Forgotten California

Picture of the Day - January 4, 2009

2009-01-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

My extended vacation is nearly over. It's been fun, but I wish I'd gotten out to take some more photos. As I think about getting back to the grind tomorrow, this picture of some broken gears from The Dominator ship wreck on the beaches in Rancho Palos Verde reminds me of being just another cog in the machine. Happy Sunday!

Forgotten California Gets a Logo!!!

2008-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the talents of Nick Contino, there's now a logo for this blog - it's a play on the California state flag for those of you not living on the left coast.

Check it out up top!

To Blunder or Not to Blunder...Does It Matter Anymore??? - Reviewing the Top PR Blunder of 2008

2008-12-18T12:13:00.001-08:00

Fineman PR out of San Francisco has just posted their 14th annual list of “The Top PR Blunders of 2008” and as always, it’s a fun list and I will admit to a bit of schadenfreude (defined by the Merriam-Webster as “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others,” and by Urban Dictionary as “watching a vegetarian being told she just ate chicken”) in watching these PR debacles.

Reading through them, I was instantly able to recall each instance, but I was also struck by the fact that I had to think for a few seconds to recall each of these blunders. I saw big names like Nike, “The Big Three,” the Department of Veterans Affairs, Absolut and John McCain – but I couldn’t recall what they all did to make the list (with the exception of the obvious and very recent faux pas with private jets and auto CEOs).

Why is this important? Well, quite simply, the most damaging blunders are the ones that create an indelible bond between your organization and something bad in the minds of the general public. The blunders that really matter are the ones that everyone remembers and you’ll never live down. ValuJet = fiery, swampy death in the Everglades. Vioxx = death by prescription. Mel Gibson = alcohol, sugar tits and Jews. Brad = a bachelorette party at a bar on Sunset Boulevard.

As an alleged PR professional, I eat, breathe and sleep news – so I could fairly quickly remember the Nike marathon winner confusion, the VA’s ignorance to actual veterans’ issues and McCain’s blowing off of Letterman…but how many people would immediately associate the brands with the mistakes? After all, a National Geographic survey shows 6% of young Americans aged 18-24 can’t even find America on a map.

So if Americans have zero recall of current events, then do the offenders on this list have much to worry about? A few weeks ago there was a buzz around the Intertubes about a condescending Motrin ad, but do vast numbers of people still remember? Not to diminish the power of media – especially since media results still define my success or failure for my clients at the end of the day – but in this new world of fractured media, shortened attention spans and voluminous channels of information, does anyone care anymore when you screw up?

How does this affect how companies and organizations operate after they screw up? When a company discriminated or an executive made an inappropriate comment or a product was defective, people would rally and rant not just to get the company to take action but to really make a dent in the organization's reputation.

But now, these blunders come and go. You mess up, you apologize, you take a few lumps...and then some other guys does worse and they get hammered. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Apparently, it’s an awesome time to screw up. It wasn’t long ago that Presidents Nixon and Clinton needed to man up, apologize and beg for forgiveness to survive. Now, all you need to survive a mistake in business, politics or society is to just soldier on. Let someone else’s mistake surpass your own at the top of the news cycle and pray to the gods of ignorance.

Picture of the Day - December 2, 2008

2008-12-02T16:08:00.001-08:00

This is the mailbox outside an abandoned home off Rte. 58 in northern San Bernardino County. I don't know why, but the mailbox - rusted, door open, flag up, and nearly ready to topple off its wooden stand - seemed the more fascinating topic than the actual home beyond it.

Picture of the Day - November 21, 2008

2008-11-21T05:49:00.001-08:00

Atolia is a tiny abandoned town about 100 miles to the northeast of Los Angeles. It was centered upon a now derelict tungsten mine and there are plenty of unmarked shafts to fall into if you're not careful.

News Story of the Day - November 19, 2008

2008-11-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

Greatest headline ever. And greatest final line ever.

The Associated Press
Did attacker use a club sandwich? Authorities aren't saying if the weapon he wielded was a club sandwich
Nov. 18, 2008

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A man faces a domestic battery charge after allegedly hitting his girlfriend with a sandwich as she was driving on Interstate 95 on Friday. Police said the 19-year-old man became angry and hit the woman in the arm and face with a sandwich, knocking her glasses off.

The victim nearly lost control of the car because she couldn't see the road and the man then allegedly ripped off the rear-view mirror and used it to shatter the windshield.

The man was freed on $7,500 bail.

Police haven't said what type of sandwich was involved.

Picture of the Day - November 15, 2008

2008-11-15T20:56:00.001-08:00

With the fire raging in Sylmar, CA and the evacuation of Olive View Hospital, I can't help but think of my visit to Olive View Sanitarium in 2007. A hospital for patients with TB and other infectious diseases, it was abandoned after the devastating 1972 Sylmar earthquake and was recently razed.

But before that could happen, I was able to wade through the broken glass, crumbling ceiling and piles of bricks to get a look at the place. It was a fascinating trip and discovering a full filing cabinet of patient slides (I can only imagine what fluids were on there, yuck) was a bonus in terms of helping envision the place as a bustling hospital.

So today's photo is one from my visit to Olive View, with the holes in the ceiling a somewhat eery sight when considering how many people are losing their homes with today's fires.

Lyrics of the Day - November 13, 2008

2008-11-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Just captures my mood for the day...

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?

I'm a Trendsetter

2008-11-06T16:30:00.001-08:00

I have three new contributions to society, so watch out America:

1) A new word: lifeflarking. Lifeflarking is similar to lifecasting, but the content and author of said content are of absolutely no interest to anyone. Basically, a lifeflarker is someone who spends way too much time and energy blogging, Facebooking, MySpacing, Tweeting and using other social media to share inane details of their lives, photos of their ugly mug and generally posit opinions on the world that are about as interesting as a dog's ass. I'll soon be sharing this word with Webster's and all the other official sources on language.

2) Bringing an old word back: fetch. Gretchen was on to something here. I am fetch. Joe Biden is not fetch. Fetch equals overwhelming awesomeness. I'm gonna make it happen.

3) Track pants and dress shirts as a fashion. My officemates laughed when I wore this to work but it's for real. You can't wear some crappy pair of track pants that swoosh when you walk, or have blatant name brand logos, but rather some really cool set of vertical stripes. And then you wear a snazzy dress shirt (other than white, pale blue or other traditional dress shirts) with the shirt sleeves rolled up or not buttoned. And of course, you never tuck the shirt in. Mix with a nice pair of sneakers and you look trendy, casual and as amazingly cool as The Brad.

Social Media is Not a Panacea

2008-11-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Wrote this post for my agency's PR blog a few months back and just felt like reposting..

Attention all PR people!

Social media is not a panacea to all your company’s or client’s PR problems. I repeat, if you employ social media programs, do not expect all the cool kids to come running, embrace your brand and evangelize about you and your products to anyone that will listen. Infusing social media ideas into your PR plans also cannot help you find your one true love, cannot cure cancer and cannot even help you save a bundle on your car insurance.

Just because social media is out there for the taking (and it’s generally cheap to implement), it doesn’t mean you need to take it. While it’s easy to watch new movies or brands like Nike and Burger King gain incredible traction with MySpace or Facebook, lightning in a bottle is just that – something that can’t easily be replicated for any old campaign, program or event. Too often, we hear our clients ask what we can do with blogs and Twitter and Facebook and a million other trendy names, but just as we counsel clients on when and how to send a press release or announcement, it is imperative to help our clients understand when – if at all — it’s right to go with social media programs.

When an organization is overzealous, ignores common sense and refuses to take a step back in order to take a real, hard look at the online landscape, the results are never good. Putting a MySpace page up just for the sake of it is asinine and dangerous. A boring page about a boring product or company is worse than nothing at all; the only result is scorn, vitriol, laughter and maybe even worse — zero return on investment. A good example is The Los Angeles Times’ Twitter page – it’s been updated nearly 2,000 times with breaking news since the account was created. Too bad it only has an audience of 98 followers. And you wonder why they say print is dead.

The problem: social media is really nothing more than a new venue to share news and communicate with key audiences. This isn’t to say companies and organizations should avoid social media entirely. To the contrary, there’s little doubt that social media will continue to integrate more and more into our daily consciousness. From PR people to CEOs, it’s important to keep a vigilant eye on new developments.

But it needs to be understood that the shotgun approach to social media – blasting everything in your arsenal against the wall and seeing what sticks – is simply not going to bear any PR fruits.

So the next time you’re in a meeting, brainstorm or casual conversation and someone starts bringing up all these brilliant ideas about how to use MySpace and Facebook, take a step back and ask if you have something new, unique and valuable to offer. After all, you wouldn’t embarrass yourself, your company, or your client with a press release announcing you just scratched your butt. Because social media can offer new frontiers, it doesn’t mean that butt scratching story is any fresher just because it’s distributed via brand-new Web 2.0 tools.

