Dashes and Splashes

Bit by Bit: Finding Our Humanity Online and Off

2009-08-05T22:58:00.020-06:00

I was cruising the Web with a friend today, foraging through Fandango, pillaging on Pandora, and seeking out some juicy gems on Facebook, when it dawned on me how much power the Internet truly has. And I mean this not only in the obvious way, but also in a more visceral sense — even when you’re spending time with a person face-to-face, the Internet can enhance the moment and make it pop. It can make it all the more immediate.

I'll explain. While the social potential of the Internet is pretty duh by this point, the reason I feel this topic is extra compelling snowballed out of the fact that tonight, I wasn’t with just any friend — I was on a first date.

That's right. A first date. To wit: We were enjoying ourselves in a blur of contentment after wolfing down the best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever had, when we proceeded to huddle around the laptop. As we sat in front of the computer, the awkwardness and crushing self-awareness that hover close to most first dates suddenly began to float away — we were just there, two friends having a fun time.

“Check out the comments for this movie!” “Ooh ooh, that’s a great song!” “Wait, you know Hannah too?” “Ha! What’s that face you’re making?” “OMG, your hand looks like it’s attached to that hobbit-looking dude.” “Oh check out this video, it was shot right outside your building.” “No way, I can’t believe she spelled that with an ‘s.’ What a poser!”

And on and on. It was a get-to-know-each-other experience set to fast forward. But more than that, it was a stimulating, effortless and enjoyable evening, and the connection we made was real. And no, I don’t mean this in a romantic, schlocky kind of way, but in a satisfying, warm and intrinsically human way.

So while many might forebode technology as the beginning of the end to our humanity — chipping away at our souls and sucking out whatever’s left of our spiritual essence — I believe it can bring us closer to whom we really are. We just need to relax, enjoy it and strap ourselves in for the ride. Yes?

Kooky Randomness to Beat the Block

2009-01-07T10:55:00.022-06:00

I was contemplating the other day, as I was trying to come up with something to write about, that my creative process is jump-started by and oftentimes flows handsomely from slapdash yet specific, fixed ideas.

Case in point: I was stuck on my screenplay, not knowing how to move the plot forward when, out of the blue — and during a very unrelated yet heated discussion on Gchat — a friend of mine jokingly hurled a very unusual pseudo-insult at me: He called me an “asshat.” An asshat! Perfect! So snappy! So zany! So PG-13!

The result… My story came alive again. All I needed to do was write “asshat” into the dialogue. The scene practically wrote itself, and now I’m back on track again. The solution, while seemingly nonsensical, was in actuality very elegant and simple (props, Rubenator!).

And this is basically how I beat writer’s block — I force absurd, arbitrary rules on my writing, and then I follow through. Write a sentence with exactly 17 words. Use the rule of three. Pull a quote from a friend’s lame Facebook status update. Use a prepositional phrase separated by an em dash. Use a cliché. Whatever. Not to sound too Nike, but, you know, just do it. I'm also all about this because it’s so pop-postmodern. But I digress.

The road of random leads to the palace of wisdom. Yes? It works for me. It works swimmingly actually, more often than not. Thoughts? What are other good methods to beat the writing heat?

Busting Open the Floodgates of Creativity With Bloody Force!

2008-11-15T00:55:00.011-06:00

Hello guys, I’m back! After a long hiatus, I’ve decided to start blogging it out again — which I’m really excited about, as I feel I need to grease the wheels inside my head and get those creative sprockets a’churning. And I’m sure the two or three of you who read my blog are elated as well. Yeah!

So, being the iconoclast I am (ha!), I’ve decided to venture into new territory and write my first screenplay. It’s about a zombie apocalypse. Wait, wait, hear me out! I’m super psyched about it, and it’s coming along quite nicely. I don’t wanna give away too many deets, but I will say it’s helping me evolve as a writer. Fo sho.

Basically, I decided to take a screenwriting class to re-up my creative battery, as I feel that working in advertising has thrown me in a slump of late. Writing copy, I feel like, can work both ways when it comes to your personal creative development — it can either stir you in just the right way by constantly re-booting and reloading your hard drive, or it can numb you by dousing you with boring-ass waves of mind-numbing same-old. So this is me belting out my rebel yell — I refuse to let myself cruise inside a calm cavern of creative complacency.

Anyway, these zombies, the ones in my screenplay — they will cut you. They will eat you. Just like any other zombie in any other zombie movie, I guess — but that’s okay. That’s the point. Just as my creative je ne sais quoi is sputtering and pattering along, turbulent and un-killable, these zombies will come get you with clumsy but unstoppable determination. And eat your brains. Or maybe just dismember you and then use your limbs as baseball bats and your broken bones as makeshift cleavers to saw you off in parts.

So. My Totally Formula Zombie Movie starts off in New York, as we focus in on Eddie, a douchey dude who just got fired from his high-paying job. Despite his recent job loss, he’s financially well off. His problem: spiritual bankruptcy. Contrast! His life is an endless parade of parties, ennui, girls, meh, and blah. But then…

He goes to a party. And this is when the story really kicks into high gear — less than ten minutes into the film. No zombies yet, but we know something’s brewing, coming to a boil in a mere few moments.

Cut to Eddie, after-partying the night away on his friend’s yacht, looking out into the elegantly lit New York City backdrop. And then…BAM! The city loses power. What’s up, what’s going on? Someone turn on the TV, quick. Just static. WTF. Check your computer! Nothing. Phones are dead.What, how? OMFG. Terrorism? Nothing makes sense. Let’s dock the yacht and figure out what’s going on…

Stay tuned for the motion picture, guys. The poster's gonna be killer.

For Pop Treats, Blogger's Too Big, Twitter's Too Small, Tumblr's Just Right

2008-02-19T16:59:00.009-06:00

Check out my tumblelog for more postmodern posts, ventral pop videos, and stream-of-consciousness rants and raves, info-nugget style, sans any context. What is a tumblelog, you ask? Think of it as a mini-blog, with twice the flexibility of a regular blog and the same look-at-me-loom and and quirk of a "What am I doing right now?" Web status app.

It's very pop. Sometimes I feel the urge to jump on the latest online bandwagon, and that’s why I’ve decided to fire up my own Tumblr. That, plus the fact that it’s quicker to upload on my tumblelog than on this blog, and I don’t feel that pesky blogger’s pressure that pesters me to wordsmith winning prose on a regular basis. It's totally rad. What are you guys' thoughts on tumblelolgs?

Cable Provider Inadvertently Gets all Reggeaton on Our Unsuspecting Selves

2008-02-06T12:16:00.001-06:00

I love this commercial for IO Optimum Triple Play. Check it: the chola mermaid hos, the fast-rhyming wetback sea monster who's getting his tail chopped off, the pillaging Boricua pirates, the rapper dude's decidedly fashionable Latino-thug hairdo... It's all so ludicrous, the camp almost goes unnoticed. But pay a smidge of attention and you'll be hugely rewarded with a dumbfounded dose of ethnic absurdity.

So what if it plays off of a musical movement bent of taking out moral values and musical artistry everywhere the salsa sun shines? It's too funny. Estamos? Below the lyrics to this advertising mess-gone-right:

Mi gente, Optimum Triple Play is in the house!

IO Digital Cable
Watch a lot of channels, whenever you're able.
HD is free, let me put it on the table
For $29.95, you get to sign the label

877-393-4448!

Optimum Online, so fast so fine,
Dial-up and DSL you gonna leave it behind.
C'mon mi gente, let's get online
For $29.95, it'll blow your mind.

877-393-4448!

Optimum Voice, call your mom, call your date
Call all you want from state to state,
Puerto Rico and Canada just one flat rate.
For $29.95, do I have to translate?!?

Remember you can get Optimum Voice Worldcall
Talk with anybody in the world, so call!

877-393-4448!

The savings are for real,
The Triple Play is the deal.
Estamos.

Time Freeze in Grand Central

2008-02-04T16:01:00.000-06:00

I know this video already blew up all over the hipster end of the blogosphere, but I’d figure I’d post it here in case you haven’t come across it yet.

It's my small part in helping it reach critical mass online. Also, I would love to know your take on it. It's pretty wild, if a little cheesy in a Mindfreak kinda way. Check it out.

Morph it Like a Polaroid Picture — Internet Events Flicker, Fade Away

2008-01-29T15:45:00.000-06:00

As I was catching up on my online reading today, perusing my daily blog roundup for salacious posts on the latest Britney shenanigans, I came across this nifty little site that uses insta-technology to serve up some tantalizing results. The idea behind MorphThing is simple: With a few effortless clicks and drags, you can morph uber-known famous faces together to create quirky-if-somewhat-eerie images of celeb-hybrid spawns.

What sets this site apart from others of the same kin is the ease with which these morphs can be produced, the realism of (some of) the images, and the different Web 2.0 functionalities leveraged by the site. There are rankings, user ratings, comment streams, blog threads, homepage updates, e-mail-a-friend — the whole works. Hell yeah!

I know, I know, as a buzzy e-concept, Web 2.0 may be totes five-minutes-ago, but when it comes to consuming and blogging about sites like this, the term seems to fit the bill just right. MorphThing is the kind of Internet distraction that curious netizens like myself eat up in a heartbeat, if only to pass it on to our digital contacts in hopes we’re the early adopters of an inevitable viral cascade. It’s so digital zeitgeist: Play around with the site, tell your friends, recommend, get obsessed, tire of it, get over it, discard and move on to the next digital discovery.

Internet relevancy today is most glorious when it’s sugary and fleeting. Here today, gone tomorrow. A digital flash in the pan. Says so much, yet says nothing at all. Burns bright, then RIP. Like MorphThing. Amusing? Yes. Crafty? Also. Mind-blowing? Meh. Life-changing? Not so much. But it’s got some blogs a’buzzin’. Thoughts?

Let's See that Again! 10 Landmark Viral Videos of 2007

2007-12-21T15:08:00.000-06:00

Top 10 lists have been bubbling up out of blogosphere with torrential tenacity this year. The Internet is brimming hysterically with them. And who doesn’t love lists, rankings and countdowns? I know I do! And so does everyone else who watches Vh1 or E! or even Animal Planet.

Anyway, this latest top 10 compilation comes straight from Gawker, and it’s one of the craziest and most hysterical I’ve seen so far — it's pure, unadulterated digital shock and awe. So what is it? It's a ranking of the most most popular and pop culturally (ir)relevant viral videos of 2007, of course!

Bet you can't watch any of these just once, no matter how much you try and pry your eyes away. Trust me: You'll be doing double-takes and re-clicking that Play button to get a good glimpse of the nutty goings-on in these videos, many of which I'm positive you've already seen.

Also, I think this list captures online zeitgeist the best, spouting absurd precision and one-up sarcasm with understated charm. The list makes a task of documenting the digital events that made the noisiest splash online this year, stopping Internets in their tracks and making them take notice.

Watch this “marvelous cut-the-chase montage” put together by the Gawker gang over and over again, then snap out of your dumbfounded daze and love on this post with some comments!

“I Personally Believe” These are the Most Illustrious Quotes of 2007

2007-12-20T13:45:00.000-06:00

Like such as. Nothing like the Internet to mushroom kooky one-off events into pop cultural phenomena. Below a ranking of the five most memorable quotes of 2007, as reported by Reuters.com (I have no clue as to what metrics they might have used to come up with this list, btw):

1. “Don’t tase me, bro!”

2. “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for ourgghh.”

3. “In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country.”

4. “That's some nappy-headed hos there.”

5. “I don't recall.”

Can you match the quote to the person who uttered the infamous words?

Don Imus — college student and rabble-rouser Andrew Meyer — Alberto Gonzales — Lauren Upton, Miss Teen South Carolina — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Check out the entire Top 10 list here for some more of those reckless and hare-brained verbal spews that rang and rattled with venomous viral force around the Net this year. Curiously tho, “Leave Britney alone!” was overlooked. What’s that about? Whatevz… Anyway, I’m sure these would all make some funky-ass t-shirts, don't you think?

Honest to Blog? Best and Worst of 2007

2007-12-19T10:42:00.000-06:00

Tune in to iMediaConnection and find out which online marketing campaigns the experts are touting as cutting-edge for 2007. Widgets, UGC, touch points, mobile, video, clickthrough, viral, rollout, social media, BT, analytics… all the trendy marketing buzzwords and phrases are tossed around freely and without restraint here.

The article is chock-full of interesting opinion and fanciful forecasts for 2008, and will have you making conjectures and coming up with ideas of your very own.

So check it out to see which campaigns have been labeled phenomenal flops and which are considered the best and the brightest of 2007 (high-five for automotive and film!); also, find out what’s in store for next year and what's shaping up to be the next big marketing platform. Will it be mobile? Facebook’s Beacon? What do you think will be the biggest online marketing trend of 2008? And which up-and-coming marketing blogs deserve our praise?

Interactive Motion Logic: Groovy Lines for Groovy Minds

2007-12-17T11:23:00.000-06:00

Yugop.com is a site unlike any you've ever made your way to before. This experimental online art house, brought to you by avante garde Japanese digital artist and branding expert Yugo Nakamuro, is making pixelated waves online — both literally and figuratively — thanks to its synchronized, mouse-sensitive motion animation experiences.

This Mr. Roboto-infused digital destination includes an RSS feed ready to stuff your reader with tons of eye-catching, precision-crafted digital goodies, as well as a comprehensive archive of interactive artworks created for edgy, high-profile clients like UNIQLO and XBOX 360; it also boasts fluid and futuristic functionality that serves up a myriad of techno-inspired surprises, all with a distinct and modern Japanese edge. Check it out. Domo arigato!

Music as Brushstroke — When Sounds Splash on a Digital Canvas

2007-12-12T15:19:00.000-06:00

Here’s a standout site that a friend of mine sent my way last week. It’s really somethin’ else — and in an effort to keep you dialed in on the latest innovations popping up around the Web, I’ve decided to blog this one out.

Check it: The Life House Method is an imaginative proposition that uses specialized software to create musical portraits. Here's how it works: The software, created by a team manned by a composer/mathematician and comprised of Web developers and musicians, reads jpegs of your likeness as if following a grand staff, and then patches together musical notes and auditory references with sonorous, skillful sensuality to paint a unique musical masterpiece that captures your precise mood and personality.

It’s an all-out celebration of synesthesia — by merging the senses into one hallucinatory adventure, The Life House Method manages to blur the line between vision and sound by weaving pitch-perfect online sensory experiences that are bound to surprise. And with the latest news of Leonardo da Vinci encoding music into The Last Supper, the idea of creating harmony from images rings right on target.

With sweet pings, sultry arrangements, colorful notes, melodic clangs, pulsating beats, and at-attention rhythms, most of the portraits showcased have the power to both intrigue and provoke. So check it out. I know it has left me wondering: What would my very own musical portrait look— I mean, sound — like? What about yours?

Attention Internets: Has Web 2.0 Jumped the Shark?

2007-12-06T17:58:00.001-06:00

Na-ah, not from where I'm standing! Alas, others would tend to disagree. Check out this video, courtesy of The Richter Scales, to see what I mean. It’s a riot, yes--and even though it brings up a significant point, I think on a deeper level tho, it totally misses the mark. Why? I believe that this time around, the digital money-making model online is already barreling full speed ahead, way past the point of no return.

As opposed to 2000 when the dot.com bubble burst leveled start-ups and interactive advertising constructs like and enraged e-tsunami, 2.0 has already gained enough critical mass and grown strong-enough roots to weather a stock windfall or an economic crisis--or even an ominous onslaught of postmodern parody.

And more than that: Interactive is no longer simply about reeling in some green: It’s about conversation, social participation, empowerment, and meaningful connections. Hell, even my mom's on Facebook now.

