” … As Newsom returned to his S.U.V., Ballard made sure to tell me how many Twitterers would already be able to see photos of the mayor on the backhoe. He derided Jerry Brown’s campaign Web site and ridiculed Villaraigosa’s “totally pathetic” Twitter following ..” (NYT Magazine)

That’s Nathan Ballard, the communications director to Gavin Newsom, the current Mayor of San Francisco and competitor for the job of Governor of California.

I found this moment almost repulsive: in a state where the economy and political life are near catatonic, the battle for political leadership is being framed in part by photo ops, unattributable and unreliable Twitter follower levels and poor web site design?

Is the political process at all dependent upon policy proposals anymore, or can a candidate gain a lot of ground simply by picking the right font, a sympathetic palette and an easily navigable design grid?

Oh - and a monkey to tweet?

After all, limiting your literary masterpiece to 140 characters significantly increases the odds that you can defeat the infinite monkey theorem - that an infinite number of monkeys, banging on typewriters for an infinite amount of time (while assuming there is no evolution in cognitive capacity) would not be able to reproduce Hamlet.

In fact, they’re more likely to smash the keyboard, mark their territory, and then engage in repetitive behaviour.

Wait a minute … I guess someone better get that monkey a Brooks Brothers suit and a BlackBerry.

If you’ve met me, or know my job, you could see why I feel some affinity for that wire walker.

In fact, if I was the type to build some sort of horribly overextended and barely consistent business talk out of the correlation between my personal life, professional life and this wire walker, I could type out three or four overwrought and barely personal posts meant to inspire you and increase my subscriber count. After all,  I AM a capable strategist and thoughtful person.

His name is Florent Blondeau, and he wants you to “let your mind wander” - or at least that’s what The Economist magazine would like. This 70 second clip is the centrepiece of a new campaign that hopes to remind Brits that The Economist covers topics they seem to be interested in: domestic politics, world affairs, business, and travel. Apparently, surveys have identified 3 million of them as flighty, brainy or shifty enough to be targeted as potential readers.

I’ve read the magazine for nearly 25 years. Strangely enough, I appreciate it most for it’s dry and sometimes wry sense of humour. That’s hard to accomplish while discussing Indian economic reform, you know.

The campaign, to be launched on July 3, will play primarily in theatres. I have to imagine the clip will play much better on a large (or as large as a multiplex will allow) screen. (Faris has added his own thoughts about this and past campaigns.)

In 2008, Blondeau and some colleagues from the French wire walking fraternity (apparently, there’s a close kinship between the wire walking fraternity and the clown school alumni) showcased their skills in a regional performance called le fil sous la neige - a brief excerpt can be found just below.

Le fil sous la neige
by contactvillette

” … And this perhaps needs to be said: the amazing thing about hotels is that nothing happens in them. Lights get left on, taps drip, trays are left in hallways, and the cleaners make their sad rounds every morning. You hear them as you open the door and scan the room one last time and wheel your bag down to the lift, the sour whine of a distant hoover, as you approach and then pass the stainless steel trolley that waits outside some non-medical non-emergency, the abandoned sheets of an uninteresting night; rumpled, bare, slightly stained. What did they get up to in there? Murder? Sex? Organising their receipts? …

But, you know, you take a shower and nothing happens. The endless corridor is often empty. The men in suits with conference lanyards nod as they get in the lift and, in Toronto, one of them said: ‘Great shoes!’

…  Hotel bathrooms are highly fetishised, with their rows of toiletries, and the possibility of a sewing kit. I love the showers and have a faint, geological interest in the tiling (so much marble!), but I hate the toiletries, most of which could strip paint … “

- Anne Enright in the London Review of Books

One painting, Underpass — New York, was especially compelling. A rather routine urban setting, with clear and precise composition, but not a jaw dropping work of art like many of the others found at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Still, I was drawn to it. The scene seemed awfully familiar.

Reading the adjoining plaque, I realized why. I had seen this underpass. In fact, I had gone out of my way to look at it. It was/is in Binghamton, New York.

I’ve had reasons to visit Binghamton and the adjoining towns of Endicott and Johnson City over the past few summers. During one of these visits, I realized that the area housed some remarkable architecture from the early 30s, largely due to the influence and investment of the International Business Machines Corportation.

Endicott, you see, is where IBM printed the punch cards for its growing line of computers. It later built the IBM School and expanded its research facilities in the town.

Even seventy years later, the buildings have their clean white modernist lines, embedded International Business Machines logo, and soaring yet thin windows. They’ve managed to retain the sense of optimism, inspiration and ambition first articulated by their architect and the commissioning executives.

Much like this underpass.

According to the WSJ, the number of products in the average grocery store jumped 50% from 1996 to 2008.  Retailers and manufacturers have been trying to pare back those numbers over the past few years, but were wary of consumer backlash. The recession has provided a perfect opportunity to begin some gentle trimming.

Jimmy Dean, for instance, now ly offers 14 types of frozen breakfast sandwich - down from 25!

” … Pharmacy chain Walgreen Co. is cutting the types of superglues it carries to 11 from 25. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided that 24 different tape measures is 20 too many.

… A typical Target store has 88 kinds of Pantene shampoo, conditioner and styling products. A Target spokeswoman said the chain has “slightly reduced” its hair-care offerings this year … “

What was that about Bill Maxwell? That’s right. This is a remix with “Greatest American Hero.”

The moment when Wonder Woman deflects bullets with her wrist bands? Almost as priceless as Linda and Debra flying around in a plastic jet plane.

Oh - and doesn’t Queen Hippolyte look like Lindsay Lohan - in about 15 years?

Sometimes, you just have to teach these kids that life is a hard, brutal and sometimes heartless world, where even your Dora the Explorer bike could get stolen.