Diatribes by Joah

Party & Fashion Show in Austin Tonite!

More deets: A friend of mine is hosting a party Tonight at The Vintage Lounge to find Austin's Hottest Longhorn. There will be three phases of the competition: 1) Walk the runway a couple of times and strike a few poses. 2) Tell us why you are UT's hottest Longhorn. 3) Dance off for the final three.

If you want to compete, send pics and emails to James De Los Santos @ surrealjames@yahoo.com. If you want to see the show and party, your $5 cover includes your first well drink.

At home sick? Immerse yourself in social media

(Cross-posted at Points of View: http://pulsepointgroup.com/pov/)

This swine flu stuff is seriously getting out of control. Yes, it’s gone viral. On Twitter and Google that is. Everywhere you look online, there’s something about the swine flu. And every American with any semblance of a cold is now at home worried about having something far worse, spending all their time online…

Which leads me to today’s big Texas story. University Interscholastic League, UIL, which governs high school sports in the state, has officially postponed baseball, softball, track and other spring sports events until May 11. And here are some of the top search terms on Google Trends:

#2 – swine flu maine

#10 – texas uil

#24 – university interscholastic league

#39 – maine cdc

#49 – swine flu san jose

And some of Twitter’s top trends: Swine Flu, #swineflu, and Mexico.

One thing these trends aren’t telling me is whether or not all of this social media activity and online traffic is doing more to spread panic about a potential pandemic than it is doing to disseminate relevant information about the swine flu itself.

What I do know is this: this swine flu is proving that it’s important to understand digital and social media for your personal health (unless you want to be put on hold with your doctor’s receptionist) and your company or organization.

One of the things PulsePoint offers clients is something called an Immersion where we help a company or organization’s employees better understand the online channel from a holistic point of view.  We won’t teach you how to become the top blogger overnight nor will we get you 2,000 Twitter followers in one week, but we are positioned to help clients and employees better interpret online content and conversations and train them on important skills in the online channel.

For example, right now the UIL is experiencing rapidly increased search resonation and Web traffic, not to mention the hundreds if not more phone calls and emails their staff is almost certainly getting from concerned athletes, coaches and parents.

An Immersion for their staff would provide the necessary skills and processes to use the Web (and social media) to do some of the things they probably rely on traditional media to do, i.e. informing coaches, parents and student-athletes, putting out an official statement and answering questions.

Regardless of how much the swine flu truly impacts the high school sports seasons here in Texas, UIL is one of many organizations that should look to immerse itself in social media. One place to start would be an Immersion, although they shouldn’t wait that long to get on Twitter.

By the looks of it, this thing may not go away anytime soon (see below).

Classic Clip: Kindergarten Cop

How to break down the ACL Lineup

Yes, yes, yes, I've seen the ACL Lineup. Duh. Don't you realize my life revolves around days like today :-)



I'm going to walk you through who I plan to see, depending on set times of course. First there are the headliners who will play mostly evening sets.



Pearl Jam has been impressive each of the five times I've seen them. So I'll go back for another serving.

I've seen DMB six times and half of the shows were memorable, and the other half were disappointing. Here's hoping my first DMB sighting since the loss of Leroi Moore is a great one.

And how could I not see Beastie Boys!

And John Legend and Lily Allen at ACL...nice R&B flair there. Not to mention Mos Def, an MC who knows how to put on a good show.

I've seen the Toadies, Citizen Cope, Arctic Monkeys and Thievery Corp, so I may skip out on them if push comes to shove in terms of scheduling, but I'll certainly make an effort to see Ben Harper because his last ACL gig was one of my favorite performances.

I'm hoping GIrl Talk isn't playing when the sun is still up, but I'm assuming most of the acts below will play late afternoon to early evening sets.



If you're not planning to see Girl Talk, you might as well not go to ACL because you're going to miss a great one. Same with Bon Iver, Here We Go Magic and Dr. Dog. I think they all know what they're doing up on stage. After Coachella, I'd put Michael Franti and K'Naan in the neighborhood as well. After that, it's pretty much a free for all...Grizzly Bear, Clutch and The Walkmen will be on my list somewhere I can imagine.



