never traveled much more than a few miles from where they were born. Letters were delivered via horseback and now we can send our words circling around the world with a few keystrokes.

It's miraculous and about as easy to forget as the days when we used to type "thefacebook.com."

***

Founded in 1986 but still current in a retro sort of way, Shudder to Think plays rock that walks the fence between gritty and surprisingly gentle.

Stale Chips and Other Reasons Why We Should Rethink The Way Companies Operate

2009-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with an intense craving for salsa, the kind that leads you sprinting for the kitchen with eyes still bleary and a lack of balance that sends you bumping into walls. Usually I make my own chips, but this morning cried urgent hunger so I reached into the back of my pantry and grabbed a bag of tortilla strips I'd bought a few weeks ago out of laziness and should have thrown away.

But like I said, I wanted salsa. And if you know me, you know my combination of an iron stomach and twisted, stubborn hubris means I'll eat just about anything no matter how weird it smells or old it seems. And so I started eating.

The salsa was everything I'd dreamt of (literally, a salsa dream is what started this all), but the chips, they were a different matter entirely. And as I chewed I had a bit of an epiphany. Why should chips get stale? The answer is, they shouldn't have to.

It's not like chips are made of organic ingredients and real corn. They're practically crunchy chemicals, yet no one has solved the stale problem? It seems counterintuitive. Counterintuitive unless you're the chip company aiming to earn as much money as possible from families who will either devour your chips or buy a new bag the second the chips lose their crunchy freshness.

And so I wonder: Will it ever become truly integral for brands to tap into the entirety of their resource base in order to give us a product that's top of the line, as best as it can be for consumers?

Will we all ever truly be on the same team where win-win isn't a rare choice but a standard business practice? And if that were to occur how would innovation change? Most of all, how unstoppable could we be?

***

Bring the house to shambles with the dancing you'll do to Finn Riggins, a band best suited for fans of Matt and Kim and other fast rock.

In Case You Wanted To Smile

2009-08-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'd never seen this before. The fact that this took place in a church just spreads my grin that much wider. This is beautiful.

Why Diane Tucker Might Be A Contender On My "Wouldn't Kick Out of Bed For Eating Crackers" List

2009-08-27T04:32:00.000-07:00

Perhaps this is simply journalist humor best suited for those who have read and reread The Elements of Style as if it was the bible, but this is truly one of the most brilliant things I've read in quite some time. In one swoop, Diane Tucker has been added as a potential contender on my brilliant people I admire list (otherwise named "People I Wouldn't Kick Out of Bed For Eating Crackers").

Check out the article below. I'm curious to find out if this is funny to people who don't write.

***
She's the female Jack Johnson equivalent in a way, and if you haven't heard of her yet you ought to listen now. Behold Tristan Prettyman.

Hilarious Video: Facebook Messes Up Relationships

2009-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Psychologists confirmed that Facebook increases jealousy and these people turned our tendencies into one hilarious video about how the site has changed our relationships. Watch it below, and listen for hilarious quotes like:

1. Because you LOLing all up on her comments. Is she that funny now? That funny?

2. "I'm going to change my relationship status to 'In a relationship...WITH A LOSER.' Can I do that? 'WITH A LOSER.'"

3. So you just going to do movie quizzes all day, huh? Movie quizzes?

***

Diamond Rings - "All Yr Songs"

When Will This Happen In the NCAA?

2009-08-26T04:32:00.001-07:00

It's only a matter before something like this happens in college sports. A female to male or male to female student athlete will want to continue to play the sport they love. But how will people react and what will happen?

Adoring Andrew Bird's use of language and absolute brilliance. I've never heard a more beautiful song when it comes to words as craft in pure sound.

Andrew Bird - "Tenuousness"

The Real Way to Play Hit Machine

2009-08-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

The second I saw Hit Machine I knew I'd spend my next sleepless night shredding my keyboard with the online Rock Band equivalent. But in watching an online video all I could think was, "No she didn't!"

The person playing in the demo video below is playing while sitting down. For all practical purposes I couldn't tell whether they were writing a report or playing what might be a milestone of an internet gaming release. It seems like a sin.

The beauty of Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and now Hit Machine is its ability to allow us to pretend that we are the band. In other words, I'm kicking my desk chair into the hallway for awhile, taking my lampshades off so I can shine the bare bulbs like spotlights in my eyes, turning on every multicolored light I have, and BEING the band. I've already rigged a way to mount my wireless keyboard on a baseball bat so that I can "play guitar" until the club shuts down. So don't call me tonight, unless of course, you want to be my drummer.

***

Get revved up with supercharged bassline heavy The Girls Can Hear Us.

The Girls Can Hear Us remix of Beach Boys - "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (Please excuse the disturbing image. It's well worth enduring because this combination of old and new is about as fun as it gets.)

Another Reason Why the MTA May Cause You More Aggravation

2009-08-25T04:32:00.000-07:00

If you've ever taken public transportation in NYC during the summer, you know the feeling of peering down a dark tunnel and waiting for the light as sweat streams down your back and your pants stick to your legs. It's aggravating, especially since the MTA raised their fares and reduced service. But now we may have something else to worry about.

Chris Schoenfeld tried to save some suffering with an iPhone app called StationStops. Meant to provide people with MTA schedules, it would reduce wait time and help people navigate schedules with ease. But then the MTA sent him a cease and desist letter. Apparently MTA schedules are copyrighted material and therefore off limits to people like Schoenfeld.

Why does the MTA care so much? Maybe they're worried about losing control or website hits? I'm not really sure, but it seems that they've left me sweating, staring at that dark tunnel and waiting for the light.

***

You may have heard him on This American Life, but if not you'd best check him out now. David Berkeley.

Where The Wild Things Are Is Turning Kids Into Consumers of Cool

2009-08-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, I've never read Where The Wild Things Are (WTWTA). It's a sin, I'm sure of it, but I plan on seeing the movie if only for the soundtrack. From what I can tell it seems like WTWTA is a movie about finding a place of belonging. It seems like a film where if only for an hour or so, anyone can take adventures and dreams can come true. It looks like a fun movie, but more than that, the font, the soundtrack, and just about everything else in the way the film is being presented makes me believe that WTWTA's marketing team wants to appeal to a group of kids who they hope will grow up to consume cool.

