Month: May 2009
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Cultural energy crisis?
Mark Fisher argued that there was an effective cultural energy crisis in his article Running on empty published in the New Statesman online. His premise was that culture lacked the energy it had in previous decades. That the noughties are encompassed by a sense of cultural deceleration. He argues that cultural changes were driven by technology and…
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Pen pals
When I was a kid, I, along with with the rest of my primary school class had pen pals. We learned about life in the US from students at an elementary school in Palo Alto. I learned what root beer, a peanut butter and a grape jelly sandwich and granola tasted like. I found out…
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Mystery Ranch 3-day assault pack
I found Mystery Ranch when researching options. I have been thinking about getting a carry-on luggage compliant back pack to carry a laptop, camera, adaptors and other bits-and-bobs that comes in handy during flying. To get an idea of what I carry, here is a picture of my go bag and what I took to…
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Schedule info + other news
Schedule info Dare to dream: American and Delta want to charge money for access to their schedule info | Upgrade: Travel Better – schedule info is critical for planning and purchasing air travel. Charging for air travel schedule info is like any other brand charging for consideration to purchase. I can’t even articulate how crazy…
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GeoCities
When people ask me about social media: teach them how to do <insert an activity> on <insert the name of a service de jour> and I say sure I can teach you that (for a fee). Much of the value comes from being curious, this is as much about the way think and look at…
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Forest girls + more news
Forest girls News on Japan – New-old ‘Forest Girls’ fashion of Japan – mori girls or forest girls are based not only on a look but a lifestyle. While their layering might struggle in a Japanese summer, the forest girls idea of a more naturalistic lifestyle will likely have a longer appeal China Conversationage :…
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Choice Blindness
I’ve always wanted to understand how consumers don’t have a higher level of dissatisfaction when they go home with the supermarket’s own brand goods as a mistake instead of a branded product with the apparent answer being choice blindness. It was neatly captured in culture with Bruce Springsteen’s song 57 channels and nothin’ on. (This…
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Barbarians Led by Bill Gates
I started reading Barbarians Led by Bill Gates after the I’m a PC campaign tried to humanise the brand image of Microsoft. Barbarians is an unusual book: it is unspun lacking the fingerprints of public relations-led storytelling and yet fits uncomfortably between gonzo journalism and business history book. This partly explains the negative reactions that…