whizdumb

Ten things

1) I haven't posted for awhile.  Shame on me. Getting settled in a new job and new apt in NYC while trying to be a good husband and raise a toddler is no excuse!  How does the saying go... "To be a writer, write."  To be a blogger, blog.

2) The streets here are full of scents.   Well, stenches actually.  This is something I'm still adjusting to.  I often catch myself holding my breath as I pass a pile of trash or whatever (though usually the source is unseen) only to find no relief when I pass it.  Especially lately as the summer air is thick and hot.  I imagine what things would look like if I could see scent. There would be colorful clouds hanging in the air everywhere. 

The most vivid may be right outside the building where I work.  There is a service entrance that houses and dispatches hot dog carts.  All day long the carts are coming and going, refueling and as many of us suspect, dumping their used hot dog water into the gutter somewhere.  Some say the puddles glow at night.  I wouldn't be surprised because the place smells awful. The kind of thing that inspires thoughts of becoming a vegetarian.

3) Am I the only one who thinks, "Is it me or is that PowerPoint projection a bit out of focus?"

4) I got a new TiVo and have been exploring new content. There's a feature where you can download loads of video content from the web.  It's slightly strange experience to lean back on your couch and watch things throught the TiVo menu that you'd normally watch online.  Stuff that would never make it to broadcast or even cable television, such as the Cranky Geeks show or a cheesy New York Times Vows video.  But I love it. The Long Tail in top form.

5) I am not a religious person but I absolutely love living across the street from a beautiful church and hearing the bells ring every 30 minutes.  The picture is from my home office window and the belltower is out of the frame to the right.

6) Facebook's mobile application for BlackBerry is solid.  A simple, fast, elegant alternative to their mobile site.

7) Groceries? Dry cleaning? Kitty litter?  Yeah, they'll deliver that. The other night I ordered Indian food and it was in the door 18 minutes after I called. 

8) Living in a much smaller space makes you reassess your relationship to objects.  I'm much more reluctant to buy something now because I know I'll have to find a place for it.  On the flipside, I'm selling and giving away things like mad in order to lighten the load.  Say no to paid storage...  give it away!

9)  Podcasts have become my commute media of choice.  I have to walk ten minutes, take the train (standing room only) for another ten, then walk another ten.  It's just not conducive to reading.  And I've found that when I do listen to music it is nearly impossible to find a genre that doesn't seem to perfectly accompany a walk through the city.  I guess it's a kind of aural adaptation.  Sound and sight are such strong senses that our mind melds them together.  Perhaps with so much stimulation here visually, the brain picks out the bits that go well with the music.  I don't know.  But it always sounds and feels like a good combination.

10) I feel better already.  The next time I have blogger's block I'm going to just list ten things on my mind.

An assassination undone

Yesterday morning on my way to work I passed by a storefront near the corner of 40th and 8th Avenue.  It had been vacant for some time but this morning there was brewing buzz of activity around it.  Sometime earlier in the morning an artist had put nicely stenciled letters on the storefront window that read, "THE ASSASSINATION OF HILLARY CLINTON; THE ASSASSINATION OF BARACK OBAMA".
The exhibit turned out to be a short lived statement which is getting much more attention online than in real life, where it was up for only a few hours.  When I passed by I thought about taking a picture but balked.  When I returned a couple hours later the window was covered by construction paper and the artist was at the police station being interrogated by the cops and the secret service.

Later interviewed, the artist said the piece was a reference to character assassination in the media. Seems like a pretty harmless thing to me and it's a shame this guy and his message were so swiftly swept away.  The storefront is directly opposite the New York Times building so at least he caught the attention of his intended audience. 

Read the NY Times' blog post about the whole thing here.

Rear window parking dispute

Last night we were in our living room when we heard some commotion outside.  We looked out our apartment's rear window to see quite the dramatic parking space squabble in progress.

It seems two cars happened upon the same space at roughly the same time.  Each felt a perfect claim to the spot, and each dug in their heels.

One was a silver minivan with an Asian couple.  The other a cherry red Land Rover with two African American girlfriends.  The best part was that each car's passenger walked out to stand as a human road block in front of the other car. 

A perfect stalemate. With nothing but pride and concrete hanging in the balance. Asian vs. Black,  Minivan vs. SUV. Not that their races or car types had anything to do with the fight.  But I could almost see the Daily News article unfolding before my eyes.

There was  lot of yelling and some awesome dissing body language, but it never did come to blows or anything truly newsworthy. So my dream of retiring from a photo journalistic windfall still lives on. 

One side gave up before the cops came.  Can you guess which one?

See the whole set of pics and witness the victor here.

Moving on, moving in

Time to shake things up a bit.  After four years here in the fine city of Denver, we've decided to make a change and move to New York. 

I'm going to miss a lot of people here in Denver.  I've had a fantastic experience at Integer; it's a great place to work with a strong culture and fine people.  I still think it's the best kept secret in the agency world (but becoming less secret all the time).

And I'll miss Coffee Mornings.  But we've got a new host for the coffees: Monique Elwell, a planner-type over at McClain Finlon.  Monique's energy and gift for gab have always served coffees well, and we're really excited to have her step up as host.  Coffee Mornings will continue as usual on the first and third Friday of each month.  Monique will keep the reminders and updates coming. And as always, to join the email list for details on the coffees write to coffeemorningsdenver@gmail.com. 

And Melissa Wilhelm of Sprout Strategy has offered to be the Denver point person for Planning For Good. Another piece of great news as PFG grows. 

For me the time has come for a new challenge, an opportunity to experience and contribute from a different perspective.  So over the last few months I've got to meet a lot of interesting people and agencies in New York, and I'm excited to have found a home in the planning group at R/GA.  My new job starts on Tax Day.

More details on this to come.  But in the meantime take a look at something R/GA launched in Europe for Nokia called the Urbanista Diaries.  I'm pretty biased now but still, it seems a great example of how the future of the marketing campaign might look.  From an R/GA release:

Urbanista Diaries is an extensive three-phase campaign that engages bloggers, journalists, and everyday people in ways that highlight the benefits of the Nokia N82. While the technology for this project is currently in beta, Nokia is partnering with several top media sites such as Wallpaper, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and CNN to document major world events in real time. Reporters are given a Nokia N82 to snap photos, which easily get uploaded to the Internet and positioned on a stylized map-thus allowing people to follow their stories around the world.

More to come as soon when I unpack my computer late next week or so.  I think it's in box 63 or something.  Crap.

Design and the Elastic Mind

If you haven't heard of or seen this exhibit, I'd call it a must if you find yourself in New York sometime between now and May 12 when it closes.  Loads of inspiration and mind fodder for anyone interested in the role of design in an information and technological society.

Among the many wonders on display are instant furniture, nano inventions, and a new piece by Jonathan Harris.

If you can't make it in person, the MoMA's exhibit website is a meaty proxy for it.