Into the ghostland, headfirst.
As other, saner, houses start putting away their Halloween stuff away, I zag.
Huzzah!
This year, as we have done for at least 5-6 years now, we shall take a deep, deep dive- into the ghosts, my fave 3, Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future.
Color me morbid, but as a Christmas Day baby, I think I come by it naturally, not the ghost obsession, as I am not, but a Christmas which I very decidedly do have. I have no doubt that my current position, as cd of swagclub, is directly related to a life long haunting by Christmas. I love giving gifts, small, big, whatever the size, a well timed and well thought out gift is my favorite thing of all. And I really do love to receive gifts, but I love giving them even more. But enough of the gifty stuff, let's consider the haints. Of Christmas- the great, the three, that Mr. Dickens gave us to consider.
As an horrid adult Sunday school teacher, I absolutely love Christmas, as the discussion of the ghosts ties so elegantly into my own ( or even, all of our) faith journey. Grace- forgiveness of the past, finding solace in the present, and most importantly, hope for the future. If that miserly old skinflint can be redeemed by finally accepting Grace, how much further along are the rest of us?
Color me morbid, but as a Christmas Day baby, I think I come by it naturally, not the ghost obsession, as I am not, but a Christmas which I very decidedly do have. I have no doubt that my current position, as cd of swagclub, is directly related to a life long haunting by Christmas. I love giving gifts, small, big, whatever the size, a well timed and well thought out gift is my favorite thing of all. And I really do love to receive gifts, but I love giving them even more. But enough of the gifty stuff, let's consider the haints. Of Christmas- the great, the three, that Mr. Dickens gave us to consider.
As an horrid adult Sunday school teacher, I absolutely love Christmas, as the discussion of the ghosts ties so elegantly into my own ( or even, all of our) faith journey. Grace- forgiveness of the past, finding solace in the present, and most importantly, hope for the future. If that miserly old skinflint can be redeemed by finally accepting Grace, how much further along are the rest of us?
past- let it go
present- be happy with what you have, and what you can give. have no guilt for being skinny this year, and don't measure your happiness by the size of the present stack
future- hope. CSL said, 'there are 2 kinds of people- sinners with hope and sinners without hope'. But hope for what? not 'MOMONEY' (I hope) but hope for a closer walk. Walk with each other, with God.
More to come on this ghostly tale, gentle readers. Those of you that ave suffered through my endless Christmas ramblings, go on and zone out till January. It'll take that long to carve this rich pudding.
Again.
Kamran Popkin
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Pawleys Island
no post this week for you, dear readers. with Duchess at the beach with old friends, no kids, and lots to drink. thanks for your endless support- swagclub is going better than I would have ever dreamed. I have found my team of kindred spirits.
follow your bliss, friends. it'll work out.
Field Marshall Book Bully
In my outbound box for the coming week, among and amidst the dreamy pens and bits and boxes of cool swag- (including one of the dreamiest laser etched pieces ever, and the mother of all business card holders) are a few books that I cannot wait to share, again.
The swagmobile is rapidly becoming the bookmoblie.
Curiously, even though they are different genres, they are all by the same author.
Steven Pressfield wrote the penultimate book on writing and creative 'resistance'.
And breaking through it.
The War of Art, a twist on the classic warfare (and business) book-Sun Tzu's The Art of War.
And I am excited to be giving it to a writer friend who has broken the back of writer's block (I hope!) this week.
A classic!
The Legend of Bagger Vance, also by Pressfield, was a greater book than movie, and it really came down to casting. Don't get me wrong- I loved the movie, and am a huge Will Smith fan, but he did not carry the character of Bagger Vance as someone older, with more gravitas.
Louis Gosset, or even better, Morgan Freeman, would have carried that movie into greatness.
I am sure Morgan Freeman has got to be getting tired of being typecast as a God figure, but he has this aura and poise that carries the role better than anyone I can imagine.
It's kinda funny to plug in other people into the God role and see how it works out; Steven Wright would make a funny and irreverent God, Andrew Dice Clay- not so much.
