tombiro.com

Okay, so maybe that title is a little more obnoxious than it should be, but whatever…thought this would be a fun thing to share with you all.

Over the summer of 2008, I left my agency world for a bit and went to MTV, where I was exposed to some really awesome people and experiences, especially given my serious interests in the world of media. About a month or so into my job there, I had a conversation with a longtime MTVer – who’d leave the company just a few months later during a series of layoffs – about Lady GaGa, with my position being that she was a force to be reckoned with, and I definitely thought she could headline a show of her own. Maybe not stadium-wise, but definitely on the smaller end of an arena, and definitely the bigger concert-specific venues. While he was definitely a fan of hers and agreed that she would push some boundaries, he wasn’t convinced just yet that she’d be able to swing the 10k+ spaces on her own, not without a co-headliner.

It was a lively discussion, and his points were all super solid – and I had to take them for what they were, given that he had far more years in the music space than I did (he worked on the music and talent team). We both pretty much agreed that the randomness of the music scene in 2008 and beyond left us all surprised when artists never crossed that border to “big” even when they out-talented a lot of others who received mainstream play left and right.

Last fall, I had the pleasure of working the VMAs, the last award show I worked at MTV before Lara and I moved out to Seattle, and boy did GaGa put on a show with her “Paparazzi” performance – one full of piano playing, great stage presence, and a bunch of faux blood. Without the gravity surrounding the Michael Jackson tribute and the ridiculousness of the Kanye West – Taylor Swift “incident,” GaGa’s performance might have “stolen” the show. As it was, it was definitely widely talked about, and definitely sold some records. (I’m listening to the track at 34,000 feet, SFO-SEA, as we speak. And yes, I did just say “records.”)

In the last year or so, GaGa has made some serious moves on the music scene, getting tons of mainstream play, going from a hugely-buzzed-about tour with co-headliner Kanye West to a GaGa-led one after various issues for Mr. West, and morphing from an artist that was widely talked about because of her pantslessness to one that has people discussing her music, fashion sense, and attitude on the reg. In short, she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Is this the douchiest post I’ve ever written? Perhaps. Do I really want a pat on the back? Hell no. I didn’t do anything. I’m just amused that my old 30-something ass was able to stay on top of something relatively “early” and that it’s worked out so far.

I guess I should have gone with my gut and taken the over on her popularity lifespan.

Okay, I’m not trying to be a total jerk by skipping the awesomeness of this post from Anil Dash – you’ve really got to read the whole thing – but I wanted to share this excellent video that I’ve watched a couple of times, but forgot to share it here.

Check out how someone who’s never seen “Star Wars” before relates the story of the film and those that followed it, just by putting together what they’ve “heard” from others.

I just had to share the crazy skills of my former colleague at MTV, AJ Sarcione, singing the national anthem at a Lakers-Thunder game back in December with all of you… Check it out.

Over the last few years, Coca-Cola has had some fun with the concept of what went on inside a Coke machine after someone dropped some coins into it to make a purchase. This past week, they’ve shared something a little different, focused on the concept of the “happiness machine.” It’s created a bit of buzz around the Web, and shows no signs of slowing down. Check it out.

On Saturday morning, I headed out to Seattle’s Mobile Chowdown II, a gathering of some of the city’s best food of the mobile variety, which I stumbled upon via my Yelp addiction here in the Emerald City. I’d heard that the last event was crazy, with some of the vendors running out of food, the lines being ridiculous, and the facilities and things being a bit lacking, so I headed out to get there as it started up. As you’ll see in the first shot I took of the event in the Whrrl slideshow here, even that wasn’t enough to stay away from a long line for Marination, a merger of Korean and Hawaiian cuisines – but it was worth it.

I started it off with Marination’s shredded kalua pork sliders, on great buns with their super slaw (there’s a photo in the slideshow above). Let’s just say that two was most certainly not enough for this particular slider addict. Having not had breakfast beforehand (and really, why eat before this type of extravaganza), I headed over to Top Pot’s streamlined silver trailer and got my apple fritter on. I’d heard quite a bit of people rave about Top Pot, and after one item, I’d have to say I agree. Very good stuff.

