Media

It’s the Fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer

Posted by ngreene on Aug 30, 2010 in Featured, Media

I had a moment the other day where I directly related a movie quote to a moment in my life.

This happens to me quite often, possibly because I keep a repertoire of quotes in my mind for just such occasions, but this time it happened to me all alone in a parking lot with no one around to hear the quote.

I still said it out loud and laughed to myself about the perfection of the delivery. You might have guessed the quote by now, it was: “It’s the Fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer!” from the movie Step Brothers. For those that haven’t seen the movie, it is an exclamation given by a number of characters toward the end of the movie to acknowledge a moment that was unexpected, but incredibly awesome.

For me, that moment happened in the parking lot because it had rained and the seat for my motorcycle was soaked, but I was prepared because I keep a small towel in my daypack and this was the first time it had ever been a useful thing to carry. My decision to include that towel as part of my “everyday carry” kit had immediately become validated!

The problem with using movie quotes is that, sometimes, when you think of something really witty on the spot, you get the laugh and then you get asked: “What is that quote from?”. Essentially, one can be seen as a one trick pony that isn’t creative enough to come up with their own stuff.

This got me thinking about what makes some things funny and others fall flat. My argument is that delivering one-liners, and just being socially funny in general, takes three things working in concert to create comedic gold:

1) The Writing – It’s got to be relevant and its got to be snappy. It needs to be easily understood and it needs to roll off the tongue smoothly. It needs to be relevant to the audience, even if that audience is just yourself. It’s the line or story that is funny, not the person who originally conceived of it in the first place.

2) The Delivery – You can’t blame your audience if you are working with the good writing. Whether it’s planned, quoted, or impromptu, good writing is good writing. Its all a matter of how you deliver the lines. There’s a technical aspect to consider with your individual ability and confidence to deliver and the choices that you make. Is it funnier to deliver in your normal tone, or do you use a character voice? Is your character voice going to draw a reaction? For example, do you use a “bigger” version of your usual voice or do you choose a voice that is so different from yours that it turns heads because its unexpected; or are you talented enough to mimic the exact line as delivered by the original character? Also, you need to consider the context of your environment. If you deliver an inside one-liner to a crowd you will get crickets from all of the outsiders.

3) The Timing – There are two elements to timing. First, consider that “there is a time and a place for everything”. The same story told at a funeral and around a campfire can elicit very different reactions so you need to have a social conscience to be funny, not offensive. And, of course, there’s the timing of your delivery. If you’re out with friends and have a great comment, but nobody hears it, you’ve missed your opportunity. Even worse, someone else can re-deliver your brilliant writing to pull great laughs moments later when the timing is perfect.

If any one of these elements is weak or missing, the hilarity does not ensue.

I may not be the best writer, but my timing and delivery are generally pretty decent. A stark comparison is my wife, who has incredibly smart and witty writing, but her timing and delivery can be hit or miss.

We often argue about which of us is funnier, but I realize now that we usually get the best laughs when I steal one of her one-liners and just execute it a little better.

My Digital Identity

Posted by ngreene on May 28, 2010 in Featured, Media

Have you ever tried Googling yourself?

If not, I recommend it.

You need to be aware of what people who search for you will find, good and bad.

I recently realized that, even with what I consider to be a fairly unique name, I wasn’t one of the first things that comes up when Googled. It turns out that I share my name with a Christian visual artist, a professional golfer, a prominent American General, and when you add my city into the search, a local rapist.

Taking control of my digital identity became important to me. First of all, I wanted to be found where people are looking for me. I have public access profiles on facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo (no idea if this has any value), foursquare, brightkite, and now this blog site.

I didn’t expect to pop up in search results right away, but it turns out that Google is pretty quick at picking up the blog if you use the right search terms. Surprisingly, I get Google, Yahoo and Bing referred traffic every day.

So, I know that I want to be able to be found with the right kind of information when someone is looking for me. And I know that in order to be found I need to live at least part of my life in a publicly accessible way. Which brings me to a new challenge. What are the repercussions of living a more public life?

Let’s muddle through some of the pros and cons:

On the pros side, I am starting to show up when people look for me. You still need to dig a bit, and you need to choose the right search terms, but I am now findable. I would love to overtake one of my namesakes, but that will take some time given the head start they’ve had.

Another pro is that it’s an easy way for people to get to know me, or get to know me better. Despite being able to see the daily analytics of the types of people reading my blog, I’m always surprised to hear from someone in real life about what they thought of one of my posts.

On the cons side, I need to assume that absolutely anybody who can be offended by anything that I have to say will read my blog. I also have to assume that anything that can be interpreted offensive in any way, will be interpreted that way.

I’ve also learned that my time commitments to other things can come into question. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had someone challenge me as to how much time I spend writing as opposed to other obligations. The fact is that I could easily be spending 10x as much time as I do writing on home renovations, playing games, working after hours, exercising, riding my motorcycle, or just hanging out with friends and nobody would have any idea whatsoever.