George Carlin would make a great God figure, he is sort of an uber edgy George Burns.
Anyway, I am excited to share Bagger Vance, in his written form, and this is about the 4th person I have turned onto this awesome read.
The last book-The Virtues of War- is about Alexander the Great and his march to the East, in search of an Empire. As historical fiction, it is a great read and really hits home to the point that the 'conquering' force does not usually (if ever) improve things for the newly 'conqured/liberated/freed' people in their realm.
There is a great exchange between Alexander and a local peasant who has resigned himself to a life of sustenance farming, who turns down the offer of gifts or higher posts, and he says, presciently, 'The neighbors would just steal whatever I had gained, and what they don't steal my wife's family, the local temple, and distant relatives would all grab up anyway.'
In an even more interesting exchange, he encounters a monk who does not show proper obeisance, and when questioned about his lack of servile behavior.
' Don't you realize you are speaking to master of the known world?' he says, 'I have mastered my need to be master of the known world.'
The pause it gives Alexander, fictional or not, still resonates with me, even after 4 readings I still am drawn to that conversation.
Master the need to master the world.
Ouch.
The Virtues of War is really the best of the three books headed out this week, imho.
I am continuing to struggle with my need to master my own need to be 'master of the known world'. But, like the monk passing out wisdom, I will continue to give out books I am moved by, and that is enough mastering for now.
Kamran the Great Book Giver.
Not claiming monk-like wisdom, just kinda giving up on the field-marshaling behavior I have been associated with in the past.
For now.
Carry on.
swagclub, Nazis, and zombies
A month into the swagclub project, and I have taken the whole weekend off to read, or reread, a handful of unrelated books. A graphic novel- Maus, the classic Fight Club, which is the root document for swagclub, and Free, by Chris Anderson, the same guy who wrote The Long Tail. Also spent time delving into HBR and my fave trade pub,as I am always looking for ideas that will help my clients connect and also run the swagclub better.
Seems normal enough, right?
Here is the kicker- Zombies, Nazi zombies, and plain Nazis have been discussed here quite a bit lately, and the root of the question is 'who is worse?'
Been kinda fascinated with the whole subject of man's inhumanity to man, oddly because of a speech I had been noodling with for the past month or so about zombies, of all things.
It was meant to be a humorous speech, and from the audience reaction, I guess it was. But it started deeper discussions around 211 Culdass.
Maus-
I can't explain my interest in Maus, other than the fact that it really does a great job of humanizing the dehumanizing conditions of Nazi Germany and the concentration camps. And it does it by dehumanizing the humans into mice, cats, and pigs.That juxtaposition really was an elegant way to explain a complicated story. A real story. A story that touches our family, and all of our families, no matter how obliquely, to this day.
A serious story- especially when compared to the creepy or nonsensical zombie stuff going on here.
Shawn of the Dead-
We watched a great zombie movie the other day- Shawn of the Dead, the boys ran away screaming. Shawn of the Dead is a dark comedy, and is an odd sort of 'boy meets girl, boy looses girl, boy tries to save girl and fam and mates from zombie invasion', with varying degrees of success. Not sure why the boys ran away screaming, but it sure did crowd up our already crowded bed for the next couple of weeks.
xbox-
And the Nazi zombies have been making their ghoulish appearance in the xbox way too much these days. We have been rained in for what seems like the past two weeks- no damage to anything but morale, but the boys keep gravitating back to the gray faced soldiers who are really tricky to kill off.
Back to the original question- Zombies, Nazi zombies, and plain Nazis -- 'who is worse?'
I gotta vote for the plain Nazis and their free will to serve an evil cause. Because, even though resistance may have gotten some killed, lack of resistance got even more killed.
And those whose lack of resistance, whose fear trapped them into servitude, I pray for them. And pray if ever faced with such unpleasantness, I will choose the harder fight. Like the characters in the true story I read this summer- Every Man Dies Alone- about a strange form of German resistance to the Nazis. They chose a fight, and they died in the process.
