day 33, 34 & 35: back to training, rinse and repeat, hamster futsal

Day 33

It's always good to get back to the academy

my home, my temple

it's even better when you're there early to do some stretches

serena helped/tortured me a lil bit on that

then it was leading the troupe for some warmup

followed by some killer conditional training

well at least they weren't ponches

here were the highlights of training

pushup start position, hold 90 seconds

that was NUTS

i could feel my flabs wobbling

pushup elbows at 90-degrees- basically midway.

this i feel weak.

left leg up/right hand out, switch sides

again... horrible... but i guess that's what i'm in classes for

Movement drills

Armada / compasso

Meialua tempo qeshada

note: this is a tricky move because you qeshada the other way right after you meialua

what this drill actually does is get you into the entrada/negativa position quick after a meialua

good for baiting the vengativa for a tesoura after

armada du chau

a variant of the armada dupla where your second kicking leg is in meialua position instead

i can't remember the actual name of this move, shall check up on it.

negativa frente to chapa de costas

a nice move that takes someone offguard

negativa frente to chapa de costas, passado ala rasteida frente

a nice movement

you can follow-through from someone's chapa de costas with a neat little benguela-esque passado that starts with the rasteida de frente leg movement

very stylo.

also practices your rasteida for that perfect day!

Day 34

cueca visited me at the dentsu park

he had a quick bite

but by the looks of his eyebags

he wasn't gonna be too cooperative as a training partner

so he assumed the coach role

i basically repeated the drills from the other day's class

followed by some intense stretching assisted by cueca

one would suspect that he was a world war ii Axis interrogation specialist

judging by the way he tore me from limb to limb

thanks

felt good.

Day 35

arrived at futsal with high hopes

i shall not elaborate the outcome of the day

let's leave it as:

my kilometres per goal ratio was atrocious

the only consolation is that it can only get better

Cool Use of YOUR NECK AT THE CINEMA by TBWA Germany for Nissan Micra

Photo from theinspirationroom.com

Alright

Interactive cinema ad

And one that only requires the audiences full attention

Nissan Micra, now with a sun roof

What better way than to have a captive audience in a dark room already tuning their eyes towards some commercials before the movies

Here's a smart inexpensive way to show that you don't need an epic 2 minute commercial to wow cinema audiences

Why compete with the movie itself, when you can simply switch their attention upwards?

Very smart use of media

For full writeup, check out the posting at http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/nissan-convertible-experience-on-cinema-ceiling/

I like the inspiration room

at least it doesn't take your ideas without your permission

and make people subscribe to view it, like coloribus.

how the hell did they SEO their way to the top of every ad search damnit!

Back to the ad.

Yes a truly convertible experience.

Day 32: Futsal crosstraining

Ouch.

Sprained ankle.

A little stamina-less

Sprinting was alright

Legs felt tired and couldn't concentrate to finish off easy goals

Scored 3

coulda had a lot more

which isn't too bad considering.

Dentsu's got a surprisingly good team

if we keep this up we just might have a decent outing at next year's corbis cup

The next day felt horrible.

4 hour sleep and pitch plus a full day of hectic firefighting

and the consecutive late nights have contributed to insomnia

there's only one way to fight insomnia

and that's with... insomnia!

Cool Use of LIVE ORGANISMS AS AN ADVERTISING TECHNIQUE by Y&R Aukland for MICROSOFT

Visual ripped from bestadsontv.com

read the case study here: http://www.bestadsontv.com/outdoor_details.php?id=15239

It's a shortlist at Cannes.

But it doesn't matter because it's Gold at the sales generation category

at the 2008 RSVP Awards (i think it's the NZ version of Malaysia's DMAM)

that means results.

But going beyond results

is the innovation of the idea

they used live virii (plural of virus i think) that 'cultivated' in the course of a few days to create a message out of it.

personally i think they used bacteria instead, but oh well... they're all microscopic and all anyway

hang on... maybe some judge mentioned that only bacteria could be cultivated at judging...

killjoy.

Anyway,

How freakin awesome is that.

and talk about targeted.

IT managers. Well they stay holed up in their server rooms all day.

What else are they gonna do but germinate, or watch a DM pack do likewise anyway?

Nice.

I think it was a student entry for something.

and they got hired to do this up for real.

The full synopsis is on the cannes shortlist (again, a pity) link:

http://work.canneslions.com/direct/entry.cfm?entryid=322#

Good job y&r aukland

NZ and OZ are really representin' this year.

Day 30 & 31: taking it easy

Slowly easing back into my schedule after Jakarta

It's quite a sudden change from Jakarta straight back to work the next day

this is where my marine-like sleep deprivation training goes into play

the rest of the days were just busy on a pitch

had some downtime on thursday so had lunch with cueca and he coached me a quick 45min circuit

no biggie, but i ain't a gym regular so any form of machinery work is welcome.

THU, day 30

10 sets x 3 reps of shoulder, chest, bicep (it's weak) and triceps

before taking a nap at cueca's apartment

now i know how he builds muscles.

SAT, day 31

Officially i have done a month's worth of capoeira in 6.

Very bad. Such is the price of a working capoeirista

it's got to be quality over quantity

this blog's also helpful to keep track and try to up the 'days' of training gradually every year.

Went for class at subang with a hangover

the class was great. had a good sweat to wash out the liquor

and Terry's group of students are very enthusiastic

they even complimented me on my ginga

later i found out they trained with Harry, our cross-town rival,

and i heard that their ginga style's a little more mechanical

bantus maladro ok!

and in typical bantus fashion

i left a stack of CDs behind

they weren't very helpful when i called to check on the CDs later. Malaysian customer service.

2 hours later i was back at celebrity, this time at one utama

was horribly late

The great malaysia sale was blocking all my options

found a unofficial parking spot

ran through a labyrynth of tunnels before making my way to class

Wong, Shirly and Vanessa were already coaching 2 newbies and warming up

very impressed

gave a quick gingo sequencia training with tempo entrada and tempo laterals to help make their jogo a little more dynamic

then gave them some partner drills to throw into the roda

45 minutes went by surprisingly quick

we had a nice coffee catchup later

more catchup with the family

and then after at leong and winnie's for some bboy battle videos and drinks session

their moves give me some ideas for variations... hmmm

Cool Use of CLIENT AND AGENCY PARTNERSHIP by Juniper Park for SunChips

www.juniperpark.com

First off. Let me start with the agency.

I absolutely love the name and logo. And what they stand for.

It's a sub-agency for BBDO

They were set up to be involved in their client, Frito-Lay's product portfolio

in short. The creative team gets to get involved from product development stage

The product - SunChips

Proposition - It's the Prius of the Frito-lay snackfood range

What the fuck's a Prius? - it's the Standard in eco-hybrid cars

The big idea - Live Brightly

Actually i don't know if this campaign won anything at Cannes cause i'm still browsing the shortlists and chanced upon an entry for their print work

Lion or not. It's an award and wish-i-had-done in my books.

Here's why.

You wanna talk about integration?

Here's integration for you!

1. Product - The packaging is biodegradable. The chips are made in a solar-powered plant for god's sake!

2. Outdoor - Uses the sun to stencil out the brand (ok so it only works during lunchtimes)

3. Press - I don't know how. But they actually used invisible-ink like technology for the press ad. You need to hold it to the sun to be able to read it. Maybe it's just printed on the back in reverse. But according to designtaxi.com it's a 'first-of-its-kind-interactive-technology'

4. SunChips.com - In line with the idea of 'Living Brightly', Sunchips.com is a place where people can learn about the benefits of Solar energy and simple steps to harnessing the sun and making the world a better place.

5. Web TV commercial - fairly straightforward. but well executed.

Clearly a good start. Probably got dwarfed amidst the Earth Hour / Million Project / The Big Shlep hype at Cannes.

In humble Canada, however. A dragon lies sleeping. If they continue the good work, they could be the next Droga5. Good effort. Looking forward to more great stuff from Juniper Park.

For entire case study, click http://www.juniperpark.com/our_work/sunchips.html

day 27, 28 & 29. The Jakarta Chronicles

I've this issue with ampersands - &

i'm still not sure if i've abused it above, but i think it's legit

Capoeirista's Log, Day 0 - Thursday night, 09/07/09

Followed Rafa to Jakarta to give some workshops there on thu night.

As usual Air Asia was late

We had a burger before our bus to our flight

And rafa had a plate of rice before our flight

he's an eating animal, which makes what ensued for the next four days quite unbelieavable.

Also. He was fluish.

Even though my face masks cost RM3 per piece, i had to give him one

To give him the illusion that at least he was looking like he was trying to 'avoid getting sick' instead.

Important when trying to avoid any H1N1-related mob justice.

Arrived at midnight, and when we got to sleep after catching up with Andrew

it was about 2am.

I didn't sleep till about 5 or 6 though.

Was too busy donating blood to the mosquito foundation in jakarta.

Apparently there's a shortage.

Capoeirista's Log, Day 1 - Friday, 10/07/09

Woke up to the perfect breakfast

our favourite Mee Bakso stall down the road

it's been 2 years since i last visited

great to see mister Bakso has progressed and from a humble street shack

he now has a not-so-humble-semi-permanent-house-like street shack

The rest of the day was spent sleeping in the car and travelling between malls

Rafa was looking for helmets, jackets and shoes in no particular order

found a killer biker jacket for only rm80. Value

The evening workshop was held at the national sports centre

at the wrestling room

a bunch of overweight nicotine absorbing 'wrestlers' were using it before us

wooo scary

the students slowly trickled in

traffic as usual

saw a lot of new faces

well the last time i was down it was 2 years ago

The energy level was high

lots of them have come because of Rafael, well actually all of them.

they were wide-eyed and very eager to be abused with a more physical training routine

it is the wrestling room after all.

i lead the warmup

and were given 3 very talented kids to coach

while rafa put them through some technique drills followed by floreios

it's nothing new from what we do in class

but for the students of Bantus Jakarta, it was a refreshing eye-opener

makes you think sometimes of how lucky we are that we have our own Graduado coaching us every day

kinda reminds me too how we sometimes take capoeira classes for granted.

The both of us were kinda weak

but i was determined to have some kinda relevant jakartan cuisine

and i love their street food

so off we went to jakarta central for some Nasi gila

and satay

and avocado shakes

and satay

and tofu

and sup ekor

burp.

Sleep was good.

Flooded the room with mosquito repellent

and we bought mat burners for extra effect

Capoeirista's log, Day 2 Saturday 11/07/09

Woke up

More traffic

Went to FX Mall which was a very designer-ish, lifestyle kinda place

bought myself an indie-electro-style T

hit a 7-floor slide

was fun, but rather short for 35 ringgit. Thank you Andrew!

We did class at another mall.

Margos City Square

They have a semi-dilapidated theme-park sports centre

played some futsal

rode a mini bike

taught the kids more classes

i think they were bored but just entertaining me

since their attention span was quite short

so i put in some games to make it more interesting

The main crew did another set of drills and movements

We went into the mall for a demo roda

it was good to see everyone with Axé

had a quick game, was lethargic and couldn't pull off many moves, will try a more technical game for tomorrow's roda

RODA RATING: 8/10 - good energy, singing and music.

Personal Jogo Rating: 6/10 - had a game and a half and didn't make the most of it

We went for Rawan, a traditional indonesian meat dish

it was like bak kut teh, but beef

and they had this grilled beef ribs that was as good as Tony Roma's

no wonder the place is called RAWAN SETAN (Satan's...errr... Rawan)

Went clubbing with the gang

They had to do a show at the Vertigo club

we were there for our very first road trip to jakarta

crowd comes in late cause clubs close at 6am

It was quite a simple, straightforward show with Rafa

bringing some brasilian jogo into the groove

We had a free bottle of Dark Horse whisky which tasted kinda dodgy

and we were entertained by 2 groups of breakers doing battle

they were kinda dopey

like the gangs you see in movies doing choreographed dance sequences

rather entertaining i must say

i like one of them crazy leg breakers

wish i could do that

the night went well into the morning

and we hit the sack at 5am

Capoeirista's log, Day 3 Sunday 12/07/09

whoa. Semi-hangover.