With the exception of my wife, nobody could possibly be around me enough to know how I spend my personal time, nor should anyone justifiably have an opinion on the matter. The problem with having a public blog is that it seems like an easy target because it’s available. The irony to me is that I actually do most of my writing either in bed or in moments when I am stuck somewhere waiting for something, and usually on either the iPhone or iPad using the WordPress App. I always have 5-10 entries in the can at various states of readiness and I always schedule my new posts to publish at 12:30pm on the release date. I often forget that a new post is up because my day is busy.

I can see a future where everyone has to have some sort of digital identity. You can get away without being completely digital today, but I don’t think that is going last for much longer. When someone is looking for something, they Google it. Why not go one step further and make all people Googlable?

Eventually, there will be more of us who want to access information about people digitally than people who fear what that digital access means. I’ve said before that I am willing to share certain information with corporations and governments so that I can have a more relevantly personalized digital experience.

I am also willing to sacrifice some private thoughts and opinions in order to be found in a meaningful way when something I have to say strikes a chord with another person, whether I know them or not, and whether they agree with me or not.

The LOST Finale

Posted by ngreene on May 27, 2010 in Media

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock in Supai, you know that the final episode of LOST happened this week.

I had a master plan to watch the finale: alone, on the big screen in my living room, silently devouring every scene with my eyes and ears.

For me, LOST is a very personal experience because so much of the show is open to interpretation and I don’t want other folks discussing their perceptions while I’m trying to formulate my own.

Then, Susie found little serving vessels made from banana leaves and she got excited about all of the themed foods and drinks that would go well with LOST.

Now, Susie has seen many LOST episodes, but not all. She knows all of the major players, but not some of the nuances of the show. But I do enjoy her company at all times, and I realized that she knew it was important to me to watch the final episode.

So I altered my plan … I would allow her to join me, under the condition that she save all questions for the end of the show and allow me to pay attention as intensely as I intended.

Then, moments later, while excitedly telling someone on the phone about the banana serving vessels, she told the other participant that they were for her LOST finale party. After I shot her a quick look of concern, she continued: “which means just Nathan & I watching LOST”, with a smile.

One by one, people were added to the list, always with the caveat that they had to agree to total silence during the two hour pre-show and two and a half hour final episode. Then the calls started to come from some of the attendees to negotiate. In the end I agreed that there could be questions from some of the non-losties who were jumping on the bandwagon to be part of an event that pretty much defines the end of televisions best show, but only during the two hour pre-show.

When I got home for the event, I found that Susie and her helpers had already done everything that could be done to prep. She even had a menu so that we all knew what was coming. As usual, there was way too much food, but it was all delicious! I was welcomed at the door with a “I Survived Flight 815 – tini”, served in a half coconut shell.

She had chosen a whole series of dishes “inspired” by LOST. We started with Sayid’s Samosas and Sun’s Gyoza, moved on to Mr Cluck’s Fried Chicken and some marinated and grilled Tuna & Mahi Mahi steaks, served with a Cilantro and Mango Salsa. I was amazed at how fast the Sawyer’s Hot Dogs and the Coconut Coated Chicken Satays were gulped down. The finishing dessert was a sumptuous Caramelized Pineapple slice with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Despite being full beyond belief, we all had dessert.

Going into the evening I had already arranged a multiple option backup plan in case the LOST Party turned into the usual “drink’em up” with everybody talking and nobody watching the show, but it turned out that everyone really was there to watch the show. I am glad that I had the parachute, just in case this evening denigrated to what the same group turned a civilized night of food sampling and Julie & Julia into on a previous occasion. (ask me about it some time)

In the end the LOST Party was perfect. Great food, Great friends, and a great finale.

Liquid Mountaineering

Posted by ngreene on May 13, 2010 in Media

I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this sport.

If you have the patience to sit through this entire video I highly recommend it. I love the use of a jetski to increase the amount of speed before hitting the water.

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today’s Big Thing.

Seriously though … I’m looking for people who want to recreate this at some point this summer. All I need is someone with a video camera and a few people willing to walk on water.

I just lost The Game

Posted by ngreene on May 12, 2010 in Media

The Game.

Do you have any idea what I am talking about?

Either way, I just lost it.

I’ve only known that I’m playing The Game for a few months now, but it’s becoming a bit of an obsession.

All of a sudden I see hints and cues from The Game in the subtext of society at every turn.

The Game has three rules and then a series of “guidelines” that may or may not be followed.

The Rules

Everybody, everywhere is playing The Game, whether they know it or not.
If you think about The Game, then you lose The Game. The objective is to win The Game by not thinking about it.
When you lose The Game, you must announce your loss.

The “guidelines” are extremely varied and may or may not be followed by players. Some examples are below:

A player cannot lose The Game more than once in 30 minutes
A players secondary objective is to sabotage other players
The Game is over if the current Prime Minister of Britain goes on international television and announces that he has lost The Game

The origin of The Game is not 100% clear. Some say The Game has been around since the beginning of time. Others say it started with three scholars discussing game theory when one of them challenged the others with an unwinnable game.

