I was not hallucinating when I saw a beautiful deep red sky last night. It was the Northern Lights! (or a version of that phenomenon.) According to SpaceWeather.com, "A fast-moving coronal mass ejection that billowed away from the Sun on Nov. 4th swept past our planet at 0150 UT on Nov 6th (8:50 p.m. EST on Nov 5th). The impact triggered a severe geomagnetic storm and widespread auroras reaching as far south as Florida, Texas, and California in the United States." That also explains why my positronic brain experienced a surge of tachyon particles. They have a gallery of aurora images from last night. An article in the local paper said some people thought it might be the work of terrorists, or a fire.
Someone woke up on the wrong side of the marketing bed this morning. (me.) I haven't been able to shake a feeling of dread since I heard this line in a story about DoubleClick (scroll down to Sydell) yesterday on NPR: "DoubleClick appears to be moving beyond pop up ads into areas more likely to expand, like email marketing." Can email marketing expand any more than it has? ugh.
Some call advertising pollution in the mental environment. Others call it a perpetuation of the fetishism of commodities. Still others would call advertising annoying simply because it's showing up in every available space and aspect of our lives. I believe it's time for the biggest advertising firms to band together to weather this storm. They should hire one or two of the biggest PR firms to launch a rebranding campaign for advertising itself. I can picture billboards, banner ads, radio spots, posters, product placements, pbs uderwriting, stickers, songs, books, celebrity endorsements, and TV commercials extolling the virtues of advertising. They could even pay average webloggers like me to make positive posts about advertising. With enough money, they could kickstart some grassroots organizations to raise awareness of the affect of advertising and its contributions to our culture. After all, it's putting you in touch with--or shaping your opinions about--things you may want to purchase now or in the future.
On an unrelated note, I realized today that my .sig file is completely underutilized. I send 5-10 emails per day, and I'm not selling anything! I could be using my email signature to create valuable consumer impressions for a willing organization. I wouldn't even charge for it, because it would be providing a valuable service to my friends and associates. I would be appreciated by both sides!
Today's post has been brought to you by Enron: Discover the Power of Why.
At my favorite diner, one of the waitresses wears a nametag that says Diana Hunger.
Diamonds funding Al Queda? [link via rc3.org] What a tangled web. Makes me wonder how far the U.S. will go to shut off their money supply, especially if it could affect U.S. business. I wonder what De Beers (the world diamond cartel) says about this. Will it become unpatriotic to buy a diamond?
I downloaded an MPthree file of the song "I've Told Every Little Star" from the Mulholland Drive soundtrack. It's a sickeningly sweet and innocent early 60's song recorded in a Lynchian style. This version has an edge that seems to be slyly saying, Pink is the new Black, with just too much reverb on the vocal for comfort. It also has that Twin Peaks style tremelo-loaded guitar. Now I can't get it out of my head! Devil music!!
Bill Moyers quoting Tony Kushner: "There are moments in history when the fabric of everyday life unravels, and there is this unstable dynamism that allows for incredible social change in short periods of time. People and the world they're living in can be utterly transformed, either for the good or the bad, or some mixture of the two." In this essay by Moyers, he's cautiously hopeful now is a time for positive change toward more democracy for America. It's a great piece of writing. [via Metafilter] It reminds me of a song I was thinking about earlier today. Democracy by Leonard Cohen. Goes like this:
It's coming from the sorrow on the streetAll of the lyrics. But the point is, check out the Moyers article. It's inspiring.
The holy places where the races meet
From the homicidal bitchin'
That goes down in every kitchen
To determine who will serve and who will eat
From the wells of disappointment
Where the women kneel to pray
For the grace of God in the desert here
And the desert far away
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Happy H. You might want to listen to some disturbing William S. Burroughs spoken word to get into the eerie spirit of the day. Like the real audio file available on this page. Or you might not. Update: Found even more WSB audio files.
Also this weekend: Mulholland Drive. Or was it a dream?
ya se fue! ya se fue! o-zo-mat-li!
Saw Ozomatli at the Fillmore last night. It was incredible. Moments of the show were pure ecstatic energy. (For more sound samples, check out their media page.) I've been walking around today with a smile on my face. I'm reminded again how powerful music can be. There is hope. Check out matt's take.