I like everything about this. The middle guy’s sweater, the dancing, THE EFFECTS, the song, the skimpy tinfoil costumes. All great. It’s a song with feel-good lyrics, some nice guitar riffs and a catchy beat accompanied by absurdity and a visual delicacy of special effects. It’s great. I’m gonna say it again: it’s great.
This video was part of The New Director’s Showcase put on by Saatchi & Saatchi last week at Cannes. There were some other pretty awesome live performances in the showcase, and other videos but I didn’t watch them. The thing about live performances is that they are better than recorded stuff, but to get it, you really need to have been there. And you know what? I wasn’t there.
Cannes. Most people think of the Cannes film festival held every year during the second week of May in that beautiful town on the French Riviera where films from all over the world are judged and awarded. Directors, movie stars and rich people gather to party and praise one another. The results are given and independent film watchers in America add new titles to their netflix queues. Then, two weeks later, the advertising industry descends upon Cannes and anyone not in advertising probably doesn’t even know this. I mean haven’t we made ourselves pretty clear about how we feel about TV ads with DVR? Yes we have. The ads shown now are not nearly as serious or deep as any of the films show two weeks earlier, but all of these selections represent a lot of hard work and creative thinking done for two reasons: to win business and truly make a difference for the client, or for creative people to win an award and make a name for themselves. The latter is not as honorable, but all the same it’s cool stuff and it’s really too bad that the only people who know about it are advertising people. I know we all hate ads, but these ideas are more than 30 second clips that break up your favorite tv show, or a full page ad between articles. There are a lot of ideas that make a difference for people, and add color to the world.
Still, it’s always seemed weird that the advertising sort of does a copycat on the film industry with the Cannes Festivals. Like, shouldn’t ad people come up with their own thing? It’s weirdly pretentious because I don’t think anyone perceives people in the advertising industry to be on the same level as actors, actresses, writers, and directors.
Someday I’m going to write about seeing this local band called Dali’s Ghost play a show at this bar called Nietzche’s. That day is not today, and it probably isn’t tomorrow. Although it might be.
I’ve been entertaining the idea of going to portfolio school so one night I was on the Creative Circus website. At like 1:03 am on a Friday morning I was filling out my name, address and phone number assuming that in a few days I would receive some superbly designed and interestingly packaged brochures.
Well, the next thing I know it’s 12:59pm the following afternoon, there’s drool hanging out of my mouth and I’m in the middle of a dream where I’m Parker Posey in Dazed and Confused. I’m screaming “AIR RAID” at the top of my hateful lungs to a bunch of girls lying on the ground covered in condiments. All of a sudden the fear of God strikes me when this unbelievably loud ringing comes out of nowhere. It’s unbearable. I crouch down, cover my head and start to think that maybe I should stop being such an evil bitch, but before I’m 100 percent convinced that’s a good idea, I wake up and realize that it was just the phone ringing.
My eyes are not quite yet open so I paw for the phone and hope that my morning voice isn’t too scary. Magically, I open my mouth to say hello and it sounds like songbirds! At first I’m surprised. I must still be dreaming. Then I remember how a person as perfect and awesome as myself doesn’t suffer from the banal affliction of “morning voice”.
The person on the other end of the line greets me politely and introduces himself as Matt from the Creative Circus. I think to myself “I guess they don’t waste any time”. Matt fuels my desire to become the world’s greatest copywriter. He is leading me to believe that I will be able to do this without having to order a hit on Skyler Dobin, which is good because paying the assassin AND tuition would force me to come up with a side hustle while at the Circus. Matt advises against that. I mean, I’m there to focus on building a portfolio. He’s right. Anyways, I hang up the phone and gears are whizzing in my head. I walk over to the refrigerator, start to think about what kind of sandwich to make, while wondering if they’re still going to send me some brochures.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Buffalo, Excuse Me Gunmen, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, The Westcott Theater, Twitter
People have paid money for t-shirts that were not quite as funny as this.
Twitter has come up with another awesome site maintenance image/message (right)! They should start printing these on t-shirts. It’s not anywhere near as awesome as the pigeon one (see below), but hey! People have forked over money to get a lot less. It doesn’t bother me at all that I can’t update my status, or see the funny things that Michael Ian Black is posting when I am greeted with something like this. Today has been a good day. Anyways, on a more logistical note…I’ve said it before, and clearly I need to say it again: Twitter should probably figure out how to handle a greater capacity. I’m not sure how long the vast armies of internet warriors can be assuaged by such images.
