Best Oscars in recent memory + Apple’s marketing genius + snowball fights are fun
Last night’s Oscars were one of the best I can remember. From a quick sample today, I think this may NOT be the prevailing opinion, but I suspect it’s only because nobody else paid enough attention during the show, which was captivating from start to finish. Ellen’s brave opening monologue was hilarious from her quip “where would Hollywood be without Jews, Blacks and Gays?” to her recognition of diversity at the awards, including Steve Carell as one example. One of her best lines of the night was comparing Jennifer Hudson to Al Gore. America didn’t vote for Hudson on American Idle and America did vote for Gore, but that didn’t stop them both from being nominated for Oscars (and later won). She called nominees out relentlessly, but also knew her audience well enough to hit home runs when it mattered. The end of her opening monologue bringing out the Soweto Gospel Choir was a bold move (don’t know if it was her idea or not), and one that also fit in well with the diversity theme. During the show, the shadow dancers were awesome, the special effects choir was mind-boggling and the musical clown skit with Will Farrell was hysterical. While many people I asked didn’t see the commercials thanks to Tivo and DVR, they missed out on an incredibly creative campaign from Apple for the iPhone. I’ve embedded the video below. Finally, to end the night, my friends and I went outside for a monster snowball fight that drew in neighbors as well as passing cars and trucks. All in all, that’s gotta be one of the most fun Academy Awards shows of all time.
Chatrooms 2.0 - Skype Live, micro-performances, social networking and pedophilia sting ops
I was testing out the new version of Skype yesterday, clicking around the "Live" tab and trying Skypecasts, still in beta mode, to see what they offered. I stumbled into music cafe, largely because it was the only venue with any significant crowd. The group was very international…Bianca from Honduras, Johan from S. Africa, Suzanne from Malaysia and Inbal from Israel among others. I envisioned myself in some far-off cafe with a group of travelers from distant corners of the world. Without warning, someone in Romania, presumably our host, started repeating "hello, hello, hello" at 4-second intervals which a severe echo. It reminded me of the scene in Independence Day after Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum save the world and then struggle to establish scratchy reception with headquarters back on Earth. Eventually our host explained that he was about to perform a concert with his guitar, "some blues and rock & roll," he told. Then, he played a few songs, and the sound quality thankfully improved. Unfortunately, most of the room’s inhabitants lost interest and left somewhere between the third and fourth ditty. Around this time, Laura from the UK, also in the cafe, contacted me directly asking to chat. After a few messages back and forth, she asked my age. "31" I told her, "how about you?" "14." "Oh, I better get back to work now, this is probably a bad idea [on many levels]." "Yeah, I know," she said. When I closed the window, Skype asked me if I wanted to add any of the group’s members as contacts. A nice twist on social networking, but I respectfully declined.
The digitization of money…and passports
The Economist wrote an article in this week’s issue about the digitization of money over the next few years and how the U.S. presidents and British prime ministers assigned to new currency may have short-lived circulation (something perhaps well-deserved of our current leader). The EU estimates that it spends $65 billion a year to service cash transactions!! And I’m sure this doesn’t include the $20 bills that fall out of our pant pockets or disintegrate in the wash. This digitization may be one of the most
significant advancements enabled by the internet yet. With the added convenience,
however, also comes significantly increased tracking of our spending behavior and possibly less anonymity, something that cash provides. This is great for marketers, but not so good for Tony Soprano. Somewhat ironically, Citibank has been at the forefront of the movement from my perspective. I was impressed by the digital subway token called PayPass that automatically debits your bank account which they distributed to customers earlier this year (pictured here). A few months later, they sent me a radio frequency random password generator to login to my business account. I read this week that Paypal is following their lead. For a company that I generally associate with poor customer service and antiquated technology, this was a nice surprise.
Another area that is long overdue for digitization is immigration and specifically, passports. The concept of carrying a little book around with stamps from each country you visit seems completely ridiculous in this age. How much more efficient would it be to create a token or card that stores your personal information in a central database and tracks your every move? America, along with most countries, still issue paper visas that are glued into non-citizen passports. For my upcoming trip to Australia, I applied for a visa online. It was not only granted, but also applied to my passport electronically. When I recently called to confirm my seat assignments (its a long flight), the Kiwi on the other end (I’m flying Air NZ) checked and confirmed that the visa had been attached (virtually) to my passport. That’s efficiency!!
AnswerTips now available to bloggers!!
We released AnswerTips to the public today!! Its been live on CBS News and a few other sites (including this one) for several weeks, but this is the first time we are releasing it for public consumption by bloggers and other micro publishers. The neat thing about this tool is that it provides remote access to the 4+ million topics covered by Answers.com by making every word on your page live. Visitors can double-click any word to launch an Answer Bubble (or caption window…about 1/4 the size of an average browser window) that give definitions, explanations or general background info. We also think it keeps users on the page longer since they have less need to go search for info on a new topic that they come across. One of the challenges is educating the visitor that the tool exists and for this we are providing small icons that appear on the page. Mine is on the top of the sidebar. Enjoy it and please let me know what you think.
First wipeout of the year, first comparison to Derek Jeter
Walking to the subway this morning, I executed a nice wipeout crossing the street. It was one of those slides where a save is not even worth considering. By the time the thought would have crossed my mind, I was already making snow angels in the middle of the street. The woman behind me extended a hand asking if I was okay. I thought that was the extent of my embarassment. Then, on the other side of the street, some guy rolled down his window and yelled out, “You look like Derek Jeter…Safe!!” Thanks dude. I’ll take a comparison to Jeter any day.
