That's love

A couple that supports each other in two wildly different career paths, a million books in 11 buildings and an amazing passion for books. What's not to love?

A demented Norman Rockwell

Gregory Crewdson stages events in photographic art, blurring the distinction between reality and fiction. He utilizes the suburban landscape and presents a disturbing view of everyday American life. A critic called him a "demented Norman Rockwell."

I saw his work at the Luhring Augustine a few weeks ago in Manhattan and was immediately fascinated and sucked in by these staged images.



Being a fan of Blue Velvet, my mind always wanders through Crewdson's and Lynch's imagery when driving through beautiful and wide streets in Pasadena - perfectly manicured yards and Old Town USA feel. What happens behind those drapes? What is hidden behind the inviting smile? I wonder.

This is just plain awful

I'm a big Obama fan but all three candidates embarrassed themselves while appealing to the WWE crowd. Are Presidents running for Class President now? What's next? Hillary making out with The Bachelor? McCain on Survivor? Obama on Big Brother? I'm disgusted and appalled what's some call American Politics.







Well, Obama, since I intend to vote for you, consider my following hobbies/affinities: Electronic Music, Wine and Running. Let's run at Griffith Park for an hour, head home, open a bottle of wine and you spin some sweet Obama music at sunset. Deal?

Twistori

Inspired by Wefeelfine, Twistori explores the Twitterverse, pulling tweets containing keywords such as I love, I think, I hate, I believe, I wish and I feel. Explore the feelings of the Twitterverse here.

It's been quiet lately

A lot of traveling. thoughts to share.

I'm in New York now. When I opened my room door today, I saw the USA Today on the doorstep. Why would you read the USA Today in New York? Isn't there a quality, local paper available? It's a mystery to me that USA has record circulations and insightful papers are losing readerships left and right? Don't you get all the news in the USA Today hours before on the Web? I don't think there's a lot of analysis happening in the colorful fish wrap. Or is it our snack mentality that makes USA Today so attractive to people?

How German am I?

Neat little test, comparing my lifestyle with the average Hans. Let's see (I took the male test):

- I get up before 6am. Germans get up 6.23am
- I take 10 minutes in the bathroom, the average German more than 26 minutes. German women take only 3 minutes more
- I'm optimistic in the morning. 79% of Germans as well
- I can cook. Just like 80% of German men.
- I watch around 2 hours of TV a day. Germans watch 3.5 hours
- Biggest shock: I think women should continue working after having a baby. Only 38% agree with me.
- I participated in demonstrations. Only 44% of Germans did the same
- I wouldn't defend Germany in the case of a way. I'm in the minority: 62% of Germans
- I go to be around 10.30 pm. Almost average: Germans go to bed at 10.47pm

Well, I only scored 4 points. I'm not an average German. I should give my passport back. Oh wait...

Social Media Rap

Chuck at Pop Labs raps about social media:

I surf the web, I used to watch TV
now I'm logged into Joost, it's commercial free
lets see where I want to go
and who I want to know
connecting people with people with web 2.0
I don't use email unless I'm at my job
want the next post, I subscribe to the blog
I'm easy to find
I'm always online
social networking sites, I think I have nine
I use myspace to promote my music
I get friends and album sales that's how I do it
but tell me have you heard
about the new word
something like myspace but they call it virb
always something new, I'm a start creatin
I'll make a brand new facebook application
uploading pictures and mp3's
update my profile and hit ctrl D
can't stop what I started, it's getting ridiculous
social book mark it, add it del.icio.us
some can't take it but I just can't quit
go to Imeem and listen to my playlist
watching videos on my You Tube channel
clickin so much, my mouse smoking like a candle
I'm online for hours, addicted to the power
10 tabs open on a firefox browser
I must be going crazy cause I can't get enough
I guess I'm addicted to social media

What seems small to you might make a big difference

When you work in media, you receive a lot of junk during the holidays: Cups, mugs, blankets - you name it.
Yahoo! sent me a certificate for a charity and I donated $100 to a school through DonorsChoose.org. The second grade classroom needed literature for their classroom library. The school itself doesn't have a library and no books. (Don't get me started on the state of the US education system.) The teacher asked for $580 for books on tape, classroom library furniture and a listening center.

Last Friday I received a little package from DonorsChoose.org, containing Thank you letters from the kids and pictures.







It warmed my heart that this little donation made such a difference.
$100 can buy you a nice dinner for 2. Or change lives.

Thanks for the concern

I received quite a few emails about my cruel April Fools joke. We're not going anywhere. Above the reason why we stay. (A trip from LA to NY compressed in 4 minutes.) Who wants to leave such a beautiful country?

Going back to the roots

It took sleepless nights, evenings filled with discussions and a lot of thinking but we finally decided to leave the US and move back to Germany. No, it's not the beer or the sausages or the amazing German humor. It's more the realization that I miss the homeland quite a bit and I would love for my wife and daughter to experience Germany first hand. We'll see where our journey takes us. But for now, the first stop will be Germany.

Stay tuned.

Autism and Second Life

Since the first wave of Second Life mania has subsided, the virtual world starts to be utilized by various groups for what it really is: A platform to communicate with other people. Above is an incredible story how Second Life helps people with autism. I'm hopeful Facebook will become less of an advertising tool and more of a people tool.

CNN Story

Are you ready?

March 29 has always been an important date: Cy Young and John Tyler were born. The last US soldiers leave South Vietnam in 1973. And the War of the Roses basically ends in 1461.

But March 29, 2008 will be even more monumental. Actually, it's your job to make it monumental:

Just like Joseph Jaffe a few months ago, The Age of Conversation will bumrush the Amazon charts on tomorrow.

If you don't know about 'The Age of Conversation', get all the details here and find more about the Bumrush on Drew's blog.

And, please help the bumrush by checking out this Fresh Peel Post.

Most importantly, buy the book tomorrow.

Stupid client quotes

Didn't get your daily fill yet? Check out Clientcopia for more than 6,000 stupid client quotes.

Hilarious

Charlie Brooker from BBC 4 comments on the biggest c***s and she-c***s in advertising. (Note: Strong language)



It gets even better.

Insights

Let's be frank here: Insights are basically the understanding of human insecurities. (Some would call it exploitation.)

Just think about the Wonderbra and the current beauty ideal of silicone-enhanced models. Or cars that help you get over your insecurity that you never became the man you wanted to be. Or the advent of energy drinks in a world that expects you to be on 24/7.

Brands can help people deal with their insecurities. Once in a while we all need a crutch. Unless the crutch becomes more important than the individual, we have nothing to worry about.