Online Holiday Shopping Guide

For my first annual "Online Holiday Shopping Guide", I would like to share with you some of my recommendations for buying holiday gifts online...

ELSEWARES
Where else? A great collection of unique and creative gifts by independent artists. The site is easy to navigate, is professionally assembled and has great photos of their unusual inventory with detailed product descriptions.

Wishingfish
Fast shipping, ease-of-use and fun specials sent by email are what have made me a loyal customer. Some unusual gifts can be found here for your co-workers and loved ones. Oh, and their new Holiday Gift Guide makes it really easy to shop!

MXYPLYZYK
Stop trying to pronounce it. This NYC shop has earned it's great reputation by stocking the most unusual goods, let alone their incredibly fun all-Flash website! Add items to your cart and the shopping bag below the perched bird in the tree will keep tally. Considering all of their cool goods, you better keep tabs on your spending!

CB2
This is Crate and Barrel's funky and hip Chicago-only spinoff launched with little hoopla not long ago. Although their site leaves plenty to be desired, check out their "$25 tops" section for unique and affordable gift ideas!

Harry and David
The (classic) perfect gift for a business associate. Their site allows you to easily send to multiple recipients, each with their own address and personalized message. Even for under $25 you can get an incredible small basket with their famous fruit and sweets. Harry and David create classic gifts that will never be out of season.

Cherry Moon Farms
A division of ProFlowers, their baskets of fresh fruit and candy are attractively priced, but their outrageous shipping fees + tax takes the appeal out of their specials. Additionally, in this case the ability to easily send to multiple recipients is not possible. Harry and David still have this category locked down.

Report from Ad:Tech New York

I spent most of my day yesterday at Ad:Tech NY, strolling past booth after booth of sales and marketing folks pitching their services to me. Every other word you heard from passerby was "SEARCH this..." and "SEARCH that...". With so many "me too" companies all touting essentially the same product or service, it's remarkable how each claim their product or service is unlike any other technology out there. Hmmm.

However, I was impressed by Eyeblaster's latest technology and new reporting, Oddcast's really cool animated voice charicatures, Atlas' ever-expanding suite of services and... Google's free G-O-O-G-L-E magnets!

Colbert Report: Outstanding Television

That's right Daily Show fans, one of our favorite reporters has broken off from the team to claim his own place atop of "Mt. Late-Night News Satire". Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's new "Colbert Report" serves us exactly the right mix of opinionated fake news, filled with tasty, comedic satire. The kind that sometimes oozes out of your sandwich and onto your shirt. Yum.

CIS Counseling NYC Website

UPDATE: The finished site can be viewed at ciscounseling.com

I've been working with CIS Counseling for a couple of years now, in the the capacity of a marketing consultant. They're a great non-profit counseling center in downtown NYC and have been very active with Project Liberty, NYC's response to post 9-11 recovery efforts. I'm currently assembling a simple website for CIS in an effort to develop public awareness within the community (NYC's 5 boroughs), and connecting with those in need of help with mental illness or substance abuse.

Our next steps are to develop printed marketing and promotional materials. We expect the website to launch within the next week. In the meantime, (as always) I welcome any constructive criticism.

BG's MUSIC REVIEW: Soulive - Break Out

BG's MUSIC REVIEW: 4 stars (out of 4) soulive.com

"Break Out" is an unbelievable new studio album from Soulive, with a totally new twist on their style of jazz. They bring the funk with some fresh sounding horns and sax, with the most tracks featuring vocals on a Soulive album to date. Some of the folks that help keep it soulful are Chaka Khan, Ivan Neville, Reggie Watts and Robert Randolph.

TV Guide's Broadband Connection

Yesterday Fusebox launched an online viral spot for TV Guide.com that I produced and directed.

Click here to view.

Once you complete all 3 questions (or click "skip game"), be sure to click the "Bloopers" button below. I've got to hand it to Steve, who came up with the concept, Lawrence our CGI artist and Dayoan for a great job in compositing the video and animations.

Web Browser + Blog Capabilities = FLOCK

Today, WIRED reports that some of the brains behind Firefox are planning the launch of FLOCK, a new "social browser" that ties in nicely with all of the blogging resources and tools that have become commonplace among (us) bloggers. The buzz has been building for some time but it looks like they're nearing an official launch...

Motorola and iTunes—UNITE!

In a follow-up to my previous post, Apple has just announced the details to their partnership with Motorola. It's not the iPod/cell phone collabo' we were all waiting for, but it's a sweet looking phone with iTunes on it! With a... 100 song... capacity... on it. Ummm, can I get a Woo-Ha? ...no? I thought not.

All hope is not lost. You can still splurge for the NEW iPod Mini, now called "Nano". This really offers true iPod looks and functionality on a smaller scale—not exactly what Apple succeeded in doing with the Mini or Shuffle.

Funny how the colorful iPod Minis instantly vanished from Apple's website... LONG LIVE NANO! (I guess the name will have to grow on us...)