Give me that old time rock and roll

Call me old fashioned, but sometimes I sit back and wonder how the American music industry somehow went from this to this.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm no traitor to the music of my generation. I do (although with guilt) enjoy top 25 music while dancing at a party from time to time. However, where have we gone when our top 25 is half filled with "rappers" reliant on auto-tune with names that sound like children's toys that were rejected from Mattel (Soulja Boi Tell 'Em)? Even Jay-Z, hip-hop's reigning king, has spoken out against such artists (see: "D.O.A. Death of Autotune").

Thinking back to the music of generations past, I wonder if our generation is making the same impact that my parent's generation did. Examining the current music scene, I see that almost unlikely. The 60s and 70s had music greats. So many that the list is seemingly endless. Elvis (although controversially) broke down barriers by taking the rock and roll from a subculture and bringing it to the masses. The Beatles need no explanation. The Jackson 5 presented a young Michael Jackson who would soon be a major component in the development of pop music. Even bands and artists like the Doors, Bob Dylan, Elton John, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen -- they all came from my parents generation. Every other artist that I can recall as being a household name (Madonna, Billy Joel, U2) are from the 80's. Most artists of my generation tend to be a household name until their name isn't on the iTunes top 100 anymore.

I understand fads happen with every generation. One hit wonders will always be around. But I can't deny that sometimes when I hear a song on the radio, I'm truly embarrassed for the modern music industry (see: "LOL Smiley Face"). I have even had my fair share of mistaken one hit wonders (a.k.a. People who I thought would be one hit wonders and weren't...Katy Perry).

I'm not going to lie, I heard "Just Dance" by Lady GaGa and I thought "Lady GaGa? Sounds like a one hit wonder." (See: I WAS WRONG). For a long time, I didn't want to like her. I thought, this woman keeps getting weirder and weirder the more famous she gets. This is her gimmick. She is only famous because people think she is weird, and therefore, intriguing and a "real artist." Again, I was wrong. Turns out, she had more than one hit than "Just Dance," and moreso, her songs were good! I do have to commend her on the fact that I believe she really will be an icon of our generation. Although I do still believe she is a commodity, I understand what she's doing. It's not a fake persona. It's performance art, and the woman is incredibly talented.

It's a shame that there are so many other talented artists out there who deserve America's attention, and yet, the airwaves of our radios are filled with music that has no musical depth, and won't even be on the radio, nor in the minds of America's youth in roughly 2 months. But are we at fault? Is our American consumerism (or compulsive iTunes purchases) the reason these artists continue to rules the airwaves? Or is it record label execs, where the bigger the label the more money, and thus more money to pay off stations to play a certain artist? There's really no way to be sure. Yet, tolerate it we must.

So the next time you're driving, do what I do -- flip on a pop station, realize you secretly hate every song being played (for the twelfth time that day), and switch over to the alternative (and in my case, Canadian) station, for some well crafted sweetness. (Or your ipod...Or hell, even try the classical station -- dare to be wild!)

Believe

I'm sitting here, like millions of Americans, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is something about this event, where no matter how old you get, you still watch. Although I do have to say, of course, there are things I do not enjoy about it, ex. The "pop stars" which are featured on many floats. I much prefer your classic Broadway star or jazz singer, such as Jane Krakowski, who was featured this year (30 Rock star, who got her start on Broadway).

As someone studying communications, my eye is drawn to the immense amount of commercialism in the parade-- From the appearance of Ronald McDonald, to the GMC car leading Santa Claus in to end the parade. Heck, the parade itself is one big commercial for Macy's.

However, no matter how aware I am of the sheer amount of money and sponsorship that is inevitably poured into this parade every year, I can look past it and appreciate this occasion for what it is supposed to be. I had confidence that this tradition was not started by Macy's purely for the sake of great marketing and holiday association of the Macy's name. So, I looked into this matter to see if I was correct.

I assume that the Macy's parade beginnings are not common knowledge. Maybe I'm wrong, but I had no idea how it began. So, I researched.

