Tourism Queensland Goes Viral on YouTube

Okay, so going viral with a video is the dream of every destination.  And this is hard to plan for.  After all, nobody knows they are going to be the next chubby kid with the light sabre, right?

Tourism Queensland has definitely pulled it off – at least somewhat – with this video called “Roo Mail.”   It’s got everything it needs to have:  It’s quirky, it pokes fun at itself, it has people who are comfortable on camera, it is not over-produced, and it has kangaroos (which are a sort of Aussie icon).

Think about this:  What does viral success in one vertical niche look like?  Do you need 2 million views in 2 days to be successful?  Probably not.  At this writing, Roo Mail has been live for 2 weeks, and has already been viewed over 164,000 times.  I think that’s a very good start, and certainly some great immersive branding for the state of Queensland.

But, go have a look:  http://youtu.be/ndnUTM57iqg.  Tell me what you think.

 

You Don’t Know What Love Is

Play this while you read for a good soundtrack.

I’m not a person who revels in misery.  In fact, I believe that the only company for misery is banishment.  But my poor wife – oh my poor, depressed wife.  Some of it is hormonal, or chemical, and some of it is based on what I like to call the expectations of others.  Basically, my wife is upset that she cannot be, nor does she want to be, June Cleaver.  It seems that others have this expectation.

You remember June – she was always cheerful, her house was so clean you could lick the floors, she met her husband at the door with a smile, a kiss and a cocktail at the end of every day, and her kids were perfect.  She worried about nothing.  In short, she was not just the perfect wife, but her entire life was perfect.

By contrast, there’s an awful lot going on for my wife to absorb on a daily basis.  We have four kids.  The oldest is going to college in less than a week.  The youngest is only 2 and a half.  The twins don’t know how to listen, and they fight with each other all the time.  My daughter is ferociously defiant, her twin brother frequently overactive, and our toddler is – well – a typical two-year-old boy.   There is no keeping our house clean, and it’s too small anyway.  She is often overwhelmed, and nobody could blame her or be surprised.

Just to set the record straight, I’m not in the June Cleaver cadre.  If I wanted to live with June Cleaver, I would have married June Cleaver.  But I didn’t.  I married the woman I love, and my best friend – and that’s all I want her to be, herself.  Opening my heart and my life to her was the best thing I’ve ever done.

I know I can be supportive, but I also understand that I cannot fix this for her.  Worse yet, I worry that somehow, somewhere her depression is my fault – even though the more rational side of me knows that not to be the case.  And I live for her smile, for when I see it, I know that there is hope at the cadence of the blues.  She doesn’t have to be the perfect wife – she’s perfect for me.  And that’s all that matters.

Current Events Soundtrack:

I have discovered the auto-tune, and I am at once amazed and incensed.  I was listening to Studio 360 this weekend on NPR when they began a discussion of the auto-tune by playing a clip of Cher’s Believe.  Basically, the auto tune is the technology used to create this type of artificial vocal effect.  That’s fine.  Not exactly scatting through a line of jazz, but it’s fine.

However, this is not what the auto-tune was originally put into use for.  It’s original design was to alter the voice of a singer so that it was in tune with accompanying music.  HOLD THE PHONE FOR JUST A MINUTE?!  I thought being able to sing on key was – well – a prerequisite for being a professional singer, never mind the record contract.  Have we sunk so far into the abyss of focus-grouped, music-where-music-doesn’t-matter end of the business that we are willing to give people who look the part the opportunity to sing — even if they can’t hold a tune? 

This is not a rant against pop music.  I like pop music.  I even like “special effects” that give us the techno sound.  But I believe that you should actually be able to sing to get a recording contract – but I digress – for the auto-tune has given us a gift:  The Gregory Brothers have created The Auto-Tune News.  Yes, the technology that puts artists back on key, can also take the non-singers of the world and turn them into a rock-opera.  I give you a singing Vice President Joe Biden and Katie Couric.  This could be the best form of political satire – ever!

This day in history soundtracks:

In AD 79 Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Calcutta India was founded in 1690.  I know Petula Clark made this song a hit, but here’s the original Kalkutta Liegt am Ganges – sung by Vico Torriani.

During the War of 1812, the British overrun Washington DC, and chase President James and Dolly Madison out of the White House.   And then there was Canada’s role?

It’s Ukrainian Independence Day (1991).

Birthday Soundtracks:

Alessandro Marcello (1669).  His best known work:  Oboe Concerto in D Minor.

Theodore DuBois (1837).  A French composer, mostly of sacred music.  This is his Toccata for Organ.

Fred Rose (1897).  Rose was a popular and country music songwriter, and later a publisher in Nashville.  Here is Hank Williams, Sr. singing what was Rose’s biggest hit:  Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.

Alyn Ainsworth (1924).  British band leader and musician.

David Freiberg (1938).  Vocalist with the bands Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

Jean-Michel Jarre (1948).  New age and popular musician.  This is his performance at the millenial New Year at the pyramids, in Egypt, in 2000.

Orla Fallon (1974).  Lead singer of the Celtic Women and an accomplished soloist, Fallon has a clear, beautiful Irish soprano voice, as evidenced in this recording of Down By the Sally Garden.

