A new campaign

The Ad Council, if they wanted to promote awareness of sleep deprivation, especially around exam times around college campuses, they could use a campaign like this:

You know you're up too late when... (insert something here)
...you see the librarians change the dirt in the fake flower pots
...the books start to become blurry even though you're wearing the same glasses you always wear
something like that.

The tagline could be like "Get some sleep" or something like that.

A total cop-out

This would be such a cheap cop-out way to get people to come to your store... but a company could say that there's like, free pizza for each customer or something, but when they get there, they get something that looks like pizza, but is really like a business card or something!

I dunno, just my mind rambling after I was promised free Bandito's in Fondren at 10:00 but went up there and didn't see any...

Unlikely stuff that would be sold on the Black Market

Chick-Fil-A. Why? If it was sold on Sunday, it could be considered Black Market stuff! I've heard that a lot of people who admit that they're practically addicted to Chick-Fil-A are really angry that they're closed on Sunday. If people sold the stuff on Sunday under the table, that'd be a viable black market, if you ask me!

Language

Have you ever tried to imagine what it's like to not know English, or whatever your native language is? It's hard, isn't it? I mean, to not know the language that you were taught even before your first memory... that's difficult. But I guess the best way to do so is to listen to a language that you cannot understand... but still, try to imagine what it's like to not know your own language... it's quite a mental exercise.

Thank God for the rational man standard...

Without us using that, Red Bull would have had their asses sued into oblivion for failing to sprout wings on the backs of those who drink it. Wings that, as represented in the commercials, allow for flight.

Though I can, unfortunately, imagine someone initiating such a lawsuit. It was probably laughed out of court because that would be utterly idiotic, otherwise I think we all would have heard of it.

Although... that could be an interesting thought for an ad campaign... I know Coke Zero did those stupid series of ads where Coke sued Coke Zero for infringement on their taste, even though they're both made by the same company. Or those Bud Light commercials that said "We originally gave our product the effect of making the consumer fly upon consumption, but we later abandoned that idea."

I dunno, maybe a campaign where they say "Red Bull once gave you wings but nobody could fly with them, they were so small. So we decided to alter the formula so there aren't any... permanent side effects." while showing a guy walking on the streets with totally useless wings on his back.

If the iPod didn't do as well as it did...

You know how Kleenex went from being something you use to remove makeup to being the thing you blow your nose with, something which came from observing how the consumers actually use the product?

Well, don't follow that advice if people started using iPods as paperweights... well, not only because those would be freaking expensive paperweights but because that usually means the brand failed miserably!

Collleges should...

I think I would very much like to see a college with a place of worship for at least the top three or four major world religions... A Christian church, a Muslim mosque, a Jewish synagogue, and perhaps even a Hindu temple. If that isn't enough of a way to attract multicultural students and students of many religions, then I don't know what will. It's actually something I'd like to see... somehow, I think that would be quite an interesting thing. Though I think it'd have to be at a newly founded college or maybe at a college that has a lot of money to spend on such a big project.

Journals

Blogs and journals aren't exactly for everyone... some people enjoy keeping tabs on their life, some, like me, for instance, don't exactly have the mind to write down things every day or so.

However, what I do like doing is writing down the interesting or seemingly significant dreams that I have. I find that writing down dreams shortly after you have them and wake up allows you to remember it better... because otherwise, unless it was very emotional and personal to you, you'll forget it.

If you think about it, your dreams are unbelievably creative because they really just throw random crap together and show what comes of it! I've heard that the guy who discovered that DNA is in a double-helix shape saw it in a dream, and when he tried it out, it worked!

Making people happy.

I actually did this back in February, but I never thought to post it until now.

I actually do get up in this costume and go out with some friends of mine to various places, like this gas station/soda shop/restaurant on the outskirts of Oklahoma City, and spread happiness (well, aside from a toddler or two who found me scary lol!)

Anyways, here's video taken of the event.

Osama's Death

I'll make this clear... I'm quite happy that it's happened. Very much so.

Somehow it always struck me as just a bit odd at how everyone's cheering about it around the country. I mean, sure, they have every right to, but somehow it struck me as a bit odd. I don't know why. Maybe people have just seen too many action movies, I guess.

Coincidentally, this was the same day when it was announced that Adolf Hitler was dead back in 1945. Well, if you believe everything happens for a reason... then that's quite significant.

Animal Advertising

No, I'm not suggesting that people start advertising to animals... that'd be quite a waste of money.

I am rather bringing up the point that I have heard that people are more likely to remember advertisements with animals in them than those that don't. My question is why aren't many of the advertisements that involve animals winning awards? Maybe I'm just not seeing that because I'm not looking too far back into the history or archives of advertisements that have won awards... but still... it's something to think about. It doesn't have to be like how talking animal movies are usually terrible... advertising, I've noticed, generally does it better than some movies.

Paintball

I've never played it... but I hear it's fun, yet at the same time painful.

My question, however, is this... why is it that the guy who sells (or sold... does he still do it?) those paintball passes on campus also give out DVDs about the Bible and Christianity? I remember when I got one of those, he gave me one... it had me and my roommate wondering why there appeared to be a connection to paintball from the christian community.

I mean... I don't see the connection, does anyone else? I remember that Simpsons episode where Homer and Bart become Catholic and Marge takes Bart to a Protestant Christian festival where Bart is instantly converted back to Protestantism when he sees that there's paintball.

Or is this just an isolated incident that just so happened to involve paintball?

Soda

Why doesn't Mexican Coke and Pepsi have a bigger place in the shelves of 7-Eleven? Ever since the referendum passed that allowed University Park to issue liquor liscenses, my favorite section of the 7-Eleven across the street that had Mexican Cokes and Pepsis has been replaced with beer and cheap wine! Mexican coke is great, and tastes considerably better than the coke they sell here...

Ah well, at least the store in Hughes-Trigg still sells it...

...watch, as soon as I post this, SMU will allow selling alcohol on campus!

Cops, the TV show

I don't watch it. But I know generally what it's about and what happens. A friend of mine had a great idea, and one that I wish to express too. Why not show the police arresting white-collar criminals, like someone on par with Bernie Madoff or something? That might make for some interesting kind of drama... although granted it would probably have to be on CNN money or whatever channel shows financial news, but still... it'd just need to be at a different time slot and on a different channel.

MacBooks

I admit, I really like Apple's products for computers. I really do. I have a MacBook and an iPod, but the only problem I have is that they are very generic-looking. I recall a specific demotivational poster someone created showing an entire lecture hall filled with students having macbook pros. I think Apple needs to go in a direction to allow their computers to look different... or at least come in the same variety of colors as the iPods they make.

Awesome

I'll keep it simplified down to a Facebook post my friend made when he posted this video:

"Whenever you're about to say 'I can't' do something, remember the guy at the beginning of this video and shut up!"

Industrial Espionage

Couldn't anyone really commit industrial espionage on just about anything? I mean, I have a friend who makes costumes, and she, naturally, competes with other individuals who make costumes that are commissioned by other individuals. Another friend of mine bought one such costume from this one other person and she immediately began examining it to see how this other person went about making masks. It occured to me that I was watching Industrial Espionage in action right in front of me... but that does beg the question of what a company could do by simply examining their competition's products. Is it really that easy to figure out the secrets behind their competition? Or maybe they just have more moral sense than to do that... I remember when Coke or Pepsi, I forget which one, was offered by someone the formula to their competition's soda, but the company turned it down out of respect for their competition.

Food for thought.

Stream of Consciousness

Remember that Drinking out of Cups video that was really popular on YouTube that everyone thought was a recording of a guy tripping on LSD in a closet?

I know that really wasn't the case, but still... stream of consciousness monologues like that, whether due to drugs or not, could be quite the new thing for comedy clubs.

Just a thought.

Music

I heard this song in the Student Union today. It got stuck in my head... and it made me think of how music (in particular rock) has changed so dramatically from this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p88Rh3C_rQ To... I dunno, generic heavy metal song #567 The top comment at the link got me thinking about the concept of music having "soul" in it. I can tell what he/she is talking about. I don't think that every single piece of rock music today lacks soul (or maybe I simply have a differing perception of what "soul" is) but it is a noticeable change.

With all this Charlie Sheen stuff...

...I can't help but wonder if they'll put it on TV. I mean, they'd probably have to put it on really late night cable TV where they don't censor swear words (or at least censor them out).

I can't help but wonder, though... what kind of ads would anyone put on that show, if it was to be one? I mean, what, would they put ads for anger management counselors? Or... Anti-Depressants? Or maybe they'd just put up trailers for the next G.I. Joe movie or some other ultra-action-violent movie/video game.