So if you haven't already, it's time to get in on the online game. The paranoia and trauma that resulted from the first Internet implosion is all but a bad dream now. Watch this video, laugh it up, and then blog about it! Oh, and let me know what your take on it is, obvz.

Wacky Wikis That Can Cut: Edgy Alternatives to Wikipedia

2007-12-05T11:08:00.000-06:00

As a regular Wikipedia contributor, I've found it's not easy to be as remiss with your entries as many would tend to think. Wikipedia editors pull down anything they deem spamy, overtly commercial, or suspiciously fabricated with lightning-bolt speed. And when they think an article's content is a little off-kilter, they're not at all afraid to slap it with a loud label that questions an entry's neutrality, accuracy, or credibility.

Which is all fine and good. With Wikipedia regularly taking hits from the media both online and off, Wiki gatekeepers have become increasingly dedicated to guarding the veracity and integrity of this mega-contribution site as jealously as possible.

Which has left Wikipedia wanting on some fronts, from my POV. But there's no need to fret: As far as edgy Wikis go, there are a couple that are a cut above the rest.

As a "slang dictionary” built around user definitions, UrbanDictionary.com has been able to tap directly into the online pipeline by capturing the evolution of e-language with Polaroid-style instancy, leaving "innovative" and "serious" propositions like Wikipedia in the dust.

Thanks to the veritable flood of contributions from opinion-prone, avant garde onliners hellbent on molding, owning, and leveraging everything from techno idioms and pop-speak phenomena to niche-centered language, UrbanDictonary has become the go-to resource for e-trend setters, Internet anthropologists, and cool hunters alike.

And then there are sites like Encyclopedia Dramatica, which turn the notion of the Wiki on its head by taking on an unapologetic, eff-you attitude with a decided punk rock style. If sarcasm, irreverence and dark humor are not your cup 'o tea, better hightail it back to the land of mainstream online media (yawn), and leave this site to the big boys.

So remember: If you wish to ready yourself for a stint as a high-profile blogger/commenter or evolve into a bona fide online connoisseur, make note of keeping UrbanDictonary and Encyclopedia Dramatica at the top of your del.icio.us bookmarks list. If anything, they'll help you find your way in an ever-changing digital landscape. Thoughts?

Guerilla Marketing Thru Instant Messaging

2007-12-03T14:56:00.000-06:00

You’ve just come up with a standout sitelet-based marketing campaign. The creative is sparkling and spot-on, the messaging is laser-focused, and the troops are ready for deployment. There’s just one problem: There’s zero budget for an effective e-mail blast or OLA campaign to reel in some targeted traffic. So what to do?

There’s one alternative that might do the trick: Instant Messaging! That’s right. I’ve found that you can jump-start a promising campaign thru some of the chat channels most commonly used on the Web: MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, or any other app you use to quick-relay digital dialogue.

And I’m not talking about IM spam either. Dialog windows that pop open with unwarranted commercial messages and interrupt you while at work will do your guerrilla campaign in. However, a simple URL in your IM status might be enough to pique your contacts’ curiosity.

This, in turn, can spark an engaging conversation, which can snowball into something unexpected. And if you have enough people doing this on your end, your brand can gain some edgy, underground awareness from a few much-coveted influencers and trendsetters, eventually pushing your campaign over the tipping point with some welcome viral force.

After all, it’s no secret that today, a well-intentioned e-mail campaign can disintegrate into garbage and unwanted spam in your recipients’ inbox if not executed with delicate precision and technological know-how. And no serious company wants that—even a start-up in desperate need of getting noticed.

So take a stab at a well-crafted guerilla strategy that leverages your IM contact lists. Can it yield the results you’re after?

Wordsmiths, Wield Your Sassy Social Consciousness!

2007-11-30T15:48:00.001-06:00

I don’t mean to come across as completely insensitive, but social causes shepherded online usually rub me the wrong way. Cause invitations on Facebook are by far the most annoying: They’re pat and patronizing and a complete waste of my time. I seriously doubt that joining an online cause will magically-inexplicably put a dent on the world’s most insidious problems.

But today, I ran across a great site that helps you simultaneously improve your English skills and your social karma. Awesome! Now here's a cause I'm glad to sink my teeth into.

If you’re a word junkie like me, you’ll greatly appreciate FreeRice.com, an offshoot of the socially conscious world poverty site poverty.com. FreeRice promises to donate 20 grains of rice for every guess-the-synonym question you answer correctly on their site. Go ahead and put your knowledge of Webster's to the test. How much rice can you chalk up for those who need it the most?

What I really like about this site is that it helps you grow as a writer, it conveys an immediate sense of urgency when it comes to world hunger, and it prompts you to act on this urgency. And for those with a competitive edge, this social-aid-site-cum-verbal-quiz-machine also keeps score.

Offsetting your carbon footprint is sooo five minutes ago. After all, it’s not much fun to help save the world or whatever if you can’t get something out of it yourself, right? So play the game, donate some rice, and let me know how you fared!

Jazz Up the Internets with Sonic Images and Sound Events

2007-11-29T16:44:00.000-06:00

Reading is a highly visual exercise, not only because eying a snippet of text is a visual act in-and-of-itself, but also because words and phrases call on memory and abstract association to evoke shapes, moving images and mental pictures.

This is especially true when it comes to ad copy, as most advertising is crafted so users “see” precisely what it is they're about to gain or miss out on. Evoking mental images through brisk, pithy and colorful writing is a proven, seductive way of piquing consumer interest, and produces effective calls to action.

Something I also try to do when authoring any piece of writing is to cater to the sense of sound. Whenever possible, I use alliteration, loud words, musicality, onomatopoeia, and other sonorous literary devices to spark auditory buzzes in the reader’s mind. This way, words not only pop in a user’s head, but seem also come at them as if mouthed from within earshot.

And today, the interactive space is not simply about seeing, it is also about hearing. As I roam online for juicy bits of information or plug away at work, I’m almost always listening to streaming radio and pretending I’m droppin’ it like it’s hot. Every so often, I’ll also download a podcast or two. And for the most part, I’m pleasantly surprised when I land on a corporate webpage that employs sound in ways innovative.

Do you know the difference between a sound event and a sonic image? You should, if you wish to learn how to leverage audio online without annoying the hell out of everyone. Check out this insightful article from iMedia Connection for a crash course on auditory website enhancements. It’s an eye- (or ear?) opener, and includes several real-life examples of how on-target audio cues are used by companies to further consolidate their branding online.

Does this ring true to you? What do you think are the best ways to use sound effects as auditory flashbulbs on the Web?

The Flighty Faux Pas of Shopping While at Work

2007-11-28T17:16:00.000-06:00

I don’t mean to stifle your digital shopping habits with vexing online survey results, but I’m sure some of you are at least a tad curious as to how many professionals partake in the joys of Christmas capitalism while at work, right? Well, I’ve got, um, odd news.

First of all, it seems consumer organizations and consulting agencies are at a loss when it comes to accurately figuring out how big a chunk of the corporate workforce is bent on shopping at the office. Check out this post on Consumerist, which semi-successfully attempts to explain why the latest shopping-while-at-work surveys are all over the place with their numbers.

In the end tho, who cares! I already know that a lot of people shop from their desks, especially during the Holiday season, and more so than they care to admit. What I really want to know is: Is it considered socially acceptable to do your Christmas shopping online during office hours? My verdict: Totally! It would motivate me to think others believe so, also. Survey says: Not so much.

According to Spherion, a firm that conducted one of the aforementioned polls, more peeps seem to think shopping online while at work deserves some tsk-tsking, as opposed to those who think it’s completely acceptable. Dang. Interestingly, however, the same survey says the amount of workers buying online is up 27% from last year.

So what does this mean? Does it mean users out there are being naughty instead of nice? It seems like some working onliners are having a sort of moral-ethical crisis and supplanting it through their e-purchases, only to feel guilty later on... or something. Or, the surveys are simply meaningless PR ploys.

Whatever the case, no one can deny shopping online is now mainstream. So the question remains: Are you one of these shopping-while-at-work offenders? Come clean with a comment!

Will TXT for Food, Better Mobile Messaging

2007-11-27T23:16:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I feel I'm standing on the gimp side of the digital divide. Let me explain: Seeing as texting in Costa Rica isn’t the most reliable of wireless services, I've automatically defaulted from taking part in the TXT-for-takeout trend currently taking the fast food industry by storm. I feel I'm missing out; I can read about texting orders online, but that's about it.

Papa John’s and others have the right idea, fer sure, and many digital early adopters are already all about ordering thru text messages. Send a text message, get your pizza in half an hour. It’s simple, super-quick and surprisingly secure, despite what some skeptics would think. Here in Central America, however, the mobile situation is SNAFU as usual, making a TXT-placed order next to impossible.

Check it: If I send a text message using my all-sorts-of-embarrassing, olden Third World cell phone, it might take up to 12 hours for it to reach the desired recipient—if it gets there at all. So when it comes to ordering food, it’s the phone for me, chuck.

1 lrg pzza pls, xtra cheez? Sounds good. But what I really need is rlble txt msging, mos def. Alas, no amount of shorthand can help me inveigh against the state-owned cell phone provider. I guess I’ll resort to in-person complaints at the local agency. Ugh. I feel so savage.

Quirky Online Games for the Plucky Office Procrastinator

2007-11-26T16:11:00.000-06:00

I have to admit I’m a sucker for branded online games. I love the old-school feel that comes from playing them, the throwback to the Atari and original Nintendo-style graphics, the simplicity of the keyboard controls, and the thrill and gratification that comes from beating a game of low-to-medium difficulty. I’m hooked. And many users throughout the Internets are, too.

And more to the point: As viral marketing campaigns, online games almost always hit a bull’s eye. The reasons are obvious: They grab user attention for long periods of time, serve as free advertising, provide a distinct interactive brand experience, and help players self-identify with a specific corporate messaging.

Of course, any sort of online gaming experience—especially that of a nostalgic nature—will inevitably cut into the productivity of anyone’s day. It’s hard to hype up a time-consuming hobby frequently frowned upon at the office by administrative types. I’ve found, however, that dabbling in a little online fun can do just the trick to mushroom that imaginative spark and transform it into spot-on creative execution.

If, for example, you have a slam-dunk idea but still need to hash out the details, a dash of online gaming can help you carve out the finishing touches. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and check out some of the following branded games. If they don’t help you come up with some quirky and totally awesome digital marketing ideas of your very own, I invite you to go off on me on this very post with an irate comment or two. So here goes:

Headcase, from Wrigley’s Candystand: Use your mighty brainpower and oversized head to collect green diamonds and bounce your way out of chewy situations in this land of bubblegum wonders.

Absolut Disco, from Absolut Vodka: Not so much a game as a groovy online experience, this Studio54-inspired disco affair lets you boogie down to a myriad of keyboard-controlled late 70s psychedelia while using your webcam. Far out!

Zuma, by Yahoo! Games: From the makers of Bejeweled and Bookworm, this PC-only game is guaranteed to swallow up tons of your time. Swivel your stone frog and chuck your colored balls in the right direction before the hungry Aztec idol gobbles up the entire string of balls with a single swooping gulp.

Now that you know where to go, go ahead and kill some of that valuable office time. Let me know if these games get your creative juices flowing. Happy gaming!

Your Reading Companion for 2008: Make it a Kindle?

2007-11-23T17:36:00.000-06:00

I’m not really known to suffer from the kind of Asian gadget fetish that has stricken many of today’s in-the-know urban professionals, who at times seem to be in sears need of intervention from their iPhone and Blackberry dependency.

Every so often, however, I’m blown away by the news of an innovative technology to the point where I feel I must jump head-first into the online conversation and offer up my two cents on the latest and greatest whiz-bang device.

Which is what I have decided to do now. So let's begin: If you haven't already, say hello to… drum roll please… the Amazon Kindle! Check it out: The Kindle is an all-new e-book reader, a crafty contraption brought to you by Amazon.com that builds on the functionalities of the Sony Reader by offering wireless connectivity and the possibility to subscribe to newspapers, blogs, magazines, and online comment streams, as well as the option to purchase e-books on the spot. In other words, it bitch-slaps the Sony Reader into technological obscurity with a definite techno sleight-of-hand.

Many in the blogosphere and in traditional media are calling the Kindle a milestone in technological innovation. And when it comes to traveling light, it really can’t be beat. As soon as I get my hands on one I’m totes buying it.

Online reviews have been mixed but promising: The Kindle’s screen is mellow and crisp, it’s easy on the eyes, and the e-ink reads perfectly under direct sunlight or in pitch dark—no need for sunglasses or a lamp to guide your eyes. It doesn't have a trackpad, but the keyboard and intuitive controls are getting high scores. It's not perfect, but it has potential.

And the Kindle has an undeniable advantage: It is eco-friendly through-and-through. No longer do we have an excuse to plow down patches of rainforest to ensure bestsellers make the global bookstore rounds. So let’s all rekindle (ha!) our reading habits through digital. Might we all soon say goodbye to books altogether?

Creative Spotlight: Orangina Amps it Up with Lusty Busty Wilderness

2007-11-19T19:22:00.000-06:00

Here’s one for the books: Orangina just came out with a smutty ad campaign of sexed-up human-animal weirdness that’s so silly and off-kilter it hits the creative nail right on the marketing head. It’s the kind of proposition that’s so sexually over-the-top and cartoonish, it’s at once prudishly offensive and completely inoffensive. Which is why it's such a fun ad campaign to showcase—after all, the TV spot features a Flashdance reference!

No doubt, this “Naturally Juicy” campaign does a hell of a job of getting the Orangina brand name noticed and out there, even if at first it garners wide-eyed incredulity; watching the television ad is sort of like darting into a kaleidoscope-colored sex shop for the first time out of curiosity—you can’t help but feel a little bit dirty, even though you’re only looking. The entire campaign is so incredibly odd, so unapologetically in-your-face in a “sex sells” kinda way, and so fruity and explosive, you simply can’t look away.

Todd Mueller of Psyop, who worked with French-based FLL PARIS to produce this wacky marketing campaign, proudly defends it by pointing out that “it goes without saying that when you get the opportunity to spray Orangina all over the chest of a sexy bunny girl, you go for it." Wha...? Whatevz, it works (smirk).

Sure, it’s eons beyond anything this maker of fizzy-pulpy orange drinks has crafted before to market its stuff in Europe, but this titillating take on the otherwise lackluster refreshments is already making waves, leaving it’s fair share of WTF-blog entries and noisy ad campaign analyzes throughout parts of online.

Take note: After watching this television spot, you won’t be able to buy an Orangina during your next visit to the zoo. Actually, scratch that. I’m sure you won’t be able to NOT buy an Orangina next time you go to the zoo. It’s too much fun not too. Right?

3 Off-the-Wall Widget Ideas for the Tired Mac's Desktop

2007-11-16T00:20:00.000-06:00

My MacBook Pro's dashboard currently serves up the usual fare of garden-variety widgets—simple, run-of-the-mill apps now ubiquitous on every young, on-the-go professional’s laptop. Here's the breakdown: I have a world clock, a calendar, sticky notes, a dictionary, a unit converter, a calculator, an online translator, and a kooky widget that lets me know the current mood of the world.

This last one is my own personal offbeat selection, downloaded as part of an effort to feel edgy and unique or whatever. It's not cutting it. My drab collection is definitely wanting, as I'm sure you can evidence for yourself.

After checking out the Chuck Norris Facts widget on one of my coworker's computers, I now feel like shaking things up a bit on my own dashboard. However, none of the available widget downloads on the Apple website seem to float my boat.

