A friend of mine shared this video with me a while back, and it continues to draw me in. I am certain it speaks to many people ... and it is also just a well-produced video. Enjoy:
Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.
And ... following up from my earlier post about Star Trek Continues ... check out this building designed to look like the USS Enterprise!
Following up my prior post about state's two-letter abbreviations (i.e., postal codes), here is a cool site that crowdsources the origins of airport's three-letter codes. For anyone who travels as much as I do, you might find this quite interesting.
I am a huge fan of "intelligent comedy", which sometimes requires the comedian to pause while the audience catches up with him/her. My timeless favorite is Abbott & Costello's "Who's On First?" routine.
I recently came across this late-night show performance by Gary Gulman, and I have watched it a gazillion times already. I think it is creative and hilarious. Just FYI ... here is the real story behind the two-letter abbreviations for the states.
Nine years ago, I posted a couple of cool videos from the band, OK GO. At the time, I did not realize how big they would get ... not just for their music, but mostly for their hugely creative videos. I thought I would post some of my favorites here (in chronological order).
This Too Shall Pass - 2010
I Won't Let You Down - 2014
Upside Down & Inside Out - 2016
It's been a crazy last few weeks, so I'm behind on my posts. More important, it seems like lately several folks have forwarded me some incredibly cool/funny/entertaining videos. Here are a couple of my favorites:
And one incredible photo:
Here's another example of creative genius looking at life (and musical instruments) just a little bit differently than the rest of us:
Since I am not that creative, I tend to admire individuals who are ... especially when they are truly talented. My latest favorites are the sketch comedy duo of Tripp and Tyler. If you haven't already checked out their red-hot YouTube Channel, it is well worth the visit.
Here is one of my favorite Tripp and Tyler sketches, perhaps because I live through this just about every day of my life? Enjoy!
Over the years, I have taught my kids the story of the Italian painter, Giotto. He may not be the most famous of the many talented Middle Age painters, but my kids were fascinated by the story of "the perfect circle". At one point the Pope asked Giotto to draw something to prove his skills as an artist, and Giotto proceeded to draw a circle so perfect that everyone thought he had used a compass.
My kids were naturally skeptical of their father's claims about perfect circles, until last week when my daughter found the following video on YouTube:
I was likewise fascinated, and it turns out that there may be even more background to this story.
Regardless, every now and then I catch myself trying to draw a perfect circle. Let's just say that I don't think Giotto has to worry about my outperforming him!
Over the past week, my Facebook network has been buzzing with conversations about a new "personal dialect map". This is an online quiz that asks you 25 questions about how you use the English language (e.g., pronunciation, descriptive terms, idioms, etc.) and then uses your answers to create a personal map of what parts of the U.S. you're most similar to (and most unlike). The quiz seems to be incredibly accurate.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the quiz determined that I speak most like someone from ... the San Francisco Bay Area.
My wife grew up in Northern New Jersey, and the quiz determined that she speaks most like someone from ... New Jersey.
The more interesting results came for my 14-year-old daughter and my 12- year-old son (we figured my 8-year-old son was too young to generate valid results). We've moved around a bit, and my kids have been raised in San Francisco, then Northern Virginia (near DC), then Seattle, then South Florida (near Miami), and then/now Atlanta. We were curious what the quiz would say about their dialects.
The quiz determined that Rebecca speaks most like someone from Seattle and that Daniel speaks most like someone from Miami. Interesting. Thinking about this further, we realized that Rebecca spent 5th-7th grades in Seattle and that Daniel spent 6th grade in South Florida. I realize this is only two data points, but ... could it be that Americans today tend to develop their dialects during middle school (i.e., their "tween" years)?
Hmmmmm ....
Given the ongoing frequency of my international travel, I thought this was insightful and funny (if not painfully stereotypical):
This is one of my favorite commercials in a long time. Never mind the online controversy over the fact that it was shot in front of a green screen and therefore "not real". It's still very creative and greatly entertaining. Enjoy!
During my undergraduate days at UC Berkeley, I was part of a fraternity called Psi Upsilon. Since "Psi U" was a primarily East Coast fraternity, it was rare for me to ever find anyone who had ever heard of it. In fact, many people thought I was making it up.
So you can imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I was watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and saw my fraternity featured prominently in one of the scenes! As it turns out, the director of the movie, Michael Bay, is a Psi U brother from Wesleyan University (we graduated roughly around the same time). Small world!
Growing up as a teenager in the '80s, I couldn't help but love Jean-Claude Van Damme. I even tried becoming more flexible, so that I could do they splits as easily as he could. Well, he's now 53 years old, and he's STILL doing his famous splits. Check out this amazing commercial he did for Volvo:
This is a hilariously appropriate emergency exit sign ... found everywhere around the Atlanta Tech Village, a startup incubator.
For anyone who is married--or even in any sort of long-term relationship--this video needs no introduction. Just watch, listen, and moan.
This past weekend I was cleaning out my home office, and I came across 5 fortunes from a dinner I had with my family at a Chinese restaurant over a year ago. My three kids (now 14, 12, and 8) love going to Chinese restaurants, and one of their favorite parts of the meal is the end ... when we get our fortune cookies.
On this particular night, they quickly grabbed their cookies, broke them apart, and read their fortunes out loud. I was really proud of how insightful they were, thinking deeply about the philosophical messages inscribed on the little pieces of paper from their cookies, as well as their mother's.
Then, in a scene straight out of a comedy movie or TV show, the table looked at me, got quiet to hear me read my fortune, and then burst into uncontrollable laughter. We all still talk about that moment every time we eat Chinese food.
Here are their fortunes:
"May your faith always exceed your fears"
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
"'Should have' is a favorite phrase for those looking for excuses."
"Even the smallest candle burns brighter in the dark."
And mine:
"Never spit against the wind."
My kids tire of my always telling them that the best way to get good at ANYTHING is to practice, practice, practice. Regardless, they occasionally enjoy when I show them what others accomplish by combining a strong personal interest with countless hours of commitment. Enter BLACK, a Japanese yo-yo world champion.
I have always been fascinated by the story-telling process, especially when it comes to film. I specifically enjoy thinking about how particular video clips could be re-cut or have their audio re-mastered in such ways as to completely change its tone. Well, I recently came across a terrific student project on this very point.
This first video is the official trailer for the hit comedy, Hangover.
This second video is a student project that re-edited the trailer to give it the look and feel of a horror film. Very cool!
Whether it is teaching entrepreneurship to students, analyzing leadership with colleagues, or discussing myriad issues with my three kids, I have always found a powerful tool in drawing parallels to popular culture. Points really seem to hit home when viewed through the lens of something that we otherwise feel is benign or simply entertaining.
About a year ago, Alex Knapp, a staff writer for Forbes, wrote three wonderful blog posts about leadership. The posts would have been fine as stand-alone analyses of sound leadership principles. However, what really drove home his points--and made the pieces such an easy read--was his framing the arguments within terms of two popular space media franchises, Star Wars and Star Trek.
Regardless of whether you are a fan of either series, his articles still focus on solid leadership advice.
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Five Leadership Mistakes Of The Galactic Empire |
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Five Leadership Lessons From Jean-Luc Picard |
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Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk |
