a hundred avatars

I'm on a panel about 'Multicultural Millenials' and...

...and I figured I would try to get your help.

The nice folks at the NY Latino International Film Festival have been kind enough to invite me to speak on a panel next week. The topic is 'Multicultural Millenials' or as they've put it in the description:

Bilingual, digitally fluent, “Multicultural Millennials”, particularly bilingual Latinos, have emerged as the nation’s most powerful population segment, strongly influencing mainstream culture, lifestyle and media consumption. Here we discuss how this population shift has created great opportunity for content producers, distributors and advertisers, and how these groups can effectively dialogue to create and promote compelling programming for the new, multiethnic face of America.

It's at 3 PM on July 30 at HBO (1100 Ave of the Americas b/w 42/43rd Sts – 15th floor) but I'm not writing this post to shamelessly plug.

I'm posting to elicit some ideas.  Sure, I'm going to follow Guy's advice. And yes, I have some opinions on the subject already: the fluidity of identity, multicultural or not; lack of importance of authority; they don't twitter or pay for music; Univision isn't producing content for them, which is why they're going to UGC; blah blah blah...

OK, I have some more homework to do to prepare. But as part of that homework, as the panel is a week away, I thought I would see if anyone else has found resources or info online that are particularly enlightening about these so-called multicultural millenials.

I'm very open to stealing your ideas...I'll give credit, of course...

SOUR 'Tone of Everyday' (Hibo no neiro)

culled from the internet/twitter meme today, most specifically from http://mrgingold.tumblr.com

beautifully done video of Sour's 'Hibo no neiro'  Dozo

How creative is your work?

Everyone should have the chance to be this on message and yet on point as this guy.  If you or those you work with are not upending conventional ways of doing things to be more interesting and more human then you're not trying hard enough.

Last night a DJ saved my life

OK, not a DJ. And my life was not saved.

But watching the Grammy awards last night after coming off a stomach bug gave me some thoughts. Here's an attempt to summarize.

1. Given the fact that we're in what seems to be a major funk politically and economically, one way to ask teh first question that comes to mind is "where is the funk?" We're still waiting for a voice to point the way as music so often does, giving a shape to a zeitgeist as yet unexpressed. Beethoven did it for his age, Jimi did it for his. Hard times or times of change often spur innovation, especially in music (remember what happened in the late '50s?) We're still waiting for  ours. Geoff Cottrill puts it well here. 
2. Pop legitimacy is an interesting thing. Miley + Taylor Swift (both talented, Taylor perhaps a bit more authentic) and the Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder (hmm) were interesting for their inclusion. They were all up there with the rest. Is this just about the Disney machine? Does it say something about the lack of fresh ideas out there? OR could the willingness to accept fresh faces into the mix an interesting willingness to accept what's new. Because there really isn't much difference between the Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne, is there? So at least good pop gives us something to just, enjoy...
3. M.I.A. is so much more hard core than Jay-Z, TI, Kanye West and Lil Wayne put together.
4. Robert Plant and Allison Kraus, eh? I haven't heard the album + am behind, but they both, in such different ways, have done a tremendous amount for traditional American music. I wonder what the success of that album in terms of what it brings to people's lives? Return to roots, traditions, new air to old spirit, all that. Interesting that. Good sound, from the few tracks I've heard...

In any case, with the times tough, hopefully it will be an interesting time for music. Hopefully in ways we haven't even imagined.

I do like ice cream, but I did better in Spanish