Shiny Objects -- No. 4

More  things big and small that have distracted me over the last week:

1. How to Think Like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos

This podcast interview with self-help guru Tim Ferriss is frequently insightful, but this conversation with X-Prize man Peter Diamandis is smart and inspiring throughout. Key comment was Diamandis encouraging smart people to stop developing new photo-sharing apps in pursuit of ideas that can change the world.

Side story: Something I learned: I once did business with Zip2, a company started by Elon Musk.

2. Top Ad Campaigns of the 21st Century

This is one of those items worth saving over the course of a week. Ad Age has settled on the top ad campaigns of the last 15 years and its collection is dynamite. I've watched the P&G "Thank You, Mom" video as part of research at work, and it still has impact time after time (love the tagline: "for teaching us that falling only makes us stronger") but the other campaigns are equally memorable.  

3. Buona Tavola

Sandi and I escaped to the Central Coast for a quick weekend getaway. Through happenstance, we landed at Buona Tavola in Paso Robles, and enjoyed one of the best dinners we’ve ever had. Great appetizers (if it's available, try the stupendous Alle-Pia Salami Anti-Pasti), entrees, wine and service. Understated, affordable but very memorable.

4. August Ridge

During our dinner at Buona Tavola, Sandi and I had a glass of the 2009 Sangiovese from August Ridge, a small winery between Creston and Templeton (at the far edges of the Cental Coast wine country). The Sangiovese was so memorable we took the long drive to the winery the next day to sample more. I’m not a wine snob, but have tasted enough good and bad wine in my lifetime. I can say without a doubt that the 12-wine tasting at August Ridge was the most consistent of any winery I’ve visited. Well worth the drive.

5. R.I.P. Kim Fowley

Kim Fowley, a B-Grade rock impressario whose self-imposed shadow was far greater than his real-world impact (outside of The Runaways and a few scattered hits), died last week. I read a couple of tributes, and even listened to 15 minutes of an extremely bizarre audio interview between critic Barney Hoskyns and Fowley. None captured Fowley as well as this Medium headline and story. I think Fowley would agree.

6. Stadiums of the future

I’m a sucker for stadium architecture and experiences, so was intrigued by the visions that are coming in the future. Sports Illustrated highlights 10 being planned around the world that will revolutionize the experience of live events.

7. Gary V in a nutshell

I’ve been a fan of Gary Vaynerchuk for several years through his books and social media blasts. But I can’t recall a single post that resonated as much with me as this one. It’s not much more straightforward than this graf:

“So this new quick hack of using social media and modern tech to build up your brand isn’t enough. It just isn’t. There is no substitute for honest hard work. You have to earn the privilege of building a “personal brand,” and the only way to do that is to actually execute.”

As Nike would say, “Just Do It.”