“While sales at most stores plummeted last month, the teenage retailer Hot Topic enjoyed a 6.5 percent gain, thanks mostly to brisk sales of gear inspired by “Twilight,” the teenage vampire movie.” (NY Times)

Enjoy MC Lars’ “Hot Topic is not punk rock“

Forget all the electro-pop music. Forget the puns, the in-jokes, the blunt comparisons with other auto manufacturers.

The new VW ad, to launch on Saturday, lays the challenge squarely on the shoulders of VW’s own designers.

And rips off the Keanu Reeves oeuvre in the process.

In the New York Times, a short Style article about No. 6, a boutique run by Karin Bereson and a partner that is influencing “a new post-1980s, post-grunge look developing down in Little Italy.”

“I walked out in a wrap-dress I’d call “June Cleaver Like You’ve Never Seen Her Before.”

“It’s way more than just ‘Hello,’ ” Ms. Bereson remarked.”

It’s like Daft Punk or Kraftwerk had written a paen to me!

From the quirky I Am Colin site and shop - home of ironic t shirts and a flickr gallery of crap caravans.

I am a giant technology nerd. And an old one at that. When I spotted this poster at the corner of Bay and Wellington in Toronto, I had two thoughts:  “Is this a WiFi hotspot? Out here?” and “What’s so special about Personal Digital Assistants that they need a designated zone?”

And then I realized that no-one has called them Personal Digital Assistants in at least three years. PDAs, to me, are what we used to call our Palm handhelds and Franklin-Covey digital organizers.

Which makes me an old nerd, clinging to comfortable and out-dated acronyms.

(It’s actually produced by Nando’s, the chicken chain, promoting personal displays of affection)

“Disney’s Tomorrowland is deeply, thoroughly, almost furiously unimaginative. This isn’t the fault of the “Disney culture”; it is the fault of our culture. We seem to have entered a deeply unimaginative era.” (PJ O’Rourke in the Atlantic)

Obviously, O’Rourke has some significant issues with the redesign of the venerable park, inflamed by an Associated Press story about the redesign that originally ran in February and confirmed during a visit to Disneyland with his family earlier this year.

This is not a new topic: Tomorrowland was originally built in 1955, rebuilt for the 1967 season, “renewed” in 1998, and new components were unveiled earlier this year.

(flickr is strewn with pictures from all three eras: pre-67, pre-08 and today)

The Re-Imagineering blog, which draws contributions from current and past Pixar and Disney imagineers, has wondered aloud about the changes that could be made - over and over.

“In updating Tomorrowland these days, where thematic concept has gone off-track - - for the original Disneyland anyway, as Walt had a specific vision for his work and park that should be maintained - - is to discard the idea of utopian modernism.

When Imagineers turn instead to recent trends in fantasy-science-fiction, Hollywood (Star Wars), eco-futurism (agri-future gardens), dark apocalyptic vision (Alien Encounter), cartoon franchise marketing (Buzz Lightyear) or nostalgic pre-modern futurism (Jules Verne, steampunk), it no longer feels like Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland …

Disneyland should always be a complementary platter of Past, Future, Fact and Fantasy, Nostalgia and Challenge in all its angles, a unified timeline with a running theme. The recipe for the future is on the dedication plaque.

Go back? Go forward?

Do both.”

It’s easy to decry a lack of imagination or reliance upon corporate sponsorship on Disney’s part, especially if a portion of your childhood memories are vested in the fantastic and seemingly unattainable technologies first imagined and sold forty years ago.

With the acceleration of personal technology, Disney executives recognized ten years ago that all of Disney’s vaunted imagineers and the displays at Tomorrowland would never be able to outrun the work of millions of nerds, techies and scientists.

“Nicholas Negroponte, [former] director of the media laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of whose sponsors is Disney, thinks that the company has realized that the future, as it unfolds today, is no longer good entertainment.

”The story line just doesn’t carry with it the same sort of punch as going off to the Moon,” he said. ”Things like highly personalized information services and computer agents that do things for you just don’t make a good story.” (NY Times, February 1997)

*”Technical Difficulties” hed lifted from a Wired article about the rationalization of the Imagineering team.

