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24 June 2010

Crabby Bill’s: A Gulf Coast legacy

by Mike Jennings

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Yesterday I was flipping through my photos and came across the one you see here. It was taken on a typical day in my career as a Gulf Coast visitor, which starts on the beach and ends at Crabby Bill’s in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida.

Some of my earliest memories are of waiting for a table while my extended family laughed, slurped shellfish and emptied pitchers of beer at the bar. Eventually we’d get seated at the long, communal picnic tables, and I’d always get stuck next to some stranger asking me questions about what grade I was in and what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn’t get it.

Yesterday I was flipping through my photos and came across the one you see here. It was taken on a typical day in my career as a Gulf Coast visitor, which starts on the beach and ends at Crabby Bill’s in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida.

Some of my earliest memories are of waiting for a table while my extended family laughed, slurped shellfish and emptied pitchers of beer at the bar. Eventually we’d get seated at the long, communal picnic tables, and I’d always get stuck next to some stranger asking me questions about what grade I was in and what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn’t get it.

I got older, moved from the nest and stopped attending the Florida family vacation. When my parents retired to the “Sunshine State” I started spending my major holidays there. Returning to the crab shack of my youth, I finally got it.

Lately I’ve been starting with the above – a Bloody Mary with the secret crab seasoning along the rim and a dozen oysters. Then I move to the stone crab claws, which you can get straight from the steamer with a side of drawn butter or chilled with mustard dipping sauce. After that I’ll order a grouper sandwich with a side of corn on the cob and rice.

It all gets walked off on the powder white beach across the street, where I’ll watch pelicans flop themselves into the Gulf as the sun sets on the horizon.

In a few months I’ll be heading back to Florida, and I wonder what I’ll find. If you look at the animated long-range forecast, it shows the oil staying just off the west coast of southern Florida, but unfortunately has it coming up the southeast Atlantic coast and out towards Europe. Either way, I’ll still make my pilgrimage to Crabby Bill’s, even if it’s just for the secretly-seasoned Bloody Mary.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Loder family and all their employees at Crabby Bill’s. I know a lot of “snow birds” who are pulling for you.

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20 May 2010

World Cup 2010: President Obama, Please Stay Home

by Mike Jennings

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Maybe you’ve heard that South Africa’s police commissioner, General Bheki Cele, said he’ll be rooting against the U.S. in the World Cup this year. This was in response to Barack Obama saying he might drop by if the yanks do well. Citing overwhelming security concerns, Cele hopes the President will just stay home.

Maybe you’ve heard that South Africa’s police commissioner, General Bheki Cele, said he’ll be rooting against the U.S. in the World Cup this year. This was in response to Barack Obama saying he might drop by if the yanks do well. Citing overwhelming security concerns, Cele hopes the President will just stay home.

While the U.S. women’s team won their World Cup in 1999, the men have only made it to the elimination round once since 1930 (according to Wikipedia). I think this year might be different….

Last summer the Confederations Cup was held in South Africa and was considered a preview the World Cup. In one of the biggest sports upsets last year, the U.S. beat top-ranked Spain. It was a decisive victory and the U.S. went on to the finals against Brazil. They scored two quick goals in the first half and gave up three in the second. No, it wasn’t the World Cup, but this performance suggested that the U.S. might finally have an offense.

The U.S. will have already played in most of the World Cup venues, making South Africa somewhat familiar. They’ll also be prepared for those horns that sound like agitated bees.

The first match is against England, who’s stacked with talent and has arguably the best player in the world, Wayne Rooney. Lately though, they’ve struggled on the world stage and there are a lot of expectations for them to do well – even win the whole thing. Maybe the pressure will be too much. England’s also had some TMZ-worthy drama in the locker room, or should I say bedroom. I’m hoping they’ll be distracted.

The other teams in the group (Algeria, Slovenia) are beatable and I think the U.S. will do well in South Africa, at least in the beginning.

So President Obama, I still support you, but agree that for safety’s sake, please stay home. It’s not like soccer is even close to our national pastime. In fact, when I was growing up people called it a “commie sport” and surely you’re distancing yourself from anything remotely socialist right now.

5 Responses to “World Cup 2010: President Obama, Please Stay Home”

  1. Casey Prozeller says:
    May 20, 2010 at 3:49 pm

    Hi Mike -Most countries fit into the 1930 stat…the U.S. also happens to have a stat that puts them amongst the soccer elite, the 40/40 club of soccer if you will…the U.S. is one of SIX countries to qualify for the last six World Cups.

