in austin

Down in Texas enjoying Austin for a long weekend. Not that it will affect my frequency of posting much as of late. We're going to just miss the Black Crowes at one of the nicest venues around - The Backyard - on Monday night. That makes me feel a little cheated, the airline should have let us know about the show back when we were booking flights.

a culture of one

We were out doing some shopping today and I noticed several people with earbuds in, listening to their iPod while they looked through the racks. This has been touched on before by Fallon's planners (here and here), and it seems a more and more common thing now. After originally being a little mystified by this anti-social behavior, I think I'm putting the earbuds in next time I'm shopping solo. The in-store music is generally awful, and why would we really want to talk to the store cashiers if all they're after is the upsell?

And along these same lines, I'm starting to despise the bluetooth-cell-phone-in-public crowd. I did a double-take several times today thinking someone was talking with me... they caught me off guard again and again. Maybe one day we'll all be walking around talking into our bluetooth things, with a roar of noise that sounds very social, but just the opposite is happening -- everyone is talking to someone miles away. We should make cards that are even more vicious for these folks.

running up a wall and flipping

Just came across this wikihow tutorial on how to run up a wall and flip. There's also one for your friends.


Out of all those tips, seems like this one is the key, and it's relevant to just about everything else in life:

"Envisioning making it IS important. If you can't see it happening and put the full effort into it, you probably won't. Have confidence."

looking at things differently

Have a look at this site for some great examples of looking at a common thing a little bit differently. The artist, Craig Kanarick, took several photographs of candy in different layouts. It's kind of older, but worth checking out, as he keeps updating with new prints.

popurls

We're in hyper new-business mode and it's putting a serious drain on my writing here. That whole process is a story for another post, after I go through a couple of those things.

Even when I'm down, this site makes me feel good: popurls. It compiles all the del.icio.us and digg-type sites, flickr, youtube, and more into one beautifully-laid out webpage. The site has quickly taken over the spot previously held by Yahoo!'s most emailed news stories as my morning read to find out what people are talking about. Thanks to Jordan at Arnold Boston for the tip.

stunning portraits on flickr

Visit stoneth's flickr page for some incredible portraits of people living in poverty, mainly in San Francisco.

Don't really know what else to say on these, everyone'll get something different out of it...

ethnography

Articles like this in Business Week can only be a good thing for us to start moving clients into more interesting types of research, like the ethnography. There's also a slideshow of cool stuff that has come out of ethnographic research. I get the feeling that we'll all be working for IDEO someday... which is not a bad thing at all, in face it would be loads of fun. Seems like they have the ability to catch the CEO's ear better than most agencies.

smiles per hour

What a great way to think about driving: smiles per hour

"The most cheerful driver on the road is female, aged 24 or less, driving a green coloured VW Beetle on a sunny day, listening to Bob Marley while chewing sugar free gum and looking forward to a date."


Music heavily influences the driver's mood, with reggae and oldies leading the way in making more people smile. The article also lists a "feelgood" top ten that is spot-on except for "Mr. Wendel" by Arrested Development:

• Three Little Birds (Don’t Worry ‘Bout a Thing) - Bob Marley
• Don’t Worry, Be Happy - Bobby Fearon
• Music Sounds Better with You - Stardust
• Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar
• Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
• Come Up and See Me, Make Me Smile - Steve Harley
• Man I Feel Like a Woman - Shania Twain
• Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
• Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
• Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen