From Winemouse to Manolos, a catch-up on bizarre news

It's been a while. I've been working on various freelance and personal web projects, and in doing so, have given the blog some neglect. So a catchup and a recap, covering the best of whats been missed in the last two weeks.


RSS Amy Winehouse: Might as well jump right into it. In the two/three weeks, Amy Winehouse and social nightmare Pete Doherty released several YouTube videos - two of them playing with newborn mice, and one of Amy accompanying her niece in a cover of Alicia Key's "If I ain't got you." Not only are the films, one dubbed "winemouse" completely bizarre, but evidently Pete Doherty plays his part in the social media web. Bravo, for dishing your own dinner to the tabloids, as animal rights groups go crazy that the drug addicts are playing with live rodents. Of course, in the video, Amy's, um, mouse, makes a plea to Blake ("Daddy") 'not to divorce mummy.' Cause that's not weird.

And in case you haven't been keeping up with the usual string of Amy Winehouse trainwrecks, here's the cliffs notes: Alex Haines, the "clean, good influence" alleged-then-denied lover has been fired from her management agency since a video of him smoking crack cocaine has surfaced. Sound familiar? Winehouse has been confirmed to perform for Nelson Mandela's 90 birthday concert and Glastonbury mainstage, and her lyrics have been included on a Cambridge University final English exam. And while her record label has given an ultimatum that she "play nice" - show up to her own gigs, and not stumble her way though them, she just might make for an American tour this summer. Sign me up.

French Skydiver attempts 15-minute freefall (among other things) A 64-year-old Frenchman, called Michel Fournier, a former colonel of the French army reserve and a parachute officer, has been attempting to break the records for: (1) the fastest and (2) longest free fall, (3) the highest parachute jump and (4) the highest balloon flight. In his jump, from which he hopes to supply data that will help astronauts survive in high altitudes, Fournier will experience a 15-minute freefall at 932 mph from 25 miles (40,000 kilometers) up in the sky. He attempted this on Tuesday, but was foiled again as his balloon carrying him upward got away from him. [MSNBC story...]

Do those numbers even compute?! This guy will be free-falling for 15 minutes - thats half a sitcom - at 1.7 times the speed of sound - from critical altitudes. I'd love to see this. I've long wanted to skydive (though not quite like this), and I've resolved that if I haven't done it by the time I'm married, it'll be done on my honeymoon. Just another criteria for future Mr. Right. Moving on.

From this morning's news, Amazon tribe sighting raises dilemma.
This really stopped me in my tracks. From Reuters: "Dramatic photographs of previously unfound Amazon Indians have highlighted the precariousness of the few remaining "lost" tribes and the dangers they face from contact with outsiders...The bow-and-arrow wielding Indians in the pictures released on Thursday are likely the remnants of a larger tribe who were forced deeper into the forest by encroaching settlement, experts said."

And to think that I found it amazing that a guy my age in a remote town in the very north of Sweden was using Facebook, a property developed during my time in Boston. Compare something like that to these guys, painted red, living in thatched communal huts, and wielding bow-and-arrows to strange things in the sky.

First of all, let's discuss the fact that we're sending aircraft -industrial, mechanical, mysterious metal flying birds- over the villages of Amazon Indians, who have absolutely no contact with the entire civilization we know and live in. Second, it's an interesting debate on how to protect these civilizations - not only for cultural integrity, but experts have said that our illnesses and diseases, even such as the common cold or flu, could wipe these tribes out completely. The tribe photographed here is on the Peru/Brazilian border, where logging and new settlement is beginning to expand, pushing these tribes deeper into the Amazon and closer to, well, extinction. Fascinating. [More...]

The continued saga of Web 2.0 and social media
Mostly due to the fact that I have a lot of time on my hands, and that I'm passionate about the communications industry, but also that I am looking for work, I've been reading a LOT of different sources about social media, the Internet and the current shift in marketing's evolution. In each of my sortof Ad101 classes, my dear professors talked about how each new medium brought about a significant change to marketing and advertising, not only in terms of the media itself, but also the shift in message and understanding of the consumer. The most basic example is the introduction of television advertising, which was predicted to kill off radio and print advertising completely. This change focused on showing and demonstrating the product, and marketers could get truly creative to communicate their ideas. Think: Superbowl ads.

Well, then the Internet came along. Mainstream for 12 years and counting, it's clear we've only recently tapped the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential of the Internet. Business and marketers are still sorting out the business models for social media online, while also: tapping into new audiences, getting closer to consumers, garnering millions of dollars worth of information, and trying to make money. BusinessWeek has released an updated version of its 2005 article on blogs, David Armano is predicting Web 2.0 is "velcro" (an evolution of the dot-com "sticky site" framework), people are going nuts about Twitter (which I still don't find useful or interesting), and political aspirants and marketers alike are trying to figure just how the hell to integrate this new wave of digital strategy into their entire marketing mix.

All this of course, is also emerging at the same time as our depressed economy, and the cultural and economic shift toward turning green, both of which are also shifting marketing messages. Watch an hour straight of primetime television (such as the three-hour LOST finale last night), and notice the changes in the ads.

Sex and Carrie Bradshaw. Yeah, I'm going to see the movie on opening night. What.
The show-turned-movie famous for the three M's (Manolos, martinis and men) is a marketing-to-women milestone. Four independent-minded, style icons drinking premium cocktails, taking luxury vacations, wearing the latest designer fashions, and struggling with the same relationship what-nots that every women suffers over. This show is genius. I won't go on too much about it now, but the early reviews of the movie have been pretty positive.

And, lastly, speaking of New York ladies.. And on a more personal note (hey, it IS my blog...), I'm soon off to NYC for a job interview. Don't want to jinx anything, so no loose lips here, but I'm really looking forward to visiting New York with a "could I really live here?" exploration attitude. Should be fun. AND a dear friend of mine from high school, who I haven't seen in ages, has randomly decided to meet me there for the first few days. Should be a real trip.