I hope most of you out there are still floating on a warm, post-Thanksgiving high after pigging out on too much turkey. Tripping in a mellow sea of tryptophan, eyes glazed over in reverie like soft candied yams. A welcome sense of euphoria acting like a soothing balm placed over the lingering malaise of worry and exhaustion that has been gnawing at our bones for quite a while now.

Tryptophan is euphemistically known as “nature’s own prozac”. It is an amino acid found in large quantities in the indigenous bird we have coincidentally chosen as the centerpiece for our distinctly American feast day. When digested into the bloodstream it has the magic effect of releasing large amounts of serotonin into our brains. And with more serotonin cascading through our synapses…well… events cascading around us in the middle of the biggest recession since the great Depression don’t really seem so “immediate” or “overwhelming” anymore.

Better living through modern chemistry. The more we consume, the better we feel. Hmmm. That sounds vaguely familiar… Let me chew on the meaning of that in between mouthfuls.

Meanwhile, just ignore the 5,000 pound turkey buzzard still circling over the marketplace. It can decide how dead or alive real estate really is later on. We’ll continue to relax and go with the flow of the slow. Give ourselves permission to sink deeper into the lazy bubble of couch world where we can grab second helpings of leftovers and watch brightly costumed characters on TV beating the stuffing out of each other and dishing out concussions. Who needs bread and circuses when there’s turkey and football available in Hi Def!

This is the perfect time for real estate to take a recess from the recession. Real estate can officially declare itself on holiday until well after the first of the year – or in the case of you wanna-be sellers biding your time – until that surge in the market you are so desperately hoping to see next spring either arrives in full bloom or decides to pull a no-show of conspicuous non-consumption.

For now at least, there aren’t going to be a lot of expectations about the state of real estate. If higher sales numbers don’t materialize, if prices don’t keep edging up over the next few months. – that’s ok. We are all conditioned to believe that they aren’t supposed to. Part of the holiday tradition is that nothing happens in real estate around Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years. Everyone just figures that everyone else is staying home for the holidays rather than running around trying to buy one or sell one.

The only significant buying and selling supposed to happen is up to small time shoppers and big box retailers. Black Friday was yesterday, I’m assuming you got off the couch long enough to do your patriotic duty to shop till you drop and spend the economy back into existence. Today is Black Saturday. Get busy. Only real estate is on vacation.

This year’s Thanksgiving has been a tough one to figure out how to carve. It isn’t easy to rattle off a long list of things we should be eminently thankful for after going cold turkey from the all-you-can-eat, buffet of debt that everyone had such an inexhaustible appetite for not so long ago. These are leaner times.

But maybe these are the best kind of times to give thanks in. Thanks we have to think about. Thanks we have to tweak our perspectives to see. There are all the obvious little thank you’s: Thanks for the extension and expansion of tax credits. It is great to get paid to buy a new home. Thanks for extending the conforming jumbo loan limit for another year. Maybe more higher end sales can happen. And special thanks for the low interest rates that soften the sad fact that prices haven’t really fallen into the range of more first time buyers yet.

And thanks for the bigger things too: I’m thankful that the entire real estate market didn’t collapse like a house of cards along with the entire global financial system. I’m thankful that this time of trial and testing gives us a chance to re-vision what it important in our lives and how our relationship with the world can change.

And now, finally, it’s time for the best part of the Thanksgiving ritual – the wishbone. Before you make any split decisions, close your eyes and dream up a few new things that will be good for everyone. Not just Buyers. Or Sellers. Or you. Let’s imagine and wish for a very different kind of market than the one we’ve had. Then we’ll start talking turkey again when real estate resumes after the first of the year

Jaren geleden was ik niet zo’n heel goeie student, en dus had ik altijd tweede zit. Enfin, toch zeker in mijn kandidaturen. Ik slaagde er steevast in om tegen de blok hopeloos verliefd te zijn, en natuurlijk kwam er dan van studeren weinig in huis. Joy Division ontdekken, Jotie ‘t Hoofd lezen, dat wel ja. Het was een ander soort opvoeding.

Maar in de zomers van dat diepe midden van de jaren negentig, zat ik dus twee jaar op rij een paar weken te blokken bij mijn grootmoeder in het Henegouwse Dergnaux, net over de taalgrens bij Ronse. Het totale isolement, al had ik tegen de tweede keer wel al geleerd om op haar aftandse tv MTV te programmeren. Vandaar mijn enthousiasme voor Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”; het was gewoon de beste van de crappy singles die er toen werden gedraaid (u had toch niet gedacht dat ik voor “Wannabe” van The Spice Girls was gevallen? Dààr zat ik met verbazing naar te kijken).

Ik had ook OK Computer mee, maar dat doet iets minder ter zaken. Dit gaat over TV. ’s Avonds viel er immers weinig anders te doen dan wat televisie kijken, al dan niet samen met grootmoeder, en zo viel mijn oog op “To Play The King” dat op het toenmalige TV Twee liep; een Brits politiek drama, dat me van bij minuut één nogal in zijn greep had.

Ik herinner me dat ik het jaar daarop de drie boeken van Michael Dobbs waarop de serie (en de prequel House Of Cards en de sequel The Final Cut) waren gebaseerd uit de bib van Leuven heb ontleend. Die was toen overigens nog gevestigd waar nu het hypermoderne museum M is gebouwd, maar waar je toen de Engelse boeken nog op een soort van zolderverdiepje moest gaan zoeken. Spannende stuff, maar sindsdien niet echt meer aan gedacht.

Tot ik eind deze zomer de dvdbox met de drie reeksen (drie maal vier afleveringen) in de Fnac zag liggen, toen ik tevergeefs een verjaardagscadeau voor L. zocht. Geen moment getwijfeld, meegenomen, L. niet kunnen overtuigen om mee te kijken, en dus werd dit nachtelijk voer.

Stel je voor dat Shakespeare in deze tijden leefde, en zijn intriges over macht, ontrouw en verraad gesitueerd zou hebben in de hoogste echelons van de Britse regering. Dat is ongeveer de setting. Francis Urquheart is een gewaardeerde maar aartscynische backbencher van de Tory’s, op het moment dat Margaret Thatcher net van het toneel is verdwenen. Maar zoals dat met backbenchers gaat, brandt hij van ambitie, en vanuit zijn functie (hij is “chief whip”, maar ik vind geen afdoende term om dat naar een Belgische situatie te vertalen) heeft hij de mogelijkheid om hier en daar wat touwtjes te bewegen, daar een ego te masseren. Door het manipuleren van een jonge journaliste (“you might very well say that, Mattie, but I couldn’t possibly comment”) slaagt hij er in de opvolger van Thatcher tot ontslag te dwingen, en wordt hij aan het eind van de eerste serie prime minister. Dat hij daarvoor even tot moord is moet overgaan, deert hem niet in het minst.

En zo gaat dat verder in To Play The King, waar de nieuwe koning zich plots als een progressief gaat gedragen en ondanks de fletse oppositie dan maar zelf voor tegengas tegen het harteloze kapitalisme van Urquheart probeert te zorgen. Genoeg stof voor conflict, maar in The Final Cut (u dacht toch niet dat ik hier àlles ging vertellen?) komt hoogmoed uiteindelijk dan toch voor de val in een cut-throatfinale.

Natuurlijk is het gedateerd. Er zijn momenten, zeker in de tweede reeks, dat het wat sloom werd. De serie dateert uit de eerste helft van de jaren negentig en dat merk je. Het acteren, de montage, is van een bedaard niveau dat al lang niet meer gangbaar is. Maar wat een genietbaar acteerwerk. Zeker Urquheart is smullen; Ian Richardson geeft de harteloze schurk zo’n charme mee dat het onweerstaanbaar wordt. Hij is de te haten figuur, maar net als van Jan Decleirs Richard III in Ten Oorlog is zijn onversneden slechtheid aanstekelijk. En wanneer het er echt om begint te spannen in The Final Cut gieren de zenuwen toch wel een beetje door de keel.

Dobbs putte voor zijn verhaal over macht en corruptie rijkelijk uit Macbeth en dat Richard III, en creëert zo een eigentijdse variant op de koningsdrama’s. Geweldig hoe de sfeer van het Britse parlement, de verbale duels, worden gebracht. Zelfs al zijn de plots zijn niet om van achterover te slaan, dit is meer dan hoogst entertainend. Hé, als u belooft er lief voor te zijn, mag u ze wel eens lenen hoor!

Or how to make a videoclip wihtout cameras.. only with 3D plotting technologies..

The amazing Radiohead vid after the Jump

“House of Cards”

I admit it. I am addicted to detailed information on last year’s  mortgage meltdown. The juicier – the more detailed, the more I love it. Having chosen mortgage as my profession for ten years both on the Retail side of lending as a Loan Officer, as well as having spent three years on the Wholesale side of lending, it is in my blood. To be very honest, it was while on the Wholesale side of lending that I really learned how the money flows and how it all works. Those three years were a remarkable time for me.

I entered the Wholesale World on March 3, 2003 (03/03/03) – my first day on the job at Countrywide Wholesale Division in Midvale, Utah. I began as a Government Account Executive – one of 5 or 6 in the entire country. This was an experimental position of sorts. I loved it! It was while at Countrywide that I began teaching. In order to set myself apart, I created a series of six courses that I offered to the loan officers who brokered their FHA and VA loans to our office.

Since that time, I have continued to be a student of the mortgage industry. I went on to get my PLM – Principal Lening Manager (Utah’s equivalent of a mortgage broker) license in early March 2007. Shortly after that, I took a position as a Broker/Manager of a brand new mortgage lender. My timing could not have been worse. Very shortly thereafter, the wheels began to come off in the lending world and continued a full-scale driving off the cliff through 2008.

As I continued studying the causes and effects of this catastrophic meltdown and the effects it has had on our entire economy, I have grown more and more passionate about understanding and then educating others so we can try to prevent such failures in the future.

A book I discovered in my studies last year is called “House of Cards,” by William D. Cohan. It is absolutely fantastic.

You can find it at www.amzon.com.  Here are a few reviews from Amazon:

Review

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Aaron Koblin è un artista specializzato nella visualizzazione dati, utilizza dati sociali e strutturali e li usa per esaminare trends culturali e motivi emergenti. I suoi lavori sono stati esposti all’Arts Electronica, al Japan Media Festival e all’ OFFF. Fa parte della collazione permanente del MoMA di New York ed è collaboratore del Google’s Creative Lab lavorando nel flash e nelle elaborazioni grafiche.

I suoi lavori, presenti nel suo sito personali, nascono tutti da progetti di ricerca particolare in cui l’elemento grafico è il risultato di elaborazioni e di dati. Un esempio di questo è l’animazione ottenuta convertendo in linee colorate i dati forniti dall’aviazione federale americana relativi al traffico aereo e alla sua densità.

Un altro lavoro interessante può essere House of Cards in cui laser e sensori sono usati per scannerizzare i dati ottenuti dalla band Radiohead durante una esperienza guidata 3D. I dati ottenuti e i codici sono stati lanciati tramite Google Code come un progetto open source “music video without video”.

Molti altri progetti interessanti di Aaron sono presenti nel sito: http://sandbox.aaronkoblin.com/ .

Personally I think The Foreign Exchange (featuring Muhsinah) deserves some type of award best video or something. This video captures you the whole entire time and its just great. another plus it was shot in Philly.

Everyone who is getting ready to start another work week tomorrow will hate me for this and they will have absolutely no sympathy for me — and I readily admit they have every right to feel that way — but…here’s the deal: I have way too much time on my hands.

And I know this is a dream scenario! This is what everyone who has to get up at 6:30 five days a week and crowd onto stuffy trains and halfheartedly sludge through 8-hour stints in proverbial cubicles dreams about…and instead of embracing all of this time that I have, I find it almost paralyzing in that these days of nothingness stretch on and on forever and I can theoretically look at the rest of my life and say, “Huh. I have nothing to do.”

And, in theory, it’s the exact opposite. It’s unending: There are countless jobs I *could* apply for and dozens of pitches I could send out and — most importantly! — a book proposal I keep swearing that I am about to finish…and yet there’s this strange thing that happened when I finished my copywriting project…even though the project didn’t take up *that* *much* time every day, it was at least something that I had to do in order to meet a deadline and something that was earning me some money…and it made me feel like I had some sort of purpose…and after that was said and done each day, I could embrace my freedom and go to (broken record) Trader Joe’s or the movies in the middle of the day while everyone else was at work and say, “This is nice! I am lucky!”

But without that project, I go to Trader Joe’s or I go to the movies…and I wonder whether I am actually living the life of a responsible adult…or if I am reverting back to some sort of woman-child. I mean, let’s face it — all that separates me from massive loserdom is that I don’t live with my parents. (Take away my Brooklyn apartment and you have yourself a cautionary tale…) Or, alternatively, I feel like if I had made *slightly* different life decisions thus far and had a husband and/or a child — some living being to take care of that didn’t, you know, meow – that my life would have some sort of purpose that it doesn’t right now.

Every day, I set my alarm and try to get up fairly early and tackle the day…and sometimes I do. But sometimes my alarm goes off and all I can think is, “I have nowhere to go today. It doesn’t matter if I get up. If I stayed in bed all day, no one would notice and it wouldn’t make any difference.” Those days are hard. And, of course, I *do* have to get up eventually…but then it’s late and I feel like a slob and it’s hard to get into a positive mindset and actually accomplish anything after that.

