« March 2006 |
Main
|
May 2006 »
It's Thursday April the 27 around 10:21PM and
*I think we would be totally crazy not to think this "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" film won't be excellent. Love the trailer. Love the style of the teaser website. Love the typography.
*Speaking of trailers. Marie-Antoinette in fun French trailer glory.
*There is something about Scarlett Johansson in this upcoming movie that seems totally fun. Perhaps the Chuck Taylors? The hair? Whatever.
*There is always time for Vancouver's sweetheart, Kristen Kreuk. Just Jared has some hot Kreuk action.
*World Party's new, ahem, sort of, album is coming out and Stereo Gum is kind enough to post up some songs. (Via Pop Candy)
*Hey Preppie. 28 Day Slater - Episode 2 is out. Creepy? Funny? You be the judge.
It's Wednesday April the 26 around 8:36AM and
*You kind of have to wish that Jimmy Pattison was more like Trump after hearing this. Apparently Trump is going to donate a park to New York. Gawker responds, "there was no possibility of building in a casino in the area — might as well throw the shit chunk of land over to the dirty hippies." Love it.
*Our K-Fed loving friend Lee, who is now signing off emails with an amazing/creepy "Popozao", points us to the Hot One Inch Action Button show. Buttons are so rad. Deadline is noon (12pm) on Friday May 12, 2006.
*Nothing says hump day morning like a fake Nike Tom Cruise commercial. "Just Cruise." He is totally off his rocker.
It's Tuesday April the 25 around 11:22PM and
Chinese visionary director Wong Kar Wai does some pretty amazing work for Lacoste.
Hmmm. David Bowie is very disappointed in you. But why.
The French aren’t drinking enough wine. Oh crap this is going to make them cranky. If I owned a small car in Paris it would get burned probably.
George Clooney makes a choice for his Martini. It’s a pretty cool spot. Love the logo treatment at the end.
Also really enjoyed this very simple Amstel beer spot, with the jamming Edith Piaf adding the sounds.
It don’t get better than a book about the Pixies first album “Doolittle”. It really don’t.
Jeff Daniels is a cool actor. Fame Tracker gives him the celebrity audit treatment. This would be unreal: “Now sit down with Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson and come up with a script for The Life Aquatic 2, where you play Nate Zissou, professional harpoonist, and brother/ultimate nemesis to Murray's Steve!”
It's Tuesday April the 25 around 11:12PM and
Dear god no. The Globe & Mail’s other writer that
many people love to hate,
Leah Mclaren is in town Wednesday. Well at least that is what we thought – it was supposed to be a book event for her novel,
“Continuity Girl” at Holt Renfrew. How totally smug for you Leah. W
ell except for the creepy Lavalife co-sponsoring. But the event seems to be all taken down from the Harper Collins website. OMG – HarperCollins. Stephen Harper! OMG. The irony is delicious.
Lately the supposed youthful beauty has been transforming her inane little column into a shameless Maureen Dowd-extra light. She’s been talking about Stephen Harper’s terrible vests and by constantly referring to Micheal Ignatieff as Iggy. But that doesn’t matter does it, she’s out shilling her new book. But all isn’t so rosey. One savage review went a little something like this:
“Even the German word SaumassigeSchreibmaschiene, which roughly translates into “putrid garbage typewriter prose,” fails to convey the stench of this slushpile.”
Leah – you okay down there. Come on honey, stand up.
It's Tuesday April the 25 around 11:08PM and
Well, it is done my pretties.
Marc Crawford was finally fired today by The Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, er, I mean Dave Nonis. We get them confused all the time. Not sure how many hours after the news breaks that this will finally hit the site, since it is (as of 11:29 PM, still down for some reason).
Sure Crawford’s 246-197-70-24 coaching record sets the clubs record for wins, but it just wasn’t getting the job done. Nonis goes on about how Crawford took the news in this amazing audio clip. Now the search is on for the new coach. Some yahoos are throwing around getting recently fired Leaf coach Pat Quinn back here, but good lord that sounds reckless at best.
How can sports let fired coaches ever coach again. You weren’t good enough to coach, and you were fired, but hey, it’s not you, it’s us. Riiiighhhttt.
It's Monday April the 24 around 11:45PM and
Okay. I tried to resist the bright typographic cover of Metro all day. I knew it was off. Like rotten milk. And sure enough It is bookened 2 pages of ads for McDonalds. Le sigh. With copy like this, "Is the reason it's illegal to eat chicken with a fork in Gainesville, Georgia becuase it's better with a bun?" Instead of a real front cover, how can you even take this paper serious? The back page is worse: "If there are single cheeseburgers and double cheeseburgers, do the single cheeseburgers get lonely?" Did this really happen today?
Now if you are going to take an entire cover in Vancouver for your advertising, why do you use one that is about Gainesville? It's not that funny of a line anyway and it certainly ins't that clever that you want it splashed on the front cover.
It's Monday April the 24 around 10:06PM and
*It would be
interesting to be Paris Hilton. She acts kind of like she thinks she is Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, always pushing the boundaries to see if she'll die. And yet, she fails to realize it's not the same day over and over again.
Silly Paris.
*Egotastic asked how it is possible that Kevin Federline actually has fans. He does? Trent says, "I don't know about you but I just can't get enough of Kevin Federline and his lusciously moist arm pits ... thank the GODS that he is always so generous to his admirers in that he is so free with showing off his pits."
*I think Adbusters should mind their own business. TV Turnoff Week is stupid crackpot talk. We are in a golden age of television awesomeness - seriously did you See Trump and his two creepy kids tonight, it was what dreams are made of - and they should piss off about mocking our couch culture.
*More proof of You Tube all mighty power. The short film where Napoleon Dynamite was born. And the original short. And the short version of Bottle Rocket. (Via Pop Candy's cutie Whitney Matheson)
*Stop the presses! This Wes Anderson American Express Ad just made my day. Seriously. This is the best thing, EVER.
*Compare that good advertising with this outrageous Ben Affleck hair commercial. Honestly.
