David Sedaris Book Signing

 

We had the opportunity to attend a David Sedaris book signing the other night.  Mr. Sedaris was promoting his sixth book, “When you Are Engulfed In Flames” at Third Place Books near Seattle, Washington. I had read a few Sedaris books and had listened to him on NPR but seeing him live and then meeting him upped my admiration for this very funny and generous writer.  David read two autobiographical short stories taking full advantage of his sarcastic deadpan humor, expert comedic timing and unmistakable high voice. At the conclusion of his reading and Q&A session, I better understood why the author is one of the most popular and humorous commentators today.

 

David Sedaris is a genuine rarity among today’s writers: He spent time with every single person who waited patiently in line (which are “circle-around-the-block” long) to get his or her book signed.  To break up the monotony of the book signing, Sedaris proposed that any men that were 5’ 6 or shorter and women 5’ 10 or taller could go to the front of the line.  This also held true for any females with braces on their teeth or legs.

 

Mr. Sedaris made a concerted effort to get to know each and every reader conversing with them as though they were at a dinner party.  While popping sushi into his mouth, David talked to our group for about 10 minutes asking where we were from, what we did for a living, was I Greek, our thoughts on Barrack Obama and what our evening plans were after the signing? My wife shared that it was my birthday and he reached into a crumpled travel bag and gave me a chocolate bar and soap from The Fairmont Hotel. I have never encountered another writer who sincerely bonded with (rather than keeps his distance from) his readers as Sedaris did. In each book, the author wrote lengthy, personalized inscriptions and sketched funny images.  He started signing books at 8 pm and continued into the late hours of the evening.

 

If he appears in your town, I highly recommend that you spend a satisfying laugh filled evening with David Sedaris. His current tour schedule is located here. 

 

If you have never seen or heard David Sedaris, below is a short clip from his last appearance on Late Show with David Letterman.

 

“Ball Girl” Video Scores Buzz For Gatorade

Have you seen that wild ball girl video on YouTube?

Ball girl streaks down the left field line at a minor league baseball game and, with a Jackie Chan-like jump at the wall, snares a deep fly ball the left fielder couldn’t reach. Unbelievable.

Well, it is indeed unbelievable: The clip is a masterwork of “viral” marketing, essentially an ad aimed at touting Gatorade, but without actually mentioning the company. With viral video, marketers try to create a pop culture buzz that eventually becomes associated with a product.

Chicago-based Gatorade, an arm of PepsiCo, has done viral marketing before, but it’s never taken off like ball girl, said Jill Kinney, a Gatorade spokeswoman.

The video has had 11/2 to 2 million views on YouTube, she said. On Wednesday it was the most shared video on Break.com, another video-sharing Web site.

The ball girl video was posted June 3, and Advertising Age, an industry publication, published a glowing review of it a few days later. “This week, though, is definitely the tipping point,” Kinney said. “It has reached critical mass.” A plug Wednesday for it on “Good Morning America” certainly helped.

Viral videos are passed along via e-mail and shared on personal profiles at social sites like Facebook and MySpace. But they achieve must-see status at YouTube, the Web’s leading video site.

“Ball Girl” was posted on YouTube by a filmmaker affiliated with Element 79 Partners, the Chicago ad agency that created the spot. Element 79 has done Gatorade ads since 2002.

The original Ball Girl post had a clear reference to Gatorade in the text describing the video. But the video was copied and shared several times over without mentioning the Gatorade connection.

The video gives only the slightest nod to the beverage. When the ball girl sits down after the amazing catch, there’s a bottle of Gatorade near her feet.

“It’s subtle,” Kinney said.

The real payoff is the buzz generated by the video.

“Anytime your brand enters into popular culture discussions, it’s going to benefit,” Kinney said.

She added that even though many viewers thought the outlandish catch was somehow a fake—which, indeed, was the result of special effects—they were still entertained by it.

Viral videos are not just associated with commercial ventures, and some have achieved cult status, including “Lazy Sunday,” a music video parody from Saturday Night Live that was a key catalyst to helping YouTube build an audience.

 

Dancing Matt

In 2005, a guy named Matt couldn’t dance. So, of course, he uploaded a video of himself dancing frenetically in front of famous places. Stride gum saw the video and sponsored him to go around the world and dance his strange, leprechaun-ish jig. Stride’s first Matt video, from 2006, has received almost 10 million hits to date. Last week, the follow-up, with fans dancing alongside Matt, was posted. It already has more than 2 million views. It’s the feel-good movie of the summer!

