Huh. Looks familiar.

The University of What's Next - Portfolio Magazine

I'm linking this article in Portfolio for two reasons: one, its the most indepth approximation of what goes on here. There are a few pieces of misguided publicity-speak (we're not permitted to use the showers), but on the whole the article does a good job. And that's the second reason I'm linking it: it's the most brazenly positive review of the school I've seen. I'm attributing this to the fact that the writer knows Mark Fenske personally.

A Man of Culture #1

While I started this blog with a singular purpose, I've found I really enjoy using it for taste-making (read: sharing the slices of pop culture I've been enjoying.) In an effort to pretend like I'm running a serious publication, I'm going to codify these posts under the "A Man of Culture" heading. Consider this the first official one. I suppose my Top Ten Albums post was #0.

That brings me to Bon Iver (pronounced "bone hee-vair.") An intentional misspelling of the French for "Good Winter", Justin Vernon's one-man psych folk project is persuasive enough to make months of cold cabin-dwelling sound haunting and irresistible.

Take a listen to his recent live performance in Washington, DC. You probably won't regret it.

Bon Iver - Live

From the ashes come Lions

It's no secret that the American automotive industry is having a tough couple decades. SUVs and trucks were saving graces during the 90s, but with eco-guilt becoming a force to be reckoned with, I'm not sure how they're going stay competitive in the next 20 years. Honestly, ask yourself: what would it take to save Ford and GM? What scenario can you envision in which their future will start improving?

Catastrophes of this scale have opportunity written all over them. Brilliant creative alone won't bring these companies back, but GM and Ford are two clients for whom great work could be the difference between life and death. It doesn't even have to be particularly edgy; it just needs to effectively redefine the brands of Chevy and Ford as something other than "greedy", "environmentally dispassionate" and "of poor construction" in the minds of my generation.

I'm not in love with mega-agency Campbell Ewald, but I appreciate what they're trying to do.

Like something out of a dystopian sci-fi...

Quick post to let everyone know about Piclens, a powerful Firefox plugin that I added a few days ago. It lets you scroll through photo sites in a fully immersive environment, exposing your mind to a staggering visual zeitgeist. Invaluable for finding stock photos, but when teamed with a dramatic soundtrack it can be a little frightening. Or maybe I'm just having a fragile day.

Anyway, thanks to whoever scrawled about it on the downstairs whiteboard.

N.I.P.

Had a little Super Bowl party at our house. Reporter and photographer were nice enough to show up. No big deal. It's about ads.

http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=16254