Many days, I feel like I’m just making up stuff to fill time: I want to get a long black cardigan; I’ve been meaning to see Where the Wild Things Are; I would like to make eggplant parmesan. These things at least get my out of my apartment…but they only take up one day. Then I have to worry about the next and the next and the next…and when I think of it like that, I can sort of feel myself sliding back into that not-so-good place that defined my summer when I wasn’t on the road. But. I’m trying to acknowledge what’s happening and maybe reverse the slide and get back to a happier spot a little sooner. For example: I won tickets to see Rock of Ages this week. I have to find a damn fax machine in order to get them…but I won tickets to Rock of Ages! I also need to overtly recognize that it really wouldn’t be better if I had a job I hate just because it’s a job. And…the ladies at the Luxury Spot are hooking me up with a makeover this week. So. Plenty to do.

The biggest thing hanging over my head these days: The book proposal. My glass-is-half-full way of looking at everything has been that the universe didn’t send me a full-time job because I’m really meant to write this book and that’s why I have all this damn time on my hands. And I’ve written a lot…but (broken record again), I need an editor to help me organize everything…and I feel like Dale Maharidge’s advice to just contact agents who have represented authors who have written similar books is such a crapshoot. I mean, sure, maybe I’ll get lucky and one of them will be legitimately interested…but what if they aren’t? I have a list of maybe a dozen agents…and if I don’t hear back from any of them, I don’t really have a Plan B. I keep hoping that I am going to meet someone who hears about my idea and says, “Oh, man, my friend/significant other/parent/sibling/boss/neighbor is an agent! You guys should talk! I’ll make an introduction!”

And so…as sort of a means to this end, I recently wrote David Ellis Dickerson — author of House of Cards and the man behind the Greeting Card Emergency videos. I feel like he’s created a successful career for himself with words and I wanted to see if he had any advice for me about where to go from here. And he did. He sent me a lovely response about how I have an idea I can definitely sell, but I have to do the proposal just right…and as my chapter summaries alone weighed in at 15,000 words, I’m pretty sure that my proposal is not just right…and so for about a week, I was feeling like I couldn’t do anything else with it until I sat down with him and picked his brain. But…given that he just published a book, he’s obviously busy and so I think I may have to forge ahead on my own. And it’s just this huge psychological hurdle — this book is the one truly positive thing I have to cling to right now and it’s the one thing I’ve always known I’m supposed to do…but I don’t know what to do if I can’t find anyone to represent me. And so I think in part I have been stalling so I don’t have to actually answer the what-next question.

And I have Costa Rica coming up in two and a half weeks and there is SO MUCH planning to do…and even though I am a little stressed out about picking the wrong stuff to do or finding a horrible hotel or not being able to do much in the rainy season or finding ourselves the victims of bad roads, I am also super-excited about spending so much time with my oldest childhood friend and exploring a new part of the world. So. My to-do list for tomorrow will include making the final preparations for our trip…although I think I really like the Beaches, Rain Forests and Volcanoes Itinerary in my Costa Rica book…so Fodor’s may have done a lot of the heavy-lifting for me.

So, I mean, I guess it’s true that the grass is greener or that if everyone threw their problems into the middle of the room, we would all run back in and grab our own…which, though perhaps trite or jaded, is maybe not such a bad thing to remember. I don’t have a 10:00 editorial meeting tomorrow in which I have to pitch stories about operations and technology in retail asset management, but I *do* have a lot of things coming up. And those things, in the grand scheme of things, are probably better fits for me than customer relationship management software or 529 college savings plans. I just need to remember that.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

— Henry David Thoreau

In “The New Untouchables “, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that in this downwardly mobile economy there is no room for average. Extraordinary is what it takes to survive and thrive in the modern workplace.

I get that.

Yet for all my appreciation for education — I hold two degrees so I do, in fact, lean in favor of Friedman’s premise that education is key to American competitiveness — his education-as-a-panacea argument oversteps its reach.

Most strikingly, Friedman’s description of a successful “untouchable” American worker isn’t a portrait of educational endowment at all. Friedman’s favorite descriptors, instead, refer to personality attributes: entrepreneur (risk taker), creative (visionary), analytical (critical thinker), and persuasive (charismatic). The obvious problem with Friedman’s pin-the-tail-on-the-wrong-donkey premise is that temperament is inborn — teachers, let alone parents, cannot instill personality characteristics that are not there to begin with.

Friedman’s eagerness to finger the usual suspects — schools — also ignores six reasons why Americans are at a competitive disadvantage in the global era. Here we examine those realities, and the future these changing times have in store.

First, there are more of us occupying this country — and this planet at large — than ever before. At some point, the mathematics of population growth have to matter. The sheer number of people in today’s workforce suggests more and more people are competing for the same jobs even as we adopt more and more technology to displace human hands. That’s not a sign of a lack of education; it’s a sign that business owners comprehend that productivity gadgets and gizmos don’t require breaks, a salary or workers’ compensation.

It comes down to the numbers.

Second, I would argue the inverse in response to Friedman’s suggestion that there just isn’t enough talent to be had here in the States. Over the past 50-some years there are more colleges turning out more graduates on an annual basis than employers of the past had access to. Many foreign nationals, in fact, come to the US for higher education opportunities. On the flip side, there are only so many engineers, M.B.A.s, lawyers, scientists and the like universities can churn out before higher-end fields become saturated in much the same way low-end jobs are chalk full of contenders.

It’s no longer merely a question of whether there are clear winners and losers on the academic front.

Job scarcity is a threat, in part, because of the decades-long trend of mergers, acquisitions and a globalized labor pool. Consider: There are generally fewer than a dozen heavyweights in a given industry — everything from mainstream media to appliance manufacturing. This trend does not bode well for domestic job expansion. And if jobs aren’t available to begin with, it is tough to gain a competitive advantage even with above-average potential. So what we are seeing, in this author’s opinion, is an over-supply of talent.

But that doesn’t mean the proponents of Friedman’s dire self-fulfilling prophecy won’t get their wish.

With less competition in a given industry there is less demand for the eager young grads institutions of higher learning infuse into the job market each year. With shrinking demand and a greater supply of contenders, salaries may also take a nosedive. America at large may become competitively disadvantaged in the years ahead precisely because the “good jobs” of today are no longer perceived as a source of steady employment or adequate pay thereby diminishing American college students’ willingness to pursue them.

Already, the very cure that causes the “employment insecurity” disease is well underway: Calls for immigration reform permitting more foreign grads to take up permanent residence in the U.S. as a form of “insourced talent” are originating from Google, Microsoft and Susan Hockfield, MIT president and author of an October 19, 2009 Wall Street Journal opinion piece ironically titled “Immigrants Create Jobs and Win Nobels“.

Sure there are a lot of average people who aren’t cut out for the highest levels of business, government and academia. Just the same, there is also an ample supply of bright, talented American citizens who, for all their desirable qualifications and qualities, will nevertheless find themselves competing toe-to-toe against peers who are just as capable and “deserving” of a career break as they are.

Somebody has to lose.

Third, failure to thrive in this Brave New Economy isn’t always linked to failing schools, as Friedman argues. Good health is arguably the number one prerequisite to productivity. Healthcare is such a hot topic precisely because we cannot remain competitive if, as a country, businesses and individuals are increasingly diverting money out of the real economy just to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of healthcare.

