The Fourth of July is a great opportunity to reflect on what it means to be an American. And what more patriotic place to start our reflection than a movie called Stripes¹? In the film, Bill Murray’s character gives a pep talk to his fellow Army recruits:

“We’re all very different people. We’re not Watusi. We’re not Spartans. We’re Americans, with a capital ‘A’, huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We’re the underdog. We’re mutts!”

Happy Fourth of July!

That tongue-in-cheek speech has always resonated with me because of the kernel of truth in it. To a large degree, America was founded and initially populated by people who didn’t fit in anywhere else. The Pilgrims and their spiritual brethren came here because they wanted to worship and express beliefs in religions that were outside the mainstream (and frequently outside the law in their native European countries). Others with strong streaks of individualism came here seeking riches or adventure — things that were increasingly tough to find in the more developed and more tightly governed nations they left behind. These were the individuals who would develop into everything from cowboys to industrialists. (more…)

1. Director Ivan Reitman originally thought up the idea for Stripes as “Cheech and Chong Join the Army”. Cheech and Chong, however, didn’t buy in to that idea. Source: Stripes Special Edition DVD, 2006. [↩]

I received an email this evening from an old work colleague telling me she had posted photos for me on a social networking site called Tagged¹. The email struck me as just a touch strange, but couldn’t place my finger on why and decided to click through and check it out.

Tagged registration page

The registration page on Tagged made me feel even more strange, asking for information I would normally not share, including my email account password. That request passed my comfort threshold and I quit the Tagged website. I also sent a quick email to the friend who sent me the original Tagged invitation asking her if it was legitimate. (more…)

1. I’m not linking directly to the Tagged website from my blog — as you read the rest of this post, you’ll see why. If afterward you still have an urgent desire to hand over your email contacts to Tagged, I won’t be an enabler. [↩]

I’ve just heard that Bob Van Dillen, meteorologist on “Morning Express with Robin Meade” which airs weekdays on CNN’s HLN channel, will be running with us (Team Challenge¹) in the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon on July 19. Van Dillen is running with the Georgia team and will serve as honorary Chairman for this Team Challenge event.² (more…)

1. You can read more about my personal involvement with Team Challenge in my previous blog posts. If you’d like to make a donation in support of my Team Challenge effort, click here. [↩]
2. In the unlikely chance that the weather is bad for the Napa-to-Sonoma run, Van Dillen is going to catch a lot of flak! [↩]

Yesterday was one of those days where synchronicity takes over and everything seems to fit into a larger whole. In this case, the day turned into a tapestry of events and activities related to CCFA’s¹ Team Challenge.²

Our weekly Team Challenge practice run began at 9:00 am and for one hour we ran laps along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee’s Veterans Park and past the Milwaukee Art Museum. We just managed to complete our run and were socializing³ in the parking lot when the weather shifted dramatically. Everyone jumped into their cars as a drenching, monsoon-style⁴ downpour started. I watched the thermometer in my car go from 69-degrees to 47-degrees  within only 1-2 minutes time. If our run had been ten minutes later, we would have had a very rude finish. (more…)

1. CCFA is the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. [↩]
2. For those of you not familiar with Team Challenge, it trains people to run or walk a half marathon (13.1 miles) in order to raise both research funds and awareness for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. [↩]
3. See kids … you don’t need a cell phone or computer to do social networking. [↩]
4. Even though I’ve been to India four times in the last decade, I can’t claim to be a monsoon expert — I’ve only visited during the Winter dry season. [↩]

New from Kevin on the Creatonomy Blog:

The Hollywood studios have become masters of successful marketing. Even in a bad economic environment, they create extensive campaigns that reach prospective customers in almost every facet of their lives. (And most importantly, they get those people into the theater.) By looking at what those studios do that works, you can find marketing lessons to apply when you want to turn your product or service into a blockbuster.

One great current example is the marketing campaign for the new film Star Trek.¹ Producer J.J. Abrams² and the Paramount marketing team have put together an extensive, integrated campaign which is already generating awareness of – and excitement about – the upcoming film.

Click to read the rest of this post on the Creatonomy blog.

1. Yes, there is another Star Trek film coming out. This one, however, is considered something of a “reboot” with the roles having been recast with younger actors and the overall look updated for today’s audiences. [↩]
2. Abrams is also behind the TV hits Felicity, Lost and Alias, as well as such recent films as Transformers, Cloverfield and Mission Impossible III. [↩]