Just Trying To Understand

urban camouflage

2007-10-22T20:01:00.000+09:00

Very funny and interesting story in the New York Times. Vending machines being ubiquitous in Japan nothing better than a "vending machine dress" to become part of the cityscape. Note the feet of the "vending machine" on the right.

obssessions

2007-09-25T14:26:00.000+09:00

Interesting things come out of obsessive behavior (well, sometimes at least). Here's a couple that I came across recently:
Documenting the life of a vending machine: Ryuichi Terada of Sapporo, Hokkaido, takes (almost) daily pictures of the Coke vending machine near his home, making detailed observations and complex diagrams about the changes in types of drinks, brands, posters, etc. It's interesting that he's apologetic about what he does, even naming his blog, "I take a picture of a vending machine every day (or so). I'm sorry". (via CScout Japan)
Skull-a-day. Designer Noah Scalin's project of making one skull image every day for one year. Don't forget to download the free skull font, which will certainly please heavy-metal fans everywhere (via How blog).These things put a smile on my face.

a ring for a fresh start

2007-09-15T19:30:00.000+09:00

Up until the '60s, the Japanese followed the shinto-style wedding ceremony, with the groom and bride wearing traditional kimonos.
Then starting in the late '60s, De Beers introduced the idea of the diamond ring as an engagement gift, a romantic ritual practiced in the west. The campaign was so successful that within a generation most Japanese adopted this costume and Japan soon became the second-largest diamond market in the world, only after the US. In the present days many couples, while still preserving the shinto ceremony, have adopted the western ceremony as well, white wedding dresses and all.
The Japanese baby-boom generation however is starting to retire this year, and in a society that is getting increasingly old, marketers have to redirect the focus of their activities. It's therefore time for another ritual to be promoted.
There's currently a campaign called "Thanks Days", starring musician and actor Akira Terao (most people outside Japan will recognize him from his role in Kurosawa's Ran), depicting a salaryman who is retiring from work. The commercial starts when he gets the flower bouquet from colleagues (a tradition for retiring people here). He then goes home, in a reflective mood, and all the while we listen to his thoughts (roughly translated):
For only thinking about work, forgive me...
For the days I got home drunk, forgive me...
For that time I lied, forgive me...
For everything...forgive me...
When he gets home his wife is preparing dinner and waiting for him. He gives her the flowers. Then, to her surprise, he produces a small box from his pocket, places it in her hands, and sheepishly looking away, says a short "thank you".
See the sequence below. You can watch the entire commercial here (click on the second link from the right).

Romantic movies usually have two types of ending. They either end in tragedy (one of the lovebirds die, sometimes both of them) or in happiness, when the couple finally meets at the end. In the latter case, the end marks their reunion but it is also the promise of a new beginning, in which they'll live happily ever after.
Well, the "Thanks Days" commercial catches this particular couple after they've been through their "happily ever after" years, revealing to us that perhaps they were not so happy after all.
This shouldn't be a surprise at all (as any couple would attest), but the problems are magnified especially considering the well-documented burden Japanese workers have to endure (presenteeism, long working hours, late-night drinking binges with co-workers).
But nothing is lost, people shouldn't despair. There's a renewed hope now.
The commercial shows that the husband, after more than 30 years of devotion to work (evidenced by the inscription "12075 days" in the internal part of the ring), is willing to start a new life.
As they celebrate over dinner, the voice-over says "propose again".
And finally, the wife toasts to a new start, a new hope, "korekara mo yoroshiku" (a bit hard to translate, but in a romantic way, it could be "from now on, let's take care of each other").
What remains to be seen, as millions of Japanese wives prepare to have their husbands at home again, is whether they'll really get their platinum rings or not.
And more importantly perhaps, will the couple live happily ever after this time around?

"creative bushido" viral campaign

2007-09-12T21:45:00.000+09:00

This is one of the top viral campaigns in Japan, according to The Viral Chart.
It's a campaign for Yomiko Advertising. It's a bit of kabuki-style narrative, a Kurosawa epic, and guerrilla marketing all in one.
I liked that they've even put a Planner Samurai among the generals, ha!Pretty funny, and the art direction is great. Watch it here.

the garbage collector teaches a lesson

2007-09-07T21:24:00.000+09:00

Garbage collection is serious business in Tokyo. There are many measures that encourage people to produce less garbage, including charging absurdly high fees to collect large disposed items such as old furniture and electronic equipments (up to US$ 200.00 depending on the size).
There's a very strict garbage collection schedule, a specific day in the week for burnable items, another day for non-burnable items, another for cartons, and so on.
Recently I left my garbage bag out according to the instructions I read in the city leaflet. Later, I saw the garbage collector pick up the bag but, to my surprise, instead of immediately throwing it in the truck, he inspected it, patting it all over. Then he put it back in the same place and quickly went away!
Puzzled (not to say another word), I went out to retrieve my abandoned bag and saw that the collector had stuck the note below in it. Roughly translated, it says something like: This garbage is not properly sorted out. Please sort out your garbage properly!
Oops!

wii party ideas

2007-09-03T19:05:00.000+09:00

Interesting piece in AdAge about the growing Wii-themed party phenomenon. That is part of a trend where "video gaming is beginning to transcend the solitary boy-in-the-basement stereotype with a new generation of gamers including women, older people and younger children who want to play in a more social atmosphere."
Take a look below at evite's wii party ideas (an online party invite company):

osaka 2007 - side notes

2007-09-03T13:26:00.000+09:00

Couple of notes from the World Athletics Championship that finished yesterday in Osaka:
1. I noticed some people in the stadium watching their mobiles (with the screen twisted in the horizontal position) while the events were taking place in the track. They were probably watching TBS' broadcast in their mobile TVs. It's pretty cool to be there and feel the excitement of watching the live events, and at the same time being able to check the details and interviews on your 1seg TV.
2. Carl Lewis and Mike Powell were interviewed on TBS. Of course, Lewis is one of track's greatest stars to this day, but the local reporter (sorry, don't know his name) seemed to refer the questions only to him, ignoring the fact that it was Powell who won their event in Tokyo back in 1991, arguably the greatest long jump competition ever, when Powell broke Bob Beamon's long-standing record of 8.90m and established the current world record of 8.95m. Lewis couldn't be more generous towards Powell though, always acknowledging Powell's presence and praising his performance on that evening 16 years ago. He said: "I think this (Powell's record) will last longer than Beamon's record".3. TBS's anchors Oda Yuji and Nakai Miho should be praised for doing a great job. It's not easy to anchor an event like track & field for 9 straight days. What they may lack in technical expertise they more than compensated with an infectious enthusiasm for the sport. I've watched lots of technically correct broadcasts that utterly lacked passion. No wonder many people think track is boring. With their enthusiastic comments, peppered with word such as "sugoi" (amazing), and "subarashii" (spectacular), Oda-san and Nakai-san have won the sports many fans.4. No world records, but some great performances. Couple of athletes to watch in the next couple of years:
- Jeremy Wariner is getting closer and closer to Michael Johnson's record.
- Allyson Felix. Watch her out not only in the 200m but also in the 400m (she ran a superb 2nd-leg in the 4x4 relay)
5. It's great to see athletes from Panama, Sri Lanka, and Ecuador winning medals.
6. One of the greatest upsets in the championship was Bahamian Donald Thomas' victory. He took up high jump a year ago (!) and his unorthodox style (to say the least) is easily noticeable as his legs move frantically in mid-air as if trying to climb an invisible ladder. It seems to help him as he jumped 2.35m to beat the best high jumpers in the world. It was priceless to see Olympic champion, Swedish Stefan Holm's face of disbelief when Thomas cleared 2.33m.
7. As a preview of next year's Olympics in Beijing, it seems there won't be too many surprises: the US, Russia, Kenya and Ethiopia seem poised to dominate the events. I had thought that China would've come up with a stronger performance but apart from Liu Xiang no other star appeared.
That's it. Can't wait for Beijing 2008.

bekele wins a thrilling 10K

2007-08-28T10:12:00.000+09:00

A sane person wouldn't normally run a fast-paced 10K in a hot, humid evening (30C, 65%). Well, but then again, a sane person wouldn't normally face the same situation as Eritrean Zersenay Tadesse did in Osaka last night. You see, he didn't have much options facing the prospect of having to battle out two-time world champion, Olympic champion, and world record holder Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia. Bekele is known for his deadly final kick and for any runner intending on defeating him there's only one option: punish him from the start and pray he's dead at the end (and most importantly that you are still alive).
It's a gamble to see who the best runner really is, not just the guy with the best finish. If everything goes well, every runner will drop off the pace and there'll be only one left at the finish line. Misjudge your hand though and you'll end up dead on the track, defeated. And unlike the comfy seat of a poker game there's only one word to describe this gamble: pain.
That's what Tadesse bravely (some would've said insanely) set out to do on a hot evening in Osaka yesterday. He took the lead and set a torrid pace for the race. In a slow-paced race, contenders run in a packed group, some going wide on lanes 2 and 3. Not here. The contenders quickly spread out in a long line with runners struggling to keep in touch with the leaders.
Tadesse (in light blue shirt) kept pushing and one by one runners started to drop off the pace. Some would just slow down feeling the race was too fast for them. Others simply walked off the track unable to keep going while others still lied on the track in pain. They passed the 5K mark in 13:42 (27:24s pace) with only 10 runners in the leading group (from the initial 24). Tadesse's gamble was paying off.
Bekele, in the meantime, looked comfortable running always in third place. A group of Ethiopians, Kenyans and other African runners followed. Tadesse kept punishing the field lap after lap. Slower runners were overlapped (supreme humiliation for a distance runner).
After a little more than 8km only four runners remained in contention: Tadesse, still in the lead, Bekele, countryman Silesh Sihine, and Kenyan Martin Irungu Mathathi.
But then Mathathi made his move. Everybody went along but Tadesse. Having set the pace for most of the race he paid the price for his gamble and would struggle to the end. Suddenly there were only three runners fighting for the victory and the chase was on. They were sprinting down the backstretch with about 600 m to go and for a moment Bekele seemed to be losing touch as the other two left a 2m gap.
But he soon got in contact again and with 300m to go he was right behind his countryman Sihine as Mathathi fell to third. The race would be decided between the two Ethiopians. They were going on an all-out sprint, incredibly fast for athletes who had already run more than 9K.
Then with 150m to go Bekele hit another gear and, amazingly, unleashed what seemed an impossible last kick. Sprinting furiously, he went around Sihine as they came from the last curve into the homestretch and it was arrivederci! Take a look at the sequence below.

