A White Christmas

Dear friends,

Won't you please enjoy this year's holiday greeting, which masquerades as an anti-drug public service annoucement. Jingle bells!

America Is Listening

Friends: To achieve the full experience, please listen to this song while (or after) reading.



Election night. Hot damn. What we lived through on Tuesday, the 4th of November, 2008, will go down as one of the defining events in America’s storied history.

The year is 1967. Blacks have only recently been given the right to vote. WTF. James Brown releases “America Is My Home (Part One).” The optimism and unrelenting love for his country shine through, despite all the shit we’ve gotten wrong.

I have never felt prouder to be an American than I did two nights ago at 11pm, when Barack Obama surpassed that magic number of 270 electoral votes. CNN called it. So did Jon Stewart. Everyone around me at Bell House erupted in cheers. We hugged. We cried. We screamed the way children do for ice cream. My cheeks hurt from smiling.

Digital communication fueled the fire that brought Obama to the people. On election day itself, we witnessed donated Facebook statuses, the Will.i.am hologram, pie charts galore and a jumbotron display of emotions from Chicago’s Grant Park to LA to Kenya.

Aided by tweets and texts that night, we took our celebrating to the streets – Dekalb and Carlton (outside of Madiba), to be exact. BrooklynVegan and flickr offered proof that similar showdowns were happening across NYC...and the nation…and the world.

Technology no doubt enhances real world happenings. But nothing trumps bonafide human connections. A few things I never want to forget about that night:
- Feeling like I was part of something monumental.
- Clapping as impromptu drummers played maracas, pots and pans.
- Singing with a cover band performing Weezer’s entire Blue album.
- Riding ever so briefly on the back of a garbage truck.
- High-fiving cab drivers as they tried to make it through the crowds.
- Drinking champagne in the streets.
- Embracing strangers.

For the first time in a long time, we are listening. Why? Because we finally have a leader we believe in. This alone is proof that the American dream is alive. Change has come, Sam Cooke. Hell yes.

p.s. Much love to my home state of Wisconsin for turning an impressive 59 out of 72 counties a brilliant shade of blue.

Berta's Tap Room

As you may know, my dear grandpa Woody Berta owned a tavern in Ottawa, Illinois (across from the Post Office). While he sold the bar several decades ago, Berta's continues to serve its neighborhood tall beers and burgers on toasted buns. The pool table remains slightly askew...and local legend Woody still makes an occasional appearance.

Many years ago, my grandpa had a small flyer printed by the local Union boys. The front says "Berta's TAP ROOM" and has a drawing of a bubbly martini glass. The lower right corner reads "Air Conditioned for Your Comfort." The inside shows a map of the city limits. But the back...oh, that back! It has one gem of a poem, reprinted below. Note the creative use of the term "atmosphere." I hope you enjoy this.

When you're startin' out some evening
And the night is cold and drear...
I'd suggest you stop at Berta's
For a little "Atmosphere."

Then next morning bright and early
When the "shakes" are gettin' near:
Yeah...you're getting smarter, brother,
Woody fed ya too much beer.

When you're reachin' for the aspirin
'Cause your stomach's feelin' weak,
It's 'cause Chuck was leanin' heavy
On the bottle - so to speak.

Then you face the little woman
With those alibis galore...
When she's finished in the bathroom -
Wipin' Berta's off the floor.

But you're wrong, it isn't whiskey
That's got ya feelin' queer -
Ray just poured an over-dose
Of Berta's "ATMOSPHERE"!!

Yes, You Can.

Politics...A fine example of the power shift from marketer to you, the consumer. Digital communication platforms have made it exponentially easier to express your voice. Being famous helps. Celebrities and artists are certainly taking cues from the digital world to share their views.

You’ve no doubt heard the “Yes We Can” song by will.i.am. I love it...so full of hope. It also makes me glad to see Kareem Abdul Jabar back in front of the camera. His performance in Airplane(!) was dynamite.

Sarah Silverman has an interesting angle with her Great Schlep campaign. She’s recruiting Jewish youth to reach out to their grandparents in that dicey sunshine state we call Florida.



