Don't be a honey badger

TED on crack: Ignite Houston's first knowledge sharing fest enlightens, but makeit quick

Grace Rodriguez's believes that what drives art and creativity is what propelsall successful initiatives.
Photo by Ed Schipul
Feldenkrais guru Gika Rector uses pain as a catalyst for self-improvement andpersonal progress.
Photo by Ed Schipul
With a dab of comic sass, host Brian Block moved the fast-paced conference rightalong.
Photo by Ed Schipul
Five minutes is all each of the 14 speakers were allotted to reference 20 slidesset to auto advance every 15 sections.
Photo by Ed Schipul

How to avoid global annihilation? How to compose the perfect business email? What is a rubber chicken doing gallivanting around space? Would anyone wear Apple stickers as nipple covers?

At Ignite Houston, the answers to these enigmas and a myriad of others were no longer a mystery.

Ignite is TED on crack: A speed-dating knowledge-sharing bacchanal designed for short attention spans, ADD types and social media junkies multitasking and tweeting their way through power naps. At least that's how Houston's first Ignite gathering transpired at Ecclesias, where a sold-out mixed assemblage of more than 120 creatives, academics and learners were hungry for knowledge.

As the movement's descriptor puts it, "Enlighten us, but make it quick."

Five minutes is all each of the 14 speakers were allotted to reference 20 slides set to auto advance every 15 seconds. That left little time to waste and no opportunities for off-the-cuff improv. Ignite — the brainchild of Brady Forrest, technology guru for O'Reilly Media, and Bre Pettis of Makerbot.com — launched in Seattle in 2006 and today, more than 100 cities have hosted the event.

Daniel Cohen lives by his cardinal rules of communication: Start with a concept, know your audience and write with clear structure.

Ignite Houston benefited C2 Creative, an emerging nonprofit established to nurture co-working models, act as an incubator for fresh business ideas and facilitate creative partnerships. Credit the $1,100 raised to committee members Kelsey Ruger, Karen Walrond, Josh Tabin, Matthew Wettergreen, Tim DeSilva, Adam Stacoviak and Aimee Woodall and event organizer Erica O'Grady who curated a lineup of quick-witted speakers ranging from authors to communication professionals to techie buffs.

With a dab of comic sass, host Brian Block moved the fast-paced conference right along, lightening the otherwise intense two-hour info-session.

Don't be a honey badger: Care about your email recipients. That's what Schipul - The Web Marketing Company's Katrina Esco suggested when she compared a business email to a ransom note. The subject should not be a teaser, but a spoiler. Get to the point quickly and outline a list of demands and how to meet them.

Uplifting quote? Completely optional.

For financial planner Christyna Lewis, the laws of economics extended beyond financial matters. Lewis suggested using non-monetary personal currency to account for individual core values.

Author of Dirty Minds Kayt Sukel didn't just merely propose that the dynamics of drug, alcohol and chemical dependency are rooted in love infatuation. She scanned hormonal functions to decipher behavioral commonalities. Notice how the lyrics to love songs nod to addiction?

Rice professor Bryan Guido Hassin examined human conduct to devise ways to enhance efficiency. While technology has enhanced lives, it's important to remember that people aren't robots when implementing tools.

"Earth without art is eh," Rodriguez says. "Be kind, unwind and live a masterpiece of your life."

No pain, no gain? Though that may be the modus operandi of many gym goers, Feldenkrais guru Gika Rector uses aches for self-improvement and personal progress. Yes, the tendency may be to suppress pain and thrust forward, but eventually, humans clog up, wear out and can't move anymore, physically and emotionally.

Have most forgotten what it's like to feel good?

C2 Creative president and Culture Pilot's Grace Rodriguez's believes that what drives art and creativity is what propels all successful initiatives. The choices one makes in artistic endeavors aren't dissimilar from thought processes that help connect and empathize with people.

"Earth without art is eh," Rodriguez says. "Be kind, unwind and live a masterpiece of your life."

