Today I interviewed the fashion designer, Cynthia Rowley, for a project on luxury. I was interested to hear what she had to say on the subject having just completed the Fall 2009 collections. I was half expecting a somber report from the frontlines of an industry in crisis. Instead I found the designer in high spirits, her showroom a flurry of activity. If she’s feeling the crunch of this recession you wouldn’t know it from looking at her. Our conversation was upbeat and reminded me of something I’ve always known: when times are tough, you want to be around artists. Continue Reading »

As a company that helps brands build cultural currency with their audience, we will periodically post raves and rants about what’s happening now. On this Oscar eve my husband, Peter Novobatzky, does the honors…

Tomorrow, a certain movie is favored to win the Oscars for Best Movie and Best Director.  This movie, which will remain nameless, is not a good movie. Apparently, the director of this “Movie That Will Remain Nameless” (who will, likewise, remain nameless) has signed a contract with the biggest studio boss of all: Satan.

My wife and I seem to be the only people on the planet who realize this. She wants to “let it go” because everyone loves the Movie That Will Remain Nameless, and people are touchy about the things they love. She says we cannot mention to anyone how we hated the Movie That Will Remain Nameless – that this cannot be understood by good people and must remain hidden, like the fact that we do jigsaw puzzles on the weekends. Continue Reading »

Training Day movies

I haven’t written in a while because I haven’t had anything to say. Which is not to say I haven’t had anything on my mind…or haven’t been thinking.

Quite the contrary; I am thinking constantly these days about these things among others:

1.    The curse of the 24-hour news cycle

Galaxy Quest video

2.    My latest shattered fantasy: ‘Antarctica, Winter Wonderland’ (Thanks, Herzog!)
3.    The efficacy of vitamins
4.    Shai Agassi and the people who are trying to fix broken systems
5.    The cultural rift taking shape in America

6.    What homeless people do with the dollars I give them

• The Great Raid move

7.    My new hero, Carla from Top Chef. I love that she sticks to her principles and wins
Ghostride the Whip divx

• I Love Trouble movie full Back to the Future psp

8.    The death of the novel
9.    Taking a long hike through dense woods

10.    What compels people to litter

I’m trying something new: Only speaking or writing when I have something to say. It’s harder than it sounds…and I think it sounds hard.

My new attitude was inspired by something a friend said the other day. We were talking about the communications strategy for the launch of a new product. Deliberating over copy, he announced with frustration: “If they have something to say, they should say it–at length and with feeling! If not, they shouldn’t say anything at all.” Continue Reading »

A field of tulips, a hand enters the frame and grabs the pink petals.
Grass at eye level, through the blades a naked woman is crawling, furiously shaking a mane of red hair.
A dark puddle of water, someone in purple sweatpants and bare feet walks, kicking water and brightly colored debris.
Now we’re underwater, looking up at the trees on the bank, lily pads float, an apple is trapped under one of the big, waxy leaves.
Taking Chance

A small pig eats an apple whole, saliva dripping.
A bare breast.
A trickle of blood.
The wrinkled skin of a cheek as seen through a magnifying glass.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It

Projected 25 feet high onto the walls of a museum these images seemed at once more magnificent and more mundane.

Yesterday morning 120 New York yogis made a pilgrimage. We assembled outside the Museum of Modern Art before opening and were led by museum staff to the atrium, the current home of Pipilotti Rist’s video projection: Pour Your Body Out. Continue Reading »