Riffs, Tiffs and What Ifs

Below is a video of a modern man that understands corporate gobbledygook. Only one person on earth could put this string of corporate gobbledygookisms together and deliver them with heart-pounding panache. The DaVinci of Words. George Carlin. I once confessed I played a passable piano. But then I saw Bruce Hornsby play. My definition of "passable" transmogrified into a necessary gastric function. And, he made me want to chop my fingers off. But I've gotten over that. (Never mind the image to my left. It's just an alter-ego-toon.) George Carlin makes me feel that way with words. When I try to string a line of maturative, indurative, depurative, and curative words to halt corporate gobbledygoook it pails and fails in comparison to the world's master word-painter, George CarlinVinci I yield the floor to George. THE MODERN MAN

On the relentless quest to banish the boring and try something different in business meetings I ran across a new company called Animoto.com. The creators of Animoto probably never envisioned their application being used in a business environment (I asked -- they hadn't), but I saw it and thought, what the hell? I gave it a try. Animoto Easy Took me about 5 minutes to figure out. Easy to use. Quick to learn. I had a few questions, emailed the folks at Animoto and they responded almost instantly -- even at 1:00 am. So, not only a good new tech application, but some responsive folks that understand customer service. Animoto has the potential of being a real ice-breaker in business meetings. You may harrumph and bloviate ... too goofy, too in-your-face, but at least it's not boring. Opening with an Opening Opening a meeting with a funny or poignant look at an issue with a quick 30-60 second video overview will differentiate you from about 99% of others giving a business presentatio...

Several people have asked about my use of the word "prestidigitation" in the "Wizard of Was," Jimi Hendrix post. Did I make the word up? No. In that post I referenced Bruce Hornsby. First heard the word when he was doing a song called "Spider Fingers" . What is Prestidigitation? Prestidigitation is defined as " skill in or performance of tricks; sleight of hand." Though the word is used in Spider Fingers it doesn't apply to the song or Bruce's Spider Fingers . That's practice and repetition combined with sheer innate musical genius. Don't believe me? Watch the clip.

Customer stories can be pretty boring. Historically boring. Lame corporate gobbledygook writing. Tediously long. Structured in a communistic concrete architectural story-style. Over-printed. Rarely read. However, they 're one valuable resource people check out to see if you can really do what you say you can. But they're so boring they're desperately in need of a extreme makeover. Now comes Fedex doing something interesting. Telling stories. Real stories. That's right, real stories of their employees going the extra step to serve customers. It's a first step towards banishing the customer story of boring yore. What's unique about Fedex Stories? It's the format. The presentation style. Web-based, personalized, visually appealing -- and engaging. And, more importantly, it's a tip of the hat to their greatest strength -- the Fedex employee. You've heard of Web2.0., Sales2.0., PR2.0. well maybe this is the start of ... Customer Stories2.0. The Fedex S...

The Wizard Of Was I'm a music lover - and passable piano player. Passable means I played in the local pubs, bars, nightclubs, studios, events, weddings, etc. for 15 years and got paid for it. Got rich? Yes. But not monetarily. Got rich with ethereal moments and emotional highs. Connecting and resonating on stage "live" is an experience everyone should have. Occasionally it felt like I was someone else watching my fingers doing things on the keys that were wonderfully implausible -- even impossible. Prestidigitation. Magical. But ... that was before I saw Bruce Hornsby play. Then I wanted to chop my fingers off. That's another story. For another day. It Was 40 Years Ago Today, Jimi Hendrix Taught the World to Play Hard to believe it's been 40 years. But it has. Jimmy Hendrix at Monterey. Today the UK Telegraph published some remastered footage of the Monterey Pop Festival from October 25, 1967. Resonating Riff Nothing is more moving than a soul-vetting resonating...

Sometimes you just miss too many things. Get too many emails. Too many voicemails. Then ... you forget you forgot to remember to call a person on their birthday. Not by a day. But by a couple weeks. Ouch. Only real losers do that. It doesn't really matter that you are uber-busy. Or business is bad. Or your heavily invested in Merrill Lynch. Or you voted for Ross Perot once. And would again. Or that you had lots of United Parcel Service (UPS) stock before it went public. But you sold it to invest in Pets.com. Or that the Shinese food you had for lunch was really crappy, crummy, vile, egregious, god-awful (Shinese is really bad Chinese) and is haunting you like an ethereal eidolon (Beetle-Juice on Acid). Who, Me? Well someone that looks a lot like me, talks a lot like me and sits at the desk I sit most of the time, did that. To a great writer friend, Nettie Hartsock. So what to do? I'd recommend an Animoto-Mail Message -- it's worth the effort anyway.

Fecund Feral Feces I thought I knew what the number one issue of the 2008 Presidential election was. I thought it was the Iraq War. I was wrong. I thought it might be Health care . I was wrong, again. Maybe terrorism? College tuition? Wrong again. And again. Fecund Feral Feces Yes. According to this official news report, Bull-Krapola (or some refer to it as fecund feral feces without the fecundity) is the number one issue in the 2008 Presidential election. Here's a video that clearly gets to it. Check out the reporter. Glad to see Bill Gates landed himself a new paying gig. Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters