Wednesday 5 August 2009

Growing Up

As I grow up and experience new and exciting things, I feel as though my blog should follow suit.

Http://www.thecoolcommentator.blogspot.com has evolved over the last two years from a blog where I talked about nothing worth reading to being a source of cool and interesting content and a place where I shared a book I was writing.

I have had quite a summer and have BIG plans for the future and so I felt it was time for a little bit of a change. Here is Stage 1.0 of this change....

www.thecoolcommentator.com

Click on that link and you will be directed to the new and improved cool content side of this original blog. I'm using a different engine and over time the design and layout will continue to evolve into something quite different - possibly even a BRAND?! Wait and see.

I would love to keep in contact with bloggers on blogspot.com who have been such great contributors over the years so please swing by and click the RSS feed. I will be posting to this blog also, but it will mainly be about my life and will not be as often anymore.

You can stick with me over on Twitter as well through this link:
@tommyjames

The new site is the start of a new chapter in my life, and this blog will continue to document this in small slabs. No one knows where my life is going to take me over the next two months, even me, so stick with it and enjoy watching this madness that is me and The Cool Commentator evolve!

This is not a goodbye...but a hello to new and exciting things!

Peace x

P.S. Yes that is my name there in the twitter link...or is it?! Is it really though?! Maybe you will never know for sure...

Monday 3 August 2009

Will this dream end?

No post for a while - I just have not had time. A LOT has happened in the last couple of weeks, and A LOT has changed! More than I could imagine would change in such a short period of time. This time in two weeks I will be sat on a plane flying back to England.

I don't have time on my side tonight but let me just fill you in on some details:

  • I have met some celebs these past few weeks - The Mighty Boosh to name but a few.
  • I have met more and more wonderful people - industry types who I hope will become good friends in the future!
  • I have seen/heard/smelled/tasted some amazing things.
  • I have finally gone to a Broadway show.
  • I finally met a girl from the UK that I have been needing and wanting to meet properly for a LONG TIME! Another friend I hope to keep for life.
  • I have been working hard at Cunning and looking to the future
  • I have made some business cards
  • I have tried Sushi. It tasted like raw fish.
  • I may have some BIG news to report later this coming week.
  • New York might not need to miss me for too long.
That is just a snippet of all that has been going on. This place keeps throwing new twists and turns into my life. I don't want to live without it = maybe I won't have to for long?!

Here are some links for now...

http://www.thecoolcommentator.tumblr.com
This is my newest blog - it's where I'm now posting all the interesting content I find on the web! Check it out!!!

http://www.floydhayes.com
This is my creative director at Cunning. That is his blog. Check it out = he has a genius mind and it a grand fella to boot!

I will be posting again soon, hopefully with some good news!

Monday 13 July 2009

Sunday 12 July 2009

A Saturday Night In In The City

Well, the last couple of days have been quite interesting to say the least. 

Wednesday night found me acting like a teenager again on Facebook talking to TA and listening to more of the playlist she sent me. We get on famously in cyber land and I was certain that the following night at The Anchor would prove that we get on well in reality too. I almost fell asleep at my desk whilst listening to one of her favourite songs waiting for her to come back from getting into her PJs. How I miss the days of late night MSN chats.

Thursday was such a fricking great day. The first good part of it was the lack of a hangover! During my runs of going out I forget how glorious it is to wander to work feeling fresh and ready for the day ahead. I was excited today as I knew I was making a trip up to Rockerfeller Center to spy on the Sci Fi Channel (now SyFy) event happening up there. The office was quiet, with half the team in Phili for the Piticure so we chilled and did some work. Myself, fellow intern IH and new boy on the block PP had a good creative meeting and went over a pitch and started to get our heads around a new brief that has come in.

Soon it was time for me to trek uptown to the Rockerfeller Center. I ended up going on my own as the others were busy but this was actually a good thing. I got the E train up to 53rd and 5th and gulped as I remembered I had to navigate a HUGE London Underground style escalator to reach the surface. Let me tell you now that I have a fear of heights and of moving stairs so escalators, the big ones, really freak me out! I gripped onto the railing with both hands and leant in a wierd position trying to compose myself all the way up. I made it, but I decided I would walk over to 34th to get the E train back to the office and take in Bryant Park on my way. I walked down to Rockerfeller Center and had a look around the event, it was pretty boring really. I won't go into details as the rest of my day was far more interesting.

So I was walking by Bryant Park snapping my favourite building in the city, The Bank Of America Tower, when I heard a lot of banging and cheering. I wandered into the park and found myself stood behind a large stage where STOMP were playing. I soon clocked the crowd of around 4000 people watching as well. It turned out I had stumbled across Broadway In The Park. Score. I watched the rest of STOMP and some of Avenue Q before deciding it was probably time to get back to the office. What an adventure so far.

When I left the office to head uptown there had been a whole array of lorries along Greene Street right outside our front door so I was pretty sure something was getting filmed around there and wanted to get back and see what was going on. I wasn't dissapointed. When I returned there were crowds of people on the corner of Greene and Prince so I rushed over to check it out. I was peering through the window of a perfume store trying to work out who/what was being filmed and quickly realised I was staring Blake Lively in the eye. Thats right, I got eye contact with a TV star. They were filming Gossip Girl. Blake and Leighton Meester could been seen walking up and down Prince practicing a scene. I joined the hoardes of teenage girls getting snap happy and played paparazzi. When I left the office I decided to take Wooster instead of going straight down Spring and found myself stood in the background of another Gossip Girl shoot. This time it was Leighton and Ed Westwick. I was ordered to cross the road so I stayed and took some more photos. What a celeb packed day I was having!

The night rolled on and I soon found myself taking advantage of the $20 open bar at The Anchor. By 9pm we were all happily drunk and the place began to fill up. TA arrived with her sister and a friend and we immediately hit it off as I knew we would. By this point we had a free bottle of Grey Goose at our table so I quickly got the three girls nicely drunk for free and we all partied until they left. As far as my hazy memory can recall we held hands for much of the evening and had a couple of kisses. She really is a great girl, and a breath of fresh air.

So Friday was a hard day, I woke up late and rushed into work to find everyone else hungover too! I struggled through the morning and soon found myself heading out with the creatives to check out a car my creative director might be buying. Walking back to the office I spotted a tshirt on a street stall that read I HATE MAYO! Now, TA and I share a love of ketchup and have had some good convos about this, and I discovered that she hates Mayo. This t shirt was too good to be true and I had to buy it for her, even though I had only known her a week. As I was paying the drugged up stall lady I noticed another t shirt which ready I LOVE KETCHUP! Once again I had to impulse buy. Is it cute or disturbing to buy a girl you barely know two random t shirts?! TA seemed to think it was cute! Phew! I get to give them to her tomorrow (Sunday) on our date.

Friday night started late, we went to Joshua Tree and ended up at Phebes. It was not very eventful. 

It has just turned Sunday morning now. I have stayed in my room all day today feeling hungover and bunged up with a cold. Tomorrow I'm taking TA to Central Park Zoo, or to a movie and for food if the weather is bad! It is actually the first real date I think I have ever been on, and I'm a little bit nervous if I'm honest. But I'm sure it will be fine as I won't be hungover and I know we have so much to talk about! And she will be reveling from the excitement of her two new t shirts. I will tell you about the date tomorrow once it has happened.

TA and I have been texting and talking non stop all week and last night we had a little bit of a heart to heart. She likes me, I like her and we both think each other is a breath of fresh air and something a bit special. I could be wrong here but I see things maybe blooming with this girl. I wonder if I will be right about this one?!

Thursday 9 July 2009

A Summary Of An Eventful Week And A Bit Continued...

So the 4th July had arrived. I had been in the states, Florida to be exact, a couple years ago for 4th July but it was nothing compared to the 4th in New York.

So the day got off to a bad start - I was hungover and unwell. I finally got out of the room around 3pm and went up and met up with K and G and their french friend EL. We wandered up to Columbus Circle and made our way into central park. Here we came across all manner of madness, most notably a crazy cool skating ring with a DJ and some totally insane characters and people just dancing around. We perched on a hill and settled down for a while. It was nice and chilled and gave me a chance to get to know K and G better. We walked further into the park and got to the lake and watched people in boats which was pretty funny! We then went back to the Hotel where I met H's sister JE properly, I had met her earlier but was too ill to talk to her properly. They were pregaming but I was off the drink for now. We made out way over to the fireworks display on the Hudson. We sat down on 29th and 12th and waited almost 2 hours for the show to start - it did at 9.20 and was truely awesome! After they were finished we headed back to the hotel and had some drinks before heading out and having a quick drink in Van Diemens and then went to Joshua Tree where we all got drunk and danced the night away to 80s classics! It was a lot of fun but quite uneventful really!

Sunday saw another hang over and another trip up to Central Park where we watched a bunch of cool street performers and wandered around! We made out way out into the Upper East Side and hunted for food before coming back to 34th and 8th and ate at Jimmys BBQ and had a laugh! Garrett was being pretty damn funny but we are all tired. We headed back to the hotel and just chilled out for the rest of the night. I watched a film called Seven Pounds (Will Smith) and thought it was very profound and a bit touching. I then had a shit nights sleep due to roadworks going on outside.

On Monday I worked. I then went and did laundry with B. This turned out to be more eventful than I was expecting as I walked right past a drumming idol of mine - Abe Laboriel Jr - who plays for Paul McCartney amongst others. I was too star stuck to talk to him, and he had headphones in so I did not want to disturb him. I wish I had now. Later I went to see the Carolina girls who are completely nuts, but quite funny when they want to be too! The night came to a close with a mammoth conversation with TA over facebook late into the night exchanging playlists and talking about all kinda of things. I felt 16 all over again but it was great.

Tuesday involved more work and then a kareoke comp at Van Diemens. The Carolina girls were shockingly hammered wayyy to early on, including Miss Texas. I had fun singing all kinds of songs all night including Wonder Wall, Don't Stop Believing, You're The One That I Want, Proclaimers, The Darkness and some others! Myself and U met two girls from Pennsylvania who came in to join the fun, they were a great laugh and I got their numbers down. Doubt we will ever see them again though!

So here we are on Wednesday evening. I had a bad hangover today once again, but had a good two hour creative meeting and helped set up the new Cunning Tumblr page for internal creative content we want to share with the rest of the team. I was also told that a BIG client I did some idea work for in my first couple of weeks REALLY LOVE one of MY ideas and are thinking about going forward with it in Dubai! Woo!!

Big night at The Anchor tomorrow, seeing TA again...I wonder what I will be writing about this time on Friday! Stay well!

Wednesday 8 July 2009

A Summary Of An Eventful Week And A Bit

Ok so since the big wipe out quite a lot has happened, once more. Let me attempt to summerise and shout about the main points before I forget.

So, the plan was to stay off the drink until Thursday...this lasted all of two days as I followed the girls of the New Yorker over to Van Diemens for Kareoke. B, M and U came along for the ride too. Long story short, the girls were hammered early on, I got hammered too with some free drinks, kareoke was cancelled which sucked some what so in the end we went down to Wicked Willies to play beer pong. Miss Texas could not get in, and by this point it was only me, H and J still out, U joined us again a little later. H and J went off to talk to random men to try and get some drinks bought for them, leaving me on my own. I met some Irish guys who I thought lived in the same area as some friends of mine, they diddn't. I then met a lovely bargirl selling jello shots, or which I had a few to keep her chatting for a bit. Her name was Chelsea. I was then asked to play beer pong with some random yanks who needed an extra player so I was happy to get stuck in and not be a loner anymore. I beat them with a little help from U. We headed back at a reasonable time of 2am to the hotel to find Miss Texas sat eating a free meal with an old gentlemen who may have wanted to rape her...we helped her escape but she and J soon ended up back there. I went to bed to later be awoken by Miss Texas and J who forced me to "camp out" on my bedroom floor with them. My back is still in a mood with me now.

On Wednesday I managed to have a well earned night off after a particularily nasty hangover from Tuesdays drinking and lack of sleep.

Thursday brought around an early finish for 4th July, some drinks with the Cunning team at Franellis on Prince and Mercer. After this I changed in the office and went with some work friends to Williamsburg in Brooklyn on the train that goes over the Williamsburg bridge which was cool! We wandered around Brooklyn and went to a Mexican place and had some food and frozen Margeritas! After this I ran to reach the L train back to Manhattan in the rain and soon made it to The Anchor where I found H and B hammered at 8pm. I soon left The Anchor and went back to Franellis and got a drink there with H's friend MW and shared some onion rings. I soon went back to get H and B but found they had gone. Thankfully U had arrived and taken them elsewhere. We ended up at Wicked Willies, got bored and soon moved onto Phebes. Once in here M, B and E joined us and I was still sober. People flitted off into their own things and I wound up hanging around. Soon U had had enough of all the folk more drunk than us and so we got talking to two girls. One of them was particularily lovely, she shall be called TA. We chatted about all sorts for hours, we had so much in common is was great! Loved the same music, she wants to be a writer, studies at NYU (not that we have that in common of course) and was generally a cute, sweet, nice girl who seemed a lot different to the others I have met so far.

Soon people left, first my friends and then hers and it was just the two of us. In the end I walked her home to 14th Street talking about all sorts, including architecture which was very cool! We had a little kiss out on 14th street and she was gone. I went home feeling like I had had a damn good night. I knew I wanted to see her again, and I diddn't have to wait long...