I can hardly imagine the pitch video whatever broadcaster would send out to potential advertisers would even sound like...

"Basically, this show's all about Charlie Sheen ranting incessantly about random crap that rarely ever makes any sense! He's angry all the time, he's probably on drugs, but hey, he gets people laughing at his misfortune! It's the new reality TV!"

Granted, it sounds like a pretty weird show... "Charlie Sheen's random rantings about everything and how he's a winner!" where he just gets in front of the camera and goes on for an unscripted rant. Is this going to be a new kind of reality TV or something?

I mean, rambling, less-than-sensible rants on the internet can be funny, but TV?

A way to reduce tuition?

A thought just occurred to me... I've seen advertising (though extremely minor advertising) throughout campus. What if there was advertising allowed in, say, the Ford Stadium? Or... maybe places like the Student Union. I'm sure some companies might be willing to pay for advertising there, since a lot of people go in and out of those places relatively frequently.

I'm not going to go as far as to say to add commercials to lectures (that would be incredibly stupid) but still... if advertisers pay a good share of money to place these things, maybe tuition could decrease a bit... or at the very least increase less.

A prime direction to go with Virtual Reality

I just thought of this... I've seen ads in those catalogues you find in the seat pocket of airplanes for these glasses that you put on and it plays videos and movies and the like on the lenses of the glasses (although I don't know if you can actually see through them, they just play up on how you can watch movies and the like through these glasses) and I got thinking... if technology advances to the point where it can create a setting that allows for you to move around freely in a virtual environment, they should probably start with running/jogging trails to give to people who like to work out on either the track, treadmills, or ellipticals. Imagine running on a treadmill, but seeing yourself running along your favorite park trail that you couldn't go on today because it's raining, or icy, or whatever.

Or maybe running the streets of a foreign city that you've never been to and may never get a chance to go to.

Or maybe the streets of a city in a fantasy world like Lord of the Rings, or Narnia, or what have you.

Or, if you're technologically savvy, a world you create yourself!

That would be cool.

Viral Marketing

I think Viral Marketing is an effective tactic that should probably be used more.

So, I present my list of things that I think could benefit from a viral marketing campaign:

- Art shows

- Science Fiction conventions

- Tech Expos

- The International Spy Museum

- Museums in general

- Armed Forces Recruiting

- Travel Agencies

I just answered my own question!

Remember that post where I wondered why local food places are generally better than national chains?

I just thought of a perfect reply:

"So we can get them all to ourselves!"

"To get outsiders coming down here to taste what they can only taste down here!"

"To show them what this town has that others don't!"

Movie critics

Movie critics should have their own shows. I know that Roger Ebert (if you don't know, he's a well-respected film critic in Chicago) had a show way back when, but still... I think movie critics should host TV shows where they talk about what they thought about movies. I imagine they'd be considerably more fun to watch than reading a bunch of text reviews (although Ebert's text reviews of bad movies can be quite funny).

What gave me the thought is this website. I go to the website every so often to watch really funny reviews of generally bad movies. What if stuff like this was on TV? Wouldn't that be entertaining? It could be like, comedy gold, you know?

Disney and Star Wars

So, as most of you know, Disney has a tendency to "open the vault" every few years and re-release a classic movie for a very limited amount of time. For instance, right now, Disney's released a remastered edition of Bambi, and last year they released a blu-ray edition of Beauty and the Beast.

Star Wars is kinda doing the same thing. Right now, it's been planned that the Star Wars series is being re-released in theaters in 3D format. Say what you will about the prequels or the drawbacks of 3D conversion after you've already filmed it on regular film, but you have to admit, that's pretty smart. I mean, like Disney, Star Wars has tons of fans that will flock to this like bees to honey! Only Star Wars is doing this in theaters and Disney does it on home media.

I'd actually be interested to see Disney films being re-released in theaters. Or better yet, a freaking crossover between the two films! That could either be hilariously bad or pretty good... I don't know, but that would be interesting to see.

Comic Books can be like movies

I've come across a graphic novel called Grandville by Bryan Talbot. Very good story... kinda like an alternate history Sherlock Holmes if directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Then I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqMuf2ejpok

That's quite a thought... what if graphic novels were given movie-ish trailers? They could very well be on-par with the popularity of movies if these were broadcast on TV! Heck, I've even seen movie-esque trailers for a freaking novel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uvw_GJpow0

This was a trailer that might have been shown on TV (I don't really remember if it was) of the third installment of a book series I was a huge fan of (The books written after this one kinda... sucked) but still! Promoting a book like a movie! That's awesome! People should do that more often!

