Goodbye, and a hearty salute to Grafik Magazine, which folded a few days ago. This cover gallery, here, is a fitting testament to its accomplishments – a cavalcade of top notch design, and an ad-hoc primer to just about every style and mode in vogue since 2003.
If you had to make a movie about the last 10 years, what would it be about? I think David Fincher, director of Fight Club, and Billy Idol’s Cradle of Love music video, along with Aaron Sorkin, writer and executive producer of The West Wing, have figured out the perfect movie to sum up the last decade.
The Social Network, a movie based on the creators of Facebook, adapted from the novel, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding Of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal, will be released in October. The movie poster alone makes me want to see this movie, it’s incredibly simple, but packs a big punch, and Jesse Eisenberg is spot on for casting of Mark Zuckerberg. The trailer is great, with amazing dialogue written by Sorkin.
Here’s my favorite real-life quote by Zuckerberg, as a sophomore at Harvard, when he had just put up Facemash, the early predecessor to Facebook.
“Perhaps Harvard will squelch it for legal reasons without realizing its value as a venture that could possibly be expanded to other schools (maybe even ones with good-looking people…), But one thing is certain, and it’s that I’m a jerk for making this site. Oh well. Someone had to do it eventually…” -Mark Zuckerberg
You may not recognize the name Edith Shain, but chances are, you’ve seen her photo.
In August, 1945, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt was shooting in Times Square when the US declared victory over Japan, and an end to WWII. At the same time, 27-year-old nurse Edith Shain joined co-workers and fellow New Yorkers pouring into the streets to celebrate. An unknown soldier grabbed her by the waist, tilted her back, and gave her a kiss. Eisenstaedt snapped an image, which later appeared in LIFE magazine, and 65 years later, that photo remains instantly recognizable to millions of Americans.
One of the most fascinating details about that photo is the fact that Eisenstaedt failed to catch the names of his subjects, and for 35 years, neither was identified. That changed in 1980 when Ms. Shain sent a letter to him, finally solving the mystery by identifying herself as the recipient of a kiss from a man she didn’t know, saying, “Someone grabbed me and kissed me, and I let him because he fought for his country.” The modest woman later confessed she kept silent for so long because she was embarrassed to have been photographed while kissing a complete stranger.
Edith Shain passed away this week at the age of 91. When I read her obit yesterday in the NY Times, I was struck by a comment she once made about the iconic photograph and what it meant to her. “It says so many things,” she told the Associated Press. “Hope, love, peace and tomorrow.” Well said, Edith.
For decades the Associated Press Stylebook has been a journalist’s most sacred rule book. When the book first launched in 1953 I bet the editors never thought they’d be adding a “social media” section to their orderly, crisp white pages.
Social media has been both a journalist’s arch-nemesis and best friend over the recent years. But if you’re confused by the language of the intangible community of social media, blogs and forums the Associated Press Stylebook has brought in the big guns to lay down the law.
The 2010 edition was released earlier this month and includes sensible changes such as changing “web site” to “website” and allowing “fan,” “friend” and “follower” to be used as both nouns and verbs.
Ever wondered what POS meant? Well, before it wouldn’t have mattered. POS could have stood for “practice obnoxious singing” for all I cared. According to the Associated Press, POS stands for “parent over shoulder”. I guess the teeny-boppers use it to indicate to their friends on IM or text messaging that a parent is close by? Does this sort of thing really belong in the Associated Press Stylebook?
If silly acronyms weren’t enough, you can bet that words such as “retweet,” “trending” and “unfriend” also made it into the social media guidelines.
Yes, those are now “real” words.
I don’t know whether or not to be thankful that this social media world has finally laid some ground rules or upset that more trees were cut down to add extra pages on a media-type that is so subjective that even journalists are asked to observe it with discretion.
Just when we thought social media land was a free-spirit, cyberspace teenager who let anyone post, chat, blog and tweet the Associated Press has officially let us know that this form of media needs parenting too.
I don’t know what you did at work yesterday, but I was transported back to high school on a field trip. I had the excitement and anticipation of getting out of my normal “routine”, and spend the afternoon with co-workers to share some laughs, food, semi-competitive sports and a few drinks. A big yellow school bus picked me and my office mates up from work and took us to Fairmount Park for a picnic. It was time for an agency happy hour, we’ve been pretty busy of late and needed to unwind and have some fun outside of the office. Here are some pictures from the event (at least the ones I can post).
It’s a beautiful day in Philadelphia. The sun is shining, the humidity is low, and the Philadelphia Flyers are two games away from a Stanley Cup title. Leave it to Chicago’s WGN sports anchor Pat Tomasulo to mess it up.
Walking down Broad Street I spotted a man wearing white gloves and carrying a large case up to the historic Union League stairs, while being followed by a tv crew. Thanks to the Phillies, I now know the elements of transporting Championship trophies- cameras, white gloves, and an absurdly large protective case.
Immediately I shot a photo on my blackberry. I mean, it’s only natural that the most coveted trophy in the National Hockey League would be in Philadelphia for Wednesday’s game six against the Blackhawks since if they win, the trophy will be theirs (BOO!).
Turns out I was duped by a lowly Chicago sports anchor. When I noticed he was wearing white gloves to simply carry the case, and then saw him put said case on the ground to take a photo with me, I was suspicious. But when I saw him pass the Union League and drop the case after hitting the railing of the Banana Republic, I knew I’d let my Flyers spirit get the best of me.
Like every Flyers fan I hate the Blackhawks, but now I hate Pat Tomasulo as well.
