A New Post!!

Here's a news report of the metor that just crashed in Canada. About a minute in, there's animation of what a giant meteor or comet hitting the earth could do. Its pretty crazy.



This comes from Brian, who says I need something new on the blog.

Lilah's Two Years Old!!

My gorgeous girl is 2 years old (yesterday)!!!!!



They say time flies, but it flies just a little slower when she pukes all over your shirt at 10:30pm. But I digress... HAPPY BERFDAY!!

The History of Pepsi

Dude, what the hell did Pepsi do to themselves?!? The new packaging is as good an idea as Pepsi Clear was.


This is a cool history of the brand from 1898 to now, highlighting the company's 110 year history including the debut of the new logo and packaging across all product lines.

When the logo was unveiled last week, it received somewhat of a lukewarm reception. Some people like it, seeing the new design as sleek, simple and refined. They say it's a welcome change from the rather boxy typeface used since 1962. I miss what I know.

Cool Book Alert

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, by David Hackett Fischer

This cultural history explains the European settlement of the United States as voluntary migrations from four English cultural centers.

1. Families of zealous, literate Puritan yeomen and artisans from urbanized East Anglia established a religious community in Massachusetts (1629-40)
2. Royalist cavaliers headed by Sir William Berkeley and young, male indentured servants from the south and west of England built a highly stratified agrarian way of life in Virginia (1640-70)
3. Egalitarian Quakers of modest social standing from the North Midlands resettled in the Delaware Valley and promoted a social pluralism (1675-1715)
4. By far the largest migration (1717-75), poor borderland families of English, Scots, and Irish fled a violent environment to seek a better life in a similarly uncertain American backcountry

These four cultures, reflected in regional patterns of language, architecture, literacy, dress, sport, social structure, religious beliefs, and familial ways, persisted in the American settlements. The final chapter shows the significance of these regional cultures for American history up to the present.

Veteran's Day Parade

I watched a small part of the Veteran's Day Parade yesterday as I went to get lunch. I didn't mean to, but 5th Ave was blocked off. It was pretty amazing. There were so many small groups of older men with signs saying "Vietnam Veterans of Brooklyn" or from Queens. I didn't realize the scope of people involved. Small groups from different pockets of the NYC metropolitan area.

The group from Manhattan had a float and men's choir singing patriotic songs (figures!). But what struck me most was the banner on the back of the float.



"Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another."

I never thought that Vietnam Vets held any anger at WWII Vets for not sticking up for them in the anti-war 60s-70s. I guess some do. Wow.

Brand Identity Crisis

Is it Electrasol?

No, it's Finish!!

This is not just bad packaging. It's bad strategy. If there aren't willing to walk away from Electrasol, then why are they bothering to change the name? This says that the brand has a certain amount of brand recognition and equity. It's so valuable, that they need to do a slow migration to change the name so they don't lose customers.

But they will lose customers. This is a brand in limbo. It doesn't know what it stands for. How can they persuade people to keep buying it?They didn't even bother to change the design. They just slapped a violator calling out the new name.

They should have done either of the following

1. gone to Finish now and added a violator saying "this used to be Electrasol"
* Campbell's went from "Select" to "Select Harvest" in this fashion

2. keep the name Electrasol but redesign it, rebrand the brand it
* I do this for a living

I say #2. This brand clearly has a heartbeat, and it's cheaper to fix and existing brand than create a new one. Plus, Electrasol could be a cool name. It's electric, it's bright like the sun, and could even work well with a retro 50's-pop art theme to match it's overstylized imagery of the glass.

Thoughts?

My Morning Glory

Had to go to Central Park this morning. Was trying to get tickets for me and some work friends to see the Chanel Mobile Art exhibit. Tickets were sold out and there was a 3 hour wait to get it. But I did get to stroll through Central Park, which was amazing in the morning.

Obama's New Chief of Staff

Some interesting tidbits about about Rahm Emanuel:

• He's the real-life Ari's brother. His youngest brother Ariel (Ari) Emanuel is a founder of the Endeavor talent agency in Hollywood and was an inspiration for Jeremy Piven's character, Ari Gold, on HBO’s Entourage. Not to be outdone, Rahm is said have been a model for Bradley Whitford's character, Josh Lyman, on The West Wing.

• He could have been a ballet dancer. He studied ballet as a teen and was offered a scholarship to join the renowned Joffrey Ballet, but went to Sarah Lawrence College instead.

• He's missing part of a finger. In his youth, Emanuel badly cut a finger on a meat slicer while working at an Arby's. The wound became infected, and he lost half of the middle finger on his right hand.

• He volunteered with the Israeli army. During the first Gulf War, he did a stint as a civilian volunteer with the Israel Defense Forces, rust-proofing brakes on a base in northern Israel.

• He once sent a rotten dead fish to a political enemy. In the Clinton administration, his take-no-prisoners style earned him the nickname "Rahm-bo."

What do you know, it's a Black and a Jew in the White House!!!

Moving Forward

Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress

After emerging victorious from one of the most pivotal elections in history, president-elect Barack Obama will assume the role of commander in chief on Jan. 20, shattering a racial barrier the United States is, at long last, shitty enough to overcome.

Although polls going into the final weeks of October showed Sen. Obama in the lead, it remained unclear whether the failing economy, dilapidated housing market, crumbling national infrastructure, health care crisis, energy crisis, and five-year-long disastrous war in Iraq had made the nation crappy enough to rise above 300 years of racial prejudice and make lasting change.

McCain's Speech

Obama won. I am ecstatic! The whole night was a nail-biter; all the way to 9:30pm. :)

But McCain's concession speech was the most interesting. I saw one clear expression on his face: RELIEF. He was happy to be done, no more struggling being the underdog, and people questioning his judgment (which sucks). Too much worrying for an older man. He was great. If he had been like this the whole campaign, he might have had a chance!

Plus, I think McCain is happy to be able to stop fighting with Obama. McCain is a good politician and a honorable man. I'm sure he sees the potential in Obama. McCain has a history of bi-partisanship and getting behind the president (remember him hugging Bush?). He may trun out to be an ally in the senate. He could help move the Republican party more toward the center instead of off into right-minded obscurity. But I doubt it (he'll likely retire sooner rather than later).

As we've all noted, McCain seemed annoyed and angry at his supporters. He was very clear that Obama won hands down and that all Americans should get behind him. I wish he had yelled "Did you not hear a word I just said?" But they are a mob that his negative campaign created. He needs to accept the monster that he has created or do a better job of turning them from the Dark Side.

Think about it, Bush beat McCain twice: in 2000 and 2008. Sucks to be him. But luckily, that helped lead to this: