http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php Advising great leaders since 1988 en 2008-11-22T02:32:39 cindy@closkey.com hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=251&c=1 2004-02-06T11:39:09 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Personal My blogging plans have taken a new direction, so I'm rebranding. (Practice what you preach, you know.) I'm also using the change as an opportunity to switch to MovableType: more features, better support, all kinds of good stuff. Please swing by the new space and join the fun. swing by the new space and join the fun.]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=250&c=1 2004-02-06T09:56:39 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Literature & writing "The Swan," in The Missouri Review. Link via Maud Newton. "The Swan," in The Missouri Review.

Link via Maud Newton.]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=249&c=1 2004-02-05T16:27:52 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Literature & writing The last word on the "wardrobe failure," from one close to the action. The last word on the “wardrobe failure,” from one close to the action.
]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=248&c=1 2004-02-05T13:50:53 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) General Tomorrow is National Wear Red Day, and Choire Sicha of Gawker is having nothing of it: National Wear Red Day is a project of Glamour magazine, Laura Bush, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which begs the question: Would you jump off a bridge if Laura Bush told ... National Wear Red Day is a project of Glamour magazine, Laura Bush, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which begs the question: Would you jump off a bridge if Laura Bush told you to? Of course not. So if she told a bunch of winter-pasty magazine girls, frantically getting ready for carousing on the first night of fashion week, to dress in hideous bright red outfits that emphasize blotchiness and alcoholic red-eye, would you do that either? We certainly hope not.
]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=247&c=1 2004-02-05T13:39:59 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Media/Internet 1965: Kenneth Tynan says 'fuck' on TV and four motions are tabled in parliament 1976: the Sex Pistols use it on a teatime show and are banned from TV 2004: more than 10 million people watch John Lydon use the 'C' word and fewer than 100 complain Mark Lawson of The Guardian ... 1965: Kenneth Tynan says ‘fuck’ on TV and four motions are tabled in parliament
1976: the Sex Pistols use it on a teatime show and are banned from TV
2004: more than 10 million people watch John Lydon use the ‘C’ word and fewer than 100 complain

Mark Lawson of The Guardian considers how Britain’s perceptions of cursing on-air have changed and what it means for the future.

It’s particularly interesting to consider this event in light of Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl performance and the subsequent Tittygate fallout (no pun intended). Lawson highlights two factors as key to public reaction: labeling and context.

Certainly no one watching the halftime show was warned that there might be largely naked (and floppy) breasts in view. So reaction is acceptable for that reason.

As for context: From the beginning of the song, the camera shots of sexily-dressed dancers lolling on the stage should have clued people in that the content would not be family-friendly. The song wasn’t particularly new, and the lyrics described pretty much what direction the action was going to take. But Super Bowl halftime does take place before 9pm anywhere in the U.S., and there’s an understanding that near-nakedness doesn’t happen ever on broadcast television in this country. So again, the public outcry isn’t a surprise.

What strikes me though is the difference between an FTC investigation (in the Super Bowl show case) and 100 complaining letters (in the John Lydon instance). Had Lydon made the same remark in the same context on a U.S.-based program, I believe the public reaction would be greater, and he’d have received more than a verbal warning.

Of course, what Lydon probably wanted (and didn’t get) was to be kicked off the show. Irony!]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=246&c=1 2004-02-05T10:56:48 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) General Anytime I start to think that maybe I'd like to move to Manhattan, I'm going to re-read this and remember why I haven't done so yet. I’m going to re-read this and remember why I haven’t done so yet.
]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=245&c=1 2004-02-04T21:30:29 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Media/Internet What the Hell is the Fibonacci Series? Textism explains, with pictures! Textism explains, with pictures!
]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=244&c=1 2004-02-04T11:10:49 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) General The Pixies are reuniting! Sources have confirmed to Billboard.com that dates are being booked, and guitarist/vocalist Frank Black's unofficial Web site (http://www.frankblack.net) reports that the Pixies will first embark on a North American warm-up tour that will lead up to the Coachella appearance. A full-scale tour will follow, encompassing both ...
Sources have confirmed to Billboard.com that dates are being booked, and guitarist/vocalist Frank Black’s unofficial Web site (http://www.frankblack.net) reports that the Pixies will first embark on a North American warm-up tour that will lead up to the Coachella appearance. A full-scale tour will follow, encompassing both North America and summer European festivals.

Despite all the plans, drummer David Lovering told Billboard.com last week that the group has yet to begin rehearsing.]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=243&c=1 2004-02-04T11:08:13 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Biz strategy Every entrepreneurial company has no choice but to focus on sales. Most of the great leaders – military, business, government and entrepreneurs – are great salesmen. Great product concepts are one thing; great product successes are another. The difference usually centers on sales. The magic may be the brand, but ... Every entrepreneurial company has no choice but to focus on sales. Most of the great leaders – military, business, government and entrepreneurs – are great salesmen. Great product concepts are one thing; great product successes are another. The difference usually centers on sales. The magic may be the brand, but the carpet is the sales force. Your brand can’t fly without it.


John Bello, CEO and co-founder of South Beach Beverage Co. (makers of the SoBe beverage line) describes how insistent, agressive sales efforts made their company a success in a saturated market.
]]> http://closkey.com/machiavelli/index.php?p=242&c=1 2004-02-03T14:08:48 Cindy Closkey (mailto:cindy@closkey.com) Literature & writing No. 15 Usher's Island -- the "dark, gaunt house" on the south quays of Dublin's River Liffey immortalised in Joyce's best-known short story "The Dead" -- very nearly didn't survive the passage of time. When Dublin barrister and Joyce fan Brendan Kilty bought the four-storey Georgian building three years ago, ... No. 15 Usher’s Island – the “dark, gaunt house” on the south quays of Dublin’s River Liffey immortalised in Joyce’s best-known short story “The Dead” – very nearly didn’t survive the passage of time. When Dublin barrister and Joyce fan Brendan Kilty bought the four-storey Georgian building three years ago, it was little more than a wreck, testimony to the local authority’s failure to protect Dublin’s illustrious heritage. Fortunately, it has been restored by the new owners – read the details here. For context, you can also read the full text of Joyce’s most famous short story.

(Link via the amazing Maud Newton.)]]>