Friday flew by as I slept off a weeks worth of early mornings and late nights! Before I knew it it was midnight and I was stood in G's room sipping on a vodka coke with way too many guys. Myy quote for the evening was "this room is just a varitable array of cultural cock" which with my accent cracked the american boys up! We finally headed out downtown towards The Village Lantern but found it to be dead. Long story short, G lost his phone (but got it back again!) we tried a bar opposite Phebes, but it was $10 a drink so soon enough we ended up at Phebes where I had planned to meet up with TA. I ended up walking straight past her in a wave of being a moron but she grabbed my arm and we got to talking again. She had just had a LOT of money stolen from her purse so I tried to cheer her up with some English humour...I hope it worked. Her friends soon dragged her off to another bar but as she left she turned, grabbed my hand and squeezed it. As I said before, she is too cute!

I have to mention here that TA is studying in London for three months from around the time I get home. She also REALLY likes ketchup with foods you shouldn't really have it with, just like me. Match made in heaven? haha I don't know...time will tell. I have not seen TA again since but we have been texting and talking online a lot which is great, and unusual for these american girls it seems! We shared playlists on Pandora.com and I spat out another classic quote..."I don't let many girls put their playlists on my pandora!" which sounded way ruder than it was intended to! I see TA again this coming Thursday at The Anchor and I'm really looking forward to it!

This post has gotten too long, I will conclude the week with stories from July 4th and Tuesday night just gone. Lovely.

Monday 6 July 2009

The Wipe Out

So, you have read about the nights that lead to what follows, so let me fill you in.

I was woken by H and MJ at 11am Sunday morning and dragged off to do laundry. I felt okay but I was definitely still drunk. I ate lunch with S and J at a little burger bar down 9th Ave and really felt pretty fine. So fine in fact that I joined H, MJ and S on a trip up to Central Park.

As we got off the subway and started walking through the crowded 5th Ave I began to feel a little funny, I sucked it up and carried on my way, not wanting to have to go back. As we neared Central Park I had another odd feeling in my stomach and across my body. I again ignored it and moved on.

We made it a little way into the park and all of a sudden I came over all dizzy and had to grab onto S and sit down. I knew I had to get out of the park and into a cab fast but we were already quite a way into the park. I walked as quickly as I could, feeling truely awful, back to 5th and managed to get a cab. S came back with me to make sure I was alright. The traffic was horrendous and we requested to go down 9th Ave which was just as bad due to the Gay Pride Parade on 5th.

In the cab I couldn't breath, I put my head forward and cringed as my whole body started to get pins and needles. I had no control. My heart was racing and I was panicking. In the end we left the cab and had to walk almost 20 blogs back to the hotel. My hands were spasming out of my control and I kept feeling dizzy. We finally made it to the hotel to my relief and I went to lie down. As I lay there I remembered a story of a bar tender from New Castle who would drink excessively every day and went to Ibiza, caught a virus and as his liver was so damaged could not sort himself out and almost died. His quote was "I best cut back on the drinking then." This story ran through my head as I lay there, I actually thought I might have been dying. I wasn't...I was just incredibly hungover.

I decided I was not going to drink for a week...I went out again on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Saturday...

The Fourth Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out

By this point I had suffered three intense hangovers, recovered, and done it all again. Tonight saw a group of us pre-gaming in H's room with some vodka and orange juice. The pre-game turned into a bit of a party with a good 12 people in H's room shouting over each other. The plan was simple - get drunk and go to the Coyote Ugly Saloon on 2nd Avenue.

We got the E train to 14th, and then the L to 3rd Ave and walked the rest of the way. The subway ride saw a very drunk B pole dancing and a very drunk KV joining him. Everyone on the train hated us for sure. We got to the saloon and I immediately wanted to leave.

The bar girls were less than hot, the "punters" were mostly over weight, balding, sweaty, scary looking and perverted. We got drunks and settled in to watch the mayhem. KV and the french girls were drunk enough to get up on the bar and gave it their all to get a free shot. An odd gentlemen tried to help the girls (who were all wearing skirts) up onto the bar and soon one of the french girls had to be removed from the bar as she was about to fall off it. She later fell asleep in the street. The girls were awarded with a shot from the bar girl and soon a guy at the other end of the bar was having his clothes ripped off, getting whipped and having a shot spat into his mouth by a bar girl. All very moving, but I have had more fun.

We moved on to try and go to my favourite bar in the city so far, Phebes. We got there, B and E left and after a moment of queing we went round the corner to another bar. I wasn't really feeling it in there. It was crowded, and the people wouldn't move out of your way. The music was good though to be fair. I sat drinkless whilst everyone had a beer, I think it may have come across that I was in a mood but I wasn't, I just wanted to go to Phebes...

And so we went over to Phebes. Soon U and I got to talking to two girls. One was very short, the other really quite tall. I liked the short one myself and she was really good fun! We chatted and danced around a bit. What we were talking about and dancing to escapes both U and myself. I got the short girls number and have heard her from once since. Oh well. The love life has progressed slightly from then already as it is now over a week since I was wiped out.

The Third Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out

So this night, Friday June something or other saw all venture out downtown. We ate at a bar called Firefly on Spring St in Soho and then meandered our way over to The Village Lantern. On our way we passed Wicked Willies which we had heard of before and as it seemed to be busseling we went in. In there we found a live band playing covers (mainly of MJ) and a bunch of beer pong tables. It was $4 for a rum and coke which was a nice little earner for our livers. Hours and hours past, I played beer pong with G and met a few random people.

The night progressed and we all got thoroughly drunk once again and danced the night away. There was a posh lounge at the back of the bar where me, G and K chilled out in and boogied around. We attempted to infiltrate a group of pretty looking girls to find them completely uninterested and more than boring so that conversation came to an abrupt end.

We ventured over to Village Lantern to find it empty, completely empty so back to WW's we went and finished of the night. Tonight was good fun but lacked any crazy happenings like so many of my nights out in New York City.

Thursday 2 July 2009

The Second Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out

So Wednesdays antics left me feeling a little worse for wear on Thursday. Work was a struggle with bouts of nausea followed my stomach cramps, not to mention the heat in and out of the office. But once again by 4pm I was feeling right as rain and ready for another night out.

I mentioned in the last post that my friend was promoting a night at The Anchor. Well that night was tonight (Thursday) and so I rushed to the hotel to change and go get food with H, MJ and B and then jumped onto the E train downtown to Spring street. We found The Anchor hiding on the corner of Spring and Greenwich Streets. It simply had a ships anchor above a big non-descript door. We went over and went in...it was dead. K and G were there with some of their friends from MTV. It was a $20 cover open bar for the first hour we were there so we made the most of it, fitting in around 7 drinks before the time was up.

As we sat sipping our final virtually free drink the first celebrity of the evening walked in, although I was oblivious. It was the actor who plays "The Most Interesting Man In The World" on the Dos Saccis (the beer, probably spelt wrong here) advert. He was strutting around with two young girls and the first thought that popped into my head was "dick" but how wrong an English boy could be.

I strolled over to the old gent a little while later as the club began to fill up and stretched out my hand, and uttered "So, I hear your famous? I don't know who you are though." We went on to chat for a while about acting, about New York, about England and about his life. He was thoroughly interesting and a really nice bloke. He explained that there was actually a rap party going on for a film he had just been in, although I recognised no faces. But hey, I was from England and just liked the fact I could now boast that I had been to a NYC movie rap party.

The BIG news of the night was that Paul Rudd (Hollywood Actor if you please) was meant to be coming to the club around 11pm. We were all sat around patiently awaiting his arrival. 11pm came and went and Paul never showed...typical. I later found out there was another big celebrity party happening somewhere in the city, where possibly Cameron Diaz was attending...damn, I knew I had made the wrong decision.

The night flew by. Drinks were flying and we were all having so much fun. Almost all our friends turned up at some point and we danced the night away in a little corner on some couches. It was grand. I met a random blonde girl who had the same hat as another blonde girl so I felt it was my duty to inform her. I "cock blocked" K with a 26 year old girl who looked like Lilly Allen. She then took me outside and forced a cigerette into my hand and just started telling everyone how cute I was...at this point I decided I had had enough of her and went back inside.

Later in the night H and MJ decided they wanted to go meet a friend of H's uptown at a bar on 3rd ave. I stayed behind with K and G for a bit but the club began to quieten a little bit so decided I would head uptown myself and see what was going on. It was now about 2am. The taxi ride was a nightmare and I ended up directing the driver on a better and much quicker route to 3rd ave. Once I met H and MJ at a bar called Plug Uglies I realised I had made another bad decision as they were playing some game called "Shuffle Board" with some random guy. I stood and watched for a while getting more and more bored and soon decided it was time for me to make a move.

The move, as it turned out, was not a good one. I was drunk, really very drunk right now and had been texting KVD all night as she was working at Van Diemens. I knew Van Diemens was only a short trip north on 3rd from where I was and I figured she would still be working so I left Plug Uglies and stumbled my way up the road. I finally made it to Diemens and walked inside. As it turns out her shift had ended and she had gone home. Now, a sober man would just walk back out and jump into a cab and get to bed as they have work at 9.30am the next day and it was gone 3am but as I was hammered I thought it best to sit down and have another drink. I sipped the drink, sat on my own at a bar with 5 other men...I had officially hit a new low and will never do that again.

Third night coming soon...

Tuesday 30 June 2009

The First Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out

So, at the start of the previous post I was raving about how much of a difference a couple days off the ale can make and that I couldn't keep it up for 7 weeks...well one thing lead to another and the run of sobriety ended abruptly on Wednesday night.

So, my friend, K, managed to get a list at a club called The Anchor on Spring street in Soho. It's a good spot and a celeb fave so I thought this was pretty good and offered my help with promoting it. He got some flyers printed up and on Wednesday night we went around our accommodation putting them under doors, handing them out to fellow interns and sticking them to walls, the usual. We decided to head outside and flyer on the street to people who looked like returning interns. Upon going through the rotating door of the New Yorker Hotel we were accosted by two people offering us free tickets to some fashion show going on upstairs in the hotel, we asked if there was any nuditiy, they assured us there would be some, so we agreed and headed up.

Well, we found ourselves in a room of 30 black people (I'm not racist you understand, but when your the only two white guys sat at the front of the black-orientated fashion show you feel a little out of your confort zone, and that maybe you just look like a perve?!) So we watched the fashion feeling a little awkward, the music was played on an ipod...the rest is history. We left soon after and I quickly changed then made my way on my own to meet H, her boyfriend MJ and all the girls who were out at Van Diemens on 3rd and 27th.

As soon as I walked into the bar one of the bar girls was in my personal space asking if I wanted a drink. I thought this was a bit scary at first, but she soon came running back asking where I was from and why I was in New York. We proceeded to talk most of the night in fact, I will call her KVD, she was really, really cool and we got on really well. She plied me with strong vodka and cokes and I plied her with money. We eventually left Van Diemens and moved onto Joshua Tree. I stayed back for one more drink with MW (H's friend from school) for one more drink, we said we wanted to wait for our two friends (J and Miss Texas) who were talking to some lads claiming to be basketball players here for the draft...they wern't. I was actually hanging around to talk to KVD some more, and after knowing Miss Texas's drink out of her hand we all moved up to Josh Tree.

This is where my memory kind of evaporated. I remember having a couple of drinks, meeting a group of lads from England, talking to Miss Texas and taking a couple of random pictures in our usual spot.

Later, everyone was almost on the floor so people started to head out and back to the hotel...I decided that I wanted to go back to Van Diemens and see KVD one more time, so I dragged K, H, MJ, and MW back with me. I soon realised on the walk down that we had lost J and Miss Texas (everyone else had already gone back) and I became convinced that they had been kidnapped or had gone home with some creepers...I tried texting and calling to no avail. I soon forgot though as I talked to KVD some more.

I finally got in around 3:30am and passed out on my bed after trying J and Miss Texas one more time...it turns out both their phones died. Typical.

The Second Night Of Four That Wiped Me Out will air tomorrow.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

What A Difference A Day Makes

Well, it is amazing what a couple of days off from drinking can do for your psychi, health and happyness. I have been off the ale since Saturday night and it is now Wednesday, and I really do feel like a new man. It's been great going out and getting ABLITERATED all across Manhattan every night but it just can't be kept up for the next 7 weeks.

Staying in has not been too bad at all. Sunday evening saw me being dragged to see The Proposal by H. It was alright but for some reason the cinema was filled with people who laughed hysterically at people's facial expressions ALL THE DAMN TIME, and I was sat next to a chinese couple who would not shut the hell up.

Monday saw a little shopping trip around midtown with H. I couldn't be bothered going at first but it ended up being quite good. I got some new stuff, as did she and we got some good food from The Bread Factory on the way home. The downside was being dragged into a HUGE Victorias Secret on Herald Square and getting stuck in the turn-stile doors with my bags in front of a huge group of women, who were all laughing at me. Yeah.

Tuesday began with the vision of going out and drinking, but ended with me sat watching Role Models on my trusty Mac. The film was alright, but the sleep afterwards was much better. I'm finally getting to sleep quickly, and waking up maybe once or twice when a fire engine comes buzzing past the hotel. It is BLISS! I wake up around 8am feeling refreshed and even more alive than the day before, and the rings under my eyes are slowly evapourating.