There’s great promise in social media for the PR industry, but we need to embrace social media for what it is…and what it isn’t.

News Story of the Day - 11.3.08

2008-11-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

For anyone that ever said a life in PR wasn't dangerous...

Bin Laden's publicist gets life in prison
Mon Nov 3, 2008 6:17pm EST
By Jane Sutton

MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. military tribunal at Guantanamo sentenced Osama bin Laden's media secretary to life in prison on Monday after convicting him of conspiring with al Qaeda, soliciting murder and providing material support for terrorism.

Yemeni prisoner Ali Hamza al Bahlul was the second man to be convicted by a jury in the war crimes court at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The jury of nine U.S. military officers reached their verdict on Friday after a weeklong trial in which the defendant and his lawyer refused to participate, Bahlul, who is about 39, broke his silence at his sentencing hearing and delivered a speech praising bin Laden and predicting his own conviction would strengthen al Qaeda's fight against the United States, a military officer involved in the trial said.

Bahlul waved a paper airplane and read the jurors a poem he had written in praise of the September 11 attacks, the officer said.

FBI interrogators testified that Bahlul scripted the videotaped wills of two September 11 hijackers and boasted of making a two-hour al Qaeda commercial designed to recruit suicide bombers.

The recruitment video was filled with bloody images of violence against Muslims and portrayed the attack on the USS Cole as part of "The Solution." It praised the suicide bombers who drove a boat full of explosives into the side of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000, killing 17 American sailors.

Jurors agreed the recruitment video was a solicitation to commit murder.

UNCHALLENGED

The government's evidence in the special tribunal went unchallenged during the trial. Bahlul was not allowed to act as his own attorney and tried to fire the U.S. military lawyer he considers an enemy. The lawyer, Air Force Maj. David Frakt, said it "goes against all my training and instincts," but honored Bahlul's request not to put on any defense or question witnesses.

He sat mutely as an FBI agent who interrogated Bahlul in early 2002 at Camp X-Ray, the chain-link cages where Guantanamo captives were held for the first four months of the detention operation, described it as a "very comfortable" place where no one abused or even raised his voice at a detainee.

Bahlul was not accused of taking part in attacks or of having advanced knowledge of any. But jurors agreed he joined al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 1999, acted as bin Laden's media director until his capture in late 2001, and tried unsuccessfully to set up a satellite link so the al Qaeda leader could watch live news coverage as the September 11 attacks were carried out.

Bahlul, one of about 255 men still held at Guantanamo, is only the second to receive a full trial in the tribunals created by the Bush administration to prosecute foreign captives on terrorism charges outside the regular U.S. and military courts. One other captive avoided trial by pleading guilty.

Only one more trial is scheduled before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January, a case against a young Afghan accused of throwing a grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter.

A Guantanamo judge threw out key prosecution evidence in that case last week, ruling defendant Mohammed Jawad's confession to Afghan police had been obtained through torture. The judge is still considering a defense request to drop the charges entirely.

"These tribunals have unfortunately not fared well as far as America's image goes," said Vijay Padmanabhan, a former U.S. State Department attorney with responsibility for detainee affairs.

Allegations of mistreatment, the use of secret evidence and the perception that the tribunal rules are unfair have worked to overshadow the U.S. goal of demonstrating that al Qaeda is a criminal group whose members committed atrocities, he said.

The next president will have to "recalibrate the entire process where the goal is not just getting guilty convictions," said Padmanabhan, who left government service earlier this year to teach at Cardozo School of Law in New York.

"PR in a Box" or "Dick in a Box?"

2008-10-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

So there's some buzz around the Interwebs about this new venture called PR in a Box (http://prinabox.ca/), which provides "a new delivery model" for PR services for small businesses and individuals. While I applaud the concept - how many companies or organizations can afford hourly fees of $100 at the bare minimum (with my rate double that) - it only serves to cheapen our industry even further.

PR isn't rocket science, but PR in a Box is just that - confined to four walls and bereft of the insight and experience of a real PR person. Just as you can't simply read a book and instantly succeed in business, you can't depend on modules. There's likely some good ideas and basic principles that small businesses can take from PR in a Box, but to take the practitioner out of the picture is dangerous.

You don't need to see any further than the story posted earlier this week on the insensitive press release a gun rack company posted (John Peters, you still should be ashamed) about how the Jennifer Hudson tragedy could have been avoided. I'm sure the company got more attention that they ever would have, and likely got a few extra sales out of it - but if that's how you want to go about your business, you don't deserve a PR person to tell you what's right and wrong.

I'm officially starting the watch for the "PR in a Box Defense" - when someone unwittingly does some really bad PR and claims they learned it from this fraud. Thanks to the makers of PR in a Box for diminishing the value of yourself and your industry. Looking forward to your followup venture, Surgery in a Box - how to harvest and transplant organs without a medical degree.

Press Release of the Day - 10.28.08

2008-10-28T17:49:00.001-07:00

Worst press release ever. This guy should be ashamed. Looking forward to seeing stories about this company getting flamed.

This is just so beyond unprofessional, I have nothing more to add.

COULD A BEDSIDE SHOTGUN RACK HAVE SAVED JENNIFER HUDSON’S FAMILY FROM TRAGIC DEATH?

Chicago, IL (MMD Newswire) October 28, 2008 -- Tragedy strikes in a Chicago home leaving 3 people dead and an Oscar winner forced to identify the bodies of her family.

Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were gunned down in their home Friday. Could an invaluable device have saved their lives? It’s called The BackUp and it is a bedside shotgun rack.

Everyday, there are over 8,000 home invasions in America, many resulting in assault, rape, and murder. That’s according to a report by the US Department of Justice.

Whether it is someone known or a stranger entering the home, too many people in this country are paying with their lives during these home invasions. The Hudson family is just one of far too many Americans gunned down in their own home.

What can be done? Law enforcement and the government aren’t solving the problem. So law-abiding citizens are now forced to take their safety, security, and life into their own hands.

Shotguns are often weapons of choice at home because of their deterrent effect on assailants, their close-range stopping power, their affordability and their reduced risk of injury to innocent others from stray shot. But the problem is storing them in a place where you don’t have to turn your back on your assailant. Propped in the corner or under the bed takes valuable time to get to, and could cost you your life.

But now there is a solution. The BackUp makes them easily accessible during a time of need. Racked between the mattresses, The BackUp offers immediate access to the homeowner’s shotgun: in the hands, cocked and ready to defend in 2 seconds.

Home Security Expert Howard Pitts says, “A shotgun provides the most effective protection against home invasion. And The BackUp is a much safer and secure solution than having a shotgun in the corner or under the bed.”

The BackUp is made in America and the adjustable 2-foot by 2-foot rack assembles in minutes.

For more information, visit the website at http://www.the-backup.com/

Available for immediate interview, contact company president John Peters at (612) 605-3613 or email at mailto:atpress-info@the-backup.com.

###

Picture of the Day - October 25, 2008

2008-10-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from above the L.A. River just northeast of downtown. I'm scared to death of heights, and just looking down at this angle got my heart racing.

So naturally I took a picture, but only when I got it back from processing did I really see how cool the composition is, with the seemingly symmetrical elements and the tunnel effect of the ladder.

Less "sensational" than the broken windows, rusted pipes, cracked walls and other elements of my other "forgotten" subjects, but this one is perhaps more haunting.

News Story of the Day - 10.24.08

2008-10-24T16:02:00.001-07:00

Reposting a great story by a good friend.
http://nwasianweekly.com/2008_2744/pages/mariners.html

Northwest Asian Weekly
Interpreter has dream job with Mariners
By Jason Cruz

Imagine your second day on the job being in front of cameras and reporters at a press conference introducing the Seattle Mariners newest player from Japan. This was the situation presented to then 26-year-old Ken Barron on his second day of work as the Mariners’ interpreter.

It was a big press conference introducing catcher Kenji Johjima to Seattle, but Barron, now 28 years old, recalls it as being a great experience.

A Seattle native, Barron learned the language from his Japanese mother and American father. For Barron, Japanese was always spoken at home. More opportunity to learn Japanese culture came in 1987 when his family moved to Japan while he was in grade school for his father’s work. Barron and his family lived in Japan for four years.

After returning to Seattle, Barron attended Roosevelt High School and Shoreline Community College, where he played baseball. It was Barron’s love for the game that eventually got him a shot with the Mariners.

Upon graduating from the University of Washington with a business degree in 2003, Barron worked for the Seattle Mariners doing odd jobs. Far from his current, interesting work, this first stint proved to be a good foundation for the future. However, Barron, a reservist in the National Guard, learned that he was mobilized and left the Mariners to serve as a soldier in Iraq.

