In Almost Famous, the clairvoyant Estrella Strarr says:

Don’t worry William, I’ve seen the future and this all works out reasonably well.

That’s the plan for my story. It will work out reasonably well. Leave it up to professionals, as they say.

Moments before Estrella predicted the future, William is trying for the first time to write his Rolling Stone article on Stillwater. Penny Lane can’t yet allow that, and interrupts him to pee.

At that moment, William isn’t ready for journalism, and he hasn’t graduated to manhood either. Part of the problem is soon solved: he is deflowered. It has to be done.

Sapphire: Any other city in the world and you’d still be a virgin.

William Miller: Oh God. Oh God! I have never written anything more than a few pages in my whole life.

Animae like Penny Lane are tricky beasts, and almost never do the thing themselves. This scene was a particularly brilliant touch and it’s billiance had nothing to do with three ladies dancing around with feather boas in their skivvies. Honest.

In Almost Famous, William Miller is more interested in remaining a Stillwater fanboy - such an awesome Peter Pan, never age image - than in becoming a real man. He hasn’t yet made any genuine effort to write anything. The enticement to grow up has to be epic. He would rather run away, like his sister and his father before that (who ran away by dying).

—
The story of the Halo Effect and the value of the web start emphatically with enticement. Enticement is a necessary tool in building or changing a relationship. Enticement is a request for permission. Enticement is the dark, mysterious Merlin Mann’s speciality.

Apple sells iPods and iPhones for full price. Those products cast a Halo Effect on the whole Macintosh computer line. They helped drive surging sales. Nothing free, or cut rate was involved.

Most potent enticements are different than freebies, or give-aways, or propositions. It’s easy to write, “give stuff away.” That’s the lazy way.

The Halo Effect is about seeking permission, about earning the right for a relationship at a different level. Asking someone to spend $15 and several hours reading a book is a lot of permission seeking.

Some lament the decline of books. Other forms are more efficient: they provide more reward and seek less permission. The inefficiency of books might account for some of the challenges faced by book authors. Web authors gather and use permission differently, and arguably more efficiently.

———
Below, I introduced Russell Hammond and Merlin Mann. Now I need to introduce the writer. I write for executives. When I pitch business, I will suggest to a potential client, “bring me a copy of the written work of one of your competitors. Either another company or someone who you’re competing against for the big promotion.”

Most bring me an internal memo and slide deck from a rival.

I do two things to that. I rework it so that it sparkles. I also tear it apart savagely. Most clients sign me up once I point out that I will only work for one executive per firm.

I use the contempt raygun of death. It’s the opposite of Merlin’s Halo.

———
Remember, Merlin Mann is Emily Rugburn.

According to unnamed associates, Merlin wants a twitter-duel - a 30-minute joust of wit against any self-styled, old-media pundit. That would be enticing.

———
Some points on Almost Famous:

Penny Lane takes William Miller’s pen early in their first scene when William is trying to get past the bouncer. Cameron Crowe wrote about a similar event in his life for Rolling Stone.

Since Penny has William’s pen (in all those entrendrelogical ways), he cannot write until he is released back into the real world.

Penny Lane carries a tool box / tackle box as a purse or perhaps a chest for the pen. When the prince finally kisses her, she falls to the floor near dead. So we can rule out that this is a faerie tale.

———
This concludes Part 4 of:

All I Needed To Know About The Value Of The Web I Learned From Russell Hammond

Or

Why Merlin Mann Should Write, Fear & Loathing At The Algonquin Round Table.

Earlier Parts:
The Halo Effect
Merlin mann Is Emily Rugburn
All Halo Merlin Mann

What’s reckless about condescension?

But no matter. Ben Dunlap’s TED lecture is remarkable. He tosses a clutch of disparate ideas out in the first five minutes of his lecture, and then stitches them back together, building to a breathtaking conclusion. Ben Dunlap is a master story teller, and his tale inspires.

There is beautiful subtlety with along the way. For example, Ben Dunlap’s mentor, Mr. Teszler, invented double knit fabric, and also devoted himself to the integration of the notoriously segregated textile industry of South Carolina. Maybe those two story elements - double knit and integration - were pure coincidence, but a great story teller has an amazing ability to find coincidences.

He works in music - Bartok. Music is a force of story telling, well used in this lecture.

He uses great words with great success - ‘perforce,’ ‘skein,’ and even ‘risible.’ He alludes to Mothra and Godzilla.

His inspiration: learn as if you will live forever.
.