Another concept to make people take notice, watch, participate, smile. Build an impromptu slip-n-slide. Lather it up. Provide peanut gallery seating with flavored “icees.” Bring extra garbage bag sliding devices. Leave the hose on.

Then rinse and repeat next month. Get the kids in the paper. Show you’ve got a nice place to live.

I’d like see more people produce more “free outdoor movie” series in our hometowns. What feeling does that give you? I became a fan of the “oldies” movies showcased on summer Mondays in Bryant Park (NYC) and thought it might be interesting to setup a cool-but-cheap movie theater setup on the local park.

My vision is a kind of “Thursday Evening Film Series” community affair. “Classic movies under the stars.” The park opens for picnicking at 5pm with a live band (who performs gratis). The films begin at sunset, (typically between 8pm and 9pm). We ask people to bring their own blankets and lawn chairs (no plastic tarps, as they damage the grass). Give an award for the best tasting popcorn – or put a popcorn machine on wheels. Ask the local ice cream and coffee shops to stay open late. Perhaps other food vendors (sandwich/burger/pizza shops) could offer special to-go menus. And a local charity could raise money by offer food delivery service for $5 tips.

I’d love to learn how to license the oldies (think TCM-style). Then we grab a projector (I have a home movie one), 2 JBL EON’s, a small mixer and a DVD player. Setup a large white sheet with simple scaffolding or bungie cords holding the grommets. The sit back and let people laugh, cry and enjoy the moments.

Increase the motivation. Make them have fun. This is a most-brilliant way to experience the lesson, by the Swedes, of course: http://www.thefuntheory.com/.

Through my friend Paul, I had a wonderful conversation with a coffee shop owner on Cape Cod a few weeks back and a few things from our chat are memorable. One of those things is the socio-economic philosophy of famed Barista-trainer Bruce Milletto.

In one of his “how to run a coffee shop” seminars, Bruce taught Kathy that much of a community dynamic falls around “the third place” for people.  The first place is home.  The second is work.  But that third place is where people go to get their news, gossip and perhaps some primary provisions.  Its that place that really resonates with people.  It has to be popular.  It has to fit comfortably into routine.  It has to feel like a natural place for many types to go – it’s gotta be special.  It’s often either a bar or a coffee shop.

If you look at Kathy’s place, it is very much a people place – built from an actual Cape-style home, it has nooks and crannies and tables-all-about – where people can gather as needed and have their public or private conversations.  Newspapers and magazines lay everywhere.  There’s coffee, tea, hot chocolate, apple cider and lots of quick-but-fresh goodies that allow people to stay as long as they wish… a grab-n-go or an all-morning-hangout.  Kathy solidifies her place in her town by having all of her baristas memorize the names and associated prized drink of every patron.  She loves her community.  She keeps track of everyone and brightens the mood as necessary (I hear she’ll even talk dirty to the men “who need it”).

I love this theory and it rings true.  Reminds me of Woodstar in Northampton.  Espresso Love in Edgartown.  Or even, gulp, Bentley’s in Woodstock.

This is one of the things I miss by being in the city.  The combination of anonimity and very few popular but locals-only “nooks” in NYC break-up the community into smaller and non-social cliques.

My friend Susannah opened what she thought would be “that type” of mom/pop café on 107/Amsterdam years ago, called “Zanny’s.”  Susannah moved on and speaks little of it – but it’s still there.  Tess and I go there weekly.  It has a wonderful feel and much of what I described above.  But it just… can’t… convert the locals to open up and build that community that makes the world smaller and more welcome.  Starbucks tries this but it is just not authentic.  There is not as much love in that “place.”

Note to self when considering such a place.  Make it authentic.  Give it some nooks.  Keep the coffee fresh.

A game invented by my friend Nate and mastered by the great Adam Northway, I think this is best described by Adam himself:

“A game in which everyone around me closes their eyes. I make a series of three noises. They are any combination of me either clapping my hands together, or slapping my belly which sounds exactly like a hand clap since its so flabby and rotund. After this, each person tries to correctly guess the pattern. It will save ANY lame party. Just be sure you know your co-workers well if you’re going to break it out at the office holiday party.”

Be prepared.  Any drink still swirling in your mouth while observing this game will have you choking, snorting or geysering.  Nope – geysering is not a word, Cooper.