Pigeons = rats with wings. If there is one truth in the world, this has to be it.
In other recent news, I’m going to see Passion Pit on Wednesday! Finally, since they bailed as Ra Ra Riot’s opener at The Westcott back in March. That would have really bummed me out if Ra Ra Riot hadn’t been one of the best shows I’d seen since Excuse Me Gunmen in my kitchen the night before. YES! I think tickets are only like $12 which, because I am so unbelievably broke, is out of my price range but if I dig through the couch cushions and the car seats for long enough I can definitely come up with the chunk of change.
Passion Pit
New topic
Over the past few months I’ve read some stuff about Passion Pit. The lead singer, Michael Angelakos wrote the first songs for his girlfriend and they’re based out of Boston. Fact. Enough said. I never gave it a second thought, but just today I was reminded that Angelakos was in a band with one of my friend’s ex-boyfriends who I definitely saw perform a few times during highschool. I don’t really know this kid and these are events that took place like five years ago. Since then parts of my memory have atrophied (although I would like to believe that other parts of my brain have expanded) so I’m not surprised that I never figured this out until someone told me. I hope it’s not weird that I’m writing about this, but whatever! I dig Passion Pit’s music and I’m not trying to say I was anyone’s best friend.
I was so fortunate as to obtain a copy of their newest album “Manners”, which I have been enjoying thoroughly. Their single “Sleepyhead” and also “I’ve Got Your Number” from debut album Chunk of Change has had me super-pumped to see them live since January, and Cuddle Fuddle never fails to make me feel like I’m walking on air. The Reeling off of “Manners” has been a popular single, but I also like Moth’s Wings. Can’t seem to upload music without paying for a space upgrade(dah!)…so check it out for yourself and, you know, buy the album.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Girlfriend, no one is going to want to sit next to you in your beer-soaked gown at the 5-hour long ceremony tomorrow morning.
Who is this girl? I wonder if this chick has found a job yet? What did she major in? I’m gonna guess metalsmithing or printmaking. She really was squeezing every last drop out of college, partying the night before graduation in cap and gown, and clearly pretty out of it. Hope she didn’t get mad that I cut her in line for the bathroom. I told her though, “move it or lose it, sister”.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: advertising, Amsterdam, fashion, NYC, photography, Venice
If it weren’t for the StumbleUpon toolbar and my unbelievable boredom I never would have came across Rinze van Brug’s portfolio/website. He’s a photographer now living in NYC, but originally from Amsterdam. Rinze van Brug went to school for art/design and then broke into the advertising world. He worked with several different clients as an art director at Ogilvy. Photography was often part of the client work he produced, and before long he realized that it was his true calling. Browsing his portfolio, there are fashion photography pieces that easily look like they could have come out of an issue of Vogue, and others from a designer’s website or catalogue. I’m dying to know what designers he’s worked with because I really like some of the clothing featured in his work.
I probably wouldn’t be writing about vanBrug if I had not seen the photos at the end of his portfolio. He’s done some really beautiful portraits, and what I think is his best work are the shots taken of cities like Amsterdam, NYC, Florence, and Venice. There are a series images from each city, and what I particularly like is how the images are grouped together. van Brug has done this in a spectacular way, and has created a whole that is greater than the sum if its parts, which is not to say that each individual photo can’t speak for itself. van Brug’s photos truly capture the essence of each different city he photographed. He has managed to do this by using iconic symbols from each city in a subtle way. In the photos of Venice vanBrug skips the gondolas, but rather shows a clothesline hanging across a canal. In Amsterdam you see two people kissing in front of a store window lit up in red.
All images and background information: Rinze van Brug Photography.
Giant Bird
The White Whale
Question of the day: which picture do you like best? Both of these images pop up when there are too many people on Twitter. How do you want that message delivered to you? With an oversized orange peep sitting on telephone wires OR a white whale with a blissful expression that is being gently carried away by a flock of small orange birds. Today you get to choose. One criteria you may want to rate these two images on is this: which conveys the idea of “over capacity” the best?
Cast your vote here in this poll box thing. It’ll be fun.
Think that they both suck? Any new suggestions would be welcomed both by myself and Twitter. I think that would be decent fodder for future posts.
Now let’s focus the spotlight on Twitter for a second and give them some publicity that is not related to the Twitter reality-TV idea (???really?) that was floating around a few weeks ago, or monetization. Twitter – hats off to you for the most clever error messages. When something goes wrong, rather than dumping me down a dead-end exit off the information superhighway, you gently reassure me with absurd cartoons.
Also, feeling weak today? Getting the fear? Finding it difficult not to succumb to your cravings? Just in case, here are a few more reasons not to eat fast food.
Someone at American Apparel wants 1992 to come back REAL bad. Scrunchies? High-cut one-piece bathing suits à la Baywatch? Berets? People, this is not moving forward. How the fuck are we supposed to make it through these difficult economic times if people are wearing and buying scrunchies? Seriously! I want to be open to new ideas and styles and giving old trends a fresh twist, but this one is not a winner. I will be very disappointed if this catches on.
Excessive scrunchie glorification. And high-cut one piece swimsuit.
Looking back at the scrunchie’s first rise to popularity in the late eighties, things were going fairly well. Bringing back inconsequential trends from that era is not going to solve our problems! If anything, the excessive, materialistic attitude we developed around that time is part of the reason why there are no jobs and why capitalism in this country as we knew it is now royally fucked! Scrunchie it is YOUR fault that I have no job, money, or car so FUCK YOU! You never properly restrained my hair anyways. I always had to use a hairtie too.
Likin' this...just wish I could pull off yellow
Anyone know who Yoana Baraschi is? Well, she’s a fashion designer and I just found out about her last night when I applied to an internship opening posted by her company. NOTICE: I reserve the right to spite anyone who finds, and applies to this internship because of me. She’s pretty deeply rooted in the European persuasion: born in Romania, started her career in Paris, but now has her own line based in New York, and at her boutiques she’s pushing the fact that most of her pieces are made by legitimate (hopefully) people right there in the Garment District. Definitely an interesting selling point to push, and one that has been working out pretty well for her.
Moving on…Yoana Baraschi was born into a family that was well-known and respected within the Romanian art world. Following in her father’s footseps, Yoana studied drawing and sculpture from a young age but it wasn’t until she left communist Romania for Paris that she got her start in the fashion industry. Since then she’s travelled textile markets the world over, and done everything from shoe design for Valentino to Creative Director for Betsey Johnson. Yoana finally started her own collection in 2002, and has been pretty successful. She has a couple of U.S. boutiques and young Hollywood biddies like Rachel Bilson and Lauren Conrad have worn some of her pieces as well as people I respect more such as Heidi Klum and Sienna Miller.
The style? Well, check out the website: www.yoanabaraschi.com. I have to use the words feminine and flirty to describe her pieces, but there is a little bit of boho influence, and every now and then a little vintage-y mod. Betsey Johnson majorly encouraged this woman to start her own line, and Baraschi spent a fair amount of time in India where she developed an appreciation for color, embroidery and hand-made techniques. In my opinion both of these influences are pretty evident in her collections. If you’re looking for something super-edgy and avant garde you’re going to wish you never started reading this, but that’s not my problem. I’m loving the yellow dress pictured at the top, and I’m also a fan of the pieces below.
Black Jewl Grace Jones Dress - Holiday 2008
70's Glam Blow-up Dress - Summer 2009
Amelie Knit& Taffeta Dress - Resort 2008
Can't believe they didn't go for CAL Q LUS!
I came across this specimen yesterday evening around 8:30pm. It seemed that someone in the neighborhood was having a get-together, and judging by this attendee’s license plate I can only assume that it was a Mensa Society meeting, or a math league mixer.
If this person were a true math nerd why wouldn’t they have gone for CAL Q LUS ? Probably taken, hopefully by someone smarter. Although it very well could have been my math teacher, Mr. Krom, from high school. He LOVED his TI-83. He also enjoyed making students like me feel mathematically inferior, and I will be the first to admit that I was and still am. I don’t hold it against him though. A rare genius, but outside of the math wing the man was afraid of his own shadow.
Vanity plates are a big trend in the South. I found this out a few years ago when my cousin who lives in Virginia dated this girl who’s name was Brooke. Her parents bought her a car and got her a license plate that read “BROOKEI”. All the other pet forms of adding the “-y” sound to Brooke were taken. They also bought her cow-print seat covers and floormats.
After I saw Dazed and Confused I thought it would be pretty awesome to have a license plate that said “FAH Q”. I once spotted a huge van with a tag that said “DWETTA”. I kept an eye out for DWETTA for a while afterwards, but never saw it again.
Ultimately, I feel the same way about vanity plates as I do about tattoos: You had better come up with something really cool because everyone who sees it is going to judge one way or another.