Drowned myself in water to detox.

Got ready.

Had 4 slices of white bread.

traffic.

then it's back to the National Sports Centre

this time at the acrobatics gym

Damn they have a fantastic venue for acro

the full works

Rafa split the group to mortals and non-mortals

i was coaching the non-mortals on how to jump and tuck

Rafa was just giving a few tips to the mortals to improve their technique

That girl 'Cinderalla' from another Capo group has a wicked assed mortal

damn

My right shoulder blade's been burning all day because i've been lugging students into the crash mats

but it's great to see them have lotsa fun

i haven't done a mortal in more than a month!

so i was a little hestitant.

joined them for some front mortal practice

i've never jumped off a catapaul spring

did one and a half front flip

sounds impressive?

not when you dive head-first into the crash mats

sprained my neck

i looked like a Michael Keaton Batman the whole day at the office today

Did a few mortals

Good to know i've still got the tuck

Roda was very good energied

I played as many games with as many students this time round

had lots of fun

and practiced more control and played a more tactical game with them

Faked a meialua into a chapa and switched into a rasteida, which was a good feeling to pull off having practiced it with Cueca

Also malandro'd a fake au into a bum bump when the other person was in an au

and a coupla other nice wholesome games

The Axé was fantastic

took over the berimbau and watched big smiles on everyone's faces as they played

i still had some pent up energy

those 4 slices of bread must've been good.

wanted to play more, but also wanted to man the berimbaus.

RODA RATING - 8.5/10 music was a little inconsistent at the start, but otherwise a wicked roda

Personal jogo rating - 7.5/10 had a tactical jogo. wish the roda could go on so i could practice throwing in some floreios but all in all wasn't too shabby.

Rafa paid an emotional tribute to the whole group

i echo his sentiments

they are a very good bunch of people

and i thank them for reminding me why i love capoeira so much

it brings people together

sure i've been through my share of stories and experiences about heartbreak

but that's what makes capoeira so beautiful

it mirrors life

and what you take out of it

is how much you put in.

So while i went to help give workshops

i think i'm the one that re-learnt a valuable lesson indeed

priceless.

We didn't eat much.

i had an indo mee goreng in indonesia.

i kinda like indo mee in KL better.

starved through the trip back

had coffee that was made from beans hand washed from the faeces of coffee-bean-eating-Civet cats. Tasted the same to my peasant tastebuds.

got back home at 2am

ordered myself a nasi goreng kambing and some sleep.

Day 25 & 26. I rejoice as my muscles cry once more

Day 25

I've been rather on-the-edge restless due to lack of physical activity.

got the chance to do a lunch-time gym run

SME-cueca gave me his precious lunchtime off

he already gym'd so he was just coaching me

did three types of workouts

i dont even know how to describe them because i'm inherently anti-gym.

but i did shoulder dips, and was surprised that i could do them, WITH added weights.

tak puas - abused some ab muscles as well.

and insisted we had to train tomorrow.

Day 26

My body's well-trained for 3am-9am sleep cycles

but that's been the past 2 weeks sans training

this morning it was hard to wake up

had a 20-min nap in between at lunchtime

and caught cueca at the park for an hour

did half hour of floreios

compasso semaos

compasso half-semao twist into role

au, bounce back one handstand into qaeda-de-rin, and into a low esdobrado (not bad, shall try that in jakarta)

the other half hour were partner drills

we're more aggressive and confident with each other now in drills

which is good

cueca got a few good hits on me

i blame it on my gym sessions lagging my leg a bit

i need to pay attention to a few things

1. look into his eyes! not his feet. his eyes are the window to a whole world of pain!

2. because i'm a small-framed capoeirista, i need to learn not to be cornered in a roda. you can't play a head-on game. you must be concious of your surroundings and learn to move around and behind him so that you stay in the centre of the roda.

We did 8 sets with 1-2 minute breaks in between, 5 regional games, 2 benguela and 1 angola. i'd say it was pretty good for an hour.

