Archive for February 2009
Davis Thinking
Newspapers Beyond the Infographic
What should newspapers do? What newspaper can’t do.
J. Tillman
Seattle-based J. Tillman is both a solo artist and a member of the much-lauded Fleet Foxes. “First Born,” a fine track from Tillman’s latest album, Vacilando Territory Blues, is sparse but beautiful. This video reflects that sparse beauty as it focuses upward on the natural rhythm of an avian slow-dance.
Cloudthink: A Quick Presidential Comparison
I used Wordle to generate tag clouds for both President Obama’s and President Bush’s first addresses to Congress. They share a common political lexicon, with the expected partisan differences, but a few words in particular merit comment.
What We Mean When We Say Hope
Surgeon and writer Sherwin Nuland makes a brilliant connection between medicine and language. “If there’s one operation for a disease,” he explains, “you know it works. If there are 15 operations, you know that none of them work.” Such it is, he suggests, with the many definitions of the word hope. In this talk, Nuland traces the latest political and cultural buzzword to its IndoEuropean root to find its original meaning. Studying the etymology of this powerful concept, he proposes, is the only way we can hope to make sense of it.
Searching for MAILER's-DAEMON
Shortly before his death, Norman Mailer said “every one of my books has killed me a little more.” Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, explores the psychological pressure that comes with creative pursuits, and the intense fear that each short dance with brilliance may be one’s last.
My Better Half
Neuroanatamist Jill Bolte Taylor understood the brain like few others. Then she had a stroke. In this video, she describes the revelation that came from the fracture: the recalibration that stemmed from seeing herself wholly through the perspective of each separate hemisphere.
Maybe She’s Born with It. Maybe It’s Fiber!
I saw Benefiber’s current commercial for the first time last night, and it caught me off-guard.
Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
Mississippi-based Dent May is an unlikely stud. An American counterpart to Sweden’s Jens Lekman, May recently released his first album, The Feel Good Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele. “Meet Me In The Garden” is the first single.
On-the-Shelf Brand Touchpoints
Product and packaging design can be one of the most impactful brand touchpoints. Here are a few recent executions I admire.
Watch Your Language!
I know, sounds like a parent admonishing a child. Well, in my case the “child” was a fashion magazine.