Can I just say, Retrontario has a fantastic YouTube channel? Wendel Clark and Lloyd Moseby pass along a typically Canadian wintertime public service announcement.

That’s Gary Schyman, folks.  He’s composed snippets of music for video games like Resistance:Retribution and my favourite, Destroy All Humans. He’s also worked on the sound for classic television shows like Magnum P.I, the “A” Team, and Greatest American Hero.

Ah, the irony. The only person whose career survived and even flourished after that swath of early eighties advernture hijinks was a guy who worked behind the scences.

Ooooh, lingonberry. You tart little condiment. Most people know you from the lunchtime special at the regional IKEA, but you’ve become a shorthand reference for nearly anything Scandinavian (witness this article from the NYT: “Death Metal Sweetened by a Taste of Lingonberry“).

In my cupboard, I have two varieties of lingonberry jam: one from IKEA, one from President’s Choice. I bought one, and the other came in a nice little holiday gift package courtesy of PC as part of an effort to promote their 25th Anniversary Insider’s Guide.

Would you like the results of the taste test?

IKEA: round distinguishable berries, slightly sweet taste (more sugar, according to the nutritional label), bouncy and firm jelly.

President’s Choice: slightly mushier berries, a touch of saltiness (borne out by the nutritional label), and a less firm consistency.

Both are easily spreadable, make a nice contrast to meatballs or potatoes. I’d have to say the IKEA lingonberries look better as an individual dollop, simply because of the berry size and condition (how’s that for obsessive? I’ve spent a lot of time at IKEA).

Lingonberry, open faced sandwiches and a bewildering array of pickled herring may be the culinary markers that fix Sweden in our minds, but the Swedish government has far greater designs:

“Perhaps Sweden isn’t the first country that comes to mind today when you think of food and food tourism. And that’s what the Government wants to do something about. As the Government sees it, Sweden has every chance of becoming Europe’s leading food nation.” (Sweden: the new food nation, August 2008)

Yeah. Christmas not looking like a big family day for you this year? Anticipating being kicked out of the dinner festivities and wondering where you can get something to eat? Or maybe you expect the turkey to be dry and inedible, just like every year?

Don’t worry - McDonalds is making plans just for you.

On a similar theme, please enjoy Patton Oswalt’s riff about KFC’s “failure pile in a sadness bowl.”

As the NYTimes notes in its obituary, Bill Drake introduced innovations in radio formatting that now seem commonplace. A profile first run in Time Magazine’s August 23, 1968 edition gives us an idea of how ground-breaking his innovations truly were:

“Once new jocks are hired, they are drilled for a couple of months in the Drake style. The big idea is to unclutter and speed up the pace. The next recording is introduced during the fadeout of the last one. Singing station identifications, which sometimes run at oratorio length elsewhere, are chopped to H seconds on Drake stations. Commercials are reduced to 13 minutes, 40 seconds an hour—about one-third less than the U.S. average. Newscasts are scheduled at unconventional times, such as 20 minutes after the hour. Thus, when the competition is carrying news, Drake-trained deejays run a “music sweep” (three or four recordings back-to-back) to lure away dial switchers.”

“Should he hear a disk jockey he doesn’t dig, Drake gets on the blower (he has 21 phones around the house, including one in each of the five bathrooms).“When that phone rings,” says one old jock, “you know it’s death time, man.”

“Sometimes he will go unannounced to the town of one of his clients and just check into a motel, dial-hop around the radio, and then decide how to beat the competition. For example, the program director of Memphis’ WHBQ says that his Drake-ordered strategy is to go for “the schoolteacher who lets her hair down, forgets the Mantovani, and swings a little.” (Time Magazine)

That would be “Cowboy,” from the Blastoids (MySpace). Liberal use of old wrestling footage, perfectly clean yet strangely erotic clips from “Twenty Minute Workout” alongside the wholesome “You Can’t Do That On Television” - the Ottawa-based home of the green slime head dump.

Oh, and a little too much footage of roller blading douche bags.

On the occasion of Claude Levi-Strauss’ 100th birthday, a quote about the great anthropologist:

“Roger-Pol Droit, a philosopher who read from “Tristes Tropiques,” said that he “would have loved a text from Lévi-Strauss today saying, ‘I hate birthdays and commemorations,’ just as he began ‘Tristes Tropiques’ saying, ‘I hate traveling and explorers.’ “

“This is all about the effort of making him into a myth,” Mr. Droit continued, “because that is what we do in our time.” (NYTimes)

“Traded! What about my no trade clause??”

