Jordan Rippy

Tonight was The Office season 4 premiere and it was phenomenal. Last year, a bunch of us gathered each week at Drew’s house for the weekly “Office Party”. Now, Drew lives in Gainesville. So, Kristin and I extended invitations to a select few to join us at our home for a new and improved “Office Party 2.0.” At the “Office Party 2.0″ we watch the episode from the previous week and then watch the new episode. Some of you may be thinking, “The Office Party 2.0 sounds an aweful lot like the old Office Party.” What you don’t know is that we actually use an ancient, nearly forgotten form of recording called “VHS” to record each episode. Thanks to Ashley and Bobby, we have a new TV, complete with a built in VCR/DVD. So we used the VCR to record “The Office” onto a VHS tape. Favorite quote from tonight’s show:

“I’m not superstitious, I’m just a little stitious.”

In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the small, seemingly unimportant details that caused major movements such as Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues to “Tip”. It’s a great read that highlights the importance of the small details in any major cultural, economic, or behavioral shift. This is a great book for anyone. It sheds light on some aspects of communication and marketing that cause an idea or product to “stick”. Some take-aways from my reading:

• “[John] Wesley realized that if you wanted to bring about fundamental change in people’s belief and behavior, a change that would persist and serve as an exampl to others, you needed to create a community around them, where those new beliefs could be practiced and expressed and nurtured.”

• “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.”

• “Persuasion often works in ways we do not appreciate.”

• “The lesson of stickiness is that there is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible. All you have to do is find it.”

• “The power of context says that what really matters is little things.”

• “If you add up the meaning of the Stanford prison experiment and the New York subway experiment, they suggest that it is possible to be a better person on a clean street or in a clean subway than in one littered with trash and graffiti.”

• “The figure of 150 seems to represent the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us.”

• “When each person has group-acknowledged responsibility for particular tasks and facts, greater efficiency is inevitable.”

• “If anyone wants to start an epidemic…he or she has to find some person or some means to translate the message of the innovators into something the rest of us can understand.”

That was the estimate a local mechanic shop gave me when I took my car in to have them check out a problem I was having with the shifter. The automatic shifter in my ‘95 Nissan Maxima was sticking in park. It was literally impossible to get the car out of park, so for days Kristin and I had to put the car in Neutral, pull the parking break, and leave the key in the car (The ignition won’t release the key if the car isn’t in park).

I was shocked at this estimate until I realized that the mechanic shop had taken the liberty of doing a “courtesy” check of the entire car. They had included all kinds of things, including a $200 estimate for a transmission flush. I found that a bit odd, since I just had a transmission flush two weeks ago. When I called them on it they were nice enough to explain that they included several items based on mileage, and that they had not actually checked several fluid levels that they had included in their estimate. Unbelievable.

Through a series of events I was connected with a Nissan specialist by the name of William Harvey. “Harvey” has been a Nissan specialist for over twenty years and is the kind of mechanic you want. He’s honest, fair, and incredibly knowledgeable. He also has a sweet mustache that resembles that of a shitzu. Anyway, Harvey checks out my car and repairs all the essentials for $365.00. That’s quite different from $1895.00.

I paid the guy in cash (Dave Ramsey would be proud) and he was $4 short of having the correct change. I told him to forget about it, and thanked him for saving me a ton of money and for doing such great work, and thought I was on my way - but he wouldn’t have it. He was so insistent on giving me the $4 that he made a note on my invoice and his calendar to deduct $4 from the balance when he finishes the work on Friday. This guys is honest and really good. If you have a Nissan PLEASE take it to William Harvey. Contact me if you need his info.

My wife likes fat free milk. I’m convinced that fat free milk is simply water that’s been died white. I’m on the other end of the spectrum. I’m a whole milk fan all the way. For a while we were compromising by buying 2%…Now we each buy a half gallon of our preferred milk. I’m not really sure we’re compromising at all. We’re both getting what we want.

The point is, compromise is one of those words that can go either way. In context compromise can be both negative and positive. Compromising milk - good. Compromising integrity or beliefs - bad. You understand, ’cause you’re really smart.

The following are sites that I check everyday, multiple times. (In no particular order):

1. Google - I’m a googler.
2. Drudge Report - Great news site.
3. MySpace - More concerned with other people’s than my own.
4. Facebook - I don’t really keep up with my profile, but I keep up with friends.
5. Tony Morgan Live - Tony’s a pastor at NewSpring Church.
6. Evotional - A great blog by Mark Batterson.
7. Drew [plays drums] - He does other things too.
8. Seth Godin - A great marketing blog from a great marketer.
9. Shea’s Blog - He’s not as “Jordan” as me, but he’s a friend.
10. Zack’s Blog - He’s my brother. Zack.
11. YouTube - Chocolate Rain anyone?

