Thursday, July 27, 2006

truth musical

This is a cool break from their other "gorilla-esque" type of commercials. I like it, and know you will too :)

Monday, July 24, 2006

The 9 covers everything viral

This is amazing.

The 9 is one of the first major vlogs that is current to that day on everything that's going on in pop culture...well...9 of the most important things. Early each weekday morning, Maria Sansone and the 9 Team scour the world wide web and find what they think constitute the nine best, weirdest, or funniest photos, sites, stories, and videos on the Internet. They're home to late-breaking viral information that people work hard to find themselves. The 9 items range between everything from Tiger Woods winning the British Open, to Ashlee Simpson's (A. Simp's) new glam look, to a video of a drowsy kitten.

And if you know of something that should have been in the top 9, but didn't make it, you can submit the link as Pepsi's 10th and keep checking back to see if it made it into the 9.

The 9 is sponsored by Pepsi and Yahoo!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Rend the Heavens Going to One Way Fest!

This weekend we will be hitting the road to Kansas City to play at the OneWayFestival. We will be playing on the Neighbor's Stage at 7pm Friday night. Come check us out if you're in the area.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The Official Backseat Driver's Manual

While flipping through the current issue of SPIN I noticed there was one of those annoying paper inserts that never allows the pages to turn easily. Naturally, I turned to it to rip it out before I got frustrated (c'mon...we've all been there) But what I found when I got there surprised me. It was The Offical Backseat Driver's Manual from Volkswagen. Wow, I thought. That is clever.

"With tongue in cheek, Volkswagen says: “Being a backseat is not a right. It’s a privilege. And a responsibility. What you will learn from this handbook…” and so on. The booklet is then filled with useful information including the drink to bladder ratio at which point a driver will need to stop the car. (A driver is only good for 30 minutes on a 32 ounce coffee, for example.) The final pages include an exam and official plastic Backseat Driver License. This is more fun than German engineering."-Rich Ottum

This is a brilliant print piece in a world where print is arguably lesser and lesser of an engaging medium. Here’s why:
- It looks like a real manual, authentically poking fun at themselves
- It is based on the realities of annoying passengers and is rather funny
- It contains an “Official Backseat Driver” card you can remove and affix a picture.
- The card is sans logo and/or mention of VW or Jetta brand (HT: The Client Side)

I think the only thing that would have made this better is some online content...maybe a website, or something DMV-esque that's interactive. Although I can see them going only by WOM marketing. The folks at Crispin Porter + Bogusky sure know what they're doing.

Just another reason why I love Volkswagen.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

egg-vertising??

(AP) CBS is enlisting eggs in its scramble to attract viewers. The CBS logo and slogans promoting the TV network and its series will appear along with coded expiration dates on eggs sold by grocers-- just another promotional measure in the competitive world of television.

More than 35 million eggs will be marked with phrases such as "CSI: Crack the Case on CBS" and "The Class, New Grade-A CBS Comedy" as part of a deal between the CBS Marketing Group and EggFusion, an egg-coding company. (HEY CBS! The 80's called and said they want their puns back!)

The campaign will begin in September, when the fall TV season begins, CBS said Saturday at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

However, CBS isn't putting all its eggs in one marketing basket.

The campaign is part of what the network is calling its "Outernet strategy," an effort to reach viewers "outside their homes as they go about their daily lives," the network said in a statement.

EggFusion, based in Deerfield, Ill., will use laser technology to create the expiration dates and "On-Egg Messaging," the release said.

Other networks have tried offbeat ways to attract viewers, such as putting messages about shows in public restrooms or, for ABC's "Desperate Housewives," using dry-cleaning bags to promote the series.

Link to the article here.

Monday, July 17, 2006

vacation recap

We're back and we're tired. Here are the highlights:

We stayed two blocks from the ocean in a town due North of San Diego called Oceanside. No Seaside, but still very quaint. It was a million-dollar three bedroom villa that easily slept 8-10 people. Complete with vaulted ceilings and a "gourmet kitcken". That was nice.

We went to San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park on Tuesday. None of their animals are in "cages" per se. They have open spaces where the animals can roam free (well...sorta, but you get the picture). They have this thing where you can buy a ticket and ride in a truck that goes into the "wilderness" and feed them upclose and personal. That was pretty cool. We got to feed Ivan, the giraffe and saw rhinos, antelope, and hippos doing what they do in the wild.