After Barron’s yearlong tour of duty in Iraq, he worked outside of the Mariners organization. This time basketball helped him get another job in baseball. In January 2006, Barron sent an e-mail to an old friend, a Gonzaga basketball fan in the Mariners organization, bragging about the University of Washington men’s basketball team’s success.

The timing had been perfect. The Mariners were looking for an interpreter and when it came up, Barron’s friend had immediately thought of Barron but had no way of contacting him. Luckily, Barron’s well-timed teasing e-mail helped him become the Mariners new Japanese interpreter.

Barron, along with Anthony Suzuki, is the chief Japanese interpreter for the Mariners at home and on the road.

Barron’s work includes traveling with the team, assisting in interviews with Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima and working with Japanese media. Barron’s role is unlimited as he works with various departments throughout the organization that need his special talents. Although there is much travel and long hours during the season, Barron would not trade in a single minute.

“I really enjoy establishing relationships with people and meeting different people,” Barron said. He realizes that the job is a privilege and not many interpreters work in baseball.

Speaking about his co-workers, Barron said Ichiro and Johjima are “really nice guys,” and he is lucky to work with them as they are true professionals and people to look up to in regards to work ethic. “It is really nice to be around (Ichiro and Johjima).”

Barron believes that knowledge of the Japanese language is not sufficient for his job alone.The understanding of the Japanese culture and business is another vital element of the position. Barron advised that it is difficult to communicate effectively without the knowledge of Japanese culture.

During his time at the UW, Barron sought out and received a scholarship with the Mombusho Program through the Japanese Consulate of Seattle. “I wouldn’t have this job without it.” The yearlong program helps college students attend school in Japan.

Barron stated that the program paid for everything during his year. Even though Barron grew up in Japanese culture and lived in Japan during grade school, he spoke highly of the program and the benefits students receive from it. At the time that Barron attended the program, he stated that it was underutilized, as the number of scholarships was more than the number of applicants.

While every day may not be like the second day of work for Barron, he says working for his hometown team is truly a blessing, and that it is a fun job he really enjoys.

Jason Cruz can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Picture of the Day - October 22, 2008

2008-10-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

So after some time away, three posts in one day - on a funny story, on PR and now of course, on photography.

This is from an abandoned house near Red Mountain up in northern San Bernardino County. I can think of a few easy reasons for these holes, but like all the abandoned and derelict structures I've stumbled across in my travels, the more interesting questions are: Who lived here? When did they leave? What events led to the moment that caused these holes? Was it something going in or out that left these marks?

You've Been Naughty, Nike!

2008-10-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Why, Nike, why? You show you love us and you build your brand into a must for true long distance runners like myself - with partnerships with Apple, sponsorships of fun runs like the Run Hit Remix, and running clubs from your local stores - and then you royally f up in such a simple task as naming the winner of the Women's Marathon (Read here for the details: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/21/BAUC13L3GQ.DTL)

Ariel O'Connell ran the fastest time. To say that she ran a different race is asinine just because she wasn't in the elite group. You think she would have run with the pack if she was up there? Really? That's news to any real runner I know.

Marathon runners do run to compete against the world, but the thing outsiders don't get is that we really run against ourselves. Anger, love, a cause, whatever...we do it for something personal that's different for each and every one of us. She ran her heart out and it just so happened it resulted in the best time of the day.

Now it's a tricky situation I must admit dealing with the official rules, so I can't blame you for not knowing what to do right away, Nike. And if you stuck to your guns I could live with it. But to come out firmly saying you consider the case closed, then reverse course and yet only do it half-heartedly, giving her a pat on the head as "a winner," that's just total bullshit.

Your PR team behind this should be fired. I'm not saying I'm giving up on my Nike Air Alvord habit or dropping my support for Nike Running (although I'm still royally pissed you canned the IV series and am still not quite ready to say "I do" to the VI series), but what the heck are they thinking? They seem to show absolutely no understanding of the spirit of the sport and who runners are.

Talk about missing the boat in identifying with your audience. Nike, you've f'ed up before on the PR front (cough, child labor violations, cough), but this is like dropping a deuce in my kitchen sink. As a corporate giant, you can mess up. You can do it twice even, but you can't fumble the do-over. That's just bad form. Bad, Nike, Bad!

News Story of the Day - 10.22.08

2008-10-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

How could I not repost this???

Swedish hockey fans delay match with dildo downpour
October 22, 2008

Supporters of the Stockholm-based AIK ice hockey team scored an unusual hat trick of heckling on Tuesday night featuring dildos, profane banners, and a giant inflatable penis.

The taunts were directed at Jan Huokko, a stocky defenceman with the Leksand hockey club in Sweden’s second-tier professional hockey league, and a former player with AIK.

Ahead of Tuesday’s match against Leksand, the website for AIK’s unofficial supporter group had instructed fans to bring dildos to the match to remind Huokko of the sex scandal which plagued him earlier in the year, according to the Expressen newspaper.

As one of Leksand’s top-scoring defencemen and a former member of Sweden's national team, Huokko is known for putting the biscuit in the basket.

But back in June, Huokko’s reputation for “scoring” took on a different twist when a sexually-charged video clip featuring the 34-year-old blueliner and his girlfriend ended up on the internet.

Huokko had recorded the clip on his mobile phone, and wasn’t surprised to find it spreading like wildfire on the internet after the phone was stolen.

“It was a private thing between me and my girl,” he said at the time.

“That’s what people do when it comes to sex.”

Before Tuesday’s match even started, AIK fans had already littered the ice with dozens of dildos, causing a slight delay as crews worked to clear the sex toys from the playing surface.

AIK fans also unfurled a banner reading “Bend over bitch!”, which was accompanied by a giant inflatable penis.

Vulgar chants directed at Huokko continued throughout the match, which Leksand ended up losing 3-2.AIK club management was aware of their fans’ plans for knocking Huokko off his game, but elected not to intervene.

“We’d also heard mention of it, but we decided that it would only be worse if we went out and told the fans they were absolutely not allowed to throw dildos on the ice,” said AIK club head Mats Hedenström to the newspaper.

Lars G. Karlsson, an official from Sweden’s ice hockey association, called the sex-toy storm “a non-issue”.

“It didn’t affect play at all. People barely noticed it,” he said.

And despite the AIK supporters’ best efforts, Huokko took the mocking in stride.

“For me it was just a regular hockey game. It was no problem,” he said following the match.

“I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

A Sobering Reality

2008-09-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

In PR, you learn everything begins and ends with the brand. Protect it and you make money (Coca-Cola), earn votes (Obama), develop a devoted following (Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana), and make it big (The U.S.A.)...but fail to foster it wisely and you crash and burn (Tom Cruise, Wal-Mart, that guy in the office who drank waaaay to much at the holiday party in front of everyone).

In the newly released BusinessWeek/Interbrand rankings of the Top 100 Global Brands, you see a lot of financial names, like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Citi, AIG, JPMorgan and others. So when 2008 is likely to close with the failure or acquisition of Merrill Lynch and AIG, as well as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual (no slouches in the world of branding by any standards), you know there's something seriously wrong.

Many of these brands have weathered world wars, the Great Depression, the 1987 stock market crash, Milli Vanilli, Sept. 11th, the 1990s Asian economics crisis, the American Civil War(!) and many other devastating events in history. And NOW they wither away? Yeah, that should be a tipoff to most Americans that this is the biggest story of the year.

Not some election in a few months between a has-been septuagenarian and a spineless, self-promoting soundbyte hack (although wow, has he created a cult brand following). Not the winner of American Idol. Not Michael Phelps quest for Olympic glory.

Sadly, the vast majority of Americans have no idea what to make of the stories they read about the economy. I'm not much better, but I try to understand all the jargon nonetheless.

So if it takes the epic destruction of these brands to get through to a PR person that the sky is falling and the s$&%storm of the century is coming, what will it take for the rest of America to wake up? This is absolutely huge and yet people just mutter, "Oh, the economy sucks" and talk about "change" in November. They have no real grasp of the gravity of the situation.

Maybe we get all those celebs who did the We Are the World rendition of "I'm f$%&ing Ben Affleck" to get together for a new cut of "I'm not f%$#ing Ben Affleck, but I wish I could because they we can live together off his residuals from Pearl Harbor after I lose my job, savings, family and will to live sometime in the next 6-18 months..."

Well, maybe not that. But something kinda like that might work.

Picture of the Day - September 13, 2008

2008-09-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

I've only gotten a total of about 15 hours of sleep the past week, so I'm not quite sure why I'm even posting at 7:15am on a Saturday, or why I picked this picture of a really, ridiculously expired fire extinguisher I found in an old factory...

Quiet...

2008-09-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Been traveling a lot for work and many early starts and late hours. Seems like I hardly have time anymore for photography, sigh...

Gnomedex and Seattle

2008-08-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

I'm visiting Seattle for the first time for Gnomedex 8.0 and this city is amazing.