I know that’s 11, but its my blog…Favorite sites change all the time anyway.

Has anyone else seen this car in Lakeland? This guy drives around all the “Hot Spots” of Lakeland every Saturday. You may have seen him at Chik-fil-A or the Cobb theater.

The dude has hundreds, nay, thousands of random figurines super glued to his ‘99 Toyota Camry. In addition to the figurines he has magnetized and/or adhesive letters that say “Jesus Saves!” and various Christianese slogans. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about witnessing. But is this really effective? I know some of you are thinking, “Well, you’re talking about it so clearly it made an impact on you.” Let me be the first to say that the church does a lot of stuff that gets talked about, but is ineffective. Maybe I’m wrong, but this just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that makes you think, “I wanna’ be like that guy.”

*Click the picture to enlarge.

Last night Kristin and I caught the Dave Matthews Band in Tampa. The show was unbelievable. First of all, we got absolutely soaked. I don’t mean that it sprinkled and we got a little wet from the cumulative rain fall. I mean that there was a torrential downpour that started with the opening act and didn’t subside for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Luckily, I read the weather report so Kristin and I had mentally prepared.

Back to the show. It was phenomenal. We were front and center on the lawn, and with some help from the high-def screens that DMB brought we could see quite well. Sound was amazing. I don’t really know how to describe it. I know that I can’t effectively communicate it in a post, so I am going to give you “The Dave Show In Three’s”:

Three band observations:

1. Carter Beauford is the most irreplaceable member of the band. I’m sure there are people who disagree with this statement, but I’m confident that it would be way easier to replace Dave Matthews himself than to replace Carter Beauford. I’ve always thought that Carter owned the drums, but his role in the band is much more pronounced in a live setting.
2. I like the “unofficial” band members a lot. Again, I’ve always thought that keyboardist Butch Taylor added a lot to the band, but live he really shows his chops and contributes greatly to the performance. The new trumpet player, Rashawn Ross, is a beast. He’s the size of a mid-sized SUV and absolutely shreds the trumpet. Minute-for-minute he probably soloed twice as much as veteran saxophonist, Leroi Moore.
3. DMB is tight. I know you’re probably thinking that this is the most obvious statement ever made concerning the band, but their live performance highlights their musicianship and tightness as a band even more than a live album.

Three favorite songs:

1. #27 - I don’t even know this song. I do know that violinist Boyd Tinsley soloed for 6-8 minutes and it was unbelievable.
   
2. Two Step - Classic Dave…Carter is ridiculous.
3. Dreaming Tree - A really solid groove. I liked it a lot. They played this song for a really long time and gave all of the major players an opportunity to solo.

Three “overall experience” observations:

1. The Dave Matthews Band is different. People have been asking me to compare the DMB show to other shows I’ve seen and the truth is that it just can’t be done. It’s not that other artists are not as good, it’s just that DMB is in a totaly different category. Their show can’t be compared to other shows because it is it’s own unique animal.
2. I will never sit on the lawn again. Don’t get me wrong, the concert was great…The lawn’s just not for me. Especially in the monsoon. It’s also a whole different atmosphere than the “assigned seats”. In the words of John Mayer, “The lawn person wakes up a couple days before the show and says, ‘Oh yeah, I think so-and-so’s coming to town. I think I’ll check out that show.’ While the assigned seat person pays extra to be a member and sets a special alarms so that they can be in front of their computer at 6am when tickets go on sale.”
3. I have the best wife ever. Period. Kristin is not a huge Dave fan, and the weather was far less than pleasant, but she stuck it out like a trooper with no guilt trip or complaining. She even turned on some moves during the fast tunes.

DMB Almanac Entry

Tonight, Kristin and I celebrated a wonderful first 6 months of marriage…We had a nice dinner at Outback and then bummed it at our place, since it was quite the rainy evening. This is a picture I took of Kristin from across the table at Outback tonight. I think she looks beautiful, but I also think she looks like a hanger. You decide.

…The hair was all me though.

I’m sick of the interrogation at the gas pump. This is the usual exchange:

PUMP: Insert card and remove rapidly.
PUMP: Credit Card? Y/N
ME: No.
PUMP: Debit Card? Y/N
ME: Yes.
PUMP: Billing zip code?
ME: 33802
PUMP: Authorizing…Authorizing…Approved!
PUMP: Receipt? Y/N
ME: No.
PUMP: Car wash? Y/N
ME: No.
PUMP: Select grade and begin fueling.

This is way too much to go through for $20 of overly-priced gas. Especially in the beaming Florida sun. Oh, by the way, I was trying to get $20.00 of gas and the pump stopped right on $20.01.

Pump: 1
Jordan: 0