I was correct -- The parade was not started in an advertising campaign by Macy’s. In fact, it was began by a group of European immigrants in 1924 who worked at Macy’s, and wanted to celebrate an American holiday like they celebrate holidays in Europe. So this group organized a parade from 145^th street to Macy’s on 34^th. The parade included employees, professional entertainers in costumes, a band, and animals from the Central Park Zoo – with the parade ended by none other than Santa Claus.

The parade was a hit, and drew a quarter of a million people and has been a yearly tradition ever since. 1927 was the first year to actually include the balloons, which make the parade so notable today. They were produced by the Goodyear Tire Company.

Macy’s cannot thank pop culture enough for all of the great PR they have been given. The simple correlation that pop culture has made between Christmas and Macy’s has made them a staple of the holiday season. Macy’s stock has increased 3.17% in one day and on November 11^th, they reported to be having a much stronger quarter than they expected, and they plan to have a successful holiday season, despite the economy.

(Of course, I must note the Macy’s reference made in the classic Miracle on 34^th Street. Although, I admit, I much prefer the 1994 version, in which the department store is called “Cole’s” – it is still clearly and homage to Macy’s. )

Ironically, as I was about to begin this paragraph, this commercial came on TV.

As if I haven’t gushed enough about how great I think Macy’s is, I must commend their latest corporate-social responsibility effort. For every letter dropped in the beautiful, big, red mailboxes in Macy’s this holiday season, Macy’s will donate one dollar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

According to Martine Reardon, executive VP of marketing for Macy’s, “our Believe campaign is once again inspiring America to embrace the hope, joy and charity of the holiday.”

In accordance with this promotion, Macy’s flagship store will feature a window display, tracking the letters from Macy’s stores to their destination with Santa at the North Pole.

No matter how old you are, you can’t outgrow the magic of Christmas. It’s this so called “magic” that makes Christmas so spectacular -- not the gifts or the shopping. It's the spirit, which is embodied by the brand of Macy's at Christmastime. I know it's all about profit, but I think we can all take comfort in the fact that Macy's holiday spirit was never rooted in profit, but in bringing tradition and joy to the masses. Therefore, we can never outgrow the magic of Macy’s, and Macy’s will never outgrow us.

Happy thanksgiving.

You & Starbucks

Last year I read a book called The Fall of Advertising and The Rise of PR, which discussed various brands and products and whether they were built on advertising or PR. The book praised Starbucks as becoming a world-wide phenomenon without ever spending a cent on ad campaigns. 

However, last year Starbucks profits began to drop, as people were no longer in search of a gourmet coffee, but rather, a moderately priced decent coffee. Before Starbucks came along, everywhere you went was a cheap cup of cheap, awful coffee. When Starbucks came to be, people were enamored  by it's novelty of a delicious cup of coffee, or even cappucino, frappacino, or latte, despite it's steep price compared to its bottom-of-the-line coffee competitors. 

Starbucks had to find a way to come back into the hands of Americans. They began a major PR campaign that is seemingly very successful. 

Starbucks first "changed" its trademark green and white logo to it's original brown and white logo on its hot drink cups. This was to make Starbucks seem more organic in going back to its Seattle roots. 

This wasn't terribly notable, but their following actions were. 

Starbucks has always attempted to connect itself with the local community in which it is engaged. However, I really noticed this. I worked for a not-for-profit organization this summer and Starbucks really helped us out in our instrument drive for local music programs in middle schools. They allowed us to establish our donation centers there as well as host concerts in their shops, and offered free coffee to anyone who donated to our cause. This was the first time  I noticed Starbucks engaging in a humanistic way. 

A couple days before election day (November 4th), they released a new PR campaign. With this commercial, Starbucks promised to give a free tall coffee to anyone who voted. In such a groundbreaking election, it was good PR of Starbucks to not only urge people to vote, but to get people who perhaps had never had Starbucks to vote in order to receive coffee. I was immediately drawn to this commercial. A no-frills, no endorsements commercial, it caught my attention with its graphic design and sombre soundtrack. This may have been the first time they used their new slogan, "You & Starbucks- It's bigger than coffee." 

