Monthly Archives: January 2016
A Wondrous Capstone
A screen saver doesn’t always do the trick.
A Friday night and impending weekend begs for something special and memorable to transpire. Much like the third act of a movie or play, the end of the workweek simply demands an unforgettable, redeeming twist. The moment can be small or big.
Or really big. As in Great Pyramid big.
With all the violent and political chaos in recent years, it’s kind of funny that it took a daring German trespasser to remind the world of the transcendent energy of Cairo, Egypt.
The view is pretty great.
A Friendly Joke
When life imitates art…or a favorite sitcom character.
Some days just require a joke. And today, Throwback Thursday, seems like the perfect setting for such entertainment.
Now, time for a savvy joke for the ages from a few years back.
Matthew Perry’s joke is classic Chandler Bing.
Happy Throwback Thursday!
Elocution’s Big Adventure
“Speak softly and carry a big stick…”
–Theodore Roosevelt
Projecting the right tone can be everything. No matter the endeavor, whether personal or professional, people respond to what and how they hear things.
During acting classes, vocal training and breathing exercises are no joke. In high school, reading from a textbook to the class in timid fashion can brand you for life in a not so flattering light. Mumbling words when hanging out with friends will spark an awkward question-and-answer session.
On the other hand, firmly taking a position with an assertive, yet non-abrasive tone on a controversial issue demonstrates knowledge and strength. Performing stand-up comedy that treats makes the back row sneak-in like the front row star earns street cred from the crowd. Picking the right messenger for the message is paramount (cough cough 2016 election on both sides).
However, the best way to prove the point about striking the right tone is illustrated in the remixed movie trailer of The Dark Knight Rises featuring an unlikely voice from the past.
A red and white bike riding past.
Safe to say this voice-over projects a wildly different conclusion to the Christopher Nolan trilogy that defined a generation. Despite being completely contrary to the film’s intended message, it’s one of those rare moments when the wrong tone was unthinkably transformed into the right tone by revealing a new, surprisingly entertaining perspective.
Speak softly and carry a big shtick.
Eskimo Bliss
The price for an average seat dipped to about $5,100 by Monday morning, but that’s still well ahead of the resale price of each Super Bowl SeatGeek has tracked since 2010.
–A.J. Perez, USA TODAY Sports, “Super Bowl tickets averaging more than $5,000”
For a sporting event that is well-embedded in popular culture and is perceived as the ultimate fan’s journey, $5,000/ticket just might be the cut-off for most people.
The play to “buy” a big screen television for the weekend of the Super Bowl and then return it days later because of a “space problem” in the family room is still alive and well. But for most people, spending $500 to $1,000 for a new TV is not a spur of the moment decision.
Keeping this in mind, what are we to think when a ticket to a championship game is a 5 to 10-fold spike compared to a new high-definition TV?
From a branding perspective, the NFL may be enduring its second major headache in recent years. When fans watch preseason games, the regular season and playoffs, they are invested in their team. As we know with ourselves, friends, family and random grown men dressed as gritty Vikings, we take this game seriously. And, if everything magically goes to plan through heroic victories and prayer, it can all lead to…
the Super Bowl!
Hwever, it appears that fans are being priced out of the NFL’s biggest game.
The headline of $5,000 per ticket to attend the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California will irk most people, especially fans of the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. This pricing doesn’t even give people with good to great finances a chance or even a worthwhile bang for the buck. How can this discouraging trend be reversed? Odds are that this pivot will have to result from fans protesting and not going, visibly showing tens of thousands of empty seats during football’s most important showcase of the season. But what are the chances of that kind of random unanimity among all those non-media, non-VIP fans?
What are the odds of the Cleveland Browns going to the Super Bowl next year?
The image that attending the Super Bowl is only for celebrities and CEO’s will surely continue. At a certain point though, people will see what they need to through the highest definition in their living rooms (or their neighbor’s man cave). And living in a society that is increasingly pushing us towards building our own personal entertainment suites with gadgets and screens galore will have an effect on the multiple generations of current NFL fans, plus future generations who will be raised to know and believe the Super Bowl is simply a digital destination.
In the meantime, if only there was someway to overcome the impossible task of bypassing the $5,000 price tag?
And just when all appears lost and seeing, say, an Eskimo in the stands at the Super Bowl seems more likely than you obtaining that mirage of a ticket…
Boy Meets World: For the win.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 