So today it is Wednesday, the office is empty and I have nothing to do. The agency have one of their BIG events in town - The Piticure. It is a new experiential-stand-alone event supported by a whole host of digital and print material. It is to launch and sample Dove's new Ultimate Visibly Smooth Deodrant range. The team have been working on it for almost a year and it has finally reached New York. The structure offers women (and men if they really want) a Piticure - a Manicure for your underarms. They get a massage and all sorts of other things like that along with a free sample pack. The event looks great and I will hopefully be headed down to see it for myself later today. If you are in New York, it is on Fulton St near the South Street Seaport.

I'm on a serious hunt for hairdressers/barbers today. My hair is getting WAY too long and needs to be sorted pronto. I'm heading up Spring Street in Soho during my lunch break to seek out one I have found online and also find a bar I'm meant to be headed to tonight for food and drinks. I should be heading into a new area of Soho for me today, so hopefully I will see my usual assortment of crazyness.

Speaking of crazyness, how the hell do people sleep on the subway when it is crammed with about 1000 people?! I only have a short ride downtown from 34th to Spring but the short trip always conjures up some sights - whether it be someone sleeping with the head on their lap (probably missing their stop) or a gorgeous girl sat further down the carriage...I really enjoy taking it all in.

That's all for now, the end of the week should be a bit more exciting than the start so hold tight for another update!

Monday 22 June 2009

The Fire Is Out But The Night Life Burns On

Well, last week was quite a week. Going from good to bad, bad to excellent, excellent to okay, okay to shit and then back to excellent again. It was heavily alcoholic, for me it was actually pretty emotional at times and the amount of hangovers was just not cool.

So the fire has been put out before anyone got too burnt. Miss Texas and I will be staying great friends but will not be taking it any further. We hung out at the museum of natural history on Sunday and it was grand. Though her British accent leaves a little to be desired. It is for the best that we don't keep stoking the fire and as the saying goes, what will be will be. I can't lie, I was gutted. I'm getting on with it now though of course, and have met some FUN ladies over the weekend. I couldn't help caring so much for Miss Texas, it was unexpected, unplanned and hard to control and reminded me just how crap feelings can actually make you feel sometimes. I'm in New York to have fun and adventures, not get hung up on one girl, no matter how lovely that girl maybe. She lives in Texas, and me in England for goodness sake!

Plenty more fish in the New York pond and all that.

So on top of all these crazy feelings-related things going on, there were some awesome nights out last week! Met so many cool people, learnt to play Beer Pong, got within 20 feet of Lauren Conrad, walked past Jodie Foster, watched some ladies dance on a bar, met a lovely bar girl from Canada and ran into some girls I met the first weekend I went out in the East Village which was nice. We discovered many new and wonderful bars and places, spent $60 on a bottle of wine and all sort of other random crazyness! The hangovers nearly did kill me though, especially at work so that will not be happening again this week. We need to start doing some things that don't involve getting drunk and actually seeing some more of the city - though maybe the nights out are just too fun?!

I am LOVING that I'm literally not stopping! I have spent a good year being a bum at home, not doing ANYTHING worth talking about except the odd few nights and it has been such a waste of my life. I need to keep this up when I get back to England.

Work is still fantastic, had a nice beer with the CD and Intern 01 on Tuesday evening - we were meant to be brain storming but ended up just chatting about this and that. I also had a lovely dinner on Friday afternoon to celebrate Project Manager 01's One Year Anniversary at the agency. Loads to do and I'm enjoying every minute of it!

I don't quite have a plan of action for after the summer, I have a few ideas floating around in my head but nothing quite set in stone. I already know how HARD it is going to be when I get back and find myself in the country side of Shropshire with NOTHING to do. I won't bore you with my moanings, but it ain't gonna be good!

So what have we learnt? Well, don't allow yourself to care about a girl too much when you only have 8 weeks before you end up 7000 miles apart! And don't waste your life because it is too short!

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Playing With Fire

It is official...I am playing with fire and I am most likely going to get BURNED! But I just can't help it. This is addictive like a drug.

If you ever read/remember the first few chapters of the story I wrote last summer - Our Empire State - then you really should know that I am virtually living that story right now. I wonder how it will end?!

Tuesday 16 June 2009

The Adventure Of A Life Time - Pt. 1.

Well, I'm just over two weeks into my summer long mission in New York City and what can I say, it feels like I have been here a life time already. So, I wanted to update the blog and fill you in on whats been happening, as so much has gone on so far I'm going to tell you about some of my highlights...here we go! (Note, names are being abreviated to keep folk anon if they would want to me.)

1.1
The flight over was well, boring, tiring, lonely but all together a great new experience that really helped me grow a little as a human being. My suitcase was over weight so I was immediately down $50 and then I couldn't get an aisle seat so was squished in against the window for nearly 8 hours next to two Indian guys speaking Punjabi for the whole flight. I watched a couple of films and had a little sleep. The plane did not crash so that was nice....RIP Air France Passengers.

1.2
After getting my luggage I ended up paying $75 on a taxi ride into the city. New York on a budget was not going to plan so far.

1.3
I spent some time wandering around the city on my own. This was refreshing and I felt so proud I had made it all this way off my own back. I had been waiting months for this moment and it was finally here. I then fell asleep...

1.4
On the first Saturday night I met with H, my newest BFF (ha, yes I know.) We had talked on Facebook for a while and finally got together for a night that turned into a drunken free-for-all. I still cannot remember how I got home that night. I also met her old room mate C. It was a grand night from what I can remember, which is not much. I then proceeded to lie in and be a bit late checking into my summer accomm.

(Note: It turns out home sickness can strike with vengence when you have a big hang over!)

1.5
I moved into my room - not what I was expecting - and attempted to get settled. It is kind of like a large white cell with a oddly high bed, an old desk and a TV which is TINY and will not turn fully towards you, and I can't sit up in bed which REALLY annoys me. I have attempted to make it as homely as possible, and so far I have not spent very much time in there anyway and hopefully won't.

1.6
On the Sunday eve I got some food with H and we then went to the orientation meeting where I finally met K1 and K2. Ladies I had met on facebook again. Their accents were cooooool but due to the hangover and mild deafness from the night before I could not tell a word of what anyone was saying. H and I left and decided to call it a night. I went to tune in my cable...as I did a FUCKING HUGE cockroach appeared over the TV right in front of me. I battled with the vile thing trying to kill the unkill-able bastard, finally cutting it in half with a can of hair spray and flushing it down the loo. I reported it - the next day I found the exterminator people had placed mouse traps all over my room...for god sake!

1.7
This is when I started at Cunning. What can I say? I LOVE it here. Everyone in the office is lovely and I was immediatly invited to work on a really interesting brief. Everyday at Cunning is really good fun. My creative director (CD) is hilarious and inspiring, the other creative is a blast to be with, the project duo are insane, the managers are "boss" - it just couldn't get any better.

