Elementary of What’s Hot

According to popular consensus in my daughter’s graduating Grade 6 class:

For the boys: Skinny Jeans, Fedoras, Flat Braid Hats, Vans, Colourful Nikes, Hoodies, Pink Stuff, Plaid Shorts, Hollister, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Converse.

For the girls: Colourful Sunglasses, Leggins, TNA Sweaters, Skinny Jeans, Graphic Tees, Flat Braid Hats, Scarves, Tank Tops, Sparkles, Neon Colours, Fedoras, Converse.

Talk about a polysemic and enduring brand: I rocked my first pair of Chuck Taylor All-Stars in grade 9 when those of us who were into skating and/or punk rock style clashed with colours. Mine were green (first pair), purple (second pair) and white (third pair). Chris G. and Robinson K. were similarly engaged in the footwear battle. From the piece of crap ball shoe that ruled the hardwood before Nike got in the game (sorry Chuck, your support was and still is nil) to the choice of the boys in the hood on the Left Coast to grade 6 girls rocking them with their grad dresses a la Kristen Stewart, you gotta give it up for a brand that’s managed to stay in the game with its original DNA still intact.

 

From Chuck to me to Patty

Another great Rodigan video tipped off by Chuck Bam that I’m dedicating to the biggest Billy Joel fan of all time, Patty G.

 

36 Pounds of Muscle on Noodleplay

Bursts of research trips, talking to clients and jetting around the continent for meetings means that the number of blog posts dwindle. Launching a new company portal where the boss wants regular content means that the dwindling dwindles on. Check my latest post on Idea Couture’s Noodleplay site to get some “actionable” (heh heh) tips on how understanding and appreciating the new cultural mythologies embedded in Twilight and True Blood can help your brand add 36 pounds of muscle.

 

Junglist Insights

That the academic world can be slow when it comes to catching on to new ideas and innovations in the underground is old news. That the underground can be slow when it comes to catching on to new ideas and innovations in the academic world is probably newer news. Some recent news hints at the space between these two worlds, Check this blog posting on an article that I co-authored with linguistic anthropologist Jack Sidnell a few years ago.

 

World Class Wines

As Ontarians or even Canadians, what are we championing? That we’ve got some truly ‘world class’ wines (world class, of course, being Canada-speak for ‘Can we join the club’?)? That we’ve finally got a real opportunity to put our grapes budget into local, rather than distant, economies? Or that our locally-generated hype machine is working at maximum efficiency? Probably all three. At least, that seems to be the case in the context of Malivoire.

The Beamsville winery getting as attention from its gravity pull method as from the taste in its bottles is a case study in the Canadian ‘world class’ phenomenon. There was the much hyped tasting release back in April. There was the Jamie Kennedy event this past weekend in Beamsville. And, for those of us not attending either, there is equal parts buzz at the right LCBO stores. But is Malivoire all it’s hyped up to be?

High scores on both Pinot Noirs, the ‘06 and ‘07. But both, quite frankly, are overpriced. $30+ is a risk for most middle-budget wine consumers to take on a Canadian red and, at the end of the bottle, I’m not so sure wouldn’t have been better spent on something from Oregon or Washington.

$32 for the 2007 Old Vines Foch definitely would be spent better elsewhere. As the label explains these 33-year old vines are “Well into their declining years….” I’d say – declined. There are definitely some jump outs with the first few sips, but a glass later it’s like drinking a bottle of red that has been open for a day or two.

The 2008 Pinot Gris? Sadly, a disappointment. More Grigio than Gris, there’s just no Alsace in your glass. Low juice concentration, very little peachiness and almost the level of acidity that had me take that Anne Boecklin back to the LCBO last week for a refund.

All is not lost, however: the 2008 Gewurztraminer is a surprising stunner with everything you’d expect from the grape, the 2006 Chardonnay isn’t super complex or anything but very fresh and juicy, and the Lady Bug Rosé continues to impress after a number of bottles.

Malivoire is certainly getting much-deserved local attention for its wines, and my uncle from Cali was impressed – maybe more for the gravity pull than the wines, though. Is this enough to believe the hype? Or are we just engaging in another round of Canadian cultural cartography?

 

Summer Hotness!

Thanks to Dger – and almost a year after it first debuted on Britain’s ITV – you can all begin to enjoy No Heroics. Trust me, you need some of The Hotness. If you can’t locate DVDs, watch here.

 

Face Recognition for Ethnography

No, it’s not a wicked new software to partner up with your Livescribe pen. It’s a question: Do you know some of me? If not, that probably explains why you’re still referring to that awesome work you did in California as “ethnography research.” Duh.

 

Design Info on the Hood

more about “Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by desti…“, posted with vodpod

Great info-design spin on a classic fairy tale, tipped this way by Ms. King.

 

Summer’s Pinot Gris #1

My favourite summer grape, hands down, has to be Pinot Gris. For many wine drinkers, maybe neophytes more than others, it’s often mistaken as “sweet,” an off-base description that speaks more to the pear and apple powers in the mouth than the sugar that’s either natural occurring in a wine or the sugar that’s slipped in by unscrupulous blenders. I caught the Pinot Gris bug about 5 years ago when my boy, Stanley, returned from a photo shoot at Nike HQ in Portland and brought us back a bottle of Elk Cove. I think that was the name of it. I’m terrible at remembering wineries and vintages; I never caught the bug for caring too much for those facts – like I did with a Roots Radics discography – and I don’t care much for flexing my interaction competency or subcultural capital as an oenophile. I just enjoy the smelling, tasting and conjuring of what I enjoy. That’s why, every summer, I make sure to taste every Pinto Gris in my general price $15-$30 price range. And so far, the Andre Blanck 2007 has all the pear and apple, touch of smoke, near perfect acidity and life from cork to last sip that I love. At $20 it’s summer’s Pinot Gris #1. Number 2 to follow. Recommendations welcome. Pictures to shop by  welcome.

 

The Summer’s Rosé

Steve Friedmann was right. Malivoire is, arguably, at the very top of the Canadian wine game right now. Their 2008’s are stunning, and well worth a trip to wherever the best of Beamsville is carried. Of the winery’s selection, it’s their Lady Bug rosé that will shine this summer: better than virtually anything in the $14 range – including the best of French or Spanish rosés – it also wins awards for being able to play in the same branding market as all those shitty wines with the ridiculous animals names. Why? Playful and pretty – like the taste – with a simple spin on design that equally reflects what’s on the nose and in the mouth. Congrats to them – another  Canadian producer (and that really only makes 3 or 4) worth writing home about if you live in France or Spain (or Oregon).