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Room with a View: The Rooftop Lounge @ The Park Hyatt

Photo courtesy of Flickr user wickenden.

Perhaps it's just me, but for all its myriad benefits, Toronto can occasionally feel as if it lacks a kind of shared, official history. It's that it's not there, of course; it's that the city's past often disappears from view, erased behind a sea of big-box stores, condos and skyscrapers. For better or worse, Toronto is a city relentlessly focused on the new and, as we wander around its streets, it can be hard to remember that it has existed in one form or another for a couple of hundred years.

Of course, lest you think I've become a history buff of some sort, I'm only bemoaning this fact because I wish there were more classic, historical bars in Toronto. By that, I suppose I mean the stuff of movie or Mad Men cliche: a place that's been around for a century, with a 'steakhouse vibe' of wood, leather and a fireplace, waitstaff in uniform and a sign on the door that says "no unaccompanied ladies or coloured people". Okay, so not that last bit. But the nostalgia of sitting in a place that has actually existed for more than a few years only adds to the ambiance so central to a good bar. It connects you to something, and more than simple nostalgia, it puts you into the trajectory of history. And 9 out 10 scientists agree - picturing yourself in a historical trajectory makes martinis taste better.

It was this feeling of the past and permanence that first struck me about the Rooftop Lounge at the Park Hyatt Toronto. Located at the corner of Bloor and Avenue, the bar is (at least by T.O. standards) steeped in a kind of anecdotal history. It has what you might loosely call a classic feel: a dark green carpet, dark wooden tables, low light and a fireplace circled by three sofas. For lack of a more descriptive term, it feels luxurious.

Settling into our table, the (uniformed) server - who was incredibly friendly and polite - gave us menus and, shortly thereafter, provided a complementary tray of spiced olives, vegetable crisps and warm roasted almonds (I know, right?). Given such swanky settings, the only appropriate drink seemed to be a martini, so we ordered up two of the gin variety, specifically requesting Hendricks. The drinks were excellent - just as cool and clear and refreshing as a gin martini should be.

But really, despite the fact that this is an exceptionally good bar, for me, the best thing about the entire experience was what lay outside: a small south-facing patio that looks out over the city's skyline. I have never been as impressed with Toronto as at that moment at the Lounge, and I'm kicking myself for not taking a camera. You really get a sense of both how large and how impressive Toronto is, and with the skyline about to expand with, quite literally, 15 or 20 major buildings going up in the next few years, the view will only continue to get better. As an added bonus, there are both heaters and tartan blankets (!) on the patio. I can only imagine how much better it would be in the summer.

Of course, all of this delightfulness comes with a cost - and how. The 'special request' martinis we had? Twenty. Five. Dollars. Yeah, I know. A cheap, regular beer like Heineken? Nine bucks a bottle. It's insane. Two drinks for two people can easily set you back a hundred dollars. Unless you're rolling in money - or someone else is picking up the tab - this is a place for one or two celebratory drinks on a special occasion, not a regular watering hole.

But if you do have something to celebrate, you could do a heck of a lot worse than this bar. It has a great atmosphere, excellent service and quality drinks. And though it is expensive - almost ludicrously so - now and again, it's worth stepping into history.

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Eens een soapie, altijd een soapie

Op vrijdag 27 november 2009 bevatte de Media.com-katern van De Morgen een interview van Jan Temmerman met Reinout Oerlemans: "Tv is duurste wegwerpproduct ter wereld - Nederlandse televisietycoon Reinout Oerlemans komt tot inzicht na het draaien van zijn eerste film".

Een opvallende titel, en dit is hoe 't klonk in het interview:

Wat ik nu ga zeggen klinkt als een open deur intrappen, maar televisie en film zijn eigenlijk twee totaal verschillende werelden. [...] Kijk, televisie is het duurste wegwerpproduct ter wereld, want je zendt het uit en het is voorbij. Het is weg. Dat is er spannend aan, want je moet scherp blijven, op je tenen lopen en scoren. Terwijl film een product voor de eeuwigheid is.

Tiens, nochtans hoor ik al zowat tien jaar dat TV-drama superieur is aan films, zelfs van bekende filmmakers (die vaak overgestapt zijn naar TV). Ik doe even een greep: The Sopranos, Band Of Brothers, Mad Men, Generation Kill, Weeds, Lost, Deadwood, The West Wing, Damages, Six Feet Under, Rome, Dexter, Battlestar Galactica,... Om nog maar te zwijgen van andere genres: The Daily Show, Seinfeld, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Arrested Development, The Office,...

TV is een "wegwerpproduct"? Oftewel: "je zendt het uit en het is voorbij. Het is weg."? Excuseer? Play.com heeft een "TV on DVD"-afdeling, Amazon.co.uk heeft dat ook, en er zijn zelfs firma's die zich specialiseren in het uitbrengen van cult-TV-shows. Of wat te denken van de Amerikaanse website TVShowsOnDVD.com? Loop een FNAC of MediaMarkt binnen en je ziet specifieke TV-afdelingen binnen het DVD-aanbod, vaak op een prominente plaats.

En "duurste"? Ik ga niet beweren dat TV-maken goedkoop is, maar voor de prijs van 1 blockbuster kan je zowat een heel seizoen bekostigen van een gemiddelde serie.

