tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2383399905189628042024-03-05T15:17:49.014-08:00Teacup in the BayA Brit in San Francisco writing about the arts, social media and not-so-popular cultureCarly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-5921150046519659082015-03-15T16:24:00.004-07:002015-03-15T16:27:40.553-07:00Amid a Feast of Foodie Videos, 6 Unusual Cooking Channels To Try on YouTube<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb77O67ICHczW0qHfbsX6e7s8_EI_UwKSPMFPGRq6KkiXxwmPhfmibJJSa68_omZ8x87yIJ-bUNE5BkYMe7hWb0NGvEJDjFi33Y6uj5q2pP-AjoZQCHSLl2Zi1bEZwBwuv2LEjjr3mFelE/s1600/Cooking-with-dog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb77O67ICHczW0qHfbsX6e7s8_EI_UwKSPMFPGRq6KkiXxwmPhfmibJJSa68_omZ8x87yIJ-bUNE5BkYMe7hWb0NGvEJDjFi33Y6uj5q2pP-AjoZQCHSLl2Zi1bEZwBwuv2LEjjr3mFelE/s1600/Cooking-with-dog2.jpg" height="218" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/03/13/amid-a-feast-of-foodie-videos-6-unusual-cooking-channels-to-try-on-youtube/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Cooking on YouTube</span></a> has become big business for audience views and chef revenue — but there are still a few truly quirky originals out there, from culinary canines to black metal vegans. Who knew?<br />
<br />
I wrote <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/03/13/amid-a-feast-of-foodie-videos-6-unusual-cooking-channels-to-try-on-youtube/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this piece</span></a> about YouTube's foodie success stories and some of its more, er, <i>unusual</i> cooking channels for <a href="http://www.kqed.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">KQED</span></a>'s <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Bay Area Bites</span></a> blog, so <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/03/13/amid-a-feast-of-foodie-videos-6-unusual-cooking-channels-to-try-on-youtube/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><b>go read it over there</b></span></a>!<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Read <b><a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/03/13/amid-a-feast-of-foodie-videos-6-unusual-cooking-channels-to-try-on-youtube/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Amid a Feast of Foodie Videos, 6 Unusual Cooking Channels To Try on YouTube</span></a></b></li>
<br />
</ul>
Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-26769608436639969202015-03-15T16:15:00.002-07:002015-03-15T16:15:31.133-07:00Obsessed with... a nasty little short story from Hilary Mantel<i>I'm currently adding my two penn'orth/cents to KQED Arts' new </i><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/tag/obsessed/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Obsessed</span></a><i> feature, "a weekly series featuring everything the KQED Arts gang can’t stop talking about." My contribution to <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/03/05/obsessed-everything-we-cant-stop-talking-about-this-week-5/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Mar 5's post</span></a>:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ4ZQ23XmkjQF9TvEmjD7oVcFOO8YeqWVLiHoMLkpxGRlasxyIy8MFw97ngQ9Zxxo_-iZT9Z-XKbsKRrj67Bb3nTVT2V69-p-0QSmoDZ7kTnm1rfAxpu3jt7kxusT_sMd4KvkQ1qA9DvG/s1600/assassination-thatcher-4a7fcbd8c880069fbe7805394f536599be9d32ea-800x600.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ4ZQ23XmkjQF9TvEmjD7oVcFOO8YeqWVLiHoMLkpxGRlasxyIy8MFw97ngQ9Zxxo_-iZT9Z-XKbsKRrj67Bb3nTVT2V69-p-0QSmoDZ7kTnm1rfAxpu3jt7kxusT_sMd4KvkQ1qA9DvG/s1600/assassination-thatcher-4a7fcbd8c880069fbe7805394f536599be9d32ea-800x600.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
My history nerd heart is most excited for <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/wolf-hall/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">the BBC adaptation</span></a> of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor intrigue-a-thon <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Hall" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Wolf Hall</span></a>.</i> To sate myself until its premiere on U.S. TV next month, I just re-read Mantel’s strangest, most compelling short story from her <i>Assassination of Margaret Thatcher</i> collection: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/dec/04/winter-break-hilary-mantel-shortstory" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">“Winter Break.”</span></a> Barely skirting 2,000 words, this nasty little shocker about a vacationing couple in their airport cab is what the phrase <a href="http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+sting+in+the+tail" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">“sting in the tail”</span></a> was invented for.<br />
<br />
<br />
Her writing is typically flawless, but something’s up: its revisiting of the frequent Mantel theme of childlessness is so on-the-nose, the inevitable “gotcha” so blatant that I suspect (to borrow a line from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU0SEeQJy0c" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">one of my favorite guilty pleasures</span></a>) it’s all “so overt it’s covert.” Even on second reading, I can’t quite work out exactly what Mantel is up to here, and I look forward to cracking it one day. Read <span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/dec/04/winter-break-hilary-mantel-shortstory" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">“Winter Break”</span></a> </span>online!Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-75447858822795378032015-03-15T16:09:00.002-07:002015-03-15T16:09:54.739-07:00Obsessed with... the birth of Wayne Campbell<i>I'm currently adding my two penn'orth/cents to KQED Arts' new </i><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/tag/obsessed/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Obsessed</span></a><i> feature, "a weekly series featuring everything the KQED Arts gang can’t stop talking about." My contribution to <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/02/26/obsessed-everything-we-cant-stop-talking-about-this-week-4/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Feb 26th's post</span></a>:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44-2pKtJHb26ltU0-kd8L-kSm3vnnzwTpirDdJT2gE2Y42jf-HWcLv0HUdbAvuBMV6_0lXzgPdj41O7ZP0klIKlreafR5uiboB0uswQWSaUyhcVvl6TY5o2Q-MLlaUa7ULNKYU8vJoHhY/s1600/Screenshot+2015-03-15+at+4.06.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44-2pKtJHb26ltU0-kd8L-kSm3vnnzwTpirDdJT2gE2Y42jf-HWcLv0HUdbAvuBMV6_0lXzgPdj41O7ZP0klIKlreafR5uiboB0uswQWSaUyhcVvl6TY5o2Q-MLlaUa7ULNKYU8vJoHhY/s1600/Screenshot+2015-03-15+at+4.06.28+PM.png" height="273" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
It may be a depressing indictment of <i>Saturday Night Live</i>’s current form, but I loved that the only truly funny part of the show’s 40th Anniversary last week came courtesy of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BustEdWyqzk" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Mike Myers and Dana Carvey resurrecting <i>Wayne’s World</i></span></a>. As a sincere, longtime fan who knows both spin-off movies by heart (my all-time happiest childhood memory, no joke, is when my parents pretended we were going out grocery shopping but took me to the movie theater to watch Wayne’s World instead), discovering Mike Myers’ first outings in character as Wayne has brought me so much joy.<br />
<br />
A year before SNL, Wayne made his debut in 1987 on Canadian TV variety show <i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Only_Rock_%26_Roll_%28TV_series%29" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">It’s Only Rock & Roll</span></a> </span></i>(as a ‘contest winner,’ no less) in his own recurring segment called <i>Wayne’s Power Minute</i>. From <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqyPqmy4IAE" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">the very first one</span></a>, he’s still basically the same loveably enthusiastic, incongruously florid Wayne, just with a strong Canadian accent and a slightly worse wig. All his It’s Only Rock & Roll appearances make me laugh like a drain, but my favorite has to be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydJH5WOnL6o" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">‘Wayne’s Encyclopedia,’</span></a> in which Wayne discusses his self-penned Encyclopedia Metallica, complete with ‘History of Metal’ biology flowcharts (“Amoeba → Protozoa → Zep”) and tips for living the metal life: “A Volvo is bogus.” With the self-indulgent horrors of the later Austin Powers movies and The Love Guru, it’s easy to forget Mike Myers used to be really funny.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-56765377193523036772015-03-15T16:04:00.000-07:002015-03-15T16:04:29.012-07:008 Things To Do Solo In San Francisco<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8RPwDdGBNA4qpt3QtAscz-Mq2eFK8izF90tHk45vvvpgeRXdcjPaBj9EVdN9D8pVGEMG516gOQlBrsVTak-fD4UB3cmV_aZ24VApLXbK8a90z2JUMeqmlez6zosz2WpUzgZj45ncKoUD/s1600/solo-800x531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8RPwDdGBNA4qpt3QtAscz-Mq2eFK8izF90tHk45vvvpgeRXdcjPaBj9EVdN9D8pVGEMG516gOQlBrsVTak-fD4UB3cmV_aZ24VApLXbK8a90z2JUMeqmlez6zosz2WpUzgZj45ncKoUD/s1600/solo-800x531.