So here are three pop culture-soaked ideas for non-branded widgets I would put up on my dashboard fa sho:

The Sorceress of Eternia Conspiracy Theory widget: This revisionist app is meant to provide the skeptical cartoon fan a refreshing take on the 80s He-Man episodes. Am I the only one who doesn't buy into the whole “Sorceress is the protector of Grayskull” bit? Didn't think so. This widget can spit out a different theory on the Sorceress' true situation every time you click on it. What's the real need for this doped up bird woman to be all up in that castle cooking up strange potions anyway? Does she continuously pull her tired "I'm fainting" act just to get some attention from muscle retard He-Man? Is she on drugs? Did she cheat Skeletor out of his true home? This widget will let us know.

The Live Blogging for Britney widget: It's like Twitter, but funner. It will be solely focused on Britney and her downward spiral by providing an engaging way to love-hate on this trashy celebrity trainwreck, all in real time. What's Britney doing right now? Are you rooting for her, or hoping she runs over some more paparazzi? Be the first to know about her next trip-up. This widget will give us round-the-clock status updates.

The Literary Devices as Used in Contemporary Media widget: How is syllepsis employed in pop songs? What TV shows are using deus ex machina to try and make sense out of their convoluted plots? Is there a cable news network more prone to the use of alliteration when it comes to the newsticker than others? What's the latest film to employ iambic pentameter in it's dialogue? Check this widget whenever you want to be hit with a pop-culture info nugget of literary wisdom.

These ideas might seem a little off-the-scale for some, but if you ask me, they'd make spot-on apps in today’s world. What widgets would you like to see on you own dashboard? You know you want to share!

At the Office, the iTunes Shared Folder is Fabulous Fodder for Gossip

2007-11-14T18:03:00.000-06:00

That’s right, peeps. If you really want to pulse on what’s going on at work, there’s a digital grapevine often overlooked that can serve up a hefty portion of juicy. This promising info-pipeline is, no doubt, the iTunes shared folder.

As an ostensibly innocent application of audio wonders and song compilations, iTunes at the office also doubles as a treasure trove of racy rapports—if you learn how to read between the lines, that is.

There’s a lot to be said about a person depending on the music he or she decides to share over iTunes, especially in a corporate setting. And how you name your collection? That's where the honey is, hands down.

Check this out: Recently, one hot-to-trot employee at my office “anonymously” declared his love for a female coworker by naming his iTunes collection Ana, you are the reason I come to work. The songs were sappy and romantic. This digital PDA surprised many an audio junkie at work, especially after the messages started getting racier as the days rolled by.

Quickly, IT set out to catch the horny culprit, and by tracking the music collection-in-question’s IP address, they managed to hone in on the would-be sexual harasser. Everyone found out, and nonstop ridicule ensued—on the iTunes shared folder, no less. Awesome. Technology rocks!

In keeping with the spirit, here’s my online rundown of some music collections currently making the daily rounds at my office’s iTunes shared folder. I hope no one feels slighted (cross my fingers):

take it from behind non-stop hit parade.com
Name: “take it from behind”? Okay... It’s a little aggressive and sexually charged, and the whole thing reads over-the-top. Closeted, much? And what’s with the dot com? That techno-suffix stopped being cool in 1997.
Music: Comprehensive collection, but definitely not a "hit parade." There’s a lot of mainstream alternative, some punk, and… Ricky Martin! Hmm.

kYmBeRlY
Name: So this person resorted to the old lowercase-uppercase-lowercase trick. It’s not chalking up too many creative points in my book, unless she's a third grader that rides the short bus. She could be new, maybe.
Music: It looks like it might be good, since I currently cannot access her collection because of user saturation. Interesting.

mba
Name: Meh.
Music: Blah.

ZIGGY
Name: As in Marley? Could this be a hardcore reggae fan?
Music: No. It’s all trash metal. Pfff, poser. Very disappointing.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. So... are there any breakups and make-ups to report from the iTunes front at your office? Let me know!

Busted Big Time: Facebook's Late Adopters Turn the Tables

2007-11-13T14:33:00.000-06:00

Be real: no matter how sure you are that you’re getting away with murder (metaphorically speaking, that is), there’s really no need to post pictures of it up on Facebook. Especially if you don’t want certain people eyeing your misadventures. It’s the social networking equivalent of filming a private sex video and then being surprised it popped up online somewhere.

Sears, all the latest controversy bubbling up in the blog circuit over the evident lack of privacy on Facebook has totally missed the boat. If you don’t want someone checking out your every personal detail, don’t make a point of posting it on Facebook. Or My Space. Or anywhere else on the Net, for that matter.

Because no matter which way you slice it, it will end up being your fault, and you'll be kicking yourself to the grave. Take note: if you upload something you don’t want others to see, it will come back and bite you in the you-know-what, guaranteed.

The reason for this rant is that I am all sorts of embarrassed for one Kevin Colvin, bank intern by day, wand-toting party fairy by night. It turns out this Facebook “early adopter” (ha!) didn’t go to work for a couple of days, claiming he had a pressing family issue. Ok dude, do what you have to do, hope everything works out.

But then... oops! A coworker jacked some pictures this guy posted on Facebook during the days he was away from work that clearly show him NOT attending to a family situation. His boss got a hold of one of these not-so-flattering photographs (with the dude partying it up in a fairy costume), and responded by attaching the photo to an email reply and bcc’ing the entire company. Uh-huh, that's right.

Harsh. And a tad extreme. Anyway, online ridicule ensued, as the e-mail thread landed in the inboxes of friends and colleagues throughout the land. And of course, blogs are eating this one up. Go ahead and check out the cringe-worthy e-mail exchange here. I'm still reeling.

So my whole point is, if you are going pull one over The Man, at least make sure to cover your tracks. Geez. I’m sure all of us have done something similar at one point or another in our careers. But we have the decency and brains to be smart about it. Right?

I’d actually be laughing at this if it wasn’t so painfully embarrassing. I mean, check out the picture! Some one put him out of his misery please, for my sake.

As one commenter noted on Valleywag (the blog that broke the story): “Okay, that’s one way of letting the entire office know you’re gay…” LOL. And all of online for that matter. I wonder if this kid has what it takes to become the next Chris Crocker. Thoughts?

Online Inventions for the Postmodern Imagination

2007-11-12T15:02:00.001-06:00

Go ahead and admit it, you love reading about quirky inventions and wacky machinations. And I’ve got great news: The Internet is chock-full of these. Across online, there are improbable creations and crazy inventions for all tastes, stripes and minds. Some of these are slightly jarring, some are cute; others seem to start off with right idea but resort to ridiculous execution, and still others don’t make any sense whatsoever. Like, at all.

Anyway, despite (or perhaps due to) the fact that I have been swamped with work of late, I decided to explore the inner nooks of digital this morning in search for something that could afford me a much-needed sweet escape.

Luckily, I didn’t have to look too far. A friend and colleague of mine hit me with a link to Weird Inventions by Saddletrout Studios, a wacky site featuring a collection of totally-out-there devices that have absolutely no functional use you could think of—image renditions and all! The descriptions read like how-to copy pulled straight out of a product features catalog (awesome!), infusing the page with an decided dash of deadpan humor.

From an indoor sundial to hypno-glasses, these inventions-that-never-were are guaranteed to provide the stressed-out office rat a welcome dose of comic relief. The disclaimer at the top of the page says it all:

“Many of the items on this page could very well be dangerous if actually built and used. I can not be responsible for accidents, and do not encourage anyone to actually build or use these contraptions. All that aside, please enjoy your visit.”

My heightened interest in nonsensical and otherwise batty creations then led me to the following site, the Patently Absurd Archive, a comprehensive collection of offbeat-yet-real, USA-patented inventions that, for what you would think should be obvious reasons even to the creator, have not yielded runaway commercial success. The archive chalks up one sears impressive list. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

The question remains tho: Is there anything you believe this world is in need of? Put on your inventor’s hat and get to it! And send the idea my way!

"Provocative Paranoia" of 2.0 Pays Off In Spades

2007-11-09T14:27:00.000-06:00

No doubt, blogging has become the standalone tool for up-and-coming journalists and media critics to jumpstart their careers by blazing a trail online. Because of this, the blogosphere is thriving as a vibrant and dynamic patchwork of media musings, observation, and news analysis.

The spectrum rolls wide: There's incisive commentary, vapid criticism, innovative writing, false reporting, nuanced gossiping, quirky news gathering, and more, much of which has the ability to disseminate at brushfire speed. It’s information democracy.

Still, many an old media partisan holds a staunch fealty to the tenants of a journalism that is no longer, discrediting the merits of online with off-putting, chip-on-the-shoulder contempt.

Which is why I was elated to read mediabistro's interview of John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist. After some interesting insights, Micklethwait buoyantly announces that, as opposed to other newsweeklies which have been blindsided by the advent of online, The Economist has actually fared quite well with the rising tide of digital. Here’s a snippet of what he had to say:

“We remain provocatively paranoid about the Internet; you have to be thinking of ways in which you can deal with it. When I first came on I thought of the Internet as this sort of hurricane coming right towards us that had already hit newspapers and now would come to magazines, which were further ashore. But now it seems to be sort of glancing magazines, rather than hitting directly. It's not true for all magazines -- there are some that have been hit quite badly -- but the sort of thing that we're doing at the moment seems to be helping us rather than hurting us, because it's putting so much more information out there.”

In seven years, as the explosion of Web 2.0 has caused many a print publication to tumble, The Economist has managed to increase magazine sales by 107 percent—all thanks to an aggressive (if belated) courting of the digital space.

This sends a powerful message to old media advocates, one that many Internets have been toting with aplomb for a long time now: Embrace digital, or face an agonizing death... Yes?

Kids, There's a Killer in Your Midst

2007-11-08T14:40:00.001-06:00

Here’s a post on Consumerist I think is all kinds of awesome. It turns out that a German Christmas advent calendar designed for kids, just released by the city of Hanover, features a cartoon depiction of… guess what… A serial killer!

That’s him above inside the yellow circle. He's lurking behind the tree, ominously looking around for potential victims amongst the chirpy families playing about. What's that in his hand? A butcher’s knife! And this bloodthirsty sadist has a name: Fritz Haarmann.

The calendar is currently for sale at major bookstores across northern Germany. And Hans Nolte, Director of the Tourism Board of the City of Hanover, is all about the serial killer, it turns out. “He’s part of our history,” he boasts.

Love it. No Holiday calendar would be complete without some sort of allusion to kid-happy blood splatter. Not surprisingly, no matter how many vexed and concerned citizens belt out in disbelief, most seem to be eating it up.

“People are cueing up to buy the calendar now,” notes Nolte. I want one too, and I don’t even live in Germany. “It’s like a twisted Where’s Waldo. I like it,” a Consumerist reader opines. LOL. It really does look like Where’s Waldo. It’s the artwork, no? Talk about postmodern irony.

According to Reuters, Fritz Haarmann, who murdered more than 20 people in the 1920s, including kids, is only one of 23 local historical figures in northern Germany that are portrayed in the calendar. Other notables include band members from the 80’s heavy metal hair band The Scorpions. I suppose the calendar is meant to teach kids about history and instill regional pride?

It’s quite the dicey proposition. There's something definitely very Simpsonesque about it, wouldn't you agree? And there's nothing like having a murderer up on your kid’s wall to really capture that Christmas spirit. I hope next year they sprinkle the calendar with hard-to-find cartoons of other famous serial killers, like Jack the Ripper maybe, or that busted chick from Monster. I know they’re not from Germany, but whatevz. Thoughts?

Television News Rolls Way Off the Tracks

2007-11-07T15:16:00.001-06:00

I was watching CNN last night for the first time in about four months, thinking about how much I used to enjoy television before the digital space seduced me oh-so-deliciously, when I realized just how dorky the anchors on this cable news network really are.

I know most people have beef with the in-your-face attitude of the Fox News correspondents, but at least it seems like they have something important to say, and they’re not two-faced about their political slant. The delivery of the CNN folks just doesn’t cut it for me; it comes off as hypocritical. And the news! It’s a joke.

I was actually plugging away at my laptop and wasn't particularly interested at what was coming from the screen last night, but I did manage to capture a little of the awkward banter that was exchanged so profusely by the talking heads during Anderson Cooper 360.

There was some chitchat about a high-priced hybrid cat for sale in California (okay...), and then the show ended with the silver-haired anchor urging users to send in v-mails, because at CCN, they not only like to read our opinions, they love seeing us, too. How Web 2.0. Whatever. This could have passed for innovative like 5 years ago, maybe.

Then it was time for Larry King Live. Ok, I’ll stay tuned, I thought. I was too busy crafting an e-mail to change the channel. To my utter dismay, the guest was “CNN’s own” Lou Dobbs. Snap.

I need to call a time out here and let you guys know how much I hate this guy. He’s been the bête noire of television news for the past few years, at least for me. I try never to watch his show; it’s bad for my liver. I find him a doughy, thinly-veiled bigot--a man who claims to stand for “American” ideals of days gone by, or of days that never were. He spews gruff condescension and touts an inward-looking, nationalistic doctrine that irresponsibly dismisses the powerful forces currently shaping the world that he so blindly decries. And, he had the audacity to proclaim that his viewers never disagree with him. Right.

Television news is blowing chunks at epic proportions. Lou Dobbs can bite it, for all I care. My last hope for television news was CNN, but now I realize that even this network has become too self-serving for its own good. It’s no longer about news—it’s about self-promotion, ego pandering, and needless filler. Maybe I’ll try BBC News next time. Which is when I decided: No one’s forcing me to watch this. Time to turn it off.

I went for the remote and quickly zapped away the noise coming from my TV, and then contentedly dived back online.

Can Civil Oppression Offer Up a Dash of Sexy?

2007-11-06T14:40:00.001-06:00

Saucy women's gossip blog Jezebel has decided take on a very pressing issue by crafting a morally weird online poll that throws religion, politics, and gossip into fever pitch. Let's honor this nutty poll and take some time to ponder: Just who, exactly, are hotter—the Bhuddist monks in Burma calling for an end to the ruling military junta, or the scruffy lawyers in

Pakistan

protesting in favor of democratic institutions?

How to decide? It is quite the predicament for many an informed Internet opinionator. The results currently register a statistical dead-heat. I’m trying to drum up some support for the lawyers myself. Shaved heads on peace-loving monks? Not so much. Middle-class Muslim intelligentsia rallying against an oppressive dictatorship fueled by hyper-religious zeal? Way sexier. Let’s make sure these guys come out on top!

At first, I was a little taken aback by this ridiculous, in-a-thousand-ways objectionable poll. I mean, c'mon, these people are suffering! But after giving the post a once-over, I couldn’t stop laughing. And I voted. Twice. It’s the kind of proposition that’s so offensive, it’s not at all. In some ways, it's actually sympathetic to the plight of these democracy-clamoring revolutionaries.

Here’s how I figure: I’m pretty sure the average Jezebel reader simply doesn’t care what goes on in those far-off parts of the world. With this post, Jezebel manages to pique reader interest in two salient, violence-fueled crisis situations that are escalating as you read this, and does so with a solid dose of tongue-in-cheek humor.

I know, I know, it’s unsavory, insensitive and superficial to create a poll asking which group of oppressed yet “fine-dressed men in Asia” is hotter. But Jezebel makes a good point: As a rule of thumb, what gets more girls, bald heads or shaggy beards?

Creative Spotlight: Oregon Trail Reloaded

2007-11-05T13:40:00.000-06:00

Here’s an online experience I’m elated to endorse: Check out Thule Road Trip! If you ever played Oregon Trail on Apple II--and I’m sure at least a handful of you did--you’ll be overflowing with excitement at the thought of an all-new Web-based game, brought to you by Thule Sweden, that plays just like the original. As a digital marketing campaign aiming for higher consumer awareness, this game is right on the money.