 

A 300 Follow-Up In The Works?

Collider.com talked to producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann, who revealed that they’re trying to make a sequel/prequel of 300! The first film’s director Zack Snyder confirmed it and they said Frank Miller is working on a new story for the film. You can watch that interview here!

 

Destee Nation T-Shirts

Ever seen an awesome t-shirt while on a trip, forget to pick it up, and then sulk for days afterward, wishing you had bought it the first time? Well, Destee Nation Shirt Co. ($22/shirt) is here to help. The Seattle-based group finds and licenses cool shirts from real cultural icons and independent businesses along the West Coast and Hawaii.

What’s On Barack Obama’s iPod

Rolling Stone has put Barack Obama on the cover. He discusses his musical inspirations, including Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan.  You can read a portion of the interview here.

 

Superman Quiz

Superman is celebrating his 70th anniversary. The Man of Steel first appeared in a June 1938 issue of Action Comics. Test your Superman knowledge with this quiz.

An Interview With Andrew Stanton,The Director Of WALL•E

Writer-director Andrew Stanton got in on the ground floor at animation studio Pixar and apparently never looked back. He’s been involved in virtually all things Pixar for the past decade and a half; he co-directed A Bug’s Life (with John Lasseter) and Finding Nemo (with Lee Unkrich), collaborated on the scripts for the Toy Story movies, A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo, and provided voices for almost all the above, plus Cars and The Incredibles. This year sees the release of his first solo writing-directing project, the Pixar picture WALL•E, about a trash-compacting robot still doing his job after 700 years alone on an abandoned Earth. The A.V. Club recently spoke with Stanton about the Pixar mentality, making live-action films in slow-motion, WALL•E’s resemblance to another movie robot, and why WALL•E is so obsessed with the Barbra Streisand movie Hello, Dolly!

Read the interview here.

Jones “Campaign” Sodas

Our friend Ken told me about this as he is a soda aficionado. Jones Soda is no stranger to gimmicks such as their holiday beverage flavors, which included ham and Christmas tree flavors. For this election season, Jones has launched a series of “Campaign Colas.” They come in three varieties: Yes We Can Cola, Pure McCain Cola and Capitol Hillary Cola. Apparently they all taste exactly the same; the only difference is the labeling.

If you go to www.campaigncola.com, you can order the soda with your favorite candidate’s face on it. The site is keeping track of sales, so you can see who sells the most.

Rescue Me Minisode # 1 – Fast

On Tuesday, FX premiered the first of 10 Rescue Me “minisodes,” bite-sized bits of the show (all approximately five minutes long) that are meant to tide fans over till next year. Each minisode will premiere at 10 p.m. on Tuesday for the next nine weeks; 10 minutes later, they’ll show up on Crackle, and by the next day they’ll spread through various other online video sites. The first minisode, “Fast,” finds Sean Garrity struggling to maintain his cleansing fast in the face of Lou’s doughnuts.

 

Guitar Hero Action Figure Preview

No, that isn’t Marylin Manson’s big brother. Meet Lars Ümlaut, one of four new Guitar Hero action figures being released by McFarlane Toys with Activision. The six-inch toys come with a whopping 15-18 moving parts (approximately 10 more parts than you move while actually playing the videogame) and will sell for $10-$15. We have the first-look on Lars, but you can also pick up a mini Johnny Napalm (the green-mohawked guy), Axel Steel (uber-muscular sleeveless jeans jacket dude), and God of Rock (the white-bearded deity). The game franchise is obscenely popular, so it’s no surprise they’re rolling out new products.

 

Money Celebrity Pictures

People take pictures of themselves or celebrities partially covered with folded banknotes or American currency. The merged faces look surprisingly natural for some.  Please click here and here to see what a $2 Donald Trump bill would look like.

 

Big Lebowski Action Figures

Soon, you can have your very own 8 inch Dude! The Big Lebowski action figure set with the Dude and Walter is $39.99, or you can get the Dude alone for $24.99. Available in August; preorders are now being taken here.

 

An Early Review Of The Dark Knight

Ain’t It Cool News posted an early review of “The Dark Knight” movie. If you would like to read the review, please click here.