So as some of you know, I had a short internship doing work for AB, i.e. Anheuser Busch… aka, Bud. I worked on some pretty extreme, pretty intense beer commercials. but I’m not sure that any really came close to this gem:
wow. The Aussies always have some good beer spots. but this spot for Hahn SuperDry might take the cake.
And an insider (and beer geek’s) tip: when a brewing company spends more on advertising than making the beer, I usually pass.
That being said, I’d love a ferret that could hand-cap my brews.
For those who aren’t aware, I got a BFA in Photography what seems like eons ago… which means that I actually shot a good deal of photography on film. That clear stuff that had images on ‘em, before digital photos. Remember that? yeah… probably not. I barely do.
As my previous post mentioned, it was Worldwide Pinhole Day, and even though one can put a pinhole lens on a digital camera, it just seemed wrong… kind of like watching a Milli Vanilli music video in Dolby 5.1… just not quite appropriate for the situation. So I resolved to bust out a film camera to appropriately capture the decisive moment. However, I was traveling that weekend, and had to travel via air. And apparently, asking to have your high-speed film hand-checked to avoild x-ray machine fogging, is an automatic ticket to a full TSA pat down, complete with swabbing inside the waistline of the jeans. I didn’t realize film was that offensive.
And what’s more surprising – or rather, disappointing – is that it’s near impossible to find a good place who will just develop a roll of film. Most drugstores either charge an arm and a leg or require you to buy a full set of prints – which I wasn’t really needing. I ended up begrudgingly heading to Wally World, where they promptly developed my film, complete with gobs of residual crap gummed up on the negatives, and about 50% of them with scratches.
So in summary, I wanted to remain true to traditional photography and shoot film – which left me with a rather uncomfortable TSA patdown and an expensively developed roll of negatives that may or may not be salvageable. Milli Vanilli in Dolby Surround isn’t sounding all that bad right now.
Today is Worldwide Pinhole Day! Check out a pretty interesting write-up courtesy of the BBC here. And here’s the link to the Worldwide Pinhole Day’s website.
Oh – and Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those who are also celebrating. I’m going to go shoot off a few rolls of pinhole film while I make some matzo brittle before some (kosher for passover) Easter dinner.To quote the prophet Will.i.am: “L’chaim!”
Revisiting the classic “Fight for Your Right” music video and picking up where it left off, the Beasties have produced a 20+ minute long star-studded epic. Danny McBride as MCA, Elijah Wood as Ad Rock and Seth Rogan as Mike D, it’s hard to imagine it gets better. But it does. They battle their future selves, played by John C Riley, Will Ferrel and Jack Black…
and the list of cameos is shocking: Rainn Wilson, Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Chloë Sevigny, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Orlando Bloom, Amy Poehler, Alicia Silverstone, Maya Rudolph, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst and Laura Dern. Wow.
The short film is full of reverences to previous videos, song lyrics, and random tidbits of the Beastie Boys long and colorful history. Pretty awesome.
In an official statement, the video is hailed for “finally [revealing] the epic tale featuring Beastie Boys of the past, present and future for the world to see. The tale, of course, is the 1987 saga involving the fighting of one’s God-given right to party.”
Sheer brilliance while self-analyzing themselves. About what I’d expect. As soon as I find a full-length stable video, I’ll throw it up here. It’s played a few places/times, but the official release is tomorrow, Saturday 4/23 at 10:30 Eastern at the Beastie Boys website.
I’m not going to lie… I’m not a huge fan of The Oregonian. between some of their political viewpoints, public policy stances, and honestly mediocre writing, I barely glance at anymore. But that’s no reason not to point out the brilliance of this headline:
and the photo ain’t bad, either. In the doldrums of the winter-spring-greyness season, a bit of humor is difficult to muster up, let alone slap across the front page of the paper. I’m digging it.
Indeed, as many of you know, I graduated from the University of Oregon – thus I am a Duck. And I grew up idolizing George Alexander “Alex” Trebek. That being said, even if you hate the Ducks and aren’t a fan of the Trebek, this is still brilliantly amazing:
There are a lot of random videos, clips, mash-ups, etc. floating around, but there is something so genius about the timing, the pacing, and the tone of Trebek that makes this one stand apart. (And big thanks to krobb for pointing this one out!)
The focus of everything (relatively, of course) is become increasingly content and production-centric. Blog posts, facebook wall updates, new product launches, new campaigns, etc. etc. Content production is great and all, but when the content itself starts to lack, then what good is it?
I’m constantly surprised and disappointed by the lack of quality, finesse, and attention to detail that some cool ideas/products/people are receiving. Content just for the sake of content, regardless of polish, isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes paying close attention to minute details can make a world of difference. Take this example from Widmer Bros. Brewing Co. in Portland. The product itself is the beer, and sure, they made some decent labels to package it. But the real attention to detail is the unique and rotating “prost” printed under each and every cap.
(click the image for hi-res, CC licensed)
That kind of detail is what works toward better product recognition, better name recognition, and just an all-around better product. In a time when everyone is spewing anything and everything across the world via twitter, facebook, YouTube, and even eBay, Etsy, and other retail outlets – even extending to the local grocery store, it’s nice to see some people still taking the time to look at each and every detail. Although Widmer was paying attention to the details several years ago when they re-designed their UPC Codes. Its good to see they still pay attention.
Sometimes this just feels like one big publicity stunt… but I’m not really complaining. Check out Livethesheendream.com… quite possibly one of the best random quote generators known to man.
Whoah. Action on Questioning Reality. I feel like I’ve entered another dimension. Or maybe a past one…
Either way, eight months is entirely too long for this blog to go un-tended. And while I can’t guarantee anything new will come of this revisitation, a career change, a location change, and a mentality change may be just what this blog needs to get back into the swing of things. And on that note, I present you with “Lapin” (which is french for “rabbit,” in case you were wondering):
I’ve been a longtime fan of Kuntzel+Deygas… and their footwear collaboration with Lacoste I wrote about eons ago blew me a way. They did the title sequence to Catch Me If You Can (yeah, the one with Leo), and there’s something about their visual dynamic, style, and simplicity that I’ve always been drawn to, hence my undying love for Caperino and Peperone.
There’s just something so simplistically enjoyable about this rabbit clip that I can’t quite put my finger on, but that’s okay, because I love it. And it’s proof that things don’t always have to be crazy. Yeah, a million bouncing balls or a giant King mask are cool, but a simple pencil and paper drawing can be even better.
Oh – and Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those who are also celebrating. I’m going to go shoot off a few rolls of pinhole film while I make some 
