Too Big to Fail? Think Again.
Clay Shirky, makes an excellent point about the collapse of newspapers, which could just as easily apply to a host of other North American industries that are so unwilling to even consider the possibility that times have changed that they've entered a period of surreality:
When reality is labeled unthinkable, it creates a kind of sickness in an industry. Leadership becomes faith-based, while employees who have the temerity to suggest that what seems to be happening is in fact happening are herded into Innovation Departments, where they can be ignored en masse. This shunting aside of the realists in favor of the fabulists has different effects on different industries at different times. One of the effects on the newspapers is that many of their most passionate defenders are unable, even now, to plan for a world in which the industry they knew is visibly going away.A whole host of North American industries have allowed fabulists to set their agendas for resisting reform: sprawl developers, auto manufacturers, coal-dependent power companies and cattle feed lots.
What they refuse to see is that a business model is not a mandate. People still want good stories and quality information today, just as they will want housing, mobility, energy and food tomorrow: the newspaper is still a doomed model.
The curious thing about the various plans hatched in the ’90s is that they were, at base, all the same plan: “Here’s how we’re going to preserve the old forms of organization in a world of cheap perfect copies!” The details differed, but the core assumption behind all imagined outcomes (save the unthinkable one) was that the organizational form of the newspaper, as a general-purpose vehicle for publishing a variety of news and opinion, was basically sound, and only needed a digital facelift.You could very easily rewrite the last sentence to read "the core assumption behind all imagined outcomes (save the unthinkable one) was that the organizational model of American industry, as a general-purpose vehicle for delivering prosperity, was basically sound, and only needed a sustainability facelift" and it would ring just as true.
The single biggest delusion in North America today is that the interconnected planetary problems bearing down on us can be faced with slight alterations to the current order; that a model of delivery prosperity based on suburbs and big cars and consumerism and profligate energy use and the careless spewing of pollution in all directions can be fixed through the swapping out of some of its constituent parts for slightly greener parts -- that green-built McMansions and hybrid cars and compact fluorescent light bulbs will prop the model up indefinitely. They won't, because we are in a situation where incremental reform has already been made meaningless by a revolution in context, and industry CEOs who demand incredulously to know how we're going to run an economy if car-dependent, high-consumption suburban lifestyles go away would do well to understand what Clay is saying here:
When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place. They are demanding to be told that ancient social bargains aren’t in peril, that core institutions will be spared, that new methods of spreading information will improve previous practice rather than upending it. They are demanding to be lied to.We're moving more and more quickly into a period of rapid transformation. We could be embracing that change and setting out to build the next smart, bright green economy. Instead, we allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking that the current models are "too big to fail." They're not, and the longer we listen, the more epic the failure will be.
Photo credit: flickr/jmtimages, Creative Commons license.
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(Posted by Alex Steffen in Columns at 11:22 PM)
cookbook--ground pork, chorizo, and bacon burgers, topped with romesco and manchego cheese: yes, they're incredible--but it's kicked in properly over the last couple of weeks, as I've been making burgers from 
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was available when I was writing my article.
cookbook. The dish, from a renowned restaurant called 
Like many of life's greatest unexpected boons, it all started with a friendly dare. But now The Roots have the last laugh: as the new permanent house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the critical darlings of progressive hip-hop are suddenly on the cusp of becoming a household name. Only ten days into their new gig, ?uestlove -- drummer , creative guru, and unofficial spokesman for The Roots -- already gives the likes of Max Weinberg a serious run for his money as a contender for the coolest drummer on late night TV history. The immediate impact of his overnight ubiquity is only starting to hit him, as we found out.
"I've done more interviews in the past four days than I ever had in my 18 year career," said a visibly spent ?uestlove when he spoke to PAPERMAG last week at (le) Poisson Rouge's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon kick off party. But while the shock and awe of instant fame is jarring, ?uestlove is already reaping its benefits: in addition to his new "professional" late night gig, he begins a DJ residency at the Le Poisson Rouge and weekly jam sessions with The Roots at the Highline Ballroom later this month. And Roots fans take heart: a new studio album is in the works, slated for an early 2010 release. Listen closely, because if ?uestlove has his way, you may just catch a preview of new Roots material "sandwiched" between Jimmy's skits and laughing fits.
So was the first taping nerve-wracking?
The buzz was very good at NBC. We had a great taping. We did have a few musical rough patches, but nothing that we can't fix. I'm excited; it was really great to see Jimmy interact live with people he's actually social with, like Justin Timberlake, our "surprise" guest the first night. The audience ate it up!