But let’s say you’re not famous. You can post a piece of sh*t YouTube ranting vid that will get seen by a handful of people, mostly friends. But if you instead say something smart (or unique), and you say it in a creative way, your voice will be heard (witness the crush-heavy tune by Obama Girl).

Something to Think About: Who are your grandparents voting for? Seriously. We hear so much talk of the youth vote. What about the geriatric vote? Unless marketers are pushing Depends or meds, they aren’t interested in the silver-haired generation. They don’t fall into many core demographics. So why not call your grandma up right now. She’ll be happy to hear from you, and you may just help decide the fate of our country. Fancy that.

Click Gets It

Ad Week didn’t get it. Click does. Click gets that advertising is, in Brooklyn Brother Paul Parton’s words, disposable. I went to the Click Conference on Wednesday to listen to a digitally-savvy crew talk about the incredibly smart ways they're bringing renewed vigor to digital communications. Topics ranged from social media to education to SoDA. Tina Roth Eisenberg delivered some nice live blog coverage on Swiss Miss. So rather than providing a broad recap of the similar and disparate viewpoints, I think a better use of our time would be for me to describe my three favorite takeaways:

1. UTILIZE CAPITALISM: View Clients as Business Partners



James Cooper from Another Anomaly covered this point with some dapper words. If you read my Ad Week rant last week on Big Spaceship's Think blog, you’d know I was disappointed that the focus was on branded content (sigh). James Cooper gets it. He knows that it is loads more effective and imaginative to create original content within and for a brand. Anomaly's work on Converse is an ideal example. Exhibit A: My Drive Thru, the sneaker-tapping song featuring musically-diverse artists Pharrell, Santogold and Julian Casablancas, Exhibit B: a Spelling Bee that makes ingenious use of Google, Exhibit C: A sprinkling of irreverent humor, with neighboring sites like Le Tour De Franks and Tiny Hollywood.

2. FOLLOW YOUR PASSION: Bizarre Is Good



David Art Wales, who heads up the Ministry of Culture, is my new favorite person. His presentation stood out for a number of reasons (let’s see…his awesome mom is named Mimi, he was wearing suspenders, and he told a Snoop Dogg joke when he ran into technical difficulties). So David befriended a harp player on a cruise. She told him about an old Welsh secret society called the Prudent Boozers. He ran with it and is on a mission to bring them back as a force to be reckoned with. This “wildly moderate” drinking society preaches a simple message:
Savor the first
Sip the second
Nurse the third (this is key!)
Skip the fourth

All the fun, without the hangover or the embarrassing photos. The PB campaign is highly entertaining. It also represents an entirely new take on drinking responsibly…one that shuns finger wagging and replaces it with coveted "members only" badges. Bravo.

3. LET CREATIVITY BREATHE: Listen and Learn



This final lesson comes from Big Spaceship’s Michael Lebowitz. Having grown tired of delivering similar versions of the same presentation, Michael shook things up a bit. Instead of talking about the work we create, he discussed our culture and how we innovate. Here's the full deck. That’s a lot more interesting than seeing a polished portfolio, right? Yes. So below is a recap of the ways we let creativity breathe. It’s an amalgamation of playing and tinkering, discussing and learning, and - most importantly - giving everyone the opportunity to speak up. We’d all be better off if we listened more than we spoke (right Askwith and Kosoy? I kid).

Creating an Ethos of Innovation:
1. Recognize that everyone is creative.
2. Don’t hire assholes…no matter how talented they are.
3. Hire to be the dumbest person in the room (surround yourself with smart people).
4. Give autonomy.
5. Experiment constantly.
6. Focus on your culture (i.e., fun begets quality).
7. Stay flat (see point 4).
8. Small is good (but it’s hard not to grow).

I learned that even among uber creative, indie digital agencies, the philosophy behind our creative chops is rather unique. That is a damn good feeling. Thanks to all the fine folks who made Click such a success.

Big Spaceship Adds to Staff

We like to have fun at Big Spaceship – both during and in between all of the work. We find that a creative atmosphere leads to better ideas. Foosball and Guitar Hero help, but for a while now we’ve been asking our fearless leader Michael for a ping pong table.



He had two (admittedly justifiable) concerns that prevented our wish from being granted:
1. Space. We have plenty of that in the green screen room, but we use it for projects.
2. Noise. Ping Pong players can get rather LOUD.

I approached this project as we do all others ...by thinking strategically. I crafted an implementation plan and job application written from the viewpoint of a one Mr. Ping Pong Ball.



He was qualified, intelligent and, yes, tactical. His proposal outlined his many benefits and detailed how he would overcome the barriers voiced by the boss.



Ping Pong Ball tackled the chief obstacles head-on, beginning with space.



As for noise, he recommended we build a noise meter to keep the shouts and cheers in check.



The letter of recommendation from Nolan Bushnell certainly didn’t harm his chances.



I’m happy to say that the proposal met with success. Ping Pong Ball will soon arrive at Big Spaceship, alongside his accoutrements (in the form of paddles and a 9x5’ table). As long as folks abide by the rules, we’ll get along just fine. I’m very much looking forward to this fellow joining our crew.

Telescopic Text

He made tea. This morning I stumbled upon a site known simply as Telescopic Text.

Being a tea drinker myself, I clicked on one of the three words that make up the only sentence on the site: I made tea. And then…more words appeared. A tale of tea brewing began to take shape. If a word was shaded in gray, clicking on it revealed more text (and more gray). But even without clicking on all of the shaded areas, the story still made sense – it was simply the condensed version. I. made. tea.


I like this technique and wonder if it would work for more complicated subject matter. In a way, it improves upon the standard formula of an abstract followed by a click-to for the full article. What if I only want to learn about the type of tea and what was served with it? What if I’m just interested in the process of steeping? It’s a simple format, but I see potential for this as a storytelling mechanism.

Sharing Neon

Stumbled onto this and liked what I saw. Sometimes we just need a reminder, right?

Show, Don't Tell

We’ve all heard the phrase “show, don’t tell.” In fact, we here at Big Spaceship live by those three words. To tell is to inform. But to show is to wow. German mathematician Joseph Furtenbach proved this quite simply:

The year was 1627. Furtenbach wanted to prove Galileo’s theory that the earth spun on a fixed axis. Rather than presenting the people with a 500-page essay, he loaded a cannon. After firing a cannon ball straight into the sky, he climbed on top of the cannon’s muzzle.


If Galileo knew what he was talking about, the cannon ball would return to the earth at a point west of the cannon, while the earth would rotate east. If, on the other hand, Galileo’s theory was wrong, it was curtains for Furtenbach.

The ball soared into the sky. The crowd gasped – some unable to watch aside from the occasional peek. Furtenbach sat atop the cannon and smiled, waiting for the ball to descend.

POW. The thud was followed by an eerie silence. Furtenbach’s head was intact. Just west of him, the earth revealed an impressive dent. Galileo was right. He had always been right…but now people believed him.

This has been another great moment in the history “show, don’t tell.”

(The above was paraphrased from Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm.)

A Journey Retold

Journey to the West. Four-hundred and some years later, this classic piece of Chinese literature has been presented in a new light. A Buddhist monk makes his pilgrimage to India to get his hands on some quite righteous spiritual scriptures. A few disciples, including a badass monkey, help him along the way.



I’m giving an oh, so brief synopsis of a book comprised of 100 chapters. But the BBC told the story in an equally simple way (here’s a bit on how they did it). In promoting their coverage of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, they turned the tale into a two-minute gem, ending - after some fabulous Olympic-style leaps, twists and escapes - with the lighting of the mighty torch. The network partnered with fellow Englishmen Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn. No strangers to collaboration, they're the brains behind Gorillaz and also helped co-create the opera Monkey: Journey to the West - this looks like it rocks, by the way. And in Albarn's case, let's not forget about the amazing music of Brit supergroup The Good, the Bad and the Queen.

