Hasta La Gadget!

Sonic Youth front-woman Kim Gordon’s new memoir, Girl in a Band, confronts the way the musician’s gender often played a too-prominent role in how her work was discussed. In an interview with HuffPost Live, she addressed commonly asked questions about what it’s like to be a female musician, or a musician who’s a mother.

“It’s a question you couldn’t answer in two or three sentences or a paragraph. It’s also kind of annoying. Women just want to be seen as musicians, and people,” Gordon said. “Obviously it does make a difference when you’re a woman, what you bring to it. And it’s a subtle thing that doesn’t necessarily have to do with gender — it’s more of an energy you bring onstage. It’s more interesting to ask, what’s it like having this lifestyle?”

When asked why she decided to pen the book, which follows her from her early years through the heyday or touring and her tumultuous divorce, Gordon answered that she’d simply been getting inquiries from editors.

“Rock memoirs are maybe like the new record or something. Patti [Smith’s] book did really well. It never occurred to me to write a memoir. I wanted to make something constructive out of what happened. When something traumatic happens to you it makes you look back at your whole life and try to figure out how you got to where you are,” she said. “I wouldn’t say writing was joyful. About a year ago I went out to Los Angeles and rented a place out there. I was out there for I think a month working on the book. It felt good to go back to LA, and feeling like my life had come full circle.”

All right, it might not start until 2016, these things can be awfully hard to predict exactly. However, surprising as it may seem, one way or another the end of ISIS is in sight, and it’s all resting securely in the hands of Jesus, peace be upon him.

There has been a great deal of mainstream media attention lately, both video and print, regarding the fact that ISIS is recruiting based on the promise that their fighters are actually participating in the rapidly approaching end of the world.

At the same time, mainstream orthodox Muslim websites are already predicting Jesus’ return as early as 2022, starting an Islamic prophetic clock set to run over the next 7 years, in the purportedly rapidly approaching run-up to Armageddon.

The good news is that even if they’re wrong, those claims ISIS is making about their own role in Islamic end-time prophecy spell their own certain end. Because even though ISIS claims they’re fighting on the side of the angels, it’s obvious they’re not, and it should become progressively clearer to even the most misguided Jihadi that either ISIS is wrong about Armageddon or that they’re on the wrong side, because of all the things Muslims know are supposed to happen.

And if it turns out they’re right, then we can all rest assured that by the time the dust has finally settled there will be no question left about who’s side they are really on, because it’s all going to be about Jesus.

Frankly, although I’d like to believe the orthodox predictions are correct, I think they’re premature, and that ISIS is crazy-stupid. We had a very informative event up here in Calgary last month hosted by the US State Department, where Dr. Michael Ryan of the Middle East Institute shared his valuable insights into ISIS’ recruiting strategy. We learned that ISIS actually complains in their internal communiqués about their difficulty recruiting informed Muslims, because “Islam makes them tend towards life and their community”. They find more success attracting Muslims they call “losers” — ignorant about their Islamic faith and marginalized by drugs, alcoholism, crime, mental illness or recent life-changing events. That’s not the sort of Muslim you would expect to know much about the religion, or to make good life — or end-of-life — choices either. Given that, I think we can discount their validity of their “good-guy” claims, even despite their despicable and deplorable actions which should in themselves be sufficient.

But even if we considered that they might be right about the impending apocalypse, what sort of events should the next few years bring according to confirmed Islamic eschatology?

• First, the Euphrates River should soon be uncovering a mountain of gold, with the Arabian Peninsula becoming filled with meadows and rivers.
• Then, some Muslims throughout the world will be inexplicably transformed into apes and pigs because of their attempts to make lawful some rather significant major sins. Personally, I think that one’s aimed squarely at al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al Shabab and ISIS and their associates, and their rather liberal views regarding murder, tumult, oppression and slavery.
• Then shortly thereafter you can expect the coming of the Mahdi, his uncovering of the Ark of the Covenant and his evangelism of a significant proportion of the world’s Jews, who will wake up and realize that they shouldn’t be ignoring and allowing Israel’s oppressing Muslims and Christians in Palestine.
• Then, you will see the coming of al-Masih ad-Dajjal –the false Messiah or anti-Christ– the descent of ‘Isa ibn Maryam [‘alayhis-salam] –that’s Jesus– and his defeat of the anti-Christ followed by the coming of Ya’juj and Ma’juj –Gog and Magog–,followed by:
• The rising of the sun from the west
• The appearance of the Beast of the Earth
• The wind that will take the souls of the believers
• The ruin of al-Madinah –Medina–
• The destruction of the Ka’bah –Mecca– by the Abyssinians
• And the fire that will come from the Yemen to gather the people in Sham before the coming of Judgement Day.

