2010 World Cup Commercial Competition

Every four years the FIFA World Cup occurs. This, the biggest tournament, sports global competition while contributing to a measurable decrease in global productivity as billions are glued to their televisions. As these matches are beamed across oceans, over mountains, and into the deepest canyons of the world the thirst for the best commercials unfolds. So in the spirit of competition I will be evaluating the 'teams' as they compete to be the best 2010 World Cup Commercial. I will be scoring the teams in 5 categories: Star Power, International Appeal, Passion, Creativity, and Artistic Expression. Each category will be awarded a maximum of 5 points with a perfect score equaling 25 points. May the best team win.


Team: ESPN
2010 FIFA World Cup: United

Star Power (3 Stars): Limited until the end of the run; they were second rate players shown as a collective, thus dulling their luster.
International Appeal (4 stars): A wonderful collage of people and places. Missed out on five stars due to emphasizing American political issues and U.S. Flag.
Passion (5 stars): A limited emphasis on soccer failed to fully link the connection between the passion of the people and the passion of the game.
Creativity (3 stars): Little more than a politically updated version of their 2006 entrant.
Artistic Expression (5 stars): A delicate weaving of diversity with a rhythmic score and a comforting narration (Bono) truly reflect the texture of the game.
TOTAL (20 STARS)


Team: Puma
Journey of Football 2010

Star Power (3 Stars): Good use of Africa's biggest stars and brightest teams.
International Appeal (2 Stars): Entirely focused on the African market, but then again that is the only market Puma has.
Passion (5 stars): A nice job tying the dreams of youth to the passions of a Continent. Captured the African flavor.
Creativity (2 star): Nothing more than a nicely connected series of video clips.
Artistic Expression (5 stars): Excellent musical choice coupled with a vibrant series of images that make you want to kick the ball; even if the ending catch phrase is a bit weak.
TOTAL (17 STARS)


Team: Nike
Write the Future

Star Power (5 Stars): Nike capitalizes on the biggest stars in soccer, basketball, and TV. I am willing to overlook the Ronaldinho debacle as everyone expected him to make the squad (he didn't get fat).
International Appeal (4 Stars): Failure to make a nod to the Asian market cost this ad a star.
Passion (4 Stars): Capitalizing on the energy and stress of expectation bode well for this one.
Creativity (3 Stars): Nike builds upon their theme of the fanciful future of the game, but we have seen that before...here...and...here.
Artistic Expression (5 Stars): Who doesn't like the watching Ribery turn Rooney into trailer trash. Plus they reinvigorate the Portugal/Netherlands rivalry.
TOTAL (21 STARS)


Team: Pepsi
Oh Africa

Star Power (4 stars): Good use of International Stars; but did you literally have to spell it out for us?
International Appeal (2 stars):Aside from the big names that were brought in, this ad flounders.
Passion (2 stars): Using children and an eagerly bored human pitch makes the excitement feel contrived.
Creativity (1 star): A predictable ending with a painful wait to get there. Worse than sitting at a long red light.
Artistic Impression (2 stars): Poor CSG graphics cost it a star. I know South Africa is a developing nation, but they still understand fashion. This ad lost 2 stars for those hideous denim Pepsi jerseys from the 80's.
TOTAL (11 STARS)


Team: ESPN
The Power of 10 
Star Power (4 stars): A great combination of contemporary and historical figures. Truly captured their shine.
International Appeal (4 stars): Again another failure to make a nod to the AFC, minus a star.
Passion (4 stars): A good blend of trophy raising and fan celebration.
Creativity (3 stars): Same dog, new trick. Take a risk and deviate from the safe ESPN.
Artistic Impression (2 stars): The creation is too banal and ordinary to set this ad apart from the competition. It will be quickly forgotten.
TOTAL (17 STARS)


Team: MTN
Two World Wars and One World Cup

Star Power (1 star): Local companies rarely have the resources for true stars, but this little guy shines enough for a glimmer of hope.
International Appeal (2 stars): If it is assumed that the scene is South Africa, then two continents are present.
Passion (4 stars): A true English hooligan would not have covered his child's mouth. Minus a star.
Creativity (4 stars): A healthy dose of wit demonstrates even local companies can compete with the big corporations.
Artistic Impression (5 stars): National flag mohawks...need I say more.
TOTAL (16 STARS)


Team: ESPN
Passion

Star Power (2 stars): Brazilian fame plus sparklers for two.
International Appeal (3 stars): Two continents and a nod to the masses.
Passion (5 stars): It is the name of the spot, and not to mention what isn't more passionate than sex and footie.
Creativity (4 stars): The same ESPN story style, but with a fun ending.
Artistic Impression (3 stars): A short spot with an even shorter climax.
TOTAL (17 STARS)