A lovely brass sculpture from Bruno Catalano, found at the Demedicis Gallery on Place des Voges.

There’s some construction underway at the Eiffel Tower- work that apparently requires a three story stack of construction office modules. Some forethought in placement and decoration mean that the heritage feel and tourist charm isn’t harmed - very much.

Spotted between the Place des Voges and Place de la Bastille - Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the composer of the Barber of Seville and, judging from his pose, the original gangster.

Spotted in the 16ieme arrondissement - a design adaptation meant to protect this car from the close parking and bad driving of fellow Parisians. That’s a mint Mini. Tied to the back bumper? Two hard plastic bumpers normally found hanging off the gunwales of small boats.

The original Contac C television ad. I have to admit, I always hoped that once, just once, the bus would jump the curb and hit Mr. “Oh Yes I DO”

Ohhh. Woolfie. Forget John King’s 60 inch touch screen with county by county demographic breakdowns. You have that wall of infograph heaven. You’ve come so far from that little book-filled cubby hole, back when you were the correspondent on the Department of Defense beat.

What is it like to work in the chyron and graphics department at CNN on an election night? Is it all Red Bull, Cheetos and Vista crashes?

At least it’s more fun than running the satellite feeds at CBS, where Katie had TWO double enders - one with the McCain campaign director and one with the Obama campaign director - fail with audio whiteouts.

By the way - why is John King so obsessed with comparing Obama results with Kerry results, on a county-by-county basis? There should be a giant disclaimer running along the bottom of his screen:

*please remember: in 2004, the United States was not entering a recession, had not been stuck in a seemingly intractable land war for five years, and had not yet experienced the trampling of civil liberties in the name of a paranoid national security regime.

Emmett Milbarge. Does that name sound familiar, or am I an exceptionally perceptive fan of Chevy Chase movies?

Emmett Milbarge is the name of a new sales manager making an appearance on tonight’s episode of Chuck, the spoofy espionage drama broadcast on NBC.

It’s also an amalgam of the lead characters from Spies Like Us:

Chevy Chase … Emmett Fitz-Hume

Dan Aykroyd … Austin Millbarge

It’s time for the economists to rend their garments and seek forgiveness. Econ Journal Watch is preparing a compendium of personal narratives on the subject of preference falsification: that unusual circumstance where scientists, researchers and, of course, economists, express views or attitudes in public that contradict those they hold in private.

In his or her essay, the author should clarify the kind of preference falsification in which he or she has engaged. For example:

• Building models one does not really believe to be useful or relevant.
• Making simplifications that obscure or omit important things.
• Using data one does not really believe in.
• Focusing on the statistical significance of one’s findings while quietly doubting economic significance.
• Engaging in data mining.
• Drawing “policy implications” that one knows are inappropriate or misleading.
• Keeping the discourse “between the 40 yard lines” so as to avoid being outspoken; knowingly eliding fundamental issues.
• Tilting the flavor of policy judgments to make a paper more acceptable to referees, editors, publishers, or funders.
• Disguising one’s methodological or ideological views, such as by omitting revealing activities or publications from one’s vitae.
• For government, institute, or corporate economists: Having to significantly play along with things one does not believe in.

h/t to Marginal Revolution

Waaassssuuuupppp? With the economy, the war, health care, the stock market ….

(I know I’m cheating by not providing you with quality blog narrative and incisive ideas, but I’m working on a couple of papers. You’ll be impressed when they’re finished)

Iggy Pop: “As my teeth started to fall out, they paid to replace them …”

Dinah Shore: “Your teeth started to fall out? Eat too much candy?”

Iggy gets interviewed on the Dinah Shore show in 1977, while David Bowie lurks in the background. And yes, he’s totally grooving on the lady.

h/t to Holly

There are many positive qualities to the tram system in Strasbourg: new trams, wide windows, efficient and predictable schedules, broad green tramways and a simple fare structure.

More remarkable, however, is the inspired effort to weave the network into the spirit of the community.