In any case, I wrote this post after losing The Game and now you, too, have lost, possibly for the first time ever.

Social Media by the Numbers

Posted by ngreene on Mar 26, 2010 in Media

I found a great Twitter post today and I immediately bookmarked the link, but couldn’t find the post again when I looked for it.

This is the best collection of Social Media Infographics I have ever seen. I’ve actually seen a lot of these on Mashable, but not in such an easy to use format.

Click on the image below to go to the collection:

I’m putting this post up as much so that I can find it later for use in presentations and to win arguments as I am posting it to share something interesting.

The Future of Marketing

Posted by ngreene on Mar 24, 2010 in Media

Advertising is a constantly changing world. There’s always something new and exciting right around the corner.

Today, over and above what is considered “traditional” media, advertisers have a plethora of options in the digital space at home, in the office, or on the go. Advertisers can connect with people in real life with experiential marketing and good old word of mouth advertising is making a big come back with the increased use of social networking.

The changes seem unending and sometimes a little overwhelming, but I have to admit that, as a consumer, I am starting to look forward to some of the new technologies that have to be getting very close.

For example, I carry an iPhone. This handy device, and most of the smartphones on the market today, have built in GPS capabilities, internet access, and an ability to be constantly connected. Today, almost nobody is taking advantage of the fact that I am carrying around a device that could be providing me with location based opportunities.

I think the game Foursquare is just the beginning of location-based marketing. I think in a few short years the company who figures out the best way to get users to announce their presence and request opportunities to receive location-based advertising will be the next big player.

For those who are not familiar with Foursquare, it is a very simple game: you “check-in” whenever you go somewhere, and you earn “points” and “badges” for every activity that you complete. You get a few points for doing the same things every day and you get bonus points for going to new places, adding in locations to the Foursquare database, or for random fun stuff such as the Bender badge for going out to bars four nights in a row.

Where it gets interesting is when you start to add a few “friends”. Once you have a network, you start to get their locations pushed to your device when they check in. And when you go to a location that a friend has been, you can receive “tips” about that location as you arrive. Sometimes the tip is a point of interest, but sometimes the tip is a recommendation that might even be relevent to you, such as “try the chicken wings, best in the city”.

Now imagine that businesses can tap into users as they volunteer to announce that they are arriving with some sort of beacon. I would love to “check in” at a restaurant and be sent a message telling me what the specials are for the evening. Or walk into a movie theatre and be sent a message of how many open seats are availabe in each theatre when I am choosing which movie to watch.

All of a sudden opportunites are tailored to me at a time and place where I can take advantage of them.

Now let’s take it a step further. I imagine Google coming up with the next part simply because they are the only company that I trust enough to be able to pull it off. Imagine being able to cut out some of the advertising noise that we are bombarded with every day. Depending on which source you choose to believe, North Americans are exposed to 3,000 to 5,000 ad impressions per day across all media that we are exposed to as we live our lives.

I would love to be able to give information about myself to a company like Google and have them truly tailor my digital and mobile experience to my interests. This would inherently need to be a multi pronged approach:

1) Let me tell advertisers who I am (age, sex, life stage, job function, demography, etc), what I am interested in, what types of decisions I make, and what my attitudes are towards a useful set of parameters.

2) Let me choose to share my location when I am willing

3) Track my search behaviour to predict changes to my status (e.g. If I search for baby strollers, I’m either about to have a baby or want to be able to be a resource to someone else who needs that information)

4) Serve me up with ads that are extremely relevant, wherever I am and from whatever device I choose to consume media.

5) Allow me to override any information that I do not find useful and refine the relevance of what is being served to me as frequently as I wish. Ideally, the more feedback I give, the more relevant the advertising to me could be.

6) Keep my information, both shared and derived, private so that no individual, corporation, or government can possibly access that information.

The privacy piece is the biggest concern with this coming to fruition, but I feel confident that Canada is on the forefront when it comes to privacy issues and that the right company (ahem… Google) could actually pull something like this off.

I predict that the combination of voluntary user participation in the consumption of advertising, combined with an increased prominence of location-based marketing will be absolutely huge once someone figures out how to do it properly.

Jesus, Man

Posted by ngreene on Mar 22, 2010 in Media

I don’t know how I missed this before now, but I’ve probably watched this about 30 times tonight.

This video is something I came across on Today’s Big Thing and it was a real WTF moment so, of course, I had to figure out where it came from and what the context could possibly have been for this scene.

Within 5 minutes I had two great discoveries:

1) This is the final scene for a movie called Second Glance, made in 1992 with the following tagline:

Dan Burgess is a Christian. Dan Burgess thinks he’s not impacting anyone for the LORD. Dan Burgess thinks he’s missing out on “all the fun”. Dan Burgess wants out of the Christian life. Then… one day… Dan Burgess is forced to take a [Second Glance]

Second Glance Trailer: