A weird week. Don your masks, get set, Moon!
What was more spectacular? A crypto crash, Elon's self-immolation, NASA's moonshot, or The World Cup? But wait - there's more!
Not a meme: Two astronauts in north Arizona on a lunar-like moonwalk in October.
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Could us earthlings have had more drama than this? Consider what happened just last week.
The crypto exchange, FTX plunged into the abyss to the sound track of a thousand “I told you so’s.”
NASA launched its moonshot 2.0, to return where some men have gone (and left their footprints) before. No humans were on board the Orion rocket, however.
Lab-grown meat a.k.a. ‘cultivated meat’ was served to attendees at COP27 (the 27th climate ‘Conference of the Parties’ of the UN.) Greenwashing comes in many flavors: Rare, medium, grilled to perfection.
Nancy Pelosi stepped down as House speaker. 29 members of the House of Representatives over the age of 75.
Kari Lake, a former TV anchor who ran for governor of Arizona on a signature talking point that the 2020 elections were stolen, is refusing to concede. Where have you seen this movie before?
Steve Jobs’ brown Birkenstocks sold for $218,000. Makes me wonder about Apple fanboys, and what Wozniac’s socks would fetch one day.
Elon Musk self detonated his already fragile reputation after gutting Twitter, a company he walked into carrying a sink. (Want to a photo of this you have never seen before? Wait till you get to the end.)
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Department of ‘What’s Old Is New Again.’
I still receive a newsletter from an old friend who’s been in real estate for 29 years. It’s printed on paper, has no logo, nor social media links. Yet, Dan’s brand is super strong. How so? Three words: Tone of voice!
Dan writes it from the heart. He tells stories. His newsletter celebrates clients, he has a mini contest, and has relevant ‘life stuff’ vignettes. It’s like receiving a letter from him. Isn’t that what news-letters are?
My takeaway: A newsletter is after all a letter. Not a press release.
Speaking of which, old media formats have made a comeback in ways I would have never imagined. Film Cameras for instance. Wait, what? I was elated to hear that older models like the Pentax K1000 and Canon AE-1 are fetching high prices. What next? Pagers?
How about this:
Vinyl Records. I’m a sucker for these. I recently bought a used turntable (above), which prompted a whole podcast about this phenomenon. If you care to listen here -at my Radio201 Podcast.
While writing this, I’m listening to Neil Diamond belt out Hot August Night. Vinyl is more than a fad. Swifties lining up for her new albums appearing in vinyl.
Reader Comments: No-Comment or ‘Non-versations’?
Thank you Wilhelm Ephraums for your feedback about a previous edition on Mis- and Dis-information. Wilhelm had so much to say, he called me from Melbourne. He pointed out that between the ‘Dis’ and the ‘Mis,’ there’s another category hiding behind the curtain. “We don’t even have a label for this,” he mourned.
Go on, I prodded. He gave an example of how corporate-speak become a fine art. It’s not exactly an information ‘blackout,’ he said. It’s that situation where when you call a company you ask if they had an update on X (a billing error, a product recall etc.) and the spokesperson says something convoluted to the effect of “We don’t have any information to give you about it at this time.” Reminded me of The Cluetrain Manifesto, if you’re old enough to remember that book.
“Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies.”
From Cluetrain Manifesto
And so, Wilhelm winces, we keep hitting our heads against this PR-reinforced brick wall. I wonder if it’s a blood relation of what the Urban Dictionary defines as ‘non-versations’ - an unilluminating conversation, typically heard at social events.
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Fun Stuff
I’m a collector of oxymorons and weird words. They’re not just fun but tell you something about how language is adapting, playing catchup if you will, to our ever shifting lifestyles. In other words, we don’t define and distort words - they define us.
Silverware. We made a pitstop at a pancake breakfast at church the other day and they offered us ‘silverware’ - well, plastic forms and knives. We gave the friendly server a hard time. I’m sure the next time he’ll be ready for us us with a ‘spork.’
‘Definite Maybe.’ I hear this a lot when people are wrestling with choices.
Smellifungus. No, it’s goy nothing to do with bacterial residue in your gym socks. It’s reserved for that irritating person who whines about inconsequential things.
Hangry. Isn’t it neat how hangry needs no definition?
Heard any good words and oxymorons lately? Let me know please. Or leave it in the comments below so I could give you a shout out in my next newsletter. (No ‘honest politicians’ please - they don’t exist!)
Image of the week.
What a shot! Even if you’re not a World Cup fan, you’ve got to savor the win by Saudi Arabia over Argentina. A picture is worth a thousand yelps.
The Last shot.
I was curious about the buzz about the ‘AI art’ thing. I tried one on Starryai, using two (cliché) words from the past two weeks: ‘Elon’ and ‘sink’. This is it? I’m not exactly impressed, or even sure if AI art is should be taken seriously. But then again, we used to think this of Wikipedia, and VR, and selfies and… (fill in the blanks)
Comments? Love to hear!
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Before you go: Mastodon anyone?
I pitched camp at Mastodon. I’m still getting used to the terrain, like a confused rover dropped onto the red planet. So if you’re there do connect with me: @heyangelo@techhub