Sometimes I Wonder

…if anyone has ever “misconnected” (missed connected?) me on Craigslist. I’m guessing not.

I’ve Been Google Street View Stalked

Google Street View finally posted pictures from Richmond. Of course I did what everyone does when their city is added to Street View and searched for my house first. It was there, with one of my roommates’ cars parked out front. Then I checked to see if the construction on the new Brandcenter building was completed at the time Google was in town. It wasn’t, so I searched for the old Adcenter building. I was surprised there were no students outside. Then I looked for where I normally parked my car, and as I flipped through the images I noticed a guy who looked a lot like me crossing the street. Same build, same hair, watch on left hand, and although a bit blurry, I could tell the clothes looked like clothes I owned. After seeing my car down the street, I’m going to go ahead and say with 100% certainty that Google Street View got me. This is kind of exciting.

More pictures after the jump.

I Don’t Like This

Dr. Pepper to Give Away Free Product If Axl Rose Releases ‘Chinese Democracy’
Posted Mar 25th 2008 9:50PM by Kim Davis

Dr. Pepper is imploring Axl Rose to put out his album that’s been an astounding 17 years in the making. The creators of the curiously candy-like beverage have promised that if Rose releases Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Chinese Democracy’ at any point in 2008, everyone in America will receive a free can of Dr. Pepper.

But free soda aside, the best part about the proposal might just be the way the company is not only relating to, but sympathizing with, the 46-year-old singer. “It took a little patience to perfect Dr Pepper’s special mix of 23 ingredients that our fans have come to know and love,” said Jaxie Alt, director of marketing for Dr. Pepper — not even blinking at her nod to the band’s 1989 hit ‘Patience.’ “So we completely understand and empathize with Axl’s quest for perfection — for something more than the average album.” What’s more? The “everyone” in their promise comes with a big, wickedly funny asterisk: According to the Dr., both Slash and Buckethead will be left off the gift list. Bet they didn’t see that coming.

Feel like supporting the cause? Head here to get involved.

Let me tell you why I don’t like this. Dr Pepper doesn’t need to latch onto pop culture to sell itself. The brand already has its own pop culture attached to it, and this just seems silly, like the Band in a Bubble thing they did last year. I always thought Dr Pepper would be better suited playing up its own history, rather than pulling cheap publicity stunts.

I Have Been Listening to This All Day

Lessons Learned from Never Back Down

I imagine the pitch for this movie included some combination of The Karate Kid Part III, Rocky V, and Kickboxer. So if this type of film interests you, read no further because what I am about to post includes spoilers. These are the lessons learned from Never Back Down, not including the most important lesson, which of course is to never back down.

1. Organized MMA bouts between high schoolers is apparently legal.
2. All high school students in Orlando have iPhones and they have embraced new media and Web 2.0 applications.
3. Beating three guys in broad daylight in a fit of road rage will not result in your arrest. Additionally, a video of said beating posted to a YouTube-like website will result in a boost in your popularity among your high school peers.
4. Realfights4real.com is ironically not a real website as the film would like you to believe.
5. Djimon Hounsou, who probably should have won an Oscar for Blood Diamond, will definitely win one for Never Back Down.
6. Getting viciously beaten and slammed against cars and concrete will leave you with only a busted lip.

128 BPM: The Podcast!

A few days ago I mentioned a new project I was going to do for the “interesting” assignment. And here it is. I have decided to make my first foray into the world of podcasting. From 2003-2006, I was a DJ at WUVT in Blacksburg during my undergrad years at Virginia Tech, and it was something I really enjoyed doing, so podcasting is a way for me to do that again.

The podcast will feature five songs each episode. The songs will reflect what I am listening to at the moment, so there will be a nice mix of and and old tracks. Who knows how often I will record new episodes, but hopefully they will be weekly or bi-weekly.

The first episode was recorded last Thursday (while I was battling a cold, mind you) and it has taken me a few days to find a hosting option. For now I’m just going to use You Send It, which means the download link will expire in seven days or after 100 downloads. I hope you enjoy it, and please leave comments!

128 Beats Per Minute Podcast Episode 001
1. Jim Noir – All Right
2. CocoRosie – Noah’s Ark
3. Elliott Smith – Pictures of Me
4. Lightspeed Champion – Galaxy of the Lost
5. The Dø – On My Shoulders

DOWNLOAD

Legal disclaimer: All songs are copyrighted by people who are not me. I will remove songs at the owner’s request.

Mental Block

During the day, when I need to think about how to make great brands, I sometimes tend to lose focus and experience a mental block. At night, when I need to sleep, I can’t help but think about making great brands, and I can’t fall asleep until 4am. Ain’t that a bitch.

Portishead Kind of Mood

The Most Well-Liked Movie of All-Time

Do you ever find yourself flipping through the television channels on a Saturday afternoon only to stop on a certain movie that always seems to freeze you in your tracks and makes you think, “Oh shit, I love this movie.” It’s usually a movie that you would forget if you were to list your all-time top 10, maybe because you realize it’s not the greatest example of cinema. But there’s just something special about the movie. This movie for me is That Thing You Do! It seems like every time I find the movie on TV, it’s always at the same part in the story, when the band first hears their record playing on the radio and they dance around the appliance store. I love the shit out of that scene, and I love the shit out of That Thing You Do! And my love for this movie isn’t the whole story here. In fact, I don’t know a single person who doesn’t at least like That Thing You Do! a little bit. And I certainly don’t know anyone who outright hates the movie. And if you do, you are not my friend.

On Being Interesting

A few weeks ago I wrote about a project in one of my classes. The idea was to pick three items from Russell Davies’ list of 10 ways to make yourself more interesting. The three I selected were 1) take a picture everyday (One-a-Day), 2) start a blog (Jeopardy! Project), and 3) read a new magazine each week. After about six weeks, I’ve confirmed my initial suspicion that making myself to do these thing might be more of a hindrance to my “interestingness.”

Being interesting should come natural, it shouldn’t be forced, as I felt I was, even though it was me who chose those activities. Maybe in hindsight I picked three things that I just lost interest in over time.

Many times I found myself finding interesting things only to have forgotten to bring my camera with me. And sometimes when I had my camera I didn’t find anything worth taking a picture of. Some days I would forget to take a picture, so I would upload a picture I took a previous day and said it was from that day. I lied to you! I’m sorry!

Watching Jeopardy! became a little more taxing as I tried to keep up with the show and fill out my scorecard at the same time. Perhaps it would be easier if I could develop a computer program to keep track of the score, but I don’t know jack about coding. I do know jack about trivia though. Hopefully one day I can find a better way of doing the Jeopardy! Project because I still like the concept.

Reading different magazines at my local Barnes & Noble was fun, and I drank a lot of cream sodas in their cafe to make myself feel better about not paying to read their magazines. But like the other two activities, I got tired of remembering I needed to do something to fulfill my commitment to being “interesting.”

Doing these things helped me realize other things I am interested in that keep me “interesting.” Because of that I will try to emphasize doing those things and come up with new ways of sharing them. I already have something lined up, and hopefully it will be ready in a day or two.

Wow, this was a long one.