Beyond that, few esoteric explanations matter when perfectly down-to-earth explanations suffice. When an individual charged with hiring decisions has too many promising applicants to choose from among, what assets wins out on the last round of interviews? That extra year or two of experience? Those additional GPA points? Or would it be more honest to conclude that it comes down to how well an applicant clicks with his or her interviewers? Hands-on experience, even a social or physical attribute — whatever it may be that fits a manager’s self-styled view of the proper candidate — is just as likely to make the deciding difference.

On the flip side of the coin, there is a perverse disincentive to hire the best qualified candidates. For one, they tend to be more experienced and/or highly educated, thereby commanding greater salaries. For another, few people in the position to do so hire individuals with the obvious capacity to perform so impressively that it will ultimately threaten their own job security. Friedman is right in the sense that education and talent ought to insulate Americans from the pitfalls of a failing global experiment.

Unfortunately, it does not.

Fourth, where one lives also figures largely into one’s ability to compete. Like the tough-luck stories that abound on the streets of Hollywood, those who flock to saturated markets — Los Angeles, New York, etc. — may, ironically, find fewer opportunities to leave a lasting, positive impression due to the sheer number of people in the area who are equally worthy of consideration. An over-supply of applicants for a given position, in turn, may make it more challenging for employers to select optimal talent vs. expedient talent. Translation? Being a big fish in a vast ocean still makes you a little fish. To argue, therefore, that education can somehow imbue success and that lack of it underlies a failure is a misnomer.

It’s impossible to underestimate the economics of supply and demand.

Fifth, it’s a mistake to assume that a Third World factory worker is more “competitive” as Todd Martin, former PepsiCo and Kraft Europe executive, suggests to Friedman. Third World workers come inexpensively, and that’s one competitive disadvantage that will only heighten the more educated the American workforce becomes. Why? Because talent doesn’t come cheaply — nor do the salaries of increasingly educated job seekers struggling to repay oppressive student loan debts as a direct result of their herculean efforts to rise head-and-shoulders above the crowd.

Getting noticed in an increasingly competitive job market only ups the ante — and the price tag of success.

Sixth, the assumption that Third World products are better made by virtue of their “efficiency” is also flawed. When frequent replacements and upgrades are factored into the cost of ownership, inexpensively manufactured Third World goods are, ironically, quite pricey. Case-in-point: In 2005 I replaced a 30-some-year-old GE refrigerator made in the US as well as an old but functioning washer and dryer. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t trade anything old and working for something new, sleek and modern. Why? Because the major appliances I purchased new in 2005 — all have had repeated major breakdowns requiring multiple service calls, dozens of hours on the phone, weeks waiting for parts.

Even when consumers spend top dollar, the manufacturing source and quality of today’s big-ticket items are often quite similar — with merely a change of window dressing to imply otherwise. That’s what happens when there are so many market consolidations that an appearance of choice is just that: little more than a dozen or so name badges owned, in truth, by the same handful of Big Players. It is almost laughable the degree to which consumers on complaint websites proclaim that they will never buy brand “X” again, only to unwittingly state that they intend to replace such-and-such item with brand “Y” — yet another brand or subsidiary of the very same company who manufactures brand X!

Market concentration doesn’t grow jobs any more reliably than it promotes healthy competition.

Sparing one another the hassle and headaches of poor quality goods isn’t the only reason to care, however. The build-it-to-last ethic of decades past was, perhaps, the ultimate expression of “Green“. Why? Because durable goods were seemingly less likely to break down, destined for a landfill in an absurdly short timeframe. By contrast, “planned obsolescence” is the new norm, with a trend of shrinking manufacturer warranties to attest to the low vote of confidence manufacturers assign to their own products. Longevity isn’t a valued trait in a disposable society, but if we really want to go Green perhaps we should rethink the “dept-trap consumerism” cheaply designed and manufactured products facilitate. Sadly, modern rhetoric would have us believe that pride in one’s workmanship — a refusal to sell junk to unsuspecting consumers — is “uncompetitive”.

All talk of going Green aside, standardized manufacturing processes have made it difficult to make the case that company “A” is making a better product than “B” or “C”. Consequently, the maxim “You get what you pay for” has never been more suspect. True, you may get more for your money, but that does not necessarily translate into significantly better quality. What differs most dramatically is the amount of money corporations throw into slick ad campaigns, and the perception consumers have of branding and value.

It would be one thing if high-end boutiques were selling products made by First World craftspeople with higher price tags thanks to First World production costs. But when both low-end retailers and high-end retailers are selling inexpensively made foreign goods, who, exactly, are they fooling? Fairly or not, Third World origination suggests that income and human rights disparities favor corporate bottom lines. In the Third World, after all, it is not uncommon for workers to be denied bathroom breaks, sick days, maternity leave and most of the other benefits and protections Americans consider “civilized”. It is not surprising, then, that workers are more productive when they spend most of their lives in the confines of a factory, fearful that their only other option is a life of abject poverty and/or prostitution.

In short, the Third World is the modern-day economic equivalent of the pre-Civil War Old South: a place for slave-like child and adult labor, often conducted under sweatshop conditions. As if that weren’t questionable enough, outsourcing trends pose an unacceptable risk to national security as well.

So how does all of this tie in?

Unless Americans are willing to stoop to similar lows to compete with workers abroad, it’s not possible to rationally conclude that education, talent or entrepreneurship on the part of American workers will level the economic playing field anytime soon. America’s competitive disadvantage, rather, speaks to corporate opportunism — and to the politicians in recent decades who have crafted immigration, economic, trade and taxation policies that have enabled such heavily skewed commerce to become the norm.

Moreover, if being properly educated, creative or analytical adequately described, as Friedman suggests, the entirety of American competitiveness, I suspect we would see fewer reckless gambles on Wall Street and more evidence of long-range thinkers putting the brakes on short-term gain (scams) in the lead up to the Great Recession. In the real world, however, the “right reasons” are not always the cause for getting ahead — or, conversely, for falling behind.

THE WAKE UP CALL

So why care whether or not a newspaper columnists gets it so wrong? Because generalizations and simplifications aren’t a starting point for progress. Economists are projecting a ~10 percent national unemployment rate that’s here to stay for the foreseeable future. That can only mean more bankruptcies, more foreclosures and a greater amount of “dead weight” on America’s ability to compete. Only by taking a long, hard look at the unvarnished truth do we have any hope of fingering the right culprits, crafting the right solutions and ultimately reviving Main Street before the American Dream becomes a distant memory of a bygone era.

Doing nothing is not an option.

If Middle Class wages continue to decline as we move further into the 21st Century, who will consume the products and services entrepreneurs on both sides of the oceanic divide offer? Will young Americans, contemplating the grimness of their economic future and/or the need for ever-more costly and impressive academic résumés opt for traditional marriage and family life — the nation’s greatest driver of new purchases, everything from strollers and diapers to single family homes and minivans? Should Main Street’s economic House of Cards continue to crumble, will Third World workers have their own Friedmans urging them to blame themselves when factory orders dwindle and the newly affluent in Asia and India begin to see their own hopes and dreams falter? Or will they see it — we see it — for what it is: globalized economic forces beyond any single individual’s immediate control?

As kind-hearted as sweatshop proponents paint it — that throwing out more life preservers will rescue Third World residents from a life of “primitive agriculture” — building more life preservers than boats is a plausible scenario. Economic growth, after all, relies on expansion. For much of the world’s history markets were local, national, then regional. Globalization isn’t a sure-fire path to success: It’s an experiment that presupposes that natural resources will support endless growth. And it begs a simple but profound question: What happens when all markets are tapped out?

Working and Middle Class people — the majority of us — may not be the most educated, creative or adequately prepared lot, to hear Friedman and his corporate pal, Todd Martin, hash it out. But that doesn’t change the reality that the American Middle Class must earn a living wage in order for the economy — ours and theirs — to thrive. Yet it is telling that in Louisiana, a state with fewer college grads to begin with, Curt Eysink, director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, indicates that there is an oversupply of degreed residents “we cannot employ” because job growth projections favor vocational trades and the service sector — primarily low-wage occupations such as ticket-takers, cashiers and customer service representatives that are not so prone to the insourcing/outsourcing phenomena.

Is this a sign of things to come?

Without the discretionary income Middle Class Joes and Janes inject into the marketplace, globalized economies may become relegated to a small percentage of elite income earners pitching their products and services to other elite individuals. This may be a recipe for modern-day feudalism, but it’s no way to protect and preserve the merits of free-market capitalism, let alone a profitable market share.

As dire as it all sounds, this isn’t about being pessimistic. Opening our collective eyes is the first step in defending what matters most: family, community, culture — the United States itself. If that means rethinking our definition of progress in the 21st Century sans the usual set of partisan blinders, so be it.

This is no time for subterfuge.

If Friedman wishes to talk about education, he ought to contemplate the wisdom no book learning apparently can impart in America’s best and brightest CEOs and newspaper columnists: The foresight to realize one’s employees/coworkers are also one’s customers/consumers. That means that success at the top of the economic pyramid is only as long-lived as the Middle Class foundation upon which it rests. Excuse it, deny it, defend it, ignore it: the race to the bottom is a very real risk when good intentions go too far.

It’s foolhardy — and a threat to democracy itself — for a transnational conglomerate, an economy, a nation, to conduct business using the lowest common denominator as a competitive yardstick. And yet, globalization promises to outsource gain even as it insources pain. At best, this implies that if and when international economic and trade equilibrium is achieved Third World laborers will nevertheless be unable to sustain the lifestyle Americans have taken for granted — if only by virtue of how thin finite natural resources are stretched — whereas Americans should anticipate “economic insecurity” as a way of life. That’s why Friedman and friends argue so passionately that being wildly successful — untouchable thanks to one’s creativity, innovativeness and education — is the only position of safety (familiarity). The rest of us, apparently, are destined for a mediocre economic melting pot in a neocapitalist New World Order.

Cliché though it may sound, the proactive response to an uncertain future is civic engagement: voting wisely with one’s ballot and one’s pocketbook in support the kind of economy one wishes to see. For if there’s any silver lining to this Great Recession, it’s in bringing an abstract global issue close enough to home that we can reach out, touch it — and change it.

It’s not too late.

###

Resources:

America Out of Work: Is Double-Digit Unemployment Here to Stay?/TIME

Obama Adviser Summers Rejects ‘New Normal’ of Slow U.S. Growth/Bloomberg

U.S. Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio/NYT

Are You Prepared for a Jobs Depression?/ere.net

How Long will America Lead the World?/Newsweek

Cap and Trade Dementia/The American Spectator

Schools As Scapegoats/The American Prospect

Is it Time to Retrain Business Schools?/NYT

Go Global, Young Manager!/Financial Post

Is a College Degree Worthless?/MSN Money

Don’t Get That College Degree!/NY Post

Cat Gets GED: Why GPAs, Degrees and Job Titles May Be Worthless/ITBusinessEdge

Too Many Doctorates Chase Too Few Jobs/San Francisco Chronical

The Three-Year Solution/Newsweek

Asking for Student Loan Forgiveness/Businessweek

Middle Class Facing Decline in Expectations, Economic Power/Retail Traffic

21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness/PDF

Jay Mathews: Why I don’t Like 21st Century Reports/Washington Post

Friedman: U.S. Education System Endangering Global Competitiveness/Education Futures

A New Look at American Competitiveness/Entrepreneurship

The World’s New Superpower/Salon

The Almighty Renminbi?/NYT

The End of the Dollar Spells the Rise of a New Order/The Independent (UK)

China will Overtake America, the Only Question is When/The Independent (UK)

China’s Economy/Brookings Institution

Lax Oversight, Globalization Erode Product Safety/CNN

Technology Made to be Broken/CSMonitor

Appliance Anxiety — Replace It or Fix It?/NYT

“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.”

–Bob Hope

Every Wednesday I offer tips for adulthood.

Yesterday, I talked about middle age as a set of attitudes. Today I’d like to complement that idea with five concrete signs that you’re middle aged:

1.You start re-reading classics. I’m a big believer in the value of re-reading. But while in Waterstone’s the other day (UK equivalent of Borders), I saw a bookmark entitled “50 Books To Read Before You Die.” And suddenly I had this panic attack that I hadn’t read every single book on the list.  As it happened, I was already re-reading Wuthering Heights for my book group. But as soon as I saw that bookmark, I ran back to embrace Heathcliff with reckless abandon!

2.You leave Parties Before Midnight. I remember once taking this personality test which asked “Do you leave parties before or after midnight?” I dismissed the question entirely because at that point in my life, I didn’t show up to parties until after midnight. Boy, how times have changed. And it’s not just that I now have to pay a sitter when I go out. I actually find myself craving the solitude of…well, Heathcliff.

3. You decline alcohol because you need to exercise the next day. OK, in truth I don’t do this all that much. But I do restrain myself far more than I once did. For heaven’s sake, I used to smoke a cigarette *after* returning from a run. Or go running…to escape a hangover. Now my aging body does the mental calculation of how that morning run will feel after just one glass of wine and I find myself re-considering it.

4. You Start Renting BBC Mini-Series. It’s one of those sad truths of parenting that once you have kids, you never go out to movies anymore. My husband and I thought we’d be different than everyone else on this score but, of course, we’re not. Sure, we go to see a few of the big hits every year. I’m too much of an Oscar fan to skip those. But most of the time we rent movies about six months behind their release date. Lately, however, we have found ourselves renting assorted BBC mini-series that ran – gasp – in like the 80’s. Worse, we find them bizarrely addictive. Don’t believe me? Check out House of Cards. Tell me if you’re not hooked after Episode One.

5. You buy that Joni Mitchell album. You know that one – Both Sides Now – where she goes back and sings…Both Sides Now, except that her tone’s a little more plaintive, a little more somber, a little more…middle-aged. Worse, you buy it because you saw it featured in Love, Actually in that scene with Emma Thompson crying in the bedroom. And it’s haunted you ever since. Admit it. It has.

*****

Check out my response to the latest study showing the costs of unsafe abortions worldwide.

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Image: Joni Mitchell self-portrait by Jenny J via Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Sage: Hey look. What’s that up on the screen?

Brett: Aw man, it’s just some montage of my career. It’s my birthday today.

Sage: It’s your birthday! No shit. How old are you?

Brett: Ugh. The big four-zero.

Sage: Lordy, lordy. Look who’s 40. Damn man, you could be my father. Or at least my washed-up, over-rated uncle. He also has a solid line in front of him. Serious though, man, you look good. Man sandwich good.

Brett: Yeah, yeah. Listen, keep this under your hat, OK? I don’t want you telling anyone about how old I am. Last thing I need is any more attention.

Sage: Dude, I think people will know —

Brett: I’m serious.

Sage: Look pops, they’re playing a highlight reel of your career on the Jumbotron right now. See that huge banner underneath the screen, the one that reads ‘Happy Birthday Brett Favre!’ I think people know.

(Brett grabs the book of coverages and the two quarterbacks sit in silence for a moment or two)

Sage: Can I tell you something, Brett?

Brett: Sure. Just as long as it’s not about my birthday.

Sage: I think you have nice arms, too.

(At this point, I would like to go public with my divorce of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms. That 22-of-25 night he put up in the Super Bowl? Forgotten. It means nothing to me now. “The greatest arm the NFL’s ever seen!” Really? Way to get swept up in the hype, big guy. I’m sure Dan Marino will be a pleasure to work with after hearing this.)

Last week, Ellie and I were invited to The Haunch of Venison Gallery for the exclusive launch party of Shelter’s House of Cards exhibition. Read all about the exhibition in Annie’s blog: Playing a designer deck of cards.

Once we’d made it past the hordes of cameras poised to pap Henry Holland and best bud Agyness Dean, we headed into the small but perfectly formed exhibition space to have a gander. The place was absolutely packed, but we managed to make our way around every piece and were stunned by the diversity of the designs.

Image credit: Marc Quinn and Damien Hirst

From photographs to Pop Art paintings, mosaics to displays of taxidermy, pillows to dresses – every artist seemed to have chosen a different medium with which to represent their card.

One of my favourites was Marc Quinn’s psychadelic Joker design (above left), which was created with acrylic and pencil on pigment print. I love its brash use of colour and its exhileratingly unnerving subject. Very cool.

Another top pick was Damien Hirst’s Ace of Hearts design (above right). The huge, red, sparkling heart was made from diamond dust and sits sparkling on a  silkscreen print background. The dust has been rubbed away in places to reveal the beautiful and intricate printed butterflies. A surprisingly pretty design from art’s most notorious Turner Prize winner.

Image credit: Ella Doran

Our very own Design boutiquer Ella Doran had created a gorgeous Three of Diamonds silk pillow (above), which was attracting plenty of admiring glances and, as we predicted, Henry Holland’s Three of Diamonds was a dress. We searched high and low for it in the exhibtion, only to be told that it was wandering around the gallery on the slinky body of a model! Luckily, we spotted her later as Shelter’s Chief Exec took to the stage to speak about the campaign.

My prize for the quirkiest design has to go to artist and taxidermist Polly Morgan. Her Ten of Hearts design consisted of ten baby quails sticking out of the side of a large pill bottle, each with a tiny heart-emblazoned pill in its beak. Not quite to my taste, but definitely a talking point!

The rest of our evening was spent supping champagne, scribbling down the details of our favourite designs and, of course, trying to spot Henry Holland and Agyness Dean. We had absolutely no luck with the latter, but we certainly had a great time checking out the designs.

What might be the most incredible deck of cards ever assembled made its debut yesterday at the Haunch of Venison Gallery in Piccadilly, London.  The “House of Cards” exhibition is the latest and most ambitious element of a huge integrated campaign from Leo Burnett London for housing and homelessness charity Shelter.

LB/London approached 52 of the country’s most famous contemporary artists, including luminaries such as Damien Hirst, David Bailey and Vivienne Westwood, to contribute a card for the deck, which will be on display through September 28.  The collection also includes a contribution from Mauricio Ortiz, the winner of a contest in which the public was invited to submit designs for the eight of clubs.  That competition attracted 480 entries and more than 338,000 votes.

Further, street artists were commissioned to help drum up attention with “live art” on the streets of London all week.  Each were given blank canvases and easels on which they created their own versions of the ace of spades, queen of hearts and four of diamonds in various locales around the city.

The show will conclude with an auction, though one need not be a collector to get in on the action – a very special limited edition deck has been produced and is available here.  I’ve posted a few of my favorites below, but can take a look at all the works here.

The “House of Cards” exhibition caps off an incredible holistic effort that began in the spring with a print campaign and a powerful spot featuring a soundtrack from Radiohead and voiceover by Samantha Morton.

D Face:

Rachel Whiteread:

Gerald Scarfe:

Gillian Wearing:

The things you can read on an airplane.

David Champion is a senior Editor at Harvard Business Review.  U S Air ran his article How the Gambler Kings Brought Down the Financial House.  (read it here).    He looks back to the book, Barbarians at the Gate, and gives brief treatments of the newer books House of Cards (about Bear Stearns) and A Colossal Failure of Common Sense (about Lehman Brothers).  As I read the article, it seemed to me that the real problem – not new, and not unique to the financial sector — is an almost intentional blindness to reality by far too many leaders and their companies.  Here’s the gripping, concluding paragraph from his article:

Both books left me depressed. They are, at heart, celebrations of the hero gambler. It’s as if the concept of management and the reality of Wall Street were mutually exclusive. Advisory groups and executive committees are presented essentially as rubber stamps for the leadership; they assumed an important role only after the leaders’ mistakes became apparent. If these books offer a fair representation of how a Wall Street investment bank operates, not much has really changed over the past 100 years. Will it ever?

Why such colossal failure?  Part of the blame has to go to our universities.  What kind of education produced these kinds of people?  (I’ve written earlier about the decline of the humanities, prompted by an article in Harper’s – which I think contributes to this).

But part of the answer has to be this:  Unless there is genuine regulation and oversight, we simply cannot expect truly better days.  If we expect companies, and leaders of these companies, to do the “right things” out of the goodness of their own hearts, then we are blind ourselves.  History reveals that without genuine guardians, people will go around and abuse whatever system is in place.

We woke up this morning to the news that Iran has secretly built another nuclear facility, without proper and expected international inspection.  They are not too keen on letting inspectors in.  It is as though they said, “trust us and we will do the right things.”

Ronald Reagan was a huge opponent of regulation, but in one arena, he knew we needed it.  Well, maybe it’s time for all of us to embrace and follow Ronald Reagan’s advice, in business as well as in international nuclear relations:  “Trust, but verify.”

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with unwanted hotel key cards, then think no more.  Because, providing you’ve somehow amassed 200,000 plastic slips, the solution is simple – use them to build your own guest house. That, at least, is what one hotel chain decided to do.

Holiday Inn’s Key Card Hotel, which opened yesterday in New York, includes a guest bedroom, bathroom and lobby, all fully equipped with life-sized furniture all made out of, yes, well, you get the point.

The 400 sq ft, two-ton construction in Manhattan , which will be in business until September 21, was built by world record-holding ‘card-stacker’ Bryan Berg.

He said: ‘This is my largest card-stacking challenge to date and the only card creation I have ever made at full human scale.’

During the five day event, Mr Berg will build a freestanding 9ft replica of New York’s Empire State Building in the lobby using Holiday Inn playing cards.

It marks the relaunch of the chains 1,200 hotels around the world. Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president of global brand management at Holiday Inn, said: “The Key Card Hotel is a fun and interactive way to showcase the changes happening at our hotels and is the only structure of its kind to ever be created by a hotel brand.” Mr Berg first broke the world record for World’s Tallest House of Freestanding Playing Cards in 1992 at the age of 17, with a tower 14ft 6in. Since then, he has been commissioned to break his own record ten times. His most recent tallest record was a 25ft 9in inch tall tower built at the African-American Museum at Dallas, Texas.

For this record, he tried a new technique involving stacking cards vertically instead of horizontally, which reduced the number of cards needed by nearly half. In 2004, Guinness created a new record category for World’s Largest House of Freestanding Playing Cards to recognize a project Mr Berg built for a replica or Cinderella’s Castle for Walt Disney World in Florida.

Daily Mail 18th September 2009

In my time in San Francisco I had the chance to meet Aaron Koblin from Google Creative Labs. He was the creative mind behind the great Radiohead “House Of Cards” Video. Aaron is an artist specializing in data visualization. See how beautiful infrastructural data can look like. Tech knowledge paired with an artistic approach – brilliant and one of a kind. Kudos Aaron. But wait there is more…check out his portfolio here.

Visualizing Amsterdam SMS Messages

A internet acaba se mostrando uma ótima plataforma para a criatividade, principalmente no ramo musical. Como a tendência do momento é levar experiências únicas para o usuário e fazer com que ele participe disso tudo, surgiu uma nova modalidade de clipes. E para variar, como quase tudo na internet, isso foi explorado por bandas ‘cabeçudas’ e/ou alternativas.

Os clipes são das bandas Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Cold War Kids e até uma nacional. Vamos aos clipes…

Arcade Fire – Lançou em seu site o clipe de Neon Bible, que você pode interagir com as mãos do personagem. Foi um dos primeiros interativos que me recordo, por isso talvez seja até o mais simples deles. Apenas um flash que toca a música e libera uns momentos de interatividade, mas ainda assim bem legal.

Neon Bible - Arcade Fire

Radiohead – Bom, Radiohead é aquilo que todos já conhecem, ou pelo menos deveriam conhecer. Lançou o clipe para House of Cards, que não utilizou câmeras ou luzes. Basicamente o video é feito com dados, através de um programa que captura a distância de cada ponto da face do Thom Yorke como se fosse um topógrafo ou algo do gênero. São 64 lasers que capturam os movimentos faciais, como se fossem fotos, até 900 vezes por minuto em 360º. Daí você pode girar e escolher o ângulo que quiser para assistir, tendo a opção de outros dois cenários também.

House of Cards - Radiohead

Cold War Kids – Este monta um cenário como se fosse um palco, onde você pode colocar um mudo em um dos intrumentos/músicos ou trocar o seu instrumento. Dá para chegar a resultados muito legais de como ficar a mesma música. Bem divertido!

I've Seen Enough - Cold War Kids

Ecos Falsos - E você achando que isso era somente coisa de banda gringa? Temos um representante brasileiro também! A banda fez o que eles chamam de ‘guitar hero custo zero’ para sua música ‘Spam do Amor’ utilizando apenas uma boa idéia e o youtube. Onde o usuário tem que sincronizar 9 videos de acordo com as instruções que é passada por um video no meio. Com isso eles provaram que basta uma idéia boa e empenho na execução que você chega a um bom resultado.

Spam do Amor - Ecos Falsos

Todos os clipes são pesados para abrir, mas acredito que você vai gostar do que vai ver.

Last week I filled you in on Shelter’s House of Cards exhibition, due to open its doors on the 24th September. The exhibition will feature works by Britain’s top artists and designers, all based on different cards from the pack.

Image credit: Mauricio Ortiz

But it’s not just the big names who will be starring in Shelter’s show. Nestled between photography from Rankin, couture by Henry Holland, and Sir Terence Conran’s self-portrait will be this stunning, Darwin-inspired design by London-based artist Mauricio Ortiz.

Ortiz beat off over 500 other entrants to win Shelter’s competition,  which invited budding artists to create an 8 of Clubs playing card to complete the deck. And he’s pleased as punch.

“Words cannot describe what it means for me to have won this competition”, beams Ortiz.  “I have been striving so hard for so many years to build my profile as an artist and now at last I have the opportunity to be recognised and appreciated on the same level as the artists … I admire so much.”

When he isn’t collaborating with Robert Plant and Jamie Oliver, Ortiz works as a waiter at art industry events to support his career. His winning design – an etching of a hybrid species of beetle and octopus – is a metaphor for the dual life that he and other aspiring artists lead, divided between their creativity and the need to support themselves through everyday jobs.

The shortlist was chosen by the public, but the fate of the top five lay in the hands of artist, animation director and film-maker Simon Henwood.

Henwood was mightily impressed with Ortiz’s piece: “The mixing of the two creatures is clever and the drawing fresh and detailed. His piece is a good iconic silhouette that will translate well on to a playing card”. We couldn’t agree more.

Head down to the Haunch of Venison Gallery from 24-28 September to check out the full deck.

Matt Koza and His Crew

     A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from Matt Koza asking me if I’d be interested in doing behind the scenes interviews for the latest Foreign Exchange dual video that he was directing. “Of course.” I replied, but I think he already figured as much. We’d forged a friendship our first year at Drexel over the usual partying and bullshit, but so many conversations led us to a group that would ultimately be a vital part of his career: Little Brother.
     Crazy to think how much has changed since freshman year. But if you’d balled up and thrown the passion our group of friends had about their respective dreams, Koza found ways to be the first one to go get it.
     His start with the Hall Of Justus stemmed from a chance message he sent via MySpace. “I was going to North Carolina to see a friend for Spring Break and I went on at midnight and was like, fuck it. I might as well try it, since they’re based out of there. I sent Big Dho [HOJ's manager] a message and he sent me back an email the same night. Coincidentally, him and Big Pooh were talking about how they were going to pick up their visual game.”
     At this point, Koza’s work only included a few short films and some work he had done for school, but Dho saw that Koza had an uncanny ability to make something interesting out of nothing. A meeting was arranged.
     ”That was probably the greatest moment of my life,” he laughs, “I was this random white kid, waiting in Barnes and Noble like an idiot and Dho rolls up in his Escalade, his son Cory sitting in the passengers seat. I could tell Cory was judging me the entire time, looking me up and down and looking back at Dho like, “You serious, dad? This white boy?”
     Being the white boy was something HOJ made him come to terms with immediately while he accompanied them on tour. “They actually told me, “You know what we like best about you? We thought you were going to act like somebody else but you’re yourself.” I mean, I talk white, I act white, I guess I dress stereotypically white and they appreciated that I didn’t try to pretend to be someone else. I think the only thing that helps is being myself.”