  2. John Ramsey says:
    May 20, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    Great post Mike!

    I’m looking forward to watching parts of a game or two at Pedro’s during work hours! Don’t worry, I’ll stay late to make up for it!

  3. Mike Jennings says:
    May 21, 2010 at 8:08 am

    Good point, Casey. I’ll add that one of the best goalkeepers is from the US, New Jersey to be exact.

  4. Mike Jennings says:
    May 21, 2010 at 11:34 am

    I’ll be watching matches at Pedro’s as well. I wonder if they have wifi.

  5. Merle Sandler says:
    May 21, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    Hi Mike

    I’m impressed that you have heard about vuvuzelas – not too sure that many people outside South Africa know about them. I like the “agitated bee” description!

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22 April 2010

Eco Surfboards: Will the industry land a 360?

by Mike Jennings

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A lot of surfers feel guilty about their most prized possessions being made from pollutants, but it hasn’t always been this way. Here’s a quick timeline of surfboard design (according to the Internet):

A lot of surfers feel guilty about their most prized possessions being made from pollutants, but it hasn’t always been this way. Here’s a quick timeline of surfboard design (according to the Internet):

  • 1,000s BC – Archaeological evidence suggests that ancient Peruvians stood up and rode waves in boats made of reeds long before JC walked on water.
  • 1778 AD – In Hawaii, Captain James Cook “discovers” people standing up and riding waves on solid wooden planks made from ula, wiliwili and koa trees. Click here to learn how they were made.
  • 1926 AD – California surf legend, Tom Blake, creates the first hollow surfboards made from redwood.
  • 1948 AD – Bob Simmons creates a “sandwich board” made of Styrofoam covered in fiberglass.
  • 2005 AD – Clark Foam, by far the largest supplier of petroleum-based surfboard blanks at the time, is forced to close its doors due to alleged EPA violations.

Word of Clark Foam’s demise spread rapidly throughout the surfing community. Some predicted the death of the hand-crafted surfboard; others felt it was a wake-up call and foresaw a green revolution in surfboard design. Five years later, neither of these scenarios has occurred. Hand-crafted – yet toxic – surfboards continue to dominate the industry. However, a few companies are going really retro and making boards from organic materials.

One company, Grain Surfboards, is based out of York Beach in Maine and only uses locally-harvested, sustainable-yield wood products. They sell finished boards as well as kits for the do-it-yourselfer and support a growing movement among the more conscious, like pro surfer/environmentalist David Rastovich. Click here to watch him prove that wood still works in the surf.

It seems unlikely that wooden boards will take over the surfboard industry, but if you have a lot of guilt and an open mind, they could be for you. I can’t personally attest to how they ride, but if the folks at Grain want to float me a loaner, feel free to leave a message below…

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24 March 2010

Beat your Chest and Light the Grill

by Mike Jennings

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Last weekend I was taking my time through the Mad River Valley in Vermont and stopped at a roadside establishment simply known as The Store. Browsing through the antiques and local specialty foods, I was drawn to a wall filled with cookbooks. As I scanned the titles, the proprietor approached and asked in a gentle voice if I was a cook. I said, “Yes,” as she slid out a copy of How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques.

Last weekend I was taking my time through the Mad River Valley in Vermont and stopped at a roadside establishment simply known as The Store. Browsing through the antiques and local specialty foods, I was drawn to a wall filled with cookbooks. As I scanned the titles, the proprietor approached and asked in a gentle voice if I was a cook. I said, “Yes,” as she slid out a copy of How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques.

How to grill? At first I was a little offended, but on the cover saw a familiar face peering through circular sunglasses.

You may know Steven Raichlen from his show on PBS called Primal Grill, where in each episode you’re given a back lawn lesson in grilling. Step by step you see how it’s done and through his casual narration learn those all important reasons why. This is replicated nicely in How to Grill with the help of food stylist Rebecca Flast and food photographer Greg Schneider.

In the introduction Raichlen explains how, before writing the book, he wanted to understand which types of questions to cover. While conducting live chats and facilitating discussions on BarbecueBible.com, the author noticed how women directly asked questions and men would preface their queries with, “This is what I do and it turns out great, but I’m not sure I’m doing it right.” Later on they’d confess, “My steaks are always tough.”

That got me thinking about gender differences and grilling. I’m still not sure why it’s traditionally a man-thing. For some it’s simple – you build the fire and cook the meat – but all too often the fire’s too hot and the meat ends up burnt. Through all his media, Steven Raichlen demonstrates how it’s the tricky little nuances that make the difference between the act and art of grilling.

3 Responses to “Beat your Chest and Light the Grill”

  1. CG says:
    March 25, 2010 at 3:34 am

    I read the intro to the book when you went to get coffee, and I was also struck by the gender differences he talks about. Good post.

  2. Mike Jennings says:
    March 25, 2010 at 4:27 am

    Thanks, CG. I remember, you told me that story about the night before your friend’s wedding you all decided to have a barbecue and the bride ended up singeing her hair.

    …which is interesting because Raichlen talks about how the most common questions women ask are about lighting the grill.

  3. Adah Babicke says:
    March 28, 2010 at 6:14 pm

    Well, I would also check the book about Competition BBQ Secretsout. These recipes are amazing! You will be a pro in no time.

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11 February 2010

Vancouver 2010: Snowboarding preview

by Mike Jennings

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Now that the Super Bowl is over, you may find yourself looking forward to the pageantry of the Winter Olympics. Here’s who and what to look for in snowboarding this year…

Now that the Super Bowl is over, you may find yourself looking forward to the pageantry of the Winter Olympics. Here’s who and what to look for in snowboarding this year…

  • Lindsey Jacobellis – In the Turin Olympics Lindsey went a little too big off the last jump in the snowboard cross final and it cost her the gold. Afterwards the U.S. press criticized her for showing off and letting her country down. Lindsey would later explain how snowboarding is supposed to be fun and how she wanted to match the enthusiasm of the crowd with a stylish finish. Makes sense to me. Let’s see if Lindsey can redeem her honor.
  • “The Flying Tomato” – All sports have those athletes that come along and not only dominate a sport but also change its direction. What Tiger Woods is (was?) to golf, Shaun White is to snowboarding. I just want to say that I personally rock his signature line of Burton apparel and yes, I snowboard better because of it.
  • The Double Cork – It’s hard to describe this controversial halfpipe maneuver, so you’re going to have to click here to see it for yourself. Invented by Shaun White, it was deemed necessary for unseating him in Vancouver, but after Kevin Pearce fell hard and into a coma trying it in training, some called for a ban by the International Olympic Committee. No official ruling as of yet, so we’ll have to wait to see what happens.
  • Torah Bright – I felt this Australian phenom got robbed when she finished 5th in the halfpipe finals at the Turin Games. Since then, she won gold at the 2007 and 2009 X Games and is a favorite in this year’s Olympics. However Torah had to pull out of the 2010 X Games after suffering two concussions in three days in January—adding fuel to the fire to eighty-six certain maneuvers in Vancouver. Reports say she’s recovered physically, but as I can attest, concussions come with psychological effects as well.

I don’t know where I stand on banning maneuvers at the Olympics. On the one hand, I don’t want a governing body capping the level of competition in snowboarding. On the other, I realize each year this level gets more and more dangerous. What do you think?

5 Responses to “Vancouver 2010: Snowboarding preview”

  1. Sandra Atlas says:
    February 11, 2010 at 6:18 am

    I tend to be conservative — so, I think that capping the competition can be a good thing, if it helps to saves lives and prevent traumatic injury. Sometimes, people will to do almost anything to make their statement to the world. Setting some reasonable limits might help to keep the sport safe and prevent devestating injury.

  2. Mike Jennings says:
    February 11, 2010 at 6:25 am

    I see your point, Sandra. To add to it, I wouldn’t want people tuning in with the hopes of seeing someone get hurt. That’s what the UFC is for!

  3. Adrian W. says:
    February 12, 2010 at 7:46 am

    Capping the competition would hurt the sport of snowboarding. These athletes are the best at what they do, they are Olympians. Why should any one tell them that they shouldn’t push the limits of their sport? They are not going to go out there and try a trick they have never done before just so they can hurt themselves and get on television. They practice these tricks. If there were a cap on the sport, it would hurt the sport because people would get bored of watching the same tricks over and over. I’m sorry to say, injuries are part of any sport. They don’t put a cap on football because someone gets hurt do they? If people tune in because they want to see someone get hurt, they have a sick mind. Some people watch NASCAR races just for the wrecks, and NASCAR is capped. They are capped because they have restrictor plate races where they limit their top speed. Let the sport take care of itself. If people get hurt, people get hurt. That is what happens in sports.

