The Best 48

This weekend, my friends and I are meeting for our 17th annual fantasy baseball draft. We've come to call it "The Best 48 Hours of the Year" or "The Best 48" for short.

We drink beer and eat Oreos for breakfast. We do not ask about kids or jobs, home improvement projects or spouses. In fact, I generally arrive home after draft weekend with no new information about my good friends ... except, of course, which third baseman they drafted in the third round. We do ask about girlfriends and potential girlfriends, however; those stories are still often interesting. We've held the draft in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fargo, Minneapolis and Mandan.

It is fun, frivolous and friendship at its finest. It is The Best 48 Hours of the Year.

Who woulda thought?

Today, Ford announced it is selling its Jaguar and Land Rover brands to Tata, an Indian company. It's been 60 years since India gained its independence from Great Britain. Now, two of the former empire's most legendary brands will be owned by an Indian company on the rise and striving to be a global player. This is not the last time we will hear of Indian companies acquiring brands from Europe and the U.S. The global political and business climates are changing in ways we cannot imagine.

Oprah, the Piano Man and his Wife

This past weekend, I saw a promo ad for Oprah's Monday show. Billy Joel was the guest and it said something about his wife and a visit to their New York home. All I really heard was the Billy Joel part because when the Piano Man is in the house, I am there. So, for the first time in my life, I recorded Oprah.

After starting the show with a rousing rendition of "Only the Good Die Young," Joel sat on Oprah's couch and to say he was reserved would be an understatement. He answered her inane questions with one-word responses and just seemed like he didn't want to be there. He clearly was not promoting anything, so why was he there?

After the first commercial break, it all became clear. Joel's wife Katie was now on the couch with Billy and Oprah and she was taking center stage. After some small talk about how they met, which would be embarassing for any self-respecting middle-aged man (more on that in a second), they played the videotaped Joel home tour. Billy did not participate in the tour and Katie used singular pronouns - I, me, my - to describe everything in the house. The tour included Katie showing us how to make meat loaf.

Back in the studio, Oprah unveiled a new cookbook that Katie had created. Ahhh, a new cookbook. Now, it was all coming together.

Billy Joel, rock-and-roll legend and 32 years older than his wife, agreed to be on Oprah to shill for his young wife's cookbook. It was embarassing for the guy and I actually pitied someone whose ex-wife is Christie Brinkley. Strange.

Even more embarassing, maybe, was the conversation about how they met. Apparently, they crossed paths in a bar and Billy started making small talk with Katie. She had no idea who he was and, when she found out, believed Billy Joel's only two hits were "Uptown Girl" and "Piano Man." Did I mention she is 32 years younger than Joel, who is approaching 60? Joel's daughter is five years younger than his wife.

Throughout this painful interview, Joel rarely spoke and made various facial expressions that seemed to say, "Eh, what are you going to do? Do I have to explain that I'm going through all this because she is smokin' hot?"

Classic line of the show came from Billy Joel: "I would have wanted to marry her if she was 30 years older than me." Uh-huh. Well, lucky for you, Billy Joel, that she just happens to be 30 years younger and gorgeous. Funny how things work out that way.

I was waiting for her to say she would have married him even if he wasn't fantastically rich. Didn't happen, though. The show was a bore and kind of pathetic. Note to self: Never record Oprah again.

Best auto industry advertising campaign

A couple of people have commented on my claim that BMW's "the ultimate driving machine" is the best positioning statement in the auto industry. Despite their well-argued points, I'm sticking to my guns.

This time, I thought it would be fun to name the auto industry's all-time best advertising campaign. This distinction also goes to a German nameplate: Volkswagen.

Volkswagen's slice of life ads for its economy Golf featured guys in their early 20s doing what guys in their early 20s do while driving a Volkswagen Golf. In one ad, they unabashedly lip-sync to Styx's "Mr. Roboto." In the campaign's finest moment, "Sunday Afternoon," a twosome bops to the beat while they pick up a discarded chair and then return it to the curbside after they discover its offensive smell. They are hip, cool, laid back, cash-conscious ... and they drive a Volkswagen Golf.

Classics.

Obama takes Gen-X approach

Anyone who's been in the workplace in the last decade has heard at least one presentation on the differences between generations. Human resource people across the country preach about work ethic and reward systems in the context of the Greatest Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millennials.

Funny, then, how this issue has received little to no coverage in the presidential race. We have three distinct generations represented in this contest and we might be well-served to apply a little generational theory to it.

While Barack Obama chronologically skirts the line between Boomers and Xers (he was born in 1961), he is clearly running a campaign with a Gen-X mindset. His message of hope and change is in line with the worldview of those 40 and younger who desire a world in which differences in race, gender, religion and social class are transcended by a common vision of progress. His speech on race last week was just another example of how he recalibrates issues so that he can speak to them on his terms. It was a political speech unlike any I've heard in my lifetime.

His view is shaped by his diverse ethnic and geographic backgrounds. It resembles in many ways the non-traditional family situations that have evolved in this country, beginning with Generation X. Homogeneity is no longer the rule, which requires greater degrees of tolerance and acceptance than in generations past. Gen-Xers do not want to be constrained by the old rules. Their reality is different and they desire a culture that reflects that. Similarly, Obama does not want to be constrained by the old rules of politics and he, too, is attempting to break free.

Stay tuned for future posts on how John McCain represents the Greatest Generation and Hillary Clinton is a classic Boomer.

World War II impact lingers

Ken Burns is probably America's most famous documentary filmmaker (Michael Moore and Al Gore don't count). He has created seminal works on topics as diverse as the Civil War, baseball, The Corps of Discovery (Lewis & Clark and Sakakawea) and jazz.