The visuals are based off of Monkey (or Monkey Magic!), a popular 1970s animated series. Maybe that choice was rooted in nostalgia. Regardless, it's much more interesting than the traditional glorified athlete promo. I think it’s a lovely retelling of an age-old story. Condensed, yes, but attention spans are not what they used to be. Is that because of digital platforms? I'll answer that when I have more time (to concentrate on the question). First, I need to get Monkey on my mobile.

Roll Computer

Radiohead’s new video for “House of Cards” uses no lights and no cameras. It was created with some dope real-time 3D recording technologies. They captured these 3D images using Geometric Informatics and two LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanners. One scanner was used for detailed information (like the Thom Yorke close-ups). It rotated 360 degrees and had 64 rotating lasers. The other was designed to pick up much wider geographic images, including the Florida terrain you see. No surprise that it took weeks to process the massive amount of raw data. Here’s more on how it was made.



The production crew (composed by and large of engineers) distorted some of the data with small bits of mirror. They also experimented with water and feathers. Added bonus: You can manipulate the video and download data to create your own visualizations. Nice.

Director James Frost said the thinking behind this project was to create a real feeling through something that was computer generated. It’s a reflection of our data driven society.

Radiohead rocks. (Special thanks to S.W. Taffy for the assistance embedding the video!)

I Survived the Viewing of a Japanese Game Show

I have not seen the original Japanese version of "I Survived a Japanese Game Show," but I imagine it is more entertaining than the show that premiered on ABC tonight. Don't get me wrong...there were definite funny moments (the angry mama-san, the tambourine-banging audience, and the mochi game cartoon demo come to mind), but I think the translation loses something. Tossing American game show contestants into that atmosphere makes it both slightly annoying and - in an ironic way - less absurd. Coincidentally, is the game show host the same man who appears in Lost in Translation? I think so.

Tonight, the stereotype of the ugly American was broadcast to folks across the nation. Loud, ignorant and judgmental were my first impressions of this motley crew. God I hope reality TV isn’t full of too much reality. Television as a byproduct and reflection of our culture sometimes makes me want to crawl under a rug.

Out in space a million miles away, we're a singular little planet. Doesn't it make you wonder how our cultures can be so divergent? I'm tired.

Chocolate + Milk

Milk flavoring straws. Seriously...? I saw this at the drug store the other day, and 99 cents later, the 4-pack was mine.

It's called Sipahh. The deal is, the plastic straw is full of chocolate powdery beads (other flavors, like strawberry, are available). It has a slotted opening at each end, small enough so that the beads won't pass through, but of course liquid will.

You put your straw into a glass of milk and sip. Then, I presume, you say ahh! Just like that, you're drinking chocolate milk.

I didn't say ahh. It was too sweet for my liking. Sugar is the number one ingredient, and there are some fake sweeteners as well. I love that the packaging reads: A Sipahh straw with milk* is a good source of calcium and vitamins A & D. Hey Sipahh, guess what else is full of calcium and vitamins when mixed with milk: just about anything, including rocks.

It's sort of a novel idea. But I'm sticking to little orphan Annie and my nutricious, delicious, rich and chocolaty Ovaltine! No straw required.

Eggs and Bacon

Which came first—the chicken or the egg? The correct answer might just be the egg cup. Images of egg cups were found in Turkish mosaics dating back to 3 AD. Who knew…

I recently picked up the dandy one pictured here. I’m not too big on boiled eggs, though maybe this will change my perspective. I bought it as more of an accessory for my orange-accented kitchen. It did get me thinking about the origin of egg cups…So I dug up a few interesting bits of information that eventually led to a scrambled game of six degrees of separation:

1. The first egg cups were made of wood, though silver ones appeared around the same time. These days you can find them made of porcelain, glass and a host of other materials.
2. During the19th century, silver egg cups were often gilded inside so that the sulphur from the egg did not stain them. A century earlier, France’s King Louis XV—a fan of the egg cup—helped drive its popularity. Rumor was he could decapitate an egg’s “head” with a single stroke.
3. Opposite the head is the base, often called the “footie,” and it of course acts to stabilize the cup.
4. Perhaps because of the sturdy footie, the Sazerac, one of the world’s oldest cocktails (invented in a New Orleans apothecary), was originally served in an egg cup, or a “coquetier.” Side note: It was once thought the term “cocktail” derived from a mispronunciation of this French word. However, that is not the case.
5. In Cocktail, the ‘80s classic, Tom Cruise mixed up several liquid concoctions (though he did not serve them in egg cups).
6. A few years later, Tom Cruise starred in A Few Good Men with none other than Kevin Bacon.