Starbucks continued this campaign through the holiday season with their collaboration with Project (red). They promoted their holiday beverages, nothing that when one of them was purchased, they would give 5 cents to fight AIDS in Africa. They extended this campaign beyond commercials and on to their website where you could pledge to drink x number of beverages, thereby contributing x number of cents to Project(RED). 

They extended their do-good PR campaign in line with Barack Obama's message of service to our respective communities, and just recently started airing this ad- Pledge 5 hours of community service and Starbucks will give you a free coffee. The soundtrack of the commercial called "Brighter day" was written for the commercial and is preformed by MC Yogi. They once again  used their new tagline "You & Starbucks- it's bigger than coffee." 

I have no idea if these promotions are helping Starbucks in these economy that is in disarray, but I hope it does. They are implementing change in the community- the original vision of the company. Props to Starbucks for this great PR campaign. Let's hope it continues to be bigger than coffee for a long time to come. 

'Cause I've been down to Dixie and dropped acid on my tongue.

Jenny Lewis.

As you saw in my previous post about my Christmas list, I requested Acid Tongue by Jenny Lewis, an album which I had wanted for quite some time. Well, I received it for Christmas from my boyfriend, and thank God I did. I have been listening to it non-stop. 

Now, this may be a biased opinion, as I am a fan of much of Lewis' work. However, previous to listening to the album in its entirety, I was skeptical. I had heard mixed reviews from people I knew, as well as from media sources. Rolling Stone gave this album 4/5 stars, whereas Pitchfork Media gave it 6/10 stars. Lewis' clearly has a wide range of work to compare, as lead singer of Rilo Kiley, as well as a previous solo album, backed by the Watson twins in 2006. 

Rilo Kiley has to be one of my favorite bands of all time. I had the pleasure of seeing them play this summer at Bonnaroo, and even though it was not a stand out performance, it was a good show because I could really feel how much passion Lewis' puts into her music by her intense vocals. Rilo Kiley has a spectrum of music, ranging from typical indie-rock with songs like "Does He Love You," to their last album (Under the Blacklight), which received criticism for being too heavily based in pop. 

Lewis functions as the heart of Rilo Kiley, with bandmate and former boyfriend Blake Sennett. During a break from Rilo Kiley however, both Sennett and Lewis decided to persue side-projects. Lewis recorded the album Rabbit Fur Coat in 2006 with sister-folk duo The Watson Twins. This album was heavily folk-based, an unlikely precursor to Under the Blacklight with Rilo Kiley in 2007. One of Blacklight's singles "Silver Lining" is a soulful ballad with a 1960's vibe, even invoking a gospel chorus. 

This soulful sound carried over to Acid Tongue. Lewis even wrote the album's title track following the production of Blacklight, and intended to put the song on that album, but encountered issues and just decided to record a second solo effort. 

Acid Tongue opens with two ballads filled with Lewis' heartfelt language of a love lost in "Black Sand" and "Pretty Bird." However, the album really picks up with the third track, "The Next Messiah." Lewis branches out into a classic rock, gritty yet natural sound, which continues through the rest of the album. An upbeat song about blues on the country side, the song is 8 minutes and 45 seconds of raw emotion accompanied by a strong beat and catchy guitar riff that feels like I should be digging this out on vinyl from my parent's basement. 

"Carpetbaggers" is also a stand-out track from the album. A duet with Elvis Costello, the song invokes a June Carter-Cash/Johnny Cash feel with it's country feel from its guitar riffs ad up-to-no-good-lyrics and powerful harmonies between Lewis and Costello. It's the most feel-good song on the album and will be on repeat for days. 

Lewis' emotion is felt strongest in the song "Trying My Best To Love You," about a love attempting to conquer all. The song builds from Lewis' solo voice to add strings and back-up vocals. Following this is "Jack Killed Mom," a narrative song about a boy with an overprotective mother, whom the son eventually kills. Once again invoking a gospel-esque back vocal, it is the catchiest chorus on the entire album that reminds one of early Janis Joplin. 

