Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy Christmas!









Oh my goodness!  I love Christmas!

Conner got me a tripod for Xmas which we used to make our Christmas photos. It's a Finn family tradition to stay in your bath robe--Robe Day-- for as much of the day as possible...which is what we did up until we decided it was time to go be physical, physical and play Frisbee golf.  

Now Dan's making some rib of lamb over green beans and risotto.  I love having a chef in the house.  It's encouraging me to go running more and more.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Two Legged Dog

This has nothing to do with music what-so-ever but I just thought it was hilarious and awesome.

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Tipping Point

I'm late to the Macolm Gladwell bandwagon, but better late than never, eh? I just finished The Tipping Point and aside from being brilliant, it is also an endless well of party conversation starters. "Oh! I just read that George Gershwin wrote "Rhapsody In Blue" in my hometown of Asheville, NC...and Zelda Fitzgerald was totally institutionalized there too. Great town, great town.", or, "If you want to get a really good deal on a new car, you gotta go to a fleet buyer on the 25th of the month.  It's true, it's the word on the street."

Despite the inexhaustible sources of information available, we're now entering the word of mouth epidemic. The way we find out about new insurance plans, restaurants, or drugs for depression will be ruled by what we hear from people we trust, which will just happen to be one of three kinds of people: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.

Connectors are people who have a natural talent for making friends and acquaintances. There is a test in which out of 250 last names, randomly taken from the Manhattan phone book, you get a point each time you know someone with that last name. "Knowing" spans from being good friends to merely meeting someone in line at the grocery store. If you know multiple people with the same last name then you get one point per individual. What you score on the test should give you an idea of how social you are. Most people average around 21 points, a Connector typically score around 100.

In addition to knowing a ton of people, the types of people they know are spread over many different social circles. Despite the fame brought about by the game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Kevin Bacon actually isn't that connected in Hollywood--he ranks 669th out of all Hollywood actors. The most well connected actor is Rod Steiger who has been in all types of movies from On The Waterfront to the abismal Car Pool.

The Mavens are the information specialists. They collect information from all sorts of different sources and are socially motivated to share that info with others, they can't help themselves.  They are essential in the word of mouth chain because people trust them to have the low-down on a given subject and pass that along for no particular reason except they like you and want to help; they are the trusted unbiased source.

In a cultural epidemic the “mavens are data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue: they spread it. But there is also a select group of people –Salesmen—with the skills to persuade us when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing.” When people interact they fall into a mutual rhythm of speech and movement—called cultural microrhythms. Salesmen possess the power to draw others into their own rhythms and dictate the terms of the interaction, which is crucial in convincing someone one way or the other.

Another facet to understand in order to make a cultural movement explode is the power of the group. If you want to change someone’s behavior or ideology, you need to create a community around them where those new beliefs will be expressed and nurtured.


Say, for instance, you’re trying to break a new band, I think all of this information is invaluable. It’s essential to identify who the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen are and target them with info about the new musical group. On a national scale, I think the best way to identify these people is through blogs. Blogs such as Aurgasm, The Corner, or Said The Gramaphone are all written by total music mavens and contacting them would be my first bet. Locating the music Connectors is more geographically specific however, with a little research finding the local what’s-happening guides and their writers, and local record shop proprietors would be where I would start. Creating a community around a certain band or type of music seems to happen organically, but I think you can facilitate the growth through staging a series of house parties. The community that would arise through the house parties would associate the community with the music and continue on to support the band as they moved on to more official venues.

Just some ideas…

Monday, November 30, 2009

Cute Overloaded

I recently read an article in the December issue of Vanity Fair--Edward Cullen was on the cover and I couldn't resist.  The article, "Addicted To Cute" by contributing editor Jim Windolf, takes a look at how cute is taking over popular culture.

An article in 1940 by ethnologist Konrad Lorenz stated that evolutionarily speaking, we’re more compelled to care for things that are cute—big head, big eyes, round face—it makes the mamma/papa complex kick in.  It also tends to make things that are not pleasant at all suddenly palatable; such as GEICO’s gecko who was much more reptilian when it first debuted in 1999.  Now the gecko became cuter, more debonair with a English accent, and a total advertising hit.  Same thing happened with Mickey Mouse.  As Disney become more successful, the mouse went from a scrawny rodent to the large headed character we know today.

Social misery and cutness have always been linked.  Take for instance, Japanese culture since the 1950’s.  It’s inundated with Hello Kitty, kawaii culture, and manga comics.  A theory on why cute is just so damn popular in Japan is that after the emasculation of WWII, Japan positioned itself as the non-threatening and bumbling “little brother” who needs protection more than anything else.


During the 8 years that Bush Jr. was in office, America went from being viewed as the world protector to aggressor.  Now it seems, America is in on the cute wave too.  Our new president’s face has graced pajamas called Ojamas and Ty Girlz have made dolls after the first-daughters until Michelle raised a complaint…now their names have been switched from “Marvelous Mahlia” and “Sweet Sasha” to “Marvelous Mariah” and “Sweet Sydney”.

Cars are cuter, YouTube’s Hahaha video is one of the most watched clips ever, Cute Overload website gets over 100,000 hits a day, and even bands are getting cuter; such as Weezer or Cute Is What We Aim For out of Buffalo.  Seemingly over the myth of the “tortured artist”, the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Elliot Smith are now viewed with something more akin to pity than awe.   

With all this cuteness floating around, America is apparently saying, “Please like us again.  We’re not out to hunt terrorists, we’re out to have fun!”  I think we’re all over the doom and gloom and yeah, totally ready to have fun before the next round of catastrophy happens...
the Reign of Buttercup Sprinkles

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Doc Ellis

I just began reading Austin music writer Thomas Fawcett's blog after hearing his Texas Soul Round-Up on Texas Music Matters.  I really love his writing and the subjects he writes about are great...such as the story about Doc Ellis.  In 1970 Doc pitched a no-hitter baseball game on acid.  The video that Thomas posted is fabulous and now I'll halt any attempt to botch the story up myself and re-post the video.
The Corner blog.


And now he's become a cult hero and star of many a song.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Newly Designed Piano


British musician, Geoff Smith, has recently redesigned a key instrument in western classical composition, the piano. Ten years in the making, this purely acoustic instrument introduces microtonal tuning capabilities on each note, so that they can all be altered while being played. No longer restricted to western tonal systems, the Fluid Piano can now be inserted into musical compositions of different cultures that use more microtonal based scales.
Guardian video clip of newly designed piano

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Introductions


I feel that introductions are in order.

This is Conner, me, and Dan and we're about to set out on a year-long road trip across America to study 6 types of American music in May 2010.  We have a bit of time before we go and right now we're doing a ton of research, grant writing, and planning which goes back and forth from being terribly exciting and awfully intimidating.  Conner plays bass, Dan plays drums, and I write.  It'll be the three of us living out of a 1954 Chevy for a whole year studying Native American music, Blues, Country, Electronica, Latin, and Jazz music.