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Jerome Sala
New York City
I've got two blogs: "espresso bongo" is on poetry and pop culture. "Jerome and Brooke Storytellers," co-written with Brooke Lighton, offers content marketing ideas from our ad agency.
Interests: music, film, advertising, politics, poetry, literary criticism, cultural theory, Direct Response advertising, Direct Marketing.
Recent Activity
Interesting: sounds like your dreams now are breaking into waking life, like Benjamin wrote about! On China: once a signifier of old-style revolution, now for global capital: things turn into their opposites like the dialectical thinkers of yesteryear used to write. Maybe they had something there...
Toggle Commented Feb 28, 2019 on The War on Sleep: Dreaming in a 24/7 World at espresso bongo
To your point about commodification: lately in commercials for video games I've noticed a lot of the characters look like robots. No doubt this is feeding off popular movies (which themselves feed of the games, to create a kind of repetitive loop). But I can't help but think they look like robots because they're influenced by AI (the algorithms of marketing research).
Toggle Commented Feb 28, 2019 on The War on Sleep: Dreaming in a 24/7 World at espresso bongo
Yeah, I think you're right — any non-monetized time is looked upon with derision (or at least suspicion). In the 24/7 book, the author mentions a science fiction film where people are awake for weeks on end. They begin to hallucinate; their dreams appear in waking time. Today, fantasy films are incredibly popular. I wonder if they're a form of dreaming while awake (the difference being someone can make money off these "dreams").
Toggle Commented Feb 26, 2019 on The War on Sleep: Dreaming in a 24/7 World at espresso bongo
Hey Michael, In those transformations you mention (backyard becoming China), it reminds me how even the most domestic space gets transformed into a "global economy" nowadays! I know, also, there's the philosopher Gaston Bachelard (who worked as a mailman by day), who writes extensively about the way we perceive the idea of "home" (in The Poetics of Space). But I wonder, as a movie buff, any film dream sequences you love?
Toggle Commented Feb 26, 2019 on The War on Sleep: Dreaming in a 24/7 World at espresso bongo
The War on Sleep: Dreaming in a 24/7 World
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Dreams aren’t what they used to be. Once upon a time, they had the power to invade daylight. Here’s Walter Benjamin, from the beginning of One-Way Street, published in 1929: “A popular tradition warns against recounting dreams the next morning on an empty stomach. In this state, though awake, one remains under the spell of the dream.” Benjamin goes on to caution that unless there is a definite break between the dream state and waking life “the grey penumbra of the dream persists”, and the daytime and nocturnal worlds get mixed, leading to confused states of mind. My experience of... Continue reading
Posted Feb 25, 2019 at espresso bongo
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The 7 deadly clichés — strike these words from your thinking. (Part 2)
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In our last exciting episode, we covered 3 relatively new, but tiresome words that are drummed into our heads every business day: “millennial,” “innovation,” and “content.” Now we’re going to take on four more candidates — words that make you … GAG! And the nominees are … 4. Disruption It... Continue reading
Posted Jun 28, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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The 7 deadly clichés — strike these words from your thinking. (Part 1)
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How often does this occur to you when sitting in a business meeting? “If I hear that word one more time, I’m going to strangle somebody.” Why is it that we speak in normal parlance in everyday conversation, but in our work lives turn into robots — spitting out clichés... Continue reading
Posted Jun 22, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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Writers: 6 ways to manage the client approval process without seeing your content turned to mush
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You’ve felt the pain… You come in for a client meeting to review copy and find yourself in a conference room with 20 eager junior “team members.” Each wants to make his or her mark — on your content. You’ve written the perfect headline that comes back “tweaked” and now... Continue reading
Posted May 1, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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Wasn't aware of this reference. Will check it out. Thanks!
Toggle Commented Mar 5, 2018 on Why are we whispering? Thoughts on "Blade Runner 2049." at espresso bongo
How do you freshen your brand? Subaru Dog Commercials Tell the Tail.
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Here’s a pet peeve many have with television commercials and marketing in general. Often when aiming to be creative, marketers overwork an idea to the point where consumers want to throw a missile at the screen every time the spot airs. How many times can you watch the Dominos commercial,... Continue reading
Posted Feb 20, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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Thanks, Michael. Glad you found it interesting!
Toggle Commented Feb 15, 2018 on Why are we whispering? Thoughts on "Blade Runner 2049." at espresso bongo
Neuromarketing: it's not what you think
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Neuroscience has brand marketers lining up to out-psycho-babble each other in an effort to sound savvy on the many ways to manipulate this science. And who can blame them. The revolutionary advances in the study of the brain are thrilling. Neuroscience books are flooding the market. The discoveries they reveal... Continue reading
Posted Feb 15, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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Why are we whispering? Thoughts on "Blade Runner 2049."