There are few albums that one listens to in their life and just feels as though the artist has done something to be proud of. There is a certain feeling that a great album invokes in a person. Acid Tongue invoked the same feeling in me that I felt when I first heard Wildflowers by Tom Petty. Although I'm perfectly content with my life, something about these albums just makes you want to pack up and hit the road, in search of a new life and new adventure. I've never been one to take a liking to the South, but Acid makes me want to pack it all up, turn my back on what I got, drive down South and seek a new life and a new love.

 Regardless of what an album makes you want to do, I think it's really just the fact that an album can make you want to do something. It's the fact that the artist has created something so identifiable to someone that they feel, and think and they will go back to that album time after time to recreate that feeling that they felt upon first listen. Music albums can be audible photo albums, and Acid Tongue truly is. 

Porque tengo mucho tiempo libre, yo leo mucho ahora.

For those of you bored with Oprah's book club, perhaps I can entertain you.

Currently reading: 

"New Rules" Bill Maher

A gift from my best friend, Liz. Maher cites this as "another book by another talk show host." She decided to purchase this based on my raving about Stephen Colbert's "I Am America: And So Can You!" Very similar in format (as in not written like a book at all, but rather, a series of definitions), and humor.

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; and Other American Stories" Hunter S. Thompson

Praised as a revolutionary modern journalist, Hunter S. Thompson is famous for his self-created style of "gonzo" journalism- in which the journalist is so self-involved in their story, that they become the central figure. As a once aspiring journalist, I feel the need to explore gonzo journalism, as I have heard rave reviews of this book and the subsequent novel, "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail." 

"The Audacity of Hope" Barack Obama

I love Barack Obama not just for his political views, but I think he is an eloquent speaker and a well-educated man, and thus, I want to read his writing. 

Who knows when these will be done being read. I am trying to change my perpetual habit of not finishing books.  (I've gone 3 for 3 after making that promise to myself this summer)

Secrets, Secrets....are apparently a lot of fun.

This entry is slightly overdue. I had a million thoughts running through my head right after I finished reading Alexandra Robbin's Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, The Ivy League and Hidden Paths of Power.  However, I happened to finish reading it during finals week, when I had no time to think about anything other than advertising and graphic design. Now that I've had plenty of time to collect myself and my thoughts, plus the fact that i've been snowed in all day, I can now revert to writing about things that I actually enjoy, not advertising proposals for various struggling products. 

It had always been my ambition in life to attend a college that was somewhat prestigious, but I knew that it was never in the cards for me to go Ivy, since I do not have the self-discipline requires to achieve such a level of intelligence. I confess, I used to watch Gilmore Girls avidly. Any Gilmore Girls fan would know that Rory Gilmore's dream in life was to attend Harvard, but she ended up attending Yale instead. In Rory's career at Yale (in which she was a journalism major- which is not a major at Yale. Continuity error.) she was a staff writer for The Yale Daily News. In one episode, she wrote an investigative piece on Yale's infamous Skull and Bones society (and we are led to believe that she was the first person to attempt to do so...lies) in which she took part in a formal outing of the Skull and Bones society. This is probably my favorite episode of the whole series. After reading Pledged- The Secret Lives of Sororities, also by Robbins, I had to purchase Secrets of the Tomb. 

Secrets of the Tomb is a very versatile book. It begins with the history of Yale itself as a university, then goes on to tell the history and culture of Yale's infamous secret societies (which, I was surprised to discover how many there were), and finally discusses why Skull and Bones is the most well known of these societies, and what we can learn from the society. 

Skull and Bones is interesting because although the society itself is not inherently secret (current members are often known as they are required to spend a great deal of time in the club's house, known as the "tomb."), what secrets they are keeping and why is what intrigues most onlookers to attempt to see in the tomb. George W. Bush, a former Skull and Bones member (known as "Bonesman") once was asked about Skull and Bones in an interview in which he responded, "it's secret...so secret I can't say anymore."