Bekele goes around Sihine and prepares to overtake his countryman

Bekele now leads with a little more than 100m to the finish line.

Arrivederci!

Does it look like the face of a man who just ran 10K?

Bekele smiles just before crossing the finish line

In the end there was only one runner left: Bekele. World champion for the third time. His time of 27:05:90 is incredibly fast for the conditions. Sihine got the silver and Kenyan Mathathi got bronze. Tadesse bravely hung on to finish fourth, 15s behind Bekele.
What a race! I can't put into words how amazing it is for a human being to be able to run that fast under such hot and humid conditions. Let alone unleash that kind of kick in the last lap (under 56s). It's amazing. Man, do I love this.

gay beats powell

2007-08-28T09:21:00.000+09:00

The "World Championship in Athletics" is in full swing at Osaka's Nagai Stadium. Last Monday, in the 100m final, American Tyson Gay defeated world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica.
It was a thrilling race, one that reminded me how difficult this event is.
The race was being trumpeted as a showdown between Gay, who ran the world's fastest time this year, 9.84s at the American Trials, and Powell, who holds the world record with a time of 9.77s (respectively in lanes 5 and 4 below, taken from TBS Channel broadcast).Powell got off to a tremendous start and 30 meters into the race held a clear lead over the field. The race seemed his to lose.The 100 m, despite looking like an all-out effort, sheer power and adrenaline, is actually a very technical and mental race though. And here some technical explanation is needed. There's no acceleration after about 50 m. The human body just can't produce that amount of power. Sprinters can only hope to maintain or not lose much speed at the end. A sprinter needs to stay relaxed and focused in his own race if he wants to avoid tightening up and losing more speed than he normally does at the end of the race. And that is very, very difficult to do. Especially when you're sprinting for your country, for glory, for your life ("for god's sake"), against seven other guys who are breathing "on your neck". It requires an amount of confidence bordering on arrogance, a belief that whatever happens during the short time span of the first half of the race (little more than 5 sec.), he will eventually come up as the winner in the end. "I will win, I will win", that's what sprinters need to have in mind.
If you don't stay relaxed, you'll eventually end up trying a bit too hard and all will be lost. You'll tighten up. Your stride will get shorter. You'll lose more speed than others.
And that's where Powell failed. He didn't focus on his own race and tightens up, badly. He loses speed. Gay overtakes him swiftly and opens a decisive gap between them.
The race is over.Gay starts to celebrate even before crossing the finish line. His time, 9.85s, is not a world record, but it's a fast time nonetheless. And all it matters is the championship. Powell sees he had lost the race and gives up. Bahamian Derrick Atkins takes the silver. Powell is third.PS: I couldn't go to Osaka (damn...) so I took pictures from the excellent TBS Channel broadcast. For the IAAF official coverage of the event go here.

grant on oprah

2007-08-27T16:31:00.000+09:00

Grant McCracken flew all over to the UK just to tell his "Oprah story" on Interesting 2007. Watch the video here (about 16min long).
It's a little out of context, but he first wrote about it in his book, "Culture and Consumption II", as part of the chapter about "homeyness" (if I remember well, his point was that the concept of "homeyness" and "interior design" are frequently conflicting).
Very funny (and damn interesting).
(via Russell Davies)

michell on tokyo

2007-08-24T08:07:00.000+09:00

My friend Michell has written a nice post about Tokyo with reflections about his visit here last June. He captures a little bit of the sense of amazement that most visitors feel when visiting this city. Nice reading and pictures. Here.

observations in a tokyo cinema

2007-08-21T19:32:00.000+09:00

In all other places where I've been to a movie theater, as soon as the credits start to roll at the end of the movie, lights slowly start to switch on, and people start to leave their seats. Only a few movie buffs stay to watch the credits.
Well, not in Tokyo. Here, the room stays dark until the very end and people wait until all the credits have passed. Only then the lights switch on. The few people you notice leaving the theater earlier are most likely foreigners. Ninety-nine percent of the audience stay put in their seats.
As somebody used to leave the seat as soon as the movie ends, it's kind of unnerving having to wait, even if only for a couple of more minutes, until the credits are over (oh, the stress of modern life). I take this extra time to observe...they all seem to pay close attention to the screen.
Why the difference in behavior?
Is this a country of movie buffs? No, probably not.
Do people feel that the credits make part of the movie experience?
Or is it a case of politeness? For other moviegoers, for the movie makers...
I have yet to find the answer but this is certainly... hmm, different. But very interesting nonetheless.

summer in tokyo

2007-08-20T22:04:00.000+09:00

It's been boiling hot in Tokyo with temperature reaching 36 degrees (that's about 97F) and humidity at 80%. This is a country with four distinct seasons but I never expected summer here would be even hotter than in Singapore, where the thermometer reaches 32C (90F) all year long.
To save energy and fight global warming the government sponsors a campaign called Cool Biz that encourages the usually formal Japanese businessmen not to use neckties during the summer. As part of the campaign public buildings keep the air conditioning thermostats at 28 degrees!
However, one thing that puzzles me is how a country so concerned about saving energy doesn't adopt summer daylight saving time. Sunrise during August has been around 5:10AM (way too early) and sunset around 6:20PM (too early as well).
I heard some possible explanations, one of them concerning the stress people who methodically run their lives by the time of the 8:02AM subway train would go through to change their habit. This could be an explanation. One website offers the following explanation: Japan used to adopt daylight saving time in the past, from the post-war years until 1952 when it was abandoned following opposition from farmers who complained they had to work longer hours. Currently though it seems the Ministry of Education is the main opposition to the idea, concerned that lighter evenings would entice school children away from their homework!
So that's the secret to Japan's education system. No outdoor light, more children cranking out their homework.

* * *

P.S.: Moving to Tokyo has taken its toll. I've been too distracted to write anything. There's a unique way to do things here, a system that works pretty well once you understand it (but that's the caveat). You have to understand it first and that requires a considerable amount of energy to sort out even the most simple of things.
I still don't know exactly why, for example, it took almost three weeks to have a broadband connection installed at home. I don't know if I blame it on NTT or if I blame it on the real estate agent. Anyway, at least now I have a fiber optic connection that is the fastest thing I've ever experienced.

bye singapore, hello tokyo

2007-07-13T19:36:00.000+09:00

It's time to say goodbye to Singapore.
Now, off to Tokyo. We're all looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.
Blogging will take a back seat for a while but will resume soon after we settle in.

ana airplanes to have hi-tech toilet seats

2007-07-12T22:47:00.000+09:00

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be the first airline to have Toto washlets in its airplanes. They'll be standard equipment in the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners ANA starts flying next year. The novelty is part of a larger battle, as airlines scramble to win customers, but it also corroborates what I wrote in a previous post, as this must be part of Toto's strategy to expand its customer base.
In-flight washlets will certainly bring more comfort for passengers. It will require some time for new users to get used to operating them though, but as ANA's chief executive well said (and borrowing from Heineken's classic slogan), the new equipment "will refresh the parts other airlines can't reach". (via Reuters)

to buy local or not to buy local

2007-07-12T10:38:00.000+09:00

I've been hearing more and more about 'buy local' and 'food miles' (or 'food kilometers'). At first I thought this preoccupation with the distance covered by the transported food, from farms to supermarket shelves, made a lot of sense.
Recently however, I read "Food miles. Green good sense, ill-considered hype, or naked protectionism?", by Ethan Zuckerman, in worldchanging, and learned that the environmental impact of the food we eat should not be measured only by the distance it travels.
And in case you're a New York Times Select subscriber, you can also read "Don't buy local", by Richard Conniff, for another balanced view on the subject.
This debate is far from over and will certainly shape the way we buy our food from now on.
PS: I have truly enjoyed reading Richard Conniff's blog in the New York Times (unfortunately for subscribers only, sorry). Apart from learning a couple of German words - schadenfreude (pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune) and gluckschmerz (luck-pain, or sorrow at someone else's luck or happiness) - his writings offered an insightful look at human nature that were a delight to read.

10 things about singapore

2007-07-11T14:26:00.000+09:00

So far I have resisted to write any post that includes the words '10 things...' or anything similar in the title (pure adolescent rebellion against rules in general, I guess) but at last, here's a list of '10 things about Singapore'. It's a mix of travel tips you won't find in the guidebooks, with things that made me think, and things that I learned from having lived here for the past three years. So here's the list (in no particular order):

1. It's truly amazing what Singapore has achieved in the span of one generation (17th in the GDP/per capita rank, 25th in the Human Development Index). Of course, prosperity should not be measured only in terms of economic development but you can't claim the former without the latter. If you're interested in learning how a small island-nation became one of the Asian Tigers, watch Discovery Channel's documentary. It's fairly comprehensive, depicting Singapore's history since the times of the British colonization till the present (it's sold in DVD format).
2. The nicest magazine stand in the island (note that I said 'nicest', not 'largest') is the one inside Tanglin Mall's Market Place. There's an old gentleman who works there, I never asked his name. He always greets me with a smile. We exchange some words, 'so long no see', 'been traveling?'. Sometimes I can hardly understand his thick accent (and I guess he can't understand mine either) but small pleasantries like that always make me feel home. And he always keeps my 'Sports Illustrated'.
3. Cotton buds here are hard. I miss the soft J&J ones I was used to in Brazil.
4. There's something Jekyll & Hydish when it comes to Singaporeans driving cars. The usual affable and friendly Singaporean forgets all courtesy and manners when behind the car's driving wheel. There's even a government campaign called "Singapore Courtesy" aimed at tackling the problem. I don't know exactly what triggers this behavior, but there's a Ph.D. thesis there waiting to be explored.
5. Best cafe: Spinelli. Their cappuccino is very creamy and the tarts and cakes are yummy!
6. Best bakery: Simply Bread.
7. Multiculturalism vs. assimilation: Coming from the melting pot that is Brazil, I first became aware of this issue when I moved here. Singapore advertises itself as an example of a multicultural society, where people of different races, languages, and religions live harmoniously together while still preserving their culture. I've only scratched the surface, but from what I've seen, they've managed it like no other place. It's not perfect, there are many problems (one in particular that bothers me is the differentiated treatment given to foreign workers such as maids and construction workers), but to be fair, they acknowledge some of the problems and constantly try to improve it. With the growing movement of people from one country to another, the immigration discussions in the developed nations, and lately the terrorism issue, this debate will continue, here and in the rest of the world, for many years to come.
8. Overrated: Chili Crab (and this from somebody who loves sea food). Go for a Char Kway Teow instead.
9. Underrated: Siloso Beach. OK, it's not Hawaii, and there are oil tankers and other vessels in the horizon but this artificial beach is very nice on a lazy afternoon (and if you get the chance to go on a weekday when there's no crowd, it's even better. Just chill out and watch the sunset).
10. Changi Airport is the best in the world. Where else can you, on an international flight, get out of the airport in less than 20min after your flight lands? And that's counting the time to retrieve your checked-in suitcases!

