As print media is dying.

It's hard to pick up a magazine or newspaper, or listen to the rare outlets of intelligence on television or radio, without hearing something about the death of traditional print media. We all know that statistics and, worse, the trends. Further, of late major newspapers in major cities have stopped their presses, with more to come.

Today, I logged onto economist.com, specifically http://www.economist.com/debate/overview/142&sa_campaign=debateseries/debate21/ads/house/125
and saw something that should give print media, and me hope for the ongoing importance of, if not traditional print, then at least engaging discourse.

From April 7th to 17th, the Economist is having a live debate on whether or not the rich should pay more taxes than others. Here readers can respond, interact and listen to opposing opinions on the matter from experts from various think tanks and universities.

This seems a far cry from a print "viewing" experience. It is, rather, a "doing" experience.

Now, if you're so inclined, hop over to http://www.macheist.com/ and see what may be the future of retail. Retail that gives you good stuff while allowing you to do good. In fact 25% of every sale on MacHeist goes to your choice of ten charities.

My macro point is simple. The old ways probably are dying. New ways, ways that engage readers and consumers are not.

My new favorite spot.

Somehow Honda in Europe by way of Wieden & Kennedy in Amsterdam produces great spots year after year after year.

This is their latest.

It was raining like the end of time as I sat in my office and thought of Hammett.

Click on this to make it legible. It's from Hammett's first novel, "The Red Harvest." It fits my mood and today's weather.

An old-timer remembers.

With all the talk in the news about the new Yankee Stadium and the Mets' new CitiField (where it costs an average family of four more than $400 to see a ballgame) I thought I'd zig while everyone else is zagging and take a walk uptown to the Polo Grounds to see the Giants play the Milwaukee Braves.

Of course I could take the IND C train up there, but it's the first nice day of Spring, a warm breeze and virtually cloudless skies, so I walked up through Harlem, across 125th Street East to West, then continued up Eighth Avenue to 155th Street. Man, oh Man, I loved seeing games up at the Polo Grounds, a real bandbox of a ballpark with short leftfield and rightfield fences, and Willie like a Zephyr covering the Elysian in center. Ah, a nice Rheingold and a bag of peanuts and a 25-cent ticket in those centerfield bleachers, just me and Willie out there in the sun.

A long walk to to Polo Grounds and when I got there, it was gone. A couple of kids I asked had never even heard of it and when I finally found an old-timer like myself, he said that the Giants had moved West at the end of the '57 season and they tore down the stadium after '64 for some public housing.

I walked slowly downtown. Sad it was all gone, but glad I had traveled uptown again.

Advertising Haiku, 2009.

Now that we're "right-sized"
Eliminated down-time,
Who do I talk to?

Thinking of AIG's name change.

Here's a picture of my friend Sparky Feinstein.

Where's your level of ambition?

Years ago I was out of work and found myself trapped at an agency doing what I would consider picayune work. Work that simply won't move the brand or get noticed.

I remember once after a particularly good client meeting, an account person said to me, "You hit it out of the park." To which I replied, "Yes, but it was a very small park."

A short history of America.

By the brilliant R. Crumb.

In defense of cynicism.

Our world today seems to be one in which diversity is purportedly extolled but in reality avoided like a flock of mosquitoes in a nudist colony. While some work places might employ a range of skin colors, diversity of thought, approach, outlook is an ephemera. No, what is cherished now is a lock-step conformity, an obeisance to the party line and a pervading and soul-less docility.

There's an op-ed piece in The New York Times today called "Cynicism We Can Believe In." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/opinion/01critchley.html?scp=3&sq=cynical&st=cse A thoughtful and well-tuned tribute to the importance of not going gently into that good night. If you can't find the time to read the whole megillah, at least read this, the concluding paragraph:

"Cynicism is basically a moral protest against hypocrisy and cant in politics and excess and thoughtless self-indulgence in the conduct of life. In a world like ours, which is slowly trying to rouse itself from the dogmatic slumbers of boundless self-interest, corruption, lazy cronyism and greed, it is Diogenes’ lamp that we need to light our path. Perhaps this recession will make cynics of us all."

I'll be working from home today.

I've been having some glandular issues lately. Didja ever have that? That annoying feeling where your endocrine gland just tingles, like pins and needles when your foot falls asleep. Speaking of sleep, last night I couldn't what with my damn endocrine gland tingling like a bell hung around the neck of an epileptic cow. Then when I got out of bed and looked in the mirror, I saw what happened. My whole endocrine system was out of whack. I was a full 7'2" tall and weighed northwards of 400 pounds.

Fortunately my endocrinologist was in early and I squeezed myself into a taxi to see him. Dr. Richard P. Cohen (not Richard R. Cohen, he's a podiatrist) has seen it all before. In a flash he gave me an endocrinological adjustment and I was down to my usual height and weight. Oddly enough however, Cohen had gone too far and by the time I stepped out of the cab at my apartment (still intending to make it into the office, mind you) I was 2'7" tall and weighed a scant 34 pounds.

That's no way for an ECD to show up at the office. What kind of authority would I have if I showed up pocket-sized? So, I'm going to take it slow today and try to sleep this anomaly off. I'll be online with limited access to email and you can reach me through Natasha, my able-bodied assistant (woo-hoo) or via cell.