Archive for 2009

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XX’s Extra X Has Made Me An Ex-X Hater

[ 2 Comments ]Posted on September 3, 2009 by admin in Music

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

All Ian wanted to do was say he really likes XX’s first release, but no-OO-oo. First he has to ramble on for 224 words about the history of bands with X in their name.


These kids are so shy that they
don’t stop mumbling and get to
the good stuff until about 0:55

I wish bands would stop resorting to using “X” in their name. For me it all started with X in the 70′s. My friends and I were all busy cutting ourselves, wearing second-hand clothes, getting weird haircuts, and listening to weird music, when all of the sudden people started calling us “Punk”. It wasn’t long after that that there were all these “punk bands” running around, acting all punk and stuff. One of the first in the states was, of course, “X”. In spite of (or maybe because of?) their solid musicianship, I remember distinctly thinking they sucked, and seemed incredibly contrived. Punk Lifestyle Rule Number 1: You can’t call yourself punk and actually be punk at the same time. It’s sort of like Groucho’s line about not wanting to belong to any club that would have people like him as a member. I mean c’mon, these alleged rebel misfits actually received an “Official Certificate of Recognition” from the City of Los Angeles for their music. We also would always confuse X with Generation X, until Billy Idol left the band and started his solo career. Which has turned out well, don’t you think? In my opinion, the only bands named X ever worth listening to were the esoteric and Read the rest of this entry »

Tased & Confused: Building Brands With Distraction

[ Comments Off ]Posted on September 2, 2009 by admin in Popular Media

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

After seeing the new Taser 3 web site, I was left screaming “GO AHEAD, TASE ME BRO!”

I’m really not a masochist, but viewing the web site for the new Taser X3 yesterday left me with a feeling of “Wow. Getting tased looks really pleasant“. It also reminded me that really good advertising and marketing campaigns don’t need to describe a product that you like to engage you and build a relationship. A great example of this is the UNIQLOCK site. I easily spent 10 or 15 minutes there, not even realizing it was pitching a product. I didn’t care; I love the Japanese pop of Fantastic Plastic Machine they used in all the clips, and the visuals were strangely engaging in that way that only the Japanese can muster. Can you figure out what the product is? After you view the site, see the campaign details and more video here if you’re curious. Many of these sites use the still rather under-explored medium of Flash, which when used well, is great for greenwashing, as evident in both this Michelin site and this General Electric Smart Grid site. The Michelin guy already had his “cute cred”, but that GE site almost leaves you feeling like the planet raping war contractor and media company really cares. On a possibly more sincere note, check out the Eco Zoo (say “Ecodazoo!” briskly with a Japanese accent), complete with virtual pop-up books designed to instill a little conservation thinking in kids, without them even knowing it’s happening. There are thousands of these kinds of sites out there, created by hip (and usually new) ad agencies like Switch, BrandStudio.ru (they did this Toyota born every 5 seconds site),  BBH, and Mono 1. This site, for instance, is Mono’s idea of a happy new year wish. Below are some screen grabs and more links, and you can find a nice round up of more Flash sites like this here. Have any of your own to share? Read the rest of this entry »

September Holidays: How Come On Labor Day, You Don’t?

[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 1, 2009 by admin in Holidays

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

And…everybody loves National Chicken Month. Except the chickens.
National Chicken Month, The Way A
Chicken Would Prefer To Celebrate It

As I’m sure you all know, September is Baby Safety Month. Unless of course you’re a baby chicken, because it’s also National Chicken Month, and as far as I can tell, it seems the only way people know of to celebrate a chicken is to eat it. September holidays are rife with contradictions like this. On Labor Day you don’t, and September 11 is not only Make Your Bed Day, it’s also And Lay Down In It Day as well. Writing about International Literacy Day clearly presents another intrinsic problem a problem thats pardon the pun punctuated by National Punctuation Day which is on September 24 2009 National Punctuation Day reminds us that without proper punctuation reading becomes rather difficult to say the least. Continuing the contradictory nature of September holidays, please note that Citizenship Day and Native American Day highlight a pretty significant difference of opinion about who the residents of America are. They’re more than a week apart. We’ll be back to touch on other important holidays later in the month, with a more serious, respectful look at sacred traditions like Rosh Hashanah, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Talk Like a Pirate Day. Argh.

Cool To Be Kind

[ 1 Comment ]Posted on August 31, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture

Monday, August 31st, 2009

I’m making a little investment in the Kindness Economy today.

You don’t know me, but if you did, you’d pretty quickly realize that I’m one of the more laid back people you’ll ever meet. The other day though, I caught myself being the kind of person I sometimes laugh at: the person who almost runs over pedestrians to get to the next red light, that visibly snorts when a register clerk takes longer than they’d like, that avoids eye contact when they cut you off slightly to be the next in line. I don’t remember exactly how it happened that I got in that frame of mind, but I pretty quickly decided to do something about it. Coincidentally, a friend had just loaned me a copy of The Power of Nice. I decided to breeze through it; it’s a pretty light read. I’m glad I did. It was a great set of inspiring reminders of something I’m always working on anyway, something I call the “Kindness Economy™”. Kindness is a powerful currency. There’s an almost limitless supply of it, and you find that when you spend it, you end up with more of it than before you started. It’s like every purchase you make is a winning lotto ticket. So with a little nudge from my own grumpiness and the book, I decided it was time to re-invest. I want to share my profits with you, so let’s see if in the next several days we can’t create a little Kindness Stimulus Package out there. Here are some ideas, feel free to share if you have any of your own. Read the rest of this entry »

Placebo Effect Almost As Effective As Actual Drugs

[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 30, 2009 by admin in Health & Wellness

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

But what fun would getting well be without long lists of bizarre side effects like explosive diarrhea, sleepwaling, and compulsive gambling?


This ad for the antidepressant Epiphanix has
one of the longer lists of side effects we’ve seen

In spite of the fact that I’m in retirement from a long and illustrious career of recreational drug use, when it comes to medicinal drug use, it’s almost impossible, for instance, to get me to take so much as an aspirin for a headache. I’m convinced that 90% of what ails us will fix itself, and that popping a pill every time we feel a little discomfort actually impairs our body’s ability to do its own repair work. Which is why I find it fascinating that research is showing that the placebo effect is mysteriously becoming more effective in clinical trials. Something we hear little about is the fact that drugs that go to market have, on occasion, barely beaten the placebo effect to get approved. This fairly recent development is inspiring new research into the mechanism behind the placebo effect, and how it might be put to work in place of drugs. Imagine a world without the common prescription drugs with the bizarre side-effects listed here. TV advertising would never be the same. Read the rest of this entry »

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