Wednesday we went to Disney Land. It really is the happiest place on earth. I was really impressed with a newer ride, "Indiana Jones". Wow! What a rush. I remember seeing something about it on TV. That's a must, if you're there. We also got to go on the newer "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride...complete with Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow peppered along the way. The only downer about this was we were with my 7 year old step nephew who got the crap scared out of him at Indiana Jones so in order to ease his nerves we had to keep convicing him that everything was fake. It really took the magic out of it for me because when I said, "Wow, Jacob! Look at the fire flies!" he said, "No Toby, those are little lights on a piece of string...see?" "*sigh* yes, Jacob, you're right. It's fake. Fake, fake fake." It was a crime. "Space Mountain" got a facelift as well. What I liked most was there were speakers behind my head and the music was in sync to what we were doing. So while we were going up the first hill, I could hear it counting down to "blast off" then there was a really cool techno-james bond-esque soundtrack that went right along with what we were doing. Talk about envelopment. It was awesome.

Then there was the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Let's just say that Colleen and I saved a ton of money. It was great. And the wedding (the whole reason for the trip) was beautiful.

All the other days were either spent on the beach, or lounging around back at the house. Very restful...but yet tiring all the same.

But now it's back to life. Back to reality.


(Sunset at Oceanside taken on my little sony cyber-shot)

Saturday, July 08, 2006

we're here!

Wow! San Diego is beautiful. 75 degrees and sunny with low humidity.

We arrived on time (go southwest!) and ate lunch at Kansas City BBQ-Home of the Sleazy Bar Scene in Top Gun. That's their claim to fame...well bras hanging from ceiling fans and pretty awesome BBQ. They still have the piano. A quick stop at the Seaport Village led us to the harbor where we sat in the shade and watched the boats sailing.

As soon as we got off the plane I realized that I had fogotten everything for the wedding. (The whole reason we came out here.) All I packed was beach stuff. I didn't have anything wedding-esque (slacks, shoes, a belt...) so we headed to the mall to buy something for me to wear. I couldn't believe it. I even handed Colleen her dress from the closet and I STILL forgot to pack everything I was planning to wear. It was a struggle, but it had to be done. ;-)

Friday, July 07, 2006

I couldn't resist these...

Take a look at some awful Japanese pranks all caught on film. These would NEVER be allowed to happen in the states. Enjoy!



Thursday, July 06, 2006

a mighty wind


My weekend in Oklahoma was taken right out of the movie, "A Mighty Wind". If you've ever seen it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Jack and Jamie are really into folk music. Now, folk music is different than bluegrass. Folk music is for and by hippies; bluegrass is for and by Republicans. Basically. (I think Jack and Jamie are the only Republican folk musicians). The first night we where there they summoned all the people they play with at festivals and played all through the night. It couldn't have been a better evening for it. The weather was beautiful. They all sat in a circle on the lower deck and played from 7:00-2:00 in the morning. There were two fiddle players, one upright bass, two mandolins, five guitars, one baritone ukulele, and one suspicious looking brown jug that was being passed amongst them all. Good times.

They have also started to ranch. While we were there they had 7 steers and a lama. I learned the difference between a steer, a bull, a heffer and a cow: a steer used to be a bull before his man-parts where removed. The testosterone that is produced by a bull makes the meat too tough, so steers are used for meat. A bull has all his parts in tact and is basically given the task of reproducing more cattle. A tough job, but someone's gotta do it. A heffer is a female cow who hasn't calfed yet while a cow is a cow that HAS calfed. (Calfed means birthed a baby bull or heffer) Learning this was like a scene from "City Slickers". I was just standing there with my faux-hawk and aviators like I belonged there. ;-)

We went a saw "The Devil Wears Prada". It was a good movie...a little long for that type of moive. Meril Streep was amazing. I'd see it again just for her. I hope she's recognized for it.

The rest of the weekend was restful. It was good to get away and see family. Colleen had a good time as well.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

A new look at music

I'll post about my weekend next, but I first wanted to show this.

It comes from a buddy over at Icon Tact. When I saw this I couldn't believe it. It's pretty cool.