Thule Road Trip, accessible on the Thule homepage, recaptures the spirit of Oregon Trail and the American Western Expansion with 4-bit programming, clunky graphics and choice-led gaming, and then infuses the pioneering experience with some modern-day Manifest Destiny.

What was once a desperate plight to stay alive before reaching the promised lands of Oregon is now a postmodern party-on-wheels experience that threatens to end too quickly if you can’t keep your passengers entertained or your car tuned and on the go. It's standout creative and impressive execution rolled into a can't-miss experience for retro gamers and cool hunters alike.

Remember the embattled oxen, the cholera-prone companions, and the ease with which a broken hand or leg could bring about sudden death on the Oregon Trail? Now, you can run out of fresh CDs to play, blow a tire or two, read through all your magazines too quickly, or even have your passengers freak out and give each other purple nurples. And don’t burn all your money! If you get pulled over for speeding and can’t cough up enough dough for the ticket, it’s game over, roadie.

As a manufacturer of car rack systems, RV accessories, and vehicle spare parts, Thule has really hit the nail on the marketing head with Thule Road Trip. Not only does the branded game offer a solid dose of digital nostalgia, it also celebrates the great outdoors and the thrill of automotive. It’s creative concepting at its best, no doubt. Play the game, have some online fun, and let me know if you make it all the way to Santa Barbara!

Pop! Goes the World (Wide Web)

2007-11-02T16:40:00.000-06:00

I love the media because it’s at a frenzy: It brims with postmodern delights, and provides at once disarming and unsettling experiences. It dispatches a myriad of visual and auditory episodes at a constant, rapid-fire rate, forcing even the most jaded introvert to wield at least a dash of pop-culture literacy.

The vortex of media today lies online. The Internet is where television, movies, literature, advertising and art all come together, and as such, digital powers up pop culture in ways unprecedented. It both defines and lends pop media (historical?) significance; what was once a trackless waste of disjointed and oftentimes creatively tone deaf cultural concoctions is now the stuff of online analysis, legend and sticky speculation.

Flummery to some perhaps, saddled with meaning and humor for others, pop culture as captured by online is a dynamic, circuitous, and trashy-chic phenomenon that reflects the absurdity and fleetingness of the human condition. Thanks to digital, it is beginning to take on unexpected importance in business, art, and even architecture, as well as in the day-to-day lives of many online professionals.

From comprehensive sites like Cracked.com offering up pop cultural fare such as assessments on the “15 Most (Painfully) Unforgettable Cartoon Theme Songs” and a rundown of the “7 Most Easily Escapable Movie Monsters,” to ezines like PopMatters, “an international magazine of cultural criticism” where literary condescension is par for the course, online is now where pop culture takes its shape.

There’s no denying it. In the catchy words of Men Without Hats, “pop! goes the world.” And my heart. What about yours?

Let’s Love on the Wooden-Leg Goats

2007-11-01T10:32:00.000-06:00

Here’s a post that’s not at all salacious, hair-raising, or meaning-laden. Just as I promised, I’ve decided to spill a bit amount of blog ink on… yes… farm animals! Not ponies though. I’ve taken a scant amount of creative license here and departed from my earlier commitment to talk about gimp horses to revel in something way better: fainting goats! Yes, that’s right. Fainting goats.

They don’t really faint at all though. They’re actually called myotonic goats. They’re all the rage in some parts of online, and for good reason. When they get excited, their muscles stiffen up, causing them to topple over like dominoes. Petrificus totalus!

In a world where no one bats an eye at the latest news of massacres or bombs or flash floods, these guys are making quite a splash, garnering their fair amount of much-deserved attention. Why? Check out this clip and see for yourself. It’s hilarious.

It sure beats looking at Britney Spears in a hot pink-purple tigress costume. Ew. I’ll take fainting goats over Hollywood trainwrecks-on-a-suicide-mission any day.

So how else can I spruce of this post? How about videos of plucky cats and their crazy antics? They’re straight-up super cheesy, but they still amuse. If it’s not your cup ‘o tea, well, we can just stick to the fainting goats. What do you think?

Creatures on the Canvas: Horror Invades Art

2007-10-31T01:20:00.000-06:00

Not for nuthin', but it seems horror is everywhere these days. I've been feeling extra ghoulish of late myself, to be honest. I guess it's because it's Halloween? Whatever the case, I'll start off by apologizing for the back-to-back bizzaro posts on bilious bloodletting and horror hysteria. Next time, I'll author a post dedicated to ponies or something.

But back to it: Today's recommendation is a real treat, both for horror film followers and fine arts fans alike. Go ahead and indulge your inner Tales from the Crypt keeper and check out this "Horror Inside Fine Art" contest by Worth 1000, courtesy of Mario Bucolo Museums Blog, a site which touts itself "a blog about museums and culture."

The contest is a whirl of digital imagination where painting, legend and film collide to provide a raison d'être for pop cultural experimentation; it is digital art at it's best, to be sure. So I say, move over MoMa! Online is where avant garde art lives today.

Anyway, scroll down through all of the Photoshop-enabled creations. “Samara Lisa” is one of my faves, as it's a wry, immaginative twist on the ubiquitous Mona Lisa painting, and out of all the Mona Lisa entries, it's by far the cleverest. “Comte de Darkness” is another one I like, mostly because I'm a big a fan of Legend. “Roticelli” is good too: It looks like the guy in Boticelli's "Portrait of a Youth" took shrapnel to the face before zombiefying, turning this classic painting on its head.

Some entries are lackluster, but whatevz; all are fun. Maybe a few of these could work as crafty Halloween costumes? What do you think? And which entry is your favorite? Let me know, creatures of the night!

Mystery Trailers Hype Gore Galore

2007-10-29T10:24:00.000-06:00

Hands down, digital is the ideal medium to hype up and build buzz around an upcoming film, this because online allows marketers to cast a wide-enough digital net across The Long Tail, leverage behavioral targeting techniques with skill, pique curiosity, and hone in on the desired audience with laser-guided precision.

Moreover, the Internet encourages innovative, creative ways to build up a marketing campaign before a movie opens that are not plausible in traditional media and that can help ensure a first weekend box office slam-dunk. This is always a cool phenomenon to watch. I will forever be a sucker for hype, I have to admit, especially when it snowballs online.

So on this note, and after my two-second analysis of the status of online entertainment marketing, I give you three movie trailers meant to leave you with an itchy case of what-was-that whiplash:

1. REPO! The Genetic Opera. Is this a musical? Is it sci-fi? Is it splatter cinema meets musical torture porn? Whatever it is, it looks awesome. Think of it as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, only more gore, less gay. This movie is gonna blow up next year, I'm pretty sure. The fact that Paris Hilton stars (and sings!) in it is a marketing ploy that will pay off in spades. Check out the teaser trailer here.

2. Cloverfield. So no one knows the real name of this much-anticipated, J. J. Abrams-produced monster movie, but many Internets tip "Cloverfield" as the most probable title. This "what the...?" inducing trailer has been causing endless speculation in the mainstream media since it first reared its head in cinemas this past summer, playing for packed movie houses before Transformers, and it's been gaining momentum online ever since. It looks like it will offer audiences a good dose of gory goodness, or at the very least, provide moviegoers with no-frills, feel-good frights and jump-out-of-your-seat jolts. It's one for the books.

3. Mystery movie trailer. Here's a "trailer" that might probably not be a film trailer at all, but the ending is still pretty freaky. If it's not a movie, it totes should be. What the hell is this castaway building?

Handheld camera shots a lá Blair Witch, singing henchmen hell-bent on disembowelment, Internet hype and marketing mayhem. It looks like 2008 will be an interesting year for celluloid. Thoughts?

Digital Pings to Primp and Preen

2007-10-26T12:20:00.000-06:00

Is it just me, or do you find the ping factor excessively annoying? Let me explain: Throughout the day, as I plug away at the office, I’m constantly interrupted by different types of digital notifiers calling for my attention: email alerts, meeting reminders, Google alerts, IM messages, RSS feed updates, incoming VoIP calls, virus scans, Facebook updates, and even cell phone calls and text messages.

I believe that's the entire list—I might be forgetting something. The point is, my computer sometimes feels like the 4^th of July, with windows and pop ups blanketing my screen without care or compunction.

Every day, I am forced to cull through these and separate the urgent from the important from the remind-me-later, and then trash the thanks-but-not-necessary and the waste-of-my-time. I find this irksome, since it’s hard to focus on a single task at any given moment and it makes me feel like I’m treading water instead of getting any work done.

Amidst the madness, however, there’s the one-off, totally inspirational, captivating or useful blog post or e-mail that makes it all worthwhile. And if it wasn’t for computer pings, I would never remember anyone’s birthday, to be totally honest.

As I uncork the most urgent pings and follow through on these, I become decidedly glad that my computer keeps track of my obligations for me, and a sense of accomplishment settles in. After all, there’s no way I would remember everything on my own. Sure, an agenda could help I guess, but it feels crass and I would treat it askance. I need digital pings to remind me of my day-to-day commitments, to clip away at the useless, and to keep me from dropping the ball.

So what about you? Can any of you claim you don’t depend on digital pings to get through you day?

I Want My Own Reality TV Intern!

2007-10-25T15:43:00.001-06:00

Ah, the life of interns. It can be exciting, it can be cut-throat, and sometimes, well, it can be a little degrading. It can push doors wide open when you play your cards right: If you’re lucky and skilled at jockeying for open positions, you can give yourself a shot at life in the fast lane.

The pressure is on and the stakes are set high: You know that at any moment you can severely mess things up, have an entire project go off the rails, and bring death and despair to an entire industry. Or at least that’s how it seems after watching an episode of The Hills.

Alas, interning isn’t the stuff of intense drama, at least not usually. But it can, however, shed compelling light on the ins and outs of a particular career and help you find out if you can hack it in your field of interest. And thanks to the Internet, we now have high-profile interns sharing their experiences through blogs and articles of their very own, posted on corporate websites.

If you are exploring career opportunities, I recommend you start by checking out what these up-and-comers have to say. These blogs are a unique, insider’s view at what goes on behind closed doors. Tap into them for a real treat.

My friend Claire, who’s working at Bravo TV, has started an awesome blog as part of her interning gig at Project Runway. Her posts read like the down-to-earth, thinking woman’s version of The Devil Wears Prada. Not to mention, they’re LOL funny. If you’re into style and entertainment and want to know what it’s like running into famous TV folk at the office, I sears recommend you check out her blog.

By the way, another friend of mine who works in PR just hired her own personal assistant straight out of reality TV. That's right! She now has a pseudo-famous employee at her beck and call. How cool is that? I definitely need to get my hands on one of those, fer sure. Plus, I really need an assistant. A celebrity assistant, no less. Who doesn't?

Political Automotive: Zero to 60 in 3.5?

2007-10-24T16:47:00.000-06:00

For the past couple of days, I’ve been putting together a user-friendly glossary of vehicle parts and features for a corporate client's online help center, and as a result, I’m feeling straight-up Motor City--more so than ever before. I've suddenly turned vehemently vehicular. Automotive to the core! That's right, baby!

Ahem. Anyway, to honor this carefully cultured enthusiasm for all things Car And Driver, I felt like penning a post in tribute to that grand, global industry that’s gifted us with cruise control, hybrids, and variable valve timing (oh my!).

To look for fresh ideas, I started perusing my e-mail inbox this morning, when lo! An unread day-old message from a fellow colleague that my hurried eyes had inexplicably missed. It included a URL to a nifty little online game, created by ABC News, called Candidates and their Cars. Check it out! It's quite amusing. Do you think you know your presidential candidates? Are they being consequential with their political stance against global warming? Can you match them to their wheels? Put them and yourself to the test!

Most of these candidates drive American cars, which is always good politics, I’m sure. Those who don’t, drive hybrids, which is also a political plus. Solid. There are a couple of gas-guzzling Republicans, a Democrat with a mystery machine that runs on E85, and a lone 'vette enthusiast. One candidate purportedly drives some sort of ghetto Ford Focus. My favorite ride is McCain’s.

Anyway, go ahead and play the game. The political race is on: Will knowledge of the candidates' rides sway your voting preferences? Do you even care? Let me know!

Screenwriters Call Dibs on Profit 2.0

2007-10-23T00:04:00.001-06:00

So Hollywood screenwriters are all up in arms about not getting enough dough from Web 2.0 and are calling a strike. Basically, they're fighting over residuals from new media and compensation over work distributed through mobile and online. They want their cut, and they want it now. The consequence is clear: If there's no settlement, the world will suddenly be devoid of those hokey scripts churned out daily out of LA that seem to keep this globe a-turnin'. Reality TV might take over for good. Reruns could rule the land.

Hmm. Ok, I get it. That could be serious. I think. But my question is: Do these copywriters know anything about Web 2.0 that they seem so adamant about collecting from it? I'm all for writers getting paid for their work, but part of me can't help but think this is just a bunch of entitled geeks gunning for the studios so they can keep pretending they're cool and influential or whatever.

My point is, if these Hollywood screenwriters understand new media so profusely, why aren't they using technology to their advantage, rallying troops online, using 2.0 to spread their word (content), and stirring up some support on the Web? And why, when things are down to the wire, haven't they been able to churn out an effective and realistic proposal to monetize their work online, aside from a percentage of DVD sales?

To me, this seems another case of old media realizing too late in the game that the Web is driving nails into their coffin; they're desperately vying to hold on to good days gone by. And producers are doing the impossible to prevent others from taking a dip in their revenue stream, whether it comes from online or off.

Old media can blow chunks, and will inevitably blow away like daffodils in a storm. Soon this will all just be a flash in the pan. Is it really that big a deal if prime time takes a hit? I don't think so. Bring on those reruns. Want to see where scriptwriting is headed? Click here for a sneak peek. It might not be award-winning work, but it evidences this much: The testing grounds for new entertainment--both from an artistic and a business standpoint--are being laid out on the pages of MySpace and YouTube, not on cable or network TV.

So what do you think? Are the screenwriters' demands totally called for, or is this just old media wriggling desperately to survive a changing landscape? Can the Internet somehow strip this strike of its intended impact?

Way Cool! 80s Pop Culture Explodes Online

2007-10-22T00:36:00.000-06:00

Pop culture hit a high note in the 80s, fer sure. Neons and New Wave lit up the land. Are you one of those who yearn for that totally awesome decade? No need to fret: Online offers a veritable treasure trove of 80s digital memorabilia for the pop cultural connoisseur—from movie reviews to photos to trivia and games, you’ll be elated to find anything and everything to quell that bodacious appetite for 80s pop culture. To the max!

By the way, no one can call themselves a true pop cultural literato without a deep-rooted knowledge of the 80s. Don’t know who Max Headroom is? That deserves a techno-stuttered "spazz-o-rama." If you never wanted to play Global Thermonuclear War or wished to be friends with Molly Ringwald, you better start reading up some online. And go buy a Rubik’s cube or something, STAT.

Anyone who doesn’t know the 80s but claims pop cultural supremacy should be dragged through the coals for their heinous crime. For example: I was googling pop cultural quizzes online so I could link to one from this post and was appalled at what I found: quizzes like this one asking users to name all the members of New Found Glory. Please. Gag me with a spoon! (NOTE: I know the answer, but that’s beside the point.)

For all you 80s lovers, here are some online destinations designed to tickle your joystick or floppy disk in all the right places. Wondering if you are a true child of the 80s? Click here and find out. Want to put your 80s movie knowledge to the test? Play this Vh1 game, and decide if you’re more Revenge of the Nerds or Heathers. Finally, for some He-Man turned on it’s head, don’t miss The Skeletor Show. It’s no Jem, but it's still truly outrageous!

So what’s your fave thing about the 80s? Hit me with your best shot!

Fun Times: Kitschy Christianity

2007-10-19T10:11:00.003-06:00

Check it out, it's Talking Jesus action figures! I so want one. I wonder if the cross and nails are sold separately? I dunno, but I do believe Wal-Mart totally has the right idea—as long as they make sure there’s no toxic lead paint in these probably Chinese-made toys and whatnot (as one commenter joshed, "How would you go about recalling Jesus?").

And by the way, I think Catholicism is by far the best branch of Christianity. We have loads of nutty fun! Perishable food apparitions, flying nuns, cryptic codes, singing monks, loopy saints, wacky exorcisms. I love it. I’ll forever have a sweet spot for the Catholic in me. So pass down that rosary! I can always use it as a lethal whip to fend off evil doers.

In honor of all this kooky Catholic fun, check out this light-hearted post featured earlier this week on Guanabee poking fun at the latest saintly sighting. It’s Pope John Paul II in a bonfire, you guys!

Advertising Rising — And We're Watching

2007-10-18T11:58:00.000-06:00

There’s nothing like a snarky blog ripping on a ridiculous ad campaign to really get me going. That’s why I love the Internet and everything that spews out of it. The parody, the sarcasm, the lively ads. The Web makes for a digital platform that gives us a chance to examine and tear apart the marketing almighty with a distinct guerrilla edge.

And I must say, ads today rule. I’m sorry, but they really do. Not only are they an increasingly valid form of artistic expression, they also have the power to color and enlighten anyone’s day, and can even raise awareness by providing fantasy fodder for frustrated frumps. They can also severely offend.

Ads range from the dim-witted to the super clever, from the kill-me-know creepy to the LOL funny. And one thing’s for sure: Advertising pushes creative to the limit. After all, how many viral videos are actually quirky, inspired ads that hit a comedic bull’s eye, surprising us from where we least expect it?

A well-executed ad campaign is a tasty treat for media junkies like myself. And if an ad blows chunks, it’s all the better. We can go off on it online. This is because Internet has paved the way for a new kind of ad consumption, helmed by the deconstructive skill of nonplussed advertising watchdogs ready to point out how deliciously absurd the business of selling really is. No doubt, ads have become true pop cultural compasses.

To better wrap your head around what I'm talking about, check out this review of the Snorg tees ads, courtesy of Logged Hours. It’s a riot. I haven’t laughed this hard since running across Adrants’ assessment of the Quiznos’ “not lacking any meat” campaign, featuring a (sexually frustrated?) sappy Asian woman letting out a spastic laugh. Awesome. Both are poignant observations on the ludicrous yet alluring nature of the advertising industry.

So what do you think? Are ads adding something positive to our cultural discourse? And if this is so, can we effectively bite back at advertising execs through online and hold them accountable for crappy creative?

It's Official: There's No Deep Six'ing Hot Gossip

2007-10-17T00:13:00.001-06:00

Can't get enough of Britney, even if her latest slip-ups have entered the realm of the cringe-inducing? Has the celebrity game of musical rehab thrown you into a tizzy? Are you losing sleep over the latest blog trysts with the pseudo-news du jour covering B-listers and celeb-politicians? It's all good. You're not morally off-kilter: It's merely your survival instinct turning tricks, apparently.

No amount of hard facts can stem the rising tide of juicy gossip, and there's an evolutionary reason for this. That's right. Check out this article featured in yesterday's Science section of the New York Times, sent my way by one not-at-all-gossip-averse friend in Brooklyn. The article attests that gossip "promotes the 'indirect reciprocity' that made human society responsible." No matter how rational we may be, hearsay and second-hand accounts way in more heavily on our decision-making process than hard truth and figures. Why? Basically, it helps us get along and thrive as a society and whatnot—scientific fact.

Take that, level-headed lobbyists of fair and balanced journalism! Score, media spinsters and PR! Gossip seems to trump facts time and time again, and molds our society with forceful sway.

Duh. It doesn't take a scientist to tell you this. Publicists have known it all along. But now you know for sure: Even the most artless snoozes care for what others have to say, no matter what they say. It's been hard-coded into our DNA and it is essential for our survival as a species.

So don't buy into the hype that totes gossip as an insidious social evil. It does more good than harm, yes sir. No need to read the studies—you can totally take my word for it.

Next time you see a supermarket tabloid screaming sex and scandal on the news rack next to the latest issue of The Economist, make sure to thank the Creator for our impervious instinct at social prying. It's the reason you and I are alive and kicking—even though our collective psyche may end up a little damaged. In the end, the perception of the truth is more important than truth itself. Dare to disagree?

If Digital Doppelgangers Turn

2007-10-16T10:40:00.000-06:00

I was watching The Island last night trying to keep myself awake and wondering if I would ever own a clone of my very own. I, unlike others, wouldn’t be riddled with guilt for bringing a doppelganger to life as a medical just-in-case. Then it struck me though: I have clones online haunting the trackless waste of cyberspace—What if they all fuse together into an uberforce of artificial dark cunning and turn on me? After all, I’ve dabbled in personal avatar creation on many an occasion, more so than most I think; and then there's the looming threat that at some point technology might pull a Matrix on us.

Check this out: I have a Second Life, an IMVU avatar, and a Digg profile, plus active profiles in Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Friendster, Hi5, and aSmallWorld. I'm also a Wikipedia contributor. I’ve spread my online persona so thick that sometimes I feel I’m more real online than off. Is the Internet undercutting my true self? After reading fellow blogger and friend Ryan’s post on her experiences with MyCybertwin.com, I was immediately enthralled by the idea of having a fake me taking care of my most quotidian conversations. I immediately created my own CyberTwin and let him loose on my friends. Although the conversations were totes retarded, it was fun having a virtual Juan chatting away with my online contacts. It was evident it was a fake. But is this a foreboding of something creepier on the horizon?

What’s your take on this? Can digital doppelgangers gain precedence over the real you, to the point where you yourself become irrelevant? If so, can the weather ever lift, or is this exponential? How much can I nurture my own online persona before it Frankensteins into an unstoppable force that feeds on itself? Am I being a paranoid alarmist?

Stay-At-Home Extroverts A Digital Downer

2007-10-15T07:10:00.001-06:00

After Thomas Friedman unilaterally announced in the New York Times that the digital generation is way too quiet (labeling it Generation Q), my upchuck reaction was to go online and hate on him on the comment strings of various blog posts and news articles alike. I mean, c’mon! Quiet? If anything, the Internet generation is more opinion-prone and noisy than any other that came before it. Friedman’s assessment did not go down easy with me—after all, I spend most of my time using online as my own personal soapboax, and I know I’m getting heard. I’m proud to say that I’ve skillfully learned the particulars of Internet patois, and I like to think I wield this language with understated professionalism.

After thinking about it some more, however, I’m starting to believe Friedman’s observation was actually teeming with tenacity--more so than I would have ever cared to admit. Here’s my reasoning: The Internet—and on a wider scale, technology in general—used to be the exclusive terrain of techno nerds and Asperger’s geeks. After all, it is easy to tune out through technology when your EQ is on the short end of the bell curve. Now though, being IT literate is a must for anyone who wishes to make meaningful (and lasting) connections with others or for the professional who wants to plump up his or her career. More than this, the Internet has given us the opportunity to work from virtually anywhere—no need to leave our place of residence. Ha! Here’s the rub…

Now, many socially adept professionals have confined themselves to their homes. It is not odd for me to find many a friend on a Friday night at home, hair unwieldy, clothes disheveled, going at it on their laptop computers, desperate to yap it up with anyone who crosses their way. If I was coming home dead tired after a day of hard work, the last thing I would want to do is chat the night away with a smelly roommate in ratty clothes that has spent hours consumed in the Web. A total downer indeed.

Stay-at-home extroverts are a silent byproduct of the digital explosion. I believe high-powered driven types should salvage the wreckage and get office jobs, even if technology allows them to work from home. So what’s your take on this phenomenon? Are we all slowly and silently turning geek?

Your Cell Phone's Rebel Yell

2007-10-12T14:42:00.002-06:00

No no, I’m not talking about the ringtone you pulled off some shady site to let everyone else know just how unique or with it you really are. I’m talking about phantom cell phone vibrations! Check out this nutty article featured on Yahoo! News yesterday; it’s right up my alley, and tailor-made for all you crazy cell-phone-and-BlackBerry-toting professionals. It’s creepy, it’s kooky, and it’s a sign o' the times. And I kind of like it!

Is your love affair with your phone causing you ringxiety? It seems a lot of us are sufferers. Here’s one guy quoted in the article who I know a lot of you can totally identify with:

“Jake Ward… claims to ‘pre-feel’ a new message or call. ‘I'll feel it, look at it. It's not vibrating. Then it starts vibrating,’ he said. ‘I am one with my BlackBerry.’”

I like to think I am also one with my tech tools. My laptop’s my favorite friend of them all. I’ve tapped into that otherworldly force much maligned by hokey teen scream movies such as Pulse; but rather than haunt me, this techno-force empowers me.

The iPhone is definitely my next purchase--once the technology becomes available in Costa Rica, that is. I too, want socially sanctioned carte blanche to surf the Web wherever I might be, in detriment of face-to-face interactions. If only I could grow an iPhone off my hip. So what do you think? Are you also a sufferer of “fauxcellarm”?

Church of Pop Becomes Her

2007-10-11T10:30:00.001-06:00

I decided to take a cue from copyranter today and partake in random image searches on Google for my next collaborative online project, “Church of Pop” (there’s already a site up online called “The Church of Pop,” which is light years behind from what Church of Pop will be all about--and out of spite, I refuse to link to it). Anyway, my search for “church pop” yielded the above image, among others, on the first SERP.

The art caught my eye; I find it both telling and alluring, aesthetically refined yet eerily empty. So I have decided to post it here on my blog. Think of it as your first look-see at what Church of Pop can offer on-the-go online readers. A sneak peak at a soon-to-be website that will be slathered with pop culture iconography and will swivel with the centrifugal force of instant literary and philosophical allusions. Fast-food philosophy at its best, no doubt.

Sounds heady? Kludgy even? It won’t be! I promise. It’s a fun exercise in postmodern collective self-expression (we're still ironing out a few kinks). Plus, it will include a myriad of lofty analyses from recent pop music hits, dating all the way back to the 70’s. “Um…What?” you may ask. Just wait and see.

So... do you have some ideas to make sure Church of Pop makes waves online? Send them my way!

Infoterrorism Unhinged — And Redefined

2007-10-10T11:09:00.000-06:00

Terrorism on the Web is by no means spectacular, especially if you are one of those assembly-line jihadist jerks jonesing for media attention and hoping to garner some of that sought-after shock and awe for your own screwy cause. After all, it’s not as cinematic as blowing up buildings, and the experience will be devoid of rattled, helpless infidels running for their lives all bloodied and dazed. No gore, no good.

It’s no secret, however, that terrorists are adept at using information technology to power up their efforts to spread their injurious ideology and recruit many an ignorant Mr. chip-on-his-shoulder as zealously as possible. But information terrorism seems to be, ostensibly, a far more sophisticated concept than that which any religiously-fueled and violently-punctuated movement could ever leverage with skill. Check out this definition of infoterrorism, courtesy of Infoterror.com:

"Infoterrorism is the art of disrupting the media control of your enemies by pointing out paradox… it is transacted mainly through writing."

Democratic undertones, literary innuendo, resilience... Okay... I’m down with that, sure. In fact, It sounds like something I would be happy to sink my teeth into. I wonder if I’ve already dabbled in some form of information terrorism, as I feel I’ve used my writing to deconstruct and claw at societal assumptions and media fortresses myself, from this very blog.

To be honest, I thought information terrorism meant cyber-attacks on corporate IT systems—not so, according to some online thinkers. Which is all the better: At times, running counterculture against established media seems like my cup ‘o tea. But the question remains, am I bold (or crazy) enough to call myself an infoterrorist? Are you?

Stick It to the Man! Sort Of...

2007-10-09T12:05:00.000-06:00

I’ve been itching to revisit my old, riotous ways. Today I’m feeling improperly impish and want to stir up some trouble online while I’m at work. Or at the very least, I want to feel like I’m breaking the rules. The problem is that I’m such a square I’d feel remiss to do anything too crazy. So what to do? Last night I was conversing with a friend online and he pointed out that I’m not really a square; I’m most probably a rhombus. Whoa! A rhombus. I guess this means I still have some sort of edge left in me. I’m not sure, but now I feel like I have to brush up on my geometry.

Anyway, let’s get to it. Let’s wreak some online havoc!

Here's the most wicked I could muster up today: Say hello to--drum roll please--WeProx.com! This is a nifty little site that doubles as the wannabe-insurgent’s online weapon of choice by acting as a free proxy. It's not too radical for those faint of heart. Here's the deal: WeProx uses a CGI script that allows you to browse any and all sites anonymously and guilt-free. Are IP and URL-based blockers getting you down at work? Not a problem! Now you can revel in the deliciousness of your own subversive ways and go exactly where you want to go on the Web without the paranoia that IT will sound the alarm and track you down like a rabid coyote. And better yet, no one will know it was you. There is one downside though: you’ll take up a chunk of bandwidth at work—plus, the site crawls at the speed of dial-up. But who cares! You get to feel naughty.

For those of you who feel this is a little too close to dirty dancing with the digital devil, here are some Flash-based online games from Adult Swim that will still inspire fiendish delight (you’ve got to try Bible Fight!). After all, we are all rebels on the inside, cheating the system at any chance we get. Right?

When Big Words Blur

2007-10-08T00:03:00.002-06:00

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
—Ernest Hemingway

The oldest trick in the book when it comes to writing is also the most trite and transparent. One thing I’ve learned throughout the years as I’ve evolved and matured as a writer is that writing is effective only when the author has something to say and says it concisely. This demands the use of carefully-selected words to paint as precise a picture as possible. In the digital realm especially, being pithy is the rule of thumb.

Long-winded copy is a surefire sign that the person who penned it had little to nothing to say, and simply wants to impress or confuse his or her audience. This is especially true when a so-called scribe moans unimaginatively on and on without vigor or focus. Talk about smoke and mirrors!

For a light-hearted jest at clotted writing, check out this automatic online complaint letter generator, courtesy of my friend alf. To use it, simply populate the fields with the name and info of anyone whom you wish to bitch about and hit “Complain.” The tool will instantly generate a meandering complaint letter that says absolutely nothing of substance but does so in perfect grammar and “impressive” English. Check out a snippet of the missive I generated for myself:

“Juan is lacking in the social graces. In reaching that conclusion, I have made the usual assumption that I strive to be consistent in my arguments. I can't say that I'm 100% true to this but Juan's frequent vacillating leads me to believe that his older taradiddles were unpleasant enough.”

Wha? I’m flippant and socially ungraceful? Who knows. Who cares! At least I know that today, I don’t have to resort to the kind of writing trick that leaves readers spinning and scratching their heads.

Our Days Might Be Numbered

2007-10-05T15:35:00.002-06:00

Here’s a pre-Halloween treat for all you gore fans shambling sloppily on the Web. Raise the roof for the walking dead! There’s something about zombies that hits a chilling nerve with me. I’m hooked. The whole idea of the dead coming back to create hell on Earth by dismembering the living and eating them alive--especially when converted into social commentary--is at once ridiculous and compelling. On the one hand, zombies are hardly the stuff of political insight, meant only to provoke fear by way of unnatural grotesque (no matter how sucky your day has been, at least your dead uncle isn't munching away at your face, right?). On the flip side--I wonder how much zombies accurately reflect where we stand as a society. Are we surrounded by a social poison that turns thinking men into mindless walking drones? Either way, I find the undead viscerally fascinating.