como planejar a propaganda

2007-07-11T10:01:00.000+09:00

Numa iniciativa do Grupo de Planejamento, foi lançado no Brasil o livro "Como Planejar a Propaganda", tradução do clássico "How to Plan Advertising", publicado pelo Account Planning Group da Inglaterra.
Para qualquer pessoa que se interessa pelo mundo da criatividade e da comunicação de marcas, é um livro essencial. O preço sugerido é de R$ 59,00, e você pode comprá-lo aqui.O projeto da versão brasileira foi coordenado por Jurandir Craveiro, sócio-diretor da NBS (e meu ex-chefe na JWT).
Disclaimer: ajudei na tradução de um dos capítulos.

stormtrooper dancing in tokyo

2007-07-04T21:21:00.000+09:00

Danny Choo, who has one of the most visited blogs in Japan written in English, puts on a stormtrooper armor and dances in the streets and subways of Tokyo, to the groovy sound of Earth, Wind & Fire. Watch it here.
The particular scene below was shot in Akihabara, Danny dancing with the local cosplay gang. Too funny.

apple evolution

2007-07-04T20:10:00.000+09:00

Take a look at this chart that details the evolution of Apple product design from 1976 to 2007. Follow the link to see a larger image.(link via Guy Kawazaki)

toto is happiness

2007-07-02T23:46:00.000+09:00

Toto, Japan's maker of hi-tech toilet seats (known as washlets) is trying to enter the American market. To me, it's a mystery why this hasn't happened before.
Whoever tries this comfy toilet seat will never forget the experience. Interesting to see how they're trying to sell a 'higher order' of cleanliness, if you will, and ultimately 'happiness'.
Check out their cheeky web page below.
And here, a shot of the control buttons. These icons always make me smile.

(link via cityofsound)

the bed scene

2007-06-28T23:00:00.000+09:00

I'm late on this (no, really late), but finally watched "Lost in Translation" the other day. I thought it was a great movie, delicate and nuanced, Bill Murray is excellent (besides, the guy sings - no, really sings), and Tokyo looks mesmerizing and mysterious as it really is.
There's one scene though that keeps coming to my mind - the bed scene. Well, it's not exactly what you were thinking.
Bob Harris (played by Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) lie in bed, talking about life. It's a very chaste scene (as chaste as any scene with Scarlett Johanson in bed could be), and yet you couldn't get a more intimate, tender and delicate scene between two people.

"Bob Harris: It gets a whole lot more complicated when you have kids.
Charlotte: Yeah. It's scary.
Bob: It's the most terrifying day of your life... the day the first one is born.
Charlotte: Yeah. Nobody ever tells you that.
Bob: Your life, as you know it... is gone. Never to return.
But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk, and...
... and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people... you will ever meet in your life.

Watch the entire scene below on YouTube (gotta love YouTube).

tokyo's limousine bus lady

2007-06-27T22:39:00.000+09:00

While in Tokyo, the best way to and from Narita International Airport is the Limousine Bus. Thousands of passengers make that trip every day and they're always greeted by Kaoru Kubo, who has been the voice of the Airport Limousine for the last 23 years.
Who could forget her "gentle" reminder?
"...mobile phones should not be used on this bus as they annoy the neighbors!".
Listen to her voice on monocle.com.

200m in 19.62s

2007-06-26T22:33:00.000+09:00

American sprinter Tyson Gay ran the second fastest 200m in history, at the U.S. Championship held in Indianapolis, behind only Michael Johnson's phenomenal 19.32s world record from the 1996 Olympics.
That in itself would've been a fantastic performance but given the wet conditions and a 0.3m/s headwind, we can only be left to wonder what Gay (photo below) would've done were conditions optimal.
But I have to say I can't help to be kind of wary now, given all the doping cases that sprung recently in the sport, and it's really sad that we get suspicious every time an athlete comes up with a world-class performance. Hopefully this is not the case. But I'm an incorrigible 'track nut' and can't wait for the Osaka World Championship.

soldiers, go make babies!

2007-06-21T12:23:00.000+09:00

When it comes to army enlistment, some have it much easier than others. Take Brazilians, for instance. Sure, we're all required to enlist, but the percentage of people who actually serve the full year is very low. Most people are dismissed without ever putting on a pair of boots. You can be dismissed for a myriad of reasons, e.g. simply because you are shortsighted.
Compared to that, some countries in Asia seem much more strict.
Despite the economic growth, regional instabilities and some demographic trends translate to a more rigorous recruitment system.
First, they're faced with regional uncertainties, such as North Korea, the Taiwan Strait issue, and the lingering Sino-Japanese tension over WWII atrocities.
Second, some countries face a shortage of able-bodied men. Singapore, for instance, has a total population of only 4.5 million (of which about half is male). South Korea is bigger, with a population of 49 million, but they also have a much bigger worry across their North border. What makes matters worse for young men in these countries is that both countries present declining birth rates.
These factors force Singapore and South Korea to extend their military service to a 2-year compulsory program. No excuses. In Singapore, even if you're heading to college you have to postpone it for when you finish the National Service, as it is called here.
But you can't keep young men out of the workforce much longer than that. That's too damaging to their careers and to the countries' economies as well.
Faced with this tricky situation, the South Korean government has just announced that starting next year, married soldiers will be allowed to sleep at home, instead of at the barracks as they currently do. The order is clear: protect the nation during the day, make babies at night. (via iol)

cellphone symphony

2007-06-19T12:26:00.000+09:00

Avant-garde musician Bora Yoon has been called "a one-woman orchestra". Watch this video recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where she creates a song by incorporating the sounds of her cell phone keys, and understand why. Forget about those annoying ring tones. This is quite nice!(via wsj)

pantone pattern recognition

2007-06-18T02:46:00.000+09:00

Softbank Mobile: choose from 20 colors

Shinsei Bank Visa Cards: choose from 32 colors
Pantone Folders (via Eddie Wong)iPod Nano (okay, that's only 5 colors)
Have you seen other brands offering multiple color choices?

we are what we eat

2007-06-13T08:29:00.000+09:00

I was struck by the humanity in the photographs of this Time photo essay, "What the World Eats". Taken from Peter Menzel's book "Hungry Earth", the essay shows what's on family dinner tables around the world. It evoked all sorts of thoughts about globalization, inequality, and culture. Judge for yourself.
Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Kuwait: The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City
United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
See the entire photo essay here.
(via infosthetics - I'm an avid reader of this blog, in case you haven't noticed)

and while at ad age...

2007-06-13T07:56:00.000+09:00

A couple of other interesting articles in Advertising Age:
- CNN the TV channel is no match for CNN the website (the chart below tells the whole story)- McDonald's recruits moms to be the ultimate influencers: gatekeepers to go on field trips and hopefully return as evangelists.

lee clow - the ad age interview

2007-06-13T07:32:00.000+09:00

Lee Clow in Advertising Age, interviewed by Bob Garfield, discuss his views on the evolution of the industry. Great stuff, by the man who gave us this (among other things).

jane jetson's dress

2007-06-12T12:24:00.000+09:00

Shape-changing dresses by Hussein Chalayan.Watch the YouTube video here.They remind me of Jane Jetson's dresses. Really cool.(via infosthetics)

iphone ads

2007-06-08T10:17:00.000+09:00

Just feeding the hype. The latest iPhone ads, on Apple's website.

for all rock & rollin' grandpas

2007-06-05T10:08:00.000+09:00

Now that baby-boomers are fast approaching their mature years, gadgets such as the new TEAC bone-conduction headphone are set to become very popular.
Like Docomo's Sound Leaf, the TEAC headphone works by sending the sound's vibrations through the bones. As the diagram below shows, the TEAC is to be used over the temporal bone, instead of the usual ear-covering headphones, so that people with hearing impairment can keep enjoying music (and banging their heads). (via Japan Today)

give me whatever...