*Just because Tara Reid drinks Grey Goose then dances on a table, doesn't mean it should be done. That doesn't stop the booze brands from the marketing gold equation of b-lister (sorry, d-lister) + gossip column mention + brand name alcohol & Bar name.
*American Dad vs. Family Guy kung fu game.
*Screenhead delivers the goods: "The mind reels at the glory of the Mustache Tattoo. Yes. Federal Hill Tattoo in Providence RI offers up permanent faux lip carpets."
*Clearly Dr. Pepper has gone a little mental. Dr Pepper Berries & Cream? Really?
It's Monday April the 24 around 8:44PM and
I had a rather interesting discussion last night over the politics of the Leo Awards. Like the Oscars even these charming local awards seem to be, well, politically challanged. Not that this should come as much of a surprise. Take Capote. While it technically fulfulls the requirements as a movie who's, "directing mind and control of the creative and financial aspects of the Program rest with British Columbia." It is a movie directed by, written by, and starring Americans - which is totally cool. But should it be in the running? Can this movie be nominated for Oscar and then lose the Leo? That would seem silly, but I bet it does. There you go - debate away on this. Go.
Meanwhile another crazy filmmaker I know Brett Harvey is nominated for Best Cinematography in a Documentary Program or Series, for a documentary called, Secrets. While that is cool, it's his next project that will be the real deal. It's called The Union: The Business Behind Getting High and they have been all over North America making this thing since last year. This ain't no Micheal Moore type flick.
It's Monday April the 24 around 7:58PM and
Wow. I know that lately I've been more full of excuses than posts, but really how exactly do five days just vanish like that. I'm going to maintain that I was abducted by some friendly aliens from Rigel 7 or caught in a wormhole. Thankfully they let me go after I made them cry, to which Kang said, "These are not tears; we are vomiting from our eyes!".
But seriously I had one of those runs of luck. In fact it felt like I was in that ridiculous new Lindsay Lohan movie. Okay that was creepy. But come on think of this: The perfect parking places, the skipping waiting in lines, the movie starting as soon as you enter the theatre, the greatest French Toast ever, the best time losing an entire afternoon at Havanas patio. But what do you care about that, you just think I was being a deadbeat. So, let's get back to the links since this post is about as smug and worthless as it gets. And I'm okay with that.
It's Wednesday April the 19 around 10:17PM and
Sorry for the lack of posting. Trust me when I tell you that spending 8 hours in the rain at a racetrack doing a photoshoot is about the creepiest thing ever. Of course, I do this, and Infinity Media gets the rights to Winalota Cash - a horse racing movie. Go figure. But enough about that, how about some links?
*Maybe it is the long day, or the cold, but I can't even begin to contemplate the awesome or the suckage of "28 Day Slater". I laughed. Sorry preppies.
*This is great news. Blogs so powerful that they get hot dog treatment at a smug lunch! Ed Levine writes, "About eight courses in, halfway through the meal, our waiter brought out a beautiful silver tray with a single grilled hot dog on a buttered homemade brioche hot dog bun along with 9 little dishes of hot dog condiments, everything from freshly fried bacon bits to homemade relish to an excellent mustard. I started to crack up, as did our waiters. Someone in Keller's organization had obviously been reading my blog, somebody with a sense of humor." So local restaurants, listen up. We'll chat.
*Frank Gehry gets the documentary treatment. Sketches of Frank Gehry trailer here.
*Meanwhile, Fonzie is certainly sailing over the shark on the news of the first 'family comedy' poker movie. Poker, meet Shark.
*Andrew Morrison describes the finally live website for Century, as "comatose". That is being kind. Thank goodness it is open for lunch, and we can have delicious all liquid cocktails in the afternoons.
*Defamer skewers the invite for Hayden Christensen's 25th birthday party bash with this fury, "it will be almost statistically impossible for his publicist not to snap a picture of her client making out with an off-duty stripper, then leak it to the rags as evidence of his heterosexuality."
*I'm really not sure Diesel Jeans needs to enter the wine business.
*This is unbelievably amazing - The Osmonds "Crazy Horses" video. I have no clue what in the hell is going on here, but I repeat, it's A-Mazing. I can see why Data What? pronounced it thusly, "some kind of early '70s attempt to get a Mormon heavy metal sound started."
It's Tuesday April the 18 around 8:54PM and
*American Idol. Sorry, but I've got a 'McPhee-ver' and the only prescription is more Cowbell, I mean, McPhee. Yeah. I said it. There. She better win this. Kelly Clarkson, who? PS: Ace looked ridiculous.
*In honor of tonight's House, here are the running list of House-isms. “The parents are mad because their kid is dying. It’s understandable. If he doesn’t die, they won’t be mad anymore.” As Magnum P.I. would say, "Now I know what you're thinking," how could I add a show midseason. It's my problem, deal with it.
*Bruce Willis's Japanese commercial for fuel is amazing although damned if I can figure it out.
*These ads for the Montana Meth Project are hard core. This print ad called "Bathroom" pretty much turned me off meth. Oh, wait, I was never really turned on by meth. My bad.
*Well, Katie Holmes had a little TomKitten, and the world didn't collapse upon itself. Or does that only happen when Tom Cruise eats little Suri's placenta?
It's Tuesday April the 18 around 7:45PM and
I've collected a bunch of Vancouver Film scene notes and thought I better link 'em before they go stale. And...action:
*The next "it" girl in town seems to be Missy Peregrym. She can be seen in the upcoming gymnastics film, "Stick It" (Jeff "The Dude" Bridges is in this? whaaaaaa? Key sales point: "From the Writer of Bring It On? Please.) and in the new Vanity Fair.
*This year's Leo Awards - Celebrating Excellence In British Columbia Film and Television - are going down May 12th and 13th at the swanky Bayshore. You can check out the 2006 nominations here. Of particular note is a short film called "Alice & Bastard" - described, "Four- year-old Alice and her twentysomething brother Bastard live in a trailer park with their single mother, who's involved with the TV repairman." and directed by our friend Ana Valine. It was nominated for two Leos and two Golden Sheafs at the Yorkton Shortfilm & Video Festival. Catch it Saturday April 29 at 2:00pm at the Pacific Cinemateque at the Leo Film Festival.