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/basheertome/14487673138" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Basheer Tome / Flickr</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sometimes you find yourself with the day off but no partners-in-crime available. Other times, you just really want to spend the afternoon on your lonesome. Whatever the reason for ditching the plus-one, here are eight things to do in San Francisco that are either best enjoyed alone, optimized for the individual visitor or at least won’t make you feel at all awkward for being by yourself.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2015/02/27/8-things-to-do-solo-in-san-francisco/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><b>Read my full piece over on KQED.org!</b></span></a>Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-4629945567356330392015-03-15T15:59:00.001-07:002015-03-15T15:59:58.189-07:00Obsessed with... 'Spem in Alium' by Thomas Tallis<i>I'm currently adding my two penn'orth/cents to KQED Arts' new </i><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/tag/obsessed/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Obsessed</span></a><i> feature, "a weekly series featuring everything the KQED Arts gang can’t stop talking about." My contribution to <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/02/20/obsessed-everything-we-cant-stop-talking-about-this-week-3/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Feb 20th's post</span></a>:</i><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iT-ZAAi4UQQ" width="420"></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Strictly speaking, I’ve been ‘obsessed’ with this gorgeous 450-year-old choral work for years. Thanks to an adolescent combination of insomnia and a precious tape-radio that received a particularly strong signal from the local classical station, early modern choral music (Tallis, Allegri, Byrd) is my lifelong jam, and I still remember hearing Spem in Alium for this first time like you’d remember falling out of a tree.<br />
<br />
Written around 1570 for an unbelievable 40 voices, which overlap, build and soar for ten overwhelming minutes, <i>Spem in Alium</i> is almost unhumanly beautiful. (There are umpteen renditions out there, by the way, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT-ZAAi4UQQ" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this one by the Tallis Scholars</span></a> is my favorite for its pacing.) It’s a rare month that goes by without me listening to this on full blast at least once, but I’ll be honest: with the inescapable release of <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/02/12/385726801/fifty-shades-director-explores-passion-performance-and-control" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">a certain movie</span></a> on Valentine’s Day, what reminded me to turn it up this week was remembering the horror of seeing my beloved Spem slapped with an “As featured in <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>!” banner on Spotify last year. Yes, apparently a Renaissance masterpiece <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/07/11/156604704/how-is-fifty-shades-of-grey-selling-classical-music" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">makes a ‘special appearance’ in the book</span></a> (although not the movie?) and I dread to think how, but you know what: I’ve gotten over it. Frankly, we can all use a reminder not to be a tedious snob about how and where people discover the good stuff.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-19780196832950860422015-03-15T15:52:00.001-07:002015-03-15T15:53:46.015-07:00Obsessed with... the 'How Did This Get Made?' podcast<i>I'm currently adding my two penn'orth/cents to KQED Arts' new </i><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/tag/obsessed/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Obsessed</span></a><i> feature, "a weekly series featuring everything the KQED Arts gang can’t stop talking about." My contribution to <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/02/13/obsessed-everything-we-cant-stop-talking-about-this-week-2/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Feb 13's post</span></a>:</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/114502850&color=ffcc00&show_artwork=false" width="100%"></iframe>
Experience has taught me that comedy podcasts are the best way to make long, tedious car journeys seem shorter, and binge-consuming several episodes of this very funny discussion series about very bad movies made a recent slog down Hwy 1 in one-foot visibility virtually fly by. In each episode, comics Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas (plus special guests) watch a gloriously dreadful movie like <i>The Devil’s Advocate</i>, <i>Anaconda</i> or Neil LaBute’s remake of <i>The Wicker Man</i>, then get together to discuss the burning question of the title: how did something so nonsensical, badly acted or tasteless like this ever get off the ground, let alone onto your screen?<br />
<br />
Alongside the incredulous scene-by-scene commentary, there’s some genuinely fascinating “inside baseball” nuggets for movie dweebs like me about the missteps that lead to these cinematic catastrophes. (My favorites so far: Jackie Chan was going to play the Wesley Snipes character in <i>Demolition Man</i>, and there was an apparently quite good Michael Crichton source novel for 1995’s <i>Congo</i>, but nobody involved in the movie bothered to read it.) As a sincere appreciator of this stuff, I cannot wait for my next episode: Nic Cage’s 2011 horror (in all senses) <i>Season of the Witch</i>. <a href="http://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Listen up over at Earwolf</span></a>.<br />
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-59836526149191448022015-02-16T15:44:00.001-08:002015-02-16T16:01:51.639-08:00Obsessed with... the British Library in real timeI'm currently adding my two penn'orth/cents to KQED Arts' new <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/tag/obsessed/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Obsessed</span></i></a> feature, "a weekly series featuring everything the KQED Arts gang can’t stop talking about." My contribution to <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/02/05/obsessed-everything-we-cant-stop-talking-about-this-week/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Feb 5's post</span></a>:<br />
<br />
<b>Carly Severn: <a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/02/05/obsessed-everything-we-cant-stop-talking-about-this-week/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Stalking Book Requests at The British Library</span></a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/3b5J9-lW8kg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3b5J9-lW8kg?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Thrill-seeker that I am, I’m currently obsessed with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b5J9-lW8kg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this video</span></a> showing “10 hypnotic minutes of real-time book requests from the <a href="http://www.bl.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">British Library</span></a>’s book delivery system.” Yes, this really *is* just 10 minutes of scrolling book titles, and it’s mesmerizing. Marvel as you bounce from Hebrew poetry and a 1963 New York Review of Books to <i>The Life and Lore of the Bird</i>. Like whenever my dad insists on showing me his (admittedly fascinating) historical coin collection, I love wondering about the hands that these objects are being passed back and forth between; all the novels being researched, the PhDs and night classes being labored over. And in case that all sounds a bit insufferable, you’ve also got bizarro titles like <i>London is a Man’s Town, But Women Go There</i> (1930) to chuckle at.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-59084005917572294542015-02-16T15:29:00.004-08:002015-02-16T16:01:51.636-08:00Missing The Actors Who Quit Downton? Here Are 3 Strange, Dark Gems To Watch Them In<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2015/02/06/missing-the-actors-who-quit-downton-here-are-3-strange-dark-gems-to-watch-them-in/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mHAaVUSYZPKMRgNiO-U8dvChE9ZGvuLZ6d8WTmOeieWRzOtdVmfVe_Gi2aVJVEz9fSFEpoA1fROsKRWYtPuiq6dFmc8X6-PBzHlbPa0hyphenhyphen9I_7nahjygzgPf4TqIgKTFg3MQw49-bILAM/s1600/matthew-crawley+(1).jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<b><i>(My deep, abiding love for Adam Wingard's 2014 film </i>The Guest<i> prompted me to write </i><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2015/02/06/missing-the-actors-who-quit-downton-here-are-3-strange-dark-gems-to-watch-them-in/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this for KQED Arts</span></a><i>. Here's an excerpt on that criminally underrated movie — you can read the full piece about </i>Boy A<i> and </i>Black Mirror<i> too </i><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2015/02/06/missing-the-actors-who-quit-downton-here-are-3-strange-dark-gems-to-watch-them-in/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">over on KQED</span></a><i>!) </i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
