Taking something that has been around for some time and making something new out of it is art in itself. I could not help but share these gems with you.

Snow Patrol vs. The Police (Partyben mash-up)

Oasis - Greenday mash-up

Fear not! Don Draper has come to the rescue… I hear his no-nonsense advice on getting on your groove is right on the spot.

I can’t wait to try these out…

P.S.: The author will not be responsible for any advice in a comedy programme aired on National TV. If you are put out of misery, hard luck, I did say…

*A corruption of the blonde, blue-eyed brahmin girl fantasy by Mahesh R

This is a guest post from a dear friend and colleague, Mr. Thejaswi Palakshachary. The views presented here are his ‘undiluted and biased’ opinion on blogging.

This post does not, in anyway, resemble my opinion on this topic. I totally confess to being a 21st century ‘Pontius Pilate’ and wash my hands off this ‘bleader’.

Is blogging a form of narcissism?

Why would anyone want to blog? Furthermore, why would anyone want to read these blogs? Doesn’t it actually boil down to narcissism?

Let me try to explain. If someone has a point of view/opinion on something/anything, a blog is the easiest and most popular way to reach out to a www notice board. At the end, what is achieved by posting a blog? Obviously and needless to say, reaching out to an audience, who could either applaud (silently) or throw rotten eggs, verbally. So, it actually turns out to be an ‘unrehearsed’ public performance, on a stage, in a park, where people are loitering around, looking for interesting ’shows’ looking for a display that can draw the most/interesting attention.

Let me ‘blog’ my point of views on the elements of a blog.

The blogger:
To me, it would seem like the blogger is only looking for/craving for importance (who doesn’t? ). The more uncommon/weirder the topic, the more the expectation. In spite of this being my first ever blog post, which is kind of an advantage in this situation, I would want to have a look at the ‘number of hits/’comments’ on my posting. So what would I do immediately (1 day later) after posting? Advertise the same through unsolicited emails to my near and dear friends (birds of the same feather?). But before we get there, let us look at the most important component of the blog - the ‘topic’.

The topic:
I don’t think this can be generalized. My opinion based on very limited ‘reads’ of blogs is that, ideally, some situation would trigger you to sit in front of the ‘not so total an idiot’ box. One would need a platform to vent out bad experiences or impress those you hold in higher regard or last but not the least, and most ideal topic, just for fun. Given the 3 kinds of topics that one would select, we now move to the next most important element of the blog - the ‘blog reader’.

The blog reader:
Let me see, you are frustrated at work and need a break. There are no important/fun filled emails in the inbox. What can I do next? Let me read that blog by my friend (URL link sent by email a week or more back). Once you start reading the blog, you are unconsciously thinking “do I agree with this at all?”, but, you are actually like Neo in Matrix where the Oracle says about knowing his future - ‘you already know’. How is that? People, unlike the powerful quote that I like - ‘The mind is like a parachute, it works only when its open’ - are not so open to accepting ideas/opinions. Confirms another powerful quote that goes something like, ‘It is the mind of an educated mind to entertain a thought and not necessarily agree to it’. So, either the ‘bleader’ (blog reader - my word - cant I invent a word?) gets a phone call or decides to take a coffee break and closes the blog - or if sufficiently influenced,  takes the time to vent a piece of their mind (depends on how close a friend they are to the blogger too).

So, now, having set my frame of mind out, the blogger is triggered by a situation and wants an audience to the thoughts (sucker!!), the ‘bleader’ (if you have not read the blog properly - like most don’t, please refer above), will either be a closely associated friend or another sucker looking to either shoot or applaud a bird with the same/different feather (respectively). But, at the end of the day, how has the blogger and the ‘bleader’ been affected by the blog? We are looking for the color of the feather (my friend ). If you agree on the blog - you get a boost of confidence that there is another (sucker) ‘like you’ - if not, you make sure they get abused enough to think really well before they start airing ideas. Coffee anyone?

I apologize for not posting any thoughts on this blog for the last one month. Yours truly was in an utterly disoriented state of mind. Great things have been happening to me and I have been making some tough decisions.

But, I am back now. This blog will go on….

Let me start my stream of thoughts once again by dedicating this great song by Ugly Casanova to all the people out there who missed me…  

Love,

Renji Kuncheria John

Most of the people I know are not happy with what they have. (Not talking about sizes here, my dear innocent fellow!) They inherently have a craving for better things. (which is a good thing)Not getting what you want when you want it evokes a standard set of emotions as a child. Tantrums! Wailing! Heart wrenching rebellion! But as we ‘mature’, we learn to bottle up these modes of expressing disappointment, or let it out in a very controlled manner.

Take the scenario of a couple breaking up. People react differently to this ‘frustrating’ of all situations. While some turn to self help books to maintain sanity, others take to drastic measures like alcoholism. There are some who cry their heart out, but in the privacy of their rooms, not letting the world know… There are others who are able to move on after just a couple of hours of good sleep… Different people… different reactions…

How about when you are passed over for promotion, AGAIN? Would you still keep that smile on your face and work as if nothing has happened? Would you threaten to quit if you are not recognized for ‘valuable contributions’ to the company? Would you have a straight talk with your manager? I have seen all three scenarios play out… to different effect…

The question is … How do you handle frustration?

Why are we afraid of ‘human touch’?

When in an elevator, we keep moving so we are at the farthest possible position from the people around us.