*Meanwhile Renee Zellweger is on board for "Case 39" and that is set to start filming in Vancouver this July and if they grab a director. Any guesses on what Renee shows up? (Via Dlisted)
*Warning from Joy Metcalfe: "That stoic, top action actor Steven Seagal is coming to town next month, not for some fast action flick, but to entertain us musically. He and his blues band Thunderbox, who have a new CD about to be released, will make a rare appearance at the River Rock Show Lounge in Richmond on Friday, May 12th..." Gulp. (CKNW)
It's Tuesday April the 18 around 8:21AM and
You know how much I hate weather blogging, but what the hell is going on out there. I can't even see the North Shore from my office anymore. Miserable. As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus would say, "Hey, let's be careful out there." And yes, that is a sweet 1981 Hill Street Blues reference. What about it. And yes, I'm going to link to the amazing theme song right now. Check it.
*The opening credits were the best thing about Thank You For Smoking. Watch them and then read this little analysis of the typography used. How fun.
*Yesterday we watched the Adidas "Pink" Adidcolor, today we have "Green". Bizarre. I love the mention of nuclear war and that crazy Mr. Finkle....
*I almost forgot. NBC's Celebrity Cooking Showdown is the worst reality TV show, ever. I love that they hid the fact that Alan Thicke was the host until the day of. He was terrible, and quite possibly the biggest celebrity on the show, which is rather unfortunate. A total disaster.
More later...
It's Monday April the 17 around 10:18PM and
Today is probably the first day I've ever wished to be working government style and having the day off. Man the post three-day weekend Monday is pretty much the worst invention, ever. I give you, therefore, some links to make the soul feel good, or not:
*The fact that I can say this - my moonlighting gig from this blog is as a copywriter, just came in at #25 in the 'Best Jobs in America' at Money magazine. But really the stress level is only a C? What agency is that at? 1. How are bottom feeding PR people in at #20? 2. Ad Managers, aka Media Buying folks, are #11. 3. Tech writers are #13? Come on. Discuss. (Via AdFreak)
*I debated this briefly today, but the new VW Jetta ads - taking off on ICBC's own scary drunk driving warning ads - are interesting. Not sure about the "Safe Happens" but they look good and are well written. Damn you Crispin Porter! Damn you to hell!
*Ad of the day. Part I: New Coke ad from Jack White. Catchy tune. Odd ad. Great Afro. Cute Red head. But watch out Coke, Jolt is coming back and the target is Red Bull.
*Ad of the day. Part II: I was settled on the Jack White Coke thing, until this insane, retro crazy, ad for Lambretta scooters came dancing into my head. Watch it. Love it. Live it. Addictive advertising.
*Ads of the day. Runner ups: This smug Land Rover ad is fairly cool, in a "it's Santori time" kind of a way. Graham, my faithful music guru pointed out the 2nd Adidas adicolor ad ("Pink") today. Graham has the dish on the ads music too, including MP3's - nicely done!
*Kevin Smith is having way, way, way, too much fun on Clerks II. This crazy You Tube video goes on forever and does a sweet tribute to the site with a "trainwreck" short that includes homage to another clip made for Pixies lovers. PS - yes, we still love Rosario Dawson. PPS - Here's a thought, why aren't film people on the list of best jobs? I know why, but... (Screenhead rules)
*Moving right along... A. George W. Bush meets Kevin Federline, Popozow. B. The background extras of Lost. What up. C. Worst Magazine, ever? Jossip has details. Cargo is alreay shutdown, guess again. D. Definetly want to catch American Dreamz this weekend - it's just too insane to miss. I don't care how bad the reviews get. Well...
It's Sunday April the 16 around 9:30PM and
This should be a nice start for what I hope will be a great week. Even if I didn't eat a good Easter dinner.
*This week's Sopranos (non-spoiler) Fix of things you didn't know. Last week was Vito's bombshell, this week we learn: Carmela voted for Bush in '04, and Tony agrees with Sen. Rick Santorum on occaision, and we love the episode named from our favorite state motto, New Hamphire's "Live Free or Die"
*The unifying theory of Myspace: "anything you write on MySpace instantly becomes 150% more idiotic just by the mere fact that you are writing it on MySpace."
*Decode why I am posting this link about poker if you dare. 3,156 words wondering if Poker is losing it's 'first flush'. I think the new Fox poker show, called "Poker Dome" which is described as both "poker on triple espresso" and the "Nascar of poker" will be the begining of the end. Thank god.
*Geek alert. A long Q&A with J.J. Abrams in The New York Times Magazine. Finally a smart answer to this kind of question: "Historical figure he'd like to meet: Aristotle. Anything Rod Serling couldn't do, Aristotle had it covered."
*Meanwhile Eric Asimov has an interesting take on the pros and cons about lifestyle advertising - with a case study on Beringer Vineyards “How to Get to Napa Valley’’ campaign.
*Waiter Rant ponders 'the waiter rule' - "that you can tell alot about a person’s character by how they interact with waitstaff and others in service roles." Discuss.
*CSI has a page that looks very cool and gives clues to the final two episodes of the season. I don't watch the show, but apparently some of you do. Oh, and I have recently started watching House, and this two-parter seems like a good idea.
*The trailer for The Fountain looks interesting. The film's website is creepy. The new film by Darren Aronofsky goes like this, "Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world."
*Wow, a list that Canada actually doesn't do well on. How odd. The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2006 and not a single Canadian restuarant to be found.
*Lastly. I'm sure it will be down very soon thanks to NBC's laywers over at You Tube. But SNL's Digital Short "Laser Cats" was pretty darn funny this weekend. Love this intro: "In the future, there was a nuclear war. And because of all the radiation, cats developed the ability to shoot lasers out of their mouths. Some will use the cats for good, others for evil. Who will win in a world of...LASER CATS!" Indeed.
Bonus: A classic Family Guy clip. Totally not appropriate for Easter Sunday or Monday morning. Okay I felt bad about that link. So here is an alternate Family Guy link that shows Jesus Quantum Leaping - oh boy. Or this one.
It's Sunday April the 16 around 9:24PM and
So that is what four days without blogging feels like? It is incredible how quickly hours can turn into days, and then into two or three isn't it. While we jump start The Vancouverite back to life in the next 24 hours let us just marvel in the true holiday magnificence of an old Cadbury Easter Cream Egg commercial.
Can you believe that they rolled with the rabbit making chicken sounds for all those years? Amazing. Okay, we're back.
It's Wednesday April the 12 around 10:29PM and
I'm not going to lie to you. Blogging will contintue to be on the light side through Thursday. We'll be back Friday, for realz. Promise. Until then, how about you amuse yourself with these delightful little things we call links. Enjoy:
*First, let's rejoice in the fact that the crazy bastards from Broken Lizards have somehow conned a studio into giving them another chance - have you seen Club Dread?. The idea of Beerfest - a movie described as, "Fight Club with beer games."
*Now, why is Lindsay Lohan at the launch of a new Saturn car in NY? Dlisted breaks it down: "Maybe they are giving one for free. I'm confused. Either way, she borrowed an outfit from either Peg Bundy or Michelle Pfeiffer in Married to the Mob for the event. It's not cute."
*This one's for the 24 lovers at work. I give you, "7 Ways to Use the Lessons of '24' at Work." I think I may try this one tomorrow: "on't be afraid to go rogue - if you think your bosses orders don't make any sense, ignore them and obey your own. In the end, your actions will be proven correct and you'll be praised for having the balls to break protocol. And not only that, at some point you'll get to steal a co-workers car!"
*Titanic 2 trailer.
*Have you seen these amazing Star Trek doll ads? They are amazing - especially Spock talking like a rapper. Coffee Shop or Karaoke. So amazing.
*Rocketboom linked to this insane David Lynch short called Rabbits. Naomi Watts is also a voice. Creepy.
*Not as creepy as the new Ben & Jerry's Black &Tan ice cream.
*Consumerist warns Smirnoff of what might happen when the open their Movement Studio
*And finally, the classic 39-page Macintosh ad in the 1984 issue of newsweek. (via AdFreak) Incredible!
It's Wednesday April the 12 around 8:18AM and
Sorry for the light posting. It will continue until this evening. I'm doing my taxes this morning. Terrible.
Until then, try to figure out what the heck is going on between this monkey, kitten, and chicken.
Oh, and maybe listen to Sufjan Stevens new song "Adlai Stevenson". The idea of a song titled Adlai Stevenson tickles me. Mostly since he was twice a loser for the presidency. But he does have a song. Which is nice for him.
Back later.
It's Tuesday April the 11 around 7:34AM and
If you read this blog often, you might get the sense that I take much glee in those times when the Canucks lose. Not true. Really. I just really like the post-game depression and self loathing in the locker room and city, and then the fresh chum in the water for the press. I'm sick. I know.
The Province devotes both the front and back page to the loss last night. The front has the headline of "Another nail in Canucks' coffin." Ben Kuzma describes the game this way, "instead of barging through the door of opportunity, the Vancouver Canucks quickly tripped and fell flat on their faces Monday before regaining their composure in a crucial 4-2 loss to the Ducks at GM Place."
Over in The Sun, Iain Macintyre talks about the elusive puck luck, "Darn. This thing might be harder to fix than we thought. Turns out it wasn't the uniforms. Anyone thought about changing the stick tape?
Maybe it's the colour of the ice. Or the colour of the blue lines. Maybe it's the players."
Vancouver Canucks Oped goes the other way. Not the players, not the puck luck, not the uniforms. It's the coach. "If the Canucks miss the playoffs, I think we just watched the game that gets Canucks’ coach Marc Crawford fired next week." And then there is this, "That might have been the most poorly coached game that Crawford has ever anchored in Vancouver. And at the worst time possible."
Slightly related: Hockey Dirt finds that the NHL on NBC ratings are down 21% from 2-years ago on ABC before going on to say this, "Ratings in Canada have reportedly been solid, but will take a big hit in the Leaf-less playoffs. If the Canucks also succeed in playing themselves into an early golf season CBC executives will feel downright Bertuzzi'd." Bertuzzi'd. That's brilliant.
Totally unrelated: A good metaphor for the Canucks this season might to visit the Kevin Federline Myspace page. Complex. Frightening. Incompetent. Useless. Popozow.
It's Tuesday April the 11 around 12:32AM and
The smut trade in Vancouver is pretty slim pickins today - sure we saw one absolutely
sad blog posting about Russ Froese the former news anchor getting parts for his car. How lame. So, here's some tidbits to amuse:
*Still curious to figure out if Mr. Rogers was a military sniper? Oh, you hadn't heard?
*
Lindsay Lohan is dropped by Louis Vuitton, while Kate Moss gets another gig. Here's why. Lohan is doing this (at least as guessed by Golden Fiddle) while Moss looks magnificent even when she's strung out like crazy.
*Thandie Newton annoys others with her devotion to her new hyrid car.
*While Vanity Fairs Green Issue mocks environmentalist with its non-green extra pages.
*And then there is this overly dramatic Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth. (Via I Watch Stuff)
*Ex-baseballer Darren Daulten is totally nuts, and when he's not beating up his wife he believes he is a, "time-traveler who is in tune with the secret frequencies of the universe."
*If that was too much for you, how about the "The 1986 World Series Game 6 Re-Enacted in RBI Baseball". Geeky, but cool. (More at Deadspin)
*Art School Confidential's 2nd Trailer is up.
*Mark it on your calanders, "TV has finally exploded". At least that is what media watcher Jeff Jarvis wrote today. All this because Disney is going to release free downloads of their shows soon. Catch - embedded tv ads. Advantage Disney.