1.8
Okay, so it got better...my second internship was cancelled the week before I flew out so I was trying to find somewhere else to go after my three weeks at Cunning UNTIL CD offered to let me stay on for the whole summer! I snapped at the chance and I'm now here til August 14th!

1.9
On Tuesday night a whole bunch of people met up and went out to a cool bar on the East Side! Here I met:

K: from Tennesee, great lad!
G: Chicargo and cool!
K3: South Carolina belle!
J: Another North Carolina lady!
B1: Upstate lacross player!
B2: Ohio dude!
U: Great guy from Isreal!

(There are probably more that I have missed off!)

K1, K2, and H all came out too - it was a great night and we discovered a love of Kareoke, and so Kareoke Tuesday's were born. I won't go into great details here, there is just too much to remember!

1.10
We continued to meet up in the hotel bar each night and then venture out into the city for food and drinks! Over these first 4 days I met:

M: Great guy interning at Ogilvy and Mather
E: M's roomate, really cool guy!
Miss Texas: K1;s friend from work, from Dallas and lovely.
S: Chinese dude from Michigan - funny guy!
JE: Simon's room mate and school friend, another great guy!

(Again, who the heck have I missed off?!)

1.11
The first weekend of partying was fantastic. We ventured out to the east side, west side, downtown, greenwich village, east village and just drank, laughed, chatted, danced and all the other stuff you do when your having fun with new friends. The language barrier has been interesting to get used too - I think we are getting somewhere now. We have found some great bars, and actually befriended one bar owner so now we get cheap drinks there. Good times! KT couldn't make it out with us for the first week, and most of the second but hopefully that's going to change in the future!

1.12
Peoples internships are taking up their time as we progress (especially the finance boys who work shockingly long days!) so it's been hard to get everyone together, mini groups are forming from the BIG group which is kinda cool. When we can we all get back together for catch ups which is nice! It's a shame that there are so many people in our accommodation who havn't met such great people as I have.

1.13
Lets talk about girls. I've met A LOT of girls since I have been here, pretty much every night. I'm no Brad Pitt (not in the slightest) but this accent doesn't allow me to even go to the bar to get a drink without someone jumping on me about where I am from, if I support Liverpool, if I live near London and if I have met the Queen. It's been so much fun getting to know so many different American people. I don't think I have found anyone that I havn't liked yet.

1.14
There's one girl I've met who has stood out a little, Miss Texas. Shes a great lass. She came out on Friday night and we had a blast! On Sunday I took her to the cinema to see The Hangover (GO AND SEE THIS! IT IS FANTASTIC!) We then strolled back down 8th Avenue past a woman weeing herself and then I thought it would be grand to head up to the top of the Empire State, so by heck we went and did it! It was great looking out across the city in the evening sun while chatting about everything and nothing. We were both a bit over-whelmed by the fact we lived in this incredible city, really quite humbling. I regret not trying to ambush her up there and plant a little kiss but I'm a shy, bumbling British boy and I'm crap at putting the moves on! haha. We agreed she was coming out this week, and next weekend we are hitting up the American Museum Of Natural History. I love hanging out with this girl, our adventures are gonna be a blast!

1.15
This is the only low-light of the adventure so far . . . I still have not had a damn steak.

1.16
Money is dwindling FAST! I must have spent over $800 in the first week alone. It is SO hard to be kind to your wallet in this city. Drinks are rarely cheaper than $6 a pop or worse and the food is no better.

1.17
The guys I have met have successfully got me interested in Ice Hockey and Basketball which is BIG NEWS as in England, I hate sport really. It's been fun watching the games with a beer, I will really miss that when I get home. I still stand by my hatred of football.

1.18
My journeys to and from work and my lunch times arund Soho have been really great. I always see some odd characters, wierd advertising and just generally amazing things that you don't see in Ormskirk.

1.19
All in all so far I have become SUCH a more confident human being. I talk to anyone, I stand up for myself and I can do anything. I knew this whole experience would be life changing, but I diddn't realise how soon it would effect me.

1.20
New York is amazing. If it carries on like this, it is going to be REALLY hard to go home.


So there is the first highlight update. I have missed out SO much of what I have gotten up to so far but there is just too much to write about. I will update with pictures and more highlights ASAP!

P.S. I cannot be bothered spell checking all that!
P.P.S. Visit http://www.preppypearlgirl.blogspot.com

Thursday 28 May 2009

Cool Commentator In New York City


There has been a distinct lack of posts over the last month or so, sorry for that. I have been busy finishing off at university and preparing myself for my big summer long adventure in New York City. If you are new to the blog, I'm moving out to NY for three months to live and work. Just the other day I was informed that my second and longest internship had been cancelled which has left me in a bit of a pickle as I now have 9 weeks in NY with nothing planned - BUT - all is not lost, I have been working some contacts and hopefully have a bigger and better internship on the horizon! HOPEFULLY! So I'm not too worried yet!

So, I fly tomorrow morning at 9.30am UK time and arrive at Newark Int at 12.35pm NY time. I'm EXCITED and PETRIFIED all at the same time, quite an strange feeling to have. I know that once the taxi cab pulls out onto 40th Street W and I get my first view of the city for the third time, the nerves will vanish and I will feel at home again!

Heres the deal, as I will be so busy over the next few months there will be very few posts of interesting, exciting and COOL content from across the web unless something amazing comes my way. I will post the odd update on how everything is going, and if anything funny/interested/extraordinary occurs.

TWITTER
I will be posting REAL TIME updates of my travels, adventures and day-day activities on my twitter feed throughout my trip so if you are at all interested, I strongly suggest that you either follow me, or if you are still not on twitter - get on it and follow me! I will be posting pics and all sorts all the time so I promise it will make for interesting reading. I am #tagging (a twitter term) all related posts and will have a regular picture update session once a day, or when ever I get a moment to upload photos onto my mac from my trips around the city.

Here are all the links you need to find me on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/tommyjames
Click the above link to go straight to my twitter profile and feed. I think you can view it even without following me or having an account!

@tommyjames
This is my twitter screen name. If you have a twitter account search for me using this or click on it to go straight to my profile.

#tommyinnyc
This is the #tag that will be used to group all my NYC related tweets together. You can use the twitter search function to find all related tweets I have made.

So for now I will bid you fair well. I'm sure I will be posting now and then while I'm away. I'm doing advertising internships, so things will crop up that are worth posting!




Wednesday 13 May 2009

Brands On Babies

Now, I'm not too sure whether I like this or not. It's an interesting piece of work that's for sure. Just imagine if babies actually got tattooed, that would really push the taboo boundaries eh! Still, grabs your attention doesn't it?


Fancy A New Desktop Background?

I have come across some really snazzy bits of arty farty loveliness which I think would make great backgrounds. THey are a bit psychodelic, and a little bit colourful so enjoy and use them if you want, I won't be hurt but...THRILLED! ha!