2007-06-04T10:02:00.000+09:00

"Whatever"... the typical "couldn't care less" expression of today's youth, has become a beverage brand in Singapore. Coupled with "Anything" they form an interesting concept: a surprise in every can. You order Whatever or Anything and you'll never know for sure what exactly you'll drink. Whatever comes in 6 different non-carbonated juices flavors, and Anything comes in 6 different carbonated flavors. Only after you open the can you'll find out which flavor you got.
Below, one of the TV ads (watch it on YouTube here)

jobs and gates share the stage

2007-05-31T21:55:00.000+09:00

Only adulations and jokes between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, when they were interviewed at the "D5: All Things Digital Conference" in Carlsbad. Among some priceless stuff though: the awkwardness when they were asked about the Mac vs. PC ads, and Jobs saying that "...most things in life are either a Dylan or a Beatles song". Watch the video here.

design for the other 90%

2007-05-31T21:27:00.000+09:00

This is one of the objects that are on display at the "Design For The Other 90%" exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, in New York City. It's a 20-gallon rolling drum, designed to carry water over long distances. In many places, people live kilometers from clean water sources. This drum makes life much easier (the usual way is to carry large containers of water on top of the head).Reference:
MACNEIL JR., DONALD G. "Design That Solves Problems for the World's Poor", The New York Times, May 29, 2007. (here)

psfk 2

2007-05-30T08:29:00.000+09:00

My second contribution to psfk. See the previous post about Docomo's vision of the future here.

a peek into the future

2007-05-28T12:49:00.000+09:00

From time to time, NTT Docomo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, releases a video depicting its vision of the future. Docomo's latest video shows how mobile technology will make life safer, more convenient, and more comfortable. In their vision, among other things, people will wear glasses with GPS, tracking systems will prevent children from getting lost, security robots will take care of your house, and you will buy your veggie using your mobile (they seem obsessed with this idea).
Although all this could be quickly dismissed as corporate PR or an overly optimistic view of the future, I remember seeing one of these videos some years ago and saying 'yeah, right'. It was a video showing the use of video calls. Today video calls are pretty common over 3G networks, so don't dismiss this vision just yet as some of these features might very well become reality in the future. Who knows, one day you will even buy your veggie using your mobile. See the video here.P.S.: If you happen to be in Japan, you can arrange a tour to Docomo's R&D Center, in the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. I haven't been there myself but they have an exhibit called WHARF (Wealth, Human Activity and Revolution for the Future) that looks interesting. I guess the name says it all.

it's ok to have a messy desk

2007-05-25T13:19:00.000+09:00

Al Gore in his home office (in the May 28th issue of Time magazine)

stunning

2007-05-24T15:55:00.000+09:00

This has got to be one of those earth-shifting moments in history: China announced it will invest US$ 3 billion in private equity firm Blackstone Group. That will represent about 8% of the firm that, according to the New York Times, "owns companies that have 375,000 employees and $ 83 billion in annual sales".
China is sitting on a huge war chest estimated at $ 1.2 trillion in foreign reserves and they've been looking for options on how to invest it. One of their models is Singapore's Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singaporean government, which holds stakes in several companies, ranging from financial institutions to telcos, based in Singapore and abroad. Keep an eye for more moves like this.
Who could've told this a few years ago?

the mao suit

2007-05-23T10:15:00.000+09:00

This is slightly embarrassing to admit but when I went to Beijing a couple of years ago, I was expecting to see everybody in Mao suits, the traditional communist outfit (O.K., you can laugh at me now). It wasn't utter ignorance (at least that's what I like to think). I had read all about the economic boom there, and had seen many TV reports as well, but despite all this I still had the image of the old communist country in my mind. Tell about the power of a symbol. Or was it because Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor"? Well, maybe both. Either way, all I can say is 'boy, was I wrong!'. Modern skyscrapers, malls, fashionable people everywhere, and most of all the stark contrast of BMWs and Mercs side by side with thousands of bike riders, that's what struck me the most. Not a single person wearing a Mao suit though.
According to this great article about the symbolism of old Chinese communist outfits, "...popular mythology assigned a revolutionary and patriotic significance to the Sun Yat-sen (the suit's designer) suit, even though it was essentially a foreign-style garment. The four pockets were said to represent the Four Cardinal Principles cited in the classic Book of changes and understood by the Chinese as fundamental principles of conduct: propriety, justice, honesty, and a sense of shame. The five centre-front buttons were said to represent the five powers of the constitution of the Republic and the three cuff-buttons to symbolise the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood".
Like Che t-shirts and Adidas CCCP Originals however, the Mao suit is no longer a symbol of the communist revolution, it has become a design icon, as demonstrated by the work of Chinese artist Sui Jianguo. See below this series of bright colored Mao suits.More of this artist's work here.
(via "I see what you mean". By the way, doesn't it sound like a cousin of "Just Trying to Understand"? Funny.)

celebrity endorsement

2007-05-22T13:20:00.000+09:00

I came across this Avon ad, on the May 14th Sports Illustrated issue, featuring a smiling Derek Jeter. Then ...
... a few pages later, this Movado ad featuring... Derek Jeter (albeit a more serious one).Just thought it was funny. I guess it must be hard not to come up with this after paying big bucks for a celebrity to endorse your brand.

unlikely connections

2007-05-21T10:43:00.000+09:00

I'm a big fan of Momus, the eye-patched musician-cum-cultural-commentator who writes a column for Wired. He writes about almost everything, from design to music to pop culture and to all things Japanese, and I find him always insightful and funny. I guess, most of all, I like his endless capacity to make the most unlikely type of connections. Writing in his own blog, he tells what he's up to: "I was in Scotland, then had a couple of days back in Berlin to write my next Wired column (connecting Apple's Get a Mac ads to Norman Mailer's essay The White Negro)".
What he'll come up with I have no idea but I'm already looking forward to reading it. His Wired columns here.

insight in a pizza box

2007-05-17T15:29:00.000+09:00

Like so many other things (e.g. democracy, beauty, coolness), an 'insight' is hard to define but easy to recognize. From a recent Time magazine:

'It suddenly dawned on me that most people running from the law don't eat out, they order pizza.'
CYNTHIA BROWN, of the Butler County Child Enforcement Agency in Ohio, on her inspiration for placing wanted posters of child-support scofflaws on local pizza boxes in an effort to turn up the heat on deadbeat dads and mums.

product placement in monocle manga

2007-05-17T11:33:00.000+09:00

I'm truly enjoying reading the Kita Koga manga that comes with Monocle magazine (story and art by Takanori Yasaka). Kita Koga is the story of Niels Watanabe, code name Koga, a cosmopolitan, kick-ass, modern agent, who works for a secret intelligence division in Japan's Defence Ministry. Niels is part Japanese, part Scandinavian, and jets around the globe in his missions. One of the interesting things about it is the product placement. Though they obviously promote the sponsors, the brands here help bring the story closer to reality, so to speak, it's something we recognize. Take a look at the collage below: Niels drives an Audi, drinks Carlsberg, and uses a Prada mobile phone (though perhaps a Sony-Ericsson would've been a better fit).Can't wait for the May edition to come out.

where ideas come from

2007-05-15T11:22:00.000+09:00

I took the excerpt below from this excellent article in The Independent, "Why don't we make good ads anymore?".
They interviewed the likes of Sir Martin Sorrell, Trevor Beattie, John Hegarty, and others, who offered their insight about the industry.
But the excerpt I took is from Sir Frank Lowe, a little bit out of context, but it offers a glimpse on how some of the world's greatest ads were created (by somebody who must know).
"...How many hours did it take Terry Lovelock to write "Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach"? He wrote it in the middle of the night in the La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech. He woke up and wrote it by the bedside. "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet" was written by Tim Warriner when he lit up a cigar on the top deck of a London bus. How many hours was that? I found Stella Artois's "Reassuringly expensive" in the body copy of a print ad written by Geoff Seymour. It wasn't written as a line. "Every little helps" for Tesco was written by Paul Weinberger between going in and out of the loo when we were having a drink at the Paxton's Head pub in Knightsbridge." (via 407 In Vitro)

psfk

2007-05-15T10:11:00.000+09:00

I'm contributing to psfk with the previous post about "Connected Life".

connected life

2007-05-14T10:02:00.000+09:00

It's been on the cover of a recent "The Economist" magazine (subscribers only, sorry).It's been tested in Tokyo's Ginza district (Tokyo Ubiquitous Technology Project). Now, what initially seemed more like a sci-fi story is one step closer to becoming a reality. The Japanese government announced last Saturday that it is setting up a test zone for what they're calling an 'IT lifestyle', where everything and everyone is connected wirelessly.
According to The Japan Times (reg. req.), "the government will set up a special zone next fiscal year to test "ubiquitous" Internet technology in situations as varied as providing medical services for the elderly, preventing car accidents and buying vegetables".
Using a mix of mobile, internet, and RFID technologies, senior citizens will have their vital signs sent to hospital where they'll be continuously monitored, cars will have their speed automatically reduced if a pedestrian crosses the road, and people will even be able to buy vegetables using their mobile phones, should they want to do so. The test will be carried out in an area still to be determined, either in Hokkaido or Okinawa, where there's less radio wave interference.

you say "ouch", i say...

2007-05-08T10:59:00.000+09:00

I've always been amused by how people in different countries express pain differently. It's not a sadistic trace of mine, just curious observation.
I was used to scream "ai!" back in Sao Paulo. Now that I live in Singapore, I alternate between "ouch" and "ai". I haven't noticed exactly when I use one or the other, I guess it depends on the occasion or type of pain (still have to do more "research" on this, but am kind of reluctant to do so).
I find it fascinating that even this apparently instinctive reaction is actually culturally molded.
I found this great story on NPR, "Ouch! The language of pain", where they set out to hear people from different cultures and how they express pain. You can listen to it here.

where ideas come from

2007-05-07T10:25:00.000+09:00

I saw this Shell ad on "The Economist" magazine. It reminded me of something I had seen before but I couldn't quite remember where.
Determined to find the name of the artist who inspired this ad, I asked the help of my friend PL. He's a brilliant art director, and with his photographic memory, he quickly pointed me to this, the cover of the New York Times Magazine, Year in Ideas 2004 (subscribers only, sorry)......and to this, the cover of the Communication Arts, Photography Annual, from August 2005.Basically the same pictures.
But I still wanted to know the name of the artist who inspired this all, so I searched for "visual complexity", and from this site, I finally found the original source: British artist Jeremy Deller, who won the Turner Prize in 2004 with his "History of the World" mural. See below. I was amused to see that the jacket and the sweaters are almost the same color.And here the print version in black & white.

say it again? a dell store?

2007-05-03T20:16:00.000+09:00

Dell's Founder and CEO Michael Dell has recently said that "the direct (sales) model has been a revolution, but it's not a religion".
Dell already opened a showroom in Dallas (only to display the models, not to sell them just yet).
All signs seem to indicate that we'll soon see a "Dell Store" out in the street.
This will be an interesting story to watch.

Reference:
Darlin, Damon (2007). Dell's Founder Is Rethinking Direct Sales. The New York Times. April 28, 2007 (here)

helvetica, the movie

2007-05-02T09:40:00.000+09:00

I just needed to have this poster in the blog: Helvetica, the documentary (via infosthetics and designobserver). See the YouTube trailer here.

stand umbrella

2007-04-27T09:27:00.000+09:00

This has got to be one of the cleverest product designs I've seen lately (via Jean Snow).
Available in black and in white, it costs ¥ 4,200, about US$ 36 (from 100%).
It brings a smile to my face.

japanese pizza anyone?