It's Monday April the 10 around 11:49PM and
It was another crazy Monday at the other job, and it's getting quite late, so flip on the hi-fi, lay back on the old bear skin rug, put on your trusty ascot, and pour yourself a brandy. It's time for some relaxing links. First up, some things from the world of advertising:
*I like the fact that The Superficial's new advertiser, kind of looks cool. It's Altoids (w/ a crazy website too), and the sponsor banner says, "Curiously Strong Gossip brough to you by Altoids Sours." Perfect. And the added bonus of Christina Aguilera and her red lips vamping it up at a Maxim party.
*Mark Cuban makes a related point, that the key to advertising in the future will a return to live commercials.
*What the hell is Target up to with these crazy little ads. Discuss.
*Ad Age redesigns and drops any sign ins to read the articles. Nice for us.
*Did you catch any of the Apprentice tonight? The P'EatZZa Sandwich? Come on - that is a joke right 7-11? Isn't it?
*Old Navy demonstrates just how crazy inhouse creative teams can be. Warning.
*Three Olives ads and the magic of fluke hidden value.
*And now, for something completely different. Seven tv ads. 1. New Gatorade ad, "Birth" by the amazing Neill Blomkamp. 2. Sprite's "Bus" is crazy and full of gremlins. 3-5. New Kia ads featuring a Mime, a comedian, and a yodeler trumping the insights of quiet, spaciousness, and performance. 6. Nike Maxsight. Who new Nike was making contacts. Creepy. 7. Nice little Playstation ad. Simple, but deliciously shot.
It's Monday April the 10 around 11:24PM and
The vintage jereseys didn't help much tonight even if the Canucks did play hard. Sometimes hard isn't enough. Sometimes it isn't your night. Or as 'The Stranger' would say in
The Big lebowski, "Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, he eats you." Anyway,
Vancouver lost to the Mighty Ducks 4-2 as they clinched their playoff spot tonight. Pretty sure this quick first period summary from the
Canucks Blog tells the entire story:
"don’t know what it is, but the Canucks could have been up 3-2 in this game with a couple of bounces……. That being said, they could also have been down 4-0……. Vancouver applied pressure on the Ducks and just couldn’t beat Giguere…….. The Canucks outshot the Ducks 12-7 but every turnover Vancouver made turned into a goal for Anaheim."
Look, if you can outshoot the other guys 21-3 in a period (33-10 in two) and still can't catch a "break", you should have thought about winning some more games in, say, January, February, or March rather than scrambling just to sneak into the playoffs in April. You see, now you don't control your destiny anymore boys. PS: I'd hate to be Keith Carney tomorrow morning in this city, with his amazing goal on Auld last night. Whoops!
It's Monday April the 10 around 7:37AM and
Vancouver is in third place in the annual Mercer survey of quality of life in cities. Our blessed city came behind Zurich and Geneva Switzerland. Not surprisingly Baghdad was last. The Zurich thing is interesting, since the last time I was there all i remember is how the city was being buried under a sea of needles everywhere you looked. Although the top three is the same as last year. [Mercer]
It's Monday April the 10 around 7:26AM and
He came. He saw. He looked completely ridiculous.
Dan Aykroyd was all over Vancouver this weekend - mainly promoting
Patron Tequila. Which
Malcom Parry described Saturday like this, "Meanwhile, he is building up Patron, a 700-staff tequila producer that hand-blows its own bottles, hand-applies its labels, and uses corks big enough to be boat bumpers. The Brave new Wines firm has listed Patron's entry-level Silver tequila at $99 in B.C. Its Reposada brand fetches $109. The coffee-based XO liqueur isn't listed yet, but leads to 'all-night dancing,' Aykroyd said."
Sounds smug. Aykroyd was spotted at Las Margaritas Thursday, did a Harley ride for Canuck Place Sunday, before attending The Trews show at The Commodore Ballroom. And it is that Harley gettup which makes him look legendary.
It's Sunday April the 9 around 10:23PM and
The never ending saga of David Emerson seems to be not having the desired effects in Vancouver. The numbers are out, so let's have a peak at what the tea leaves are saying. Since January 23 the Conservatives have gained another 5 points in the polls and are now at 41% - while the Liberals are in a total freefall, down 8 points to 22%. Then we have Stephen Harper who's approval is rising as quickly as his girth is - now at 60%, up from 33% on January 23.
But what's most interesting is the response in our own backyard. In B.C. the Conservatives are up 3%, but in Vancouver alone they are up 6%. While the Liberals are down 12% in Vancouver. Steve Janke crunches this for us:
And let's not forget Vancouver. Kevin Chalmers would have us believe that people in BC, and in Vancouver in particular, are up in arms over the defection of David Emerson from the Liberal benches to the Conservative cabinet. But the polling suggests that in BC overall, and in Vancouver in particular, the Conservatives are enjoying more support, not less, while the Liberals have lost much of their support in addition to losing Emerson.
Wait a second...that can't be right. 63 days of this de-election campaign and the party is up and the Liberals are like Mandisa in American Idol last week, done. Even if Emerson loses, most of Vancouver doesn't really care.
It's Sunday April the 9 around 8:40PM and
*Totally fun. Totally creepy. Expo Ernie lives! And he'll be rocking out serving food and drink
May 2nd for the 20th Reunion of Expo 86. Mayor Sam Sullivan has the juicy press release
good news.
*I've never been a huge Nelly Furtado fan. But man did she get totally better looking recently? Who knew. (Via Just Jared)
*Tonight on the Sopranos, An amazing highlight: Vito in his hot biker outfit at a Blue Oyster-esque bar. Awkward.
*I remain totally sceptical about this whole BC Fashion Week. And yet, the websites of two of the designers as found by Lainey actually seem to be fairly interesting. She calls Jason Matto and Christina Darling "the 2 hottest and most innovative designers in Canada".
*Ah, Mr. Sparkle, enjoy these Japanese commercials. You won't regret it.
*Can you even imagine how they got Frank Sinatra to shill the craptacular Chrysler Imperial? They are hideous spots - although the jingle works as only the chairman could do. Not as bad as, say, this Pepsi commercial with Christina Aguilera. It is quite ridiculous. Then again for some strange reason I prefer the nutty Jimmy Fallon/Parker Posey dance off Pepsi ad. Meanwhile Diet Mountain Dew has a funny spot that proves the power of a great voice over.