And there you have it.

The Underground

Caseophiles, step right this way...Murray's Cheese now offers cave tours! I went on one yesterday.

There are four caves below ground, each with different aging processes and types of cheeses. It was pretty cool (literally...I'm glad I had my scarf with me!). We learned all about mold and bacteria and the affinor's job as both artist and scientist. The aging process is fairly complex, though at times it is similar to what old people go through...think liver spots and sensitive skin masking a wise, complex interior.

Quite interesting, I'd recommend it. The cost is $10 for a 30-minute tour, and this includes a couple of samples.

On the way out, I purchased a bag of real Wisconsin cheese curds and had two of my fellow cave tour friends over for cheese and Belgian beer. This turned out to be the perfect way to spend the third Saturday of the month (which is when the tours take place).

Details at Murray's Cheese

Arcade Fire: Another Spooky Web Video

First off, thanks to Creativity mag for bringing this one to my attention. Arcade Fire is pushing
Black Mirror as the next big tune off of Neon Bible, and I likes how they're going about it.

They've created a dark and odd video that let's you play the dark and odd DJ, hovering behind the turntables. You can't sample Bootsy Collins bass lines over this track, but the site does give you the power to remix it. Take away or add certain instruments and vocals, all by pressing numbers 1-6 on your keyboard. And are those synchronize swimming ninjas I see towards the end of the song? Fantastic (and oh, how gracefully they dance when only keys 4 and 6 are active).

You've probably already seen the puppetry fun behind the
Neon Bible video site, which they released a few months ago. If you haven't, I won't spoil anything. But have a look. It's such a lovely song to begin with, made all the lovelier by magically writing the lyrics in smoke.

Bonus points for the URL jumbles...neon bible = beonlineb, black mirror = rorrimkcalb (I would have gone with "clamor brrik" myself). Keep up the fantastic work, Arcade Fire!

Mr. Proverb and Cliché Reciter

In honor of my friend and former boss KR – a real man of genius – below is my take on DDB’s Bud Light jingles. Happy Birthday KR. This one’s for you (but remember, it’s not about you).

Cue the ballad

Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius.

[Background vocals: Real Men of Genius]

Today we salute you, Mr. Proverb and Cliché Reciter.

[BV: Mr. Proverb and Cliché Reciter]

You’ve got a way with words, even if they’re not your own.
What’s that you say? A rolling stone gathers no moss? How true indeed.

[BV: So very true]

Like an endless supply of fortune cookies, you’ve got an answer for everything. You can have your cake and eat it too. But what good is you cake if you can’t eat it?

[BV: That cake is tasty]

Sure, curiosity killed the cat. But did it ever so much as harm the people?

[BV: I ain’t no cat]

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, man of borrowed expressions.
Because when life throws lemons, you may not make lemonade, but you’ll tell others to.

[BV: Mr. Proverb and Cliché Reciter]

Bud Light Beer. Anheuser-Busch. St. Louis, Missouri.

A New Year, A New List

You’ve all heard that we are more likely to achieve our new year’s resolutions if we write them down. That said, I WILL stumble onto a large sum of money in a leather suitcase at the end of a dark, though not forbidding, alley.

Joking. Without further ado...

1. I will go on a fantastic adventure in 2008 – maybe to Ireland or Alaska or Mexico City. Destination TBD.
2. I will eat plain yogurt more often, adding my own fruit in place of “poser” fruits and sweet imposters like aspartame.
3. I will celebrate the Ides of March like never before.
4. I will visit a cranberry bog and/or a cheese factory.
5. I will make s'mores in the fireplace at Employees Only.