What, you expected me to wash it all down with a little something? Well, of course I did it with local favorite Jones Soda, you know. I had the Jones Zilch Vanilla Bean (more on the sodas here), along with a Pomegranate a little later, and I’m most certainly happy that they’re very available now that I’m here in Seattle.

At that point, I kind of wandered a bit and took it in, wishing I was hungrier, heh. I closed out my “lunch” with a slice of Veraci’s pizza – pepperoni, natch. The crust was actually super tender – I’d heard a few people in the crowd talking about not really liking the crust, but I liked it as a nice mix between the foldable Brooklyn-style that I’m used to with my East Coast pizza mentality, and a more upscale, fire-cooked pizza. Not overdone at all, and not really needing the complement of seasonings that you have to add to some slices at your local pizza shop.

While I didn’t get to try out everyone’s stuff, now I have a pretty good idea on which trucks I need to be tracking down – if the lines were at all indicative of what people are into in this city for their street food, then I’ll be going “out” for lunch a little more often.

On the first day of 2010, Cablevision television subscribers in the NY area might have been surprised to see that they no longer had HGTV and Food Network as part of their available cable lineups, something they might have missed, given the coverage that the News Corporation / Time Warner contract negotiations had been getting. Those organizations managed to work things out, keeping the News Corporation networks on the air for Time Warner subscribers.

The same can’t be said for those other two networks, however. On Monday afternoon, I caught this tweet by marketing consultant / blogger Katja Presnal, who had just found out about the channels going “missing” from her lineup, and saw her subsequent posts on the subject, which pointed to the I Love HGTV and I Love Food Network microsites that Scripps Networks, owners of those networks, had created to distribute information and activate affected customers. Scripps has also continued its media campaign on the issue, with Food Network President Brooke Johnson going on CNBC’s Power Lunch on Monday to discuss its position.

Both of those sites are smartly built, offering easy ways to get involved on Facebook, post directly to Twitter, watch videos, and get Scripps’ POV on the situation. For me, the first thing that jumped out was how fans of shows have made a splash before and whether or not these – again, smart and solid – tools would be enough to further this particular hard-line negotiation. What came to mind was the peanuts protest that fans of CBS’ “Jericho” enacted on the network after the show was cancelled after its first season. That particular protest worked, with some 20 tons of peanuts being sent to the network at a cost of more than $50,000, and the show returning for a second season, before ultimately being cancelled a second time.

You know what, though, people? Let’s take this whole thing to the next level. Vote with your wallets.

Now I’m not going to go down the road of a la carte television subscriptions – there are people far smarter than me that can handle that discussion. Check out what people like Tim Karr or Jeff Jarvis if you’re interested in more on that subject. I don’t want to say anything about who’s right or wrong here as I don’t know the financials involved, and have worked too closely on the network side of this type of standoff, but I’m more than happy to make a suggestion to move the needle.

Where I am going to go is that if you want to move that needle in 2010, you’ve gotta vote with your wallets, purses, PayPal accounts, and so on. Want to tell Cablevision (or Scripps Networks) how you feel about this particular situation? You’ve got a few options – you can cancel or change your service, or find another provider.

Or, you can take my suggestion, and send them a buck. Before people all start sending paint rollers or frying pans to corporate offices or whatever, take that money and make your opinion known to the powers that be, whether they be at Cablevision or Scripps Networks. In fact, I’ll put up $20 of my own singles to the first 20 Cablevision subscribers who email me (tom (at) tombiro (dot) com), and I’ll send a note on their behalf along with the dollar bill to Cablevision HQ.

No, seriously.

Listen – social media tools and campaigns like what Scripps is promoting definitely have a place, but this is going to continue to be a dollars and cents issue, especially as we start loading up on Hulu streams, Netflix instant viewing, and TV-friendly packages like Boxee become more mainstream.

So that’s my challenge – I’ll pony up twenty single dollar bills, plus postage, and the rest of you Cablevision subscribers need to do the rest.