All in favor of promoting novels and graphic novels like movies say "Aye!"

Nerf

I think I've noticed something... Has anyone else noticed that Nerf toys are gaining popularity among the high school/college crowd? Or was that just something that kinda sorta happened back when I was a freshman?

I don't know, but either way, I think Nerf should shift their marketing towards the older age demographics and maybe advertise towards them, too. I mean, Heck, how many male kids didn't like nerf guns, and I don't imagine that many of them don't like them anymore. I won't be so bold as to say it could replace something like Paintball or AirSoft, but still... it could be something big like that.

Local Stuff

Has anyone ever noticed that locally-owned food stores, restaurants, and the like always seem to have superior quality (on average, at least, or maybe it's just me) than those you can find almost anywhere? For instance, I personally find the burgers and fries at The Burger House to be far superior to those at McDonald's or Burger King.

Why is it that these places go national with relatively OK food while the places with amazing food is geographically restricted? I guess the most logical answer would be because the national and worldwide chains use cheaper stuff to sell at lower prices. That does make sense, but still, if you made the best possible product with superior ingredients like the spice that they use at the Burger House, wouldn't that mean that they would make a considerable amount of money with their craft?

Actually, now that I think about it, there's a growing chain called Five Guys that started as a local place in Washington, D.C. that's now spread as far out as St. Louis, my hometown. Maybe the trend is catching on, or perhaps they're just a fluke that got lucky. I don't know, but I sure hope it's the former, not the latter.

Or heck, even if McDonald's burgers just one day started tasting as good as Burger House burgers, I'd be happy.

Music Videos

Why is it that music videos don't often have much to do with the actual lyrics of the song? I mean... wouldn't that be a better expression of the music, or are they just trying to cram in stuff that they know people will watch?

Heck, even a video that moves in rhythm to the beat of the music would be good but... ah, what do I know, I guess. Still, if anything, that would be something that's probably rarely been seen before.

I'm Turning into my parents!

I'm starting to notice that I'm judging every single movie I see by the same standards my mother uses when she watches movies... Although, considering she was a film major, I don't blame her. She was Hell-bent on making my sister and I having good taste in movies, so she scarred us for life by showing us the original Psycho back when I was... what, 11 years old? Something like that.

But I guess I can thank her... otherwise I wouldn't be into doing amateur film reviews for a small time podcast on the internet!

Conversations of strangers...

Ever have the fleeting interest in what other people are talking about? For instance, the scene in the recent Sherlock Holmes movie, where Holmes (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is in a restaurant and he starts focusing on the details of random other patrons of the restaurant. The mind can pick out words of a specific person or group of people in a place like a crowded restaurant, which is why you can hear your friends at the table over the noise of everyone else talking and the ambient music playing. What if you decided to listen in on a random person's conversation? What would it be about? What would it make you think? Would it make you go out and do something you've never thought of doing before? Would it alert you to some imminent event about to happen that you had no idea about until just then?

BTW, I call dibs on a story idea revolving around that! Already working on one now!

A pet peeve of mine

When people erase whiteboards and they leave small bits of whatever whiteboard marker was left there. I don't know, but somehow it really bothers me. I can't help but get the urge to go up, take the eraser myself and then erase it and make sure that there's nothing left there.

Maybe I'm a bit of a perfectionist... maybe it's also my German ancestry! I mean, Germans are known for being very neat and tidy... have you ever been to Berlin? For the most part, it's really clean on the streets there!

The best advice I've ever been given

Back in high school, my school was so small that everyone in the school was required to attend the graduation ceremony, (excepting, of course, those who had very good reasons to not be present.) The reason being was that because the school was so small, if only the parents of the graduating Seniors and the teachers attended, the gymnasium would be considerably empty. So, they had the rest of the students attend.

It was either 9th or 10th grade that I remember the most (aside from my own graduation in 2009). I can't recall who the commencement speaker was, but I remember his message, and it's something that I hold close to me to this day.

He talked about an old Native American tale about an elder talking to a younger boy about how inside each person, there are two wolves fighting: one representing all the good aspects of someone, and one representing all the negative aspects. The boy asks, "Who will win?" And the elder replies with "The one you feed."

