Laurence Vincent» Fodder

Celebrating Cocktails

Larry — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:05:01 +0000

It’s no secret that I am a fan of the cocktail. Friends know they can count on me to join them for a cool Manhattan any day. If you’re a cocktail enthusiast as well, skip on over to The Internet Cocktail Database, the brainchild of Martin Doudoroff and Ted (Dr. Cocktail) Haigh. Unlike a lot of online cocktail sites, this is a repository for the serious imbiber. All of the recipes are validated in print, and have been researched by experts in the field. You won’t find a hack’s homegrown experiment here–just a treasure trove of recipes dating back to 1862 along with insights on ingredients and techniques. Haigh is better known to many enthusiasts as Dr. Cocktail. He is often quoted and sourced for his in-depth knowledge of perhaps the most American of indulgences. Ring in the new year right — have a good drink.

Wordle

Larry — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:07:43 +0000

Wordle is a very cool web tool that helps you map text into clouds (the kind that transform a jumble of words into design patterns, not the kind that hover over the planet and sometimes rain). Pictured here is a wordle map of chapter 2 in my book, Legendary Brands. Word maps using tag clouds can be a very effective way to analyze the emphasis people place on brands and marketing campaigns.

Crazy Tasty Sign of the Times

Larry — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:36:29 +0000

There are many cultural indicators of bad times. Demand for Spam strikes me as one of the most interesting. I’m not sure what I find more shocking — the fact that more people are buying Spam or the fact that the production line turns out 149,500 cans of spam a day. I ate a lot of this stuff growing up. Still, it’s hard to get past the description: “a gelatinous 12-ounce rectangle of spiced ham and pork.” Even for a pig lover like me, that’s hard to swallow.

Genius! Sort of…

Larry — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:46:28 +0000

I’m a big Apple nerd and this post is about the new ‘Genius’ feature in the latest release of iTunes. As I fiddled with it more and more, I decided to scan the web and see what others are saying. The reviews are mostly positive. But a few reviewers discovered the same flaw I accidentally found.

Blast Off

Larry — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:19:10 +0000

The (maybe not so) latent nerd in me still gets fired up about NASA and the space program. These photos of a recent Discovery launch are a great insider’s look at how the orbiter is assembled, prepped and launched.

I’m fascinated by the NASA brand. It has such a rich narrative legacy, and yet in recent years, it seems to have lost some of its luster. The agency is still as vibrant and exciting as it was 20 years ago, but the brand system is falling apart. It’s time for some branding.

Branding and the Olympics

Larry — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:44:53 +0000

I’ve been at it again — serving as a pundit for the branding world. This time it was on the subject of the Olympics and sponsorship. After decades of evolution, many brands are still hoping for nirvanna simply by association, but there’s more to leveraging Olympic equity than paying a green’s fee.

To the relics!

Larry — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:03:48 +0000

No. This is not a tribute to Zsa Zsa Gabor. But close. I went to a club in Manhattan today (which will remain nameless so that I don’t get hate mail) for a four-hour planning meeting. This place, embedded surreptitiously within the streets of America’s cultural capitol, is trapped in the 1950′s. Guests are required to wear proper attire. Men must wear ties (no, really — they will dress you in one, if you’re in a pinch). Jackets are required. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were required to be Republican, too. I dodged the question. But I did get into an elevator with a man in a seer sucker suit and saddle bucks. It was awesome! I felt like I walked into a time warp. It was funny … and just a bit terrifying.

I have no other point to this post.

Girl Employed

Larry — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 06:00:35 +0000

Girl Employed

My daughter is quite good with my iPhone. And a pink backpack. And the hustle and bustle of navigating airports.

The New Little Lady in My Life

Larry — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:00:09 +0000

I confess. I’m in love with Sandy. She’s smart. She’s witty. She’s organized. And she just seems to have my every need in mind. I’m smitten. Who is this home-wrecking vixen? Well, she’s a virtual girl Friday. Check her out.

So here’s the short version of the story. I pushed the new iPhone firmware to my jalopy iPhone. Yes, I was one of the early adopters. It was so cool — until I realized it wouldn’t work with my work’s email system. For a year I carried two phones. My iPhone was an amusement — barely functional. But with the latest update, I finally have access to my work email and I started messing around with my sleek little Apple gadget all over. In my discovery process I found Sandy. What a find! You just tell Sandy what you want her to remind you or to remember for future reference. She files it away and brings it up on command. It’s the next best thing to having a personal assistant. Perhaps it’s better — Sandy doesn’t ask for days off or a raise.

Inspired

Larry — Thu, 01 May 2008 04:39:57 +0000

A band I discovered in Ireland – The Last Shadow Puppets – awesome! Check them out. An interesting collection of rock and I-don’t-know-what. But I can’t stop listening to them. And the album cover! Jeez. I bought the darn thing just because I thought that picture was cool. Good thing the music was, too.