All That I Will Ever Be

I am a big fan of Alan Ball's depressing scripts that trouble contemporary relationships, especially in Six Feet Under. I watched every single episode and have turned couple of people into this show. When I saw the interview in Time Out New York, I said to myself I'd got to see this play--All That I Will Ever Be. With my student ID, I'd be able to buy a $20 ticket (regular price is $60) at New York Theatre Workshop on Tuesday night. The tickets were almost sold out. I saw a few empty seats. Looking around, I realized that most of audiences were seniors, including me. I was sitting next to an old guy with white hair. I can tell that he didn't feel comfortable watching this show. Why? Because he moved and sighed every 15 minutes. When you are caught up with something you really pay attention to, you almost forget to move or breathe. Or maybe I am wrong. Perhaps he's too old to be kept in a small seat like that. Or he might not like the show since it's about gay hustler who always lies and falls for white guy. There are couple scenes of him wearing only underwear and them smoking (real) pot in the theatre. How cool is that?

You can read some reviews here:
Review by Theartermania.com; the article is more about actors, actress and crews.

Review by The New York Times; this article also talks about the story and playwright.

I totally agree with these two articles about Omar--main character. I don't think the actor did a very good job. He's a complicated gay hustler--with deep personalities--lying about his identity in order to forget about his past. There is something about this actor that I don't buy. However, the scene that got my tears is the one about this old (70-year-old) gay guy. He is Omar's client; talking about his homosexual life before he came out of the closet; how hard it is for him to be gay and live with his wife and kid.

Great acting!!! He says to Omar "Sweetheart, people don't pay your kind for sex. They pay you to leave."

Friday Night Drinks

My colleage wrote a nice poem here:

Where have we been; where are we going?
I don't care, as long as it's where the beer is flowing!
So, why go home? You have nothing to lose,
Except missing out on the sweet taste of booze!
So, let¹s come together, and let¹s all be merry---
Alice, Lina, James, Sal, Bobby, Erik, Sean, Ploy, Jooyoung, Jamaal, Kwesi
and......Kerry!

Quote !

Been watching Queer As Folk for couple weeks, I decided to give some thoughts about it. This isn't about the sexuality or sex scenes on the television! It's about how well the script is written. I still clearly recall these two quotes.

The first one is from season 3 finale when they celebrate the victory of new Mayor.

Debbie: A word of advice, my sweet Emmett. Mourn the losses, because they are many; but celebrate the victories, because they are few

Secondly:

Justin: I gave it some thought and decided you should take me back.
Brian: Oh?
Justin: Even though I've made a few mistakes, I think you'd be making an even bigger one not giving me a second chance.
Brian: I see.
Justin: Cause now I understand what it is you want of me. And I know what I can expect from you.
Brian: You also understand you'll be required to work long, hard hours -- sometimes deep into the night?
Justin: It would be a pleasure to work under you...Sir.
Brian: And you're never to play violin music in my presence again.
Justin: I promise.
Brian:Good. Well then, you can start immediately.

The Long Tail

The subheadline of the book reads "Why the Future of Buiness Is Selling Less of More" Yeah, I want to know why!

The author, Chris Anderson, is editor in chief of Wired magazine which I used to be a subscriber several years ago. The magazine is full of well-written articles some of which are too difficult for my brain to digest the information. Anyway, this brilliant guy has led the magazine to five National Magazine Award nominations. It might be time for me to dust the pile of magazines off and start to read it.


Anyway, this book is about the differencce between yesterday's limited choice and today's abundance. According to the book, unlimited selection, such as iTune's songs and Netflix's DVDs, reveals new truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it. The Long Tail happens when everything in the world becomes available to everyone. In the world of marketing, things that are likely to sell in the necessary numbers get carried; things that aren't, don't. In our hit-driven culture, marketers are focusing obsessively on the left side of the curve and trying to guess what will make it there. The top 200 albums in Wal-Mart's inventory account for more than 90 percent of the sales.

Now no one is focusing on the hits anymore. Let's zoom in and look past the top sellers. On the right side of the curve shows the existence of the niches. The 25,000th to the 100,000th (and so on) tracks are still being downloaded. And because there are so many of these non-hits, their sales quickly add up. Again, if you combine enough of the non-hits, you've actually established a market that rivals the hits. Additionally, the fastest-growing part of unlimited-shelf-space businesses--even purely digital services--is sales of products that aren't available in traditional, physical retail stores at all.

Chris gives a clear picture with an intelligible explanation of the emergence of The Long Tail--especially before the industrial revolution. I have learned a lot about American's hit culture. He also gives the nine rules for operatings in a Long Tail economy which are as follows;

1. Move inventory way in ... or way out.
2. Let customers do the work.
3. One distribution method doesn't fit all.
4. One product doesn't fit all
5. Once price doesn't fit all.
6. Share information.
7. Think "and," not "or."
8. Trust the market to do your job.
9. Understand the power of free.

Interested in The Long Tail? Go to the original article written by Chris Anderson in Wired magazine.

new news

Headline: Many Super Bowl Marketers Drop the Ball on Search
Source: Advertising Age
Date: February 05, 2007

As most of you known, there was Super bowl on Sunday. Many companies such as Doritos and General Motors Corp. built up buzz before the big game with consumer-generated-ad contests. apparently, they forgot to one of the most important sales fundamentals which is the follow-thorough. Neither of them bought search ads around their Super Bowl creative. This led to the very disappointing situation--if searchers went to Google to search for Doritos and/or GM super bowl ad after the game, there were no sponsored search results for that terms. Instead, paid search results from CBS Sportline and YouTube showed up at the top of the page. Unsurprisingly,the overall number of marketers buying keywords around their brand name during this year's Super Bowl was up from last year.

In the cyber world, giving what searchers ask for is very important. If they are looking for your service/product by typing in the specific search terms and wouldn't be able to find you and finally they decided to visit your competitors, I think you fail the marketing campaign. Everything is happening in one click, just one click.

Here is the list of ads shown in Super Bowl XLI

Sirius

Do you know that Sirius was the only police dog killed in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center? His job is to keep the World Trade Center in New York City safe by searching hundreds of vehicles for explosives. If a bag or suitcase were left unattended, Sirius would sniff it to determine if it contained a bomb.

On September 11, 2001, Port Authority Police Officer David Lim was in his office in the basement of the WTC south tower. His Labrador retriever, Sirius, was next to him. They heard a massive explosion and rushed to see what happened. His two free hands would be needed to rescue victims, Officer Lim secured Sirius in his cage while he set off to help other. "Stay
right there," he told his K-9 partner,. "I'll be back for you."

As being told, Sirius waited for his partner. Firefighters wouldn't let Officer Lim pass the unstable remains of the building because they were just too dangerous. Sirius and other victims would never have a chance to escape from the building.

There also are many stories about these distinguised dogs that try to help their owners. One that I remember is a dog fighting with an allegator when a disabled owner fainted. One that is trained to press button which will be connected to 911 or an outside help when an owner gets sick. To me, these dogs are my hero. They royally love their owners and do what they are told.

Learn more about Sirius, click here