While I remember other commencement speeches, this one stuck with me the most.

The 3D craze

I can't help but wonder when they'll start showing advertisements in 3D. I mean, a lot of movies that are expected to be big hits are put in 3D, there's the new Nintendo 3DS system that's coming out soon, and they're even making 3D TVs and movie discs that portray movies in 3D. Heck, even I have a video game that has some 3D elements in it.

It seems that soon, everything may be 3D... or not. I think there's still a considerable population that doesn't like 3D and may not buy into it.

But still... 3D could open up an entirely new realm of possibilities in advertising. I mean, remember the scene in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie (the one with Gene Wilder) where he had that new idea to teleport a chocolate bar into people's TV sets so they could try his chocolate bar for himself? Maybe, with the addition of the sorts of motion sensing controls that they have in the Xbox 360 Kinect, there could be interactive, 3D commercials, where you show a product and you can virtually manipulate it.

Totally gimmicky, but a cool concept, nonetheless.

What my mind map said about me

Apparently, I'm very scatterbrained and disorganized. That, actually, doesn't surprise me very much. I never really was organized and my mind always has a tendency to make wild connections with other things that must make for a very messy sort of web in my head.

Embarrassment

I have experienced embarrassment. For me, though, it's not so much as something happening like a friend of yours saying or doing something stupid that makes you guilty by association. For me, it's wen you are under the impression that you know something, and then you say that bit of information you believe to be true, but it turns out, in front of tons of people, no less, that you are very, very wrong.

I was under the impression that French Guyana was a French colony. Upon expressing the false notion to my French teacher, the look on her face was making me wish I could just teleport myself to anywhere other than there.

Moral of the story: Always ALWAYS check your facts before you believe them to be fact. Or, at the very least, express that you are not certain that it is fact.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

[insert lyrics to "Let it Snow" here]

An idea hit me for a music video to "Let it Snow" while I was trying to get myself up for school (only, of course, to find out that it's closed).

So, basically, have the tune playing, and the beat will be replaced with car crashes. Minor ones, of course, just showing cars sliding on the road and bumping other cars, enough to cause a considerable dent. That's kind of how I'm seeing this weather right now. Totally crazy down here in Dallas...

The Beginning of Creativity

Getting into creativity, for me, started with my first class in Photography back in 10th grade. You know those times when you're coming out of a "phase" in your life, especially in your high school years? That was one of them. I guess you could say that for a period of about six months, I would've probably been classified as one of those "emo" kids, although I didn't do any of that cutting stuff. However, upon discovering how fun photography was, I noticed a big change in the subject matter of my photography: I went from rather bleak-ish pictures to more bright, colorful images that evoke positive emotions.

It was a turning point for me. From that point on I knew that I wanted to do something in the creative field, and needless to say, my outlook on life became infinitely more positive.

About Me

What to say, what to say?

Well, I'll start out with basic stuff:

I was born in San Francisco, California, but moved to St. Louis when I was 2, and lived there ever since. Despite that, I always felt more connected to California even though I don't remember the time when I lived there. In fact, if I can, I plan on moving there sometime in the future.

I'm kind of the "straightedge" person, but not strictly so. I've drank and done hookah a few times (but very infrequently) but that's about it.

I help run and contribute to a small podcast called the Sourcecast in which I and a few friends of mine talk about the world of animation, including but not limited to animated movies and TV shows. I primarily review the latest animated movies, talk about news on the studio level (such as MGM's recent declaration of bankruptcy), and talk anticipation of the latest trailers. I always liked movies, and since my mother was a film major, she made sure that I saw and appreciated all the great movies, especially Alfred Hitchcock movies like Psycho, North By Northwest, and Rear Window.

Anyway, I'm also into artistic photography. I especially like photographing things like abandoned buildings, old ruins, and things like that. Granted, most of those things are off-limits and carry the risk of being prosecuted if caught, which saddens me. I know they're trying to protect people's safety and prevent vandalism and arsonists, but seriously, if they could just have a cop or two go with me to make sure that I didn't do any of that, there wouldn't be any problems. Especially for people like me who go by the phrase "Take only pictures, leave only footprints."

Lastly, in my spare time, I sometimes write stories. I tend to prefer subject matter like action and espionage thriller when I write, (Hence the word "spy" in the title of this blog) and hopefully I can get some of my stories published.

Oh yeah, and Shepherd refers to my favorite breed of dog, the German Shepherd.