Gripes and Grins

Grin: SF EDU Startup Weekend Micro Documentary

Things have been tremendously busy at Grockit.  We have a lot of news to announce in the near future. But, I just want to share a bit of the SF EDU startup weekend experience  with everyone.  See the micro documentary below, and make sure to follow#sfedu.

 

 

Grins: Vaportrail and the film "Race to Nowhere"

Two new things that are making me smile today: Vaportrail and the film "Race to Nowhere".  The film's trailer is below, and for those that followed me at SmartyCard, I have to say this is a really critical issue I see developing early on in the Los Altos School District here in Northern California. 

Now, about VaporTrail. These are my friends and former colleagues at Utterli/RPM Communications, based back in Boston.  VaporTrail is a really interesting idea, and they have a big new national customer to be announced in the near future.  I like these guys a lot, very smart, very forward-thinking about real world solutions for business managers on the move.  Keep tabs on these guys.

 

 

Grin: YouTube movie trailer

As far as parody goes, this is good.

Grin: Marvel Super Hero Suad MMO

People used to ask me what "Gazillion" does.  I really couldn't say for the longest time, aside from SmartyCard.  Here's the answer:

Gripes: To media vampires, leave Edward Cullen alone

American women love skinny English actor nonces.  This is a well-known fact, and I've not the time or inclination to argue such facts with the extra-chromosomal-types that would ignore the long-standing tradition of week-in-the-knees reactions to pretty, sometimes androgynous English actors and singers, from the hundreds-of-millions of American female gentry.  The media love these actors because women are the driving force of consumption in our economy.  It's not complicated.

The average American male age 30-and-older is completely numb to the persistent media attention given to any shaggy, diminutive Brit that manages to hold Hollywood's attention for any length of time.  For the most part, we feel not threatened, and the nauseating effects subside after a time -- sorta like motion sickness or learning to chew smokeless tobacco.  Below 30, the American male is generally miffed at attention given such girlish figures, and completely out of sorts thinking that relative machismo is of little value in sexual conquest.  Like I said above, it's not complicated.

But, in my line of work, I have to read what the media is manufacturing, usually a few days in advance.  I subscribe to a number of safe interfaces (newsletters, RSS feeds, wikis, etc.) wherein writers, producers and editors are "seeking sources" that will validate their minor points in pop-culture "trend" pieces for mainstream publications and broadcast programs.  And, for guys in my line of work, we've seen poor Edward Cullen exploited to no end.

The travesty of Edward Cullen is that the character and the actor Robert Pattinson produce a never-ending series of angles from which to develop absolutely ridiculous stories leveraging sex.  Here are two entries from today's well known HARO (Help A Reporter Out).

Summary: Has Edward Cullen wrecked your love life?

Querey: A 50-year-old woman recently wrote to an advice columnist that
she was depressed because she wanted to be loved like Edward
loved Bella in the Twilight series. Women of all ages are
enthralled with Edward Cullen, but how many women are in therapy
because of it – or should be? Is Twilight creating more
unrealistic expectations than usual in women? I am researching
the real effect that this fictional vampire love story is having
on adult women longing for the perfect relationship.

If that didn't make you want to puke, read this.

Title: Moms obsessed with Twilight and other teen or tween programming or stars

Query: For a story on mothers obsessed with teen stars or movies or tv
shows aimed at teens or tweens, I'm looking for: mothers (and
their kids) to interview. Massachusetts moms only, please. I'm
also looking for nationwide experts to talk about why adult women
find teen shows or stars interesting.

Here's the problem as I see it.  Because my job requires that I determine what is appropriate for SmartyCard tweens, I've screened the romantic episodes of much of the Twilight series before making them available as rewards.  Granted, I know I'm not the appropriate audience, but Twilight is absolute drek and really not that imaginative.  Just like the media stories supporting the Twilight phenomenon.  In an age where twenty-somethings are forcing ad-supported media and brand marketers into honest seductions and "authenticity", Twilight and poor Edward Cullen have bucked the trend to become the most un-apologetically exploited literary character since Holden Caulfield (how is that for irony, ya fonies!?). 

Seriously, we're going to look back on these dreadful pop-media Cullen pieces and make comparisons to embarrassing late-century-micro-trends in media and marketing, like Acid-Wash denim fashions, the launch of new Coke, the inexplicable popularity of Air Supply, or "The Superbowl Shuffle". 

The media and publicity vamps are draining Edward Cullen of whatever literal value he once possessed.  Not that I give a shit, but the waning moments are almost too nauseating to witness.  I wish someone would make it stop.

Grin: Happy Birthday Wichita Rutherford and the legend of Van Heffer

Happy birthday Wichita. 

Several years ago, I was working on a startup that was aggregating new-and-popular podcast producers into a network of shows.  The job was interesting, and the personalities were bizzare.  The earliest pioneers in podcasting came from mainstream media and the fringe of otherwise-impossible-to-characterize media.  After several months of operations, wherein most of the pioneers were signed or alienated, I thought I understood what motivated artists on the fringe of celebrity to produce content.  I'd been working with Madge Weinstein, Dawn & Drew, Human Numan and the infamous "poopcaster", Chris Rockwell, who was the first podcaster to hate the medium, get thrown-off and reinstated to iTunes.  Just when I'd thought I'd seen it all, Chris "Ferf" McIntyre, the founder of Podcast Alley, gave me the phone number for Wichita Rutherford, a "blue grass legend" that managed to get interviews with the biggest recording artists in country and blue grass, as well as an assortment of NASCAR racers.  I listened to his shows, and then I placed some calls.