*A new Noah Baumbach flick seems tres cool with this casting Jack Black, Nicole Kidman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. "A drama/comedy set over a single weekend, where a mother takes her son on a visit to his aunt's home." Meanwhile can you imagine that someone greenlit a Harold and Kumar sequel?
*I like that there is a list of the 101 best screenplays and I appreciate that Casablanca is number 1 (followed by The Godfather, Chinatown, Citizen Kane, All About Eve). The whole list from the WGA. I like that Charlie Kaufman has three scripts on the list, I like that North By Northwest is #21, and I am scratching my head thinking that Groundhog Day is #27. Discuss.
*This week's coming bit of pure ridiculousness. Three words: Celebrity Cooking Showdown. Enjoy.
*A really great post over at The Cork and Demon on whether or not Boony Doon vineyards still has the wine making mojo. The good news is, the answer is positive. Phew.
It's Sunday April the 9 around 7:50PM and
I just got around to checking Vancouver's preeminent newspaper, The Province - arguably a paper running a distant 3rd or 4th after The Sun, 24 Hours, and maybe even Dose (okay that is totally unfair). But who were they kdding this morning when on the front page they gave us readers "Six Great Reason to Read The Province Today!" Listen, we'll be the judge of that, but what were their supposed great reasons?
50 TIPS FOR FIRST-TIME HOME BUYERS
Sunday Homes, Section E
PLUS: BUYER BEWARE
Make sure you know the bylaws before investing in a townhouse or condo E8
WHAT'S YOUR SCHOOL'S RANK?
We kick off our annual High School Report Card with a look at Lower Mainland schools
Unwind, Section B
TIGER GOES FOR GREEN
Woods stalks Masters leaders in hunt for a fifth green jacket
Sports, A53
DUMB AND DUMBER
Why are the Canucks taking so many bad penalties?
Sports, A62-63
PLUS: planning some golf in B.C.? you need this guide
Really? If these were the six best things in the paper today, what in the heck were on the other endless pages. Seriously? What a total bore! And none of the stories from the A section below page 53? I guess it could have just been a late night collage cover courtesy of some lazy editors when they couldn't decide what the big story was.
It's Sunday April the 9 around 10:48AM and
I'd love to meet the copywriter who kicked off the website of
Bohemia Townhomes (648 6th Ave) with this:
"You're a person who believes that life is a banquet, and you're determined to enjoy the feast. You're a free thinker drawn to everything the city has to offer you. One night you want to browse the art gallaries on South Granville, the next it's salsa dancing on South Main. Truth is, you want access to all the choices, not just a few. Because you're open to new experiences and new ideas. You're open to life. You're the reason we built Bohemia. To create a home for people who've always wanted to live here. "
It gets better as you enter the site. And by better, I mean more ridiculous and pretentious with every word and click. Perhaps this is not the work of a real copywriter, but it is beyond dispute, that Bohemian culture is the black. Although I thought that it ended with the Olsen Twins tried to pass off boho chic as a legitmate fashion trend But the reality was always that they were just so "Derelicte" (as seen in Zoolander, chic. ). Let me just say that if you can afford one of these places, you're not exactly "living for the moment." it is a total fraud rivaling the Surrey Wine Condos. And you deserve to live there if you fall for the marketing hype or if you have fantasys of living in a place that reminds you of Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!
As Mugatu would say, Bohemia is, "a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique." Charming indeed.
It's Thursday April the 6 around 11:06PM and
Do you ever get those days, you when you all hell breaks loose at work? You know, days that involve talking to lawyers, not eating, and such? If i didn't get that random Mocha from Cafe Artigiano in the afternoon, I might have gone all Hurly. Anyway, enough complaining, how about some links?
*Catherine Seipp watches Robecca Romijn's new show with hilarious results: "Pepper Dennis, an idiotic new one-hour romantic comedy that premieres on the WB tonight after weeks of being heavily advertised on billboards and the sides of buses, seems like an 11-year-old girl's notion of what happens when you grow up and begin the glamorous whirl of working and dating: You will look like Fashion Model Barbie as you spunkily strive to get ahead in your TV news reporter job, where, even if you knee a handsome co-worker in the groin, he'll still keep asking you out." Joy.
*Just the thought of a wookie throwing out a pitch at Fenway is enough to make me happy.
*The pop-up Hotdog cooker.
*This spot is almost as creepy as the Skittles beard ad. Crabs, Unicorns, unexpected endings, oh my!
*Can you even stand the thought of a movie called Blue State, about someone who actually moves to Canada after George W. Bush is elected. Anna Paguin, get an agent sweetheart.
*Pam Beesley, from The Office. On Myspace. Meanwhile Scott Baio, is a total wanker.
*This outdoor campaign for KFC, is pretty finger licking good.
*McGill is now in the top-10 party schools in North America. The girls do a pictorial in this months issue of Playboy.
*Mondanna is kicking Mariah Carey all over the place in the wine department. That's Grape.
*If they change the motto to something different, you can guarantee we won't be releasing the much anticipated NewHampshirite.
*Paper magaizine's top beautiful people, including Amanda Congdon,
*In depth discussion of Salt Tasting Room's logo devlepment.
It's Tuesday April the 4 around 7:46PM and
I see that last month was really an anomaly. The April 2006 issue of
Vancouver Magazine is out on the shelves but not up on the website. What a total internet debacle. Here's the top five things you need to know about the issue before you go waste the money:
5. The Story on designer Martha Sturdy who is packing in her South Granville shop after 20-years or so is pretty good. This quote is priceles, "But her departure from the retail scene is another sign of Vancouver's blandness makeover. Our downtown is becoming more and more like suburban Raleigh. Or Red Deer." Ouch. More of this please.
4. Malcom Parry's column. My god, when your "city life" photo essay features only a d-lister from a cancelled show like Godiva's and Da Vinci's Inquest creater Chris Haddock looking like a complete hobo, you're in way too deep.