I totally made like Derek Shepard and went on a random ferry ride late last night. Also visited the first Starbucks - embarassing tourist picture of that to follow.

First session of the conference...is on photography. Sweet!

Picture of the Day - August 17, 2008

2008-08-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

In honor of Michael Phelps, a pool outside the former North Shore Yacht Club that only he could manage to conquer.

The New Canon XSi

2008-08-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I had to buy the new Canon XSi DSLR for work and the thing is amazing! Super easy to use for someone who traditionally shoots with film DSLR cameras. Granted, I've been a Canon EOS Rebel user for years, but it's so easy to just slip right into this new one.

Hopefully one day soon I can afford one for myself!

Shooting Stars and Airports

2008-08-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Sitting in SFO and surprisingly plucky after staying up most of the night to see the Perseids. They only come once a year, but seeing more than 100 shooting stars was something I couldn't pass up.

Picture of the Day - August 11, 2008

2008-08-11T19:52:00.001-07:00

Don't know why this photo struck me to post today, but sometimes you feel like the bug, sometimes you feel like the windshield. Here's a random broken down TV I found by the side of the road in the California desert.

Picture of the Day - August 10, 2008

2008-08-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

In honor of my agency sending me to cubeville, here's today's picture of the day.

This is what my new working space looks like.

I'm a PR agency whore because...

2008-08-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

PR Week just wrote a story and I've worked at not one, not two, but all three agencies in the story...

PR Week
Port of Los Angeles limits PR work to one agency, per Mayor
Kimberly Maul
August 05 2008

LOS ANGELES: The Port of Los Angeles plans to award The Rogers Group, with a one-year, $350,000 contract this Thursday for work on its Clean Truck Program after the LA Mayor's office requested the Port limit its work with PR firms.

The Port originally had hoped to extend two three-year PR contracts to Hill & Knowlton and The Rogers Group for new work, but after reviewing the proposed contracts, the office of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa requested that the Port limit its work with outside PR firms to just one firm and for only one year.

The decision comes a little more than two years after two former Los Angeles' Fleishman-Hillard executives were found guilty of federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges in an alleged case of overbilling several of the agency's LA clients, including the Port of Los Angeles.

In a letter to the Harbor Commission July 23, Mayor Villaraigosa said that he applauded the group's efforts to “grow and green” the port and recognized that “this initiative requires an even stronger public education and community outreach program than has ever before existed at the Port of Los Angeles.” However, the Mayor suggested the work be viewed as a “temporary supplement” while the Port works to develop “internal staff capacity” to work on such projects.

"A lot of it is [about] wanting the Port to build up its internal capacity, and ensure we're moving in the right direction," said Parita Shah, press secretary for the Office of the Mayor. "The Mayor really feels that the focus needs to be on the Clean Truck Program at this point."

The Port currently has three openings in its communications staff, including media relations director.

"By virtue of [the Mayor's] criteria, we are going forward with a contract with The Rogers Group to support our Clean Truck Program," said Arley Baker, senior director of communications and legislative affairs for the Port of Los Angeles. "We're going into the critical stages of implementing the program for an October 1 launch date. Another part of the scope of work will be to support a public education and outreach program."

The Clean Truck Program, which will work to reduce air emissions, gradually bans trucks made prior to 1989 beginning October 1, charges a fee for dirty trucks, requires that trucks servicing the Los Angeles and neighboring Long Beach port be operated by licensed concessionaires, and, by 2012, meet 2007 EPA emissions standards.

The American Trucking Association filed a lawsuit on July 28 challenging the Port's right to enforce these requirements.

A representative from the Mayor's office said Villaraigosa is just waiting for the Port to re-work the contracts and confirmed the details of the Mayor's letter, which was posted on a LA blogger's site.

The Board of the LA Harbor Commissioners will meet on Thursday, August 7, to discuss the new contract, which also needs approval from Villaraigosa before moving forward.

"At this point, I think we've gone full circle and the last couple of weeks have been really focused on working with the Mayor's office to create a win-win situation, and I think we've done it," Baker said.

The Rogers Group declined to comment about the pending contract. Hill & Knowlton also had no comment.

Picture of the Day - August 5, 2008

2008-08-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

L.A. Gridlock - as seen from a homeless encampment by the L.A. River.

Picture of the Day - August 3, 2008

2008-08-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the former Olive View Sanitarium in Sylmar, CA. I hear the site has been bulldozed since I've visited it, which is a real shame. Located adjacent (or at least it used to be) to a new hospital, the Olive View Sanitarium is perhaps a perfect subject to touch upon after last week's Chino Hills earthquake.

While the 2008 quake doesn't compare at all to any of the major ones that have hit Southern California, it has gotten people talking again about the subject and for those living in the area on February 9, 1971 - before my time :) - Olive View Sanitarium should provide a somber reminder of the damage earthquakes can really do.

From the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner:

Southland Damage in Millions
February 9, 1971

Fourteen persons were killed today, nine of them in hospitals as a minute-long earthquake rolled over Los Angeles and suburbs at 6:02 a.m.

It was the worst recorded quake in the city's history.

Heaviest death toll was in San Fernando Valley, epicenter of the jolting, rumbling temblor.

Sections of two hospitals collapsed. Seven lives were lost at the Veterans Administration Hospital, 39000 Sayer St. in the Sylmar area and two died in a structural collapse at Olive View Hospital and Sanitarium, 14701 Foothill Blvd., Olive View.

Sections of two hospitals collapsed. Seven lives were lost at the Veterans Administration Hospital, 39000 Sayer St. in the Sylmar area and two died in a structural collapse at Olive View Hospital and Sanitarium, 14701 Foothill Blvd., Olive View.

Three persons also were killed in the city of Newhall.

Another died when the front of the Midnight Mission toppled at Second and Los Angeles streets in downtown Los Angeles.

Retired druggist Elmer Hl. Schroeder, 70 of 5440 Quakertown Ave., Woodland Hills fell dead of a heart attack as he tried to help his wife when their second story apartment began to shake.

Scientists at California Institute of Technology said the quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was 10 miles east of Newhall.

Emergency crews evacuated an 80-square-mile area in the vicinity of Van Norman Dam, Mission Hills, which has a crack down its center and is leaking water.

The area evacuated extends west of Balboa Boulevard, right on Van Nuys Boulevard, south to
Ventura Boulevard and north to the Golden State Freeway.

The quake was the worst in the Southland since the Long Beach disaster of 1933.

Damage today was running into the millions. County and city engineers said it will be weeks before full extent of damages is calculated.

Streets were strewn with shattered glass, concrete and bricks, walls buckled in major buildings, bridges cracked and some fell, freeways split, and thousands of homes suffered structural and internal destruction from tumbling furnishings.

Olive View sanitarium, where two died, was declared a total loss. Upper floors of its main mental health building collapsed to the ground floor.

Persons were reported trapped in the facility's recreation room. Ambulances were rushing injured to hospitals.

We All Have to Start Somewhere

2008-08-03T17:03:00.001-07:00

My name is Brad and I'm a Senior Account Manager at CarryOn Communication -- an excellent public relations agency headquartered in Los Angeles. But my true passion is black and white photography and one day I'll have the money/balls/motivation/pink slip in hand to give up this career and push on full-time into a career in art photography.

In the mean time, I'll try to keep this blog fresh with posts on my photographic endeavors to catalog the weird history of urban architecture and culture in California, and drop a few random notes and anecdotes here and there as I see fit. There will be some random photos here and there, but for the most part, this blog will feature photos of what I can only call "Forgotten California"

What is "Forgotten California?" It's the term I've given to the vast number of structures and places throughout California (and sometimes beyond) that humanity has moved past and abandoned. From derelict hospitals to long-deserted homes to decaying motels, modern American society continues to move inexorably towards the future at the expense of the past.

Driving around beautiful and sunny Southern California, it's easy for our eye to skip past that abandoned building and focus on the shiny new edifice, but there's a somewhat inexplicable yet undeniable beauty in looking at the things we've left behind. The books filled with yellowing pages, the dirt-stained child's doll, the rotting floorboards, the broken glass -- they all tell a story. Maybe not a story that's worthy of a Hollywood movie, but certainly a human interest story. In every abandoned building, you can imagine a young couple enjoying their first home, world-weary travelers catching much needed rest in their cramped motel room, nurses and doctors tending to their patients with technology that would seem outdated by today's standards.

I'd hope that visitors to this blog will find these photos not to represent the end of the line for a bygone era, culture or people, but as a platform from which to imagine the endless possibilities these building provided for their inhabitants once upon a time...and perhaps most importantly, what could or should have been.

Whenever I tell people about this fascination with abandoned buildings and urban decay, I'm usually met with blank stares and skepticism. Hopefully, you'll follow me with this new blogging adventure and find yourself similarly captivated by the anthropological value in what I call, "Forgotten California."