I’ve been lacking things of real interest to write about here on this blog, though I must say that I’ve downloaded the new Wilco CD and it is excellent.  It sounds a little bit like Randy Newman and modern Bob Dylan, only confirming my belief that 2007 is the year of the matured artist.  In addition to the Wilco CD, I’ve obtained a copy of the new Kings of Leon album and it seems that bands are creating bigger and better albums that expand and evolve the sounds of the artist, rather than just making a sophomore or third album that falls into the rut of similar song writing styles with different melodies.  The alternate agenda of bands is to completely change their styles and heading into a different direction that alienates core fans.  A group puts a lot of its credibility on the line by taking this approach and risks either massive successes or failures.  One could look at Radiohead as a band that either alienated a lot of its pre-Kid A fanbase or only served to entice them further into the rabbit hole.

I’m not sure yet whether I will ultimately post a formal review of the Wilco and/or Kings of Leon album, but they are high on my list of 2007 albums.  The remainder of the year continues to pull some amazing follow-up talents from bands like the Arctic Monkeys (23 Apr), Travis (7 May), Radiohead (18 Aug), Coldplay (31 Oct), The Polyphonic Spree, Feist, and of course, the supposedly excellent but may never come out Guns ‘n’ Roses album.

Now onto things a little less (or more) technical:

Whilst I’m reading Michel Albert’s book Capitalisme Contre Capitalisme, I’m also starting my research into various journal articles, with my current cache of articles at 77.  Personally, I wish there was a way that I could move the pdf journal files onto my Palm Zire, but with 2MB of memory, I can barely upload one file at a time onto it.  It’s a pain to have to drag my laptop everywhere, but I’ve also put the files onto USB key, so now I can bring them with me wherever I go.  The first article I’m reading is entitled “A Comparative Analysis of New Product Programmes: European versus North American Companies.” 

As far as I’ve read, Prof. EJ Kleinschmidt encourages a cross-national approach in assessing the successes of new product programs.  Though I’m not sure where this might fit into CSR, I believe his premise is correct.  And perhaps in assessing the various CSR approaches and formulating, it is helpful to know how new product programmes function.   By doing so, I can extrapolate prescriptions as to now future product entries may be marketed with a focus on CSR.

In addition, I have started culling quotes from various television shows and other sources of pop culture.  This past Sunday, I was watching Gordon Ramsay’s F Word and there was some discussion between Chef Ramsay and British television personality Janice Street-Porter on sustainable cod farming vs. opea sea cod fishing.  I’ve been looking to some random TV quotes that depict public perceptions of corporations and responsible business in order to gain some non-academic perspective. In addition to the F Word, I have also found quotes from The Cosby Show and from NUMB3RS that are applicable to the subject.  I may use them in the chapter headers throughout the thesis to draw CSR into pop culture, particularly since a lot of marketing deals with pop culture and the ability to harness brand images and identity in the public psyche.

If anyone has any good ideas/quotes/interesting informational sources, feel free to leave comments here on the web site.  So far, my biggest (and only) participant has been Dany, who has not only added his own thoughts to the discussion, but has given me more fodder to develop my own thoughts on the subject.