Not cool in the everybody's doing it sense, cool in an independent sense. Cool like Juno cool, or cool like the kids who listen to Arcade Fire (the trailer track) and Karen O (the woman behind the soundtrack). Everything about the movie says alternative in a subtle way, not counterculture alternative, but alternative in a "Sundance has suddenly turned mainstream but still seems independent" sort of way.

Maybe the day of uncool becoming cool has actually arrived. It's in our sweaters and nerdy glasses. It's in the fact that statistician has just been named one of the sexiest fields to enter into in the near future. Will the alternative remain cool? WTWTA seems to think so, at least for a little while longer.

Where the Wild Things Are Trailer #2

Why Yogi's Might Appreciate Your Next Computer

2009-08-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

Your next computer purchase might be a touchscreen. If you're skeptical about that claim you might point to the not so popular HP Touchsmart, but I would counter your argument with rumors about the new Apple Tablet. Supposedly a larger, more laptop like iPhone sort of device, the tablet is just one step along the way toward incorporating serious touch technology into regular laptops and desktops.

If Apple releases their tablet the right way and brings us into the realm of touchscreen computing, there's no doubt that others will follow. So unlike the laptops of yesteryear, when touching your screen and blurring the graphics was a mortal sin, the next generation could encourage intuitive touches and gestures.

What's significant about all of this to me though, is something I've never heard anyone consider. Of course I'm interested in flicks and resizing, but what seems more important is the way that such technology will naturally change the office environment. As traditional computing combines with the touchscreen technology we'll find ourselves reaching up and grabbing the world rendered on our computers. We'll open our shoulders and work against the all too known I-spend-too-much-time-on-the-computer-so-I-look-like-a-gorilla slump. The next generation computer might release us from the confines of our keyboards, but more than that, we will literally free our constricting pectorals and open ourselves up to a freer world. That, to me, seems like technology at it's best.

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Open your life up to the easy flow of Aussie singer-songwriter ">Jamie Hutchings.

Jamie Hutchings - "After the Flood"

Healthcare Explained On Napkins

2009-08-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Dan Roam, the man behind napkin illustrations that can explain just about anything, has created a slide show that explains health care. Clever, but even more than that, it reiterates how well we respond to stories.

Healthcare Napkins All

View more documents from Dan Roam.

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Check out Thrillmagazine.tumblr.com for some music recommendations and a few blasts from the past.

How You Can Make A Video To Connect With The World

2009-08-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

The days of YouTube stunts like the guy who catches glasses with his face are over. Sure, if you can backflip into your Levi's you might garner a little attention, but what will really get people to pay attention is a story. We're wired for stories always will be. So when you make your next video or start your next creative advertising campaign give people a story to latch onto. It brings meaning, starts conversations, and makes you memorable.

The 2009 Cannes Festival Winner "Signs" is a prime example. Check it out and then tell your story. With it you can connect with the world.

***

MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: The Lovely Feathers - "Lowiza"

I'm Going to Write A Novel

2009-08-17T01:32:00.000-07:00

I'm in a writing mood tonight and it's not necessarily the type of writing mood that's at all related to blogging or talking about why I think some sort of new achievement will change the world in a small way. No, tonight plagues me with the sort of writing mood that seeps out of me in accidental fragments and then leaves me suddenly speechless.

The urge to write is engrained in me, stuck somewhere in my body and circulating, heating up and brewing. As far back as I can remember I've been brimming over with stories. Short stories with tall orders and long ones without any point except to make someone smile.

During the day I often lose myself researching and studying the ideas of others, but if I stay up late enough the urge to write something literary overcomes me and bubbles over in long meandering emails or the introductions to books I've always wanted to write. Up to this point in my life only a half a dozen or so of my closest friends have seen the rhythm of my sentences change as I'm overtaken by the sweeping sentences of the classics that have inspired me all my life. Tonight I have formally decided that this is going to change.

I have too many stories and too many people saying, "I still think you should be writing" to relegate my literary side to a few drifting emails written as the sun rises after a sleepless night. I feel a sustainable plot forming in my mind and I'm almost ready to begin. And after I do I hope you'll hold me to it. Or perhaps more important, I hope at some point some publisher somewhere decides to hold onto me.

***

In my writing mood I was lured back to a man whose music I've loved for years. I bring you...

Her Space Holiday - "Sleepy California" (1. I apologize that the video is just lyrics but it was the only one I could find with decent sound and I wanted to include this song because this song has always made me think.)

Could SEO Spur Internet Gentrification?

2009-08-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

Since the internet came into existence everything was about leveling the playing field. There's Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, the bits economy of costs getting closer and closer to zero, the idea that music should be free, and the ruling principle that on the internet anyone can do anything. All these concepts remain, but now that the internet is growing into an unfathomable web of layered thoughts and contextual relationships it seems like our content consumption is depending more and more on 1. friend recommendations (something I plan to address in a future write up) and 2. the power of search.

Whether you're a traditional Googler, a nerdy early adopter of Wolfram Alpha, or a sucker for Bing!'s bizarre advertising, what you consume is depending more and more on keywords and the algorithms of search engines. Companies are paying a lot of money for SEO gurus to guarantee top search results and I only see this trend increasing. I could be totally wrong, but I foresee a time when we need complicated SEO techniques to guarantee search placement. And what happens then?

What happens to the mainstream web user who doesn't know the intricacies of SEO? More important, what happens to the people in that category who can't afford to hire someone to optimize their page? Will their content get buried because they don't have the money or resources to put their content at the top? Maybe I don't know enough about search (Full disclosure: SEO is my weakest area to date), but the thought seems plausible. Maybe someone can prove me wrong? If not, one day we'll have to kiss democratization on the internet goodbye and find ourselves entrenched in yet another classed system run by capitalism.

***

Bookish, humble, and absolutely enrapturing, check out Reverie Sound Revue.

Reverie Sound Revue - "One Marathon"

Social Media Revolution

2009-08-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last November I wrote about a dizzying 2008 video called Did You Know 3.0. Socialnomics author Erik Qualman created a Social Media focused video with equally fascinating statistics (and the exact same song as the previous video). Check it out:

***

Take a listen to Free Energy, an emerging rock act with a gentle sentiment and the heart of a pride of lions.

Favorite Song On the Radio

2009-08-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

For all of you psychology students who need a thesis topic, have I got a good one for you.

Please, dissect why it feels so much better to hear a favorite song on the radio than it does to simply play a CD or .mp3 file.