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The low-talking in Blade Runner 2049 offers a clue to the film's meaning. Continue reading
Posted Feb 13, 2018 at espresso bongo
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What are the 3 "musts" for convincing thought leadership? (Hint: pain comes first.)
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Your audience is hurting. It doesn’t matter if you’re addressing lawyers, tech innovators or marketers. If your thought leadership piece has any chance of gaining traction, it needs to demonstrate, right from the jump, that you feel their pain. Next you need a solution, followed by a real-world example. It’s... Continue reading
Posted Feb 1, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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What do activists, market disrupters and cultural icons all have in common? A manifesto.
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Why you need one, too. The Talking Heads drew a wry picture of life without a manifesto in their classic song, “Once in a lifetime”: You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack You may find yourself in another part of the world You may find yourself behind the... Continue reading
Posted Jan 30, 2018 at Jerome and Brooke Storytellers
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Book Party for New Collections of Poems by David Lehman, Jerome Sala & David Shapiro
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If you're in town, please stop by! Where and When: ZINC BAR Sunday, May 7th, 5-7PM 82 W. 3rd Street NYC Who and What: Three poets read to celebrate their new books: David Lehman New Book: Poems in the Manner of... (Scribner) David Lehman is the series editor of The Best American Poetry, and is also the editor of the Oxford Book of American Poetry. His other books of poetry include New and Selected Poems, Yeshiva Boys, When a Woman Loves a Man, and The Daily Mirror. His most recent nonfiction book is Sinatra’s Century. He teaches at The New... Continue reading
Posted Apr 23, 2017 at espresso bongo
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Reason or Resentment? "Feud" (the miniseries) and the political mood
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In addition to bravura performances, the Feud miniseries offers surprising insights into our current political mood. Continue reading
Posted Apr 9, 2017 at espresso bongo
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How the Film "Arrival" Predicted the U.S. Election
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What the filmmakers of "Arrival" added to Ted Chiang's novella, "The Story of Your Life", is just as intriguing as the original tale, especially in light of the 2016 U.S. election. Continue reading
Posted Dec 26, 2016 at espresso bongo
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Yes, I know the arthritis poem. Never heard of the "potato" remedy before reading it there!
Toggle Commented Oct 29, 2016 on Spiritual Realism: Laura Riding's Poem, "Beyond" at espresso bongo
Thanks, Paul. Sure are a lot of interesting new forms of "realism" springing up in the last few years. Hope we see you soon!
Toggle Commented Oct 25, 2016 on Spiritual Realism: Laura Riding's Poem, "Beyond" at espresso bongo
Spiritual Realism: Laura Riding's Poem, "Beyond"
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Laura Riding's poem "Beyond", offers a fascinating meditation on how our words can't keep up with our experiences. Continue reading
Posted Oct 25, 2016 at espresso bongo
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Play Now (or Never!): Toyota Tacoma Commercial Goes Mad to the Max
Recently, a TV spot for Toyota's Tacoma (a pickup truck) caught my eye. Its combination of music, sound effects and imagery prompted all sorts of warlike and post-apocalyptic associations in my mind. Check it out: You probably recognize the score that these truckers sing along with -- Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." The same tune was used in an iconic movie scene: the helicopter assault in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Film blogger B. Ruby Rich once wrote about the film that, in it, Coppola was "playing at war with all the passion of a schoolboy, relishing its spectacle." With... Continue reading
Posted Apr 4, 2016 at espresso bongo
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The Marriage of Brand Advertising and Direct Response: The Geico Campaign
GEICO's iconic campaigns offer some valuable insights on integrating Direct Response with Brand Advertising. They also show how to keep your offer fresh, year after year, even if it doesn't change. Continue reading
Posted Feb 4, 2016 at Direct Hits
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Thanks all! Wanted to mention that there's also a technical brilliance to Lally's book -- specifically the way he puts his own stamp on the Sonnet form. David Lehman covers this in his review, here: http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2015/05/michael-lally-scores-big-by-david-lehman.html
Toggle Commented Jan 24, 2016 on The Poet as Thinker: Michael Lally's Swing Theory at espresso bongo
Have you seen the recent Sanders commercial, scored to Simon & Garfunkel? Wondering, might he be a rebirth of 60s energy -- or is he something new, altogether?
Toggle Commented Jan 23, 2016 on A Poet or "Just Another Rock Star"? Jim Morrison and The Doors on American Masters (PBS) at espresso bongo
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