The truth about focus groups

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If you work in communication you know this situation. “Focus groups” are people picked by an advertising or market research agency who represent customers. They are put in a room to share ideas about a product, a design or a campaign. They are meant to find out “insights” and feedback to test the marketability, but in fact, most of the time they are like shown in the video: dull, frustrating, uninspired and uninspiring for everybody. Truth is: If you want to know what’s really going on in the mind of the people you cannot ask them. You need to find other ways to figure that out.

A very simple and funny idea to promote a book, “Truth in advertising”. (via)

Electronic music scene in South Africa

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House Music is big in South Africa. Resident Advisor shows a video portrait of the scene in Johannesburg, interviewing producers, DJs, party organizers, showing the impact music can have in a society. Watch Real Scenes: Johannesburg

I like the vibe in this video and to take a look at a to me so far unknown area. And I like the political dimension of it: “In a city still rife with poverty, house music can offer a way out. For our latest Real Scenes film we journeyed to Johannesburg and its outer lying townships, meeting the DJs, producers, promoters and record labels who are central to its story.”

Films I want to watch

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Here is a list of movies (especially gangster movies) I need to see. Partly as a note to myself, partly as an inspiration for my readers.
Watch more films!

Gangster squad

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and-if he has his way-every wire bet placed west of Chicago.

Lawless

LAWLESS is the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. In this epic gangster tale, inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave.

End of watch

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are Brian and Mike, two smart, courageous officers who through cop instinct bust open drug and human-trafficking rings run by the Mexican cartels, and now the rumour is that a revenge assassination has been “greenlit” by some high-ranking executives south of the border.

Silver linings playbook

After spending four years in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his mother and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife.

Argo

As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

Fashionweek Berlin parties

Oh god, it’s Fashionweek again.

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(picture by Starstyling)

You want to go the best parties? Sure, here are my recommendations and how to get on the lists:

Monday, 14th
DANDY DIARY – SQUAT HOUSE BERLIN FASHION WEEK // OPENING PARTY
10:00pm until 5:00am
Friedrichstraße 112, Berlin
FB Event

Tuesday, 15th
G SESSIONS POP UP STORE
Torstrasse 66, 10119 Berlin
Come by for some drinks, great music by LookyLooky and a look at the latest G-SHOCK watches and limited editions.
6pm – 10pm

ROCAWEAR’s first ever Fashion Week Berlin Party
music by D E N A (live), Wyn Davies (live)
Prince Charles, Prinzenstraße 85f
DOORS: 10 pm (don’t be late!)
Tell somebody to put you on the list

WOOD WOOD PARTY
A strong line-up of friends will provide the music and from 22-24 drinks are on us.
Music: 2 Horn Disko, Bianca Checker, DJ Schowi (Bass Ill Euro)
Soju Bar SKALITZERSTR. 36 next to KIMCHI PRINCESS
10pm – 5 am
RSVP to: event@woodwood.dk

STARSTYLING Party mit Florian Kolmer, Female Macho, David Keno and FNM
Cookies
Doors open at 12

Wednesday, 16th
SWERGIE
Moneybrother (SWE), Pelle Almqvist of The Hives (SWE), Icona Pop (SWE)
free food and drinks 9.00 pm
Radialsystem V
Holzmarkstr. 33
Please confirm your attendance

HOUSE OF VANS BOILERROOM
Boys Noize, Modeselektor, Hercules and Love Affair, Brodinski and Gesaffelstein
Stadtbad Oderberger
10pm – 4am
Free tickets are exclusively available for collection at the Vans Store Berlin (Alte Schönhauser Str. 48, 10119 Berlin, Mo – Sat 11.00 – 20.00) or at selected Vans retailers (Titus Berlin, Titus Zoopreme, Firmament, Civilist, SOTO, Depot2).
Website

FIER SHOWROOM OPENING EVENING
DJ Nebu [ES], Amy Heaton (Kaltblut) and lots of art and fashion
The WYE, The Old Post @ Skalitzer 86
19:00-22:00
Open bar between 19:00 and 20:30
Full program
Guestlist here

Thursday, 17th
THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB
ALI SCHWARZ (TIEFSCHWARZ), CAPABLANCA (GOMMA), VLADIMIR KARALEEV
FROM 10 PM TILL LATE
AT BALLHAUS BERLIN / CHAUSSEESTR. 102
10115 BERLIN

Friday, 18th
FASHION WEEK SPECIAL – SLEAZE lädt ein
Sick Girls, Mitch Alive
Cookies Berlin
23:45
FB Event
to be continued

Answer Code Request Podcast

I have been with this guy for almost ten years now. Patrick has always been a good friend and musical companion, I first blogged about him in 2004 when we played together in Baden Baden. Today is a special day because he has finally come as far as to release a mix on one of the worlds most important dj podcasts, Resident Advisor. This is truly amazing and I am very happy and proud.

I followed his way ever since his artistic name was “Patrique” and while his style developed from a deep and groovy house to a more complex, dubby and heavy techno, able to fill big rooms. His current musical project is “Answer Code Request” which represents mature, dubby and spacious electronic music with several releases on Marcel Dettmann Records.

As Patrick Gräser he is a resident in Berghain and Panorama Bar, Berlin and plays at Fabric, London, Amsterdam, Moscow and many other major clubs in Europe. There is only one more step for the next years: Put up a massive live show and play the big festivals and international clubs!

Listen to this atmospheric mix with a really smart story and a diverse selection, nevertheless very consequent and flawlessly mixed. It’s dubby, it’s noisy, it’s soft, it’s harsh, it’s techno, it’s dub, it’s bass, it’s step, it’s pop, it’s like a rollercoaster ride, a really essential mix which captures what Patrick does so well: keep a tension the whole night through.

How to cook stuffed cabbage

Sick at home. Time to cook something good and healthy. Here is one classic German dish: Stuffed cabbage. In this case done with savoy cabbage and minced meat. A great winter meal to have with potatoes or just bread.

Cabbage is great in winter time. It’s full of vitamins and other nutrients, it’s cheap and the taste can be very elegant depending on the sort and the way you prepare it. It’s also a very German thing, we like all sorts of cabbage, white one, red one, Sauerkraut, Brussels sprout, you name it. Dig into German culture and try it out!

Go ahead and buy a whole head of savoy cabbage.

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1. Take off the outer leaves
2. From the next layers, take off 6 nice big leafs
3. Put these leafs for 2 minutes into boiling, salted water until they are soft
4. Cut the rest of the cabbage in half
5. Take one half and cut it nicely in little stripes
6. Cut an onion into little cubes
7. Put the stripes and the onions into a hot pan with butter. Stir fry for ten minutes until they are nicely roasted, add a little clove of garlic through a garlic crusher
8. Warm up 50ml of milk, preheat the oven on 220° C
9. Cut a slice of old bread into little cubes and put them into the milk to soften
10. Don’t forget to stir the cabbage. Add some flavors: thyme, cumin and / or caraway (helps with the digestion also), salt, peppar and nutmeg (important)
11. Mix 250g of raw minced meat with one egg and the bread and milk
12. Mix with the roasted cabbage, taste it! Add more flavour if needed
13. Fill the big precooked cabbage leafs with the mass, one to two spoons for each leaf
14. Fold them nicely into little packs and put them, with the weld down in an oiled baking tin, put a little piece of butter on top of each
15. Put them in the oven for 15 minutes until they are brown and roasted from the outside
16. Add 200 ml of vegetable broth and let it cook for 45 more minutes

It should look like this and enough for 3-4 persons.

stuffed_savoy cabbage recipe

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Good luck!