Nothing aggravates Daniel Cohen more than three writing faux pas: Statements without a concept, not considering the intended audience and poorly constructed linguistic mechanics, like misplaced qualifiers. Panera Bread's "Make today better" and Farmers' "We are farmers" descriptors miss the mark alongside Pee Cola and Phuket Lager Beer.

As the lead copywriter at BrightBox Brand Marketing, where he churns out blog posts, press releases, social media messages, PR plans and advertisements, Cohen lives by these three cardinal rules of communication: Start with a concept, know your audience and write with clear structure.

What's a quadrocopter? For Igniters, the flying robot is now vernacular vocabulary. Blame that on Ed Schipul, whose inner geek came out when he operated one of these hovering creatures and illustrated applications valuable in wildlife photography, fine art, commercial promotion and search and rescue operations. As similar technology becomes more accessible and less expensive, these drones have limitless potential.

Guests met Camilla Corona, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory rubber chicken educational mascot. She has been to the edge of space, chatted with astronauts, teachers, parents, even governors and military generals. Camilla even has her own blog.

Her mission? To encourage girls and women to get involved in science and technology by talking about space weather phenomena.

Missed Ignite Houston? TapeWorks Texas was on hand to chronicle the event and it will be posted online at a later date.

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Movie Review

Clichéd rom-com You, Me & Tuscany can't get by on Italian charm alone

Photo by Giulia Parmigiani/Universal Pictures

Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page in You, Me & Tuscany.

The romantic comedy has become an endangered species in movie theaters, as most of those that are released these days go to streamers like Netflix. While there have been a few recent successful rom-coms in theaters, they are few and far between. All of which is to say that a movie like the new You, Me & Tuscany faces an uphill battle before it’s even released.

Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid) stars as Anna, a former culinary school student who’s struggling in the wake of her mother's death. When she has a chance meeting with an Italian man named Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor) in New York, her dream of going to the Italian region of Tuscany is reignited. Using her last $500 and a plane ticket her mom bought her, she makes her way to Italy looking for an adventure.

With nowhere to stay and knowing Matteo’s villa is unoccupied, she finds a key and makes herself at home. When she finds an engagement ring soon before she’s discovered by Matteo’s family, she decides to pretend to be his fiancée. The more time she spends with them, the bigger the lie becomes, especially when she starts falling for Matteo’s adopted brother, Michael (Regé-Jean Page).

Directed by Kat Coiro and written by husband-and-wife team Ryan and Kristin Engle, the film at times feels like it’s not even trying to be good. While the set-up of the premise is okay, the story quickly turns into an eye-rolling mess when Anna shows up in Italy. Not one bit of the character’s story is believable, and even though Michael catches her in an early lie, every member of the family accepts her at face value despite the abundant red flags.

Of course, many rom-coms are not based in reality, and the filmmakers lean into the genre’s tropes, almost as if they were saying, “We know this makes no sense - just roll with it!” Surprisingly, the gambit works for the most part, as the odd pairing of an American woman, an English-Italian man, and his fully Italian family is enjoyable despite the many groan-worthy moments they produce. The sweet way in which the family brings in a woman still going through grief almost balances out the shoddy way in which the story is told.

Naturally, there are precisely zero surprises about where the plot is heading, as Anna and Michael grow closer despite knowing they should resist the other. Strangely, though, the filmmakers don’t go all-in on the budding relationship, choosing to slow-roll things save for one notable sexy scene in a vineyard. Coiro and the Engles play up the family aspect as much as the romance aspect, and that choice allows the film to survive for longer than it should have.

Bailey, a singer-turned-actor, has not yet found her stride on the acting side of things. Her line deliveries are often stilted and her timing is off in key moments. This doesn’t help her chemistry with older Page, who seems to be getting by on vibes and looks alone. The most enjoyable actors in the film are all Italian, including Marco Calvani, Isabella Ferrari, and Paolo Sassanelli.

There are glimpses of a fully successful film in You, Me & Tuscany, enough to keep it watchable for its entire 104-minute running time. But then they have the Italian grandmother say a gobsmacking line like “If you wanna tap-a that ass, you should tap-a that ass,” and you remember exactly what type of film you’re watching.

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You, Me & Tuscany opens in theaters on April 10.

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