MacDonalds Get Interactive

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last couple of weeks. After a bit of an incident involving me face planting into some gravel, I have been a little unable to type too well. All better now and back down to business.

Here is a campaign for Maccy D's run in London's Picadilly Circus. Please ignore the music!


Saturday 2 May 2009

Ringing The Changes

Well, over the last couple of months my blog has come on leaps and bounds I feel it is time for a change. I want to take the blog to a new DOT COM URL (still with blogger) but alas Guerrilla Blogging is already taken...so it has forced me to come up with a new name. I did not want to change the name until I had hit on the perfect replacement, but now I have and it is on it's way.

Over the next couple of days you should see some changes. The name, the URL, possibly the design BUT the content and the cool will stay the same. Sit tight and let me know what you think when it is all done and dusted.


Wednesday 29 April 2009

MODE Eat Your Heart Out

So, following on from the Ogilvy office I thought I would share this with you as well. You watch films like Devil Wears Prada and TV programs like Ugly Betty and they all feature these clean, crisp, modern and fantastical office spaces, you think that this surely can only be done in the movies? Well, MODE Magazine, eat your heart out...it can be done in real life, and GHD proves it can be done in the UK. Not only in the UK but in Leeds...marvel at the new GHD headquarters.


Advertising Architecture

I am just a little bit passionate about architecture. If I had been better at maths of physics I would have been an architect. Whether exterior or interior, I love it. This is one of the reasons why I am such a huge fan of cities. Sky scrapers are a particular favorite of mine, which is why New York means so much to me. Now, as everyone probably imagines, advertising agencies should have interesting, inspiring and creative interior spaces. This is true for many agencies, but not all agencies. Which is a shame. In this post I am going to show you some snaps from the Ogilvy and Mather Guangzhou Office. These interior spaces are just full of quirky, inspirational and random pieces of furniture and decoration, it would really keep your mind fresh, and your thinking fresher on a day to day basis. Companies should really learn from these office spaces and get their redesign-caps on asap! Enjoy!


Honda Take Over Vimeo

Originally I didn't bother featuring the viral advert for the Honda Insight. I personally was not bowled over by it and thought there were much better adverts to be posting on the blog. Now, Honda have teamed up with Vimeo to take their viral ad to a new level. I won't go into what happens when you click play on the video, I will leave you to find that out for yourself but I will say that it is a great way to making the viral just that little bit more engaging and interesting. I watched the viral much more closely this time around and it is actually really quite clever. Follow the link and enjoy.

Honda Take Over Vimeo


Tuesday 28 April 2009

New York HDR Photography

I was using a friends mac today and his desktop was possibly one of the most amazing and dynamic images of New York City I had ever seen. As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm obsessed with everything about New York and this tickled my fancy no end! Apperently the technique is called HDR and it makes pictures look fantastic, it's a technique that was developed in the 1930's and is not used done easily through digital cameras and editing software. I did a bit of hunting and found some great examples of the technique used on some scapes of New York City. Sit back and enjoy. The first image is the one my friend had on his desk top.


Typography Animation For Mercedes Benz

This is just awesome. I love it because it uses typography in a really creative, and effective way. This animation is seamless and although I don't think it really sells me a Merc, it definately keeps me hooked and makes me want to watch it again. I also love that there is a clear narrative behind the animation as well, it's not just random, it technically has a beginning, middle and end. Brilliant.


Flora...Not The Butter

This is a new TV advert for Flora by Gucci. Flora is a new perfume from the fashion giants and this advert, for once, is actually interesting and not your usual mix of uninspiring, unoriginal rubbish. I think it was directed by Chris Cunningham and generally is a great example of good art direction and clever editing/film techniques. Well worth a watch.


Friday 24 April 2009

Fashion Meets Paint

Thought I would whack up this little print ad by TBWA in Brussel's simply because I think the art direction is lovely. Really makes you stop and look at the advert, if I am honest though it'd doesn't make me want to buy the product/service (as with many fashion ads). You can't even really tell what they are trying to sell...which quite a lot of the time works really well but this time I think it fails, sorry TBWA.


This One Could Turn You Green

I'm not going to give anything away about this ad, hence this post will be a short one. Watch and check your colour in the mirror afterwards. There are some AMAZING special effects at work in this one.


Nude In A Scarf

Calm down, calm down. There is actually no nudity in this video, sorry folks! This was a campaign run this week for some new bit of tech that Peugeot is starting to use in their convertible cars. A bunch of young people were sent off around London wearing "nude suits" and a blue scarf around their necks. This was a great ambient marketing stunt and really grabbed the publics attention. I first heard about it through a random tweet, showing how effective these ambient stunts can be when coupled with the effects and spread of social media. Enjoy.


Ping Pong Magic

I was shown this by a good friend of mine today. I had seen a clip of it before but the full video is astounding. Now, I would LOVE to believe that this was just a bunch of skilled lads and the tricks were all real and not faked, but there seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding it. Either way, really good to watch and if it was faked, it was done REALLY well.


Photography

Wow, well it has been almost a week since I sorted out my image issues and posted. It has been a hectic week of getting back to university, getting a load of work done and going out a few times for good measure. Tonight I am glued to photoshop working on a mock up of a website for a deadline on Monday. To give myself a quick break I thought I would get some posts together for your viewing pleasure. Here is the first.

To get todays posts rolling I have found some really good images from some photographers. I thought the execution of these particular images were amazing, the art direction is just stunning in some cases. What do you think?


Thursday 16 April 2009

IMAGE PROBLEMS RESOLVED!

Thank you to everyone who tried to help out with the images problems I have had the past week, and thank you all for your comments etc! I have now resolved the problem, I've gone through and changed the HTML coding for each image, time consuming but worth it! The problem seemed to lie with Google and Picasa!

So, posting will get back to normal asap, in the meantime check out the newest posts, now with WORKING images! Enjoy and comment!


Wednesday 15 April 2009

Pig And Wolf Stop Motion

Well, since my images don't seem to be working on most browsers at the moment, I thought I would post another mint video the twittersphere has brought to my attention, hopefully you can still watch the videos?!

This is a stop frame animation that is doing the rounds on youtube. It is really cleverly put together and really well executed, I think you will enjoy!

I will warn you now, if I can not resolve my image issues (I'm working on it right now, if you have any suggestions please let me know) I will be either moving my blog to a different blog host service OR I will go it alone and host the blog on my own! Either way, I don't plan to stop trying to bring you some of the coolest content on the web!


Tuesday 14 April 2009

Legal Street Graffiti

I love this ad. I love it for two reasons.

1. It doesn't thrust a POS or message down your throat and doesn't try to manipulate you into buying something.
2. It's interactive, engaging and a damn sight more interesting that most adverts these days.