  4. Mike Jennings says:
    February 12, 2010 at 10:16 am

    Thanks, Adrian, for representing the other side. I agree, banning the double cork would definitely affect “the sport” of snowboarding, but snowboarding itself would continue to evolve. Even if Shaun White wasn’t allowed to do the move in the Olympics AND the X Games, he’d still do it and it would get captured on video for all to see and emulate. I don’t know, maybe we just need better helmets.

  5. Adrian W. says:
    February 16, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    I agree Mike, those little shells they call helmets don’t help much. Keep in mind though, no helmet is going to stop someone from breaking their neck and becoming paralyzed. You can’t prevent athletes from performing with lots of safety regulations and you can’t let them go out there and risk their lives. Every sport in the world could be safer in a way, it’s just a matter of finding that common ground where people can agree that it’s not too dangerous and that it doesn’t take too much away from the sport.

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21 January 2010

TV in the ’10s

by Mike Jennings

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It sounds like 3D TV was the big hit at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, but I’m still wondering about content…

One day in ‘09, after paying a hefty cable bill, I flipped through my channels and came up with nothing. I went through my DVR queue, nothing. I wondered, “What did I just pay for besides the Internet?”

It sounds like 3D TV was the big hit at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, but I’m still wondering about content…

One day in ‘09, after paying a hefty cable bill, I flipped through my channels and came up with nothing. I went through my DVR queue, nothing. I wondered, “What did I just pay for besides the Internet?”

Soon after that I began researching my pay TV alternatives. It’s not that I didn’t want to pay. I just didn’t want to pay so much for so little. While facilitating one of our communities I discovered a thread between two members who had the same frustration. One member recommended Roku—the streaming Internet device that connects to your TV. I mail-ordered one and when it arrived, a whirlwind romance began.

It started with a marathon of the first three seasons of Miami Vice (click here for my analysis). Then I found out why so many of my friends are obsessed with Lost. After that I worked my way through the Ken Burns documentaries, but the passion eventually fizzled as I ran out of instant Netflix titles.

I didn’t want to do it, but I went back to my old standby—network TV. At first it was comfortable and familiar, but after awhile became too predictable and the commercials started to annoy me again. Then I went back to Roku and had a fling with Amazon Video On Demand. After paying $1.99 per episode of the first season of Fringe, I ended it. Now it’s 2010 and I’m back with the old ball and chain—cable TV.

I have to say that all of this has left me bitter about the future of TV. Will we ever be able to truly customize our TV experiences?

2 Responses to “TV in the ’10s”

  1. Nicole Adriance says:
    January 25, 2010 at 6:03 am

    I love this post Mike! I have the same frustrations with TV and long to truly customize my TV experience. Why does the guide show me all the channels – even the ones I don’t get, leading me to click on channels just to be greeted with a ‘no access’ message? Why is it that when I do a search to record shows on DVR it does not give me the option to select the HD channel resulting in the future dissapointment of discovering I accidentally recorded the non-HD version? Why can’t I do a search to find my favorite channels? I can never find HGTV or FitTV without slowly scrolling through each channel looking for the correct acronym.

  2. Mike Jennings says:
    January 25, 2010 at 6:29 am

    Thanks, Nicole. I suspect a lot of people share our frustration. We’re so used to customizing our music experiences through iTunes that we now expect it from TV. I guess time will tell when it comes to the future of TV…

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15 December 2009

“I’m the President, but he’s the boss.”

by Mike Jennings

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That’s what Barack Obama said when he gave Bruce Springsteen his Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. When I heard this I welled up with pride.

Like Bruce, I grew up on the Jersey Shore. Throughout the ‘80s my aunts would play his albums over and over again, telling tall tales of marathon performances at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. I didn’t understand the excitement at the time and thought it was old people’s music.

That’s what Barack Obama said when he gave Bruce Springsteen his Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. When I heard this I welled up with pride.

Like Bruce, I grew up on the Jersey Shore. Throughout the ‘80s my aunts would play his albums over and over again, telling tall tales of marathon performances at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. I didn’t understand the excitement at the time and thought it was old people’s music.

In the early ‘90s I attended the same community college as The Boss (I graduated) and frequently surfed next to the very pier that inspired the song, 4th of July, Asbury Park.