Anyway, I digress... Back to the main point of this post! In celebration of all things horror (and honoring the fact that it’s a weekend), here are the top four zombie movies I’ve seen of late that I enthusiastically endorse. Check out the clips—nothing beats pints of blood wildly splattering unchecked over rotting minions of undead:

4. Resident Evil 3—So you think you can domesticate zombies? Think again! And who knew the undead didn’t even need human flesh to survive? They just crave carnage, apparently. Click for the trailer here.

3. 28 Weeks Later—Because the Dad turns zombie and still manages to skillfully open doors with his all-access pass. And what about the two-second microscopic glimpse we get at infected blood? Awesome!

2. Dawn of the Dead—The remake. There’s nothing more terrifying than that little girl at the beginning of the movie who everyone thinks is Sarah Polley’s daughter creepily jolting up into place and then charging at the bedroom hungry for flesh.

1. 28 Days Later—Slice up your friends no-mercy style! Who cares if there’s a chance they might not be infected? Now here’s a movie that gets it. I know, I know, they’re not really zombies, as they haven’t technically died yet. Whatever. The infected in this film still own any other zombies out there.

I heart zombies. Do you have any films to recommend? Let me know… and long live the undead!

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pop Ups

2007-10-04T00:27:00.001-06:00

Digital media pulls at and molds our everyday experiences in ways unquantifiable. The impact is as exciting as it is difficult to pinpoint; however, as more of us turn to the Internet as our primary means of communication and entertainment, everyday life seems to blur ever more speedily into a postmodern swirl of haphazard and disjointed media experiences.

During an energetic conversation with friends today over Taco Bell takeout and mystery soda, we ended up discussing the possibility that Humpty Dumpty was actually left-handed. Our revisionist theorizations on old-school nursery rhymes were punctuated by ADD-style literary remarks and wacky and disconnected (Western) cultural references. At one point, when I felt my head was spinning out of control into a colorful oblivion of pop media imagery, a friend of mine snapped: “This conversation has too many pop ups!” Ha! What a spot-on way of putting it. I felt Flash ActionScript bubbles and link preview panes popping up around us faster than Google generates an HTML search engine results page. Amidst the multilateral, all-over-the-place back-and-forths, we managed to stay on track. We concluded that Humpty Dumpty was in fact left-handed: The coming together of our disparate media musings confirmed this.

Vh1 was way ahead of its time indeed. Just like the info-nuggets on Pop Up Video, we need maps and callouts to guide us through the maze that is the media so we can focus on the topic at hand and still be true to the tenants of postmodernism. The digital realm is the key. Need to get something on lock? Look it up, blog about it and link to it, no matter how random it may seem. In the end, everything will strangely jive together!

Calling Occupants of Cyber-Commentary Craft

2007-10-02T23:04:00.000-06:00

The Internet is all sorts of wacky. This is exactly what makes cyberspace great. Internet A-listers shine not because of their accomplishments, insights or constructive contributions to society, but because of their kooky, off-center, and downright outrageous views and behaviors. After watching the first Chris Crocker video a few weeks back—you know, the “Leave Britney Alone!” vid that sent shockwaves of discomfiting disbelief across all things digital—I was suddenly convinced that I needed a new spark for my line.

My conclusion: I need a cause of some sort that will give me license to yell at and slander others and perhaps even victimize myself somehow. I used to marvel: Why are online commentators so quick to slam each other and troll around in websites and tell each other off using crafty word puns and clever pop cultural references? Now, however, I wonder: Who do I have to unapologetically offend or severely freak out to guarantee myself a first-class ticket on the digital controversy train and ride it all the way to the topsy-turvy lands of I’ve-finally-made-it-online?

Of course, I’m only kidding. I do not want the kind of decadent digital destiny that has cemented others into public ridicule and hyper-scrutiny online, nor do I wish to hurl insults left and right. Yet, I would be lying to myself if I didn’t confess I do want some of the magic and magnetism that a lot of high-profile onliners seem to wield. To them I say: “Cyber-commenters, I am your friend!” I know, there’s a fine line between the sublime and the ridiculous, between the offensive and the funny, and between the compelling and the put-me-to-sleep boring; but if I want to keep making a mark, I need to go bold. So keep sending those digital light bulbs my way!

Beware Online Observers: Social Spam Attacks!

2007-10-01T23:36:00.000-06:00

Heads-up, network-savvy social Internets, you or someone you know could be next! It seems no one is truly safe from cyber-attacks and pervy porn pollution. Check it: Today, suddenly and without warning, my cousin was the unlucky victim of a growing form of pseudo-identity theft. Someone or something hacked into her personal hi5 profile and sent out a spam blast that littered the hi5 walls of all her contacts with sexually charged quick-hello messages. Here’s the faux compliment I was creatively conferred with:

Hi Juan, I was just looking through my friends, you are hot!!! I would love to hang otu sometime. You can check my real profiel here. www.tinyprofiles.info/sweetthing88

Now, I’m assuming whoever authored this completely unimaginative solicitation was aiming for digital vérité by including obviously-on-purpose typos, but to me, it made the whole thing more annoying. Clearly an impostor.

Not to mention that my cousin would never say something half as retarded as that. If she really wanted to lay it on me by telling me how hot she finds me, she would do so in a sophisticated, tongue-in-cheek kinda way. And I’m actually supposed to believe that she has another profile in some random-ass website--her real one, no less--and that she took the time to craft a fake, less exciting profile on hi5 to save face with all her friends? Give me a break!

Anyway, the situation was actually totes hilarious, as was the unending torrent of pings, e-mails, and puzzled private messages that rained on my cousin after the cyber-spam attack. She was mortified at first, but then simply let it go after sending an assertive e-mail to the hi5 webmasters expressing her outrage.

I know hi5 is the poor man’s Facebook, but none of us, no matter what social network we choose to partake in, should be subjected to this kind of outrageous digital distress. Today, it was my cousin on hi5. Tomorrow, who knows? Are any of us safe?

Mexico City's Air and Burma's Internet War

2007-09-30T18:17:00.001-06:00

I’m lounging in Gate 19 of Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport, waiting for confirmation of my flight’s departure gate—the jet’s not due to take off for another hour and a half or so. I’m bored and sleepy and still stinging from an inevitable goodbye that came way too early. And as I sit here in the airport, bickering with my brother, checking my work e-mail, and chatting it up with my online contacts, I can't help but feel melancholy. Because in between the madness that is this airport and the schizophrenic feel of a mega-crowded super-metropolis, there are beautiful moments of poignancy and intimacy I am leaving behind.

Which has left me wondering... What does it mean to live a life of relative peace and affluence in times of turmoil? Just now, as I was catching up with a friend over MSN, I was slapped in the face with the harsh reality of the 21st century. Right off the bat, my friend asked me how my lightning-bolt visit to Mexico had treated me. I responded automatically and without giving it much thought: “It’s been great. Today was a beautiful day, in fact, the smog was so light I could even see most of the buildings.” He reacted with one of those surprised smiley faces that are now ubiquitous on MSN IM chats:
“:-O. That’s a pretty intense thing to say.” Huh. I guess it is.

A beautiful day in a big city is one where I can see the sky and my head doesn’t hurt from the noisome air pollution. For me, a day with average smog levels in a Third World megalopolis can be more awe-inspiring than your run-of-the mill, postcard-perfect sunset at a beautiful deserted beach (I've experienced many of these also). Mexico City’s poor air quality offers salient authenticity. But does everyone think the same, I wonder? The world is anything but perfect and moments like this provide a glimpse at atonement.

I was unexpectedly enlightened by what at first appeared to be a cursory, ho-hum IM exchange. Yesterday--in stark contrast--I was (strangely) put off by an e-mail I received asking me to join in an online effort to chastise Burma's ruling military junta for spraying bullets over peaceful crowds of protesters, and doing so without any show of remorse of restraint. Whatever. I blithely carried on with my day. The strange thing is this: I very much feel for these freedom-seeking Buddhist monks, and thanks to the Internet, even though they are halfway around the world, I feel personally connected to their plight.

To wit: Never have I been more amazed at the power of the Web for bringing attention to a rapidly escalating conflict--especially when regional access to the Internet has been one of the most contentious issues in this tense situation--yet I felt my inbox was crudely violated by a person with whom I had a tacit agreement not to engage in politically oriented e-mail sharing. My reaction to this e-mail might be on par with that of a 5-year-old, but I feel that my take on the civil unrest in Burma has been tainted by unwanted digital correspondence. Yes, yes, I care. And yes, along with the world, I am also watching--but watching only.

At the moment, I’d much rather do something to improve the air quality in Mexico City than help fight for civil rights in South East Asia. After all, as far as global digital media, it's all eyes on Burma. They've got all the limelight they need. Buddhist monks don't desperately need my e-mail signature right about now... I wonder if they even need yours?

So We Really Do Only Care About WASPs

2007-09-27T09:37:00.001-06:00

This is one of the bigger OLA units you'll see on rotation when visiting the homepage of mega-portal Yahoo!. Now, I'm really not one to rip on celebrity gossip mongers and I try to stay on the sidelines when accusations of racism get tossed around, but I really feel I need to call this one out. I don't necessarily find this racist, at least not overtly--but come on! They're all white, skinny, blond celebrities. These photos are almost interchangeable. A lifeless ad cluttered with cookie-cutter Caucasian celebrity pictures at their hackneyed best--zero "click here" appeal, from where I'm standing.

Don't get me wrong. I am actually interested in all these celebrities and have followed their varied careers individually. And I usually rush to click on the first lame-if-strangely-compelling celebrity post discussing who the cutest Hollywood baby is. But how about some variety, eh? Not all cyber-sufers are white I'm sure and most are interested in celebrities of all strokes and ethnicities. Even Jessica Alba, the only non-WASP there, has been completely whitewashed (I guess Jeniffer Aniston has Greek roots, but she totally blew that into bits when she changed her last name). Is this the lowest common denominator?

What's your take on this? Is it implicitly racist?

The Ins and Outs of Online Work Etiquette

2007-09-25T18:46:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine suggested I practice some digital decorum at work--what many refer to to as “Netiquette.” If you'd like, go ahead and take a makeshift netiquette quiz here and find out if you're a connoisseur.

To honor my friend's recommendation, I've compiled a quick list of not-so-hard-and-fast rules I usually apply when I communicate through online. Feel free to add your own best practices, amend, or shoot down some of mine:

Cc'ing someone by accident on off-the-cuff e-mail messages is a major faux pas—especially if you cc exactly the person you don't want eying your e-mail just then—but it happens to the best of us. Digital contretemps will inevitably ensue. Own up to your mistake and be honest. Let the rest run its course.
E-mailing is the way to go when you are introducing yourself formally. When you feel the working relationship has progressed satisfactorily, you will be ready to move up to the next level: IM’ing.
Join your workplace network on Facebook.
Relationship statuses on Facebook can be a major cause of embarrassment and emotional burn. After all, you don’t want to be listed as “in a relationship” and have your significant other display an “it’s complicated” or a “whatever I can get” (especially if you have work contacts on there). Taking the step to update your status on Facebook is a big deal—make sure you do it in tandem with your significant other (cheesy but a a safe call).
Web browser histories don’t necessarily define a person. However, don’t go looking anywhere shady that you might feel could come back and bite you—unless you remember to clear your cache, that is.
If you have a personal blog that people sometimes check in on, do not post more than once a day (unless it’s a quick, short post). People are not that interested. Don’t smear others on your blog or drag your personal life into your posts, either.
Don’t overload IM messages with emoticons. They’re super annoying and act as stumbling blocks for hurried eyes. However, feel free to sprinkle your messages with acronyms, and be sure to keep your messages short and to the point.
Always send screengrabs and callouts whenever these might speed up communication.
Don’t ask a question on IM off the bat—make sure the person you are reaching out to is on the other end by starting off with a quick “yt?” or “hey.”
Don’t go off on someone online, especially with all caps. If things get heated, pick up the phone.

So do any of the above seem familiar? Am I on the right track? What form of online work etiquette do you apply?

Online News You Can Use?

2007-09-24T10:45:00.000-06:00

It’s no secret that the evolution of the Internet has dealt a mighty blow to many longstanding traditions of mainstream journalism. Today, a new kind of journalism billows from the blogosphere and impregnates the pages of major newspapers, as these publications print news funneled directly out of the online pipeline. Citizen journalism has taken precedence and gained credibility over mainstay journalistic institutions like The New York Times. Through exhaustive and dedicated reporting right from the trenches, bloggers themselves have earned their right, in spades, to take the lead and blaze a trail for other “established” journalists to follow. And follow they have: Today, major newspapers and cable news networks scramble to leverage and understand how the Internet powers up social journalism. In the process, many an established news outlet has tumbled.

I believe the Saddam execution video is an excellent example of this kind of citizen journalism: The broadcasting of the uncensored video online was able to take advantage of the capabilities of social media to shed compelling light on the situation in Irak for the entire world to witness. What troubled me the most when the video was made public was not so much how authorities decided to ardently persecute those responsible for making the video—this was inevitable—it was the fact that mainstream news media censored the video by not airing it completely and doing so without sound.

I believe the world had a right to see first-hand the realities of Saddam's execution in all its raw power, and I hold the person responsible for filming the video and making it available online a journalistic hero. I hope more people around the world follow suit by documenting controversial events on their cell phones or portable cameras and posting these on the Web. Regardless of the motivations, the Saddam video was an act of courage.

Ironically, however, as mainstream news outlets begin to add social media tools to their online publications, it seems news is being watered down, as hard-hitting reports become overshadowed by cutesy and kooky news pieces. Take a look at the mock news from The Onion, which pokes fun at this very situation by headlining an article with “'Most E-Mailed’ List Tearing New York Times Newsroom Apart.” While the piece is by no means real (it's super funny--I highly recommend it), it is dead-on about the effects the Internet is having over corporate news reporting. So the question still remains: While the Web has proven a useful tool in disseminating news with viral speed, is it actually acting as a nullifying force on journalism as a whole? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

When You Care Enough to Hit Send

2007-09-22T15:13:00.000-06:00

Sometimes life comes at you hard and fast. Sometimes you’re so bogged down with work you don’t know whether to jump out the window or take out everyone around you. Whatever happened to the unfettered life of parties, pleasantries, and play? Was it ever really real? Who knows! Who cares! Work is work, and it needs to get done. For now, I can take solace in the fact that somehow there is always humor in stressful situations, and if we take time to laugh at these (and ourselves), we can prevent frustration from taking too heavy a toll.

So on this note: I would like to recommend my website pick of the week, Someecards.com: the sarcastic/jaded/ironic answer to Hallmark’s cheeseball e-cards e-mail service. I especially recommend the workplace cards—the humor is sharp, acidic, and double-edged. These cards have never rung more true with me than today, when I am stuck at the office on a super-rainy Saturday, hustling to get things done on time for a big-shot client that doesn’t seem to make up its mind. One card I feel is spot-on reads “I’m not convinced we’ve wasted enough time on this.” Hehehe...

On a side note: What really gets me about impossibly tight deadlines--the one I'm on right now has sentenced me to a weekend at the office--is not the daily grind this demands during the last few days before the actual work is due; it’s the fact that I get so laser-focused that I can’t seem to fit anything else into my brain. The result: Finding the time and the words to write out of pure pleasure becomes a daunting task. But with sardonic sites like Someecards.com ridiculing the absurdity of life, love, and work, my need for therapy loses urgency. Because in the end, as one of the cards ominously points out: “When life gets overwhelming, remember that you’re going to die." Nice.

