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Wheels, Solos and Moscow Mules

Three thoughts, one entry.

January 2, 2007 | RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | 9 COMMENTS

This is one of those posts where I have a little to say about a bunch of stuff, so rather than force out a long post about any one of them I've decided to throw them all together.

Before I get started, happy new year to everyone, hope it was a great one.

Now onto the action.

The Wheel

I can't remember exactly when I had this thought, but all of a sudden it popped into my head: There was a day when the wheel wasn't even a glimmer in someone's eye. Same thing with computers, pens, cell phones and shoes. All these things had to be invented, which means that somebody had the wherewithal to actually make it happen. It's amazing and very encouraging to think there are still huge innovations that no one has even begun to think of.

Great Musicians

At about 1:30 on New Years Eve a jazz musician sat down at the bar next to me and we started talking. One of my kicks lately has been to ask people who are passionate about what they do who it is they respect the most and why. I want to understand what it is that makes that person, who I've probably only heard of in passing, so talented. When he was talking about soloists he said what made them great was that you never knew what note they were going to play next. They never tipped their hand: Every note was a surprise. This also happens to be one of the things that makes a great wide receiver in football. When a great WR goes out for a route he knows it, the quarterback knows it but the defensive back has no clue whether he's going to turn inside, outside or run straight upfield.

Moscow Mule

Turns out the vodka craze is in large part due to great marketing. A Moscow Mule is mostly a combination of vodka and ginger beer. Turns out John G. Martin had recently bought Smirnoff (originally called Smirnov, which apparently was a little too Russian-sounding) and needed a way to promote the booze when everyone was drinking whiskey. What Martin decided to do was get together with Jack Morgan, then owner of the Cock'n Bull in LA who also had a ginger-beer franchise. They placed their concoction in specially-engraved copper mugs made by another friend with a struggling business. Then came some real marketing: "He bought one of the first Polaroid cameras and asked barmen to pose with a Moscow Mule copper mug and a bottle of Smirnoff vodka. Then he would leave one copy of the photo at the bar and take a second copy to the bar next door to show them that their competitors were selling their concoction. Between 1947 and 1950, thanks to their invention, Smirnoff vodka case columns more than tripled and nearly doubled in 1951." As a side note, after reading this I ordered a copy of Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail.

Well, that's it for now. Hope that helps you ease into the new year. Let me know what you think about this stuff, would love to discuss and see if there are some bigger themes for upcoming entries.

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COMMENTS

1Michael Surtees

Not totally relevant to the conversation, but since you mention wide receivers I thought I might add this simple note of observation about me being a defensive back covering those shifty WR's back in the day. There was usually one tip off that I could tell that a WR was going to get the ball. As they would line up they would usually do something slightly different with their hands before the snap. Also you wouldn't necessarily need to watch the quarterback while running w/ the WR. Once the ball is in the air most of the team will shout something like "pass" and if the WR eyes went extra big it was a pretty good guess that the ball is coming down pretty soon near you...

January 2, 2007

2Noah Brier

Interesting, Michael. Obviously there are a lot of similarities to poker players and their tells. When I was writing this I kept thinking about other people for whom not knowing what they're going to do is beneficial. In a way, this is advantageous to almost anyone in power. When you don't know what someone is going to do or say next, it's harder to plan for them. Whoever knows the next move is in control of the situation.

That's why you never want to fight a crazy guy.

January 2, 2007

3Alex Becker

about inventions, I wonder if it gets harder to invent something with so many things already invented.

January 2, 2007

4Justin

Being a former jazz drummer (albeit mediocre) and a basketball fanatic, I feel compelled to reference the often cited comparison between the two (basketball and jazz). If you think of one trip down the court as the song and the ball as the solo, it makes a lot of sense: the ball gets passed around and everyone (ideally) gets their turn to improvise, with the shot being the end of the song. In the same way that a pianist will comp (play chords underneath) a solo, a power forward might set a pick, in a sense sacrificing some individuality for the greater good. Granted there are some holes in this analogy (say, the lack of an opposing jazz quintet trying to disrupt the song), it is the most impressive comparison between sport and music I have heard.

January 2, 2007

5Noah Brier

Alex, I think we make it harder on ourselves because we like to say everything's been invented. But that's just impossible. There could be another wheel out there that no one has thought of yet.

Justin, thanks, that's great. I expect the jazz analogy probably goes pretty far: I know I use the term jamming or improvising in brainstorms when you build on top of someone else's idea. I wonder what it is about jazz that makes it so elastic in that way . . . How would you define jazz?

January 3, 2007

6Alex Becker

Well yes thats true Noah , but think about it. Inventing a wheel is relatively simple compared to inventing a computer.

January 3, 2007

7Noah Brier

Very true Alex, but the computer doesn't matter too much without the wheel to get it to your house. :)

January 3, 2007

8El Gaffney

here comes a lazy comment...on the love of a great musician - every note was most likely not just a surprise, but also a pleasant one. been a lot of renewed discussion about the role of brands to surprise and delight. seems elasticity is going to become more and more important - so people know what to make of the surprise and are happy about it. (and the people who hate surprises aren't turned off by it.)

thought also about athletes... same is true for a great tennis player on the court in a match - not just that when he or she goes out, there's a chance you will witness something you never thought possible (maybe even an invention, someone went through the legs after chasing down a lob first, someone started diving at the net, and someone used a two handed forehand), but also you see that they are human and improvising and not machines (back to roger federer vs. someone like michael chang) - love to see emotion as well as failure/losing from time to time.

great stuff.

January 3, 2007

9Justin

As far as the elasticity of jazz (at least the type I think you're thinking of), it is a combination both of improvisation and a form/structure that allows for continued solos without the playing of a chorus or recognizable melody. Although the musicians are (usually) still playing over the form (chord changes), there is endless possibility for exploration.

As far as the definition of jazz, that is a surprisingly difficult question to answer. I think I'm better suited to point out what elements of jazz a certain style of music or band has than to say what is or isn’t jazz - I'll leave the line-drawing to the musicologists.

January 4, 2007