Sunday, August 27, 2006

New blog!

I'm moving by blog over to Wordpress.com . Come check it out!

Saturday, August 26, 2006

SF BBQ


Good people, good food, good times…

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Chow.com

Please welcome chow.com! For a “younger, hipper clientele passionate about food but perhaps not too skilled at preparing it” – claims the NY Times. Know what, that’s me.

My usual online picks are Food Network, epicurious.com and whfoods, but now there is going to be more interesting food + lifestyle action. The site has not launched yet but will be in a week’s time. I would expect to see Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain and maybe even some highly controversial Kaz Yamamoto.

Friday, August 11, 2006

creeeeeppieee!


Alright stop! Before you get all spooked out, let me tell you what this spooky picture is all about. This is a picture of a glove factory. These guys have decorated their compound wall with some old glove moulds. When new moulds are made, for the first three months or so they are used for making surgical/better quality gloves. For the next 5 months + they are used for making construction gloves etc.

Later when it is time to discard them, these creative folk decorate their compound wall, also for security reasons, with these clay moulds/ just like how colorful glass shards, metal are used elsewhere.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Is Wine the New Perfume?

Almost all fashion labels have a cosmetics line, mainly because it contributes to a fair amount of bread and (non-fat) butter. Cosmetic products enjoy high margins making them a natural selection for a product line offering. However, these days there are many players in this segment, too much noise and options that distract the consumer.

This brings the labels to a point where they need to rethink if there are hidden markets for something new. The understanding among many is that most designers have the finesse to know, understand and consume top-of-the-line lifestyle products - be it caviar, cigars, carpets, villas or wine! This “eclectic” perception lends itself to much credibility that may help sell an Alaia branded wine someday.

I have read somewhere that the region of Bordeaux has nine thousand chateaus with some that only have a couple of acreage. Appellation laws permitting, these designers may just be able to patronize/ brand some of the high quality wine producing chateaus. With wine consumption on the decrease in France and consumption increasing in the US, major changes are already happening.

Putvote.com

Putvote.com works a lot like Digg for Indian blog posts, built together by Kingsley and Ravages. If you are registered your vote counts for 10 points, otherwise 3 points. Think I managed 20 points, first I used my right hand and then my left.


Sunday, July 16, 2006

Gap this!

For sometime I have been hearing cool things about Gap’s Fall Denim line, even the insiders are pleased and proud. This is especially important from a branding stand point, since they received a lot of flak in the past seasons for offering styles that were not exciting loosing shark bites of market share to Abercrombie, H&M and American Eagle.


Now I am more excited about their Fall Denim Ad Campaign.

There is much buzz in the media about their new campaign choreographed by the Talauega Brothers from LA. The ad will be in black and white with six dancers whose clothes will be in color. One style morphs into another to show different cuts and silhouettes that vibe with different dancers and moves. I believe these ads have a lot of potential given that much coolth will be added by the free style moves by these superlative choreographers who take their inspiration from b-boying, krumping, locking, etc

Rich and Tone Talauega have created much excitement in ad campaigns that use dance as the key medium of communicating “the feel”. Some of their work includes ipod, Pepsi, Covergirl, Mitsubishi ads, and music videos for Gwen Stefani “Rich Girl”, Jennifer Lopez “Get Right”, Michael Jackson “Ghosts”, Madonna “Rinvention Tour”, Chistina Aguilera “Dirty” etc. This list also includes movies like Take the Lead and Save the last Dance.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool by the National Cancer Institute may be an effective way to start looking at your personal health/risk. By default it is only for women >35. My mom, a successful gynecologist in India, detected my grandmother’s breast cancer before it got any worse, about 24 years back. My grandma is still one of the big smiling faces at the airport every time I visit home.