And for those of you not in Austin, you probably don't have a clue who Black Joe Lewis is. So make sure to check out his set at ACL, because you'll end up loving him, even if he uses the "B" word.

Brett Dennen at ACL seems like a perfect daytime show. He was great indoors, but the fun-loving nature of his tunes would be perfect for the outdoors. I'm also very excited to see Federico Aubele.

Beyond that, I'm going to have an open mind from noon to 5 p.m. during the three days.

What's the meaning of it all?

I have a question for anyone willing to share an answer, if there is one. Is it just me or is 98% of being single completely inconsequential?

Here’s why I ask…

I’m the kind of person who regularly meets people and is always making new friends. Why? Because whenever I meet someone, I contemplate the potential significance of that very encounter. Is this a future lover? Friend? Business contact? Acquaintance? This is pretty much why I have such a wide variety of friends and colleagues, of all ages and races, all over the country. I’ve made friends on planes, at concerts, in stores and everywhere in between because once I meet someone, I’m typically willing to explore that relationship or friendship to its fullest extent.

So convincing me to think my encounter with someone is of no consequence whatsoever is painstaking. Which leads me to being single.

Think about this scenario:

Guy goes into bar, meets girl, gets phone number, calls, leaves message, never gets a call back. Two reasons: 1) given wrong number or 2) she’s not interested. Result: inconsequential encounter.

Now, let’s say there is some initial interest and here’s what you get.

Guy goes into bar, meets girl, gets phone number, calls, gets call back, makes date plans, has date, girl looks forward to second date, guy considers calling, but never follows through. Two reasons: 1) guy isn’t that into her or 2) guy doesn’t think she’s that into him. Result: inconsequential encounter.

Or maybe there is some genuine connection and you get into some semblance of a dating pattern.

Guy goes into bar, meets girl, gets phone number, calls, gets call back, makes date plans, has date, has connection, goes on several dates, some signals are crossed and they never really make plans for another date just before they get to the point of building something meaningful. Two reasons: 1) they aren’t meant for each other or 2) they aren’t ready for a relationship. Result: inconsequential encounter.

Some people may think I’m being a bit too outrageous with this talk of inconsequentialness, but I tend to believe the worst element of being single is this idea that you’re supposed to just pretend this stuff doesn’t matter. Like these people that you’ve met and maybe had some interest in, at varying levels, are of no consequence once you stop seeing them.

I’ve been guilty of advocating this type of long-term focus/short-term memory approach to some of my female friends. In some instances, the ability to forget a lame guy or girl is very helpful so it wasn’t all for naught.

But for all intents and purposes, pretending that someone you met, had interest in and possibly dated is of absolute no consequence is extremely difficult for me. No matter how much better life would be if we could do such a thing after the scenarios mentioned above take place.

So in going back to my initial question, maybe what I’m asking is not so much whether or not the majority of being single is inconsequential as much as it is me asking how are we supposed to learn from those seemingly insignificant moments and encounters in order to enhance the frequency of meaningful interactions?

Bueller, anyone?

Albums I'm Listening To Right Now...

I'll be turning much of my attention to urban policy next month in leadup to my trip to DC for the Next American Vanguard, but here's some music to hold you over...

This week's hot release: Rick Ross' Deeper than Rap.

And this month's best release: Bat For Lashes' Two Suns.

And my DJ idol...Girl Talk' Feed the Animals. Still reeling from the Coachella performance...

And a good rec from my brother over at Corrosive Material: Late of the Pier's Black Fantasy Channel.

And my latest musical crush: Eleisha Eagle's Neither Here Nor There.

And a great album for people with short attention spans and/or people who spend a lot of time in the car: Prefuse 73's Everything She Touches Turns Ampexian

And the latest effort from one of Austin's best bands: The Soldier Thread's Shapes.

And something for the fans of '80s music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz.