From Vancouver Magazine Fall Issue 2012 *** Note: I was inspired by the always-fascinating work of Eric Falkenstein (at Falkenblog) in my application of Batesian Mimicry to consumer behaviour. *** It will have escaped nobody’s notice that Vancouver is a top-ranked city in at least three categories. We’re always high on those “liveable city” lists. […]
Tag: Consumerism
Creative Chaos Now Available in Paperback
Two things are happening right now that have an intense and resonant connection. The connection is forged by my knowledge that The Blue Light Project might never have been written were it not for the Red Gate. This is the piece of art that started my whole creative process. It’s called Rise Fly Land and […]
The Adventures of Generation F
From the November 2010 Issue of Cooking Light A couple of hours after setting foot in Brooklyn for the first time, I find the heart of the action. It’s 7 p.m. on a hot summer weeknight, and I’m hanging with a group of fashionable young people, all good-looking and under 30, who favor the uptown stylish […]
They’re Everywhere
Holy stickers Batman. These things have hit Toronto, New York, Halifax… everywhere. Now they’ve reportedly crossed the pond. They’re going up in the UK now. Move over Banksy. Or whatever. I have no idea what this means.
Negative Empathy
Should writers of fiction review the work of colleagues? I avoid it personally, and my rational for doing is the basis for my side of a debate that was part of the CBC Literary Smackdown series recently. The other side of the issue was taken by esteemed Victoria-based novelist and nonfiction writer Robert Weirsma, who also writes a lot of fine reviews. […]
CEO of the Year: Christine Day of lululemon
Man, did I get pilloried for this article online. Lululemon fans thought it was insulting (and I didn’t even get into the whole Who is John Galt business). Worse, someone on Facebook called it a puff piece, because I didn’t get into the real psychology of the CEO in question. Who is Christine Day and […]
Do You Trust Your Phone?
The Blue Light Project weirdly presages this extraordinary news story: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told smartphone and email users “You’re all screwed”, as he unveiled his latest publications. The 287 documents Wikileaks has released point to 150 agencies around the world that are making use of *existing technology* to monitor people’s phones and computers. Software […]
What We Talk About When We Talk About “Buyer’s Pain”
Globe and Mail ROB Magazine My introduction to the topic of “buyer’s pain” came via a colleague, an editor of an American food magazine, who was describing the excruciatingly long line-ups he had to endure to get a hamburger at the Shake Shack in New York’s Madison Square Park. I’ve never eaten one, but I’ve […]
V-TARP: The Vancouver Transit Adspace Reappropriation Project
So Banksy declares street art dead and apparently nobody was listening. JermIX certainly wasn’t. Working with UK import Vegas – a stencil artist of remarkable skill – Jerm has launched what many consider his most aggressive campaign ever. VTARP, it’s called. Vancouver Transit Adspace Reappropriation Project. Which sounds like a black line item in the […]
The Envy Economy
From the Globe and Mail Report on Business Magazine When Oliver Stone’s upcoming sequel to Wall Street (Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps) is released this fall, there will be renewed debate on whether “greed is good.” People may disagree with Gordon Gekko, just as his protégé Bud Fox ultimately did in the original film, but […]