Sad

Brooklyn Is Sleeping

So sad about the news of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys losing his fight with cancer. The Washington Post, of all places, (The Washington Post!) pulled together one of the best tributes I’ve seen yet:

A Tribute to Adam Yauch, Composed Entirely of Beastie Boys Lyrics

Born and bred Brooklyn U.S.A.
They call me Adam Yauch, but I’m M.C.A.
Like a lemon to a lime, a lime to a lemon
I sip the def ale with all the fly women (1)
I’m not James at 15 or Chachi in charge
I’m Adam and I’m adamant about living large (2)
I’ve got more rhymes than I’ve got gray hairs
And that’s a lot because I’ve got my share (3)
Now what do we have here, an outlaw and his beer
I run this land, you understand, I make myself clear. (4)
M.C. for what I am and do
the A is for Adam and the lyrics; true
so as pray and hope and the message is sent
and I am living in the dreams that I have dreamt (5)
I wish for peace between the races
Someday we shall all be one (6)
That’s right y’all
Don’t get uptight y’all (7)
I’m out and I’m gone
I tell you now I keep it on and on. (8)

via The Washington Post by way of Buzzfeed.

Fast Times at JC Penney High

JC Penny ad on ESPN

OK, this is just wrong on so many levels.

I was on ESPN today watching news about the latest NCAA scandal, this one about Jim Tressel resigning as Ohio State’s football coach because of something involving his players selling OSU memorabilia for money (just for context…this is really irrelevant here). Ahead of the ESPN video clip was a video ad with ESPN’s own Kenny Mayne as the pitchman for JC Penney and some deal on Van Heusen shirts (screen shot above is from the actual ad).

Somehow, someway, with some creative editing, they tied in the beyond leg-en-dary Phoebe Cates getting-out-of-the-pool-scene (link is very very NSFW) from Fast Times at Ridgemont High within the ad.

How dare they!! Heretics!! This is the Phoebe Cates scene from Fast Times!!

But beyond using an epic scene from one of the greatest cult hits in movie history, which is tattooed in the minds of most males who grew up at some point the 1980’s (seriously, ask any 10 guys who grew up at that time their top 5 sexiest movie scenes from that era, and I guarantee you 9 of them will say Phoebe Cates getting out of the pool in the red bikini in Fast Times.), do they not recall the broader context for the scene (Judge Reinhold taking care of, er, “business” in the bathroom)? Anyone who recalls this scene will also know the broader context. That’s what made it such an epic scene. So as a brand manager, not only would I have to seriously question the immense lack of creativity in this ad (oh, I have an idea…lets edit in the Phoebe Cates bikini scene from Fast Times into a video ad for dress shirts), I’d have to ask if this is the type of association I would want in the mind’s, er, eye of my customer? Really? The worst part? The tie in makes absolutely no sense within the context of the ad!!

Oh, wait wait wait…I get it. That was the whole point! To start a conversation online about the ad. You got me. You’re good. #not

One Step Closer to Being A Mall

CBGB’s

Another big part of New York’s long music legacy was lost to the history books this past weekend when CBGB OMFUG (Country BlueGrass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers is the long version of the name) unceremoniously closed its doors. And now, NYC is one big step closer to being a homogeneous plastic concrete Mall of America. I’m not going to claim to be anything close to a punk rocker, and I sadly never even set foot in the place. But I am aware of its place in music history, the legends it helped create, and the legend the venue itself became. In recent years, CBGB fell into some level of disrepair and the level of music innovation never did rival that time in the mid-to-late 1970’s when acts like the Talking Heads, The Ramones, Blondie, and others established themselves there. But you always knew that it was there as a living, breathing piece of NY and American music history. And now, it’s not there. Rumors are that they will try to take it apart and rebuild it in (gasp) Las Vegas, but obviously it will never be the same. What are they going to do next, close McSorley’s?

Via NY Times