six simple rules for changing you life (always wanted to write tabloid headlines)

take a look at the clip. It's from a documentary called Air guitar Nation. It follows the ups and downs of random people chasing the title of world champion air guitar. The doco in itself is one of the funniest, hartwarming pieces of movie I've seen in a long time.

But it also reveals a simple framework forward in a world where parity in all aspects of our lives triggers a pavlov-esque reaction of buying ourselves out of blandness.

perhaps a bit simplistic, but it comes down to a couple of things:

1. the act is the reward
2. the act can not be bought or have a physical manifestation of it's reward
3. finding others to enjoy it with you ( we do stuff so others can see, let's be honest about that)
4. being a member comes at a price (monetary + participatory)
5. doing something that requires you to have a point of view (satisfiying our inate desire to be different among likeminded )
6. the act has real and symbolic meaning to you and the group (think dieting, walking for elders, digital bingo etc..)

This it not new, but it seems like an effective business model on a small scale. Air guitar is making money (be it to mostly to cover cost like venue and travel). And local seems the future, from enviromental points of view, so why focus on physical scaling of businesses (scaling digital beats its hands down)?

So go out do something that makes you smile and better for it, do it together and enjoy..

Just some thoughts

have a nice weekend

weapon of choice pt 3: shades of grey

this is Killer Mike and this is the cover of his street album: I plegde allegiance to the grind vol I.





this is Young Jeezy's new single ft Mr West.



Good music, music I like to listen to. but that's not the point.

It's those black American flags.

It's how they are able to capture feelings (that I myself as an second generation immigrant had/have) of growing ambiguity in life, that to often get's confused with apathy. On the one hand they (getto peeps in jeezy's clip) are America's second class citizens, but on the other it's home nonetheless. It's a place people die for, but don't love living.

The black flags shout out: It's not that I don't love you , it's just that I don't care. Make me care again!

It's the Yoshimura Kanichiro principle if you will. By individualizing ourselves from clans, tribes, society we have become ronins, serving those who meet our needs. Yet this way of living is also a constant reminder that at the end of the day, though we might live for ourselves, for money or for things, it's in our sacrifice for others (those we might not like even) that we find our purpose.

I'll leave the obvious brand lesson unwritten..

p.s. on the subject of ambiguity, nation pride etc...here is an interview with basketball star Carmelo Anthony that touches on some of those issues.

one for the books

filed this one under..."hé I thought of that also a while back, but different. "

still a nice idea: blank2clothe