2007-04-26T01:43:00.000+09:00

Fusion cuisine, which gave us Rice Burgers and California Sushi Rolls, has a new representative in Singapore. It's a place called "Oishi Japanese Pizza" (oishi means "tasty, delicious"). Well, it's not exactly new, they've existed for some time, but I only came across one of the outlets this weekend.
They have a novel proposition, Japanese Pizza. There's the 'Teriyaki Chicken Pizza" as well as the "Wasabi Seafood Pizza" and some other combinations. I've never been to the place, so I can't really comment about their pizza. They have several outlets across the island, so I assume business is doing well and the pizza tastes really good. But I'd like to abstract for a moment from the food to comment about the concept...
Planners usually love an oxymoron because they have the potential to create an unexpected and differentiated proposition for a brand. You pick a set of meanings that people are not used to see hand-in-hand and voilà, there's a novelty (well, actually, it's a bit more complex than that, but for all purposes, think Levi's jeans and their contradictory "traditional yet young" concept).
The creation of a new concept is not perfect science however, and apparently there's a degree of contradiction that people are willing to accept. Sometimes, the proposition so defies our logic that there's a danger people will simply reject it.
My first reaction to the term "Japanese Pizza" was of incredulity (they can't be serious). Maybe this is because of my cultural background. Having lived most of my life in São Paulo, which boasts the largest Italian community outside Italy, I'm used to the traditional notion of pizza. One thing is to mix "French" and "Vietnamese" cuisines, the classic "fusion cuisine", quite another is to put together the terms "Japanese" and "pizza" in the same phrase. It's a bit of a stretch, at least for me.
Over time however, there's nothing that proves that these new concepts won't be able to overcome the initial strangeness with which they are received. Maybe this is one those cases where if you keep repeating the concept, eventually it becomes a reality. We might even come to take it for granted some day. And as I said, the pizza might be good. So, like the now ubiquitous California Sushi Roll, the Japanese Pizza might win over the world. Let's wait and see.
Next up: "Squisito Italian Sushi".
Let's brace ourselves.

is yahoo trying to be more like google?

2007-04-24T09:23:00.000+09:00

It's not exactly a secret that Yahoo! envies Google's success. This sentiment has usually been confined to the business arena, as both companies battle for internet's advertising dollars.
However I think this is the first time Yahoo! betrayed that sentiment so publicly. The other day I noticed Yahoo! playing up with their logo, Google-style. See below a couple of pictures of their animated logo: a (modern) windmill that lights up a (green) light bulb, before transforming into their traditional logo.
Starts like this...
...ends up like this.As Google's, it was for a limited time only. Last time I checked, it wasn't there anymore.

uniqlo's non-transparent white trousers

2007-04-23T09:35:00.000+09:00

Japan's apparel maker Uniqlo announced that it will start selling can't-see-through white trousers made of a special new fabric developed by textile maker Toray Industries. That will bring more confidence to women who like to wear white trousers, specially during summertime, as they won't have to worry about their underwear showing through.
Some men however are already complaining about the advancements in technology, saying that the new trousers defeat the whole purpose of wearing a pair of white trousers. What's your take on that? (via japantoday)

black cloud

2007-04-21T22:52:00.000+09:00

This is a WWF campaign in China against air pollution. That's quite a way to make your point across.(via infoesthetics and frederiksamuel)

pattern recognition in movies

2007-04-19T21:31:00.000+09:00

Just a quick follow-up on the previous post.
Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the same director who gave us "Any Given Sunday" also gave us "Platoon". Just a thought.

the semiotics of baseball

2007-04-17T22:36:00.000+09:00

Why do we like a particular sport?
People will probably say, "because it's fun to watch" or, "because it's exciting to play", but frankly, that's like saying that a person is "nice". It's a "nice" compliment but as an explanation as to why we like that person, it's a rather unsatisfying answer.
Of course, there's the athleticism, the drama, the rivalry, the bonding experience, and the traditions but, ultimately, I think the imbued meanings of a particular sport is what draws us to it. What do its rules, its objectives, and its underlying system of values, tell us about it? What kind of meanings do they convey?
While these questions may sound a bit cerebral for such an entertaining activity, it's not really necessary to be a Ph.D. in Semiotics to uncover the meanings imbued in a sport. One just needs a sharply developed 'noticing' skill, as demonstrated by George Carlin in this classic comparison between baseball and football (american football, that is).
Here's a partial transcript (but rather long, sorry):

"...Baseball and football are different from one another other in other kind of different ways.

Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game.
Football is a twentieth-century technological struggle.

Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park. The baseball park!
Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium.

Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life.
Football begins in the fall, when everything is dying.

In football you wear a helmet.
In baseball you wear a cap.

Football is concerned with downs - what down is it?
Baseball is concerned with ups - who's up? are you up? I'm not up, he's up!

In football the specialist comes in to kick.
In baseball the specialist comes in to relieve someone.

In football you receive a penalty.
In baseball... you make an error. Oops!

Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, blocking, piling on, late hitting, unnecessary roughness, and personal fouls.
Baseball has... the sacrifice.

Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, sleet, snow, hail, mud, ...
In baseball, if it rains, we don't come out to play.

Baseball has the seventh inning stretch.
Football has the two-minute warning.

Baseball has no time limit: we don't know when it's gonna end - we might have extra innings.
Football is rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.

In baseball, during the game, in the stands, there's kind of a picnic feeling; emotions may run high or low, but there's not that much unpleasantness.
In football, during the game in the stands, you can be sure that at least twenty-seven times you're perfectly capable of taking the life of a fellow human being. Preferably a stranger.

And finally, the objectives of the two games are totally different.
In football the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
In baseball the object is... to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!"

The text is great but you have to watch George Carlin delivering it himself. Pure genius. See the entire performance (4:53) here on YouTube.

spring in tokyo

2007-04-16T14:45:00.000+09:00

Spring is arguably the best season of the year to visit Tokyo. Apart from the beautiful cherry blossom, the weather is pleasantly mild. Below, some snapshots from there.
Cherry blossom season
Daisuke Matsuzaka everywhere
Election time in Tokyo doesn't necessarily mean dirty streets full of pamphlets. Below, an ad board designed for the placement of politicians' ads. Oh, and by the way, hard-liner politician Shintaro Ishihara got reelected as Tokyo governor. The recently inaugurated Tokyo Midtown (the tallest building in Tokyo and a very posh place) as seen from Roppongi Hills
The legendary Hachiko statue, in Shibuya

tokyo

2007-04-04T19:25:00.000+09:00

I'm off to Tokyo for 10 days, so forgive me if I don't post regularly. Normal blogging will resume after the 16th.

daisuke matsuzaka's impact

2007-04-04T09:22:00.000+09:00

In reference to this post about the state-owned TV channels, somebody asked me "why do you need to tune in to NHK to know about the latest on Daisuke? Why don't you simply watch ESPN?". Well, take a look at the pictures below.
They're from the Red Sox spring training in Florida, where 120 credentialed reporters, mostly Japanese, squeezed themselves in for a special press conference organized only for Matsuzaka (they actually don't seem to care too much about the rest of the team). And that's for spring training! They follow his every footsteps (the third picture is the NHK correspondent reporting live from Florida), so if you want to know what Dice-K had for breakfast, for example, you have to rely on the Japanese media.
Boston Red Sox's COO Mike Dee, on a Sports Business Radio interview, mentioned:
"When we announced we signed Daisuke, there weren't direct flights, believe it or not, from Tokyo to Boston. Now I know two or three airlines are in the process of adding direct flights during the baseball season. That's a clear and measurable impact of what we'll see."
I guess those extra routes must be just for the Japanese reporters then.

periodic table of blondness

2007-04-03T10:14:00.000+09:00

Another quick note on the latest Monocle.
The "periodic table of blondness" (pages 110-111), about the increasing similarities of TV news anchors (they always tint their hair lighter, never darker), was based on a Slate article written by Jack Shafer, which in turn, was based on Grant McCracken's "Big Hair: A Journey Into The Transformation of Self". Mr. Shafer borrowed the book's different portraits of blondes to rank TV anchors: bombshell blonde (Laurie Dhue of Fox); sunny blonde (Katie Couric of CBS); brassy blonde (Fox's E D Hill); dangerous blonde (CNN's Nancy Grace); society blonde (Fox's Janice Dean); and cool blonde (CNN's resident populist republican, Lou Dobbs). Mr. McCracken seems to be everywhere these days. No wonder, he's excellent.

monocle in singapore

2007-04-03T09:59:00.000+09:00

Just a quick note to say Monocle's no. 2 issue has hit the stands here in Singapore about one week after they came out in the UK. Not bad. The first issue arrived almost one month late.
You can find the magazine at Borders, Kinokuniya, and Page One in Vivo City.
The highlights: the cover-page story, an interesting article about Norway; a hilarious ranking of American TV anchors based on the "periodic table of blondness"; an article about the surging trend of mobile phone novels in Japan; plus the second chapter of the Kita Koga manga.