3. A story on Ultimate Frisbee? Come on.
2. The cover story is a strange tale about 18-year old Lora Sun who lost the 2005 Miss Chinese Vancouver paegant is headlined "Chinese Idol". It comes off way more creepy than all that.
1. The wine column by Christina Burridge is called "The Spanish Armada". Now I know the article was supposed to praise the Spanish wines, but doesn't that title sound like they are all getting blown away by the British at Gravelines? Fun right?
It's Tuesday April the 4 around 6:52PM and
*The Georgia Straight is such a mess of a paper, it is almost worth checking out. But I really don't get this invasion of crazy white trash cheap beers in their alternative weekly pages. The ugly beer invasion seems to be on like Donkey Kong - with
Pabst Blue Ribbon and
Old Milwaukee undercutting the local beers. All things to the folks at
Sleemans who have unleashed this onto us all. Thanks for nothing. I guess it was better than the ads for Lululemon's obnoxious "Om Quest" yogo video game April Fools joke. I'd rather drink the beer.
*In the Westender last week, Steve Burgess riffs on the opening of Century and the whole Communist Chic thing in "A little Marxism with your entree, sir?" His experience sporting a Mao button in China, "Well, what an awkward social moment. There I was with my pop-culture accessory, and some guy had the bad manners to point out that millions of his fellow Chinese had suffered and died under Mao's misguided rule. How rude." Um, yeah.
*Macaulay Culkin's novel gets the Gawker treatment for misquoting Entertainment Weekly. So Cute.
*If you are an ad junky like me this is way cool. There is going to be a show called Mad Men - about a fictional ad agency called Sterling Cooper set in the 1960's. Love it. Bonus for Sopranos writer being the creater.
*I know a certain friend of mine who will love the idea of a 3-day test drive of an Opel. "Sex Change", "Wife", and "Penguin" all pretty much do the trick.
It's Tuesday April the 4 around 12:29AM and
On Sunday, the David Emerson de-election campaign continued as
500 or so marched down Kingsway. Of course The Province couldn't resist giving it the Front Page treatment.
This is day 58. Fifty-Eight days since Emerson crossed the floor. I can't believe people are still up and arms about this - more people are protesting this than troops in Afghanistan, which kind of points out just how far out of whack priorities are for much of the political scene. Then again, they also have a song. Emerson Must Resign. It seems more ridiculous in video form. The flying banner that said this: "David Emerson - Call Home" flew over Ottawa.
58 days. I'm just saying.
It's Tuesday April the 4 around 12:16AM and
I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea, but let's toss it around for awhile to see. This is the description of
Veranda, a new property development:
Imagine the remnants of a winery from years gone by: the crumbled stone, the meandering vines, the history in the air. Picture architecture inspired by that image, with clean, simple lines and natural materials that might once have been erected as part of a family� intertwined business and heritage.
Let me get this straight, it's a wine condo? Now they claim this is in "Fleetwood" but that sounds like a fancy word for Central Surrey if I ever heard one - it's off the Fraser Highway at 160th. So I guess that is a wine condo in Central Surrey. Classy! Anything that suggest an "afternoon at the Surrey Sports and Leisure Complex" is barking up the wrong grape. Then again you can get "Mirage" Hardwood Floors which are "not plastic laminate!" Phew, that's a relief!
It's Monday April the 3 around 11:09PM and
Are you ready for some links? I'm cleaning out a bunch I've been saving up. Here goes nothing...
BEARDS?
If you haven't seen the Skittles ad featuring the creepiest beard ever, now is the time (And there are other wierd ones at the Skittles website). This may come in handy for Wednesday when Kenny Rogers hits American Idol. Whitney Matheson, the USA Today writer of Pop Candy - who I'm really digging - is all about the beards and directed us to this insane site and that Kenny is looking a little wierd these days. Speaking of beards, Vice's Gavin McInnes gets the Do's and Don'ts treatment.
ADS, CANDY, & HACKS.
1-800-Got-Junk's rat advertising ads. What was the creative brief on this banned William Lawson Scotch ad? Skittles ad weird. Starburst ad, weirder? Sour Patch ad really wierder? DIscuss. Gawker has fun with hack copywriters. Did you miss The Office April Fool's PSA's? Cupcake Voyeur (via Metroblogging Vancouver). Finally, and for absolutely no reason at all Gisele knows what boys want.
THATS ENTERTAINMENT
Smallville's Lois Lane, Erica Durance, is on the Cover of FHM. (via Egotastic) It's filmed in Vancouver if you are wondering why the link? Seu Jorge is coming to Vancouver June 23. The Hippies and the pretty boys from Amazing Race get cozy and shirtless and myspaced. Clerks 2 Online Trailer, dicuss. And prays be America that Basic Instint 2 totally stunk up the box office this past weekend, but let's review Sharon Stone's last big rider. The best of Christopher Walken as leading man make out artist. Swear to god, Vanity Fair is trying not to sell copies this month with their Green issue. Not recycled paper, and cover with Al Gore cameo.
GOOD THINGS
I checked out Jamie Oliver's new show, Great Italian Escape, tonight. Priceless.
MISCELLANY
Holy crap in the name of Apu. Letterboxed, beautiful presentation of 1956's "Bhowani Junction" on Turner Classics tonight. Ava Gardner starring as Victoria Jones in this romance set against the turmoil of the British withdrawal of India. Hubba Hubba.
And this BoingBoing post about Chinese "ghost ships" off the coast of Africa is good readings.
It's Monday April the 3 around 10:30PM and
Not even the 36 saves by Alex Auld could save the Canucks from themselves tonight. In honor of their late season collapse, we give you a picture of golf-babe
Natalie Gulbis - gotta have something to cheer the city up. I'm shameless. The
L.A. Kings only won 1-0. But, really, it could have been much, much, worse. In the 2nd alone the Kings outshot the 'Nucks 19-5.
The Canucks blog was hilarious tonight. From the complaints about the crappy Pay-Per-View debacle to the officiating, and then the final 5:33 of the game where they "can’t get anything going here." No kidding - and they even pulled Auld! Although that was trying to be nice. Over at the Canucks Forum you get, "time for golf", and "Did they even shoot the puck in the last 5 min?" I think somewhere I also read about "Floatuzzi". Oh my.