In 2000 I moved to California, and eventually became homesick and tired of the lyric-less jam band scene that surrounded me. Turning to my roots, I found comfort in the following songs:

  • Spirit in the Night – a song about partying in the Pine Barrens
  • Backstreets – a song about friendship
  • Independence Day – a song about fathers and sons
  • Thunder Road/Born to Run – songs about getting out of small towns

Why am I telling you this? Well if you’re from New Jersey you often hear people refer to your state as the “Armpit of America.” Sure, even I roll up the windows when I drive down the Turnpike, but if you head south on the Parkway that industrial aroma fades and you end up at the Jersey Shore, home to arguably the best songwriter since Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. Click here for some artists who agree.

5 Responses to ““I’m the President, but he’s the boss.””

  1. Steve says:
    December 15, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Mike, you let me know any time you’re running low on the Bruce Juice. You gotta live it every day.

    - Steve

  2. Mike Jennings says:
    December 15, 2009 at 11:34 am

    Will do, Steve. Good to hear from you.

  3. Nina Kentsis says:
    December 16, 2009 at 4:06 am

    It’s great to know there are other fans of The Boss in our office! I’ve been listening to E Street Radio on Sirius every day for the past six months–the free subscription ends soon and I will be very sad. I hope you caught him in concert the last few times he was in Boston because a live show is amazing. My favorite songs are “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “Growing Up,” “Sherry Darling,” “The Ties that Bind,” “Two Hearts,” “Incident on 57th Street” “Brilliant Disguise,” and, even though it’s a Tom Waits song, I do love their duet on “Jersey Girl.”

  4. Mike Jennings says:
    December 16, 2009 at 5:54 am

    I agree, I’m hoping this post bring us Bruce fans out of the woodwork. I like Darkness…, Growing Up, and Jersey Girl as well. I’m hoping to catch one of those expensive small venue shows in Asbury Park soon. Steve, any leads on that?

  5. Steve says:
    December 16, 2009 at 11:02 am

    I’ve seen Bruce in Asbury several times…doesn’t sound like any small venue holiday shows this year in light of the tour ending. I did just read though, he was at Asbury’s convention hall this past Monday filming video for the 30-year anniversary re-release of Darkness.

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17 November 2009

Second Lease on my Second Life

by Mike Jennings

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Back when we thought Second Life could be the next Facebook, I entered the virtual world to see if there were any opportunities for marketers. I remember having fun designing my avatar and came up with the name of Goffman Ochs by combining the last names of my favorite social theorist and a ‘60s folk artist.

Eventually boredom set in and to be honest, the whole scene was a little too sexual for me. I left Goffman, the sociable singer songwriter, sitting on a park bench in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Back when we thought Second Life could be the next Facebook, I entered the virtual world to see if there were any opportunities for marketers. I remember having fun designing my avatar and came up with the name of Goffman Ochs by combining the last names of my favorite social theorist and a ‘60s folk artist.

Eventually boredom set in and to be honest, the whole scene was a little too sexual for me. I left Goffman, the sociable singer songwriter, sitting on a park bench in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Time went by, Twitter became the new Facebook, and the other day my cousin told me our mutual friend Brian chaired a recent SL Convention. I hadn’t thought of SL in so long and suddenly a wave of guilt came over me…

  • How could I do that to Goffman?
  • How could I leave him slumped over on a park bench like that?

I met up with Brian Perry at his home in Newton, MA to see if we could find my avatar. I was relieved when I logged-in. There was Goffman, right where I left him. Sunlight danced off the Pacific and clouds floated through the sky as he walked around for the first time in three years. The improved graphics were immediately apparent and navigation was easy due to a redesigned search capability.

Back in the real world, Brian and I had a conversation about the current state of SL. Here’s what he told me…

  • Second Life is changing—it used to be that the SL population was one-third gamer, one-third artist, and one-third social misfit. Not anymore.
  • Second Life for collaboration—more and more people are using SL for actual purposes.
  • Second Life for a healthy life—Brian chaired the healthcare track of this year’s SL summit. Topics included the use of SL for clinical trials, cancer outreach, and stress relief.
  • Second Life for learning—one of the biggest groups in SL is SLED, which is dedicated to educational opportunities in SL.

In 2006 I went into SL with the wrong attitude. I observed a subculture that had its own brands and I didn’t think there were a lot of marketing opportunities. I left, but Goffman lived on, and so did his surroundings. While it may not have the mass appeal of Facebook, SL is a great place for groups to come together and collaborate, and unlike Facebook, the company actually makes money.

