New York, New York
Oklahoma, it ain’t…
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010“Enron,” the Broadway play? Really?
Categories: New York, New York, Random Acts of Blogging | No Comments »
New York City Sights – Times Square Advertising, Part Deux
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Two days ago, I posted a picture of a Weatherproof Jacket Ad featuring President Obama that hung over Times Square. Several commenters noted that The White House had complained about the ad and asked me to check if it had been subsequently removed.
Well, I must say, I’m impressed with Weatherproof’s marketing department:
President Obama doesn’t want to be in our ad? Fine, then, we’ll go with four Presidents who won’t complain – because they’re dead! The text in the upper-right corner (click here to see it more clearly) reads, “Fit for a President.” Which one, of course, they’re not saying…
Categories: New York, New York | 3 Comments »
New York City Sights – Times Square Advertising
Saturday, January 30th, 2010Walking through Times Square the other night, I saw what I can only assume is President Obama’s latest plan to reduce the federal deficit:
This ad cost the Weatherproof Jacket company twelve trillion dollars. (Kidding, of course)
Seriously, though, I was very surprised to see a sitting President appear in an ad for a product like this. I wonder if they needed (and received?) his permission to do this. And if not, I wonder what he thinks of them doing it. The clear implication here is that President Obama endorses Weatherproof jackets, and would recommend we all buy/wear one. Quite frankly, I think of the President (any president, not just Obama) as being above such things. And heaven forbid those jackets are made in some third-world sweatshop…
Googling around, all I find is the predictable political carping (the left: “he looks damn good in that jacket”; the right: “he’s a sellout for appearing in a jacket ad”), so my chances of finding out exactly how this came to be ae essentially nil.
Unless anyone reading this knows?!?
UPDATE: The sign has been removed, and replaced with a very clever alternative. Bravo, Weatherproof. Bravo.
Categories: New York, New York | 5 Comments »
Journalism is Dead! Long Live Journalism!
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Two weeks ago, I got on a 7:45AM New Jersey Transit to New York City. Just then, power problems developed in the tunnel under the Hudson River, causing massive delays throughout the NJTransit system. Four hours later, when it became obvious that I was still at least an hour away from getting to my office, I gave up and came home. During the entire ordeal, the train conductors kept apologizing for the inconvenience while assuring us that they would pass on any new information as soon as they received it. Meanwhile, the passengers were on their blackberries, iPhones, and other mobile devices, receiving status updates from various websites, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, and even NJTransit itself. Those who were disconnected were treated to a steady stream of information as passengers called out the latest updates to each other and recommended courses of action for folks with various intended destinations. At the time, we joked that the train conductor should get himself an iPhone so he could tell us more than what NJTransit was telling him.
Last week, I dropped a friend off at Continental Airlines’ Terminal C in Newark Liberty Airport about an hour before someone walked the wrong way through a security checkpoint, causing officials to evacuate the terminal. About 10,000 people crammed the check-in counters and baggage claim areas, waiting for the go-ahead to re-enter the terminal and get on their delayed (possibly even cancelled) flights. My friend gave interviews to Fox News and The Star Ledger, and even received update requests from a CNN reporter who had found his Twitter feed. As with the train delay above, no one at Newark Airport or Continental Airlines was making any announcements or providing the inconvenienced passengers with any further information.
The two incidents raise the following question in my mind: has information dissemination, particularly in the case of breaking news, broken down completely, or has it changed in a way that renders the old methods obsolete and unnecessary? Certainly, both NJTransit and Continental Airlines could have made repeated announcements over their public address systems and placed public relations people in the terminals to talk to passengers and the media, but these actions would likely have yielded repetitive and less accurate information than what the passengers were finding on their own. Which is worse? Not saying anything or repeating an unhelpful message over and over again? Perhaps we’ve reached a point where these organizations realize that the passengers are informing themselves and have chosen not to bother competing?
I’ll note that in both cases, passengers joked about the lack of information coming from official sources, but did not complain about a lack of information per se. Maybe all that’s missing is a shift in public perception, where people expect to find information on their own (or from their fellow passengers) rather than have it spoon-fed to them by “an official source?”
“Crowdsourcing,” like most everything else on the Internet, will really only get big when it gets small. Wikipedia became the gold standard for research by using the whole planet to (attempt to) catalog all of the world’s knowledge. Now, we’re creating mini-wikipedias for specific events, like a security concern at an airport terminal. Given time, familiarity, and a build-up of trust, this model could eventually out-pace the concept of “breaking news” from the larger news sources.
Categories: New York, New York, News and/or Media | 10 Comments »
Getting Ready for the Big Party…
Saturday, December 26th, 2009Now that Christmas is over, New York’s gearing up for the big party of the year:
Here’s hoping you’re someplace warm this New Year’s Eve. I know I will be (even at a distance of 30 miles, I’d still rather watch the ball fall on television…)
Categories: New York, New York | 1 Comment »
Some Christmas (Bronx) Cheer…
Thursday, December 24th, 2009OK, quick Christmas quiz: when you see a guy on the streets of New York dressed up like a popular children’s character, carrying a bag that says “Tips,” and harassing tourist families for money, what’s the first word that comes to mind?
Answer: Pooh.
Categories: New York, New York | 3 Comments »
O, Christmas Tree…
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Click the picture above (or the “Featured Photos” link in the upper left) for more pictures from the famous Tree Lighting event…
Categories: New York, New York | 3 Comments »
Thanksgiving in New York
Friday, November 27th, 2009Before filling up on turkey and stuffing, it’s nice to check in with a mouse, a frog, an ogre, and all of their friends.
Click the picture above (or click here) for a full slideshow of the festivities.
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York | No Comments »
Field of Dreams
Monday, November 16th, 2009This past Sunday, my friend Mike gave me a birthday present to remember. He enrolled me in the 2009 Damon Runyon 5K Walk/Run for Cancer Research, which took place inside Yankee Stadium. Part of the 5K course, which included stairs, ramps, and several laps around the stadium, was two laps around the warning track that circles the field of play. We took full advantage of this unique opportunity, and brought our kids along to share in the experience as well. Here’s a quick (less than two minute) video montage:
Photos are also available here, or in the Featured Photos link on the left navigation bar of this site.
Thanks, Mike, for an awesome birthday present and (one more time…) Go Yankees!!
UPDATE: I just received an e-mail from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, asking me to add a link to their foundation to this blog post. Done! Anything for a good cause…
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | No Comments »
One Last Thing: The Parade…
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
OK, one last post about the Yankees winning the World Series and then I’ll stop. I promise. But today was the famous “Parade Down the Canyon of Heroes” in New York, and thanks to the annual New Jersey Teacher’s Convention, my kids did not have school today. So as it turned out, I was the one who played hooky, and we all went and saw a parade. An extra special, heartfelt thanks to the very generous people on the corner of Broadway & John Street who, right before the parade started, decided to allow my kids (and my wife and I) to move right up to the front of the crowd – allowing them (and my camera) fantastic views of the proceedings.
The picture slideshow is here, or in the “Featured Photos” section at the top of my left navigation menu.
Enjoy the pics and, once again, congratulations to the 2009 World Champion New York Yankees!!!
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 3 Comments »