Tasting Notes

I found this review of a wine and thought to myself I've never tasted anything like that particularly in one glass...oh there is fruit punch that has pineapple, lemon and vanilla....

"This wine is a very light green gold in the glass and has a nose filled with tropical aromas of pineapple, Meyer lemon and vanilla. In the mouth it is smooth and supple, with primary flavors of pineapple and tropical fruits that linger towards a long finish that is slightly warm from alcohol."

No need to worry, you too can write like this with the Silly Tasting Note Generator. Here is an example:

"Soft but closed Dessert wine. Aromas of pesto, astounding cactus and a modicum of hair-spray. Drink now through whenever the cows come home."

Google van Gogh

Todays Google theme is Vincent van Gogh born this day in 1853.

Pimp My Rims

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is coming out with line of rims called of course "Sean John Wheels." You wonder why nobody thought of this before, hip-hop to sell luxury rims. Save up your money they are a steal, well you might have to steal them considering they will be going for $700 and $3,000 each.

Sears and Kmart Merge

Stupid and dummy have merged to form one of the most useless and backward companies. Good luck, possibly next you could include your cousin Zellers into the merger and we would have the reunion of the three stooges. l love curly, moe is a little annoying.

The Death of Equities

We are always looking for guidance and insights at times. This Business Week cover from 1979 made the claim that equities were dead. What's on the front cover of your favourite magazine which you aren't questioning?

HP BLINKS with Innovation

I read Gladwell's first book The Tipping Point after reading some reviews. This possibly was one of the most difficult books to finish reading. Last time I had this problem was when I was in high school where you are forced to read books that are of no interest to you. But the problem I had with this book was how empty and long-winded it was. Gladwell is a popcorn writer. He takes a kernel (a thought, a sentence) heats it up and expands it to fill the pages of an entire book. Now he has a new book called Blink and he has done the same thing and has proven his own theory of the Tipping Point. All we needed was an article or paragraph to summarize his thoughts. I don't think I shall be buying his new book. I would rather jump off my balcony and experience the pain of broken bones. Here is a review:

"When I finished this book I was impressed. Then I blinked -- and realized that I was taken in by its surface attractiveness. After the initial glamour wore off, I was left deeply unsatisfied. This book is over-hyped, and so underperforms. The point of this book can be summed up as: "Trust your intuitions. Well, not quite; trust them, if and only if they are good." Gladwell tells lots of anecdotes to indicate that sometimes less is more. But of course he also tells anecdotes that tell us sometimes less is less."

With his new status companies such as Hewlett Packard have asked Gladwell to come speak to them of all things innovation. What a sad reflection upon a corporation struggling with the idea of ideas (innovation). HP's director of brand innovation states the reason in this Fast Company article:

"We want to innovate and break out, but we don't have the instinct for it, really. It scares us a little,"

It scares me too. Corporations function by measuring quantifiable things: like gross margins and case rates and return on capital invested. When they make the leap out of this realm they encounter a frightening and immeasurable reality. If it can't be measured it has no value. Creative types can understand why the lack of appreciation or value they experience at times. In The Tyranny of Numbers, David Boyle quotes the economist Robert Chambers:

"Quantification brings credibility. But figures and tables can deceive, and numbers construct their own realities. What can be measured and manipulated statistically is then not only seen as real; it comes to be seen as the only or the whole reality."

It's no surprise that corporations must go outside to find innovative ideas with their self imposed handicap. P&G's swiffer was developed by design firm Continuum. The Crest spin brush was purchased from a small company.

"P&G introduced the initiative called "Connect & Develop" in 1999/2000, to emphasize that not all innovations need come from inside the organization."

The case for the MFA as the new MBA begins to make more sense. Canada's largest grocery retailer Loblaws ($25.2-billion in annual sales) recently appointed an industrial designer, J. Jackman as their VP of marketing not someone with an MBA.
Can an organization innovate within an environment hostile to creativity and innovation? If the innovation manager calls in Gladwell to speak you are in trouble.

Tapeworms

Great quote from How to be Creative Manifesto:

"We have millions upon millions of human tapeworms thriving in the Western World, making love to their Powerpoint presentations, feasting on the creativity of others."

I too become a tapeworm presenting this great quote.

Dr. Who is Back!

One of my most favourite TV shows is coming back on the air, co-produced by the BBC and CBC. A recent story in Wired mentions a viral campaign which might have been orchestrated by the producers who deny playing any role. A pilot episode was leaked onto file-sharing networks.

What is a Wiki?

"A wiki is a website designed for collaboration. Unlike a traditional website where pages can only be read, in a wiki everyone can edit, update and append pages with new information and without knowing HTML."

Jotspot lets you set up your own wiki. I'm going to test one out and see what ideas I get. It is definitely a great tool for collaboration.

5 cents for a song?

File sharing services made 25 billion unauthorized downloads last year making the legitimate music industry seem non-existent. The music industry has really been hit over the head by this and doesn't seem to be able to come out of coma. A McGill academic thinks he has a solution for the music-industry: charge 5 cents for a song.

Milton Glaser: 10 Things I Have Learned

American graphic designer Milton Glaser:

"I am going to tell you everything that I know about the practice of design. It is a sort of collage of bits and pieces that I have assembled over 50 years. It includes a lot of things I’ve said before but I’ve repackaged them rather attractively. This is what I’ve learned."

1. You can only work for people that you like
2. If you have a choice never have a job
3. Some people are toxic; avoid them
4. The good is the enemy of the great
5. Less is not necessarily more
6. Style is not to be trusted
7. How you live changes your brain
8. Doubt is better than certainty
9. Solving the problem is more important than being right
10. Tell the truth

link from metacool

Michael Jackson has always been white

There is a whole generation who have only known Michael Jackson to be white. They weren't alive during his black years. If I mention Logan's Run there will be people who have no idea what it is. Thus the problem educators, businesses and marketers face in speaking to their audience.

Beloit College publishes a Mindset List every year for its faculty and staff making them aware of how the new generation entering the college views the world. Examples:

• Richard Burton, Ricky Nelson and Truman Capote have always been dead.
• South Africa's official policy of apartheid has not existed during their lifetime
• George Foreman has always been a barbecue grill salesman

Building a mindset list for your target audience might give you some new insights and more focus.

LATEST NEWS: THE VATICAN IS PODCASTING!

You probably thought the church was behind the times with a bunch of old guys. Well, do you have your own podcast? The Vatican does now and you can read about it from father Roderick Vonhögen.

Canada develops paper plane to defend North America

Do you think Bush will be happy now? We have lots of lumber up here for paper planes plus all the cow chips could be put to better use.

Massive Change: The Future of Global Design

Bruce Mau's Massive Change exhibition will be on display at the AGO starting March 11 to May 29. The only thing that I have like about Bruce Mau is his Manifesto for Growth. I love his ability to cross different disciplines and annoy certain people "Hey you can't do that!". I have moved across different fields also, first I studied industrial design but then moved to web design, packaging design and marketing. Christopher Hume from the Toronto Star wrote a story about the upcoming exhibition A Massive Fraud?

Information Overload

There are so many blogs to read, so many sites to visit, so much to absorb. Too many interesting people with great ideas all sharing. I wish I could read everyones thoughts but it's impossible. There are ten books on my desk that need to be read, magazines to read and the occasional cereal box too. If I had never read any of this would it make a difference?