Looks Like She's Got a Lot of Yogurt Left

2007-09-21T10:37:00.000-06:00

Commenters really know how to bring it. For me, they make the blog experience that much more worthwhile (and volatile). In fact, most times I find myself clicking on a headline simply to check out how the readers themselves have illuminated a particular story through their quirky insights. So there’s a clip of Kid Nation on Gawker? I need to get on that right away. After all, I wanna weigh in on the show myself—but more than that, I can’t wait to read the snappy, snarky comments I know will make me grin, smirk, and simper as I scroll down below the fold.

For example: I was happily scanning a post this morning on Jezebel.com that spotlighted a story from today’s Wall Street Journal analyzing the lives and loves of New York’s most prominent socialites. Of course, the post included a not-so-hot photo of socialite Fabiola Beracasa with flat hair (that's the photo of her above). The first comment on the string: “That is NOT a good haircut for a head that size. I'm quite glad I have no clue who that is.” LOL. That’s the funniest thing I’ve read all morning.

First off, the commenter is dead on about the hair—it looks like someone plastered her coif down to make her head seem super-large (and the post is all about how she goes to the stylist every day. Awesome). And secondly, and perhaps more importantly--the user doesn’t even know who this person is (why should anyone, really?), nevertheless decides to not only read the post, but to comment on it by assessing the chick's 'do. Too funny.

So here’s the deal: Even for posts that read perfunctory, comments manage to add a level of dimension, depth, and wit (not to mention immediacy) that make reading them a tasty treat. There's no way to hedge a bullet once commenters chime in.

After the premiere of Gossip Girl the other night, the put-down-of-the-moment on comment strings and blogs alike has become “looks like you’ve got a lot of yogurt left.” Don’t know what this means? Don’t worry, I don’t know if anyone really does. But that’s the whole point, and that’s what makes it funny—it made no sense when Blair cut Serena with that one-liner on the show, and it still makes no sense now (maybe it's some sort of fat girl joke?). But Web commenters have made it their own, and in no time, I’m sure many will be using it to deride their most cherished frenemies. I hate to say it, but Fabiola, it looks like you've got a lot of yogurt left.

As Bloggers Collide

2007-09-20T11:58:00.000-06:00

I sometimes wonder if what the technology naysayers keep arguing is true--are they correct in chiding the Internet for dehumanizing users and separating us from one another? Have some of us spot-welded ourselves into a place where we value the digital experience more so than real life, in detriment of our human condition? I’ve heard it said by some techno-geeks that their Second Life is much more exciting than their regular life; and yesterday, I found myself reading a post in Gawker about a high-profile break-up between two bloggers that “sent Internets reeling.” It was one of the most popular stories of the day on Gawker: A couple of Internet-spawned pseudo-celebrities had made their falling out a public affair through various acrimonious, snobby, and ridiculous blog posts. And after eyeballing the comments, I confirmed with amazement just what the title of the post declared with deadpan assurance—the breakup did in fact throw many an Internet user into a tizzy.

So who are these bloggers that Gawker has focused so much attention on? Julia what? Jakob who? Why do some people care so much about these totally random (and unattractive) people? Does anyone even know them in real life? How much sway do they have over the digital landscape that makes the announcement of their breakup more appealing to Gawker readers that the latest Britney post? I wonder if these two former “lovers” ever even met each other outside of the blogosphere. Maybe they never consummated their now defunct relationship, aside from a few attempts at cybersex. Or maybe they’ve gotten so good at cybering they don’t feel the need to go at it in real life? Scary thought.

Behold a snippet of text from the breakup e-mail that did the relationship in:

“I am not capable of giving you what you deserve in a relationship, even an ‘alternative’ relationship, so, we should stop seeing each other.”

Um, what? I wonder what the dude means by ‘alternative.” I wonder if by “stop seeing each other” he means to stop IM’ing each other and to put and end to cheesy photo-sharing. I wonder if by “not capable of giving you what you deserve in a relationship” he is implying that he could never pry himself away from his computer long enough to rendezvous with her in real life.

Online break-ups make good drama, and even though I didn’t know these people when I started reading the Gawker post, I was immediately enthralled by the story and unexpectedly pulled into their lives—I definitely know who they are now. In the future, if I see a post on Julia Allison or Jakob Lodwick, I’ll probably check it out. Is this keeping me from living a life of my own, or does it just mean I’m hip to the times and that I know how to leverage online to add significance to and enjoy my life offline? I'm really hoping it's the latter...

More Than a Chatroom With a View

2007-09-19T15:31:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite activities during high school and college, back when I had idle time to relax and enjoy TV on a regular basis, was to watch music videos and trash-talk with my friends about how ridiculous or retarded pop videos had become. We picked apart every single element with pretentious posturing ("ugh, it's obvious that that video is a rip-off of Kubrick’s Lolita" or "what an insipid use of irony" or even "those dancers are so busted-looking"), and it was super fun. I thought this was a thing of the past for me. And then the other night, in between closing project tickets online, QA'ing copy for a client, and getting up to speed on the latest Manhattan gossip, I started watching a music video on YouTube called "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice (great video, by the way, I highly recommend it--more so if you are a self-professed hipster). Out of nowhere, on one of the guys' t-shrts featured in the video, the words "Internet Killed the Video Star" flashed in retro eighties colors. Woah.

While the idea is nothing new, I realized all of a sudden that what I used to do before with my friends I do it now online with strangers, on YouTube and Break and MetaCafe and even Facebook. I still love to watch videos and psychoanalyze them to death and pretend I am too cool to walk this Earth, but today I do it online. I am one of those avid commenters that always has something to say about a clip I see on the Web. And then there's the insta-satisfaction I get when reading the comments offered up so freely by other users--sometimes mean-spirited, oftentimes grammarless and retarded, other times thoughtful and insightful, but usually very funny (not to mention random). For me, the World Wide Web is one giant chatroom--a chatroom with a view.

What is TMZ.com if not a digital free-for-all where we all can satisfy our inner voyeur by trashing celebrities from our high horse, along with other users? It's watching TV with our friends, but times ten. The Internet is about looking, but more importantly, it is about participating. Sure, television can satisfy and titillate, but it doesn't captivate or connect in the ways that the Internet does. The music video I saw last night got me thinking: The Internet appeals to the senses much like TV does (through sight and sound), except it also incorporates an extra level of engagement--the sense of touch. By typing away and mousing objects around, users have an active role in shaping the digital media landscape, and this power is evident with every Submit button we click on, every photo we tag, every experience we rate, and every comment we share.

A Cliché by Any Other Name

2007-09-18T14:10:00.000-06:00

As a writer, I’m always looking for just the right words to accurately describe situations, objects, and ideas, and oftentimes I find myself resorting to the use of clichés to do so. Does this mean I am a lazy writer, or does it somehow show superior skill when it comes to putting together sentences? The question haunts me almost daily. I am never completely convinced if I should steer clear of clichés or if I should leverage them. After all, they've been used so many times by so many different people that they've lost their expressive power, right? Will using a cliché help me bring my point home or simply make my writing seem trite?

To wrap your head around just what I am talking about, check out ClicheSite.com, the site with the largest list of clichés, euphemisms, and figures of speech, “complete with definitions and explanations.” For a writer, this site can be a treasure trove of inspiration, a literary toolbox of sorts. Or can it? I’m inclined to think that many phrases listed in this site are value-added expressions that can offer relevance and immediacy when it comes to our day-to-day conversations, and in most instances can be more effective than any high-brow term or far-reaching phrase that could be used in their place. But I also believe that relying too heavily on clichés will render your writing innocuous and give it a pre-fabricated feel, leaving readers with a stale, styrofoamy aftertaste. Writing should be lively, original and engaging, not an robotic exercise saturated with grammatical one-trick ponies and pre-packaged literary devices coming at you rapid-fire style.

Does it all depend on the audience you intend to reach? Ah, there’s the rub. Some think of clichés as roadkill metaphors, and maintain that using them in writing is simply a shortcut to thinking--no matter who the audience is. Other opine that when carefully selected, clichés will actually spice up even the must dull, threadbare writing (technical documentation, anyone?). Whether a stymied writer or clever word artist, using clichés is almost always a tricky ordeal. The best way to use a cliché? Turn it upside down and inside out to convey something entirely new; that way you’ll be sure to make waves with your readers by cleverly pounding them with surprises. Yes?

Google Me Good

2007-09-17T14:40:00.000-06:00

It strikes me as a little odd that people who put their profiles up online on social websites--from Facebook to the ultra-exclusive aSmallWorld to the now ghetto-looking Hi5--get all bent out of shape over having their profiles available to be googled. I understand the argument which some espouse saying that privacy should take precedence over accessibility in some situations, but I also think that users are not media retards that need paternalistic protection over all things digital.

We should be responsible for our own online actions and should not depend on third parties to guarantee our privacy. Doing so throws the issue of our own personal accountability into sharp relief, because after all, isn’t the whole purpose of placing yourself out there on the Net an exercise aimed at connecting with others and elevating your professional presence? Who else does this depend on but ourselves? I know that for me at least, being easily googled is an online virtue I’m still working hard at.

Learning to navigate the Web and creating a space for yourself online is a skill that should be learned and perfected by anyone who has access to the Internet. Truth is, privacy is no longer a right but a privilege. If, for example, you’ve had a life of hard knocks and fear your personal details will filter through to or end up splashed on the pages of blogs and websites around the world, then do something about it. Go out there and create the online image you want for yourself. It’s never been easier or quicker. You are in control, and if skillfully executed, a carefully nurtured online persona is an investment that will do wonders for your career. The digital medium allows you to mold and sway the opinions of those around you for your own benefit--if you learn how to do this right. After all, online conversation is currency these days.

No doubt, at this point in the rapidly-evolving world of digital media, each and every one of us is 100% responsible for our own imprint on the Web, whether we like this or not. The Internet is no more different now in this regard than say, print or television, with the exception that with the Web, we can actually intervene if something pops ups that we take issue with--and we can do so in real time. It is standard knowledge in contemporary PR that nothing is off the record. Celebrities and socialites know this better than anyone, and have their publicists on a 24/7 online watch. Is someone putting up vicious posts defaming your character? Respond. Take action. Sue even. But don’t let it be, and don’t blame the search engines. We must not only be vigilant, we must be active in creating and shaping the kind of digital profile we want for ourselves--one that accurately reflects our passions, fears, and accomplishments. Feel like burning someone online yourself? What the heck, go ahead and do that too--just know that you are responsible for the choices you make online.

September Rain

2007-09-16T22:37:00.001-06:00

Every year, when the rainy season in Costa Rica enters its last and rainiest stage, my mind starts to tire of the water and my soul turns uneasy. Drops of melancholy tinge the air with scents of yesterday, and the deep greens and grays that permeate the drenched city of San José--the same colors that a few months ago I welcomed whole-heartedly and which soothed my soul with gentle whispers--begin to close in on me with unusual heaviness. I venture online for relief, and pretend I am sunning in Sydney or partying in Paris, but once I close my laptop and look out the window, I am once again engulfed by gloomy, solemn sentiments of slowly moving bands of tropical rain.

A cool, misty moisture envelops buildings, trees, and mountaintops, and even once-happy birds seem to find the endless rain oppressive. Cloud forests saturated with moss, rivers overflowing their banks, walls soft to the touch, beaches awash with debris, and angry, sluggish, resentful clouds gathering above, pounding everything below with forceful showers, over, and over, and over again. Comforting but tiring, the rain floods the land with promises of life and winds blow with hints of change, but nothing yet. Television offers little recourse.

I yearn for the sun but make due for now, with work, with exciting digital media forays, and with friends and family. Seasonal Affective Disorder (aptly acronymed SAD) starts to set in with tenacious force, and anchors itself deep within my heart, but I still smile. And while I feel put out, all I can do is stay put, weather the unending rain, and wait for the dry season to arrive. A couple of months from now and I’ll be in the clear, literally. And no matter how many thunderstorms I have to endure, I know that today, the sun shines inside brighter than ever before.

Unwords: Words for All Affairs

2007-09-15T18:16:00.000-06:00

I am captivated by the ways in which technology’s precipitous development has an impact on the way a lot of us communicate. Recently I was reading a great post in Notes from the Digital Frontier where one of the regular bloggers recalled his dismay while texting with a friend. He pointed out that, because his friend’s phone’s dictionary did not recognize a certain term, his friend opted to type in a different word instead. Huh. "The input method changes our communication style," he perceptively concluded. This has actually also happened to me, various times. I can’t think of a more obvious example of technology’s influence over language and communications. And then there’s Cingular’s recent advertising campaign “idk, my bff Jill,” that aside from comical, signals just how fast language is evolving. The first two TV spots from the Cingular campaign together have gotten more than a million hits on YouTube, not simply because they are funny, I suspect, but also because they ring true with a large segment of American (and global) society. If you haven’t seen the ads, click here.

Which brings me to another issue that I feel is also super-interesting: that of creating words to describe new experiences, situations, and ideas to help these become commonplace in digital media and contemporary society. Say hello to Unwords.com, the site that "makes it possible for you to share your words with the world." I’m sure a lot of English professors would be appalled with some of the words users have submitted, and many a crusty English nazi would take issue with the fact that the site simply exists. For me, however, this is as exciting as language gets. Not only is it evolving at hyper-speed, we now have digital observers documenting and fueling the phenomenon.

I believe that it is part of a writer’s job to introduce and coin new terms to describe and define emerging phenomena, especially if said writer wishes to push open societal restrictions and explore new frontiers. It creates knowledge exponentially and paves the way for others to do the same. As a society, we all benefit. Recently I was waiting to board a plane at Miami International Airport, when we were told to wait so the arriving passangers could "deplane." I’m sure the word "deplane" did not exist 50 years ago. Now we all know what this means, even though the word might not be in any dictionary (it is, by the way--as an intransitive verb). So what if other, older words start dying out too quickly? IDK, NBD, from my point of new.

Rainbow Smurfs and Digital Robin Hoods?

2007-09-14T11:15:00.000-06:00

I was having sushi last night with some friends at a Korean restaurant off the beaten path in San Pedro (the “Cambridge” of San José, someone once said—the analogy surprisingly fits) when I brought up the issue of my blog. “You guys better check it out, it just keeps getting better and better” I remarked with aplomb, and shot them my trademark right eyebrow lift indicating that my assessment was in fact tongue-in-cheek—this in hopes of getting some sort of reaction from these cynics. I made all efforts to make my blog the focal point of our brisk conversation. Because hitting up my contacts online for comments wasn’t working so well, I decided to shamelessly panhandle live and face-to-face. My efforts have still not been as successful as I would like, but when I checked my blog later that night I found one extra comment. Ahh, my friends! I’m lucky I have them. And it was a carefully crafted remark too—poised and thoughtful. However, commenters have yet to pile on to any of my posts.

Don’t get me wrong, I love having an avid readership, even though it might consist solely of my mom and a couple of friends, but I definitely want to cast a wider net. However, I can’t complain; last night’s blatant self-promotion was fruitful for my digital ambitions to lord over all things digital media. My friends and I had an on-the-spot brainstorming session, a spontaneous attempt to conduct an after-dinner Internet think-tank experiment, where we engaged in a bevy of digital media topics—everything from the grisly to the sugary to the ultra-geek—that could serve as promising topics for future posts. Some of these I’m keeping stashed away for a rainy day, letting them age like a good wine so by the time I decide to author a post regarding one of these topics, I will have a well-thought out argument that absolutely no one will be able to challenge (this is also tongue-in-cheek by the way, I actually hope to stir up a comment string some day so contentious that it will fire up even the most jaded and indifferent reader’s inner Ann Coulter).