5 Responses to “Second Lease on my Second Life”

  1. MSGiro says:
    November 17, 2009 at 10:27 am

    Hey Mike,

    I’m glad to hear that SL is picking up some steam again. It helps that I’ve recently been asked to consult on an SL specific project; something I haven’t done for over a year. Without having intimate knowledge of their technology improvements the biggest reason I soured on SL, after a few years, were the limitations. I’m willing to bet a fair amount still exist. The one thing I love about Twitter and Facebook is the ability to simultaneously communicate with thousands of people simultaneously and quickly gather information. SL, with it’s 100 person on an island at one time limitation (which you could never achieve if you actually built something on the sim) was a HUGE problem. It killed so many great ideas and was probably the single biggest reason many brands shied away. For the longest time I couldn’t get HTML or Flash inside of SL so the integration non-SL, but online, related initiatives was impossible. Limitations in design; i.e. not being able to use readily available 3D design software to import inside were a huge strain on costs. You had to find specialists or retrain those folks who were experts in existing software. That led to there being a lack of 3rd party integration. If collaboration is what SL is best at then we should have a plethora of tools at our disposal to utilize for those purposes. Marketing and sales don’t have the time to wait for the improvements and now Twitter and Facebook exploded due to its accessibility. They aren’t the best tools, but they are certainly easy to use.

    Fortunately I have met and worked with many folks from Linden Lab. I wish them nothing but the best. They are great people and have a powerful product in their possession. I just don’t think it’s the software platform I always hoped it would be. I hope they can prove me wrong.

  2. Mike Jennings says:
    November 18, 2009 at 6:06 am

    Hi MSGiro,

    I agree that Second Life is probably not the be all and end all of collaboration tools. One new feature that interests me is the new voice capability because I have never been a fan of IM. Thanks for sharing your Second Life experience. Anyone else want to tell us about their Second Life?

    Mike

  3. Claire-Voe Ocampo says:
    November 19, 2009 at 7:27 am

    Hi Mike,

    I really enjoyed reading this post! Please keep us posted on Goffman’s state. I wonder if he looks like you. :)

    Claire-Voe

  4. Mike Jennings says:
    November 20, 2009 at 6:11 am

    Thanks, Claire-Voe. I’m glad you liked my post. Goffman is a little taller than me!

  5. Charlotte Daher says:
    November 20, 2009 at 6:22 am

    Mike,

    I think the BBC got word of your post http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8367957.stm :) Looks like you’re not the only one who left their avatar hanging on a park bench.

    Cheers!

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16 October 2009

Modern, really?

by Mike Jennings

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Category: Opinion, Research
All posts by Mike Jennings

This week I’d like to virtually confess something. For years I’ve kept this a secret, but here it goes…

I’m a postmodernist.

One of my pet peeves is the misuse of the word ‘modern,’ specifically in the forms of ‘modernize’ and ‘modern times’ because it tends to be used as a term for bringing something up to date. As a postmodernist, I find this to be absurd!

Here’s why…

This week I’d like to virtually confess something. For years I’ve kept this a secret, but here it goes…

I’m a postmodernist.

One of my pet peeves is the misuse of the word ‘modern,’ specifically in the forms of ‘modernize’ and ‘modern times’ because it tends to be used as a term for bringing something up to date. As a postmodernist, I find this to be absurd!

Here’s why…

  • Postmodernists pay close attention to major shifts in society.
  • For us, modern times began during the Industrial Revolution and have since ended.
  • We believe that the technological revolution has begun and things are changing exponentially.

Not to freak you out or anything, but postmodernism is all around you. You experience it in so many ways, yet may not realize it.

Here are some examples of postmodernism in…

  • TV—Sitcoms began in the 50s, the height of modern times, and dominated TV until recently. They’re safe, predictable and have a beginning, middle, and end. Now we also have shows like Lost, where you can’t tell the good from the bad, the past from the present, or the real from the unreal.
  • Music—Mapping the musical landscape used to be fairly easy. There was pop, rock, country, hip-hop/rap, and a few others. Now in rock alone there’s alternative rock, gothic rock, desert rock, glam rock, rap rock, doom metal, folk metal, symphonic metal, grunge, post-grunge, and emotional hardcore… to name a few.
  • Graphic design—Check out the postmodernists in the Helvetica documentary! (Click here for the trailer)

A common theme among these examples is fragmentation—plots, genres, and designs are broken up and presented in little pieces. Stephen Brown, marketing’s postmodern provocateur, explains how even our sense of self is now fragmented…

“…the postmodern consumer performs a host of roles—wife and mother, career woman, sports enthusiast…DIY enthusiast, culture vulture, hapless holidaymaker, websurfing Internet avatar and many more—each with its appropriate brand name array.” 