I think you’ll all have to admit, that’s a lot to pack into the next seven years and it’s going to be hard to miss.
And with that 7 year clock running, if it all doesn’t start happening soon, you can expect to see ISIS supporters starting to slip away.

But if it does come true, what sort of a man is the Mahdi supposed to be? Muslim prophecies are actually frighteningly clear, and do seem to predict the current state of affairs in the Levant, hold out hope for the rest of us and promise an end to ISIS.

At the end of time, a severe tribulation will descend upon my Ummah from their ruler. A worse tribulation will not have been heard of before, until the earth’s expanse is constricted upon them, and until the earth is filled with tyranny and oppression, so that the mu’min will find no refuge from the oppression.
Then, Allah [‘azza wa-jall] will send a man from my descendents who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny. The inhabitants of the heavens and the earth will be pleased with him. The earth will not withhold any of its growth, but will bring it out, neither will the sky withhold a drop, but Allah will pour it out upon them in showers. He will live among them for seven years, or eight, or nine. The living will wish that the dead were brought to life again to witness the great good that Allah brought about for the people of the earth.
There will be at the end of time a trial that will sort out men as gold is sorted out from metal. So do not revile the people of Sham, but revile their evil ones, for among them are the Abdal [great righteous people]. A flood is about to be released upon the people of Sham that will split their unity, so that even if foxes attack them, they would defeat them.
At that time, a man from my household will come out with three banners. The one who estimates highly will say that they are fifteen thousand. And the one who estimates lower will say that they are twelve thousand. Their sign will be: “Amit, amit [kill, kill].” They will meet in battle seven banners, and under each of those banners will be a man seeking the kingdom. Allah will kill all of them, and restore to the Muslims their unity and bounty, and their far ones and near ones.

And what about Jesus? Even though Muslims and Christians disagree about what he is, with Christians claiming he’s God and Muslims declaring he’s not, everybody agrees about what sort of a person he was, is and will be: a man who fulfilled the Jewish Covenant and taught benevolent compassion to his followers, his example remaining a source of hope and inspiration to all humankind for the rest of time.

Can anyone conceive that that person –or Person– when he –or He– descends to lead us, could conceivably countenance the despicable and deplorable acts of ISIS?

God Forbid, it could never happen, not even if the world ends tomorrow or lasts for another thousand years.

Bottom line, I have served God and loved Jesus my entire life, and I followed Jesus into Islam when I realized I became a worse man by worshipping Him and a better man by following him. And my greatest hope for today is that Muslims and Christians are all starting to look forward to his return, because regardless of when that happens his example and his words can guide all of us to a better place together, with the help of God.

Because regardless of what the next years bring or which faith we follow, we are all waking up and realizing that we all need Jesus, peace be upon him.

Praise God/Alhamdulillah, Amen.

At Davos this year, political and corporate leaders talked earnestly about businesses becoming responsible, ethical and sustainable… and playing a contributive role in society. Heads of the IMF, World Bank and Bank of England have been suggesting capitalism become more inclusive. But the talk is always easier than the walk, especially when ‘nice-to-have’ values conflict with the core business model of the firm – simply witness the scandal surrounding GlaxoSmithKline in China in recent months. Even as we applaud Paul Polman, the CEO of FMCG giant Unilever, for his stance on responsible business, we must also acknowledge the reality on the ground: Middle-managers and country heads — where much of the power and P&L lies — actively resist responsible business because they fear its impact on their careers and cash.

Good intentions in business are often scuppered by the prohibitive costs, vested interests and complexities of implementing ethical, environmentally-conscious business. However, there exists one area of corporate activity, which often gets overlooked when we discuss corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is directly, permanently and microscopically managed by the organization itself. Here there are no excuses for not ensuring it is responsible. It takes little, if not no, money to transform (because it is always being evolved). And it impacts the lives of millions. I am talking about the positioning of their brands: The bricolage of images, ideas, meanings, values and vision that is orchestrated and communicated to us by a small army of marketers, market researchers, and creatives so that we fall in love with the brand. After a century of branding that used the dark arts to flog units, some leaders are realizing that enlightenment is not solely the preserve of mystics and yogis. It can happen to brands too.