Over the next month, I enjoyed some of the weirdest phone conversations of my life. All of my assumptions about the known human psyche were systematically annihilated in a series of phone calls.  I would hang up the phone after calls and laugh, cry and then stare off into space.  Sometimes a talk with Ferf would bring me around, sometimes not. I couldn't say for sure if Wichita was for real or an amazing method actor, but I couldn't stop talking to this guy... totally bizarre conversations. 

And, then this video surfaced.

PodShow never did work with Wichita Rutherford, but I have never stopped being a fan of Wichita Rutherford and the legend of Van Heffer.  Bluegrass covers of Ozzie by an Elvis impersonator is perhaps the funniest idea ever considered.  And, after I watched the video, I believed firmly that he and his troupe would one day be on Comedy Central, as much as the title of the video posted to YouTube implies.  

There's one particular line from the "turd wrangler" scene in the video that sticks out for me. 

"When the going got creepy, you called Wichita."  So true, so true.

Personal Blog Loathing

I've been struggling with blog fatigue again.  I haven't been able to put my finger on why I'm having trouble creating personal updates, going after service groups messing with people (I'm rooting for your GoDaddy refund @joeped), or cross-referencing good content (@tomforemski is en fuego this week!). 

Last night I poured a Racer5 and started a big fire, flipped on the "tele" and watched John Oliver's standup on Comedy Central.  Jeneane Garofalo joined a roster of guys I've never seen or heard.  She looked great, sounded great, her material was outstanding.  Just seeing her do stand up reminded me of my younger, abrasive disposition that was oh-so-appropriate for the 1990s.  Like my goatee, that "tude" was cut back by humbling events like parenthood, career success and various milestones that simultaneously induce tolerance and confidence.  I like to think I'm getting better now, funnier, more affable and less-cynical, but I can't really say.  But, after listening to Jeneane, it was clear her stand up has never been better.

Back to my lead-in: There was one bit in Jeneane's routine that I really connected with my blog fatigue -- she goes on a tangent marveling (sorta criticizing, but much more subtle) at the younger generation's ability to produce content.  For someone of my age, it's hard to produce content.  The GenX predisposition is self-critical, if not self-loathing -- that's really Jeneane's punchline. 

In the 90s there were so many reasons to be pissed-off and disappointed.  Not freaked out and afraid like the last decade, but seriously frustrated and disillusioned.  Our parents, the boomers, are/were perhaps the greatest under-achievers of all time, and remain ever-so-self-unaware, which was the root of all our discontent.  But, beneath the snarky and sardonic primer, it felt as if all Xers were genuinely overwhelmed, dispassionate, apathetic and every bit of the Douglas Coupland and Richard Linklater stereotypes. 

Being social through media is a bit of a chore for me.  And, in hearing this Garofalo bit, for a few minutes I felt connected with my generation again.  Thoughtful production - even a tweet - often involves considering other perspectives or personal reflection, and that can be wearisome for the terminally self-aware.  Not so for the younger generation, if I can be allowed to judge and generalize;) And THAT, to me, is funny in a snarky-1990s-sense.

Grin: Dock Ellis goes to Sundance Film Festival

Last month I shared an animated short in a blog about Chris Isenberg and the No Mas NYC clothing line. The Sundance Film Festival thought highly of the short Doc Ellis & the LSD No-No. It's been selected for the Sundance short film program. See the selections here: http://www.indiewire.com/…m_program/.

To see the film one more time, go here: http://aaronburcell.typepad.com/…-nono.html

Mobile post sent by AaronB using Utterli.  Replies.

Doc Ellis and the LSD No-No

NoMas-nyc was created by Chris Isenberg, aka "Ise" (pronounced IZ). Like many of our classmates at Stanford, Chris went the startup route -- media, fashion, art.  His creativity is on display at nomas-nyc.com.  Chris and I were friendly in college, but no friends.  We had one very good friend in common -- a roommate that pitched on the baseball team, and later pitched several years in the Baltimore and Arizona organizations. 

From time to time I hear about No Mas.  On business in New York, I'll see the hipsters wearing No Mas gear on the streets.  I'll hear about the amazing bags and apparel from friends, or read reviews of No Mas gear in mens fashion rags in executive lounges in airports and hotels. Chris has done well, and he is still into the things that he always loved.

Isenberg is a true baseball fan.  Really, he is a sports junky.  You have to know this to understand the No Mas line and the art he produces.  The following animated short was produced by Chris -- you'll love it.  It's got a feel that matched the innocence of the 1970s, when American was experimenting in all directions and the fashion, art was 'far out'.  The short is about one of the most astounding events in baseball -- the day Doc Ellis through a no-hitter after a two-day acid bender. 

Nice work, Chris. 

Great John Hughes Tribute

These movies shaped a generation.  Very cool montage.