Of course the answer lies in the fact that it’s an unexpected surprise but I have a feeling there’s more. Is it partly because we relish in the fact that someone somewhere out there at a completely different point in their life might share this song with you and feel like you do? Is it because we crave familiarity and like to think that other people also want to hear the things that are our favorites? Or maybe it’s some sort of approval of our favorite things? Tell me everything that makes us feel that way.

Send me a thorough thesis and I’ll give you something (what it is will depend on how well off I am at the time). And then together we can figure out how to apply that beautiful “Omigod they’re playing my song” feeling to product perception and marketing.

***

And now for an artist you'll probably never hear on the radio but probably ought to listen to anyway. His name is Parov Stelar and he's an Austrian jazz electro guy who knows how to drop a beat.

Parov Stelar - "Matilda" (I can't even tell you how much I'd LOVE to be in this video, or at least throw paint water balloons around an empty room while wearing all white.)

So You Want To Be Quoted?

2009-08-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

Pear Analytics filtered through 28,000 tweets in a recent about Twitter usage and consumption, and if you're at all familiar with Twitter some of the results may be predictable. Apparently 40.55% of 0ur tweets are what they consider "pointless babble," but 37.55% are conversational and 8.7% were of what Pear Analytics calls "Pass Along Value."

You may have heard about the recent Pear Analytics study analyzing the nature of usage and consumption of Twitter, and whether you've read the study or not it probably won't surprise you that 0.55% of 0ur tweets are what they consider "pointless babble." On the brighter side though, 37.55% are conversational and 8.7% were of what Pear Analytics calls "Pass Along Value."

All this is interesting, but here's the real gem of this study, the part that might actually help you. Tweets that occur on Monday and near 11:30am are most likely to be retweeted (quoted and passed along) and if you're looking for news tweets on the public timeline are most newsworthy around 2:00pm and on Tuesdays. Hopefully that helps somebody out there, but if not, check out this beautiful music recommendation.

Bowerbirds - "My Oldest Memory"

Rock Paper Scissors, An Important Environmental Breakthrough

2009-08-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

There's a new paper that's made of stone. It's called TerraSkin and production takes half the energy of regular paper. According to a recent article in Business Week it's recyclable and durable, but if "exposed to sunlight and humidity long enough" it "breaks down like talcum powder." I'm not sure what long enough means, but sales of these bags are expected to triple by the end of 2009 and some proponents of green are calling TerraSkin a major solution.

All I have to say is that I can hardly wait to offer to carry a TerraSkin bag for someone and then say, "Goodness this is heavy! What do you have in here, rocks?!?!?!"

***

And in case that wasn't enough pun for one night, until you get your hands on a rock bag you should rock out to Frankmuzik electro style.

Obsessed With Augmented Reality

2009-08-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

Until a few days ago I was fairly ignorant when it came to Augmented Reality (AR). And then I found the application below.

Nearest Tube, An Augmented Reality App for the iPhone

Now I'm obsessed with Augmented Reality but in my research I've been particularly fascinated with the attitude of people in the AR community. They are extremely forward thinking and I believe this is one of the reasons why AR will accomplish incredible feats in the future. They're so confident, so inspiring, and so full of opportunity. One of the most common phrases I keep hearing as I read up is, "When technology catches up we could build..."

From now I want to apply the same attitude to my thoughts on marketing, advertising, and life in general. It's not about adapting and staying caught up to emerging technologies (phrases I've heard so often), but anticipating them and foreseeing their capabilities. That, I think, is the trick. So thank you AR and everyone in it. You've already, even though I have yet to use your technologies, changed my life.

***

For rock music that makes you feel like you're flying, check out Fanfarlo.

I Just Applied For a Job At Google

2009-08-11T03:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right. I put the job in my job cart and sent it away. What job, you might ask? Well I applied for the New York City based Media Lead position in the Creative Labs.

And wouldn't that require like, a lot of experience, you ask? The answer to that question would be a resounding yes. This position requires eight years experience but in my rare case I'm hoping that the fact that I'm in my twenties and going on 40 will do something for me.

And now you want to know what I wrote in my cover letter? Why of course I'll show you. I'm warning you that you'll probably finish reading it and ask if I really did send that pun filled email to Google. Again, your answer is yes. Enough questions though, here's what I wrote:

Hi Google,

My name is Lauren Proctor and new media marketing is my passion. I follow the beat with an unwavering commitment and think of so many ideas for connecting brands with people in meaningful ways through modern media that more than one person in my life has asked if new media communication is as essential to me as the water or salt that keeps me alive.

I'm also a Google fan who believes that your new real time search engine will blow Twitter and Facebook (even with the acquisition of Friendster) out of the water and wonders why the drop down menu asking applicants to disclose the type of phone number they provided doesn't include Google Voice as an option.

When it comes to actual experience in the field my CV doesn't have much to show but in that regard I suppose I'm only taking from the Larry Page and Sergey Brin model of shooting high right from the beginning.

I am, after all, a hard working quick study with a knack for innovation and a hankering desire to make waves (pun intended) in the Google community.

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon. This is one chance you want to take.

Trust me,

Lauren
Google Voice number 347.926.3232

***

Beautiful Music: Orin Lavie - "Her Modern Elegance"

5 Social Media Stories You Should Know Today

2009-08-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Did you watch your news channel of choice and read your papers but miss out on your social media related news today? Never to fear. I'll catch you up with a quick list of highlights (or low lights if you're a Friendster fan).

Please note that this list is by no means comprehensive, nor does it even begin to acknowledge much beyond the realm of new media. It's at the very least entertaining, so here we go:

1. Facebook bought Friendster for $50 million dollars. What does this mean? We're not really sure yet, but a lot of people think the two services will integrate. Friendster will become obsolete and Facebook will adopt more Twitter-like technologies like real time search in hopes that when newsworthy events take place people will stop turning to Twitter and start using Facebook instead.

Somebody best get out the printing presses and make a new shirt because like everything else in the world these days, now has quickly slipped away into the future.

2. Google has also announced their intentions to overhaul their search engine to add real time search. Some rumors say that they're going to partner with Twitter in order to create this real time search that includes microblogging, so this is something to watch out for.

2. A study reveals that Gen Yers are claiming that their real friends are the friends they have in cyberspace. Meanwhile, another study shows that Facebook increases jealousy in relationships.