So what issues should I touch on right now? Last night we toyed with the idea of the digital Robin Hood, a “good” hacker (I though about naming it a gooker, but it sounds gross, and a little too much like hooker), that instead of accessing restricted networks and opening up cans of digital whoop-ass, would actually patch up security flaws, beautify websites, and create robust and scalable firewalls anonymously and for free. However, we quickly trashed this idea as completely retarded and uselessly absurd. I also thought about discussing my theory of the gay Smurf trifecta: Brainy smurf, Vanity smurf, and Smurfette (who I always though was a full-on tranny—and I’m not talking about a car’s transmission) but this seemed grossly off point and somehow inappropriate. Neither of these seems like a good topic to start the kind of spirited debate I hope to have on the pages of my blog one day. So what do you think? I would love to hear your suggestions.

404 No More

2007-09-13T11:49:00.000-06:00

Things really are what you make them. I was reading Adrants today and came across a post that immediately caught my eye. It spotlights the efforts of Smashing Magazine to compile the most interesting, original, and user-friendly 404 pages that websites have cleverly crafted for their users. Love it. This way, if you happen to lose your way online or accidentally type in an extra “f” or “p” or whatever key it is your fingers seem to be most torpidly drawn to when you speed-type, you will be met with a fun and funky experience that doesn’t make you want to kill yourself or make you feel awesomely frustrated, impotent, or totally ripped off.

Let me explain what I mean. Recently at work we had a situation where, because of updates to a client’s site, several pages were being pulled down. In their place, we had to add in a corporate version of the 404 page—something along the lines of “Thank you for your interest in such-and-such. We are currently working on updating the information on this page. Check back again soon.” Boring! And totally lame. If I was a user who had bookmarked that page or typed in the URL thinking I was pretty smart so I could get to it directly, I would feel cheated. What the hell! A total bump in the road when it comes to smooth online navigation. I have some thoughts on this:

Why not add in some links directing the user to other sections of the site? No need to make these pages dead ends.
Be creative and make the user want to come back in the future to check for updates. Unless you’re a click-happy loser with OCD, I can’t imagine anyone checking that page again anytime soon.
Be more specific and transparent. Why is this page unavailable or “currently in construction”? I think it’s a great opportunity to engage with users by giving them a sneak peak at what’s coming. Or if the page is never to be available again, then be creative and make the user glad that they got lost on your site.

404 pages usually blow chunks. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and thanks to the efforts of many a crafty individual out there, users are getting something extra that makes the online experience that much more compelling.

Touch My Bum, This is Life

2007-09-12T11:57:00.001-06:00

For any of you not familiar with the Cheeky Girls, “touch my bum, this is life” is the line of verse these Romanian sisters sing over the hook of their signature tune “Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum).” Needless to say, it’s pure, senseless cheese. But because it’s so random and nonsensical, it’s funny. And because it’s so random, nonsensical, and blatantly sexual, it’s immediately engrossing. It’s an old hit to be sure and was only big in Britain, but it was a hit nonetheless, and it speaks volumes of our media tastes (it topped the charts a few years back, earning this post a label far beyond the “so-five-minutes-ago” dismissive—and by the way, how so-five-minutes-ago is the term “so-five-minutes-ago”?).

While it’s true that people are dying in Darfur and blowing themselves up in Irak and getting pounded by hurricanes right here in Central America, the world needs an escape (a sweet escape?). A breather, a way out--even if it’s just pretend and even if it’s just for a second. I’m thinking that for the Brits, “The Cheeky Song” was probably just this (or at least I’m hoping so, because I can’t fathom someone taking this song semi-seriously). I certainly need an escape every now and then.

Sometimes I ponder on the meaning of life and peruse the headlines of “serious” news sites for analyses on current world affairs. I’m deeply interested in politics, economic development, and world events—more so than most I would say. But today I’ve found myself reading up on Tinsley Mortimer’s announcement that summer is “over” (she doesn’t have to rush back from the Hamptons every weekend anymore!) and on Olivia Palermo’s embarrassing e-mail disaster from back in March—now old news—pleading with the caste-conscious New York socialites-of-the-moment to accept her and love her. This adds absolutely no value whatsoever to my day and has no transcendence in my life at all. I don’t even live in New York right now. There is nothing I can do with this information that could possibly make me a better or more useful person, especially down here in Costa Rica where it rains eternally and the issue du jour is soccer and free trade. Nevertheless, I’m strangely drawn to it.

One high-profile blog back in spring, Park Avenue Peerage, deemed the Palermo story so important it penned a post entitled “Our Official Take on Olivia’s Letter.” I read the whole thing, down to the last comment. One struck a chord with me: “‘Our Official Take’ on some rich girl’s email. LMAO.” So true. Gawker and Page Six also covered the story. My verdict: The media is out of control. And I love it. Now blogs are issuing official statements on unconfirmed e-mails that no one cares about and that are chock-full of grammatical unforgivables. Awesome! More power to the people. “Touch my bum, this is life” all of a sudden makes perfect sense to me.

Of Cars and Clothes and Benjamins

2007-09-11T15:49:00.001-06:00

The more I read, research, and write about cars, the more I desperately want to buy one. I want to splurge and participate in the thrill of personal purchase so I don't feel I'm missing out on the decadent joys of capitalism. I want to throw away my money, be flippant with my buying choices, randomly return unwanted items I bought out of inertia, and complain that I have nothing to wear. I want a convertible and a coupe and a roadster and a four-door sedan and an extended cab truck and a hybrid with Active Fuel Management and Rainsense wipers and automatic temperature controls that runs on an ECOTEC engine that, as a colleague recently quipped, "converts gasoline into world peace" (see dealer for details). But truth is, I don't need another car. I can't even afford a car right now. But I want a car, and I want it now.

I remember when I was in high school and I was a socialist that I pretended--hypocritically--to loathe all things material. I wanted social justice and was planning to unite with the workers of the world. I wanted peace, love, and rock and roll, and visualized spending the rest of my days surfing away an endless summer--I'm embarrassed by it now, as I didn't even know how to surf then and I still don't know how. But I was adamant about my so-called values and morals, disdaining all who pursued material pleasures and vying instead for the simple things in life.

As soon as my college years hit and I began to make a life for myself in the Northeastern Unites States, I nuked away my "values" faster than a Coca Cola fizzles out and turns flat. No more peace, love, or social justice. Ppfff. Forget that! My life became a wasteland of excess, posturing and one-upping, always ready to serve up some 'tude to anyone not up to par. I was completely enveloped by my surroundings and found myself slowly turning plastic. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with friend of mine from NYU that resonates to this day as a cautionary tale. We were in Battery Park, overlooking the sultry waters of New York Bay on a crisp, cold night, when she said, as we both admired her soft new leather jacket: "You know, back home I used to not care about clothes that much. Now I can't help but want the latest fashions." I nodded empathically and played it up with a distinct "totally." A wardrobe malfunction for us was not having just the right thing to wear. Who had we become? We were prisoners of our environment and didn't even know it--or if we did, we didn't care.

And today, I really really want a shiny new car. But now I know that even though I may want it, that doesn't mean I'm going to get it, and even if I could buy it, I probably wouldn't indulge simply because I can. Now I know a little better, and in between the empty insta-gratification of no-holds-barred capitalism and the sounds-nice, sharing-means-caring, unreal hippie ideal, there's a spot where I have begun to feel right at home.

It's Britney, Twitch

2007-09-10T19:14:00.001-06:00

As I was dabbling through my RSS reader this morning sifting through today's posts--scanning headlines in search of something that would grab my attention--I came across various tirades ridiculing Britney Spears' performance on last night's VMA's. So naturally, in honor of my inner voyeur (perennially salivating over salacious celebrity dish--I say Gimme More), I clicked on the play icon of the first video embed I could lay my mouse cursor on. Yes, yes, yes, the performance was a veritable train wreck. Lifeless, awkward, wacky, tacky--stressful even. I know it made me anxious, even though I already knew she wasn't going to fall flat on her face despite what all her spastic movements seemed to indicate. The celebrity audience, hesitant and puzzled, still managed to patter applause. Personally, I was actually impressed Britney was able to keep her balance throughout--I bet it's not easy to stagger around like that to the beat of a song onstage while wearing stiletto boots, a hooker's get-up, and a wig, all while doped up. I should know. I give her props just for that, for sure.

Anyway, the inevitable digital blitz that has ensued is proof that now more than ever, the medium really is the message. The real event wasn't the actual performance per se, but what came after. So Britney bombed onstage--who cares? The answer is, a lot of us do, and we need to talk about it. If it wasn't for the media documenting all her crazy, drug-fueled antics obsessively-compulsively (the head-shaving incident still makes tops--and hey, it's her prerogative), we would have not cared that much in the first place. It is the media that makes it what it is, and that gives it cultural (in)significance. The shocker is not what the live audience saw last night; it is what the media-inclined are experiencing today--on YouTube, on blogs, in news reports and gossip magazines. Last night, it was just one more mediocre, stale-ass performance. Today, it is an event. It is social construction at its best, live and in real time, and we are all invited. That's the power of digital media. Events aren't important the very second they happen; rather, they gain momentum with time and talk.

The Internet is Mentos to pop cultural Diet Coke. As I read and fervently consumed the comments being tossed around regarding Britney's fiasco, I couldn't help but smile. The one that made me laugh the hardest: "It's Britney, twitch." Genius.

The Shallow End of the Bitstream

2007-09-09T21:22:00.001-06:00

I find myself on the very outer rims of the digital Long Tail, and while I realize there might be purpose to my writing, I would like to dig deeper and move closer to the vortex of cyberspace. I want to engage in compelling conversation and connect with other like-minded and not-so-like-minded individuals, but am still at a loss as to how to do it. I am realizing that finding something semi-interesting to write about periodically and being confident and on point every time is tough stuff.

I'm trussed to nothing and floating freely--a celestial body at the tail end of a stellar whip swirling around far away from the center of an already super-saturated galaxy. What does it take to venture father in to the deep, cut-throat waters of the World Wide Web, were only the mightiest rise to the top, without getting burned or burnt out in the process? I tend to believe I have what it takes to create a space for myself without much difficulty, but it will all depend on the vibrancy of my posts and the compelling, sticky quality of my writing.

For me, it seems that my creative juices flow more freely late at night, when I'm tired and a now familiar lack of lucidity begins to creep and permits a torrent of ideas to flood my usually soppy brain. My day comes into focus and I can reach out up into the stars and pull down bits of thought, then shape these into words and sentences that follow some sort of logical flow. But I still need inspiration, a muse of some sort, a passion that drives me to explore the deepest ends of space and allows me to return with a shiny, attractive pearl that I can share with the digital world. What I can hope for right now is that, between all my lackluster posts, maybe-but-not-really musings, and not-so-hot arguments, there will be one or two that hit a bullseye smack in the middle and forever burn bright.

I Am African

2007-09-08T18:37:00.002-06:00

I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world. With my dual citizenship, I have been afforded the chance to identify with and immerse myself in two different, distinct cultures: that of the United States, that--despite the current sate of world affairs--is still soaked with an endless sense of freedom and opportunity, and that of Latin America, drenched in magic realism and steeped in tradition. I would not pick one over the other. Instead, the combination has served as both platform and springboard to explore and visit other cultures around the world--and I still have a long ways to go. But today, I consider myself international, and believe that globalization, regardless of its discontents, is an exciting phenomenon. Because of my staunch support for global free commerce, I've been called everything from immoral to insensitive to bourgeois, and I've even been labeled a "degenerate"; however, I just shrug these off with a smile. I think all these people are afraid and have axes to grind. I'm all about globalization--it moves in all directions and is in constant flux, and those who wish to keep it in check will only get bulldozed under it's power.

I am North American, South American, African, Middle Eastern, European, Australian, Asian... Or at least I want to be. When I travel, I am most interested not in visiting the sights (although this is fun) but in getting a feel for what it means to live in and be culturally and geographically tied to a certain place. Local media has a lot to offer in this respect. And I've found that, with the forces currently shaping the world, not only is local global and global local--cultural experiences become more acute and immediate. Recently for me, it was London, Motown, the City of Lights, Beantown, Mexico City, and Los Angeles. Soon, it might be Lagos, Islamabad, Tokyo, Stockholm, Buenos Aires. Who knows? As distances shrink and borders fade, even more explosive, exciting, and (probably) violent things are bound to keep happening.

But when it is all said and done, I think we will be better off because of it.

Elements of Zeitgeist: Why Shallow is Meaningful

2007-09-07T17:25:00.001-06:00

Recently I touched base with a friend of mine from college I had not talked to in more than two years. The last time we saw each other was ages ago, when I was someone else completely, in my snug apartment in Alphabet City. It was early in the morning--a sad, listless, meaningless morning--and my frustration and impatience erupted in an explosive and derisive verbal attack that punctuated what was perhaps the beginning of the most dramatic falling out I've had with a good friend. I can't remember if I threw him out or if he stormed out, but I can remember the pungent spiritual decay I felt take over me after. I was on a slippery slope and had already decided to take no prisoners and scorch all earth.

Anyway, those were different times. Today I appreciate friendship, and thanks to social media tools, we were able to smooth out the past and bury the hatchet. And as we slowly got up to speed through various wall posts and private messages, I realized that our affinity towards media and pop culture binds us tighter than I would have ever expected. The line that did me in: "Who else in your life can talk about Paris Hilton and Kierkegaard in the same breath?" he pointed out. And he's right. And then the slam dunk: "I'll be sure to fax Lou Dobbs your riot grrl piece." I always found his insights funky yet on point, and both incredibly funny and piercingly honest. It was bubblegum with razorblades in it.

Which brings me back to the point I'm trying to make. Levity and frivolity are powerful tools--they can be coping mechanisms, a way to break the ice perhaps--but it takes a skilled connoisseur to use superficiality to convey something truly meaningful. Back in college, my life was as insipid as Paris Hilton and as hard to swallow as Kierkegaard. Today, it's a whole other story. I enjoy substance and can throw down with even the most uppity intellectual. However, I am most comfortable watching music videos nominated to this year's VMA's on YouTube or catching the latest summer blockbuster. Because today, sometimes a pop song is more telling and has more relevancy to me than say, Dickens. Whether loaded with meaning or as breezy as air, it's the sign of the times. And that's super exciting to me.

A Postmodern Writer's First Post: Let's Watch

2007-09-06T22:29:00.000-06:00

I'm buried in work, droopy-eyed, sleepy, and dreading the office tomorrow. And yet I'm excited because I'm blogging for the first time... I'm sitting on the floor with my laptop on my lap, my legs spread forward and crossed, half-listening to a show my friend is watching on TV--something about how a couple of sadistic killers a la Natural Born Killers recorded the screams of their victims during Nazi-era Germany, and then would listen to the tapes during sex to get off. It's actually super explicit, morbid stuff--hard to stomach--but maybe because it's the Discovery Channel the show gets a pass with the PTA crowd. I still believe it should deserve a bit of tsk-tsking. And now that I think of it, I didn't even know they had tape recorders during the 1930's in Europe... sounds totally made up to me. Intense, but made up.

Everything I see or listen to in the media lately sounds completely bogus and fabricated--from the news I read online each morning, to reality TV, to the morning radio broadcasting nutty traffic reports, everything seems neither here nor there. And yet, on a strange, spiritual level, I find it all both comforting and motivating. Because at the end of the day, what is "true" anyway, and do I even want it?

Fleeting--that's where it's at. If it's not here to stay, it's that much more significant. The world keeps turning, wildly, quickly, pulling me in different directions, and when I manage to ease up and listen, I always find a couple of hidden treasures that stop me in my tracks and leave me wide-eyed. What was it for me today? The show on the Discovery Channel? Not so much. It was the tropical drizzle in the evening, the unexpected digital pat on the back this morning, and right now, it's starting this blog, which makes me feel shiny and new.