Speaking of fights....rereading Fight Club.
More to come in the next few weeks as swagclub coalesces into something real.
Authentic.
Passionate.
The feedback has been overwhelming, with the kind of understanding I could never have dreamed of. Most everyone I have explained the concept of swagclub to got it.
They got me.
They got on board.
Did you?
The fight for great swag, and making great connections, is afoot.
'Let's get it on!'
And more about Free soon too. You know I love free, and as the 9th rule of swagclub clearly states......'great advice @swagclub is always free. always.'
Rambling mess of a post- skip this please, lotsa rehashing and scab picking.
Please do not feel manipulated by this, it is not meant to screw with you, this is just a commentary.
That said, in the past month or two, I have had several occasions to want to reach a large number of people, stat.
STAT!
Tickets or swag that needed to go out, pizza catchup and other fun events to pimp, and most excitingly of all, further discussions about swagclub.
I wanted to reach more people than I could efficiently see in person, have lunch and a glass of ale, make a coffee and biscotti run, or write a real letter, on nice cardstock and sealed with the wax seal of the Ambassador's office.
Those who know me would know these as my preferred channels, I hope.
In a perfect world, all communications would happen face to face, with a leisurely meal. Lobster thermidor and peeled grapes, with a cold ipa or two.
Such was the 'sense of urgency' of the several news cycles, there wasn't even time for a call on the phone.
Friends, I felt the only way to really spread the word quickly and efficiently was electronically.
First cycle felt like an all email kinda thing, so I contacted a goodly number of mates and asked for a simple response, and the response was overwhelming but confused, as I got 1/2 return emails, 1/4 Facebook messages, 1/8 twitter dms, and 1/8 phone calls. I had asked, ever so gently, for an email back, but I probably asked for email back too gently.
A few middle news cycles were equally disjointed in their feed backs, due mainly to the disparate ways so many of my mates use their dif channels.
The most recent cycle seemed like a Facebook kinda thing, so that's how I spread it. Success in reaching and connecting with all intended was reached, but I made the mistake of asking for a phone response, and that was universally booed.
All responses were fb or face to face.
Counted about a dozen of the face to face.
I like face to face. Felt genuine. Authentic.
Let's do more of that.
And just ordered more of that nice cardstock to be sealed with the wax seal of the Ambassador's office. Working on a swagclub seal, too. So keep a weathered eye out for a visit.
Or a card.
Or box of swag.
But the fb/twitter/email/blog channel (or crescent wrench, as snarky BOF Spike called it at SMC the other day) will be greased up and ready to serve, as needed.
ps- Very few people understand me, and I am sorry about that, I just assume you hear the same voices in my head that I do.
just this week, again I got called out on my constant and annoying use of Popkinspeak- so here are a few definitions, as if you didn't already know.......
swag- stuff we all get
BOF- Brains on Fire- shop of great minds, but some are a bit snarky. I mean that in the best possible way.
snarky- a smarmy, self aware, sarcastic kinda guy. I have been called snarky by ex girlfriends, and not in a nice way. wife and kids, friends, pretty much everyone other than Spike has called me snarky. and he has never called me snarky because he is the king of snarky. and I am Sparticus.
Facebook- jmj, where have you been? google it.
twitter- a mini facebook.140 characters.chrissakes, google it.
dm-kinda like an email, but mini.
SMC- Social Media Club- chess club for grown ups.
stat- a medical term for in a hurry.
blog- really, you are here, a self aggrandizing positioning statement that looks and reads like 'a dear diary' but ruthlessly edited as we track it vigorously and know that the only people who really read it are our mothers and competitors. clients, friends, and creepy stalkers have better things to do than obsess about our position papers. they see how (badly) we behave and react accordingly.