‘Twas ever thus: seasons change, dogs molt and stars of <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/" target="_blank" title="Downton Abbey"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">phenomenally popular television shows</span></a> junk their secure employment for "exciting new roles." <a href="http://www.kqed.org/tv/programs/downtonabbey.jsp" target="_blank" title="Downton Abbey on KQED"><em><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Downton Abbey</span></em></a>, now in its fifth season (<a href="http://www.kqed.org/tv/programs/index.jsp?pgmid=17336" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">9pm Sundays on KQED 9</span></a>) is no stranger to departing actors—many of whom came to the Crawley estate from very different roles, or have since gone on to unexpected things. So to all those still missing Matthew, Sybil et al, I say: why not let that aching sense of loss be your spur to discover some dark, strange and under-appreciated stuff these actors have given the world before or since <em>Downton</em>?<br />
<strong><br /></strong>
<strong>Dan Stevens (as Matthew Crawley, last seen in 2012’s Christmas Special)</strong><br />
<strong>Why not watch him in:</strong> <em><strong>The Guest (2014)</strong></em><br />
<em><strong><br /></strong></em>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><strong><a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/giveaway/files/2015/01/IHoGd.jpg"><img alt="IHoGd" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2586" src="http://blogs.kqed.org/giveaway/files/2015/01/IHoGd-1024x742.jpg" height="289" width="400" /></a> </strong></em></div>
<br />
<br />
Well, I’ll be damned if little Matthew Crawley wasn’t responsible for the best — but also most underrated — American thriller of last year (even better than <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/" target="_blank" title="Nightcrawler (2014)"><em><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Nightcrawler</span></em></a>!). <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980592/" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">The Guest</span></em></a> was the movie for which Dan Stevens got buff and jumped the Good Ship Downton to widespread outcry — particularly in his native Britain, where ridiculing homegrown stars who exhibit any sense of ambition to “crack America” is basically a national pastime. On the evidence of this irresistible homage to 1980s thrillers, the doubters should now be eating humble pie, or at least they <em>would</em> be, if anyone had actually seen it. (<em>The Guest</em> made barely over $300,000 in the U.S., and was met with a critical reception best described as “eh?”)<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/giveaway/files/2015/01/guest34562.jpg"><img alt="guest34562" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2582" src="http://blogs.kqed.org/giveaway/files/2015/01/guest34562.jpg" height="212" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Mis-sold as a horror film on the back of director-writer team Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s 2011’s previous family-in-peril movie, the preposterously enjoyable <em>You’re Next, </em>this movie is totally Stevens' show. Physically unrecognizable as the same gentle Matthew who stole your mother’s heart, he's the titular Guest: the wiry, intense David who turns up unannounced on the doorstep of a bereaved family introducing himself as a soldier who served alongside their late son. He's quickly invited to “stay awhile,” and he’s soon drinking beer with the grieving parents, picking up their troubled son from school and hogging the bathroom from their 20 year-old daughter. But as he inveigles himself further into their lives, ominous questions arise. Why doesn’t David have any I.D? Why is he trying to buy a gun? And why do people all around them keep getting injured or turning up dead?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/giveaway/files/2015/01/tumblr_n7s6yzOpww1so3dl0o5_500.gif"><img alt="tumblr_n7s6yzOpww1so3dl0o5_500" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2584" src="http://blogs.kqed.org/giveaway/files/2015/01/tumblr_n7s6yzOpww1so3dl0o5_500.gif" height="195" width="500" /></a> </div>
<br />
Thanks to its insistent electro-synth score, splashy neon palette and taciturn lead hardman prone to bursts of extreme violence, <em>The Guest</em> has been characterized online as “<em>Drive</em> with a sense of humor,” but really that's overselling <em>Drive</em>. It’s clear that David’s unnerving demeanor, ambiguous intentions, and his Terminator bar-brawl moves all point towards something very bad about to go down. What sets this movie apart from a thousand other generic thrillers is a) its gleeful refusal to let a well-worn plot play out how you’re expecting and b) its deep love of the “relentless foe” movies (<em>Halloween</em>, <em>The Hitcher</em>, <em>Terminator</em>) to which it’s paying tribute.
Whether Stevens is charming his dead pal’s mother, entrancing the aforementioned sister in a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MDX3k3GWgEJPSl6zw3FOfP75ZGfB9MYsNfHmo-bG70tVUMmFTEWiY5r9teMOGZ1-Az68mE4OmhrZplhSs0s0gJalqd2w8z_UKaz2yRi3KzpVPmY6lC8LlkesUmFJGDJwuZFUH4q7nYys/s1600/tumblr_n7yyzefeKo1r2lupvo1_500.gif" target="_blank" title="Shower scene"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">much-Tumblred bathroom scene</span></a> or mounting a disproportionately vicious assault on some unfortunate high school bullies, he’s compelling, terrifying and — most refreshingly — really funny, with a sly sense of humor that’s totally crucial to this movie’s infectious absurdity. (Just watch the way he rolls his eyes and tuts in exasperation while dodging bullets.) Right up until the climactic showdown that mischievously literalizes the true horror of your high-school prom, Stevens just <em>gets</em> the inherent ridiculousness of the lone-wolf archetype that Ryan Gosling made so ultimately uninteresting, and its a joy to watch. So if all <em>Downton</em> alumni’s forays into the world of action movies are this good, step up, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/character-hub/series/downton-abbey-s5/character/charles-carson_s528" target="_blank" title="PBS Character Hub: Carson"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Carson</span></a>; Liam Neeson can’t keep hogging the middle-aged hero niche forever!<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2015/02/06/missing-the-actors-who-quit-downton-here-are-3-strange-dark-gems-to-watch-them-in/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Read the rest of this post on KQED Arts</span></a></li>
</ul>
Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-81808093126421337122015-02-16T15:08:00.002-08:002015-02-16T16:01:51.642-08:00What’s the Great Fuss About ‘The Great British Baking Show’?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/02/06/great-fuss-great-british-baking-show/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhit6vwyDEhyc6a9ZYh89J2OB7O2r9H4TPt4JqA932Yjbp_C71emS01U7UVNYKgmya3txC5By8XnzqDrnaBtiitdRElhWMoCGEYKvkA9pMPSAKzRa7ja-s0ffP7Yz9pjRZvsibVfK4hwzh0/s1600/CAKE-CORNER2-1024x683+(1).jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.6666669845581px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/02/06/great-fuss-great-british-baking-show/" target="_blank">(Courtesy of © Love Productions)</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
No drama, no drumrolls: just twelve people baking in the middle of a field in England. So why is <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/02/06/great-fuss-great-british-baking-show/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">The Great British Baking Show</span></a> (a.k.a the U.K.'s beloved Great British Bake Off) so hugely successful over here in the U.S? I wrote <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/02/06/great-fuss-great-british-baking-show/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this piece</span></a> explaining the mystique of Mary Berry and co. for <a href="http://kqed.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">KQED</span></a>'s <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Bay Area Bites</span></a> food blog, so go <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/02/06/great-fuss-great-british-baking-show/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">read it there</span></a>!<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Read <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2015/02/06/great-fuss-great-british-baking-show/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">What’s the Great Fuss About ‘The Great British Baking Show’?</span></a></b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-20270175403845142872015-02-16T14:57:00.002-08:002015-02-16T16:01:51.632-08:00 5 Authentic Anglophile Experiences in the Bay Area for Downton Die-Hards<br />
<span id="goog_2116086452"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_2116086451"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKemPSgUPy2f0n0rgpUtufupO46Lq9XNLm7wpIozuhVRnhZt1R8kyeWOH6CCej4qYEYkCFUaw3vqbpnQ3VEy6xIBWVZ1TuD2lQaWZBlw0tABxlXZ9BncYQbQTUMKX47MF3rIXeRnRhDlh_/s1600/5331488511_e4f18022bf_b-800x535.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pelican Inn, Muir Beach (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/30228224@N07/5331488511/in/photolist-988gMH-3PUXG-3PUXH-3PVr4-3bYxT3-7ybN9Z-fFdxPW-6MxjYR-cyqGMC-9VHP66-9VHP2H-cypt6J-9VKHMu-9VGTrz-9VKHtu-3PZ4c-8K9oKK-87YfS3-2EP1Ws-3PVr5-4AQ7J5-jSMh4z-7yfJfA-7yfCHh-7ybTxT-7ybS4a-7ybSfH-7ybT3X-7yfG6E-84vzVP-7yfHEy-7yfEo5-7ybRNB-7ybRRc-7yfGnJ-7ybPHK-7ybPLv-7ybT98-7yfFWJ-7yfFFQ-7yfFvJ-7yfGrE-7ybSHR-7yfH2W-7ybRFp-7ybRnT-7yfGeU-7ybQHD-7yfG2h-7yfFj1" target="_blank">photo: Frank Towery / Flickr</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_2116086453"></span>Has your Downton Abbey obsession reached unprecedented heights with the arrival of Season 5? Does your general addiction to Masterpiece Theatre have you craving the English life, with only the small matter of 5,000 miles of U.S. soil and Atlantic Ocean standing in your way?<br />
