Lyrics from an old tune, apropos of a September Saturday…
bon temps mes amis
it’s no longer the evening
and I have been drinking again
I’ve toasted myself
in spite of my health
I will roll ‘em on over again
it’s tra-la and tra-lee
we’ve stolen the seed
it will not grow back from within
they’ll procure no doubt
some source from without
and bathe our souls in our sins
flyin’ on blackberry wine
run down and ragged in time
I would beg the lord for a dime
I will bathe my soul in my sin
bon temps mes amis
I can’t feel my knees
I’m tired of this blasphemous gin
I will try in the night
to wake in the morning
the same man that I left in the evening
but I’m sullen and lonely
Tex’ says it’s only
acute aversion to the light
so bon temps mes amis
we have sewn all the seeds
and I’m better alone in the night.
flyin’ on blackberry wine
run down and ragged in time
I would beg the lord for a dime
I will bathe my soul in my sin
despite all my friends
their bitter ends
I will roll them bones again
bon temps mes amis
we’ve sewn all the seeds
and I have been drinking again
An alarming number of fake Twitter feeds have recently come to be, from the hilarious @Jesus_M_Christ to my local favorite, @FakeLewisHowes. Even more alarming though, when corporation-related, nearly as soon as they’re born, they’re being hunted down like the animals they’re feared to become.
Take for instance the short-lived @condeelevator, an amalgam of hilarious over-heards from the elevators of the Manhattan offices of Conde Nast, the publishing company responsible for such anti-materialism gems as Vogue, amongst others.
The latest to fall appears to be birthed from the inner-sanctum of none other than Goldman Sachs. Internal managers have promised just short of an inquisition into the matter, and some speculate that this was the reason that Lloyd Blankfein has retained outside counsel (not really, I just made that up). Either way, @GSElevator made to Page 6 and Gawker, and it contributed some hilarity to our world, so I thank the mind behind it. I hope the Goldman goons never find him or her, and live in fear as such.
Next steps, you ask?
I’m going to purge my twitter feed of all real profiles. Vanity sucks. Let’s all laugh a little.
Wisdom for the ages from a friend who is traveling in Peru right now.
Bizarre, random, hilarious.
How do you titillate an ocelot?
Well, apparently you oscillate its tit a lot.
Budgeting is never fun.
City, county and state revenues have been in the toilet for a while now, without much light at the end of the tunnel. Long debates have been had over government largesse, and building some sustainability into civic revenue models. The debates continue, and will for some time, as ideologies persist and political entrenchment holds firm. What remains indelibly true however is that all of these bodies – on a civic, state and federal level – need to find ways to create new revenue.
Enter media.
Not the paper kind. Not even the broadcast kind. Governments tend to hold sway over varied pieces of real estate, and not just court and state houses. Some control retail stores, most control rest stops, and many own wide swathes of land on the side of your most-travelled roadways. These public spaces all have one thing in common: traffic.
That traffic – and the controlled area through which people pass – can make that real estate valuable with the right media application. Traditionally, federal rules have limited the amount of advertising on the road side, as it was thought to be overly distracting. However, as revenue-pressures persist, those rules have begun to loosen. Recently, the city of Miami, Florida allowed companies like ClearChannel to erect gads of LCD billboards and other out-of-home concepts offering wares to passersby on the city-controlled land beside the highway. That allowance was not given away for free.
Necessity being the mother of invention, as the budget pinch continues an opening of bureaucratic minds is taking place. And the creative firms that develop campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands are bringing innovative, revenue-generating ideas to bear. Budget realities have created a window of opportunity, and those willing to do the government dance are finding a more receptive ear than in times past.
Public-private partnerships have always bucked tradition. Let’s hope the trend continues.
Posted in Letters, Media
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