Ambassador's office- I am quite unfoundedly proud to be an Ambassador for Maker's Mark. it is free, there are no requirements or duties, special rights or privileges. kinda paper tiger, now that I write it down. but they do make an exceedingly nice adult bev.
pizza catchup- Nicholle of effigy farm's phrase for Pecha Chucha presentation (20 slides, 20 second a piece.) great fun for all.
jmj- Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
ipa- India Pale Ale- a beer I love.
Authentic- like Popeye said, 'I yam what I yam!' living in the fishbowl, and being who you are, without regard to who is watching.
google it- um, if you don't know about something....punch up www.google.com and flippin, um...google it.
manipulated- my fave shrink, present company excluded, Robert Cialdini, talks quite a bit about influence, manipulation, and leadership. not in a nefarious way, but more in a sales and marketing way. and we are all in sales, marketing, pr, and client services.
Sparticus- led a slave rebellion in ancient Rome. kinda successful, but in praps the greatest moment in history of movie making, when the Romans come looking for Sparticus to arrest and kill him, and ask 'Who is Sparticus?' all men, every last one, shouts out...'I am Sparticus!' after that things take a nasty turn.
swagclub- jmj- are you kidding me? how could you get this far and not get it?
ok, quick swagclub primer- swagclub is my search for kindred spirits.
a shameless ripoff of the genius book (and disturbingly trippy movie) Fight Club. google it.
9 rules of swagclub
#1. You don't talk about swagclub.
#2. You don't talk about swagclub. Unless you need great swag.
#3. The search for great swag is over only when you say 'Wow- that nails it!'
#4. Only two guys to a fight. Unless we need help, then we bring in the big guns. We know a guy.
#5. One swag project at a time.
#6. We work with no ties or socks. Even on Sundays-always workin', but never stressin' the work.
#7. The quest for great swag goes on as long as it needs to. Gonna take some questions, as a perfect fit beats fast answers.
#8. First projects are often the start of a great relationship. Or the end of a bad one.
#9. Great advice @swagclub is always free. Always.
#1. You don't talk about swagclub.
#2. You don't talk about swagclub. Unless you need great swag.
#3. The search for great swag is over only when you say 'Wow- that nails it!'
#4. Only two guys to a fight. Unless we need help, then we bring in the big guns. We know a guy.
#5. One swag project at a time.
#6. We work with no ties or socks. Even on Sundays-always workin', but never stressin' the work.
#7. The quest for great swag goes on as long as it needs to. Gonna take some questions, as a perfect fit beats fast answers.
#8. First projects are often the start of a great relationship. Or the end of a bad one.
#9. Great advice @swagclub is always free. Always.
manifesto- we ask a lot of questions- we are curious and can only serve our clients by asking, not assuming.--
What are we trying to accomplish?
Who are our audiences for this piece? Who do we want to connect with?
How is what we’re trying to accomplish relevant to our audiences?
What do we want our audiences to do?
What does the project look like?
How can we make this interesting? (Or why should people care?)
What are the competitors accomplishing that we’re not?
What are past successes; what is currently working?
What is the message of the piece?
What is the tone of the piece?
How will we launch it? What are the communications mechanisms?
What’s our timeframe?
What’s the budget?
How will we measure success? (*The big one. The mother ship question.*)
The important thing is to ENGAGE THE CLIENT IN THE PROCESS. They, as you know, have the most insights about what you’re trying to accomplish with any product, good service, or initiative.
What are we trying to accomplish?
Who are our audiences for this piece? Who do we want to connect with?
How is what we’re trying to accomplish relevant to our audiences?
What do we want our audiences to do?
What does the project look like?
How can we make this interesting? (Or why should people care?)
What are the competitors accomplishing that we’re not?
What are past successes; what is currently working?
What is the message of the piece?
What is the tone of the piece?
How will we launch it? What are the communications mechanisms?
What’s our timeframe?
What’s the budget?
How will we measure success? (*The big one. The mother ship question.*)
The important thing is to ENGAGE THE CLIENT IN THE PROCESS. They, as you know, have the most insights about what you’re trying to accomplish with any product, good service, or initiative.
that is all. carry on.
in doubt? google it!
jmj!
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