3. While we're on studies, yet another study points out that psychological distance increases creativity. This article talks about the research and suggests a few ways to increase your own creativity.

3. A year ago we were saying goodbye to human customer service by increasing the capability of ATMs. And now you won't have to go to your ATM as much either, because USAA Bank is going to release an iPhone app that allows people to deposit checks by sending in photos of the front and back of the check.

4. YouTube surges 9% in the month of July and passed MSN and Live.com in the traffic department. Of course we have to take Bing.com into consideration when we look at the numbers of Microsoft properties, but what does this mean about our society?

5. Excuse me for being so late to discover this, but I found out that the British Prime Minister's office tweets. I'm going to do something really British and leave it at "Brilliant."

***

With snarling lyrics, a voice that varies between breathy nothings and towering hope, and enough bounce to send you dancing from state to state, Florence and the Machine will take you

Florence and the Machine - "Kiss With A Fist"

Kept, Lost, Forgotten and Remembered Again

2009-08-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

There's a website called Forgotten Bookmarks and in case the name of the site doesn't explain enough, it's like Post Secret for the bookish type. I've added a couple images below, but check it out if you're curious.

Preferably while listening to the sweet sounds of The Backseat Goodbye. (Warning: He's a total guilty pleasure but a pleasure nonetheless). And not that it matters, but he has a song called "32 Ways to Make You Smile."

Information Design Resume Draft Experiment

2009-08-09T04:32:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago I pinned down a resume format that, at the time, felt like it would last forever. I was convinced it was perfect, but alas, it is tired. And so it's time for a remix.

Lately I've been really interested in the aesthetics of data and information design, so I decided to mess about a bit and see if I could reduce all my experience to one page while switching over to the now desired skill set resume that's supposed to be better these days since so many people are expected to go through more career changes than they used to a few years back.

My result is the file below (please note, I haven't edited it at all). I realize that it's insanely cluttered and probably too overwhelming, but it was fun to create and I personally wish resumes weren't meant to be so cut and dry by nature. I don't know that I have the chutzpah to send something so untraditional to even the most creative trend spotting or marketing firm (my proposed next career move) but it's tempting.

I'd love to get everyone's opinion and advice on how they would feel if they received a resume like this. Would it go straight to the trash or do you think you'd take a (positive) second look if I edited this and cleaned it up a bit? Also, if you have other tips or ideas for reducing clutter I'm all ears.

Thanks for your time in advance. In turn I'll give you yet another good music recommendation. Check out The Foreign Exchange, a chill out soul group that glides in and out of genre but pleases reliably.

Murdoch Changing Another Media Model?

2009-08-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

According to The Guardian and Mashable, Murdoch plans to start charging for online news and he expects to make a profit. If he does, of course all media will follow like they did when he created his first profit horse business model and transformed the nature of news into entertainment.

I wonder what Murdoch is really thinking? Perhaps he figures that traffic volume isn't that important? So many people interact with News Corp owned media that if it reduces by ten, twenty, even fifty percentage points then who cares? 50% of Facebook readers is still 15 million people.

Meanwhile, Digg seems to be embedding semi-incognito advertisements in content. People can still vote ads up or down meaning bad ads will get buried quickly, but is this the future or a blur between product and content that crosses the line?

I'm going to read Chris Anderson's Free by the end of the week and I should have more ideas on the future of media, but for now I thought I'd share Murdoch's intentions and Digg's plan so we could see what comes of it together.

***

Stephen Shiffman and the Land Of No will release their album in ten days. It will be well worth a listen.

To Do, New York

2009-08-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

DATE SPECIFIC

August 12th, Ottos Shrunken Head, 10pm, ottoshrunkenhead.com - An evening of cover songs remixed by DJ Xerox and others.

August 13th, 679 Riverside Drive at the Riverbank State Park Skate Rink, 8-11pm - Robot Chicken on Wheels, a free skating extravaganza with a performance by The Gym Class Heroes and special appearances by Seth Green and Matt Senreich. (I'm not entirely sure if this is my scene, but listening to live music while skating, that sounds like a ball)

August 13 - Borough President Billy Joel Starlight Tribute Concert on Staten Island, 10pm

ONGOING

Exit 9 in the East Village - An excellent place to wander around checking out kitsch and all sorts of items you don't need but would really make your life that much happier.

La Plaza Cultural (E. 9th St at Ave C, laplazacultural.org) - A great place to hang your hat and rest awhile, this relaxing lawn and pond area features scultures by Rolando Politi.

Mogador (101 St. Marks between 1st Ave and Ave A, cafemogador.com) - Their $9 lunch special will blow you away.

Free, Almost Daily Boating in Hallets Cove (liceboathouse.org, 718.228.9214) - Grab a kayak or canoe and push off from the Socrates Sculpture Garden onto the East River.

The Tree Museum, Grand Concourse between Moshulu Pkwy North and 138th St, Bronx all the way to 149th St and Grand Concourse, Daily thru Oct 12 - 100 trees, 100 tales. Dial the numbers posted on the trees to hear different stories about the borough.

Free Hyperlocal Story Scavenger Hunt, fluffyseme.net/groups/entry/hyperlocal, Daily thru Aug 31 - Receive text messages to send you on various missions and save your answers in order to solve the final mystery.

Free Public Tours of the Plaza Hotel (Tues and Sat at 3pm, RSVP required to 212.546.5477)

Is Cyber Warfare Effective?

2009-08-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Cyber warfare. It's one of the only social media related news I heard about after reports started coming out offering reasons why Twitter, Facebook and LiveJournal were experiencing so many problems. It was DDoS (Denial of Service Attacks) related to the conflict between Russia and Georgia, and the attackers wanted to stifle the voice of a guy with a handle of Cyxymu.

In turn, people suddenly started talking about ways to back up your social media profiles and Twitter accounts, and just about everything else on the elusive cloud where we're all starting to store more of our data. They also started talking about cyber warfare and how it might become a piece of the future. But before the lights went out on Twitter I had no idea Cyxymu even existed, and goodness knows I didn't know to he was someone whose voice was important enough to send internet usage for millions to a screeching halt.

Now my appetite for Cyxymu's words is insatiable and it makes me wonder. If an attempt to stifle a voice sends its decibels further than they would have reached before, can this so called cyber warfare really be effective?

Let's hope not.

***

Now for some affable folk (although as a warning, some of his songs will hit you hard and leave you wallowing on the floor in sweet misery...okay that was major hyperbole). Check out Brooklyn's own Jonah Smith.

Nothing Is a Vault

2009-08-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

I learned yesterday that Twitter keeps any single person's 3,200 most recent tweets and then poof, it's gone. I feel stupid for not knowing this and particularly distressed (in a not really distressed and I realize I'm being dramatic sort of way).

I suppose 3,200 is a lot, but to think that in an age when storage costs virtually nothing, Twitter isn't playing the Google card of unlimited storage? I thought we had finally found something that would put moments in a vault and help us remember the time when we picked out all the marshmallows in the Lucky Charms to see if there was enough in a box to fill an entire bowl, and then spent the rest of the night snacking on the sweetest part and wondering if we were Lucky, Charmed, or both.

***

If you like Postal Service, Vampire Weekend, and/or Ra Ra Riot you've got to check Discovery.

Discovery - "I Want You Back" (Jackson 5)

Triumph For Pack Rats

2009-08-06T20:04:00.001-07:00

I'm a pack rat, and not just the kind spouses complain about when it comes time to clean the garage. I'm the pick-up-everything-in-sight-because-one-day-this-moment-and-object-could-define-my-life sort of pack rat. In other words, my compulsion for keeping is really. really. bad.

Then I discovered the hard drive. I picked up fewer rocks and started collecting music and then words and pictures. I still pick up especially beautiful rocks here and there and often find myself slipping objects in my pocket so that I can hold a moment forever, but the tendencies that probably would have buried me in objects has shifted toward the computable intangibles.

When I started getting tangled up in the web I transfered my pack rat tendency toward the world of links. I tried to collect them in browser favorites but of course most are lost. Many of the sites would be changed or expired by now even if I had all those links, but the ones that are left would serve as a sort of continuous time capsule diary for what I found relevant and profound at the time. I would love to look back on the sites I adored back when the internet chugged along dial up telephone lines at 56k, but alas, all that is gone.

I'm going to sound like a blatant product promotion here, but the moment I found Read It Later I knew that I'd found another brilliant tool to cure my satiated bookmarks bar and the sorrow of losing old Favorites. I no longer needed to send myself links of articles I didn't have time to read at the specific moment when I found them and I knew that I'd never have to write a URL on the back of my hand again. Instead I use Read It Later, a site that stores every article I haven't had time to read and archives the ones I've checked off.

Convenient, of course. But that time capsule of a diary I wrote about a second ago. I can finally make it. And someday when I'm navigating the web on whatever is going to come a couple generations after Google Wave (a tool that's supposed to change our way of using the internet) I'll look back and laugh.

"You were concerned about DDoS attacks on Twitter and figuring out why the biggest growth demographic for tweets was not teenagers, but adults," I'll say. "Because really, the important thing all along were the rocks that made the ground you're standing on."

***

Miike Snow's music will capture you faster than you could read any description I could give. Check the trio out here.

Miike Snow - "Animal"

Re: Sneakers

2009-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Many of you may remember my talk on sneaker trends and the democratization of footwear this past spring. In it I suggested that the lines between dress shoe and sneaker will continue to blur. I also wondered if sneaker companies would capitalize on this trend as much as actual stylish clothing brands. Other than the Nike Cole Haan partnership (which doesn't really count) or brands like Puma (which still remain largely casual), we aren't really seeing brands like Adidas spiffing up their shoes to create comfortable hybrid dress shoes and I wonder why that is.

It seems like the H&M or Zara type places that sell casual footwear are the ones that are winning out. Specialty brands like Marc Jacobs, Swear, and Schmoove have also capitalized on this concept of creating sneaker like dress shoes. Does this mean that streetwear is going to swing back away from the cool of casual sneakers and back toward something "nicer?" Is this what the new oxford trend is telling us? Your guess is as good as mine.

***

Tonight I'm listening to Marching Band, a Swedish indie pop rock group.

Fashion Forward with Oxfords

2009-08-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

Simple canvas lows, trojan sandals and boat shoes of the season seem to be marching out of the way for a classic Oxfords. Traditional black and/or brown oxfords, metallic silver oxfords, neon oxfords, oxfords with shorts, or oxfords with cuffed pants, it's all in style. When I first started wearing these early summer people looked at me with intense curiosity and now strangers are coming up to me with compliments meaning that if you haven't seen much of them yet I'm almost sure you'll see more come Fall.

***
Lately I've been jamming on a lot of Kid Cudi. Not so much the intensely popular "Day 'n' Night" Kid Kudi, but Kudi of "Man On the Moon" and "The Prayer." I love the way he puts hip hop on ice and sings pop culture phenom one liners with ease. He's a student who incorporates his genre and subtly transcends it. In "The Prayer" he confronts hip hop directly, "If I slip away, if I die today, the last thing you remember won't be apple bottom jeans and the boots with the fur." Undoubtedly, we'll remember something much more important.

Kid Kudi - "The Prayer"

Kid Cudi - "50 Ways To Make A Record"

Tech Talk: Google Voice Debate

2009-08-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

Google Voice. In a way it looks like the next big thing in phone technology. It's supposed to become available to the public in a few weeks (you can check updates and progress here) and when it does, you will be able to use it to send SMS messages, record phone calls with the push of a button, read voice mails as text, and save everything forever. It also allows you to forward calls to one phone number, all your phones, or just some of your phone numbers based on who's calling. For now you have to forward your number(s) and deal with having anyone call your new number if you want to use Google Voice, but eventually they hope to allow people to port their numbers in directly if they wish.

It sounds amazing and it's all free, but before we go skipping through the park chewing gummy bears, there's definite conflict. For starters, when Google released a Google Voice iPhone app to Apple and it was rejected (the details here). The FCC is debating over what to do and we have yet to see that play out, but even if Google does win the battle and get to flex its muscles and threaten what profit means for carriers like AT&T, then what will happen to the people who use the program?

This could be one of Google's benevolent loss leaders that lays groundwork for establishing themselves in the mobile sector and helps them become more powerful in the future, but it's quite possible that Google will figure out how to monetize programs like this. One New York Times analyst pointed out that this could mean upselling an advanced version of the product (Chris Anderson's Free, anyone?) or using this as a platform for creating selling, targeting, and monetizing advertisements. Google always says, "Trust us." I hope we can.

