Month: November 2009

Moby Monday — A Cetacean Songbook


Listmaking blogger Robert of the Radish just published his top 14 songs inspired by Moby-Dick, and you can stream them in full at his site.

Along with shoo-ins such as Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick” and “Blood and Thunder” from heavy metal group Mastodon, the list includes nerdcore rapper MC Lars’s brilliant “Ahab,” the sleepily haunting “QueeQueg” from The Evangenitals, and other treasures. There’s even a 16-minute jazz exploration called “Ahab’s Leg,” though whether it’s about the captain’s pegleg or his intact leg is up to you to decide.

Margaret Guroff is editor and publisher of Power Moby-Dick.

Ahoy There!

Here’s an interesting way to market a book. I love it but not so sure about it’s effectiveness and definitely best NOT viewed by those who suffer from epilepsy.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_l-ggmGEjI]

Büro Destruct is a graphic design studio founded 1994 in Bern, Switzerland. (website / blog) Among other things, they create some funky fonts and help save endangered logos which is cool.

Shiver me timbers! Not All Tallships people like sea shanties!

That’s according to a short sea story told by Bowsprite, one of the most amazing ports of call on the Internet. Please do yourself a favor and check out this maritime treasure.

drawing by Bowsprite

There’s Nothing Funny About Safety at Sea! Well, Almost Nothing…

scuttlebutt30

Parody is the sincerest form of flattery and the above Scuttlebutt cartoon by Barb Patton captures the spirit of the social media work Ben Strong and Bev Howard do at AMVER (website/blog).

The US Coast Guard is doing a great job experimenting with social media and nobody does it better than AMVER’s Ben and Bev. They, along with a few other Guardians organized the USCG’s 1st Annual (?) PodCamp a few weeks ago and it was a great success. Here’s a link to my post about 5 highlights of the event.

Ben was recently interviewed on Marketing Over Coffee, one of the top social media podcasts, and you can listen to it here.

The USCG is fortunate to have Admiral Thad Allen, a leader who understands the importance of social media as a communication tool, at the helm. Listen to my Weekly Leader podcast episode 5 to hear Admiral Allen talk about leadership and social media.

Thanks Admiral Allen and AMVER for charting a course demonstrating how social media can be used effectively in a large organization and across the maritime industry!

What would Ahab think?

Andrew and his friend, a young sperm whale named Scar, were swimming together off the west coast of Dominica. The two of them became "friends" after Andrew saved Scar's life. (Photo and caption by Peter Allinson)

The Boston Globe’s The Big Picture blog never disappoints. The above is one of the entries from the 2009 National Geographic International Photo Contest. It’s too late to enter (and let’s face it, our vacation snaps wouldn’t have made it in anyway), but you can still vote for your favorites in the Viewer’s Choice competition. After you do, grab your camera and take some inspiration with you and make some images.

Moby Monday — Greta Gertler Passes the Tarpaulin (UPDATED)


Cadging a phrase from Moby-Dick’s first chapter, Brooklyn-based Aussie pop-rocker Greta Gertler is calling her current, whaley album project The Universal Thump.

And, in a nod to the speculative nature of a 19th-century whaling expedition, Gertler is looking to investors to fund the recording. Though backers—at set levels ranging from $15 to $10,000—won’t enjoy a cut of the album’s future earnings, they will receive benefits according to their contributions, provided Gertler raises a total of $15,000 by December 9. (Otherwise, no backers pay anything.)

“Pygmy Sperm Whale” donors will pay $15 and receive a digital copy of the eventual album, while “Disoriented Baby Whale” donors pay $125 for a signed CD; a signed, limited edition songbook; a “thank you” in the album’s credits; and a specially designed T-shirt. “Narwhale” ($10,000) donors receive multiple gifts, including a separate album written by Gertler about up to 10 members of the donor’s family, and a set of steak knives.

For New York area music (or whale) lovers who want to be extra supportive, there’s a fundraising concert on December 7 at The Living Room, 145 Ludlow Street in Manhattan. Gertler and her band will be playing music from the album … and if you like it, you’ll still have two days to pony up and collect your steak knives.

UPDATE: The fundraising drive made its goal (one day early), so the album will be produced. As of this writing there were no $10k backers … but there were still 3 hours left in the drive.

Margaret Guroff is editor and publisher of Power Moby-Dick.

So you wanna be a PodStar?

So you’ve dreamed of the fame, riches and adoration of being a PodStar.   Just send $49.95 $39.95 $19.95 $1.99 nothing to me and watch this video. I guarantee success or your money back. I can also help you get thousands of new Twitter followers every day too! ;-)

(screencast of my presentation for the great 2009 USCG PodCamp – warning 30+ minutes – best viewed full screen and HD)

Update September 26, 2010

Here are slides from my presentation at Podcamp Boston 5.

Check out these podcasts from from podcasters that participated in my session:

“Go fly a kite and jump off a pier at the same time”

The only thing better than mixing metaphors is combining them. This daring due add new meaning to the phrases “Go fly a kite” and “Take a long jump off a short pier.” I guess it really should be “Take a high jump over a short pier.”

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton, RIP

[crichtonpirates]

Michael Crichton might have passed away a little over a year ago but the prolific producer of best sellers keep on publishing like the Energizer Bunny.

His latest work, Pirate Latitudes, is an adventure revolving around piracy in Jamaica in the 17th century. It’s scheduled for release November 24, 2009 but you can read an excerpt on the Wall Street Journal’s website. I’m not a Crichton fan but this one looks interesting and there’s a rumor that Steven Spielberg is working on a movie.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nw81aMwo0]

Of course, if you’re looking for a maritime adventure written by a real sailor who’s also an accomplished author, don’t forget my good friend Randy Peffer’s great civil war maritime thriller, Southern Seahawk or one of my favorite all time books, Log of the Dead Pirates Society.

I spy some great sea stories on your horizon.