Skull and Bones, like most other societies at Yale, hand picks and "taps" students in the Junior class, whom they feel is going to be the most successful. The laundry list of Bones alum in mind blowing- of course aside from our lame-duck George W. Bush, alum include his father, George Herbert Walker Bush, his former political opponent, John Kerry, William Taft, Percy Rockefeller, Harold Stanley (of Morgan Stanley investments), countless financial tycoons as well as upwards of 3 former secretaries of state. The number of Bonesman who have held political positions is not surprising at all, considering the trait of Bonesman to hire and appoint their fellow brothers to positions needed in their field of work. 

The bond between Bonesman is so strong because of their traditions that have yet to change throughout the years, despite their declining prevalence and addition of women to the society. Since Skull and Bones is a Senior Society, Bonesman spend much time in the tomb during their senior year of Yale. Bonesman meet on Thursday and Sunday nights for extravagant dinners, which alumni may join at any time, prepared by 2 people employed by the society. After these dinners, the Bonesman share with each other their life stories - delving and prying into every detail of each others lives, from childhood to present, even including each others sexual encounters. Of course, anything said in the tomb, never leaves the tomb. 

Like the things that occur inside the tomb, the tomb itself is also a mystery to the outside world. Rumor has it that it can be reached from any point on the Yale campus from a series of underground tunnels. Non-Bones members are not allowed inside the tomb. Many believe that the bones of important historical figures are contained inside the tomb, hence the name of the society. This is most notably speculated in the case of the missing bones of Native American chief Geronimo. In 1918, 3 members of Skull and Bones, one of them being Prescott Bush, reportedly stole the remains of Geronimo from Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Members and former members remain silent on the matter, others speculate that the alleged remains in the tomb are fake, while some maintain that they are used in each year's initiation ritual. 

I think what interests people most isn't the prestige of Skull and Bones or the history. It is the question of why they need to be classified as "secret." What are they hiding? Is there something deeper to Skull and Bones beyond its connections and brotherhood? And most importantly, what are these rituals that members must maintain in order to earn the respect of the society. What separates Bones from your typical fraternity, besides its prestige? 

Bones was once associated with the first formal fraternity in the country, Delta Kappa Epsilon. There is a DKE chapter at my school, that has arguably the best house on campus. Inside a giant brownstone castle-like structure, dark wood lines the walls and a room of tile and gold filigree is on the first floor. Rumor has it that the room was imported from Spain, specifically for the DKE house. If a fraternity can have this sort of ornamentation, what is inside the Bones tomb? In conjunction, through a period of pledging, fraternity members must earn their brothers respect through a series of tasks in order to be worthy to engage in the fraternity's secret rituals. 

To what extent does Skull and Bones compare with a frat? Are these tasks more intense? More dangerous? More prestigious? If members of Skull and Bones are supposedly inheriting society's deepest, darkest secrets- must they endure society's deepest, darkest, endeavors? 

All I want for Christmas

My Christmas List

American Apparel Tri-Blend Cardigan 

(and really all sweaters...I'm always cold)

American Apparel Hoodie (AmericanApparel.net) 

The 2008 Associated Press Style Guide (AP) 

Jenny Lewis Acid Tongue (Amazon) 

"The Audacity of Hope" By Barack Obama (Amazon) 

A Muppet's Christmas Carol (Amazon) 

Miracle on 34th Street (The one from the 90s) (Amazon) 

Little Women (The one from the 90s) (Amazon)

Conaire 1" Curling Iron (Target) 

Juicy Couture Heart Pave Necklace (Lord & Taylor) 

Juicy Couture Heart Pave Earrings (Lord & Taylor) 

Vive La Juicy Perfume (Lord & Taylor) 

So I had a post saved detailing my love of Christmas, but alas, it got deleted. Now my computer is dying and I do not have time to re-write my tale. In summary, I've always loved Christmas, but I never really loved the whole gift-giving aspect until I was able to use my own money to buy gifts for people that I truly love. I am so excited to give people their gifts this year and see their reactions. Anyway, I of course love getting gifts as well....who doesn't? I presume I will be updating more frequently now since it's Christmas break and I have nothing to do. So I will begin with a self-indulgent post... my Christmas list.