Chasing Dreams

I nspired by a similar open letter written by a buddy of mine.   I wanted to offer my unsolicited concerns and suggestions to the motion picture department of Detective Comics. First of all that alleged "leak" of Batman vs. Superman is beneath you. So what nerds globally are all talking about Avengers 2 instead of your production? You haven't given them much to talk about. Any good marketer knows you have to maintain engagement, especially for a group with a notoriously short attention span. Ok you have Gotham, which I hear is fantastic but that’s a prequel with not tie in to Bats vs. Supes.  Listen you've already proven your bonifides, your street cred with a huge win from Nolan’s Batman trilogy; by the way the best Batman iteration to hit the screen yet. Sorry Tim Burton and Adam West.  Anyway, I can get past the stunt of trying to ride the buzz/excitement coat tails of the Star Wars trailer, oh don’t even try to deny it, it was leaked on th...

W ell this is my first post for this year and it’s all about love and romance.  I was inspired by a post I saw recently declaring the death of romance. Now at first I thought it was a bunch of bullshit, you know just something one of my friends posted to get the “likes” of bitter heartbroken folks, but after I thought about it I realized it’s true. All you have to do is look on any of the social networks and see an abundance of memes and music reminding you about cheating.  The emotional need to avoid being played has overtaken the emotional need to be loved, which REQUIRES putting yourself out there and taking risks. No one wants to be in that situation where the object of your affection doesn’t reciprocate or worse, takes advantage of the situation. As a result, we’ve become so guarded that few people take chances anymore and the few that do, are ridiculed for being corny as the naysayers sit back waiting for the whole thing to blow up so they can say “I t...

S o I'm at work, it's an uneventful night and the women in my office are all talking about young hot actors but in a way that seemed different than usual.  When I ask what's going on they tell me it's about Paul Walker. It didn't hit me until I looked at my Instagram and saw all the posts about his death.  HIS DEATH? News of his death was a shock. I mean at first I thought it was one of those stupid Twitter/Facebook hoaxes that pop up every now and then about Bill Nye or Carlton from the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" dying but this was real. Paul's death seem to resonate with a lot of people but it has really hit young people hard. It's been two weeks and still social media is buzzing with stories about tributes and probes about the fiery crash. But it makes sense. A school friend of mine posted that she couldn't stop thinking about him and what had happened.  Of course not. He wasn't sick, this wasn't the result of a drug...

  IMPORTED FROM MY TUMBLR ACCOUNT   E very now and then I get hit with “are you even black” which doesn’t phase me in the least since this country I love and call home suffers from deep racial scars that imposes expectations based on silly stereotypes . So lemme drop some science, as we used to say back in the day. I’m not now or ever was a thug but I know how to get what I want. I don’t go around saying “can I axe you something” or order skrimps at Red Lobster because I earned a fucking education at an accredited college and not in some prison which has served me well. It may not have been on the streets but I’m wise enough to smell trouble and avoid that shit when I can. I know my past and understand the debate about black people owning the word nigga and as a result removing its destructive power but I prefer to say brotha because when that shit is used casually by everyone and shows up on instagram memes the pain of its destructive power is forg...

I was planning to just post something on Facebook, but this deserves a full on rant and I'm deliberately writing about this and not the Navy Yard shooting because I don't know what to say to people that feel the need to own a gun without significant regulation is more important than keeping them out of the hands of dangerous people. If this statement got you going, read on I got lots more. Ok... so this is in response to the uproar from the right about the NEW beautiful Miss America, Nina Davuluri pictured to the left in her traditional Hindu garb.  A slew of racist Tweets emerged when she was crowned, much like the Tweets posted when Amandla Stenberg appeared as the character Rue in the Hunger Games, remember that?  Even Todd Starnes of Fox News or as I like to call them Faux News adding fuel to the fire with a Tweet about who the "real Miss America" should have been.  So for those out there that feel the new Miss America does not repres...

Ok it's been a few weeks since my last post and it's definitely high time for me to weigh in on this Syria mess. Secretary of State Kerry, WTF man? Allow me to put what I understand so far into context: This bloody sectarian civil war has been waging for years with thousands of casualties , an unfortunate result of the Arab Spring . As many protested and fought for a better life, Syria's leader   Bashar al Assad  manipulated it into a civil war with rebels fighting rebels instead of uniting against him. A skillful execution of divide and conquer. It's been reported that he perpetrated a chemical attack resulting in the deaths of over 1,400 non combatants including women and 426 young children . Babies man! Evidence of this attack has been accepted by not only the US but other nations like France and England while  Russia and China notably have blocked efforts for a strike until the UN inspectors conclude their report.  The situation is much more comp...

S o as a Marketer I am fascinated by politics. Building local and national brands, gauging public sentiment and adjusting strategy to optimize results. Politics is a Marketer’s dream.   Anthony Weiner's recent bid for Mayor of New York is an interesting case study on Brand self destruction. I have to admit I wasn't paying attention to the story until I saw his bid had legs and his greatest opponent was himself. Now I know that a great many of you are reading this from outside the US so allow me to briefly lay out the whole sordid tale of Anthony Weiner's damaged brand and how he tried to save it. Anthony David Weiner Former Democratic Congressman from New York Previously fervent bachelor with notable affairs before marriage Preoccupation with sexting revealed on the Opie and Andy radio show Insistent denials coupled with a claim his Twitter account was hacked by opponents Investigation started by private security firm costing Weiner about $45 More p...