what if...loaded words + ambiguity = interesting t.v.?

A little concept (kinda candid camera meets talk show meets gonzo porn) I have been playing with and can't quite make work yet..

Here it is:

You get a host and you make him put on a t-shirt. On it he has a word. Just one word. Say, Halliburton or Tibet or Abortion. that's it. And he walks the city. Waiting for someone to approach him and ask what he means by wearing the shirt. Better yet u get some one coming up and taking a stand pro or against the word.

The host than takes the opposite view and tries to start a semi spontanious debate with passers by.

What I like:
the thought of ambiguity. A word in itself is just that. a word. But the implicit connatations attached to it are your's. So by not being overtly pro or against we can play with the implicit connatations.

the fact that it's legal and democratic with a twitst. It's legal to wear a shirt with the word abortion on it right dead center in Vatican City. Would have to check the facts, but a shirt with the just the word Jihad is not illegal to wear in Down town New York or at Capitol Hill.

the p to p effect. I kinda see it as a possible thing for everybody to contribute to. Whatever you feel you wanna debate, do it by putting just one word on a shirt, check if it's legal and start a debate, film it and send it in.

What I don't like:

The businessmodel. Can't see how I am to make money of it. It's basically a creative comms format.

That's it...so if anybody wan't to shoot some holes in it, please do..

the festival to end all festivals

Today the Guca Sabor, aka the best fucking festival in the world, begins.

For those with any knowlegde of Eastern Europen music, know this is the highlight of the year...

For those who don' t know, now you know..

I'll take that Pepsi test with any festival, so bring it on if you think you can hang

note to self: solve right problems

not to self: sometimes a blue ocean is just water

"There is a gap in the market, but is there a market in the gap?"

Peter Jones

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