Passing Memorial Soundtracks:

Louis Prima (1978).  A little bit of Dixieland, a little bit of Chicago blues, a lot of standards – that’s what made Louis Prima so popular.  There are plenty of great Louis Prima recordings, but I have to say I really like I Wanna Be Like You, from Disney’s Jungle Book.  Honestly, it’s a great tune, and Prima is in his prime.  It doesn’t hurt having Phil Harris come in at the end, either!

Paul Creston (1985).  A contemporary American composer that melded jazz elements with minimalism, Creston had a fondness for utilizing instruments usually left by the wayside in classical performance, as evidenced by this Marimba Concertino.

Alexandre Lagoya (1999).  One of the premiere classical guitarists of his generation.  Here is a recording of Lagoya playing Albeniz.

More notes on notes tomorrow.

Of Food and XM Radio

I’m a freak.  I love my XM radio but don’t have it in my car.  Instead, it’s in my kitchen, so I get my music when I cook.  This is great.  The kids come in and dance and we cook together.  I can theme my channel to my meal – classical for an elegant steak dinner, musica tropica if I’m going Mexican or spicy latin, even Broadway, rock – it’s all right there.  I used to spend some of that time focused on CNN or the politics channel.  That’s crude fast food fair.

Why have Lou Dobbs — who is to journalism what Leona Anderson was to opera?  Actually, this depends on how you look at Lou Dobbs.  Some think he’s comical – in which case I would compare him more to this.  I think I learned what satire was from Allan Sherman (and my father).  Sherman had some terrific songs, which brings me right back to XM.  The thing has so many channels that I keep discovering new ones.  Case in point:  I discovered one of their several comedy channels, and it was like reliving Doctor Dimento all over again.  I heard – in order – Idi Amin, Yoda by Weird Al Yankovic, and Too Fat Polka by Arthur Godfrey (is it my imagination or is Godfrey’s laugh particularly psychotic?). 

Tears were rolling down my cheeks as I was putting ginger, garlic, soy sauce, coconut milk and honey on chicken breasts and wrapping them in foil.  My wife thought something was wrong.  I was laughing so hard I could not talk, but just pointed to the radio.  At that point, Godfrey was done supporting Jenny Craig and this came on.  We both lost it.

Dinner, by the way, was a smashing success – even our finicky daughter loved it.  That just goes to show you what a little satire – and coconut milk – will do for roasted chicken breasts.  And that is why I love having music in my kitchen!

Current Events Soundtracks:

Hurricane Bill is now a category 4 storm, and although it’s nowhere near land at the moment, the cone of uncertainty (if that isn’t a perfect term for weather forecasting I don’t know what is) has it scraping coastal New England – our little patch of heaven.  And here is Dorothy Lamour from the 1937 film The Hurricane, singing Moon of Manakoora.  Because – well – haven’t you had your fill of “Bill” songs yet?

Nevada Senator John Ensign tells the public that his affair with a married woman was not like Bill Clinton’s, because he did nothing illegal.  Take it away, Fats Waller!

This day in history soundtracks:

In 1692, the Salem witch trials began in Massachusetts.

In 1772, King Gustav III of Sweden staged a coup to consolidate his power.  In subsequent years he became instrumental to the development of the arts in the country, starting both the Royal Swedish Opera and the Swedish Ballet.  He was later killed by a group of assassins, and the story was the theme of Verdi’s opera Un Ballo in Maschera.  Here is Volta La Terrea froma 1990 production featuring baritone Leo Nucci and the legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

In 1909, Indianapolis speedway plays host to its first auto race.  I don’t know why this song makes sense, but it does!

Paris is liberated from the clutches of the Nazis in 1944.  What better way to remember than a song from Edith Piaf.  This is actually one of my favorite Piaf songs.  What a magnificent vibrato!

In 1955, the Northeastern US was pounded by Hurricane Diane.  Another hurricane, another song.

In 1990, Leonard Bernstein conducted his final concert.  One of the pieces was Beethoven’s Symphony #7.  This video is the same piece, but from 12 years earlier in 1978.

Birthday soundtracks:

George Enescu (1881), Romanian composer.  Here is his Romanian Rhapsody, probably his best known work.

Gene Roddenberry (1921), producer.  Space, the final frontier…

Bill Clinton (1946), former President of the United States.

Lee Ann Womack (1966), country singer.  OK, you find another song about Little Rock.

Passing memorial soundtracks:

Jean-Baptiste Accolay (1900), Belgian composer.  Here is his Violin Concerto in A-minor.

Blind Willie McTell (1959), blues musician.  Very, very influential blues musician.

Groucho Marx (1977), comic genius and character.  I love the old crazy Groucho from the Marx Brothers movies.  His timing is perfect, as is his singing.  Hello, I Must Be Going from Animal Crackers is a great example of this.  For those of you who are not in the know about these things, the matronly lady is Margaret Dumont, who – in many a Marx Brothers movie – played the straightest of straight men to Groucho’s antics.  Why was she so good at this?  Well – apparently – she didn’t really get the jokes!

LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and member of the Dave Matthews Band.  You can here his work with the band here.

More notes on notes tomorrow.