Arnie heeft vreemde opvattingen, kortom. ("Arnie" is de naam van het personage dat Oerlemans speelde in Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden.)

Of wacht eens, misschien ligt het ergens anders aan. Dit zijn enkele citaten uit de "identikit":

• begon zijn carrière in 1989 als acteur op de Nederlandse televisie in de eerste dagelijkse soapserie Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden
• televisiepresentator van een groot aantal Nederlandse shows, waaronder Heartbreak Hotel, Wedden dat, De 10, Pulse, De TROS TV Show en de eerste seizoenen van het wereldwijd populaire Idols
• richt zijn eigen productiebedrijf Eyeworks op. Het bedrijf staat meteen op de kaart met programma's als Typisch tachtig, De nationale IQ-test en De Bauers
• Internationaal succesvolle formats zijn onder andere Test the Nation, The Chair, The 10, Miss Popularity, So You Wannabe a Popstar, Ticket to the Tribes, Win My Wage, Who Wants to Marry My Son, Beat the Blondes en The Italian Dream.
• In België is Eyeworks Film & TV Drama de productiemaatschappij [...] achter de televisieseries Jes en David. Ook De Pfaffs, Toast kannibaal, Beauty & de nerd en Sterren dansen op het ijs zijn formats en/of producties van Eyeworks.

Kijk eens aan: soapacteurtje wordt televisiemaker, en produceert vooral reality-crap en game shows. Hij bevordert zichzelf tot filmregisseur en gaat dan beweren dat TV "het duurste wegwerpproduct ter wereld" is.

Je moet maar lef hebben.

   

Click here to download:

Eens_een_soapie_altijd_een_soa.zip (54 KB)

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The Tao of Don: A Complete Collection of Don Draper's Words of Wisdom

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The Tao of Don Draper. Too short, but brilliant nonetheless.

Change is neither good nor bad. It simply is.
http://bit.ly/7mkt5B

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Neuer Avatar gefällig? Avatar der Kultserie Mad Men

Genug von den langweiligen Standard-Avatar oder Profil Motiven?

Fan von der US Erfolgsserie Mad Men?

Auf der offiziellen Homepage von Mad Men kann man sich seinen eigenen Mad Men Character erstellen. Mad Men Yourself lautet das Motto! Das Tool bietet die Möglichkeit einen weiblichen oder männlichen Charakter zu erstellen. Zu den individuellen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten gehört unter anderem Kleidung, Accessoires und eine Hintergrund-Szene.

Ein kleines lustiges Gimmick zur Kultserie Mad Men. Als Beispiel mein eigenes neues Avatar Bild des Social What Blogs.

Ausprobieren und viel Spaß!

# Werdet Fan von SocialWhat? auf Facebook #

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Mad Men 3.13

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Welcome, Sterling Cooper

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Mad Men 3.12

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SNL: A Ladies Guide to Party Planning

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Is Facebook the inevitable social portal?

As those who know me know, I'm more of a Twitter user (http://twitter.com/howlvenice). I remember almost two years ago saying how i thought Twitter was the Facebook killer. And to this day, i spend 10 times as much time on Twitter as I do on FB...which still isn't that much, because maybe I spend 10 mins on FB a day. But still you get the idea.

But this summer, I began to think the opposite. Twitter is definitely an incredibly powerful tool. And even though it's UX is still horrendous, luckily through their API, there are so  many ways to interact with it, it doesn't matter.

I recently did a post about watching Mad Men (http://bit.ly/13Iqnb) while on Twitter and what an enriching that experience was.   On Twitter, we follow events in real time for a long time. It's not a simple statement or single post but as we call it now a stream..flowing over time and tweets. And we experience the event together as it happens.

And only on Twitter do companies reach out to customers and address needs, become personified through their tweets. At the recent  (http://140conf.com/)140 conf in LA, I heard Porter Gale (@porterVA), the VP  of Marketing at Virgin Atlantic, describe situations where passengers complained about food on a flight through Twitter and their Twitter rep saw it, got in contact with the flight attendant, and rectified the problem. Obviously, that doesn't happen every time, but it does highlight a value unique to Twitter.

But these attributes will likely be adopted by FB soon. The Twitter edge is not that impossible to copy. And with FB's acquisition of FriendFeed in August  (http://bit.ly/3SLooO) that kind of interaction is probably on its way. Twitter's is growth is flattening with 60% of users only tweeting once, and 10% of the users accounting for 90% of the content.

In the meantime,  obviously FB's audience has increased exponentially, and is not diminishing. With over currently 325,000,000 users, they are adding half a million users every day (http://bit.ly/rDa15) and those users are spending over 20 mins per day on the site, that's a lot of attention.  So it's no surprise that corporations are pouring development and advertising dollars there, and thereby also winning fans. And working at an interactive agency, we encourage our clients to use the flexibility and promotional opportunities of FB's platform,  in order to enhance the audience engagement which is as varied and interactive as their budget allows.

Twitter, on the other hand, really only has the 140 character call and response dynamic. No contests, no treasure hunts, no real branding.   

It's the user that will drive the platform of choice, not the corporation, and users are already doing that. Essentially people follow the path of least resistance, and if they can interact with their friends, their family and their favorite corporations in one place,  and win contests, get free stuff and purchase as well..it just seems to me, why go anyplace else?

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