Monday, July 30, 2007

Can I Have It Like That?

I know I'm not the first one to post it on a blog but the Sprint Ahead ad campaign is awesome. It's probably one of my favorites in recent memory, right up there with the Impossible Is Nothing commercials from Adidas, HP's Personal Again series and Nike's Joga Bonito ads from the last World Cup. There's something about creative advertising that makes me want to buy whatever they're selling. Take a look:

Sprint Ahead


Impossible Is Nothing


Personal Again


Joga Bonito

Saturday, July 28, 2007

It's Gotta Be My Swag



As far back as I can remember, I've been picking up free magazines, catalogs and brochures from different shops I visit. They make for good, quick reads and are often of a quality you wouldn't expect in a free product. Usually, the magazines have at least a couple interesting articles; stuff that's specific to a particular subculture or region that I can't find in regular magazines. The brochures and catalogs that showcase new product lines/bands/artists are pretty interesting too, sometimes for design reasons if not for content. My problem is that if I don't throw them away within the first couple weeks, I'll probably keep them for years. I'll go back and look at them every once and while but they're hardly something I need keep.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Big Watch and a Pair of Bapestas

Tim Blanks from men.style.com toured Japan and made a few videos about different clothing stores in Tokyo. Here's the one about Bapexclusive, which is definitely one of the coolest stores I have ever visited. I went to a couple Bape shops in Tokyo and this one was clearly where it's at.

Also, Kanye West filmed a few scenes for "Stronger" inside the store so it must be cool, right?

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

But In The Morning...


This morning was interesting. It started out like a normal Tuesday. I woke up groggy and got ready for work as usual. I was actually a little ahead of schedule until I walked out to my car. Walking up to the spot where I parked it last night, I noticed some people milling about and a tow truck backing up to a BMW. Oh crap, it wasn't there. I must have gotten towed. I asked the guy if he towed my car and he said he didn't but I could call the number on the side of the truck if I wanted.

While I was waiting on the phone, I talked to the landlord of the complex we were in front of and the painters working in the area. They said there wasn't a car parked in that spot all morning. The tow truck driver said he hadn't towed any cars from the area at all. I wasn't panicking but I definitely wondered if my car had been jacked.

So I was on hold with the towing company, asking the landlord about the "No Parking" signs (they weren't there when I parked last night, I swear) and talking to the painters about whether or not they saw a car there earlier, when a DPT metermaid drove up. I told her that I thought my car had gotten towed and she told me that no one had been towed from that spot today. She said she'd look into it though and asked me for my license plate number. I was about to go home and get the number (I haven't memorized it yet) when she asked me if I was sure I parked there. I was pretty damn sure but I glanced around anyway, trying not to second guess myself. A half a block down the street, at a similar corner, I saw my Acura sitting there waiting for me. Damn.

Man, I'm a moron. Good thing I didn't make an ass of myself by freaking out or yelling at the landlord for not posting the "No Parking" signs until this morning. Good thing I didn't cry. The people (painters, tow truck driver, DPT lady and landlord) were cool and understanding about it. Sure, it doesn't happen all the time but it's easy to get confused when people park in different spots everyday. They laughed it off with me and I went to work.

I hate Tuesdays.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

They Got The Money, Hey, You Know They Got Away

Last night I went out to Le Colonial for my friend's birthday. It started out really fun. I guess it ended up being fun in the end too but that's not the point of this story...

Midway through the night, we were all dancing, having a good time, when one of my friends noticed a purse on the ground. He asked around to see if anyone dropped it and a guy near us, who was dancing with a couple girls, said it was his friend's purse. So he handed it over, not thinking much of it.

About ten minutes later, a girl walked by, frantically asking everyone if they've seen her missing purse. We told her that we gave it to some guy and pointed him out. She approached him and he played dumb, saying he didn't know what she was talking about. His two friends said they had their purses and they hadn't seen any others. We went over to talk to them about it but they still acted like they had no idea what was going on.

At that point, that group was sticking to their story and I didn't know where the purse was so I told the girl to ask the bartender if anyone turned it in. Right as she started to walk through the crowd, the shady guy and his girls left. A couple of my friends followed him outside and watched him walk down the street. He stopped with his friends after a block or so and then came back to give the doorman the purse. My friends found the girl in the bar again and told her that her purse was at the door.

When it was all said and done, the girl had about $80 stolen from her wallet but her credit cards, her ID and other things like that were still in the purse. We were glad she got most of her stuff back but it still sucks. It pretty much ruined a small portion of the night for a few of us and we didn't get robbed ourselves or even know the girl who got robbed.

It makes me pretty pissed off that there are people like that out there. The three people who took the money weren't poor. It's not like the were taking the money because they needed it to survive. They were hanging out in a relatively expensive bar, so I highly doubt and extra 80 bucks would help out their situation that much. They just jumped at the opportunity to take something that didn't belong to them, without even thinking twice about it. They looked the girl straight in her face and lied to her, knowing that were ripping her off. Ah, things like this make it really hard to believe in the good in people sometimes...

Aside from that little incident, the night was good. Le Colonial is a fun place even though the drinks are expensive and the temperature is extremely far from desirable. (Without turning this into a review of the bar, I do feel compelled to complain about the water situation at Le Colonial. They don't give out ice water for free. You have to spend $5 for a bottle of lukewarm Fiji or drink out of the faucet in the bathroom if you don't feel like buying a drink. That's a solid 9.9 on the Lame Scale in my book.) Anyway, the music is pretty good most of the time and it was decent last night too, even though the DJ refused to play T.I. and snuck in too many techno songs. I met some cool people, danced around a bit, lost about 5 lbs from sweating and had a good time. I think the birthday girl had a good time too and that's the most important thing, right?

Darkness Falls Across The Land

As if Michael Jackson wasn't weird enough...

Saturday, July 21, 2007

I Can't Let Go Of It

Spoon's "The Underdog" is easily my favorite non-rap song at the moment. Here's the song being performed on Letterman:



Not only does the horn section sound awesome but their style is impeccable. Check out the guy wearing the sunglasses and the man in the magenta sport coat.

Friday, July 20, 2007

King Kong, King King King K-Kong



A few weekends ago, I ate dinner at a restaurant. After finishing my meal, the waiter cleared my plate. In an effort to rest (and look cool), I leaned forward and placed my elbows on the table. Then a significant portion of the table broke off and fell in my lap. I must have eaten a lot.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I'll Be On Time Like Big Ben



I've been having the same conversation a lot lately, so I wanted to clear things up:

"Yes, it is a nice watch. Thank you... I know it's really white. I like it... No, it's not that big. I just have small wrists."

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Work It Out, Take It Easy

... Or "How A Guy With A Congenital Hip Defect Can Skate And Dance Better Than Me"...

rjd2 - Work It Out

Sunday, July 8, 2007

I Read This Off A Cue Card



I went home today and spent most of the day cleaning out my closet so my dad could put more of his stuff in my room. I found this sketch when I was sorting through some papers from high school. I had saved a fair amount of drawings I had done, most of which were on binder paper because I didn't pay attention in class. Half of them make me think that I could have been a pretty good artist if I had ever taken it seriously (or if I had ever taken an art class). The other half, well, they're pretty terrible.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

I'm A Pisces Fish & A River Runs Through My Soul



I saw this in a bathroom last Saturday.