This is a piece of technology called an "e-cast billboard". The advert is for Sharpie, everyones favorite permanent marker. The ad catches the general publics desire to deface public property, and made it into something positive. These interactive billboards have been put around a bunch of cities and allow people to experience the rush of creating their own little piece of graffiti art. They can choose colours and write any message they want on the cast. Whether it be a doodle, a signature or a profanity, the beauty of it is...it doesn't matter.

Watch Out For Them Car's

Here is a print campaign created for New South Wales Police in Australia to highlight the importance of checking for cars while walking/running with your ipod on and blasting music. Apparently the number of teenagers dying while listening to their ipods while crossing the road is beginning to reach epidemic proportions.

This ad is beautifully executed and really well art directed. It draws you in and makes you analyse what has actually happened in the image, thus giving you enough time to take in the message. Definitely a print advert that works, and hopefully it will have the desired effect and raise awareness.

Don't Look Down

You have to remember that ambient/viral/guerilla advertising can be created for a VERY low cost, especially compared to TV ads etc, and advertisers don't have to fork out out huge spends in magazines and TV commercial air time...I reckon this form of advertising really does have a better impact on an audience and creates a much bigger buzz.

Take this ad for example. This is a photo-realistic image from high above a city which has been slapped across the floor of a lift. This ad was created by Wirz/BBDO in Switzerland for a Swiss skydiving school. This stunt attracted a wealth of media coverage and is still making it's rounds on the net. Genius.

Get Them Off Your Dog

As you can see, this advert was placed across the floor of what looks like a shopping center. From above, the people walking across the floor look like fleas on the dog. Obviously the ad is for flea and tick repellent. Another quirky but successful way to advertise a product in an exciting way.

The ad was created by Saatchi and Saatchi in Indonesia. According to some passers by, the ad consistently created reactions of the likes of "Yikes" from people spotting the ad for the first time.

Flare

I came across this interesting piece of new technology today and thought I had to share it. The tech is called FLARE and is basically a whole bunch of moving metal "flakes" or "scales" which form the walls of a building. By changing the angle of the flakes in the sun light it forms a moving membrane or skin on the building. Above is a video showing FLARE in action. Really interesting stuff I reckon, towards the end of the video they actually look at the underbelly of the tech which is also quite interesting to see.


Monday 13 April 2009

Poo At Paul's

I won't indulge this advert with too many words. This is the WORST advert I have ever seen but is possibly one of the funniest! Please enjoy and comment at will!


Saturday 11 April 2009

Put Yourself In My Place

This videos follows a campaign run by LA agency David & Goliath to raise awareness for the Weingart Homeless Center. They took an ambient approach that invited people to imagine themselves homeless for a moment. The photographed 12 of the 70,000 homeless people living on the streets of LA in the places they call home, getting them to write on a piece of card board "Before You Turn Away, Put Yourself In My Place." with the website for the WHC. They then edited the faces out of the photographs and made life size, photo-realistic cardboard cut outs of the photographs and put them around the streets and shopping centers of Beverley Hills. Suddenly, the homeless could not be ignored. The results were huge increases in traffic to the WHC website and, according to David & Goliath, raised funds at WHC.

A poignant message sent through a clever and well though out ambient/guerrilla campaign. Watch the video, it is great to catch a couple of passer-bys reactions to the cutouts and also see a little of the process behind making the campaign a reality. Here are a few shots of the boards out in public.

Heres the link you need to pass this on: http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw


Friday 10 April 2009

Benny Lava!

This vid is just hilarious. Some guy has subtitled a Bollywood song and dance with what he thinks it sounds like they are saying in English. It isn't a real translation, and is definitely not what they are actually saying, I hope anyway....but nevertheless, bloody funny!!

Heres the link you need to pass this on: http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw


Thursday 9 April 2009

Adjust Your Volume

Here we have another one of those videos that might just make it VIRAL. Well, after all it is a viral video, whether it was intended to be or not, it is, or at least it soon will be...anyway. I like to think I'm a little ahead of everyone else when it comes to spotting these little viral gems, I get a lot of the heads up through people on twitter, and they really are ahead of the game. For example, I posted the Extreme Sheep Herding viral ad a few weeks ago and now it is taking up prime air time on the ten o'clock news over here in the UK. Now, I'm not saying I had much to do with it's success obviously but every little helps.

This viral was created by an agency called Scholz & Friends in Berlin. They must have some pretty cunning creatives on board to come up with gems like this. Sit back and enjoy.

Did you like it? Want to pass it on to all your friends? Here is the link:

http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw

Simply copy and paste that little link anywhere you like, emails, tweets, facebook statuses, myspace, your own blog and your work there is done!


Cards That Mean Business

I recently clicked a link which took me to a cool website which had a feature on some pretty damn cool business cards. Now we all know and love business cards, some might say they make the world go round, but most would say usually, they are pretty damn boring. Well, maybe next time you have to get some new business cards printed, you will take some inspiration from my personal favorites from the selection on said website and do something a little special. I have to come up with some kind of business card soon to leave with creative directors that I meet over the next year...do I go with something small or should I be wacky and do a HUGE business card?! Or should I not do a business card at all and just do something completely out-of-the-box? We will see...enjoy and be inspired!



Tuesday 7 April 2009

Amazing Time Lapse Part 01

I have just come across some amazing time lapse videos created by an Australian artist called Keith Loutit. I have been so mesmerized by how cool these videos look that I have decided to post up my three favorites. The first installment follows the creation of a whale in the sand of a beach in Australia. I believe this was an event/stunt done to create awareness of whale poaching. I absolutely love how these videos look quite like stop frame animations, using tiny characters etc but are actually real life videos caught in time lapse. Enjoy the three videos and check out this artist using the link provided in the third part.

Heres the link you need to pass this on: http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw


Amazing Time Lapse Part 02

Here is the second installment from artist Keith Loutit. This time lapse video follows the Mardi Gras festival and parade in Sydney.

Heres the link you need to pass this on: http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw


Amazing Time Lapse Part 03

Here is another time lapse video...follow the link below for more information on the artist and his awesome work!

Keith Loutit

Heres the link you need to pass this on: http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw


Monday 6 April 2009

Sticky Mines

This is a very cool ambient advert which was launched recently. It is for Unicef and revolves around land mines. Hopefully you can see the pictures, but I will explain the concept.

Self-adhesive stickers were place on pavements etc and appeared invisible. The top side of the sticker was decorated to match the pavement, and was sticky obviously. The bottom side was decorated as a land mine with poignant information on land mines, and reminding the shopper that stood on the sticker that if it had been a real land mine, they wouldn't still be walking. The sticker then had a call to action aimed at getting people to the Unicef website to donate.

Really original idea that should have had a grand effect on the passers by as they attached themselves to the sticker.

Heres the link you need to pass this on: http://tinyurl.com/d7w6gw