The New Busy

The latest marketing attempt by Microsoft is "The New Busy." Aside from being another hapless attempt at wit, its a failed attempt to revitalize hotmail. Dear Microsoft, don't you think it is a little late to revamp hotmail? Not only is is out of favor with the tech savvy youth, but graphically its stuck in a cubicle from the 80's. It is boring, mauve, and not worth the energy to raise it from the dead. The New Busy is an old trick; one we have seen too often from the corporate drones at Microsoft.
Aside from my clear displeasure with Hotmail, The New Busy represents a campaign I detest on principle. It suggests that there is a better way of being busy; that the Old Busy can somehow be improved. The fundamental problem is busy. In arguing for a better busy, Microsoft is praising the cluttered, hectic lifestyles that we live. They praise our harried pace that is fueled by caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. They praise our sleep-deprived state that results in dilute results at work, strained relationships at home, and the neglect of our families. They idolize the hours wasted in our cars, isolated from community, breathing carcinogens while drowning out our cries for help with the incessant babble of the radio.
We are too busy. In these difficult times our stress is increased and our resources stretched. It is now that we should be simplifying our lives; returning to basic principles. We need to strip away the excess and focus on the important things. It is not about social networks which devalue friendships to a few accessible keystrokes. Instead it is about tangibles; playing catch with your kid or stealing your wife away for a "date night." It is about family dinners, block parties, and camping trips. It is about using this moment to reclaim our lives, our energy, and our future as a people.
And it is a time to deject The New Busy for a life of happiness.

Paparazzi

Sometimes a video just makes you pause and appreciate the natural talent of an individual. Hopefully, puberty and middle school won't destroy the potential.

Head Rush

Simply this is one of those videos where you feel conflicted. The conservative side warning of the dangers of such an idea. The liberal side knowing how epic such an idea could be. Rest assured, both sides of your psyche will be rewarded with danger and excitement beyond what you expected. 

A Silent Sea

Helpless to scream
profoundly exhausted;
I lie.
Dingy barely keeping water at bay
the sea perhaps not
restless
just endless.
Sunlight lost to cumulus
though heavy with rain
won't loosen her burden
to quench the parched lips
of a helpless man.
Day indiscernible from night,
sky devoid of definition
texture.
Sea and sky
separated by a thin meniscus of horizon,
both endlessly stoic and mute.
Not even the ocean breaks silence
with laps against the bow.


Alone.


A stubbled face man lies exhausted
drowned by sorrow of heartbeats lost.
A brain tormented by the haunting 
notion of grace once achieved
but ultimately lost.

In Search of Patience

Life is such a beautifully complex and yet simple entity. Despite attempts to control life or to develop systems which provide the illusion of control and predictability; life just is. Tomorrow may come or it may not, and choices made today have minimal impacts on the actions of tomorrow. If life, twice distilled, is so simple then why is the pursuit of fulfillment so elusive? I do not recall life always seeming so complex and daunting. And if I can recognize where this change occurred, why can I not ascertain how to restore my life to this simpler time? Despite our best attempts, fulfillment is not quantifiable. Numbers cannot be punched into an equation to yield a solution to fulfillment. And yet we as humans struggle to understand that which cannot be learned.
This is where patience becomes of paramount importance. I used to be a naively optimistic person. My emotional range could be quantified by the range represented by a ruler. On either end, the emotional extremes (both good and bad), and in the middle the spiritual balance one seeks. Then an interesting thing happened in my life. Someone came up to me and said, "Wow that is a nice ruler; but have you seen a yard stick?" Previous to this conversation I lived the expanses of my emotions; but only within the confines of the ruler. The ruler represented the known extents of my emotional world. Impressed by the novelty and mystery of the yard stick I eagerly traded; simultaneously failing to comprehend the totality of my decision. Of course there was added range to the good, a place to experience a whole new world of euphoric exaltation. I drank the cool-aid and immersed myself in the wonderful toxicity of new found happiness. But I was blind to the increased dark range of the yard stick. The shadows of my soul were now more present and more accessible. The distance of balance now further from the bipolar edges of experience.
The reality is that I can not go back to the days of the ruler, even if I wanted. When one learns that a yard stick exists, one cannot unlearn that. Perhaps this is the way people grow. Perhaps I am on the cusp of learning that there is another larger range of emotion to experience. But in the present as I waver between edges of my yard stick; I develop patience. Patience for direction to be found. Patience for tomorrow. But most importantly, patience for life.