Can't wait for JAKARTA!

Cool Use of EXISTING STREET GRAFFITI by Leo Burnett Lisboa for Pampero Rum

Picture sourced from campaign website: www.museuefemero.com

Another reason i love shortlists.

You get to browse through the gems that are overlooked

Often are, award winners get all the hype, but there are so many talk-worthy campaigns that you lose out so much if you just look through the winners

The above is for the campaign called the Pampero Run

Dubbed 'the world's first ephemeral museum'

Actually this is a big winner at Cannes

of course being creatives, we don't see the big deal cause it's not really an advertising idea per-se

but an idea's an idea

and in fact it's one of the top 10 campaigns across all media at Cannes according to The Big Won (google them)

Here's 10 reasons why:

1. it was cheap

2. it used innovative technology that was readily available to the public (ipod podcast)

3. graffiti in lisbon rocks

4. it captured the rebel spirit of the rum

5. it showed support to street culture, cultivating a following with young adults

6. it showed that alternative art is cool and should be appreciated. Strat-wise it's a brilliant soft sell with Pampero Rum, because it was an 'alternative' to conventional alcoholic choices of the target market

7. it integrates a 'street museum' with a website and ipod - a great display of 360 brand experience

8. it's a great way of using other people's art as part of your campaign, why limit your style to just your art director's

9. the copywriter just had to write the website copy (which probably nobody read) and spent more time on strat and conceptualisation.

10. the news generated, as with all great campaigns, spin-worthy. word on the street amongst the art community and young adults would've further perpetuated the campaign. Free additional PR coverage = awesome.

so there you go. 10 reasons the Pampero Run is the top 10 most awarded across the board at cannes campaign.

View the video here:

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/ephemeral-museum-in-lisbon/

Day 24. I played till my finger bled

Yeah that's right

one finger

not because of lack of passion

boy there was

just thta i was a klutz and i always nick my index finger on the drum screw

wonder if i'll die of tetanus poisoning

it would be quite epic

'how did coelho die?'

'he died doing what he loved most. Capoeira. well not really, but close enough'

because today we played SAMBA

a quick run through rehearsal went well

followed by a simple but terse reminder to the 'christiano ronaldo' and 'wayne rooney' of our performance troupe to remain focused

yeah i understand why there's still a place for 'ryan giggs' and 'paul scholes' now

to those who're reading

you know who you are, punk asses!

First round of samba

rafa muffed some of the intros

half of the troupe couldn't hear the other

but played on we did

you gotta take a bit of pride in the professionalism we displayed

second round of samba

superb

i love the enclosed acoustics

we played very well

and it was a nice impromptu touch that perereka and malcolm broke into a simple jogo

followed by peri and rafa doing solos to ongoing samba

not bad not bad

i'm feeling a bit pudgy

i'm not sure if i look it

i think i do

quek always insists it's 'ok wat...'

but i think he's just being polite

i blame 25% on his schedule, 25% on work, and 25% on domestication and 25% on the weather

it's gotta get better sooner or later!

well at least i dream of capoeira

that counts for training in some form i guess

will try to park it tomorrow, heaven willing.

Cool Use of STUPIDITY/STATIC BANNER by Bridge Worldwide

http://awardshome.com/cannes2009/pringles/can-hands.html
Look at that picture above.

It's stupid.

It begs you to click it.

And then the stupidity continues.

It's so stupid i can't stop finding out how much more stupiderer it can get

It doesn't stop

and it's unapologetically telling me that it's getting lots of clicks from me

I can't help clicking more

Nobody can

Not even the cannes jury

and that is why in this day and age of high brow intellectual art disguised as posters

or over art-directed-made-for-high-brow-judges grand prix radios

can just shove a can of pringles up their tiny tight cannes lion arses

because Bridge Worldwide (apparently best run SME in USA 3 years in a row) rocks

follow them here: http://www.bridgeworldwide.com/digital-agency-culture/twitter

and follow this link in a tribute to all that is fun and stupid about working in advertising:

http://awardshome.com/cannes2009/pringles/can-hands.html