Category Archives: America

Chances are, you haven’t heard of Kevin Smith’s penultimate film Red State, which was released on DVD, Netflix, etc. yesterday. That, assuming you’ve even heard of Kevin Smith. Best known for what are affectionately known as the “Jay & Bob” movies, Smith got his start shooting the now iconic Clerks on a lark, for less than $30,000, mostly on his own credit cards. Clerks was a smash hit at Sundance that year and Kevin Smith went from living in his parents’ basement to being an established writer/filmmaker.

Weather permitting, this final flight of the Space Shuttle program will happen around lunchtime tomorrow. I’ll be watching the webcast for sure. To my everlasting regret, I won’t be there to see Atlantis blast off in person, and only because I didn’t really plan ahead and didn’t make the commitment to simply go down there and see it. I’m really sad about that today. This will never happen again. A profound chapter in manned space flight is coming to an end.

I’ve steered away from politics on this blog. I just don’t have time, and most of the partisan bickering is pretty meaningless right now. And while I don’t think this is a particularly political topic, it does require the immediate attention of our government. The topic in question is that of airport security. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately (as often as once a week), so this issue hits pretty close to home. With a lot of people about to travel for Turkey Day, this is something we need to stand up against right now.

About 15 years ago, my dad built a 1/6th scale radio controlled flying model of Charles Lindbergh’s iconic Ryan NYP, better known as The Spirit of St. Louis. In the two years he spent constructing his 91″ replica, dad extensively researched Lindbergh’s life and seminal, 1927 New York-to-Paris flight. This research showed in the meticulous detail of his plane. Every detail is represented in immaculate miniature — from Lindbergh’s uncomfortable wicker seat, to each and every one of his instrument panel gauges, to a tiny working version of his side periscope complete with mirrors. Dad’s research gave him enough expertise that he could see un-captioned photos of the plane and know when and usually where they were taken. He even uncovered inaccuracies in some of the written accounts. However, one detail escaped him: the golden nose.

If I can get in, I’m going to attend the President’s healthcare reform pep rally tomorrow at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. Minnesota Public Radio, our fantastic, local National Public Radio station, put a call out to Twitter folk who would be attending.

I had a short conversation with a colleague today about why I and another colleague both love riding scooters: the economy, the fun or riding, the chic simplicity of it. Her question was “Why don’t more people do this?”

America is such an odd place. We pave the way in so many areas, yet when you compare us to Europe or Asia (whole continents, mind you), we’ve completely missed the boat on scooters until just this last season. I’m really …

Frequent commenter RB pointed out this article on Wired.com about “scooter trends” which turned out to have almost nothing to do with scooters at all. What’s more it appears to be a fumbled rehash of this interview for Taiwan Economic News. I expect more from Wired and am annoyed at the consistent misconception Americans and American journalists have of scooters, scooterists, and scooting.

Sol Sender, from VSA Partners, takes us on a tour of the thinking, the process, and the runners up in designing the logo for what is easily the biggest brand of 2008. If you’re not familiar with identity work, it’s not easy, but it’s fun. Although I can’t imagine working on something with this much on the line. Seeing all the different iterations of the campaign logo is not only fascinating, it’s a great windo into the creative process of people at the top of my industry.