LEGO Star Wars Trilogy

Crazy Lady #3

I would like to first preface this post by saying, although this represents my third "Crazy Lady" post it by no means is meant to construe a disproportional representation of crazy women. There are are "Crazy Men" that I will mention when they present themselves as minor characters in this drama. For now the plot is building with a fairly constant stream of crazy ladies.

I met Crazy Lady #3 on my return flight from Dallas Cup. Now Josh can attest not only to this lady's craziness, but also to the the resounding misfortune I have with airplane neighbors. I had just settled into seat 16D, a more spacious exit row, when she immediately turns to me and begins to talk me up. Acrylic red framed glasses nest in her auburn/purple hair. Here sideburns sculpt an amazing swoosh about her ears. She wears all black, clearly signaling a woman of design taste as her left hand cradles a Lamy and a bejeweled red bracelet accents her right wrist. She dons a sheek black pencil skirt and a long necklace of multi-colored tumbled glass (think taste the rainbow). I catch myself staring at this woman, mind wondering if she in an unknown teacher at Hogwarts. The clencher is a magnificent diamond rock whose brilliance could out shine the sun. It sheer radiating magnitude comfortably places it in the four carat family.

An impassioned jubilant dame she eagerly begins asking questions about me. Running through the standard quid pro quo of airline neighbor questions we are now ready to engage in truly meaningful conversation. At this point her booming energized voice has forced Josh to disobey the flight attendant; plugging in his iPod, praying for escape by sleep. Resoundingly thrown under the bus, I reluctantly return my attention to the conversation; one more of take than give.

An AP French and English teacher in Anchorage, my crazy lady rattles off story after story about the joys of teaching, the quest for a life of knowledge, and why she is pursuing a second PhD. She is a contradiction wrapped in a conundrum. Adamantly liberal she sweats praises for President Obama while simultaneously speaking of the conservative oil tycoon who placed that 'little gem' upon her finger. She waivers between the need for an alternative energy economy while describing guilt in the bounty black gold has gifted her. In one short breath she laments for a withdrawal from Iraq and the misguided decision to invade then shifts to the life story of her Marine brother. She giggles at the way she makes Laura Bush uncomfortable during big Texas events and then switches the babble to some other loosely connected tangent. I find myself not only regretting my seating selection but oddly feeling sorry for Mrs. Bush. Hoping to time a pause in her conversation with the insertion of earbuds, I earnestly wait for her to surface for air.

No sooner am I relinquishing all hope for relief when the drink cart arrives. All praise the powers of booze. I defer to the woman (after all ladies first) before making my drink selection. She orders two Jack and Cokes. A wry grin sneaks across my face as I elect to forgo the adult beverage selection. The conversation slows only enough so she can inhale her libations; mama needs her juice. After the last drop of medicine is sucked from the bottom of a clear plastic cup the cadence, energy, and speed of the conversation accelerates. I thank the pilot for requiring me to wear my seat belt. Like a kid ramping up during a sugar high, I hold on praying for an immediate crash. And then passes out, her mouth agape as she sucks recycled air. Quivering lips and an occasional snore are the only distractions from my neighbor for the next two hours. The silence awakens Josh who looks at me stunned. I give him a polite shrug and a devious grin and return to my pages in seat 16D.

Projected Perfection

Yesterday I was reminded of the peculiar nature of the architecture world. In our efforts to make our environment better we often devote inconceivable amounts of time to accomplish something seemingly trivial and ordinary. This latest example involved the installation of an overhead projector at the office. For ordinary people this would involve bolting it to the ceiling, approximately centered within the space and running the cables to a reasonable location (time required 1 hour). But for the designer this turns into an art. First the mounting location is selected. An off-center location to avoid conflicts with the hanging lights and to provide a pin-up space to the right of the projection screen. The projector was carefully attached to the wood beam, the cords perfectly laid down the middle of the beam, to the wall, ultimately cascading on the presenter's table. Perfect until you fire it up and see the image. A debate ensues about the choice to employ an off-center projection approach. How far off-center do you have to go so it doesn't appear "slightly off"? The balance and form of the room are now considered as are standard pin up paper sizes. The projector is pulled down and remounted in a centered location. The iPhone level app ensures the image sits square upon the wall. A screw strips out, so now a non-white replacement is made. Yes, we are now painting the end of the screw to match. The cable is re-run through the space. Finally up goes the projection screen. Wait...it doesn't come with a chain for mounting? A solution is reached, a guy in the office is going to bring in some spare chain he has in his garage. And yes, this is exactly the kind of weird shit architects hoard in their garage. Time elapsed 04:00+ hours and we are waiting to mount the screen on Monday. Meanwhile the ordinary person has solved world peace.