Jah live in Jamaica - Musings from a “buck’s weekend” and Smile Jamaica Concert
Spent the weekend at a buck’s night in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Buck’s night is Australian for bachelor party. We flew down Friday morning and were back for dinner Sunday. All six of us on the trip had a phenomenal time, something not easily accomplished on these quick group getaways. We logged some quality time at the pool/beach and ate some yummy home-cooked Jamaican meals courtesy of the lovely staff who worked at the home we rented. The highlight of the weekend, however, was undoubtedly the Smile Jamaica Concert that we stumbled upon Saturday night. After a few phone calls earlier in the day by one of the group who had some connections in the music biz, we spent the night as VIPs mingling with the Marley brothers and other celebs backstage. Bob Marley died February 6, 1945 and this concert is held annually the same week in tribute. The location was Nine Mile – a town in St. Ann parish, a solid 75 min from the coast in Northwest Jamaica. It was not a touristy bunch. In fact, we were some of the few tourists among the several thousand in attendance and virtually the only ones backstage, save a few photographers. This made the night all the more special. I’m still amazed that from a three-hour flight and two-hour drive, it’s entirely possible to experience extreme diversity of culture. I think most of us felt like we were in some sort of dream most of the night, fully awestruck by the environment. There is a lot about Jamaican culture that I find fascinating. For instance, Bob’s 80–something year old mother sat sidestage until the final performer began at 4:15am!! That’s just not something I can imagine seeing in America. I’ve also been intrigued by rastafarians since I discovered reggae around 6th or 7th grade, although it’s the type of lifestyle that I wasn’t convinced actually existed. Well, guess what?….it does.
This photo is with the first guy we met at Nine Mile. The second is backstage with some guys who sat there the entire show rolling these funny cigarettes.
“Is religion built upon lies?” Authors Harris and Sullivan engage in one of first online debates
Sam Harris, author of the bestseller The End of Faith and Andrew Sullivan, author of The Conservative Soul have been engaging in a sharp online debate since January 16 on the value of organized religion in today’s society. In what must be one of the most publicized online debates yet, Harris is defending his position that all religion is built on a pack of lies while Sullivan – a gay devout Catholic – is defending the virtues of religion, while distinguishing moderates from the more fundamentalist groups around the world. Personally, as someone who invests and divests from religion over time, I find this debate thrilling. I’m also intrigued by the rise in anti-religious writing and philosophy of late that these two ends of the spectrum represent. I find it very cool that they are using a website – Beliefnet – as the forum to showcase such a debate, allowing readers to follow and comment in real time. The internet is a perfect medium for such an exchange, but debating is one area that hasn’t gained much traction online. Might this be a new trend? With the 2008 election on the horizon, I can foresee Hillary and Barack battling head-to-head online a few months from now as the Democratic primaries draw near. I can’t wait.
Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, James Brown…and the end of a musical era
Has anyone else made the connection between Ray Charles, Johnny Cash and most recently, James Brown, who have all left this world over the past few years? After Ray and Walk the Line, it was hard for me not to think of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash together. I have little doubt that a new film, maybe entitled Its a Man’s World, will begin development soon. I wonder who will play the lead character - Denzel? Will Smith? By the way, this James Brown interview from 2006 is hilarious, if you haven’t already seen it.
What these three artists have in common and why their passing is so significant is that they each single-handedly created their own genres that bridged existing music categories. And they each did it in their own way. Ray Charles combined gospel, blues and rock & roll to create timeless sweet melodies that appeal to a strikingly broad audience. Last week, I was reminded of his version of America, The Beautiful from 1972 and I couldn’t stop listening to it for days. Johnny Cash had a totally distinctive voice and blended country, folk and rock into his soulful sound. And the godfather of soul? Let’s just say I felt blessed to stumble upon one of his last shows in Savanna’s Forsythe Park in May of 2005. Every musician who has dabbled in funk has borrowed a page from Mr. Dynamite. I feel like the majority of musicians today are not pushing the boundaries and defining new categories the way these three did. I dont know if it’s a sign of the times or that there aren’t as many directions left to go (I doubt the latter), but that makes these musicians and others of this era musical treasures. Arethra Franklin, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul Simon and Dr. John are some others, still living, who may share their company.
“Liquid Evil Made Nice” wins chili cook-off! Going for three-peat in 2008…
The 2nd annual super bowl chili cook-off is in the books and this year brought out some unique creations. There was a Smokey Hobo Bean mix submitted by Kevin. Also, an overnight-simmered Nobody’s Fool Wheatberry Delight from Jessi. But for the second year in a row, I think my Liquid Evil Made Nice (adapted from Liquid Evil) took home the crown, in what may represent the first sport over which I can confidently proclaim some dominance. Granted, there were no official judges or voting and two entrants dropped out at the last minute, but the whispers around the room all echoed in unison…Liquid Evil reigned supreme. The recipe called for an absurd variety and quantity of peppers - pablano, jalapeno, habanero and others, half of which are still in a sealed plastic bag, and a quarter of which were chopped then tossed in the trash after realizing what might be in store. Apparently Nebraskans can hold their spice:) The 25% that I chopped and peeled (sadly gloveless) caused such burning and irritation on my fingers, I was uncomfortable most of the night. A few of my fingers are tingly today….cooking lesson learned.