PFNC stands for ‘Por Fin Nuestra Casa,’ Spanish for ‘Finally, a Home of Our Own.” Founded in 2007 by Brian McCarthy, Pablo Nava and Mackenzie Bishop, the for-profit company converts used shipping containers into low-cost housing for poor families in Juarez Cuidad and other Mexican border communities. Each PFNC unit costs around $10,000 US. (more…)
The extraordinary improviser, Paul Vaillancourt, gave me a list of sayings that have been compiled and passed around the improv theater community over the years. The legendary teachers, Mick Napier and Del Close, get some of the credit, though the exact origins of these are as hazy as the roots of any folk wisdom. Here is the second in a series of sayings from what I call Vallaincourt’s List, with my extrapolations in italics: (more…)
My friend, Corey McAfee, a young player in the Nashville music scene, called TuneCore to my attention. It is a service that places music with online retailers and returns an unprecedented royalty to artists. Here is a brand that senses how to play the music game in the Networked World. When it comes to outstanding improvisation, TuneCore is right up there with Tina Fey.
Let’s break it down. (more…)
OBJECTIVE: A Heineken.
ENVIRONMENT: A Southwest Airlines 737 going from Salt Lake City to Reno/Tahoe. Full flight. Early evening.
ROLES: My friend Martin Gastanaga and a Southwest Airlines flight attendant.
RULES: Normal commercial airline procedures apply (Martin’s not already drunk, he’s of legal drinking age, etc.)
SCENE: Martin asks for a Heineken. The flight attendant hands him the beer. He offers her a twenty. She doesn’t have change. Without hesitating, without missing a beat, she keeps wheeling her cart up the aisle and says,”This one’s on me.”
What a great gift that flight attendant gave on behalf of the Southwest brand! Think about it. (more…)