So, when I heard he had created a seven-part series on World War II simply entitled, "The War," I knew it was something the history freak in me could not resist. The documentary aired on PBS, as all of Burns' works do, and I faithfully recorded all seven episodes.

After several months taking up space on my DVR, I decided I should dive in. It was 14 hours well spent. Although "The War" is not Burns' best work, it is impressive. A look at the History Channel's lineup during any given week made me wonder what material there was left for Burns to cover. World War II has already been documented probably more extensively than any event in American history.

Well, Burns came through. Not necessarily with new historical revelations or even with the very intimate stories of the series' primary sources, although those first-person accounts certainly left an impression. Most impressive, though, was the historical video footage he cobbled together into an amazing visual tableau of the times. Some images that stand out in my mind:

• Japanese kamikaze planes slamming into American ships
• The brutal combat footage from Saipan, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, the Philippines, etc.
• The industrial boom in Mobile, Alabama, and the racial tension that followed
• The relocation camps where Japanese-Americans were sent during the war
• The prison camps where the Japanese held American citizens in the Philippines
• European combat footage clearly taken from the German side of the line
• The horror of German-run concentration camps and what those images did to the GIs who found them

The imagery is amazing and made me think Time magazine got it wrong when they did not name the American GI their "Person of the Century" back in 2000.

The series also reminded me again of that war's lasting impact on the world in so many ways, including technology. The Germans and Americans, especially, pushed the human race forward in technological advancements during those years for the horrific purpose of fighting a war - a "necessary war," as the title of the first episode in Burns' film reminds us - but a war, nonetheless. As the film's finale makes clear, for the residents of this planet, there was a time before The War and a time after it.

If you have any interest in history and have 14 hours to spare, I highly recommend you rent or buy "The War," a film by Ken Burns. His next project is an exploration of the country's national parks. I can't wait!

"Red State / Blue State" Fatigue

Can we please dispense with the "red state / blue state" phrase every politial commentator in the country fell in love with in 2000? These monikers originated in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election as the outcome was being decided by hanging chads and argued by attorneys.

The political dynamics that created the rise of "red state / blue state" do not exist anymore, yet the phrases live on. Political commentators can't seem to do without. "Republicans are working to keep Florida red." "Minnesota is becoming increasingly blue."

Some commentators continue to evolve the phrases, wringing them for all they're worth. States are "purple" when they are a mixture of red and blue, or "light blue" or "dark blue" to describe how ardently Democratic a state may be.

What is so ridiculous is that the colors assigned to each party are the product of a random process driven by nothing more than television coverage of the election. Prior to 2000, the television networks alternated colors on their political maps. In 1996, Democrats were represented by the color red on election-night maps and Republicans were blue. In 1992, vice versa. But the colors that just happened to be used in 2000 stuck and no one wants to go back.

The media loves it because it is self-referential. Their maps, after all, started the oh-so-not-clever designations.

It's time to know when to quit. Drop the "red state / blue state" thing immediately. Please. It's so 2000.

The Accord is going where?

Last night, I saw a television ad for the newly redesigned Honda Accord. The ad's tagline was, "Beyond the road."

Something bothered me when the ad ended, but it took a couple of seconds before I realized what it was ... I don't know what that means. Where does the Accord go, exactly? So, I thought about it in a literal sense. What is "beyond the road?"

Does it fly?

Does it defy the laws of gravity and just sort of skid off the Earth at some point?

Is it a spaceship in car clothing?

I know it can't time-travel because it's not a 1980s DeLorean and they didn't mention a flux capacitor as standard equipment.

Now, I work in advertising, so I get the ad's tagline is trying to convey that the car will somehow allow its driver to transcend the usual driving experience and go to some esoteric and satisfying place "beyond the road." But as a car and as an ad, I don't want it. They can keep them both.

Postscript: BMW has the best positioning statement of all time in the auto industry: The ultimate driving machine.

The Man in the Suit

Big props to Michael Schwab for the image and name I'm using to represent this blog ... The Man in the Suit. Schwab is a very talented graphic artist whose work is strong, iconic and powerfully nuanced. I never get tired of it. Check out his work here.

I have never met Schwab and do not have permission to use his illustration. I am hoping that by crediting his work I will not receive a cease and desist letter should he or his legal team ever be alerted to its use.

Thanks are also due to my colleague, a very talented graphic artist in his own right, who introduced me to Schwab's work. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Everyone's 15 minutes

Andy Warhol was a prescient man in at least one sense. When he said, in the 1960s, "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes," he obviously wasn't referring to blogs, MySpace, Facebook, or YouTube. None of those words even existed at the time. But he certainly had an inkling of what communication technology, human pride and the cult of fame would bring.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a college basketball game. When a player accomplished something noteworthy on the court, his image was beamed 10 feet tall on the overhead video board. Notice I said "video" board. It's not just a still image of the player looking tough, mean or formidable. No, instead of intimidation, now the player's goal is to do something funny, clever or just goofy during his short video performance. Spinning a basketball, winking, pointing, flashing gang signs, dancing ... all very entertaining.

My point is that every player displayed on the video board knew how to perform, knew exactly the type of persona he wanted to create for the fans. Everyone under 25 years old in America in 2008 knows how to preen, pose and peak others' interest. They are creating their persona, their brand, their public identity. When the camera is on, they know what to do. It's go time.

I'm reminded of these things as I write my first blog. Does anyone care what I have to say? Maybe. Does that deter me? No. I can blog, and so I do blog. And, therefore, in early 21st century America, at least ... I am.