It’s hard to emphasize how much effort and energy, time and money, is invested in the generation and maintenance of a brand, particularly a globalized, high-value, brand that creates enormous wealth for its owners and shareholders. Youth brands, in particular, are micro-managed to an extra-ordinary degree – every change in direction is considered, a myriad of ideas are developed, concepts are researched – until the brand’s army of thinkers and actors agrees. The resulting creative platform forms the basis of all communications to the consumer. It is a set of words, images and assists that form a ‘Big Idea’ designed to keep the brand relevant, engaging and exciting for a year or two. What is even more remarkable, is that much of this effort is expended before any adverts, mailouts or websites are twinkle in a young creative’s eye.

Strategic brand management, for this is what it is called, is a well-advised and profitable route to take. If a brand can capture the hearts and minds of its hard-to-please consumers and, even better, harness a ‘spirit of the times’, it will benefit from commitment, passion and even advocacy. This attention and emotional engagement translates into high margins and renewed revenues. There is a reason Apple can get away with 60-70 percent margins for its iPhones.

Brands serve a purpose beyond driving sales. In these days of crumbling traditional institutions, brands offer signposts for to consumers about how to live a good life, whether they realize it or not. They even offer a connection to something bigger than the individual, a role that used to be the domain of religion, dogma and ideology, whether communism, capitalism or existentialism (if you used to hang out on the left bank of Paris and in the Village in NYC). Big brands shine a light, albeit often a very dim light, on what it means to be a human being in this stretched and strained post-modern culture. Those that have done this well, like Orange, Nike, VW and PlayStation, have reaped the rewards of value-creating loyalty for many years.

Yet how many brand managers, consultants and agency staffers, who together set the agenda for so many people’s lives across the world, are aware of the true extent of their cultural power? How much time do they spend contemplating and considering the long-term socio-cultural impact of the values and ideas they espouse? And, most importantly, how many of them are conscious enough of their own values, their own ethics, their own humanity to design the mores and morals of generations of the public with wisdom and heart? ‘Risk Everything’ (Nike). Or ‘All In Or Nothing’ (Adidas). Which, if either, is going to empower consumers (that means you and me) to thrive in an age of complexity and challenge? Which, if either, can tap into their innate wisdom and help them be contributive human beings? What are the hidden dangers of each?

As a former brand agency boss who has worked with many of the best brands in the world, I believe we need a new cadre of brand ‘shamans’: People with transformative power at the deepest levels of both individual and cultural narratives, who can help marketing teams understand their psychological power and cultural influence; and wield it in a way that empowers people to thrive. By developing enlightened brands, even companies with unethical policies and unsustainable supply chains can take responsibility for the cultural narratives that guide and inform the lives of so many.

With the wisdom and world-change media company I run, we are pioneering just this. We act as combined brand agency, creative studio and media platform, offering brands opportunities to create profoundly meaningful content, that has practical value, with a playful tone. We look to connect brands deeper into people’s hearts and minds (that drives loyalty and sales); but not by manipulating those hearts and minds, but inspiring and empowering them. This is growth at one with the people; not at the expense of their ‘thrivability’.

There is absolutely nothing – nothing – intrinsically wrong with brands; nor branding and marketing in general. They are agnostic tools, that can be used to spread love or lack; fear or hope. In fact, the skills of a brand strategist can be invaluable in changing behaviors around social problems (e.g. drink driving or charitable giving); and mindsets on important issues such as discriminatory stereotypes or HIV. In one project with a large drinks company, we used brand strategy tools to promote authentically responsible drinking, impacting millions. I use the same toolset working with leading non-profits and governments on poverty reduction and welfare program design. Skills at branding and brand storytelling can help us heal suffering and create democratic movements as much as they can manipulate our need in the service of greed.

However, branding is usually used to find the most damaged and wounded parts of our individual and shared psyches, and trigger those wounds into need and greed. It does not need to be this way, although it takes profound transformation of marketing leaders themselves to realize how their brands can amplify what is most noble, or most base, about the human experience. Imagine out of every $100 of marketing spent – the money that supports the vast majority of the TV, radio, Internet and news industries – is spent on limiting rather than liberating the human spirit. Is the world not full enough with media, tech and advertising companies making billions helping brands make effective content that sells… but without heart that is in service?

