Living in the Land of Raj.

Companies like to define target audiences with something called a "persona."  It’s a way to bring the target to life by giving him or her a personality.  One of my clients has a whole set of personas, one of which is for a target audience called technology enthusiasts.  These are the early adopters, the guys who are professional, successful, and who you might call geeks.  My clients have named this persona Raj.  And if you’re spending time at the South by Southwest (SXSW) interactive conference, you’re spending time with a lot of Rajes.

Here are a few of my key take aways from my time living in the Land of Raj with plenty of photos for support.

Raj likes his cool, intense, game-infused imagery.

And SXSW west gives plenty of people a chance to get their imagery out there.  Just about every pole, post, box, or other public space was wrapped in plastic to prepare for posters and flyers that were posted all over town, many of those poster targeted at Raj.

The QR code is king.  

These things were everywhere from posters, to trade show materials, to the backs of t-shirts.  Many technology enthusiasts were seen scanning away.

Celebrities that REALLY appeal to Raj may be completely unknown to me.

LIke the guy that started Foursquare, Dennis Crowley. (The first question from the Q&A: can a female friend of mine have a hug? The answer: yes.)  Here’s co-worker Kelly getting her picture taken with Dennis.

There was Felicia Day, a keynote speaker and star of  the heralded web series The Guild (huh?).  That’s one I’ve never heard of but the Technology Enthusiasts were falling all over themselves for this attractive geeky girl who “likes cupcakes.”  And I don’t think that’s some insider technology term.  Felicia is getting ready to launch an all new web series called Dragon Age: Redemption.  Here are the Ogilvy Notes from Felicia Day's presentation:

Also presenting a keynote address, Christopher Poole, the creator of a site called 4Chan.  Once again, I’d never heard of this place where anonymity reigns and anime is everywhere.  His new endeavor is a site called Canvas.  You can sign up for the service at canv.as/sxsw.

Raj likes his gadgets and right now, gadget = iPad.
At the pop-up Apple store set up just for SXSW, the iPad 2 sold out instantly.  And you could see people everywhere fiddling with their iPads, even sketching super-hero-like figures:

Finally, Raj may sometimes spend too much time tinkering with technology.
And not enough time getting out in the real world in hopes of meeting that special someone.  Well, at least now there's an APP for that:

Thanks Raj for making the SXSW Interactive Conference not just educational, but also a dang good time.

Country continental.

My second night in Austin found me at a classic Texas band bar, The Continental Club, to see Junior Brown.  I knew nothing of Junior Brown but on arrival, it seemed clear that Mr. Brown is an Austin legend and regular at The Continental Club.  Just inside the door was this painting of the club:

And if you notice the sign in the window, Junior Brown is the featured performer:

The Continental Club has been an Austin tradition since the late 50s and it's got the Texas dive-bar attitude to prove it, with walls and fixtures that are weathered in a way you can only accomplish with 60 or so years of drinking, dancing, and hard living.


While I knew nothing about Junior Brown, he delivered a perfect country rock soundtrack for a dark bar with lots of old red velvet.  Brown is an old-school guitar player and country crooner with original songs that run the gamut from country tragic to sublime goofiness.  With a rockabilly sensibility, Junior delivered a technically-brilliant, musically-dazzling night of torch and twang.  It seems I may like country a little more than previously imagined.  Here are a few more pictures from a night of country continental:

Doodles on drugs.

Taking notes at presentations takes on a new level of creativity at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference thanks to Ogilvy Notes.  At most of the main presentations, an artist from a company called ImageThink takes real-time notes at the presentation on big panels of foam core.


For example, if you went to see Guy Kawasaki's engaging presentation titled The Art of Enchantment, this is what you saw on stage.

Just off to the side of the stage was a woman taking visual notes.  It looked like this:

And later on, you could see the poster outside the presentation hall.  There were even 11x17" copies you could take with you.  Here's what the final notes from Kawasaki's presentation looked liked.

And here are a couple more examples of boards from other presentations.

Book six: American Fuji by Sara Backer.

2011 is the year of Japan.  In preparation for my trip to Tokyo in September, I've decided to read plenty of books that have Japanese elements.  I actually arrived at this idea thanks to my good friend Sara.  Her thoughtfulness led her to give me a Christmas gift that celebrated my travel plans.  That gift was Sara Backer's debut novel, American Fuji.  It is a perfect entree into Japanese culture.  It also appealed to me for another reason.  I love reading first novels.  And this is Backer's first effort in the genre.

This is the story of Gaby Stanton, An American woman who moves to Japan to teach English at a university.   She's fired from her job (why, we're not exactly sure) and begins working as a sales person for a fantasy funeral company called Gone with the Wind. 

Enter Alexander Thorn.  He's an American writer who travels to Japan for a book tour and stays to learn more about an accident that killed his son.  His son was studying in Japan at the same university where Gaby taught.  There are a number of suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

Gaby and Alex are thrown together whether they like it or not.  And soon, they begin to have feelings for each other. A situation which results in my least favorite moments of the book.  Several passages in American Fuji might be mistaken for a Harlequin romance. 

But beyond the sappy romance, this book delivers a thrilling story with several exciting twists.  And the Japanese characters are fantastic.  Gaby's boss (Mr. Eguchi) is a Japanese gangster whose English skills are limited to phrases he's learned from Beatles' songs.  It's surprising how much you can communicate using only lyrics from the Beatles.  By the end of the book, Eguchi and Alex engage in entire conversations with nothing but the language of the Beatles.

Sure the writing sometimes falters. But Backer's insight into Japanese culture along with a great story make this book a happy read.  Although getting to know the reality of Japanese culture makes me a little nervous about my upcoming trip.  As a foreigner, I'll be a gaijin.  And I expect that on the surface the Japanese will treat me with warmth and respect.  But this book makes me realize that the sentiment may not be honest.  Oh well, I still can hardly wait to experience Japan.  To that, I'll raise a glass and say, "kampai!"

It's enough to make me want to be a wine snob.

I'm not much of a wine drinker.  And I'm definitely not what you'd call a wine connoisseur.  So you can imagine my skepticism when I heard the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is hosting an exhibit called, How Wine Became Modern.  Turns out it's a rather brilliant collection of exhibits that are part scientific, part industrial design, and part weird contemporary art.


The best parts of the show are the beautifully designed presentations that talk about the science of making and appreciating wine.  Many of these displays feel like something ripped from the lair of a futuristic James Bond villain.  Take the section that talks about terroir.  Terroir is the concept that soil and climate contribute to the unique characteristics in every bottle of wine.  SFMoMA shows earth from 17 vineyards with information about what makes each area unique.  Here's what it looks like:

SFMoMA also offers a dazzling review of wine labels. Bottles of wine are presented on a large gallery wall and deliver a genealogy of drunken attitudes:

My favorite part of the exhibit is something called the "Smell Wall." Here, glass vitrines of wine are equipped with rubber bulbs that allow you to puff whiffs of wine into your nostrils.  Each container features a different wine and tells you the notes you should smell, everything from bell peppers, to chocolate, to abstract ideas like "white."  This is the first time I've understood what wine connoisseurs mean when they talk about the fragrances and tastes that make wines unique.

But this show isn't just about the business of making, drinking, and appreciating wine.  There were some interesting works of art and design that take wine as their inspiration.  There's Peter Van Der Jagt's Bottoms Up Doorbell (1994, Winegalsses, electromagnet, and stainless steel).  This mesmerizing item was set to chime every three minutes, delivering a crystal clear, duo-toned ring.

Also greeting you at the entrance to the exhibit is a life-size mural created by design firm Diller, Scofidio + Renfro.  The mural is a take on Leonardo's da Vinci's The Last Supper.  However it replaces the traditional participants with modern wine tasters.  Those tasters are based on the men who participated in The Judgment of Paris, a 1976 event which stunned the French wine world when a number of California wines took top honors.  It's an event that inspired the entire exhibit.