***

In case your eyes are glazed, here's a solid music recommendation to melt the glaze away. Check out Flunk, a group best enjoyed while relaxing in a dark room. They've been around almost a decade but their Portishead-like sound will probably be worthy of chill Buddha Bar type mixes for decades to come.

Flunk - "Blind My Mind"

To BE That Feeling

2009-07-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

I read Aimee Bender's The Girl in the Flammable Skirt yesterday and by page eight I was messaging my favorite reading buddy. "Have you ever read any Aimee Bender?" I asked. When she asked me if I recommended her my response was emphatic. Then I admitted that I was on page eight.

But like hearing the first few measures of a great song for the first time, it didn't take long before I felt rhythm and voice slip into the marrow of my bones. Art is beautiful like that. In an instant it can sweep you off your feet, fill you with happiness, and stick with you forever.

I justified my especially early reading recommendation with some version of that feeling. Then I thought about the first time I heard the intro to a song that to this day smears a grin on my face and leads me directly to my dancing shoes.

I wonder, what if you could BE that feeling? You'd jump around all day from place to place, filling people with a contentedness so good they sometimes can't find words for it. I suppose sometimes late at night, you'd long for something deeper. But to be that feeling to be savored, to exist as a thing so pure and reliable. Your only need would be happiness, and it would always come because you could provide it for everyone you touched.

I can't stop thinking about that. And I can't stop listening to The Portland Cello Project's collaboration with Thao called "Tallymarks." Both The Portland Cello Project and Thao are brilliant, I'm sure.

Paper Heart

2009-07-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

I got word of Paper Heart a few months ago and when I finally saw the trailer I was immediately in love. I don't really know what to expect from this movie, but it seems to me like a reinvention of cinema in a way. Charlene Yi seems promising and there's something about Michael Cera that seems like he could save the world. I don't care that he's always the same character, his sincerity will always make me melt and Yi seems to share the same delivery of heartfelt sarcasm and sensitivity.

If you haven't heard of the movie yet, check out the trailer below and watch for lines like "Take somebody to Applebee's and give them hot wings," "I mean he doesn't even know me, how could he like me," and "I think I'm going to get the Mexican Beach salad. I want to say that to the waiter. He'll look at me and say, 'Oh hey, this guy gets around."

For music that will steal your heart and a voice that will leave you in chills, check out Brown Shoe.
Brown Shoe - "Aquarium"

I Know What You Did Last Summer...And Just A Second Ago

2009-07-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

I figure it's only a matter of time before someone releases a movie in which Twitter is the central character? Perhaps they'll call it Twittered, or Tweet? I predict it's only a matter of time and suspect that the film will fall into the genre of horror.

Perhaps a quick release, poorly constructed slasher film where the killer knows exactly what you did last summer...and just a second ago. Or maybe they'll avoid the film because the prospect of Twitter stalking someone to their demise is just too realistic... Nevertheless, sometimes I think Twitter: The Movie is only a matter of time.

On a happier note, I'm going back to basics with an artist I don't think I've mentioned yet but have loved for a few months now. Check out the soulful Little Jackie, a duo who will leave you with head bopping hooks long after the song is over.

Little Jackie - "Go Hard or Go Home"

Little Jackie - "The Stoop"

A Date or a Dentist Continued (see below)

2009-07-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

For some reason the formatting on the last blog was a nightmare. So instead of toy with it longer, I'm posting a continuation here:

While you're deciding if I should go with a mature dentist with a four star bedside manner or a young blonde with five stars, feel free to lose yourself in the sweeping sound of Rey Fresco. This groove lounge harp, drum and bass concoction has a West Coast vibe to leave you feeling like you can conquer the day.

Rey Fresco - "Fairline"

A Hot Date Or a Future Dentist?

2009-07-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Apparently finding a dentist in New York City is much like finding a date online. I know of no hygienist bar scene and unfortunately I don't know anyone (or even know anyone who knows anyone) who accepts my insurance, and so I have (gasp) resorted to the internet.

When I started my search I expected to read small blurbs about each of my dental options in the city along with a potential review or two. Instead I found entire profiles outlining everything from bedside manner to average wait time. What got me most though, were the dentists' profile pictures.

Allow me to show a few of the dentists' pictures below, and I'm not bluffing.

CBS Sunday Morning

2009-07-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

I opened my eyes slowly this morning to a slight tinge of regret. I had missed yet another CBS Sunday Morning, and not just because I slept in late after a Fourth of July packed with Jenny Lewis, Conor Oberst, 40,000 fireworks shells (1,200 per minute for 26 minutes), an Apples to Apples marathon, and loads of food. It wouldn't have made much of a difference when I woke anyway, because I don't have a television or DVR. Buying one or both would probably be for the sole purpose of witnessing Charles Osgood and the crew's thought provoking journalism, but I just can't justify it. Every now and then I catch a few clips and video recaps on the CBS Sunday Morning website but I miss Osgood's narration and I want the ability to sit down and feel the comfort of watching an entire episode ceremoniously from start to finish.

I know internet television advertising isn't as profitable as traditional broadcast (which I think is twisted based on a number of reasons including the sheer volume of target demographic that is starting to actually prefer watching television online), but I know a gaggle of New Yorker reading, non TV owning people like myself who wish they had a way to catch up on Sunday Morning on their computer and after the fact. So give me Flanagan and give me Osgood. Bring me politics and show me pool prodigies. Move into multimedia, Osgood, and let's move soon. It will certainly help me wake up every Sunday morning without that haunting tinge of regret.

Until you can catch CBS Sunday Morning at least you can listen to some tunes. Check out Anya Marina. Her style varies from Karen O like boldness to quiet and silky and pure danceable. "Vertigo" has had me red in the face and dancing for weeks.

Anya Marina - "Vertigo" (This video is really quiet so the version on the link above is better, but I figured I'd add this for pure convenience.)

A Rant On Editorial Integrity

2009-07-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

My grandma started buying me Time Magazine for Christmas years ago and I've been a religious reader ever since. My young college days are filled with many a weekly memory of me sprinting to the mailbox just after the mail delivery person so I could fetch out Time Magazine and begin catching up with the world. Alright, the sprinting hasn't stopped, and I still look forward to Time, but today I have a rant.

Because I'm at the age where friends are starting to get married and have kids (or worry that they'll never find everlasting love beyond Gloria Estefan) Time's July 13 issue of "Unfaithfully Yours" sparked my interest immediately. What I read first though, was "Warm Weather Words," a list of reading recommendations for the summertime reader. I sidled up to my computer, opened up my New York Public Library account and readied my reading eyes and keyboard happy fingers. Time did encourage a few new holds but I read the word "Kindle" enough times to make me squirm. The sidebar of eight celebrity "Quick Picks" included five blurbs on the Kindle, including blatant plugs like, "Musician John Legend, who carries his Kindle everywhere he goes..." and a list of other forced mentions.

This reeks of some sort of effort by Time Magazine's editors to push the Kindle and I don't like it. Yes, of course, they're trying to stay up on the times and keep cutting edge with technology, but this crosses the line. I want to know how Time is benefiting from this, other than the fact that they sell themselves on the Kindle. Has advertising seeped a little too far into the editorial department? I read "Warming Words" for the cold hard books, not the hot technology update of who reads The New York Times via their Kindle.

I suppose I have little to complain about. I'm still excited to settle into the infidelity article and remain thankful that Time is still ticking.

***

Now that that's done, check out Brooklyn band A BIG YES... and a small no. Bouncy, playful and eternally dynamic, these guys serve jazzy ska infused pop worth checking out before passing go or collecting $200.

Ukulele Fever

2009-07-03T10:15:00.001-07:00

I've got ukulele fever and I've got it bad. This isn't just some sort of tepid condition alleviated with a few aspirin and a couple days rest. It's an all encompassing obsession that pumps through my veins and leaves me restless. Most of my passions end up driving me through the day and this hankering desire for a ukulele is no different. I've always felt a connection with the instrument's mobile and triumphantly nerdy beauty but right now I feel like the connections in my brain are made of ukulele strings. In my obsessive condition I've been scouring YouTube and I recently stumbled upon this 11 year old elementary school student named Anko. His hobbies include making "new rube goldberg machines" and his favorite books are "novels." This guy is adorable, not to mention talented. Check out his YouTube channel here (he also makes Lego- animation videos) or just listen to a couple of his songs below.

Keita - "Stand By Me"

Keita - "Love Me Do"

Q&A To Self Discovery

2009-06-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today's blog is a simple survey that's been sent to me dozens of times via email. Rather than respond with a grand spam message, I'm posting it here. Feel free to skip over it if the post seems uninteresting. I would understand. I like these sorts of surveys though because they seem to possess unwritten instructions that say, "Answer these questions and you'll be well on your way to self discovery.

1. What is your occupation?
I've recently decided that my primary occupation is to add letters to the end of my name. MA, PhD, DJ, CSCS, etc, etc. In actuality though, I am an assistant softball coach at Columbia University, a publicist at a record label, a writer at various magazines, and a graduate student.

2. What color are your socks right now?
I'm a bit of a free spirit taken to traipsing around barefoot.

3. What are you listening to right now?
Nina Simone's "See Line Woman." It's going to be a part of my first live DJ performance and mixtape, played directly in front of Feist's "Sea Lion Woman." As a side note, you can expect excellent lyrical streams from my upcoming compilations.

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
A melted Slurpee and left over chile rellenos with rice and beans. Hunger seems to have crept on me again though. Perhaps I'll have some Nutella on toast or a homemade sopapilla.

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
It depends on how far you'd like me to drive you before stalling.

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
My dad.

7. How old are you today?
23 today, 23 tomorrow.

8. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
I'm not necessarily one for watching sports but I enjoy the X games quite a lot.

9. What is your favorite drink?
It depends on my mood, but it's probably Quik chocolate milk, a suicide Slurpee (all flavors), or root beer. One of my goals for 2009 is to start brewing my own root beer from scratch.

10.Have you ever dyed your hair ?
That I have.

11. What is your favorite food?
Again, it depends on my mood. Anything spicy will do the trick (e.g. Mexican, Indian, etc). Cream cheese is one of my favorite ingredients (e.g. everything from bean dip to Oreo cake and cheesecake), and of course anything sweet is an absolute delight.

12. What is the last movie you watched?

An advanced screening of Public Enemies. You can read the review I wrote at hx.com

13. What is your favorite day of the year?
I wish I could say whatever day it happens to be, but let's face it, I'm already anticipating next Thanksgiving with vigor.

14. How do you vent anger?
Vent anger, what? I don't get angry or if I do it's almost always at myself (sometimes for getting angry). If anger lingers though, I usually turn it into laughter.

15. What was your favorite toy as a child?
I cherished mi peona and a stuffed raccoon, as well as a gaggle of figurines that included everything from zoo animals and foamy grow animals and a ninja turtle I found on the ground.

16. What is your favorite season?
I like the variety of seasons but if you're going to make me pick I'll have to go with the sweet relief of layers in Fall.

17. Cherries or Blueberries?
I picked on the previous question, spare me the choice here? Let's go with both.

18. Who is the most likely to respond?
I haven't the slightest.

19. Who is least likely to respond?
Someone who doesn't read this.

20. Living arrangements?
Happiness. I have three roommates in a respectively spacious apartment in Manhattan but to say this is my only home would be cutting myself short. Something Corporate put it well when he said, "If I kept tattoos for every home I've loved I would paint my body until all my skin was gone." I don't get tattoos though.

21. When was the last time you laughed?
Just a moment ago. Those puns will keep you revved up but if we're talking belly laughs, I might have to rewind back to when I was singing "Pool Party" on the phone earlier today.

22. What is on the floor of your closet?
A tupperware container of athletic sweatshirts and sweatpants.

23. What did you do last night

Ate Mexican food over a discussion of NYC Pride, stopped for a suicide Slurpee (the Tribeca Seven 11 has the best flavors I've ever seen), went over to a friend's, and fell into a deep, satisfying sleep.

24. What are you most afraid of?
I'm terrified of the prospect of losing my ability to take care of myself. Losing my ability to think is also one of the most unsettling thoughts I fear.

25. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
Spicy hamburgers with pepper jack cheese.

26. What is your favorite dog breed?
The cat. As an aside, if you see someone walking their dog, saying something to the effect of, "Ohhh how cute!" (Pause) "And your dog's cute too," is apparently quite a successful line.

27. What is your favorite day of the week?
This depends on a multitude of factors.

28. How many states have you lived in?
New York, Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Washington (and you might count the UK). In other words, 5.

29. Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds and 32 necklaces.

30. What is your favorite flower?
The Zantedeschia aethiopica and Zantedeschia elliottiana, otherwise known as the white and yellow calla lily's respectively.

31. What is your favorite smell?
What a beautiful question, and one that's nearly impossible to answer. To name a select few, I love the smell of asphalt when it first starts to rain, cookies in the oven, tennis balls, new shoes, electronics fresh out of the package, clean laundry, fresh citrus like perfumes, books that have been cared for, and anything that's reminiscent of the people that I've loved.

32. Your favorite sound?
Again, this is nearly impossible to answer because we're inundated with gifts in this regard. My favorite sound in New York City might be the changing of street lights, something that can only be heard when you find yourself somewhat isolated in one of the world's largest cities. I also adore the beating of warm melodies, heartfelt laughter, birds chirping, and the way the word "peripatetic" rolls of the tongue when it's used casually in conversation.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading. Since you made it all the way to question 32, I'll reward you with a nice little music recommendation. Check out Sissy Wish, a Norwegian singer-songwriter with a penchant for sounding like a high pitched version of the old fashioned Chordettes meets the modernity of Shiny Toy Guns.

Feel free to stream her album here.

A Thought On Keeping The Pace

2009-06-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

If you're a runner, or simply a watcher of runners, you may have noticed that when jogging or sprinting with a partner, people tend to match their stride with one another over time. To me this is phenomenal. The possibilities for moving forward seem endless, yet somehow when two people run together they unconsciously make up for differences in body size and tendencies in order to match each other's movements. I'm convinced that this has something to do with harmony and our tendency toward it.

If I were in the field of physiology or something like that I would study this, but then again maybe it's better to let this phenomenon remain one of the countless unexplained miracles of life. And so here I remain, amazed at yet another simple thing in life.

In other news, in light of all this rekindled Twitter buzz I started up my Thrill Twitter again. Thrill itself isn't really up and running as we speak, but music will always pump through my veins so this Twitter widget is a select list of music recommendations specifically focused in the world of indie music. Think of it as a refined place to broaden your musical tastes and wax music. I always take recommendations and love talking music, so feel free to reach out and contact me about it. In the meantime, enjoy.

Today's Blogger music recommendation is Lisa Hannigan, an folk-pop artist whose earnest voice and fragile lyrical masterpieces create a comforting, curl-up-by-the-fire sort of feeling. P.C. Greenwood calls Hannigan one of the most engaging and mysterious singers of the past two decades, adding that Hannigan could be "Jeff Buckley's long lost Irish sister." I very much agree.

Lisa Hannigan - "I Don't Know"

173 Billion Chances

2009-05-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

I read the most recent New York magazine atop the atmosphere (aka on a plane) yesterday and found myself enamored with Sam Anderson's article "In Defense of Distraction". Anderson acknowledges our crackberry crazed worlds constantly interrupted by Facebook, Twitter, email and everything else, and then makes the case for why all of these new innovations and tendencies for multitasking might not be such a horrible change.

I don't know if Einstein or Lennon would have benefited had they been children of today's technological world as Anderson suggests, but this article is certainly worth the read. A day later I'm still deciding whether or not restlessness will be an advantage in our society of "techno-cognitive nomadism" as Anderson puts it, and I'm still wrestling with the effects of the world we've created for ourselves.

Regardless of whether or not I can completely jump on board with his thesis, Anderson made a point in this article that I hope will stick with me for the rest of my life. In refering to Winifred Gallagher's new book Rapt, he talks about the importance of attention. Gallagher argues in her book that the ability to focus your attention is essentially the secret of life. Whether it's an attentiveness to what you're eating (which can supposedly help you lose seven pounds in a single year) or the fact that you're able to pay attention to your loved ones, attention is Gallagher's Holy Grail.

It seems to me sometimes that distractions don't matter because there's all the time in the world to pay attention to what's important. "I can find peace in Central Park tomorrow or read that literary masterpiece in a year," I often tell myself. But our time, even for the long living, is more limited than we sometimes realize. A person can absorb 110 pieces of information per second. The average person then, is limited to the absorption of 173 billion bits of information in a lifetime (not even three times the amount of dollars Warren Buffett has to his name). Suddenly what I'm reading or the time I spend learning about any given subject is much more significant.

At the end of the day, or at the end or our lives for that matter, we are ultimately made up of the things that snagged our attention. Some, fleeting distractions, others, lasting obsessions and unending dedications. How we leave our mark though, is all about where we focused our attention.

You may not be able to learn everything or see every beauty, but you have 173 billion chances. How will you live with those chances? What will you do with yours?

***

Today's music recommendation is Matthew Barber, a singer/songwriter with a knack for a low key sound and breathtaking lyrics. My favorite Barber song is "And You Give." Give it a listen; it's well worth the 25,080 bits of information you could process in the time it takes to drink this song.

Matthew Barber - "And You Give"

Wasn't it worth it, if only for the line "Then came fall, babe, and we fell hard. Bruised our bodies, skinned our knees and our hearts."

The Finales

2009-05-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

I don't watch much TV but last Thursday the second to last episode of Ugly Betty led me straight into the two hour finale of Grey's Anatomy, and ever since I've felt an increased awareness of the fragility of life along with a dash of loss and sadness (I can't help but feel like the characters are just a little bit real). Both shows, while quite different in many ways, featured screen stealing darlings battling cancer and marriages that can't seem to wait.

The common plot lines have me curious about what the screenwriters think about each other's shows. For example, are they concerned about common stories ("Darn, they used cancer on their show too!")? Even more than that, I wonder if the finales of today are especially focused on the value of the moment and the people that surround us because of the landscape of our lives. Is the recession changing plot lines, leading us away from displays of conspicuous consumption and replacing it with a reflection of our rekindled values? Or maybe I'm crazy.

In other news while we're on the subject of television, James Parker has an excellent article in The Atlantic about the allure of Spongebob Squarepants. Check out Spongebob's Golden Dream here for a nice article about how Spongebob
is an excellent example of the embodiment of the American Dream in Bikini Bottom, a effortless setting for the portrayal of a postmodern society.

***

Today's music recommendation is a dose of pop electronica doused in grand sweeping statements and a lyrical fascination with the atmosphere. Check out Owl City for a sound that resembles Hellogoodbye after a discussion of string theory.

Owl City - Maybe I'm Dreaming

Owl City - The Airway