<br />
The Bay Area may not be overrun with bona fide Anglo experiences (the sunshine and cheery dispositions here don’t help), but there are a few select places to enjoy a suitably authentic Anglophile afternoon, without the buzzkill of an 11-hour flight to Heathrow. So without further ado, here are the local spots that make this particular English lady feel peculiarly at home.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/5-authentic-anglophile-experiences-in-the-bay-area-for-downton-abbey-fans" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Read my full piece over on KQED.org!</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-49006701311752804492013-03-05T12:30:00.002-08:002015-02-16T15:32:21.628-08:00To Thine Own Sell Be True: or, Why Arts Marketing Isn't Going Far EnoughWhen I was about fourteen years old, I saw an actor named <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2001/mar/28/artsfeatures2" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Samuel West perform <i>Hamlet</i></span></a><i> </i>with the <a href="http://www.rsc.org.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Royal Shakespeare Company</span></a>. If you'll permit me a bit of hyperbole, seeing this production at London's <a href="http://www.barbican.org.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Barbican Centre</span></a> kind of changed my life.<br />
<br />
For the first time, I understood why this 'stuff' (Shakespeare, theatre, poetry, performance, everything) mattered, and how it could make my life better. It set me on a path in which the arts became my passion, my study -- and finally what I'm privileged to call my career.<br />
<br />
The reason I am telling you this story is that over a decade later, I am following <a href="https://twitter.com/exitthelemming" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Samuel West on Twitter</span></a> for old times' sake, and because he's funny. This, in particular, made me laugh a little while ago:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Lovely young wife falls for hard-drinking doctor; they plan woodland sex. Last two weeks of <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23UncleVanya">#UncleVanya</a>. Tickets: <a href="http://t.co/dPc33gML" title="http://bit.ly/WE6IZs">bit.ly/WE6IZs</a><br />
— Samuel West (@exitthelemming) <a href="https://twitter.com/exitthelemming/status/290892201293127680">January 14, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
It made me laugh because it's <i><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9683173/Uncle-Vanya-Vaudeville-Theatre-review.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Uncle Vanya</span></a></i>, silly -- how funny to sum up Chekov thus, and in a tweet, too! Just imagine if theatres really <i>did </i>promote their productions with this kind of campaign!<br />
<br />
And then I stopped laughing and thought: if this type of approach were to get people through the doors, <i>who cares?</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
A few months ago <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/users/brian-millar" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Brian Miller of Sense Worldwide</span></a> wrote this <a href="http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671203/arts-branding-sucks-here-are-4-ways-to-fix-it" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">phenomenal blogpost</span></a> about everything that's wrong and safe and ineffective with arts branding today, and I can't recommend it highly enough. This part in particular deserves sticking on the wall:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: white;">Selling isn't selling out</span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;">Great arts marketing makes more than money. Performers and creators live for full houses. An excited audience makes a show magical. Queues turn an exhibition into a blockbuster. Word of mouth turns an unknown genius into a star. The world is full of advertising claiming that a product will change your life. <i>Great art is the product that really can, if only it’s sold right. </i>[Italics mine]</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
And there <i>is </i>no italic button powerful enough to satisfy me on this one. <i>Just get them through the door.</i><br />
<br />
Too often people say that they fear a 'dumbing-down' in arts marketing, when what they're <i>actually </i>worried about is 'making something sound sufficiently interesting enough to make someone want to experience it'.<br />
<br />
People also say that they're concerned about the possibilities for 'misrepresenting' what's on offer in your exhibition, or your play, or your ballet -- or as I like to call it, 'lying'. An easy solution, this one: don't lie about your product!<br />
<br />
Most importantly of all: making the <i>sell </i>persuasive does not actually affect, interfere with or lessen the quality of the product itself. Of course, whether or not artistic directors and curators should be striving to make their output more accessible is a whole other issue -- but that aside, the fact remains that making your marketing more appealing does not suddenly rewrite your play, or reconfigure your exhibition. It <i>serves </i>the art, rather than stripping it.<br />
<br />
This is why arts marketing needs people with passion, creativity and great judgement. The passion is so they care enough about the art to want to find a way to <i>sell </i>it. The creativity is to come up with imaginative, unexpected methods of doing that. And the judgement? That's to know what is right for the organization in question -- and how far is far enough. Because honestly, I feel like we've all got to go even further to go to sell the arts as the unmissable ticket they really are; and <i>getting them through the door</i> is the reward.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-23899649434974072602013-01-16T16:55:00.003-08:002015-02-16T15:32:37.986-08:00What Facebook Graph Search Might Mean, or 'Last Recommendation in Brooklyn'<a href="https://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Facebook's Graph Search announcement</span></a> yesterday has many people <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5976324/who-does-facebook-search-screw-the-most?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">predicting the decline of other search services and platforms</span></a> that the humans of Planet Earth would otherwise use for recommendations on what to do with their evening. And with the commentator focus on mining this functionality for guidance concerning, say, 'Mexican restauarants my friends have enjoyed in Brooklyn', I couldn't help wondering: when <i>did </i>the opinions and recommendations of our social circle become so important online?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOCiPBqtD-1FrzZ7-z-eOEVV0EJE7CFztQBTgRSeEvQDsBjYCkoGN3ypwZu26b75j8ox6kn869LS_3Lcft40PDzhMaGD2XB0HUHfC5CXpBFMNvL6OO2yvI0khJO9bMKp6jXzDAaseRCQB/s1600/Untitled-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOCiPBqtD-1FrzZ7-z-eOEVV0EJE7CFztQBTgRSeEvQDsBjYCkoGN3ypwZu26b75j8ox6kn869LS_3Lcft40PDzhMaGD2XB0HUHfC5CXpBFMNvL6OO2yvI0khJO9bMKp6jXzDAaseRCQB/s400/Untitled-5.jpg" height="187" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, I don't know <i>any </i>of these people!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What I mean is, speaking objectively: why <i>should </i>knowing somebody personally elevate their opinion above that of what might be termed an 'expert'? Just because my friend, er, <i>Curly </i>likes Mexican food and used to live in Brooklyn, why does that mean I should trust her experience or recommendation (as handed to me by Facebook Search) more than 450 reviewers on Yelp? Or (just imagine) a Brooklyn-based food critic, whose 50-year newspaper career has been dedicated specifically to the evaluation of local Mexican 'eateries'? Does knowing and (presumably) liking Curly make her recommendation any more valid, or me any more likely to agree with her tastes vis-a-vis carne asada?<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I'm not questioning this stuff because I disagree with the concept that the opinions of those close to me matter more than those of people I've never met, or because I dispute that people connect with people over shared tastes. On the contrary: of <i>course </i>I'd rather go to that place my Dad liked, rather than take a punt on a critic's review (although that's a bad example because I'm not sure how much he actually cares for Mexican food.) I'm questioning this stuff because I believe those who make their living in the digital space need to work out just how much our audiences care about where the information that guides and influences them <i>comes from</i>, and I'm obviously talking beyond Mexican restaurants.<br />
<br />
Social media is, at its heart, built upon the concept of 'the share'. Brands post and tweet in the understanding that their fans and followers will share that information with their social circle, because that sharing confers a kind of validity to the information and by implication the brand ("Curly liked this, so it must be okay.") If Facebook Search and services like it become an integral part of our online lives, this means that audiences will be saying "my friend's word matters more than your critic's" louder than ever before. For example, theatres: your local drama critic might give your play five stars, your in-house scholar might hammer home the historical significance of the work, and your leading lady might call it the best work she's ever done. But if Curly doesn't enjoy the opening night, I assume I won't either -- and I won't buy.<br />
<br />
Obviously this concept has been around for centuries and it's called 'word of mouth.' It's something that social media specialists already capitalize on, if they're doing it right. But it's never been the be-all-and-end-all. Who's to say that technology like Facebook Search won't condition audiences to value social recommendations above most (or even all) other sources? And if that starts to happens, how do brands adapt to that kind of democratization? I'm not scaremongering, honest: just hopeful that people will be realistic about how their social strategies might have to change to honor and recognize what matters most to audiences. Recognizing influencers, encouraging sharing at every step, leveraging even more user-generated content, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/theater-offers-tweet-seats-to-smart-phone-addicts_n_2375447.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Tweet Seats</span></a> -- these are not the solutions. These are just the start.<br />
<br />
PS. Please leave your recommendations for Mexican restaurants in Brooklyn in the comments.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-34161344498155974872012-12-05T10:00:00.000-08:002013-03-05T19:07:59.232-08:00Facebook 101!I had the pleasure of visiting Facebook HQ down in Menlo Park, CA yesterday to participate in an awesome <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nonprofits?sk=app_132773470145947" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">'Facebook 101' Live Talk</span></a> for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nonprofits" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Facebook for Non-Profits Page</span></a>, with <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2012/05/29/how-facebook-is-changing-the-world-for-good/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Strategic Partner Manager Libby Leffler</span></a>. We chatted about how to grow an authentic, appealing presence on the platform, what social media can do for the arts, and the tips and tricks behind some of our most successful social content at <a href="http://www.sfballet.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">SF Ballet</span></a>.<br />
<br />
Cheers for the awesome opportunity, guys! You can watch the recording (and enjoy my effusive hand gestures) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nonprofits?sk=app_132773470145947" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">here on the Facebook for Non-Profits Page</span></a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefsJ03jypTy6A6Bi5ycAaTTMRqqQEYQbdIg1Tpo7hCmWC28p1PemXiB3UC39kZdcnREJYOshNKEZ389EKlS4azb8p9T9TsOHAJ7Wb3TXU50W-wxp06oPxcjDzjce3mrHp1EG_tiqISIr0/s400/fblive.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-32181557118635265962012-12-04T20:57:00.001-08:002015-02-16T15:33:24.151-08:00Tea and Posting in Las VegasShamefully, I have not yet had the opportunity of mentioning what an awesome time I had last month on my trip as one of the three <a href="https://blogs.oracle.com/socialspotlight/entry/finalists_for_community_manager_of" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Community Manager of the Year award finalists</span></a> at the <a href="http://www.oracle.com/webapps/events/ns/EventsDetail.jsp?p_eventId=154641" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Oracle Social Media Summit</span></a> in 'Fabulous' Las Vegas. I can honestly say that the <a href="http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Wynn</span></a> was the fanciest hotel I have personally blighted in my entire life, and spent an entire five minutes trying to wrench open the curtains in my palatial suite before working out that they were remote-controlled. (I'll stick the managing the communities, I think.)<br />
<br />
When I wasn't attempting to destroy expensive furnishings, I finally had the pleasure of meeting my fellow finalists in person, the lovely <a href="https://twitter.com/sacevero" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Stacey Acevero</span></a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffespo" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Jeff Esposito</span></a>, as well as hearing from a wide range of speakers about their use of social media. I also had the fortune to be part of a panel on best Facebook practices, in which I spoke about the anatomy of a successful post.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-iJ9ezZ7ocO_rVw9cLu-nJVLGTkagJJC1lvzdOXTstFAXX8k7xahNnbm7fNp4cD1YspQI0uV320kTFPePm7PPTP2yQunq5X9ul_Or_ZnNDi04A6OAmgej-Ptb6u4q1gpGvJNo4eBwrKCh/s1600/oracle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-iJ9ezZ7ocO_rVw9cLu-nJVLGTkagJJC1lvzdOXTstFAXX8k7xahNnbm7fNp4cD1YspQI0uV320kTFPePm7PPTP2yQunq5X9ul_Or_ZnNDi04A6OAmgej-Ptb6u4q1gpGvJNo4eBwrKCh/s400/oracle.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with my fellow finalists Stacey and Jeff. I love this photo for two reasons: 1) I clearly can't smile appropriately, and 2) I have managed to photobomb <i>myself </i>via Twitter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
One recurrent theme in the panel discussions was the increasing dominance of the 'pay to play' model regarding paid advertising on social media, which as a representative of the arts gave me pause for thought. After all, it's not like it's even an <i>option </i>for many arts organizations, and even those who can afford to make room in their budgets for sponsored ads and promoted social content aren't even close to working with the kind of numbers their private sector counterparts can muster.<br />
<br />
However, I suppose this just reinforces the importance of capitalizing on the kind of inherently interesting content we're blessed with in the arts. For us, the content <i>is</i> the brand, rather than a tactically-developed strategy with which to promote the brand. The big names work very, very hard to come up with the kind of appealing content that our fellow organizations generate simply by <i>being</i>. It's the music, the artworks, the dance footage, the photography that depicts the artistic process: it's just what we <i>do</i>. It can never compensate for our lack of financial muscle—which will always be an undeniable fact of life in the marketing departments of non-profits—but I think that it's still a cheering message in the face of a social media playing-field that could be becoming increasingly uneven.<br />
<br />
In a nutshell: we may not always have the means to pay for our reach, but ultimately, earning it organically is what the arts have always done; and we'll continue to do it. We just might have to work a little harder, that's all.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-30156450386487286272012-11-13T14:09:00.002-08:002015-02-16T15:34:12.173-08:00How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Hashtag<br />
Indulging in a recent retrospective of <a href="https://twitter.com/TeacupInTheBay" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">my Twitter timeline</span></a>—the 2012 equivalent of flipping through your baby photos—I came across this heartrending <i>cri de coeur</i> from my previous self: "<i>Maybe life *would* be better if I just relaxed and learned to love wry hashtags." </i><br />
<br />
By happy coincidence, this was on the same day I read <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/in-praise-of-the-hashtag.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">this beautifully serious-minded examination of the hashtag from the New York Times</span></a>, which charts its evolution from simple topic aggregator to a bona fide 'literary device'. I'm pleased to say that after a conscientious program of self-reeducation, I myself <i>did </i>indeed learn to stop worrying and love the hashtag, but I'd still argue that my early objections to the medium hold some valid truth-nuggets for individuals, brands and organizations committing crimes against Twitter with a blunt tag:<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Crime #1: Unnecessary.</span> </b>When I first started using Twitter, my key problem with hashtag use was that everyone was doing it (with trending hashtags as the proof.) I've since gladly accepted that hashtagging is actually a central part of the Twitter vernacular, a mode of expression that's evolved out of the necessary brevity of the platform and come into its own. But the worst-judged brand/organizational hashtags I see out there seem to be employing them just for the sake of doing so, because everyone else is—and wind up appearing misplaced, inappropriate or just plain embarrassing My favorite example of how comical an incongruous hashtag can be comes in the shape of <a href="http://youtu.be/tU2MFVILoRE?t=1m36s" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">an endearingly befuddled Liam Neeson instructing fans via this promotional video to “tweet hashtag #Taken2Scene”</span></a> with the air of a man who's just learned these words phonetically five minutes beforehand. This video is the reason I have my 'Not everything needs a hashtag' tattoo. (Just kidding! I got that done way before.)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx5S7YcFzKG0tDt1LhgPVXN1dXOlRJwb6uTn4RCVw27c8MG0KQuO1oubLYWG6aqPQjStoh8f3L6Cc-o69aDuhWvUgyvPNIAApF_FxqlRxGq58hfiotLO-SLpzd-peR0iGdfOJF0qDCk6Pp/s1600/Neeson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx5S7YcFzKG0tDt1LhgPVXN1dXOlRJwb6uTn4RCVw27c8MG0KQuO1oubLYWG6aqPQjStoh8f3L6Cc-o69aDuhWvUgyvPNIAApF_FxqlRxGq58hfiotLO-SLpzd-peR0iGdfOJF0qDCk6Pp/s320/Neeson.jpg" height="288" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes going through a YouTube video <br />
frame-by-frame can really pay off</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Crime #2: Too clever by half.</b> </span>On my first Twitter voyages I was baffled by the strange affliction my friends seemed to have fallen prey to—the inability to express themselves in 140 characters without giving over the last 40 to what <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/in-praise-of-the-hashtag.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">the Times article</span></a> dubs "a pithy phrase, preceded by that hungry octothorpe [#], used to either label or comment on the preceding tweet". Yet what baffled (and irritated) me most was the studied nonchalance, the straining for wryness, the faux-artless artfulness of it all. In essence: hashtags just seemed so try-hard. I'll now happily concede that much of my initial ire was based in my lack of understanding of the tag's place in Twitter speak, but would still maintain that this little symbol can often lay bare any inconsistencies in persona and tone by somehow placing the impetus on the tweeter to be oh-so-droll, all the time. Resist the pressure, social mediators: authenticity always wins! Which leads me to my final point:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Crime #3: The snark.</b> </span>So many applications of the humble hashtag out there sound chillingly close to the self-regard and bargain-bucket 'irony' of your more annoying type of teenaged girl. (That was me, by the way; I'm talking about myself.) Hashtags like #whatever, #yeahright, #awkward or (ye gods) #justsayin are turning us all into the dreaded Snarkasaurus Rex, as if enthusiasm and sincerity were Twitter Kyrptonite. This is pernicious enough when it infects individuals' tweets, but when brands try and play that game in an attempt to further humanize their institutional voice, everybody loses and nobody grows up. Hashtags should not be not safe-houses for sniping or needless negativity, people.<br />
<br />
What do you think, hashtaggers?<br />
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-20343916555252009982012-11-06T14:39:00.001-08:002012-11-06T14:39:28.053-08:00Some thoughts on Election Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhij9a4Rp7MFOfa3ak_-NbA1bQWkQinjLvF8JCW5dn278ertXCyyC3EL7dHn8ZmHFruEg38JtyG3MWD0liwmPhb5zgo-P7Dw6wzubpDYPdARSQmIIDqDM-_y-Ei6NXgtlJg03ZHO_rQwOHP/s1600/959149a2284511e2942f22000a9f140e_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhij9a4Rp7MFOfa3ak_-NbA1bQWkQinjLvF8JCW5dn278ertXCyyC3EL7dHn8ZmHFruEg38JtyG3MWD0liwmPhb5zgo-P7Dw6wzubpDYPdARSQmIIDqDM-_y-Ei6NXgtlJg03ZHO_rQwOHP/s200/959149a2284511e2942f22000a9f140e_7.jpg" width="200" /></a>To tell you to truth (because I usually lie, duh), I hadn't expected to feel quite so powerless today.<br />
<br />
For the past 1.5 years I actually rather enjoyed being able to escape campaigners proferring leaflets on the street with the words "Sorry, I can't vote"--delivered in an exaggeratedly cut-glass accent that explained <i>the whole thing</i>--but today I really feel I'd love to be able to fill in a ballot. This is because I love the city that I live in, and I also love the people I share it with, even if they do get a little 'shove-y' on the bus sometimes. I want my friends to have the rights that are currently denied to them, and for them to retain those that are under threat. To add my voice in support of them is what I want, but for now at least, I'll have to trust that a significant number of those around me feel the same way when they go to the polling stations today.<br />
<br />
I've seen more than one post from friends online proclaiming that they can't wait until tomorrow, when their social media streams and feeds are free of people's 'political opinions'. Respectfully, I couldn't agree less--and not just because I think the word 'political' is redundant here. 'Politics' isn't something that happens somewhere else, to other people. It's the stuff that dictates how good our human lives are, and how the lives of others can be made better. The more we talk and listen, through the myriad of channels that are now open to us, the better people we become and the more we're able to consider a viewpoint outside of our own. So remind me: how is this a bad thing?<br />
<br />
So, yeah: go and vote, Americans! I'll know if you don't.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-83386536909516467472012-10-27T16:40:00.000-07:002012-11-06T14:39:47.419-08:00The Unbearable Hugeness of JupiterWhat is the exact point at which 'much-needed perspective' becomes 'abject terror at the basic futility of human existence'?<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-qQ9nm2smhjVvkSsjxWqJP9G1udZuwecuYkD1oTFiai9VVi56l3owzbsCbTVkffmgBAXkBLU1IOWcdII0imX6Odjo-h216mPa8H-l4bCZBmtMfhYoD19NUvyX8JVHw7OXNaUNXoD3XZM/s1600/Universe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-qQ9nm2smhjVvkSsjxWqJP9G1udZuwecuYkD1oTFiai9VVi56l3owzbsCbTVkffmgBAXkBLU1IOWcdII0imX6Odjo-h216mPa8H-l4bCZBmtMfhYoD19NUvyX8JVHw7OXNaUNXoD3XZM/s320/Universe.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perspective.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Answer: "around the third click on <a href="http://www.numbersleuth.org/universe/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">this utterly amazing 'Magnifiying the Universe' interactive</span></a>".<br />
<br />
Enjoy your important weekend on this tiny, insignificant planet, friends!Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-61313415918553913072012-10-23T21:09:00.000-07:002015-02-16T15:12:48.672-08:00Lessons from Sesame Street, Vol.17,998It's clips like this that remind me that enthusiasm and sincerity are pretty much <i>the best things in the world</i>, and there's almost nothing they can't accomplish. And if it wouldn't make for such an unwieldy tattoo, I might consider getting that etched somewhere discreet.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/lS8cC2CaNwA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
For some context, it might help to clarify that<a href="http://www.gq.com/style/wear-it-now/201112/timothy-olyphant-interview-justified" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"> this guy playing it straight on the Street is literally the coolest man alive</span></a>. Be proud, folks!<br />
<br />Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-26993655306321868842012-10-22T15:00:00.000-07:002012-10-22T15:00:04.928-07:0010 Pointes for GryffindorI was interviewed about dance and digital by fellow social media* enthusiast <a href="http://2pointesocial.com/about/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Amanda McAlpine</span></a> for her great blog <a href="http://2pointesocial.com/"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">2pointesocial.com</span></a>. You can read it <a href="http://2pointesocial.com/2012/10/02/san-francisco-ballets-social-style-interview/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">here</span></a>!<br />
<br />
* or as nobody calls it, 'smedia'. <span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sir_24duiF4" target="_blank"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Make it happen</span></a>?</span>Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-54579544281044455022012-10-21T23:10:00.000-07:002012-10-21T23:10:22.547-07:00Community Manager of the Year Awards!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbO8eW-PbNolb7hL43AEr8OJpQ-zP3Jedz_sadgI4HcAm2p36hiLRMQCxWrL6pOf-q1yDpsGEhBo7vf70jYQ0NSxuwkDkCbP7Itb9VQVTkd6KCXSKZPIfLqvC-is7w7XMfWFDUhHf-_Gj/s1600/las-vegas-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbO8eW-PbNolb7hL43AEr8OJpQ-zP3Jedz_sadgI4HcAm2p36hiLRMQCxWrL6pOf-q1yDpsGEhBo7vf70jYQ0NSxuwkDkCbP7Itb9VQVTkd6KCXSKZPIfLqvC-is7w7XMfWFDUhHf-_Gj/s200/las-vegas-small.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
VERY exciting news: I've been chosen as one of the three finalists for <span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><a href="https://blogs.oracle.com/socialspotlight/entry/finalists_for_community_manager_of" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Oracle/Vitrue's inaugural Community Manager of the Year award</span></a> </span>for my<span style="color: #cfe2f3;"> <a href="http://www.sfballet.org/interact" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">digital engagement work</span></a></span> at <a href="http://www.sfballet.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this fine organization</span></a>!<br />
<br />
