These opening words are surely triggered by our current economic messand the flailing of a certain industry based in a very somber Midwestmetropolis:
"It's not uncommon for companies, from time to time, to reposition aproduct. Occasionally, a company might even change direction,completely reorienting its focus and line of brands. Such a markedshift might indicate that the market for a given product has aged,that the long-term prospects for that segment look unfavorable, orperhaps that a more profitable market has been identified. Usually,these attempted transformations are conscious and very deliberate."
Alas, alack, these are not written on the topic of politicallytone-deaf, creatively-hidebound General Motors Corp. by, say, thewonderful Joseph Nocera of the New York Times. It's irrevocably soberCharlie Cook on the Republican Party in the Nov. 22 National Journal's"Missing: Seller's Remorse."
For now, the similarities when it comes to strategy, execution andhubris are many, though the case for two domestically-based politicalparties is stronger than for three domestically-based automakers. It'sunclear whether the GOP will convince itself that the panacea is aplug-in hybrid of a politician, perhaps one to actually enticegreen-leaning youthful consumers, as GM believes will the case with aplug-in hybrid of a car, the Volt, if the company survives until thecar's arrival in two years.
---Dec. 1 Newsweek's "The Meaning of Michelle" cover by AllisonSamuels is a smart idea and heartfelt but, of necessity, doesn't gofar beyond speculative musings on the impact of a black First Lady,including spending a wee bit too much on her attire. As intriguing isDaniel Lyons and Daniel Stone on "President 2.0" and how BarackObama's adroit ways with technology could translate into connectingwith citizens during his presidency, with some thorny legal questionsarising when it comes to the privacy of information related to us alland to Obama himself.
---Meanwhile, Dec. 1 Time is strong on "The Sorry State of AmericanHealth," especially in its graphic display of our undisciplined wayswhen it comes to preventive care, overweight and other unhealthytendencies. So how do we spend more on health care than any countryand still live shorter lives than in many other lands and rank 29th ininfant mortality, tied with Poland and Slovakia? Oh, between us,Michael Kinsley's column bemoans, ah, well, "blog gridlock." Yes,there's the matter of the quality of information in a mostlyeditors-less world, but "it's the quantity that's trulyremarkable---and oppressive."
--- The Nov. 22 Economist's "Economics focus: Health and Wealth" mightbe checked out after reading the Time cover since it relays word ofseveral academic papers suggesting that improved national healthdoesn't necessarily improve a country's economy. Increased lifeexpectancy can lead to a larger population using limited stocks ofland and capital, depressing per capita income in the process.Elsewhere in the issue there's "Can the can," exploring how viewingdisorder, such as graffiti and garbage, can have a negativepsychological effect. It's not a new insight but researchers in theNetherlands offer the latest confirmation, after deliberately creatingsuch settings and, in the process doubling the number of peopleinclined to litter and steal.
---"The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time" is December Rolling Stone'sunavoidably alluring, debatable selection of the top of the pops, with179 experts weighing in, including the magazine's boss, Jann Wenner.Aretha Franklin is No. 1, Mary J. Blige is No. 100, and a few of thewinners write about why they love other winners (Blige about Franklin,No. 32 Bono about No. 7 Bob Dylan, and No. 15 Robert Plant about No. 3Elvis Presley).
The insights are more personal than empirical, more tell than show,and inadvertently remind why it may be best to leave the music writingto the music writers. Blige tells us Franklin is "a gift from God" butnot a whole lot about why she's the best ever. Ditto No. 24 VanMorrison on No. 4 Sam Cooke ("He had an incomparable voice") BillJoel's a bit more descriptive with No. 2 Ray Charles ("Ray synthesizedthe blues into a language everybody could relate to") but not muchmore.
Jackson Brown's better on No. 5 John Lennon, underscoring the"tremendous intimacy" in his handiwork, avoidance of "the polemic orsappy." He concedes, "It's not the chops of a heralded singer---no onegoes on about his actual technique. He went right to what he felt,what he had to say." And Lenny Kravitz is interesting on theself-discipline of No. 16 Mick Jagger and how he remains so strong atage 65.