diderot and the cute nissan pino

2007-04-02T23:48:00.000+09:00

Grant McCracken, in his book “Culture and Consumption”, recalls an essay by French philosopher Francis Diderot. In his essay, “On Partying with my Old Dressing Gown”, Diderot described the transformation caused in his life by a beautiful new dressing gown he received as a gift. He loved the gift, but soon thereafter however, he notices that, compared to the new gown, the decoration in his room, the rug, the curtains, the desk, all looked shabby. He proceeds to replace them one by one, so that they match the new gown. McCracken describes this process as the “Diderot effect”, the way people create a lifestyle by trying to find cultural consistency in the things they buy, so that they “match”.
I just mention this idea because I came across the new Nissan Pino, recently launched (last January) in Japan, targeted at young women. Looking it as it is, it seems like just another small car.However, a visit to Pino’s website quickly tells a different story. To start with, you're welcomed by this "lovely loading" sign.Then you get it. Pino is a kawaii (cute) car. But the interesting thing about the Pino is not the car in itself, but how the cuteness meaning is created. Look at the picture below.
The car is not the center of the action. It’s more of a complement to the whole scene. And it’s the surrounding, with all its cuteness, that "contaminates" the car with meaning. Normally, as Wired’s Mark Durhan well noted, “...using cutesey fluffy pinkness to sell cars to 20-year-old women would be beyond the pale - too narrow, too sexist, too ludicrous. Not so in Japan”.
The Pino, much as Diderot’s gown, helps the girls define a lifestyle. Like Diderot’s gown, it’s not the only item, but a complementary object that, along with her keitai (mobile), her favorite pair of jeans, her pair of sneakers, her handbag, her nail polisher, and all her other possessions (all “lovely” of course, see below), creates her lifestyle and will accompany her “365 days a year, 24 hours a day”.And then comes the fun part, accessories. Girls can choose a heart-shaped cushion, a stuffed dog called “Pino Dog”, a flower-patterned upholstery, and a dozen other matching items, to help them create the desired effect.Accessorizing and personalization are not new ideas, but I hardly remember seeing them so tightly-knit behind the creation of specific lifestyles.
And if you thought the concept of “cuteness” defined only one lifestyle, you haven’t really started in this world. Pino’s campaign shows a group of three fashionable friends who strut around their different "cute styles". They portray three different types of cuteness: the “feminine cute” Yumi-chan, who is a model and loves dancing and snowboarding;......the “casual cute” Kimi-chan who wears a pair of jeans shorts and practices yoga;......and the “beautiful cute” Tamami-chan, who wears a plaid skirt and is into classic ballet. Each one of them brings her own matching accessories; a stuffed pink dog and flower-themed upholstery for Yumi-chan; an apple-shaped CD holder and a green dog for Kimi-chan, and so on. One does not have to worry about which is the best match. Pino does it for her (but of course, people are free to try their own creativity).
I don't know if this "cute strategy" would translate well outside Japan, maybe this is too much of a Japanese thing, but the concept behind it is great. Diderot would've certainly endorsed it.

google acquires trendalyzer

2007-03-28T21:25:00.000+09:00

Just a note following-up on the theme of my latest post.
Google's recent acquisition of Gapminder's Trendalyzer software only highlights the importance of data visualization. Gapminder co-founder, Hans Rosling, of course, is well known for his 2006 TED presentation where he showed how data can be presented in a more clear and visually arresting way (and he's becoming famous for being a sword swallower as well!).
Google's Marissa Mayer, says that, "like Google, Gapminder strives to make information more useful, and Trendalyzer will improve any function or application in which data might be better visualized...We hope (to make) it freely available to any and all users capable of thinking outside the X and Y axes".
Google has already made available a beta-version, here. I guess this acquisition makes a strong case for the importance of "information aesthetics" nowadays. As we get overloaded with information, "the problem", as Mr. Rosling aptly said in his TED presentation, "is not ignorance, it is preconceived ideas".

how cool is your name?

2007-03-28T19:58:00.000+09:00

Very interesting piece on PingMag about "Infoesthetics: the beauty of data visualization". There are several examples, but the one that caught my attention was this one: The Name Voyager. It's an interactive tool showing the popularity rank of baby names from 1880 to 2005. As you can see below, "Nelson" used to be a popular name... around 1890!The accompanying blog, by Laura Wattenberg, author of "The Baby Name Wizard", offers a fascinating look into baby name trends and pop culture influence.

minority report-esque?

2007-03-28T13:08:00.000+09:00

I guess some of you must've seen this already, but I only saw it yesterday. Jeff Han, of NYU, showing his multi-touch user interface. Notice how you move your entire body, much as in some video game that I'm becoming tired of writing about. So, do the iPhone, the Wii (oops), and this demo point out the future of computer user interface? Interesting that Mr. Han says that a 3-D interface would actually be a step backwards, definitely not "Minority Report" then, after all. The official wordless demo below (via Pogue's Post).

china's "batteries not included"

2007-03-27T13:34:00.000+09:00

There's an old Spielberg-produced movie called "Batteries Not Included" where a group of tenants in an apartment block fights against a real estate developer who wants to throw them out of the building (you can view the trailer on YouTube here).
The end, I won't tell you, but this real-life story taking place in today's China reminded me of that movie (see photo below). The owner of the house refused to move out so the developer dug a giant pit around it. People are calling it the "nail house".
And as I learned from a recent boingboing post, this is not so uncommon at all (and not restricted to China as well).The whole story with more pictures on China Daily (here)

wii infiltrates the culture

2007-03-22T10:21:00.000+09:00

After just a few months of its release, Nintendo's Wii (yes, again) is already becoming a dominant part of our culture.
As of this morning, a search on Flickr and YouTube showed the following results:

time's new design

2007-03-20T19:26:00.000+09:00

The latest issue of Time magazine brings a new design developed by Pentagram's Luke Hayman, Time managing editor Richard Stengel and art director Arthur Hochstein.
Below is the table of contents page and the Briefing section. More pages and an overview of the new design project at Pentagram. There's also an interesting note at boingboing about the tear on Reagan's face.

eugene, oregon

2007-03-20T10:00:00.000+09:00

I've never been to the city of Eugene, in Oregon. But a place that: is known as the "Track Capital, USA", holds the Prefontaine Classic every year, has held many Olympic Track Trials, will hold the 2008 Trials as well,...... and has a restaurant called "Track Town Pizza", gotta be a nice place to visit.

bowerman and the men of oregon

2007-03-19T20:17:00.000+09:00

He closed great, calloused hands around my throat. He did not lift me off the ground. He did relieve my feet of much of their burden. He brought my forehead to his. "I'm going to ask you to take part in an experiment," he said with menacing calm. People five yards away thought we were sharing a tidbit of gossip. "For three weeks, you are not going to run a yard except in my sight. You will do a three-mile jog here every morning, and our regular afternoon workouts. If I or any of my spies sees you trotting another step, you will never run for the University of Oregon again."
"Bill..."
"Are we agreed?"
"Bill..."
"Agreed?"As I was feeling faint, I submitted.

And so starts Kenny Moore's recount of the life of famed Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman.
Bowerman is a legend among track fans, having coached the University of Oregon for 24 years, winning the NCAA four times, coaching several Olympians, and being the US Head Coach in the Munich Olympics in 1972.
His most famous athlete was Steve Prefontaine, who died prematurely in a car accident in 1975, and whose life made to the big screen not only in one, but in two movies, "Without Limits" and "Prefontaine". Bowerman's character is played respectively by Donald Suthlerland and R. Lee Ermey in those movies. See "Without Limits" trailer on YouTube here.But Bowerman went on to be much more than a track coach. He went on to shape part of our lifestyle and our culture.
In the early '60s, after witnessing the work of another legendary coach, Arthur Lydiard, in New Zealand, he wrote a booklet about the positive effects of long-distance running for the average person. The book was entitled "Jogging". It went on to sell more than 1 million copies and helped ignite the running boom.
He was obsessed with improving the shoes his athletes used for running, and made many experiments in his garage workshop. The story about how he put foam rubber on his wife's waffle iron is already stuff of legend. The "waffle" sole and his association with Phil Knight, another one of his former athletes, gave birth to Nike. He stayed on Nike's Board of Directors until June 1999, a few months before he passed away on Christmas Eve that year. He is held in such stature at Nike that the eleventh of the company's "11 sacred rules" is simply, "Remember the man".
All these fascinating events are narrated by Kenny Moore. Moore, a former University of Oregon athlete himself, running under Bowerman, was one of America's best marathoners, having competed in two Olympics, his best result being a fourth place finish, in Munich, behind teammate Frank Shorter's gold. When his athletic career was over, Moore became one of the best sports writers in America. He was a senior writer for "Sports Illustrated", where he worked for 25 years. He also co-wrote the script for the movie "Without Limits" (he even plays a part in the movie).
Moore therefore writes about Bowerman with the reverence and love of a disciple writing about his master. His firsthand account of the stories, many in which he was an actor himself, such as in the opening paragraph above, gives an invaluable insight into the man behind the legend.
My own copy came with a few initial pages roughly cut (see photo below). I almost returned the book right away, but then I noticed Phil Knight's foreword was missing. Found out that because of a last-minute legal tangle between Knight and Rodale, Rodale decided to go ahead without Knight's foreword. However the first edition was already printed. Somebody at Rodale must've spent many long hours cutting those pages from the thousands of books already printed. Knight later published his foreword in the May/2006 issue of Playboy magazine. You can read it here. I decided to keep the book. And I don't regret it a bit.

"Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Co-Founder", available at amazon.com

US$ 100 laptop

2007-03-16T00:15:00.000+09:00

This is really cool. A prototype of the $100 laptop from Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project (via How blog).

apple: america's best retailer

2007-03-15T10:35:00.000+09:00

There's a very interesting story about Apple in the latest edition of Fortune magazine. This time about how Apple has transformed itself into America's best retailer, beating the 'sales per square foot a year' of established retailers such as Saks, Best Buy and even Tiffany's (read article here, sub. req.).
According to the article, a research report by Sanford C. Bernstein, shows that the averages of Apple's 174 stores is US$ 4,032 psf/year, against Saks' $362, Best Buy's $ 930, and Tiffany's $ 2,666.
Not so surprising considering the stores' relative small size (compared to other, much bigger department stores) and the number of people who frequent them. See the line outside the Regent St Apple Store, in London, below (2005 Christmas season).

nintendo gets it!

2007-03-13T16:08:00.000+09:00

Corporate culture is one of the most important aspects of an organization. For mega corporations with thousands of employees all over the world, that's what holds a company together, their set of values.
There's no amount of micromanaging that can teach how a customer service rep should do his/her job, but tell them what the company values are and somehow they'll figure out what to do.
Take a look at this post from saska, about her surprising experience with Nintendo's customer service.
Now read this article in the "Washington Post" about Nintendo's video game guru Shigeru Miyamoto (photo on the left) keynote speech at last week's "Game Developers Conference", in San Francisco.
Miyamoto, creator of "Mario Brothers" and "Donkey Kong", told the audience, "developers should resist the temptation to create only sequels of established hits and games based only on horror and revenge". Speaking about his own approach he said, "I always want that first reaction to be emotion, to be positive, to give a sense of satisfaction, glee... Certain obstacles may temporarily raise feelings of suspense, competition, even frustration. But we always want that final result, that final emotion, to be a positive one."
If you read both articles, it's clear there's a common thread there, and that's why Nintendo seems poised to take over the gaming world.

