Tune in tonight…. I’ll be discussing the Jesusyness of Sarah Palin and the Mavrickiness of McCain on BlogTalkRadio. Using Google maps, I’ve seen Capitol Hill from my home, so I’m an expert on all things political. From Rumproast:

Check out the premiere of our BlogTalkRadio show Radio Rumproast Monday September 15th from 11PM-12:30AM ET. Our guest will be Robert Lanham, author of the The Hipster Handbook, Food Court Druids…, and The Sinner’s Guide to the Evangelical Right. We’ll talk about his books, evangelicalism in politics, the general election and ferrets. We’ll also feature a roundtable of bloggers, including Rumproast’s poputonian, discussing the past week’s events and, of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Radio Rumproast: We like it well-done.

Misty Harris quoted me a couple of times in her latest article for Canwest News Service (Canada’s AP):

Guitar solos have vanished from the concert scene at the same time millions of gamers are pretending to be a Guitar Hero.
Gym memberships are down while stores can’t keep the home exercise game Wii Fit in stock.
Precious hours of real life are being sacrificed to the online universe Second Life, and high-powered marketing campaigns this fall are planned to sell still more virtual fantasy trussed up as reality.
Forget concern over counterfeit goods such as watches and handbags. Increasingly, it’s organic human experience that’s being knocked off.
“People are just too overwhelmed by all the technologies that exist to be active participants in real life,” says Robert Lanham, who has written three books on the idiosyncrasies of contemporary human behaviour.
“When you’re microblogging on Tumblr and juggling Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace accounts, who’s got time for yoga classes or guitar lessons? Perfecting your Stratocaster licks playing Rock Band is simply less time-consuming than trying to become the next Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen.” [….]
But however convenient or ego-stoking these hi-tech encounters, cultural commentator Lanham says they’ll never be as fulfilling or as sexy as the real thing. “Saying, ‘Dude, my virtual band totally rocks … we’re playing a gig in my living room tonight’ is never going to have the same allure as securing a real gig in an actual rock band,” says Lanham. “And it’s unlikely the words ‘he’s such a romantic text-messager, his SMS skills made my knees buckle’ have ever been uttered, or sent via SMS for that matter.”

You can read the whole article here.

Evidently, I’m one of the most influential and “visible” New Yorkers on the interweb. Of course, the people who generated the list live in Vancouver. Hilarious. See the full list at NowPublic.com

“Visibility and connectedness define today’s elite,” said Leonard Brody, CEO of NowPublic. “Today, there are innumerable new ways for one’s voice to be heard. The goal of the MostPublic Index is to measure who is currently most effective in broadcasting their own personal brand online, as well as identify emerging players.”

Julia Allison is going to be pissed she didn’t make the list.

From The Boston Herald

Three agonizing minutes. That’s how long I stood at a Dunkin’ Donuts cash register the other night waiting for an employee to make eye contact with me. This is not an exaggeration. I timed Tim with my cell-phone clock, absolutely fascinated that he was counting money inches away from my face, but did not acknowledge my presence.
Heck, he was busy. I was tempted to walk out muffinless, but Tim’s name tag kept me intrigued. It read: “Shift Leader.”
The Era of Customer Service died long before I was snubbed at the doughnut counter, but this guy kicked up the apathy factor to a new level. He even seemed annoyed when another employee broke the silence and hooked me up with my late-night snack.
Tim totally fits the self-absorbed stereotype of “Generation Y,” since renamed “The Millennials,” those early 20-somethings who think the workplace is an extension of college – where you can show up late with uncombed hair and ragged sweatpants without anyone raising an eyebrow. Their motto: “Don’t bug me – it’s not my job!”

My quote after the jump…

[Read more…]

Adam Rosen was kind enough to invite me to speak next Thursday, June 26, at Happy Ending Lounge. Hope you can make it. From Gelf Magazine:

The Non-Motivational Speaker Series returns to New York on Thursday, June 26 at 8 p.m. Curated and hosted by Adam Rosen, this monthly event features an above-average lineup of decidedly non-motivating authorities, each presenting views alternative and overlooked on a veritable goody bag of topics. A different theme will be tackled clothesline-style each month, including, but not limited to, comedy, amateur pornography, culture jamming, and religion.
Small Media (as opposed to…Big) will be this month’s topic. Featured speakers are Anna Holmes, Editor of Jezebel.com; Chez Pazienza aka Deus ex Malcontent, blogger par excellence, emmy-winning TV producer ([very] formerly of CNN), and PDF-published memoirist; and Robert Lanham, Editor of FREEwilliamsburg and author of The Hipster Handbook and The Sinner’s Guide to the Evangelical Right.

Directions and more information at Gelf Magazine.