To break through from disempowering to empowering branding – that moment of brand enlightenment – takes change in the hearts of minds of the team, leadership and organization. That is why brand shamanism has to work at the level of the marketing team (and the culture as a whole); as well as the brand communications themselves. What we are finding is that, as the brand looks to nourish human flourishing as much as extracting revenues from it, it transforms the team so that each begins to tap into, and unlock, their own life purpose. It is much more inspiring to deliver ethical business through brand growth than it is through CSR constraint and regulatory compliance.

With such an awesome power, it is time for brand owners to become more aware of their foundational myth-making abilities; and question and re-question what the right thing to do is both for their brand and our shared society every time they commission a campaign.

What are the values we should promote more to co-create the kind of society we dream of for our children? What are the ideas that help consumers feel more peace and express more love and creativity? What are the ideas that inspire people to work together, share resources and make a difference?

There is always a win win win (win for the company, the consumer and the world). Yet often, to find it, we have to give up our old assumptions and mental habits and embrace new ones.

In this area of ultimate ownership and enormous influence, every organization can, right here, right now, chart a profoundly ethical and generative path; and be positive contributors to our society. As well as manage their environmental and social footprints, they have the opportunity to immediately effect our inner lives and social systems by ensuring the values they say we should live our lives by are supportive of human connection, peace and inclusivity.

Surely, if our favorite brands have the wit and wherewithal to create such amazing ads, inspiring internet content and dazzlingly disruptive products, then – with the jolt of enlightenment – they can use their power to consciously switch us all onto what is possible when we consumers become the most awesome version of ourselves, serving the greater good?

What could be more challenging than navigating the complex college audition process? Waiting for your results to come in. As Princess Fiona sings in Shrek, “… the waiting, the waiting, the waiting!”

The national “reply by” date, as made standard by the National Association Of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC), is May 1st. That is the date that applicants must formally notify one college that they are accepting its offer of admission — and seal the deal with a deposit.

But audition-based college performing arts departments have no standard “offer by” date. Once a student has completed the audition and application process, there is a period of months where families are left hanging while they wait for what seems to be interminable about of time, for admission results. This is because program acceptance protocols vary from school to school. Colleges with rolling admissions can make offers of acceptance at any time (and rejections) during the recruitment season. Other schools make offers at various times in March. For a handful of popular performing arts programs, applicants will have to hold their breath until April 1st to get their results. And if you are a transfer, it could be June before you will know anything. In addition, theatre programs across the Atlantic might not give you an answer until the end of summer.

These various program response dates don’t even include academic admission to the university. Those dates vary as well, and in some cases depend on whether the college considers applicants for dual enrollment. And almost no BFA performance departments offer early decision.

And because the performing arts audition-based programs are highly selective and pull a select few from a large applicant pool, they have a department specific strategy of admissions in order to achieve their yield. Some departments maintain a waiting list they might go to after May 1st if they still have open spots in the incoming freshman class. So if you are placed on a wait list, that is exactly what you do. Wait. Other schools prefer to maintain a deferral list. They notify some students after their audition that they are in the “pool of applicants we are considering”. Kind of an “on hold” waiting. And most performing arts students have auditioned for/applied to 10-15 colleges. So until all the results are in from all schools, students and families really can’t make an informed final decision. Still more waiting.

I have some advice in my book, I GOT IN! about how to deal with this maddening waiting period. These suggestions might help to ease anxiety and make you feel proactive.

1. Stay in touch with department admissions. Communicate any improved test scores, recent performances, awards and honors.
2. Send a thank you note to show your interest. Hand written is preferred, but an email is acceptable.
3. This is an excellent time to visit campuses, either in person or a virtual tour on the college website.
4. If a school has placed you in a deferral list or a wait list, contact them and let them know you want to stay in consideration.
5. Contact current students or alumnus to ask any questions. Most performing arts departments will share that information, or have Face Book pages.

The best distraction of all is to enjoy your senior year. You will never get this time back, so savor it. Get involved at your high school with activities and senior celebrations. Don’t be distracted when non-performer friends start announcing their acceptances. Performing arts students are usually the last to know where they are headed to college. And understand that all your fellow performers are in the same boat, so you are not alone. Hopefully this will give you comfort, so that waiting may not be (as the Tom Petty songs says) “the hardest part”.

Look at the address bar in your browser. See those letters at the front, “HTTP”? That stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the mechanism a browser uses to request information from a server and display webpages on your screen. A new version of the …