I can't end this post without talking about Sissel Tolaas's intriguing work titled St(62) + [PGh(76) x Rp(100)], 10 (2010, Paint with microencapsulated scent).  In a portal at SFMoMA that looks out into the main atrium of the museum, the inside walls were painted with a special paint designed to deliver the smell of a bottle of wine on someone's breath.  And it wasn't just any wine, it was Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1976, one of only two wines that critic Robert Parker awarded a perfect score of 100 points.  The breath is that of the artist who used technology common to the fragrance industry to replicate the scent.  Simply touching the surface released the intriguing scent.  Considering the nature of the work, the fragrance was surprisingly pleasant.

I've never thought much of wine snobs.  This show gave me a new appreciation for what makes wine so intriguing for so many people.  And if, unlike me, you're a big wine fan, you should definitely plan a trip to San Francisco  before April 17 when this beautiful show closes.

Book five: Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin.

Dear Armistead Maupin,

Could you please hurry up and write the next book in your Tales of the City series?  Because I loved revisiting all my favorite, returning characters in Mary Ann in Autumn. I've grown to love all your characters.  I'd argue that Anna Madrigal is one of the 20th Century's strongest, best-written female characters. And how can you not be charmed by Michael Tolliver; I feel like I've grown old with him and his delightful, younger boyfriend Ben. And then there's Mary Ann. I can't believe how good you are at writing her dialogue. I don't even have to be told she's the one speaking; I can tell just from the voice.

Also, would it hurt you to make the next book a little longer.  Because every time I read one of your books, it seems I just get started and suddenly it's over.  Maybe that's because no one ends chapters like you do, with brilliant short sentences that wrap it all up with witty observations.  At the same time, those jewel-like statements make it impossible to not read on.  It makes for fast, fun reading.

Mary Ann in Autumn also delivers on some of my other favorite Maupin devices.  Like the reappearance of forgotten.  It's amazing you can bring back a character introduced in the first book, and make him or her thrillingly relevant to the current story. Sure you're stories have a soap-opera quality to them.  But a comparable soap opera would need to be directed by the likes of Alfred Hitchcock.

One suggestion: If you're going to introduce a Mormon missionary as a character, you might want to get someone like me to give you a quick primer on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Because your take on Mormonism is wildly off; at least it makes for a good laugh.

Mary Ann in Autumn isn't the best book in the Tales of the City series.  But it's still one of the most rewarding novels I've read in a long time.  I can hardly wait for the next installment.

Sincerely,

A big Tales of the City fan.

Book four: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan.

David Levithan is one of my favorite writers of young adult fiction.  His books Boy Meets Boy, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson charmed me for their big-hearted stories and their ability to make young gay characters seem both ordinary and extraordinary.

So I was intrigued by Levithan's latest book targeted at adult readers.  The Lover's Dictionary has an unusual structure.  The book is written as a dictionary.  Each "chapter" is a different word that describes a moment or activity in a relationship. Told in first person, this book chronicles the love life of two people.

I can't decide if The Lover's Dictionary is a novel or a book of poetry.  I also can't decide if I liked this book or if it was just annoying.  The poetic nature of The Lover's Dictionary means it's sometimes hard to follow.  And the last entry left me wondering if the ending is happy or some sad, hopeless affair.  I'd be OK with either; I'd just like to know which it is.

The jury may be out on whether or not I like the book, but Levithan's writing is still delightful.  And some of the entries are charming.  Like a portion of the entry for unabashedly, "You know, I'd get a tattoo with your name on it. Only, I want you to have the freedom to change your name if you want."  Or the strange entry for yesterday, "You called to ask me when I was coming home, and when I reminded you I wasn't coming home, you sounded so disappointed that I decided to come home." And there's this entry brilliant for candid, "'Most times, when I'm having sex, I'd rather be reading.' This was, I admit, a strange thing to say on a second date. I guess I was just giving you a warning. 'Most time when I'm reading,' you said, 'I'd rather be having sex.'" I'm still trying figure out which statement best describes me.