I’m always leery of certain words that seem out of context when speaking in a language other than my own. So when the word “amor” (love) kept coming up in my conversation in Spanish with the Super Shuttle driver on the way to LaGuardia Airport Sunday night, I finally stopped and said “No comprendo”…I don’t…
Details(If you’re my client reading this please skip to the second paragraph) When Carolyn and I first arrived at Chamber Music America’s 32nd annual conference in New York City this past weekend, as “Jazz People” people there representing the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, we thought “what are we doing here?” At the outset people self-identified…
DetailsTwo hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses.He doesn’t seem to be breathing, and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: “my friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator says: “Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make…
DetailsHey you racist, why did you mention only Serena Williams race in last week’s post about the Mother Nature/Tampax ad? Luckily that comment didn’t come in, but as I was riding the train (or the “L” as we call it in Chicago) downtown yesterday, I realized I did mention Serena’s race, but not “Mother Nature’s”. …
DetailsWhen I first caught a glimpse of an ad on TV of Mother Nature trying to wake up someone who was sleeping, I thought it type-cast women with an out of date image: Women can’t do anything when their “little gift” comes each month. Seeing the vibrant Serena Williams, who is African-American, perfect as a dynamic,…
DetailsMy college roommate used to love to start conversations at parties by asking “Do you think good and evil are objective or subjective? (This was the same roommate whose favorite Charades word was Dostoevsky’s “Gulag Archipelago,” but that’s another story…) A lively conversation always ensued. Is murder always bad? What if the person is terminally…
DetailsWhat, might you ask, do vegetables have to do with intercultural communications? Everything, when it’s your 8 year old child suggesting you try a new vegetable every month for the new year. In talking about multicultural perspectives to Dillon, we like to emphasize that just because people do things differently in different cultures, it doesn’t make…
DetailsChris Guillebeau on his “Art of Non-Conformity” blog suggests promoting someone else when you’re facing inertia about your own work. That’s easy to do in referring to Adweek’s blog, Adfreak, always a fantastic source for insights and samples of ads around the world, and a great playground for multiculturalists fascinated by the construction and representation of culture…
DetailsMy husband’s a bigger John Wayne fan that me (our pet goldfish is a bigger John Wayne fan than me, but that’s beside the point). He grew up in Brazil watching and loving the old John Wayne movies. “I do love his ‘swagger’ though” I admitted. “You mean his “arrastando pé?” my husband asked, providing…
DetailsI find myself running around today singing “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” and “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas”. And with 6 inches of snow on the ground in Chicago, Bing Crosby’s (above) White Christmas is at the top of my list, too. As my son says “you’re not even Christian.” But that doesn’t stop me…
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