How has it been working alongside Jimmy?
Jimmy has been amazing. He has so much faith in us: his first words going on the air were "this is the best live band in the world!" So much pressure! Just call us the funkiest band in late night; I can deal with that."
Were you a fan of his on SNL?
Of course. And I kept thinking going into this: 'Are you going laugh at your own jokes? Are you going to break your character?' And he still does! It took him about four minutes to keep a straight face in a promo shoot recently; one of us said something dumb between us and he couldn't stop laughing. He made me feel like the funniest guy on earth.
Who initiated the arrangement of The Roots becoming Jimmy's house band?
My former boss did -- I used to work for The Chappelle Show, and our music supervisor Neil Brennan dared Jimmy to hire us, knowing that we wouldn't accept it. And just to spite Neil, we took the gig.
Was there a financial motivation?
No, but survival for us is bar none. That's job one: It's one thing when you are in your twenties and you don't have responsibilities, and you can live in your parent's house. Once you have those financial responsibilities, people to take care of, and a staff to pay, you think differently. It's freed up time with our families. And actually, The Roots have already conquered every possible medium except television. This is our last frontier.
The Roots are about to appear before millions of people every night. Has it hit you?
It wasn't until I went to bed last night that I realized, 'Oh my God, this exposure could actually make things better for the group! At least three million people will see us each night! This is the exposure we need!' For some reason, I didn't immediately equate the opportunity with potential success: instead, I had focused on things like, 'Can we afford to give up 250 gigs per year and survive? Can we think creatively over there?'
How do you determine what you play on the show?
"Here I Come" from Game Theory is the actual theme to the show. And right now, we're in songwriting mode. Thus far, we've written about 78 songs -- we call them "sandwiches" -- for the show. It's a mixture of both covers and original material.
Is it true you were writing 25 songs a day?
Well, our first week we were a little overzealous! We were getting up at 5 in the morning and working out... then by day four, we were like, 'snooze, snooze, snooze.' I think what got in the way of writing the 200 sandwiches -- and that's how many we're doing because I don't want the show to get stale -- is that they are really incorporating the crap out of us on the show! Skits, sketches, to accompany musical artists... there's a whole lot musical activity on the show besides "sandwich-making," so it's a lot to do."
Have you specifically influenced any of Jimmy's choices for musical guests to be featured on the show?
They definitely asked us for some sort of thumbs up sign on Miss Santigold. She doesn't want me to say this, but contrary to hipster theory, she's not from Brooklyn, but from Philly!
And don't YOU currently commute from Philly? How is that?
Everyday! In a way, it's torturous because you can actually get to Philly faster than you could to Yonkers from Brooklyn at the pace of New York traffic. It's not quite long enough to be considered lengthy. It's like 90 minutes. And on the bus, you have to make a choice: you need to decide if you are going to sleep or if you are going to prep.
Will you consider relocating to Manhattan?
I'm considering it much faster than I expected. Initially, I was going to wait about a year. But I'm crashing. Now that I have the residencies at (le) Poisson Rouge and Highline Ballroom... I mean, three nights of the week, I will be ending my nights at 4 or 5 in the morning. Just to go back home on the bus would be torture.
What do you say to those who may consider this house band gig "selling out"?
For a person to be responsible, pay their bills, and feed their family, is that selling out? I'm not walking around in carrying around $10,000 in change; I drive a Scion and a Mini-Cooper, two very modest cars, and I live in a modest house. If the music were compromised in any way, that's not even selling out... that would be selling ourselves short! In 2009, I don't know what the definition of "selling out" even is. Instead, I see the challenges this opportunity offers: I went in with zero expectations, but I see that we can redefine and reformat what a house band is.
Has anything surprised you about the transition to becoming a nightly house band?
There hasn't been one particular monkey wrench they've thrown at us that we couldn't handle; I'm very happy with the way we've been received. It's going to take some time to adjust; we are extremely nervous each day. We do under go extreme preparation each day; in fact, I think over-preparing has caused us to fumble a bit.
Does that preparation process feel less organic for the group?
I wouldn't say that.... well, actually I take that back. It does feel less organic. We now rehearse five hours a day. Before now, I could count all the The Roots rehearsals of the past decade on maybe one hand. But you can only get better if you practice all the time.
How will The Roots evolve the role and performance boundaries of a house band?
My goal is to introduce new musical ideas and to influence the direction of the format's evolution. We're going to introduce a new feature: "Sit-In of the Week." It's where an unknown entity could sit with us five nights a week and get the same exposure they'd get playing one song on another show. Someone like Esperanza Spalding or Robert Glasper or 21-year-old Australian bassist, Tal Wilkenfeld -- she looks like Rod Stewart's ex-wife but plays like fucking Charles Mingus.
Sonically, how far can you get away with pushing that envelope?
Traditionally, there's always been a limited amount of genres that house bands reference: there's AM rock, the post-disco staples, the so-called P-Funk references. But there are more musical languages that we can charter; that's where we come in. I mean we can play with bent notes, we can play with time signatures, or do all chromatic chord versions of songs -- things you wouldn't even hear a normal band do, let alone a professional late night band.
Flushing Meadows: Leading up to the April 13th grand opening (or April 2, if you're going to the exhibition games) of the new Mets stadium Citifield, we've heard a lot about what 
I realize that the very word Lieberman sends a lot of liberals into fits of apoplexy. But it's worth making an additional point to 
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for fear that he is recovering too quickly from Tommy John surgery, reports Adam Rubin in the 
As a result of some violations of building codes the 
I try to eat consciously. I only purchase free range eggs. I try to always buy organic beef. But sometimes I don’t quite understand the difference between terms like No Antibiotics Administered, All Natural, and Free Range. If you also have hard time decoding claims on packaged meats then 
After the Dominican Republic’s surprising loss to the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, 
The trio of 
We're at a new juncture in the course of iPhone development, I believe. Twitter has basically monopolized the "text exporting" function of your iPhone -- if you want to broadcast text from a mobile device, most of us do it through Twitter. But now, we're seeing a whole host of sites and services aiming to be the distributors for your richer media: photos, audio, 
Heston Blumenthal, proprietor of the world's 
Marco Pierre White, the archetypal badboy chef and 
Mrs. Obama with staff and volunteers at Miriam’s Kitchen; Schenkelberg is in the navy blazer. Courtesy of Choice Photography.
a Phillies game for $60; Astros box seats for $50; etc… Is this some kind of joke?”
With a solo album out last week -- believe it or not, it is his first ever -- one cannot help but wonder exactly what Joseph Saddler, aka Grandmaster Flash plans to bring to the hip-hop landscape in 2009, 30 years after "Superrappin'" defined early hip-hop's dancefloor renaissance. The man whose group The Furious Five revolutionized early, socially conscious party rap back when M.I.A. herself was still an infant has released On The Bridge: Concept of a Culture, and his mission is -- you guessed it -- to "bridge the gap" between hip-hop generations both old and new, young and middle-aged. The result? Everyone from Snoop Dogg to Busta Rhymes to KRS One to Princess Superstar (remember her?) make an appearance on a crowded and busy party album where Flash himself often takes a backseat to his coterie of guest performers.
In a post-MTV era, where CDs (and the stores that sell them) are moribund and new fans are more likely hear "Swagger" as a ringtone than a radio hit, he remains upbeat and convinced he is in touch with today's youth. After all, at the end of the day, "hot tracks" will always prevail. Fresh off the video shoot for lead single "Swagger," Flash spoke of his new album and future creative endeavors with the ambitious, yet wisely guarded enthusiasm of a veteran on the rebound.
With your album The Bridge, you aim to "bridge the gap" between the old and new generations of hip-hop and their respective audiences. Do you think your new album will connect to today's youth? What are your expectations?
I don't really have any specific commercial expectations. I live by the motto, "do the best you can." Everything else will work itself out. When I was given the freedom to do this particular project, I did it in the manner I wanted and I had fun doing it. And it is a good record, in my opinion! We'll have to wait and see.
What sort of audience do you have in mind for this album?
It's for anyone and everyone. Age is irrelevant. We'll be promoting the videos to MTV, the usual youth vehicles, of course. You have to. But I will always reach out to the old school fans. Again, that's the type of crossover this particular record tries to accomplish: it's all about bridging gaps.
Did you approach this album through the mindset of a producer, of a DJ, or as an all-around "solo artist"?
I guess the DJ mindset prevails -- for me, it really is about producing hot tracks, for the most part. Let's say that I approached the album with the frame of mind of a DJ, but with the experience of a producer. I do know my way around a studio!
Hip hop audiences have obviously expanded and changed dramatically over the years: what was once an underground genre that appealed primarily to an urban demographic became accessible to mainstream, middle America. In your eyes, was this a progressive development or was something compromised in the process?
think that evolution was a great thing for the genre! When something becomes loved by so many people, it has to become commercialized to a certain a degree. But, of course, there are those who do commercialize correctly and those who do it wrong. But that's because it is a huge pool to swim in: some people respect the water, some people don't.
So hip hop doesn't need to "get back to its roots," like some purists say?
Why? What is its "roots"? What is a "purist" anyway? Hip-hop never would have gotten overseas, it would have never left the Bronx. I had always hoped that, through some vehicle, it would always be more popular than just a phenomenon in the Bronx. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to be this big, but there's no way I'd have wanted to limit its success. What else would I be doing?
Are there any key developments or collaborations in hip-hop that have stood out to you over the years?
I wouldn't say one particular giant commercial collaboration has blown me away. But I see little things that excite me. It could be an amazing opening act that comes on before me -- "shit, that's really cool." Or when I tour overseas and see MCs doing it in different languages. I may not know what the hell he is talking about, but I see European DJs do some amazing things on the turntable. And I go, "who would have thought of that?" Those little moments blow me away and prove to me how far hip-hop has come.
Princess Superstar guests on your track, "Some Chicks." What other female MCs are you currently into?
Byata and Hedonis Da Amazon -- those two amaze me. And the three of them together? It's a hell of a team. I was unsure for a little while if I'd be able to get these three talents on the same song -- "Some Chicks." It's so time consuming chasing one down, chasing the other down. But it worked out and we had a great time.
How do you pick the singles? How did you pick "Swagger" as the first?
That's always the problem. I try to keep away from that side of things. The music is "my child." I let the record company "babysit my child." We just shot the video for it with Ludacris's video director, Paris. I'm really happy with it.
What's next for you?
Two new albums on the table. First, I have to see what develops with this one. My production angle is always different. I've been blessed in that I know how to operate electronics. I'm always wanting to see if I can do something differently -- why 1234? Why not 1432? So, I may do that. But first I'm going to tour quite heavily.
What non-hip-hop acts would you love to guest produce?
I probably would work with Limp Bizkit. Or The Killers. But I actually think it would be really cool to produce something funky for U2. Do you think Bono would be up for it?
Bono's always up for something. Speaking of such, will you be seeking commercial placement for your new material, U2-style?
One of these songs is going to be in a soccer commercial in Europe. And that's so big overseas, so it's a big deal. It's a tribute to breakdancers.
What artists or producers do you consider innovators right now?
There's so many things I hear and there's so many new people. A lot right now is very innovative, very cutting edge, and things are beginning to blur. You can no longer pick out a true bass sound or a true string sound. It's a fusion, and we have technology to thank. So many people can push the envelope. -- Neptunes, Swiss Beatz, M.I.A. I don't really focus on the artist. I don't play favorites. I don't want to politicize music. I can't listen to a song for enjoyment anymore -- I listen to the "why" of the song. I analyze it. I can't just enjoy it. It's the production side of my mind.
So, what do you think of British subgenres like dubstep or grime?
I like them. Dubstep is hot, it's probably my favorite style. Grime -- it doesn't sound like it, does it? It sounds quite polished. Who gave it that name?
In 2007, you and The Furious Five were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Who is overdue for that recognition?
Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force need to come next, but the list goes on and on. For me, it was an amazing honor to be recognized by the Hall of Fame. Let's hope the trend continues...
On that note, do you think the first generation of hip-hop artists are getting their proper due now?
I say that if you want to be remembered, you have to be present. You don't want to become a myth, you need to be on the scene. Out of sight, out of mind. Even Presidents have their promotional duties. It's not someone's fault they don't remember you if you don't make yourself seen.
Cassidy Maldonado
A few years ago I would’ve sworn I’d never give up a rich desktop email program like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird to check my email in a web browser. But here I am in 2009, a full-time web-based Gmail user. Back when I was a zealous Thunderbird evangelist, I said it was 
Send & Archive–There’s nothing more satisfying than replying to a message and making it disappear out of your inbox in a single click, and the “Send & Archive” button does just that. For Inbox-zero-ers, this one is a godsend.
Forgotten Attachment Detector–I always forget I have this one enabled, until I write a message about that document I’ve attached and hit send without attaching it. 
Canned Responses–For someone who sends tons of repetitive email like myself, scripted responses means I write back to people asking the same questions faster. I’ve got generic canned responses set up for bug reports, press releases, and just general “thanks for your note” replies.
Quote selected text–If you get long email and want an easy way to snip out sections to reply to selectively, Quote Selected Text will do the job. Select text in the message you want to respond to, then tap the R key to quote it and only it.
Calendar gadget–Put your Google Calendar’s agenda in Gmail’s sidebar with this one. It’s a no-brainer, helpful add-on to your Gmail dashboard.