     It’s hard not to grow fond of him, in all honesty. Koza’s unforgivably himself at all times, which means he’s forever with a smile on his face and a sweetheart’s aim in his intention. All gimmicky facades aside, Koza’s biggest selling point is his personality: easy-going yet very polite, goofy yet completely determined when it comes to his career. The relationships he has and continues to secure will undeniably be maintained on his journey to the top.
     Since his addition to the team, Koza’s been able to add to his resume a number of HOJ videos, including tour blogs, two Rapper Big Pooh videos, two double Foreign Exchange videos and a Chaundon video, among others.
     ”Artists come to you and give you a song and for the most part, they don’t know what they want. They trust my opinion and what I’m thinking, which is cool. But the best is the payoff afterwards– if you execute the same idea you had in the beginning, if you can see your idea come to life and share it with other people, that’s the greatest feeling.”
He’s not so omnipotent yet, though. He’s had a few instances where things haven’t gone according to plan– or even the vision in his head.
     ”For Pooh’s Comeback, I write this 9 page treatment, like invested my heart and soul into it. Pooh’s getting rushed into this hospital and they have to cut him up with a chainsaw and they start pulling things out of him, like an MPC and Khrysis’s hand snatching someone…” He laughs, “They looked at me and were like, “Nah. We’re not having things come out of Pooh.”

     After he writes an approved treatment and shoots the video, he comes out with a first draft in about two weeks, three at most. Koza does all his editing, partially because it saves money, but probably more because he’s such a control freak. He goes through it all frame by frame, making sure the artist hasn’t missed a word, and pairs the cuts in the beat to his editing. It’s safe to say the white boy has rhythm.
     Koza was enrolled in Drexel University’s film program until he dropped out earlier this year, which would have been his last. “There was school and there was my career, and I wasn’t doing either one fully. Actually, I wasn’t even doing school half, it was more like 20% and my career was 80%. I left because at the end of the day, people aren’t going to ask me what my GPA was in college or whether I have a degree. It’s about the work i’ve done.”
     Koza has had his hands full since then. On top of the videos that have been released, he’s working on videos for RJD2’s new album, Chaundon’s new album, and a few projects for Kam Moye aka Supastition, as well as a short film based off the movie Reservoir Dogs (to parallel HOJ’s mixtape of the same name). He’s also working on a Little Brother documentary, which has him digging in crates of archived footage from concerts and previous interviews. The release is set for hopefully the end of this year.

     He credits the work to his team, who he made sure to mention at least ten times during the interview. His gratitude only solidifies his relationships with them, as evident on set and through the work he’s cranked out in the past year.
     ”Artists congratulate my team because they network so well. But it’s like, if they don’t like you, why would they work with you?”
     As for plans for his career, Koza hopes to get out of directing and more into producing. Ultimately, he hopes to make a transition from music videos to commercials or documentaries. He plans to start a media company with Big Dho and his roommate/best friend Milosz, which will be called HOJMedia. Dho will handle the managerial aspects, Milosz will take care of still images and Koza will do directing. Although his past work shows performance videos and concept pieces, his partiality is more towards storytelling, something he hopes will be evident in his work (look out in the next month for Koza’s work on the Foreign Exchange’s latest video “I Wanna Know” as part of the trilogy with “Take Off The Blues”/”Valediction”).

Words by SamSun
Pictures by Nakeya B.

Check out some of Matt Koza’s work here:

A couple of days ago I caught up with surface designer extraordinaire Ella Doran, to find out what she’s up to during the London Design Festival.

Quite a lot it turns out. And what’s more, it’s all for a good cause.

Image credit: Ella Doran

As part of their House of Cards campaign (which aims to raise awareness about the UK housing crisis) Shelter have organised a super-cool exhibition of work by artists, designers and architects – and Ella is one of the big names.

‘[Homelessness] is such a poignant cause, and so now’, Ella told me. ‘And it’s all the more humbling because it is happening during London Design Festival, the week when we celebrate design, houses and the interior. I think it should act as a rain check [for the industry]. It’s great that we are able to produce beautiful designs, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of others.’ Well said.

And this isn’t any ordinary exhibition, either. Oh no. The folks at Shelter have done something a little different. To fit with their theme, they’ve invited contributors to create works of art based on different cards from the pack. Ella’s 3 of Diamonds pillow (above) is based on the ‘concept of having shelter and somewhere to rest your head’.

Other famous creatives getting involved include Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen, Rankin, Vivienne Westwood,  David Bailey, Sophie Conran and Sir Terence Conran and Henry Holland.

Quite an impressive line-up, wouldn’t you say? And guess who has the inside track on whose creating what?

A little birdie told me yesterday that Henry Holland has designed the Four of Diamonds as a dress, Sophie Conran has represented the Four of Spades using hand pressed paper with pressed leaves, and Sir Terence Conran has created the Ten of Spades as a self-portrait.

The full deck will be on display from the 24-28 September at the Haunch of Venison Gallery. Get down there and check it out.

Image credit: Martin Parr and Magnum (left) and Peter-McDonald (right)

But that’s not all that Ella is getting up to with Shelter. She has also invited numerous designers, artists and illustrators to design placemats for her aptly named ‘There’s no place like home‘ exhibition and auction. The exhibition will be held at her shop in Chesire street from 19 September – 3 October and launches with a tea party!

When I spoke to Ella, she was getting rather exctied about the imminent event: ‘It’s definitely going to have the wow factor. We’ve got so many artists contributing designs we’ve gutted our small shop to fit them all in! We want the way we exhibit the work to be as impressive as the pieces themselves’. She also revealed that her favourite designs from the collection are by Martin Parr and Peter McDonald (above).

Ella’s own photographic placemats are just as beautiful. My favourite are the Sunlight Through Leaves set – firmly on my wish list.

A silent auction will be held throughout the exhibition to sell the placemats, and all proceeds will go to Shelter. Why not head down and place a bid? Purchases that contribute to charity are fully justifiable in my eyes!

Three cheers for Shelter, Ella and art with heart.

These were my two favorite cuts from Leave It All Behind. i highly HIGHLY recommend this album. The duo consists of Phonte whom you may recognize as one-half of hip-hop group Little Brother, and Dutch producer Nicolay. This is what R&B should sound like. Well worth the eight dollars it costs on iTunes.

Leave It All Behind available on iTunes Stores now