With all this fragmentation going on, no wonder marketers are having a hard time finding those holy grails of insight. At conferences and in webinars we hear of a changing landscape, shifting paradigms, and the need to redefine market research. If you’re a postmodernist in the crowd you love the confusion. For you it’s a sign of exciting things to come. You dream of a future of mixed methodologies, multiple perspectives, and a beautiful union of qual. and quant. You tell your colleagues not to worry, we’ll all figure it out, and everything will be alright.

4 Responses to “Modern, really?”

  1. Ted Morris says:
    October 18, 2009 at 8:10 am

    Mike,
    Interesting that you include and begin with broadcast television as an element of postmodernism. TV still brings in the largest, constent audiences – we are watching TV as much as we ever did. TV also provides programs like Lost as well as sitcoms like Seinfeld and dramas like CSI that have large franchises and provide a continous viewer experience; TV is largely serialized on the networks and takes on an ‘afterlife’ with syndication and dvd releases. Cant’ say that about digital media and the likes of YouTube at this point. Broadcast TV is “programmed/relational” whereas digitalcast is “viral/transactional”. Cheers, Ted.

  2. Mike Jennings says:
    October 19, 2009 at 5:59 am

    Thanks for the reply, Ted. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen with digital.

  3. SZR says:
    October 19, 2009 at 11:56 am

    This was featured on an NPR piece last Thursday. Is that what spawned the idea?

  4. Mike Jennings says:
    October 20, 2009 at 4:27 am

    I didn’t catch that! A few of my colleagues have mentioned it though. Maybe I can find it archived somewhere. I first became a postmodernist in college and since then it’s been a lens through which I view the world. For years I’ve looked for the right venue to express my postmodern beliefs. Blogs are so postmodern.

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24 September 2009

Cape Cod, Great Whites, and a Surfer’s Perspective

by Mike Jennings

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All posts by Mike Jennings

When you’re a surfer in New England you’re always wondering: How big are the waves? Which way’s the wind blowing? What’s the water temperature? Where are the rocks? Is this private property?

And now… was that a shark?

Some marine biologists have been tagging Great Whites off Cape Cod, and as usual the local media is playing the theme from Jaws (click here for an example). While the mere mention of these maritime monsters evokes fear in most, for surfers it’s all part of the equation.

When you’re a surfer in New England you’re always wondering: How big are the waves? Which way’s the wind blowing? What’s the water temperature? Where are the rocks? Is this private property?

And now… was that a shark?

Some marine biologists have been tagging Great Whites off Cape Cod, and as usual the local media is playing the theme from Jaws (click here for an example). While the mere mention of these maritime monsters evokes fear in most, for surfers it’s all part of the equation.

As you can imagine, in my twenty years of riding waves I’ve had my share of close encounters with sharks:

  • 1994—Cape Hatteras, North Carolina: a certain sub-surface something bumps me off my board.
  • 2000—Roca Bruja, Costa Rica: a tiger shark cruises by so close I can see its stripes.
  • 2000 to 2005—Moonstone Beach, California: in four separate incidents, surfers are attacked by Great Whites at one of my favorite spots. Each one survives by shoving their boards in their attackers’ mouths and punching themselves free.

Surfers just accept that sharks are out there. We voluntarily dress up like seals, paddle out into the unknown and leave it up to fate. We weigh the risk of being attacked with not doing what we love.

Here’s what I think about what’s happening right now off the shores of Massachusetts:

  • Cape Cod doesn’t have a shark problem it has a seal problem

They’re everywhere now. While tourists think they’re cute, the local fisherman I’ve talked to can’t stand them. They eat a lot of fish and there’s not enough to go around. Great Whites, one of the most highly evolved creatures on earth, now know the seals are here and have come to dine on the all-you-can-eat blubber buffet.

Now my normal stance when it comes to nature is to just let it be—the sharks will eventually thin out the seal population and then move on. But if we don’t want anyone to get hurt (seals included), why not relocate the seals? This is what they do with bears. Also, let’s stop tagging the Great Whites. Poking them with sharp sticks is probably annoying and I don’t want them taking it out on me on my day off.

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