Here's the bad news:
Canucks are in 8th with 87 pts and 5GR; Edmonton is 7th with 88pts and 6GR; Both SJS and LAK are tied for 9th at 85pts - SJS has 8GR, while LAK has 6GR…… Canucks next game is Saturday against the Flames in Vancouver
Guesses on requisite Province Back Cover headline tommorow? Drop 'em in the comments.
It's Monday April the 3 around 8:51PM and
It's the beginning of the month, and you know what that means? Rent? Bills? No no friends, its time for the new playlist outlining all of Graham's favorite tracks from the month that was March. The Art Director's listening notes: "I have to say, that last month's podcast was pretty awesome, but this one is right up there with it. My personal favorites have to be the new one from South (who are coincidentally here in concert on April 20th, and the track from the Candy Bars (definitely ones to watch in the future)." Well, I guess we'll be the judge of all this now won't we? Mmmmm.....Candy Bars. I'm sure that listening to this will cause my 1-click purchase finger to go nuts on Itunes.
Catch the entire tracklist below:
1) All The Bells - Adam Arcuragi
2) A Place In Displacement - South
3) Weed Party - Band Of Horses
4) The Flood In Your Old Town - Candy Bars
5) Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone - Islands
6) Notice - Gomez
7) Giving It Up - Josh Rouse
8) Turn Out The Light - The New Amsterdams
9) If You Talk To Much My Head Will Explode - People In Planes
10) A Way Of Life - The Concretes
11) Think Long - Mates Of State
12) The Hope Edition - My Latest Novel
Listen to this months playlist
It's Sunday April the 2 around 9:30PM and
In what was supposed to be a
Pam-less Anderson Juno Awards (stupid April Fool's) turned into a
big night for Vancouver's Micheal Buble who won for the Canadian music awards including artist of the year. "Thank you, Canada. I am, oh my god, I don't know what to say. I feel like Kelly Clarkson a bit," said Buble.
That is the best quote ever Buble. Well, at least Nickleback didn't win all the awards. Will they finally go away now? Pammy kept it classy by talking about the seal hunt. "I don't mind a little blood on the ice when it's a hockey rink, but I hate seeing blood on the ice when it's from baby seals," she said to mostly a crowd of boos.
It's Sunday April the 2 around 9:15PM and
The Canucks have slipped rather quickly back into must-win territory after todayt's 6-2 loss at the hands of the Mighty Ducks. There hasn't been this much of a turkey shoot since Dick Cheney went hunting with his buddy. Gulp.
It's Sunday April the 2 around 9:45AM and
Friday. The Globe and Mail rolls off the presses with
Alexandra Gill's restuarant review of Rare One. (
Rare One) She wasted no time before unloading on pretty much everything: blogs, eGullet, and the food. It was the food critics equivelent of
William Shatner's famous Saturday Night Live skit about Trekkies.
"When it was announced on eGullet that one of their own was opening a restaurant, there was a natural flurry of excitement, followed by a special pre-opening dinner for the tight-knit group of obsessive foodies, waiters, chefs, magazine executives and restaurant critics who make up the local eGullet contingent."
Of course this little review got the eGullet crowd to put down their foie gras and pick up some six shooters. Andrew Morrison, the Waiterblog, described it this way, "Your story read as an attack on eGullet and blogging. Rare One, it seems, just sort of got in the way." Morrison does a good job of laying out the whole bruhahas on his blog too.
Not that there is anything wrong with this whole eGullet forum thing. I enjoy reading about cute dessert chefs like Ling or Hamilton Street Grill's Neil Wyles saying things like, "disclosure - I am Brian's hairy chef lover." It is tres fun. But I do find the format of Egullet is hard to read, follow, and I hate emoticons, so I rare-ly - pardon the pun - go. The fact that this caused postings to be deleted is pretty lame. Alexandra even posted too, but it seems to be gone now. At the end of the day, she did her job. She got people to read, think, and then fight. Sure she's the hatchet woman everybody loves to hate, but every city needs at least one.
The end. "So everybody... set your phasers on stun, cause... THIS CONVENTION'S AHEAD WARP FACTOR NINE, Y'KNOW? RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! WARP FACTOR NINE!"
It's Sunday April the 2 around 9:11AM and
I was expecting to see bottle throwing and then a bar fight at Saturday's rock n' roll show at the Lamplighter (210 Abbott Street, Gastown). Boy was I wrong. They have been serving up drinks at this location since 1899, and its worth a short visit, to at least check out those high baroque looking ceilings. But don't kid yourself, this isn't some trendy Polo shirt wearing space.
The long hairs of Lions in the Street kicked onto stage just after 10:00. After getting over some sound issues the band joked that tonight they were simply 'kittens in the street'. Hilarity and pure rock ensued. They definetly created some buzz with the crowd. I did see a few devils signs. Always a good sign. Wineglow's Dan and I talked to singer/guitarist Chris Kinnon before and after the set. The conversation was mostly about the importance of delicious pork burritos and the disapointment of not finding them more often, than anything else. Which is cool.
We stayed for the crazy Seattle-based Wages of Sin, descibed simply as "Punk rock sea shanties and appalachian death polka." And it sounded just as crazy as that does. But well worth the stay. The crowd was gearing up for the 3rd act Big John Bates and The Voodoo Dollz - but we didn't stay. There was plenty of burlesque-loving rockabilly types, which you just don't see enough of on an everyday basis.
It's Saturday April the 1 around 9:50AM and
The Vancouver Sun's Cam Cole starts his post loss article with a bang. The headline: "Canucks recipe for egg salad". Here's the lede:
"It took 10 days -- five games, four of them wins -- for the Vancouver Canucks to get themselves out of intensive care, their condition upgraded from critical to serious but guarded. One shootout loss, and they're back on close supervision. Several hundred thousand nurses are watching them like hawks."
Meanwhile, over at A Canuck's Fan, it's "Brokeback Canucks" time.