Reference:
Konrad, Rachel (2007). Nintendo Guru Wants More Happy Games. The Washington Post. March 8, 2007 (here).

burn calories and save energy

2007-03-09T18:35:00.001+09:00

How nobody thought of that before!
Hong Kong's branch of California Fitness, a fitness chain with many gyms across Asia (including Singapore) is testing an innovative concept: their cardio machines, such as stationary bikes, steps, and cross-training, have been equipped so that energy burned off by people doing exercise is transformed into electricity.
The brainchild of inventor Lucien Gambarota, the project is appropriately called "Powered by You". The goal is to make California Fitness more energy efficient, with the capability to produce and store energy. See video on YouTube here. (via inhabitat)

nike's new basketball uniforms

2007-03-08T10:59:00.000+09:00

Nike has unveiled its new college basketball uniforms, to be worn by four college teams, Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, and Syracuse, and which they have named "System of Dress". It is comprised by a tight top (similar to those used by track athletes), and a loose bottom (very, very loose, where do you think they got the 'dress' name from).
The other novelty is that players will be able to customize their uniform to a certain extent, using long or short sleeves tops and Dwayne Wade-style leg wraps.
Nike designer Hans George says that the change was the result of "athlete feedback and cultural insight... the desire among players to personalize their look while still looking part of the team".
It's already producing what some reporters are calling "a dramatic" new look in sports. Take a look below.

ted 2007

2007-03-08T10:02:00.000+09:00

The 2007 TED Conference starts in Monterey, California. You can follow some of the action here. And wait for the presentations to be available here, sometime in the future. In the meantime, you can watch Wired Editor-at-Large Kevin Kelly, talking about the evolution of biology and technology (duration: 20:39), on TED 2005, below (or download it here).

the diffusion of culture

2007-03-07T23:57:00.000+09:00

Zapping through the TV channels in Singapore, I happen to catch a lot of the 'international' channels programming, state-owned TV channels such as Germany's DW-World, Japan's NHK, France's TV5 Monde, and China's CCTV, and I couldn't help but noticing how differently they approach their job.
While they all state their goals as promoting their respective country's culture, through news and entertainment, as well as to provide a more 'balanced' view of the world, the commonalities stop there.
France's TV5 Monde is a channel almost exclusively dedicated to French speakers. The only exceptions are some late night movies sub-titled in English (which are pretty cool by the way). This approach however, definitely limits the number of people they can reach, which makes me think they're not really that interested in promoting their culture as much as they are in promoting their language (sort of, "if you really want to know more about us, learn French first, monsieur").
Japan's NHK does have a few shows for non-Japanese speakers. There's one news program dubbed in English (with a Japanese-speaking anchor and an English-speaking commentator's voice-over), and other newscasts and variety shows in English (with a mix of native and non-native English-speaking anchors). Despite being a little more accessible than TV5, I really would like to see more English-spoken or English-subtitled shows, especially their documentaries and movies. My favorite NHK show is "Cool Japan" (about which I blogged here), and which incidentally is spoken mainly in Japanese (only the guests speak English but it's enough to give a general understanding about the context of the show). See the video below about the Japanese influence on the Paris fashion scene (spoken in Japanese and French, on YouTube here).In contrast with the two channels above, China's CCTV takes a bolder, more ambitious approach, albeit a more expensive one. Instead of mixing their programming grid with Chinese and English-spoken shows, they set up two different channels altogether, CCTV-4, spoken in Chinese, and CCTV-9, spoken mainly in English (there are only a few shows spoken in Chinese, but always with English dubbing or sub-titles). Take a look, for example, at the video below, a show in Beijing last year, celebrating Deng Li Jun, a.k.a. Teresa Teng (on YouTube here).
And finally, Germany's DW-World stands somewhere in the middle, airing some newscasts and variety shows in English (my favorite is Euromaxx, a variety show about interesting things in Europe. You can view a short segment on Danish designer Arne Jacobsen on YouTube here).These differences in strategy show two things: (a) some state-owned channels compromise the diffusion of their country's culture by trying to be too "pure" (dangerous word, but in the lack of a better one), sticking to their own language; (b) the Chinese government is willing to make high investments to promote their culture, trying to leverage their newly acquired economic status. Keep an eye for Chinese brands to follow.
One final note: to be fair, this analysis is based mainly on the nightly programming, so while they reach a prime-time audience, I can't say for sure they represent the entire programming (though I'm almost certain they do).
I do hope these channels take on a more accessible approach to non-speakers of their countries' languages. After all, where else could we have better access to news about Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka, Houston's Yao Ming, or the latest Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie?

china to slow down?

2007-03-06T10:20:00.000+09:00

China's Premier Wen Jiabao announced yesterday that China's GDP growth target for 2007 is 8%. That's lower than the staggering 2006 growth of 10.7%!
Speaking at the opening of the National People's Congress, Mr Wen announced that the government's main goals for this year are to achieve harmonious growth, addressing the income gap between urban and rural population, while cutting energy spending and pollution.
China's economic growth is nothing short of extraordinary for a country with such a big population. Goldman Sach's well known BRIC report previews that China will overtake the US as the world's largest economy around 2041. The same report previews that by 2050, China's per capita income will be US$ 31,357.00, which is almost equivalent as the current GDP per capita in Japan! Can you imagine 1 billion-plus people with that much spending power?

water cube

2007-03-05T12:53:00.000+09:00

The spectacular "Water Cube", venue of the swimming and diving competitions in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, had its outside membrane structure completed last December.
Of all the new stadiums being built for the Games, I personally find this the most striking one.
Below, a view of the project...
... and the actual building below.
522 days to go.

association for consumer research

2007-03-05T11:00:00.000+09:00

I’ve been an on and off member of the Association for Consumer Research (ACR) since 1993, as far as I can remember. The ACR is an academic association dedicated to promote the study of consumer behavior. Its members come from a wide range of expertise (anthropology, marketing, sociology, communication, linguistics, etc.) and include luminaries such as Harold Kassarjian, Sidney Levy (a pioneer who wrote the seminal “Symbols for Sale” in 1959!), Gerald Zaltman (How Customers Think), and my favorites, Grant McCracken (Culture and Consumption), Russell Belk (Happy Thought), Morris Holbrook (Symbolic Consumer Behavior), and Elizabeth Hirschman (The Creation of Product Symbolism).
Collectively they have published a wealth of knowledge and insights since ACR's inception in 1969. I personally found their production fascinating for somebody whose good chunk of work is to understand consumers (although this is not ACR's main goal, let me be clear, this is an academic body, knowledge for knowledge's sake, they don't exist to provide consulting services).
Nonetheless, they've provided me with invaluable insights about symbolic consumption, ethnography, cultural aspects of consumption, to mention just a few of the topics they cover. In the process, they have explored all sorts of unconventional methods in trying to understand consumers, from introspective, self-analysis of their own consumption behavior, to analysis of movies as consumption objects, to the analysis of the sacred aspects of consumption, which easily make them one the most unconventional, innovative, and creative group of people that I’ve ever met (even if some of the articles are too highbrow for me to understand).
For whatever reason though, I seldom meet a branding practitioner who is aware of the existence of this body of knowledge. Perhaps people get intimidated by the academic approach, but if you get past the academic terms, there are real gems in there.
Take a look at some of the articles below:
"Happy Thought", by Russell Belk.
"I'm Hip: An Autobiographical Account of Some Musical Consumption Experiences", by Morris Holbrook
"Advertising: Meaning or Information", by Grant McCracken
"Consumer Behavior Meets the Nouvelle Femme: Feminist Consumption at the Movies", by Elizabeth Hirschman
Most of these articles can be found either in the "Journal of Consumer Research", or in ACR’s website (there’s an online proceedings search). Enjoy the readings.

did nintendo copy xavix?

2007-03-02T10:25:00.000+09:00

Have you heard of a game console called Xavix? I saw it at the store yesterday and, surprised, I thought to myself "hmm, already a Wii copycat"! Then later I checked on google and to my even bigger surprise I learned that Xavix was actually launched on September 2005, a full year before Nintendo's Wii!
Xavix, made by a Japanese company name SSD, basically has the same principle as the Wii, it's an interactive motion controlled gaming console. There are a few differences though:
- The remotes resemble actual sports equipments (boxing gloves, tennis rackets, golf clubs, etc.) thus rendering a more realistic experience (not sure whether this is necessarily better in terms of pure game enjoyment)
- The view on the screen doesn't show your 'avatar'. The ball comes straight at your face in a tennis game, for example.
- Nintendo's marketing is much more focused and clear. Xavix seems uncertain of what it wants to be: a video-game or a fitness device. From their website: "Xavix is a revolutionary way to interact with your TV. From your favorite sports to high-energy workouts..."
Take a look for yourself at xavixstore.
Also check out this commercial on YouTube.

time out singapore

2007-03-01T23:57:00.000+09:00

Just because I said the other day that magazines are dwindling, we're witnessing a couple of interesting magazine launches recently.
First came Monocle. Now, the launching of Time Out Singapore, with the latest arts and entertainment listings, will give a boost to the city-state's plans to become a cool city.
Singapore now joins the likes of London, New York, Shanghai, Dubai and 13 other cities that have their own "Time Out" edition. This one though is a monthly edition, not weekly as the London one.

it's ok to have a messy desk

2007-02-27T18:25:00.000+09:00

"If an untidy desk signals a messy mind, then can we say that a clean desk signals an empty mind?".

I've always subscribed to the above theory but, unfortunately, without hard data, I've been on the losing end of this argument a couple of times.
Well somebody finally came to my rescue. Eric Abrahamson, a business academic, and David Freedman, a journalist, published a book, "A Perfect Mess", showing that to have "moderately" messy desks can lead to more efficient and more creative work. Compiling several cases throughout history to backup their case, they finally show that it's ok to have "moderately" messy desks (that's the caveat and I have yet to see if I qualify in that category) . The most interesting anecdote is the discovery of penicillin, an accident only possible because of the mold created in Sir Alec Fleming's messy desk. Genius!
Read the review in the "The Daily Yomiuri" here.

wii winning the video-game battle

2007-02-26T19:33:00.000+09:00

It's still a little early to tell but Nintendo's Wii seems poised to win the battle of the video-game consoles. According to the Financial Times (reg. req.), it "has soared past Microsoft's Xbox 360 in sales and opened a huge lead over Sony's premium-priced rival, the Playstation 3".
Still according to the article, a Merryl Linch analyst predicts that, "by the year 2011, almost a third of the Japanese households, and almost 30 percent of all US households will own a Wii". That's huge! If we take into consideration only the households with children, that percentage would increase considerably.
Wii's success is a great example of non-linear thinking, of winning the battle by playing a whole different game.
On Wii's website, there's a very interesting interview series with the team that created and developed the console. Hosted by Nintendo's president, Mr. Satoru Iwata, it gives a glimpse on the approach the team chose for the project. See this statement from Mr. Takeda, who led the project:
"...if we had followed the existing Roadmaps we would have aimed to make it “faster and flashier.” In other words, we would have tried to improve the speed at which it displays stunning graphics. But we could not help but ask ourselves, “How big an impact would that direction really have on our customers?” During development, we came to realize the sheer inefficiency of this path when we compared the hardships and costs of development against any new experiences that might be had by our customers... After speaking with Nintendo's development partners, I became keenly aware of the fact that there is no end to the desire of those who just want more. Give them one, they ask for two. Give them two, and next time they will ask for five instead of three. Then they want ten, thirty, a hundred, their desire growing exponentially. Giving in to this will lead us nowhere in the end..."
As I said in the beginning, the battle is still in its early stage, so let's see how it develops, but according to Credit Suisse analyst Jay Defibaugh “there has always been a strong concern that the Wii was gimmicky...but each passing month assuages that.”

Reference:

Lewis, Leo (2007). Nintendo's Wii Outsells Rival Consoles. Financial Times. February 21, 2007.

ali rap on espn

2007-02-23T19:34:00.000+09:00

Watched "Ali Rap" on ESPN, a documentary based on the George Lois' book I blogged about the other day. It's a fitting tribute to Ali's verbal punching power, featuring some of his classic moments, as well as some famous guests such as Sylvester Stallone, James Earl Jones, Sidney Poitier, Ludacris, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Diane Sawyer, Angelo Dundee, and George Lois.
The documentary has been released on DVD as well, including the entire 1974 Ali vs. Foreman fight in Zaire.
You might be led to think I'm a big boxing fan, which I'm not. Actually I rarely watch boxing matches. Having said that, there are 4 fights that every sports fan should watch: the three Ali vs. Frazier clashes, and of course, Ali vs. Foreman, a master class on how strategy and finesse (if you could say so about a heavyweight boxer) can triumph over brute force.

innocent breaks into uk's top 100 brands

2007-02-22T22:29:00.000+09:00

A survey by Check Out magazine (reg. req.) in the UK, shows that while traditional brands such as Coca-Cola and Walkers still dominate the top of the grocery list, healthy brands are enjoying the strongest sales growth.
Remarkably, Innocent Drinks, the smoothie brand (love the 'strawberry & banana' one), is the fastest-growing UK brand, and for the first time breaks into the top 100, at No. 63, with sales of £96m.

Reference:
Smithers, Rebecca (2007). Organic Food Breaks Into Top 100 brands. The Guardian. February 21st, 2007. (here, free, but reg. req.)
Top 100 Grocery Brands Report (download it here, free but reg. req.)

monocle magazine

2007-02-21T18:51:00.000+09:00

I got my hands on Monocle magazine's premiere issue. Magazines all over the world are dwindling, many are folding (George, Talk, The Face, to name a few), and most are getting slimmer, with fewer and fewer advertising pages. So it is laudable that somebody is willing to launch a new magazine given this scenario.
Monocle was launched positioning itself as a new type of business magazine. Well, it is definitely not a business magazine in the traditional sense. With sections categorized from A to E (Affairs, Business, Culture, Design, Edits), the magazine's premier edition brings an eclectic mix of topics, such as the emergence of Japan's navy (the cover story), an interview with Lego's CEO, the semiotics of Iran's president wardrobe, and a fashion editorial set in Okinawa.
The most interesting piece for me is an article about Miura Golf Clubs, the maker of Tiger Woods' clubs (Nike puts the logo on them, but they're actually made by Miura). Hint: following on centuries of samurai sword forging tradition they see themselves as forging specialists, not club makers, which gives an idea about the craftsmanship involved.
Some other features of the magazine:
- At 242 pages it is surprisingly big
- There's a "manga" supplement, complete with instructions on how to read it (from right to left, obviously)
- It clearly intends to be an international edition. With a head office in London, the magazine has bureaux in New York, Zurich and Tokyo.

shrewd marketing or spam?

2007-02-21T17:52:00.000+09:00

The Chicago Cubs has agreed on a deal with sports apparel maker Under Armour to have ads placed on its legendary ivy-covered walls. The Cubs' Wrigley Park is one of the most traditional ballparks in what is arguably America's most traditional sport. Already some purists are protesting this move.
Reference:
Sullivan, Paul. Cubs Show Tradition The Door With Ad Deal. Chicago Tribune. February 14, 2007. (see here)

zapcode in singapore

2007-02-18T10:58:00.000+09:00

I got the heads up about this from ag407's Fernando Barros (thanks Fernando), who told me about shotcode, a technology that resembles a barcode. Unlike the traditional barcode however, this technology allows mobile phone users to access more detailed information about a product, for example. Basically the code contains a link to a website, which people can access only by taking a picture of it. The applications are endless. It can be used to provide more information about products, events, movies, etc.
Now Singapore's SPH, publisher of The Straits Times, has launched a similar product called ZapCode.

where's the "l"?

2007-02-15T08:54:00.000+09:00

where ideas come from

2007-02-14T22:42:00.000+09:00

Who would've thought? YouTube creators were inspired by HOTorNOT.com. According to an article in Time magazine (Dec. 16, 2006, the "Person of the Year" issue), "Chad and Steve agree that Karim deserves credit for the early idea that became, in Steve's words, "the original goal that we were working toward in the very beginning": a video version of HOTorNOT.com."

about the future of gaming, computers

2007-02-14T16:45:00.000+09:00

Some interesting bits on the blogsphere, dealing with trends in the computing and gaming industry. Somehow they're all interconnected, though I can't quite explain now.
- Steve Johnson muses about the Nintendo Wii (amazing how the Wii is bringing long lost consumers to the category)
- Momus writes about the age of the ubiquitous computing (and mentions the Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project)
- Mark Cuban discusses the future of computing and gaming, and the implications for Microsoft, Apple, Google, Sony, etc.

ninja restaurants

2007-02-12T10:40:00.000+09:00

Following up on my 'ninjas are cool' post, found out that there are ninja-themed restaurants in Tokyo and New York. The restaurants are designed like a ninja castle, complete with trap doors, hidden passages, shuriken-printed napkins, and of course, ninja-waiters. They even have a 'torture chamber'. When the cook or the waiter messes up with your order, the other ninja-waiters tie him up and give him a good beating, 'ninja style' (lucky him, in the old ninja days, a ninja who made a mistake was not supposed to come home alive!). Too funny!
Check out this video on YouTube.(via tokyomango, thanks Lisa)
PS: oh, and the food looks great too!

ali rap

2007-02-08T19:29:00.000+09:00

Read 'Ali Rap', a book edited and beautifully designed by George Lois, and published by Taschen and ESPN. Actually I flipped through it in less than one hour, so fascinating the book is. But more than just a book about Ali's famous wisecracks and rhymes, which are geniuses by themselves, the book takes the reader to a journey through America's recent history. And all that designed by George Lois. It doesn't get any better than this.
Some excerpts from the book:

"This is the legend of Muhammad Ali,
The greatest fighter that ever will be.
He talks a great deal and brags, indeed,
Of a powerful punch and blinding speed.
Ali's got a left, Ali's got a right,
If he hits you once, you're asleep for the night."

"I'm so fast that last night I turned the light switch off in my bedroom... and I was in bed before the room was dark."

On a return to a young, terminally ill cancer patient:
Ali: "I told you I was gonna whup George Foreman. Well, I'm back from Zaire and I did whup George Foreman, and now you're gonna whup cancer".
Boy: "No, Muhammad. I'm going to meet God. And I'm going to tell Him I know you."

beijing olympics pictograms

2007-02-07T10:51:00.000+09:00

In the official website you get to see the evolution of the design since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

the oscars

2007-02-06T19:57:00.000+09:00

Watched a couple of videos from Dreamgirls and they just blew me away. Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles singing, just watching the trailer gives me chills. Make yourself a favor, find your way to the clip below (in the movie's web site, in Media & Video/Clips) and watch Beyonce singing 'Listen'. A full video in YouTube.
About Jennifer Hudson, what a terrific story, 'only in America' kind. She's been compared to Aretha Franklin. Watch this interview with Today Show's Matt Lauer.'Half Nelson'. With a title like that I've got to watch it.
My sentimental favorite for Best Movie: 'Little Miss Sunshine'.
On an ad industry note, you've probably seen Wieden & Kennedy's Honda Civic 'Choir' commercial. According to W&K's blog, "Steve Sidwell, composer of the soundtrack and conductor of the choir in the ad, has been commissioned to compose and conduct a soundtrack for a choir to sing live at the Academy Awards emulating vintage motion picture feedback". Pretty cool.

marketing + technology

2007-02-06T11:54:00.000+09:00

Couple of technology enhanced marketing moves in Japan:
The first is this interactive projection advertising technology by a company called Catchyoo (via CScout). I saw a similar technology being used at some museums in London but this is the first time that I've seen it being used in advertising. It can be projected on floors, on walls, on tables, etc. In many ways, it feels like a video game, and the Wii comes to mind. See video here.
The other example is this virtual make-up booth, a joint project developed by Mitsukoshi, Shiseido and Fujitsu.
I'm no make-up expert, but I guess most women will be pleased to be able to try as many variations as they like without going through the mess of having to apply the make-up, then having to wipe it off, then applying another option and so on. Eventually they'll still want to try out the real stuff, but at least they can make a previous selection.
The machine scans the woman's face and through an LCD screen, she can try as many variations as she wants to (by waving products with RFID tags on a tag reader). The screen shows how she'll look, and better yet, she'll be able to see the before/after effect.
The project runs through Feb. 12th at the Mitsukoshi store in Ginza (via Wired Blog).