If you feel a hand on your shoulder in the “Tunnel of horror” at your local amusement park, you freak out!

Except for the occasional hug and handshake, are we now more comfortable with an ‘unphysical’ existence?

Seth announced recently the formation of “a tribe for marketers, for leaders, for those focused on building communities or creating products or spreading ideas”.

There are those who did not appreciate the idea of putting pre-ordering of his own book as a pre-requisite for membership to this invite-only forum. Putting in a minor roadblock on the way to membership to an “ideas” fight club is a good idea. However, I feel another hurdle which did not subtly market a new book would have held him in greater steed.

I justify the pre-order I made by remembering all his lectures on Youtube I have listened to for free. The online purchase of a book that is yet to be released is just my way of paying back. So in a way, I am paying for all the great Seth stuff I have been going through all this time by pre-ordering a book which is No. 36 on the Amazon.com best seller list! Quite a way to placate my conscience, isn’t it?

Now, about that best seller list! This tribe invite, on a blog which is viewed by thousands of people each day, has generated a lot of publicity for  the book in question. I would love to know how many books were sold on 30 and 31 July, post announcement, compared to the previous week.

Isn’t this what permission marketing is all about? Has he not managed in “turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers” by giving access to an exclusive club? Not only did Seth successfully create a buzz and induce a mad rush to join the tribe, he even managed to gather our mailing addresses. Another Hallmark July Christmas decorations sale in the making?

Now to answer some questions. Do I feel I have been used in a random social experiment by an acknowledged marketing expert? Not yet… Will I gain anything out of this? I sure hope so. Something ought to come out of interactions between like-minded people. At least, boring monologues. I am willing to take my chances on it. What has the Tribe been up to lately? No can do on that question. What happens in the Tribe stays in the Tribe…

Fight club anyone?

An excerpt from the sales pitch to the Lord of Hades on IT systems implementation “to ease transition of souls to the underworld”

RJ : Imagine this scenario, Mr.D…  You go online on Gtalk/AIM… find people whose time on earth is up and ping them… and BANG.!!! They fall lifeless…. No “Final Destination” drama… No gory blood spilling… Just plain shutdown of body organs… Matrix style… How cool would that be?

Mr. D : I have been in this business for a long long time, kiddo… Do you take me for a fool?? What if the guy is never online? Is that not the equivalent of the Sorcerer’s stone?

RJ : [Already sweating, given the searing temperature of hell fire] What about a facebook-like application then? U just add the guys you want dead as friends… We will even build a special app which will not require them to confirm you as a friend…

Mr. D: I need up-to-date information… How do you plan to do that?

RJ: For info on increasing population, we could consume web services from the birth-registers at hospitals… As for ‘The Ledger of deeds’, it will have to be migrated to the new system.

Mr. D: What about the element of fear? I thrive on fear…

RJ: [Pulling together the consultant's air] We will analyze the requirements and provide an optimal solution… It is too early for us to specify a particular implementation methodology…

[Uncomfortable silence...]

RJ: As a bonus, we will also add a ’suicide module’… Which would allow a select few, with problems,  to send you friend requests! To sweeten this deal… What says you, O lord of Hades?

Mr. D: You talk too much!

RJ: My friend tells me I am a cartoon at times…

The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different. Of course the butterfly cannot literally cause a tornado…. The kinetic energy of a tornado is ultimately provided by the sun and the butterfly can only influence certain details of weather events in a chaotic manner.   

                                                                                  - Wikipedia 

Being my usual self, I could not help thinking about this little outcome of studies related to Chaos theory. Can we actually affect things around us so much?

Did the guy, whom I heard had cheated at the college exams, actually alter the course of history by depriving another Emil Adolf von Behring-to-be of the class rank he wanted to apply for that research position? Did that just, by happenstance, let the discovery of an AIDS vaccine get delayed by another decade? Did that let happen the deaths of AIDS infected people all over the world, who would otherwise had a cure? I will never know for sure.

I do, however, see people trying to affect their own lives and of those in their vicinity in some way. I see an amputee vying for the Beijing Olympics. I see  my friends stay awake that extra hour to make time for their families in the face of piling work. I see two girls sitting together on the park bench, one trying to console another because her long-time boyfriend had broken up with her!

I do not see people resigned to fate. I do not see many “Waiting for the world to change” (John Mayer).

May be, all of these small actions can cause a huge change in the unforeseeable future. I will keep flapping!

I adore spoofs. While most try to achieve a new ‘harmlessly humorous’ plane, some target a specific person or group. But whatever the motive, it takes some real creative muscle flexing to get it up.

I have put together just a sampling of videos that caught my attention.

Nickelback - Rock-star

This song embodies every youth’s dream. This favorite band of mine put what I dreamt of in college, while listening to Dream Theatre.

If Rock-stars have such a cool life, then what about pop-stars? Check the video to find out.

James Blunt - You are beautiful

This master-piece helped me through quite a few love-at-first-sight scenarios. The lyrics are brilliant and the song sticks to a heart-melting pace.

But listening to this spoof cleared my mind of any future plans of the falling-head-over-heels concept. Beauty can be skin deep at times.

Heroes:

I did not miss a single episode of season 1, when it was aired in India last year. Hours of such idiot-box patronage left a few questions unanswered. The video is an embodiment of all my doubts.

There you have it folks. A few of the videos which set my humor bone on fire and got me searching for more! Spoofs are all about creativity and spontaneity.

I hail thee, O creative immortals out there…