Cynthia Closkey's blog
Fun event announcement from my friend Julie Long: Some men buy themselves a sports car when they turn forty. My husband decided to give himself a rock-n-roll fantasy. His basement band Midlife Crisis is playing at the Byham Theater on his birthday, July 29th. And just to make sure they can fill the joint, they’ve …
Continue reading “The modern alternative to the midlife crisis: Long Live Rock! concert”
I’ve never liked vermouth. When I ask for a Martini I always say, “Skip the vermouth.” So actually I don’t drink Martinis: I drink very cold gin or vodka, up, with a twist. Sometimes I even order just that: “I’d like ice-cold vodka, up, please. Lemon twist.” But this distaste for vermouth nags at me, …
All the good ones — and many, many bad ones — are taken: Car companies have a terrible time selecting new car names. General Motors found out last year that a forthcoming Buick sedan called LaCrosse, to be offered in Canada, was French-Canadian teenage slang for masturbation. Volkswagen’s SUV, the Touareg, is not only unpronounceable …
I understand about 3% of what Sasha Frere-Jones posts (in text and pix) in his blog. I understand his other writing a bit better, and on that basis I see that I can learn from him, and that I’ll be glad I learned it and will grow in positive, so-glad-I-got-here ways. His ears and eyes …
Robert Benchley wrote, “Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment.” My life is dedicated to proving this true. This summer there are many things I should be doing: building and expanding and updating websites for clients, reviewing and responding to manuscripts …
This week’s Onion A.V. Club has a tremendous interview with John Landis, director of many, many great things (including one of my most favorite movies, An American Werewolf in London). There are so many great bits that it’s hard to choose a proper one to excerpt, but here’s a delightful quote: When we made The …
Stuck inside the office on a sunny summer Saturday when you’d rather be out on the links? Then you’ll probably hate reading about other people golfing while you’re working. Even so, I recommend you check out the Guardian’s live coverage of the British Open. Witty and bored British sports reporters watch the tournament on television …
WARNING: A self-absorbed home renovation project post follows. I’ve mentioned My Arduous-Although-Small Bathroom Renovation Project, but I never told you how it wrapped up. The contractors finished their various bits some weeks back, and I’ve enjoyed having a working shower (as opposed to a leaking shower) much more than I’d anticipated. The humid western PA …
The annual, not-to-be-missed Gist Street Cookout is approaching: It’s summer! The corn is over knee-high, and the basil plants have decided they’d like to stay for awhile. That means it’s time to fire up the grill for the annual cookout extravaganza. SATURDAY, July 17th in the backyard of the studio. SATURDAY. This year, we’re featuring …
Nice little case study on “anti-marketing marketing”: the brilliance of Darius Bikoff and Glaceau Smartwater. Despite the success, despite the obvious attention to marketing principles such as design and differentiation, and despite even the national effort, Energy Brands seems to have retained the important sense of being an irreverent underdog: It has mastered the art …