Think iTunes for photos (or videos!)…

Apple should design and sells digital photo screens that can come slightly larger than standard prints (4×6, 5×7, 8×10…). Or perhaps they sell custom digital frames pre-matted and framed. Make a color vs. b/w collection. You buy a bunch for your living room or your whole house. Then on your Mac you use an interface to establish which screens are in each room. And then, using your local WiFi/WAP, you stream photos to the screens/frames live.

So when mom comes over, suddenly your house is filled with the love you possess for your extended family. Or turn your home into an art gallery showcasing your latest landscapes. Or have a party and stream screensavers…

For many years, my friends Buffum, Dan, Chris, Steve and Foster and took an annual Spring trip to Club Med. In later years we were joined by girlfriends, wives and Rob. We had the time of our lives.

One of the coolest outcomes of our time there was a game we invented called “corks.” It is a drinking game, born from the necessity to drink – and drink a lot of something that was less of a pleasure. Club Med had a house wine that, to any mediocre fan of wine was… absolutely gross. But it was free. And so, to get ourselves “started” for the evening (and most evenings), we finished our dinner and assembled the pieces needed for the game.

Pieces needed:
- A table, the bigger the better. This is best played at a square table where two people sit on each of the four sides.
- An empty drinking glass per person, preferably a “highball” glass that is no more than 3-4″ high.
- And then… corks. You should have at least 2 per person at the table. The more the merrier, as they bounce all over the place and you’ll be scrambling to have one ready when it’s your turn.

Teams of 2 are then determined, where teammates sit across from one another at the table, each with their drinking glass on the table in front of them. At any time, one teammate is the “shooter” and the other the receiver. The scope of the game involves throwing the corks overhand (but never reaching over the plane of the table) aimed at the glass in front of your partner. The receiver cannot participate in the shot (assisting the cork or glass in any way – they spend much of their time just trying to block or catch wayward corks as they glance off in every direction). Imagine this at a square table where you’re also distracted by other corks flying across your flight path.

Each game is begun all at once, with all of the teams starting on the word “go.” To score a point, your cork must land in their glass and stay there. At this point, you both must yell “one!” (or the number of subsequent corks you’ve properly landed). The teammates alternate turns.

We most often played to a game of 5 points – where the first team to 5 points was declared the winner and the other teams must drink (sometimes, collectively a whole bottle of wine).

We had it where the winners celebrated by carrying one another around the room in delight (Foster was priceless at this). The winners can then add a rule to the next game of 5. We came up with several supplements:
- count in a foreign language
- at points 2 and 4 you must switch sides of the table
- point 2 must be shot standing up
- point 5 must be shot throwing with your non-dominant hand

Some people got more accurate as they played, some got worse. But the mayhem created – when desperately trying to land a cork across the table, running around the room for spare corks, remembering the silly rules and the adrenaline rush from winning or almost winning – made for the most memorable nights.

Go!

My friend Woody recently clued me to the fact that not all older movies are in print and many never make it to DVD. He is a true movie buff and has his taste, for sure, but we made a shortlist of those “great” movies that ought to be out in DVD (rentable/purchasable). I’m curious to learn if you can buy the rights to replicate and sell these versus just telling someone like NetFlix or Apple to go through the paces.

Quatermass and the Pit (1968)
The Questor Tapes (1974)
The Sound and the Silence (1992)
The Great Brain (1978)
The Gifted One (1989)
Starcrosse (1985)
Wavelength (1983)
The Dollmaker (1984)
The Children Nobody Wanted (1981)
Guardian of the Wilderness (1976)

I was recently hanging with some music business folk at a wedding. We got tipsy but in the course came up with a few “different” marketing ideas. And while many of these are focused on the music industry, many might apply elsewhere.

1. Glow in the Dark T-shirt giveaway: 1-in-10 glows in the dark.

2. Message when you play music backwards. For those audiophiles out there.

3. Fake websites. Or one-off sites. Push an event/album/product with a one-off one-page site that has a quirky easy-to-remember name, like “italkdirtyinmysleep.com”

4. Leak songs. Used by many artists already. Find the die hard fans and send them the mp3.

5. SWAT team private show. Heard about this one? NIN did a very cool promo.

6. Living room concerts. Intimate. Expensive. So memorable.

7. Special guest performers. Works better when they’re not obviously related. Mick Jagger with James Taylor. Ozzy Ozbourne with Fiona Apple.

bike trail idea, make woodstock more bike friendly, create an attraction by getting rockefeller and state of vt grants to turn old white river-quechee-woodstock rail line into bike path, end at the parking lot off bond street, trail heads, volunteers to play rangers, might need a dozen bridges, major paperwork getting permissions through old backyards