As with many awesome things, this started with <span style="color: #cfe2f3;"><a href="https://twitter.com/sfkatya/status/172469569489879041" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">a single tweet from a user</span></a> </span>who most kindly suggested our social media work would be a good fit for <a href="http://www.communitymanageroftheyear.com/index.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">this award</span></a>, which looks to "recognize and celebrate the incredible work being done by the fastest growing, most in-demand position in all of social network marketing." I'm delighted to say that my teabags and I are being sent to Las Vegas next month for <a href="http://www.oracle.com/webapps/events/ns/EventsDetail.jsp?p_eventId=154641&src=7544675&src=7544675&Act=29" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">Oracle's Social Media Summit</span></a>, where I'll get to meet <a href="https://blogs.oracle.com/socialspotlight/entry/finalists_for_community_manager_of" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">my talented co-finalists</span></a>, speak about my work and hear what some of the most exciting people in my field are cooking up.<br />
<br />
I'm <i>particularly </i>psyched that we're the only arts or non-profit organization represented amongst the finalists. Tea all round! <a href="http://www.oracle.com/webapps/events/ns/EventsDetail.jsp?p_eventId=154641&src=7544675&src=7544675&Act=29" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cfe2f3;">See you in Vegas...</span></a>Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-36064688948548906352011-11-03T21:12:00.000-07:002011-11-07T16:53:17.959-08:00Mick Jagger's Filing Cabinet; or, some things I will never understand about America<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheU3PDDgMLhuQsu6lD8QqSm5gh_MxiumZqYAjuZ6YOMT8qhnOf5YlKc-MRei7NGwmsfTzlu2qHG8JCXt1D1lHbXu3EP08VBfu6KLwv2ik3LqjU1ndxk6ZYA5o_UsGV80bUe8RSKuf53dgZ/s1600/Swayze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheU3PDDgMLhuQsu6lD8QqSm5gh_MxiumZqYAjuZ6YOMT8qhnOf5YlKc-MRei7NGwmsfTzlu2qHG8JCXt1D1lHbXu3EP08VBfu6KLwv2ik3LqjU1ndxk6ZYA5o_UsGV80bUe8RSKuf53dgZ/s200/Swayze.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;">Howdy brah! Do you floss?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>With the chronic politeness that <i>actually </i>saw me renamed "Thank-You-Sorry" on a recent trip away with American friends, I'd like to begin by offering - you guessed it! - sincere apologies for my commitment-phobic 'approach' to blogging over the past seven weeks. My excuse is that I have but lately rejoined the land of the gainfully employed, and have been concentrating really hard on not messing that up.<br />
<br />
Luckily, this temporary hiatus (is there any other kind?) means I return to you with a new perspective on life, as I am by now essentially a bona-fide American. I have a Social Security number, think entirely in US Dollars and just the other day referred to coriander as 'cilantro' without so much as retching. I eat Twinkies for breakfast, sleep in Stars-and-Stripes PJs, and ride a bald eagle to work.<br />
<br />
Just kidding! There are still LOADS of things I still can't wrap my head around, and here they are:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
1. <b>The workplace obsession with being a 'Rockstar'</b>. Close your eyes, click on literally any 'situation vacant' on Craigslist and (open your eyes for this bit, obviously) you'll find a job description calling for a bloody ROCKSTAR. 'PR Rockstar'; 'Rockstar Intern'; 'Rockstar Office Assistant'. From what I gather, it's intended to refer to someone who marries exceptional Excel abilities with the sexual magnetism of Bodhi in <i>Point Break</i>; however, the term loses its meaning when applied to 'Rockstar Barista', 'Rockstar Dental Hygienist' and (this is totally the best one) 'Rockstar and Garage Organizer'. Just to be clear, <i>all </i>of these are <i>very real postings</i> on Craigslist right this second. It's not even the gut-wrenching awfulness of the word that gets me. It's the fact that no-one in their right mind would ever ACTUALLY WANT TO HIRE A REAL ROCKSTAR. Successful touring musicians are <i>by their very nature</i> mercurial individuals with well-documented issues around substance abuse and timekeeping, and these employers know as well as I do that Mick Jagger would be STAGGERINGLY unreliable in a workplace environment.<br />
<br />
<br />
2. <b>The way that people here say 'that's <i>so </i>funny' <i>without actually laughing</i></b>. This is one of the US-UK conversational gulfs that has most unsettled me, because if your supposedly-amusing anecdote is met with these words in Britain, it's kind of bad news for your social capital. Allow me to translate:<br />
<br />
US: That's so funny = "How amusing!"<br />
UK: That's so funny = "Christ, you're dull."<br />
<br />
In Britain, saying something is 'funny' without physically chuckling - ie. showing that you really <i>do </i>think it's funny - would be regarded as passive aggression <i>par excellence</i>. It's the verbal equivalent of someone looking over your shoulder to see if there's anyone better to talk to at the party - the sign that you should wrap this conversation up and go and bore someone else. But I've learned that here, to be <i>told </i>your story is funny - rather than <i>shown </i>- isn't actually a cause for concern. Unless, of course, everyone here is sparing my feelings, and I really AM very dull. Oh, America: you guys are the best!<br />
<br />
<br />
3. <b>The teeth</b>. This one is the worst, because it's one of those cliched observations I swore I'd never sink to (see also: "Isn't everything <i>big</i>?" and "Driving on the right? I DIE") but it's true: everyone's teeth are just <i>beautiful</i>. It's not so much the regularity, or the straightness even, but the gorgeous <i>whiteness </i>that greets me every time someone opens their mouth. (Do you remember those big, blinding-white windows in the Overlook Hotel in <i>The Shining</i>? Well, that's them, and I'm stuck as the dead woman in the bath.) Writing as someone whose dental colour-match falls somewhere on the 'Magnolia' Dulux swatch, I must confess: <i>it is simply mortifying</i>. In the UK, I'd be judged to have 'good to very good' teeth - here, I'm the 'Before' photo. The startling preponderance of white, white smiles leads me to conclude that tooth whitening must just be one of those things that <i>everybody </i>does here as part of their dental regimen and just doesn't talk about. All I know is: perhaps it's time I contacted a Rockstar Dental Hygienist .Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-1590813091704832592011-09-13T20:17:00.000-07:002015-02-16T15:12:48.662-08:00Adventures in Marketing: How could you, Don?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FTS0IlpXAPCFEiifpYMfvG3AQd8JsnYzZjFwv3p-DokAiyFzdIBnvuUEg5_xLeTKWaDQJ1ZeS0A2KYcROdfaNUU_6pZ7ZiiXGTvKqItxcXvUM8FnZPZJ7vIdZYLzaIMDFslhjaBK2OUo/s1600/Don.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FTS0IlpXAPCFEiifpYMfvG3AQd8JsnYzZjFwv3p-DokAiyFzdIBnvuUEg5_xLeTKWaDQJ1ZeS0A2KYcROdfaNUU_6pZ7ZiiXGTvKqItxcXvUM8FnZPZJ7vIdZYLzaIMDFslhjaBK2OUo/s200/Don.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Perhaps I'm just resentful that $90 cardigans don't feature heavily on my shopping list, but even just passing the poster for the new <a href="http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=69572&kwid=1&sem=false"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;"><i>Mad Men</i> Collection at a well-known clothing store</span></a> every day makes me grumpy. It's not that I object to retailers taking inspiration from cultural trends (far from it; the sooner H&M brings out <a href="http://www.collegefashion.net/inspiration/inspired-by-clueless/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">a <i>Clueless</i>-inspired collection</span></a>, the better as far as I'm concerned). It's more the dubious sell-out this represents for what is, to my mind, <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">one of television's finest artistic achievements</span></a>.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I mean, seriously: <i>a tie-in clothing line</i>? There go the many, <i>many </i>hours of my life I've wasted telling naysayers that it's not just about really, really good-looking smokers in sharp suits and amazing dresses.<br />
<br />
Personal pique aside, the fact is that despite becoming phenomenally popular, <i>Mad Men</i> possessed something incredibly hard to come by: genuine credibility and genuine cool. And the thing about credibility and cool is that once you've lost them - say, by cashing-in on a fashion range - you can never, ever get them back. My head knows that the show's brilliance isn't <i>really </i>diminished by the Mad Men™ Collection Leopardprint Trench, but my heart doesn't - and that's kind of what matters.<br />
<br />
For me, this goes beyond the age-old arguments against selling-out to say a lot about issues surrounding the way brands and institutions speak to their fans - and how close they let them get. Organizations have woken up to the fact that audiences want more - more access, more say, more engagement - and they're eager to give it to stay relevant. Yet I'd argue that in the scrabble to engage their audiences, brands have to be mindful of giving <i>too </i>much away. There's such a thing as mystique, and it's irretrievable. Access is fantastic, over-familiarity is not; I want a thrilling glimpse behind-the-scenes, but I don't want to see the staff toilet, you know?<br />
<br />