The best is Bono on Dylan, with an opening reminder that, "Almost noone signs like Elvis Presley anymore. Hundreds try to sing likeDylan...You have to imagine a world without Tom Waits, BruceSpringsteen, Eddie Vedder, Kurt Cobain, Lucinda Williams or any othervocalist with a cracked voice, dirt-bowl yelp or bluesy street howl."Bono finds himself using the following adjectives to describe thevoice: "howling, seducing, raging, indignant, jeering, imploring,begging hectoring, confessing, keening, wailing, soothing,conversational, crooning. It is a voice like smoke, from cigar toincense, where it's full of wonder and worship."
For pop junkies, this is an especially strong package online, withsongs to listen to from each of the 100. And check it out all the waydown, since the bottom is an intriguing as the top, with one string ofNo. 93 Annie Lennox, No. 94 Karen Carpenter, No. 95 Patti LaBelle andNo. 96 B.B. King.
---Here's a question to jumpstart a boring dinner party: Why don't wetake perfumes seriously?
"Smelly Masterpieces" is a nifty essay-review in the Times LiterarySupplement by Angus Trumble, curator of paintings and sculpture at theYale Center for British Art. He reviews "Perfumes" by Luca Turin andTania Sanchez. In sum, he muses, "Given the amount of time and effortthat curators, collectors, dealers, scholars and critics spend onformulating acute judgments of taste in relations to oil paintings, itseems odd that so few are prepared to apply some of the same skills inexploring works of arts (some of them distinguished) which stimulateanother sense altogether: that of smell."
He concedes that an anti-corporate bias may play a part, with ourbeing dubious about "cynical bean-counters" who tamper with oldformulas and substitute "cheap chemical compounds." Thus, "Just as theworld is awash with terrible art, the fragrance counters are unhappilycluttered with rubbish." He explains how one might try todifferentiate between good stuff and "something as pitiful as Heiressby Paris Hilton."
The critic finds the authors a bit over the top in bashing AllureHomme Sport by Chanel as "like being stuck in an elevator for twelvehours with a tax accountant." He stands up for Poivre by Caron,despite a "prickly, clovy, tacky-varnishy, old-upholsteryish,neglected card-catalogue dryness," since "love has its blind spots"and he wears it.
And he clearly is big on New York by Parfums de Nicolai. He likens itto "meeting an old high school teacher who had a decisive influence onmy life: I may have moved on, but everything it taught me is stillthere, still precious, and wonderful to revisit." Oh, as for thesmell, he cites an "exquisite balance between resinous orange, powderyvanilla, and salubrious woods shimmering from moment to moment, alwayscomfortable but never slack, al ways present but never loud. It is oneof the greatest masculines ever, and probably the one I would save ifthe house burned down."
---Back to our economic mess, even if you shudder to check your 401(k):
"Anatomy of a Meltdown" in Dec. 1 New Yorker is John Cassidy'sdistinctly balanced profile of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke,underscoring both his seeming passivity when faced with manifestationsof the subprime mortgage disaster and the reality that he's tried tobe flexible amid confounding complexity.
And, finally, there is this cheery cover from Dec. 1 BusinessWeek:"The Subprime Wolves are Back."
"As if they haven't done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgagelenders and brokers---many of them the very sorts of firms that helpcreated the current financial crisis---are going strong. Their newstrategy: taking advantage of a longstanding federal program designedto encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for buyers of modestmeans."
Those programs involve loans backed by the Federal HousingAdministration, with the claim here that "FHA officials seem obliviousto what's happening, or incapable of stopping. They're giving mortgagefirms licenses to dole out 100 percent-insured loans despite lenderrecords blotted by state sanctions, bankruptcy filings, civillawsuits, and even criminal convictions."