Artists were commissioned to create static and multimedia installations that warmed the relationship between an infrastructure project and the Strasbourgoeis: custom tickets for the “A” line, stations as a subtle artistic canvas, intentionally manipulated compasses scattered along the system, art incorporated into beams and columns, and a charming and lighthearted project to humanize the otherwise mechanistic station announcements.

Rodolphe Burger, a French composer and musician, created Vox Populi - a series of interstitial melodies, backing tracks and station announcements which were completely enchanting during my stay in Strasbourg this week.

There is little more surprising than hearing a small melody, performed by the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, precede a small child announcing the upcoming stop for La Cour européenne des droits de l’Homme - an institution that defends the rights of young and old throughout Europe.

As Burger told an interviewer in 2001, a hundred people from 4 to 82 recorded station names and standard safety and information messages::

“… Plus de cent personnes ont été enregistrées, pour introduire le maximum de variation dans les voix, les timbres, les accents, etc …

Quand un supporter annonce le stade de la Meinau, quand un professeur célèbre annonce « Université », quand un habitant du quartier de l’Elsau annonce le terminus en poussant une sorte de cri de joie, quand une interprète anglophone du Conseil de l’Europe bute sur la station
« Alt Winmarick », s’excuse (là, apparemment, d’après les échos que j’en ai, lorsque cette annonce tombe, c’est l’hilarité générale dans la rame), etc …”

Burger also referred to the influence of singing and chanting traditions among the Aborigines of Australia and the Navajos of North America - where direction and instruction were communicated through tone, rhythm and personal voice.

“… Ça me fait penser au Chant des pistes de Chatwin, dans lequel il explique comment, chez les aborigènes, la carte et le chant sont liés. C’est présent aussi chez les Navajos. Les chants sont des chemins dans un paysage …”

The key is to create intertwining narratives and story lines, preventing each trip from becoming a routine and numbing experience framed by monotone announcements and mechanical chimes. It certainly works, as I noticed the distinct voices and musical combinations when arriving at each station on the “B” and “E” lines.

While I didn’t have the time - or the inspiration - to look for the other artistic elements on the line, a different report emphasized how the various projects worked together:

” … Il faudrait aussi évoquer les projets affectant l’ensemble de la ligne B : les dessins d’Alain Séchas dans les caissons lumineux des colonnes des stations, les boussoles de Jean-Marie Krauth incrustées dans le sol des vingt-quatre stations et le traitement de l’ambiance sonore des rames par Rodolphe Burger …” (Vacarme)

Economic shock waves, political unrest, tightening consumer credit, retirement savings at risk, and the looming threat of unemployment.

In these situations, advertisers often retreat to comfort, reassurance and tales of past victory over challenging times.

The latest ad from Hovis, a storied British bread manufacturer, certainly plays upon these themes. Victory in two world wars, the 1966 football championship …

While impressive and emotive on its own, the ad draws considerable influence from an earlier ad, directed by Ridley Scott (yes, that Ridley Scott) in 1973.

Scott’s Boy and His Bike regularly tops polls as the best ad in British history, and was relaunched for a 10 day run in 2006 to celebrate the bakery’s 120th anniversary.

Hovis has the new ad available on their site (but not embedabble). A “making of” featurette is available, and two historians provided insight into the details of the opening outdoor scene for the Daily Mail.

In the Orlando Weekly, the story of how Billy Mays ended up in a millionaire’s mansion by working his pitch, becoming a master at selling cleaning products and kitchen gimmicks.

“Here’s the big myth. I can tell you this,” he says. “I spend a lot of money. My bills are outrageous. I make great money, but compared to my mortgage? I need $50,000 a month just to crack the nut here. This place is $20,000 a month just to make the mortgage and everything. I do make a lot of money, but I spend a lot of money to help keep up this lifestyle. There’s this big lore about what I make, like, ‘He’s a billionaire!’ But I’m not. Sure, I make over a million dollars.”

… “When I was on the road, when Billy Mays didn’t know that I was famous, I’d be drinking martinis,” he says. “I’d be so hammered the next day and I’d have to go and appear somewhere. But the thing was, any hint of that would come out, I put myself in jeopardy. It looks bad.

“The only thing that can hurt Billy Mays,” he adds, “is Billy Mays.”