The annoying thing about this whole <i>Mad Men</i> shebang is that AMC already <i>does </i>fantastic, consistently engaging work via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MadMen"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">social media</span></a> and the <a href="http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">impressively well-maintained <i>MM</i> blog</span></a>, keeping fans like me interested even when the show's not on the TV. (I'm betting you know at least one person that had their <a href="http://www.amctv.com/madmenyourself/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">'Mad Men Yourself'</span></a> cartoon as their Facebook profile, too.) So, for me at least, it seems it's more about sharing the <i>right </i>kind of content with your audience - stuff that is authentic and rings true - and not making accessibility a byword for overexposure. Limited Edition or not.Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-28627462954665445132011-09-09T12:10:00.000-07:002011-09-09T12:10:01.571-07:00To the lighthouse! Confessions of a unsolved mystery addict<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT51oQ7sW7MM7b6kIgLjOJNkA9__yroMCfAHSbVkvMm7m2AjfGEd8iCIZ14UnRBtzbakNjOWyZDJOd6TcVKDWaNcJHtNhM-Ogg-DpBdEs7WEYSJJJOf4DlhTa5uz40zId9wttgVLNciH-_/s1600/ReadersDigest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT51oQ7sW7MM7b6kIgLjOJNkA9__yroMCfAHSbVkvMm7m2AjfGEd8iCIZ14UnRBtzbakNjOWyZDJOd6TcVKDWaNcJHtNhM-Ogg-DpBdEs7WEYSJJJOf4DlhTa5uz40zId9wttgVLNciH-_/s320/ReadersDigest.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>There are certain keywords that are just digital catnip to the easily-obsessed internet browser. For me, those words are: '<i>never to be seen again</i>'.<br />
<br />
As a wiser (and more male) man than I once said, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Gn_sMmwvg&feature=related#t=03m01s"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">"Joe Public loves a good mystery blaze"</span></a> - but seriously, is there anyone alive that doesn't thrill to read an unsolved mystery? Somewhat tragically, I found my childhood obsession with unexplained disappearances, ghoulish foretellings and, er, ghost ships reignited by <a href="http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-dyatlov-pass"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">this phenomenally creepy account of a 1957 camping trip in the Urals</span></a> that went spectacularly wrong for ten US skiers, who ventured into the mountains <i>never to be</i> - ah, you've guessed it.<br />
<br />
So if you too owned and loved the Reader's Digest <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Stories-Amazing-Facts-Astonishing/dp/0895770288/ref=pd_cp_b_1"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">Strange Stories, Amazing Facts</span></i></a> - a book whose total penetration throughout every British household during the early 90s is an unexplained mystery in itself - I present to you the Top Five Creepy Mysteries that unsettled my nine year-old self most. As my new compatriots might say: addicting!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0yZwdrXCc1I9V_QAji0T2GD0Bh6shb7KB09nPqA0V-nq2N5vXa1-_tT_fKgL2qj61vAT4CbOvsGToIvvTwQfaNU6qxyRd3MIyNtoT_ESLULFUQze_VMdgEhCpCrm7ElN7fD4aNzdkoOq/s1600/Roanoke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0yZwdrXCc1I9V_QAji0T2GD0Bh6shb7KB09nPqA0V-nq2N5vXa1-_tT_fKgL2qj61vAT4CbOvsGToIvvTwQfaNU6qxyRd3MIyNtoT_ESLULFUQze_VMdgEhCpCrm7ElN7fD4aNzdkoOq/s1600/Roanoke.jpg" /></a>5. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">The Roanoake Colony</span></a><br />
Where did those 90 men, 17 women and 11 children go? (Tedious adult answer: probably somewhere else.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB35oGRwqXaf2R0HtFdEdIv9ecIcunu7ILO8bQ1bAYh1-2B3WAAshiDPVLJQVo3uRCk6VXEx00vJqvl_SZ2_G2WRJiQauYi9ta9fRnEi2WktdL0wU3o8avrN_7qwAPhjs7MIUMkx8zJrPM/s1600/Picnic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB35oGRwqXaf2R0HtFdEdIv9ecIcunu7ILO8bQ1bAYh1-2B3WAAshiDPVLJQVo3uRCk6VXEx00vJqvl_SZ2_G2WRJiQauYi9ta9fRnEi2WktdL0wU3o8avrN_7qwAPhjs7MIUMkx8zJrPM/s1600/Picnic.jpg" /></a>4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picnic_at_Hanging_Rock_(novel)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">Picnic at Hanging Rock</span></a><br />
I genuinely believed this one to be fact, so imagine my childish disappointment when I discovered it to be invented for a novel. (See also: <i>Jurassic Park</i>.)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDEmnawvBh0Dd3EYrub1fAKeSAllxn2cpXU-m2HJRDd7gXNDLsnoFo9F_emvYFN3cCusZYUpfvTmd7KYhcVR5GylXKCrKdU8-vL8EXD0Lwj5dUniw9_bfg19zX4ZZZZ_P_b_UDwWVP3HL/s1600/Earhart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDEmnawvBh0Dd3EYrub1fAKeSAllxn2cpXU-m2HJRDd7gXNDLsnoFo9F_emvYFN3cCusZYUpfvTmd7KYhcVR5GylXKCrKdU8-vL8EXD0Lwj5dUniw9_bfg19zX4ZZZZ_P_b_UDwWVP3HL/s1600/Earhart.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart#1937_world_flight"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">Amelia Earheart</span></a><br />
A cautionary tale against the dangers of flying round the world alone, and/or reckless female independence.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEksN9ye4M8dSmFMwhsckJbQsdDwVDsr23IMVFNRJjTa5xn0AKUqERrP2tuLS9hzifUSBmUpfNnVMXNXWBJAaPTWfEvEkWcUtaaHenXMzIvWSSoXiHfWIvX2x_flW9ZmzHa_CiaGd862A/s1600/Mary_Celeste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEksN9ye4M8dSmFMwhsckJbQsdDwVDsr23IMVFNRJjTa5xn0AKUqERrP2tuLS9hzifUSBmUpfNnVMXNXWBJAaPTWfEvEkWcUtaaHenXMzIvWSSoXiHfWIvX2x_flW9ZmzHa_CiaGd862A/s1600/Mary_Celeste.jpg" /></a>2. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Celeste"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">The <i>Mary Celeste</i></span></a><br />
The Ur-Mystery of them all, although - as any good mystery spod knows - stories of still-warm cups of tea left untouched are piffle.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlDIrUgAIjDovMoXXsPa-TzmKymOP6Sc3FR-nh9quipzBy6sGsmAyrflWO2xr8w5mGJBsGvpj05EN3fiE1IWydAXL0d1RhtVM8b0rundXf_PrEfEgCG0O1kCOTfdxEKdHTuSohN0645X5/s1600/Flannan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlDIrUgAIjDovMoXXsPa-TzmKymOP6Sc3FR-nh9quipzBy6sGsmAyrflWO2xr8w5mGJBsGvpj05EN3fiE1IWydAXL0d1RhtVM8b0rundXf_PrEfEgCG0O1kCOTfdxEKdHTuSohN0645X5/s1600/Flannan.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #9fc5e8;">The Flannan Isles Lighthouse</span></a><br />
Ah, the perfect storm. Isolation; madness; lighthouses - all the ingredients for a grade-A mystery combined into a delicious mystery cassoulet. Served in a lighthouse.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So, tell me: have <i>you </i>ever disappeared in mysterious circumstances?Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-34293448663359477562011-08-17T19:49:00.000-07:002011-08-17T19:49:27.820-07:00Hiatus...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVlBVbDMO7iCBkJEIJgvq0BEbhNezaCZT5O1KYK-bp6CFjYZD4k61RSsJnExqEHR2Mt_uRTwZfkkP0nZ7mbQ_M8bz6pMKp8MUqrpq9IcnLTugByXH0HJLK_EgEglQ1Zb19Cvs3SubfSbJ/s1600/testcard_j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVlBVbDMO7iCBkJEIJgvq0BEbhNezaCZT5O1KYK-bp6CFjYZD4k61RSsJnExqEHR2Mt_uRTwZfkkP0nZ7mbQ_M8bz6pMKp8MUqrpq9IcnLTugByXH0HJLK_EgEglQ1Zb19Cvs3SubfSbJ/s200/testcard_j.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Apologies for the lack of recent posting - the Teacup is currently away from the Bay, with much-missed family on what I believe is called a 'vacation' here. Normal service will be resumed in the fullness of time!Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238339990518962804.post-35677663746615917062011-07-28T18:51:00.000-07:002011-08-17T20:40:49.993-07:00The Importance of Being Nicest (aka: Lessons from Wyld Stallyns)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8WqFdCLoKjg-xrQJEaGCo9Jhgr_qJ755jU9LbTxTqqJxLKYtvLuvtt2faQhcH-enSijB0G9M5o3uV1xvywsRQWjLF4PMJDAk0bR0ik4v1qpXGeWD3V1T0AziiH9mGP_LAWUrtI9Md5Zn/s1600/manners20are20important20for20you20and20me20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8WqFdCLoKjg-xrQJEaGCo9Jhgr_qJ755jU9LbTxTqqJxLKYtvLuvtt2faQhcH-enSijB0G9M5o3uV1xvywsRQWjLF4PMJDAk0bR0ik4v1qpXGeWD3V1T0AziiH9mGP_LAWUrtI9Md5Zn/s200/manners20are20important20for20you20and20me20cover.jpg" width="200" /></a>Amongst the many influences <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096928/"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure</span></i></a> has had on my life - including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHcCpQLgkBQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">teaching me that Joan of Arc was <i>not </i>Noah's wife</span></a> - the exhortation to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7532GXPnO8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">'Be excellent to each other'</span></a> is by far the most sort-of-profound.<br />
<br />
As such, I rival your average finishing school headmistress in my preoccupation with issues of etiquette and manners - my own more than anyone else's, really - and couldn't help but love <a href="http://jezebel.com/5825590/the-tricky-business-of-asking-for-work-favors-over-email"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">this highly practical post</span></a> on how to politely request somebody's help [<a href="http://jezebel.com/5825590/the-tricky-business-of-asking-for-work-favors-over-email"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">Jezebel: The Tricky Business of Asking for Work Favours</span></a>]. As someone whose worst nightmare is being described as 'rude' (and yes, I have <i>actually </i>had nightmares about it), it makes inordinately happy when I discover that other humans care about this kind of thing too. Happy - and polite - days!Carly Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15180144749279794134noreply@blogger.com0