Capoeira, Creativity & Coelho

Left Brain Overdose

2010-07-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

A lot of negative space, strat planners live in.

They're pretty grumpy because of it.

Sure we don't mind doing decks, that's because setting up the sales pitch is part of the fun.

Also, they don't mind creatives speaking in straight-up, simple language

Recently there's been a huge debate of what the role of a strat planner is

And it's pretty funny when you put 3 strat planners on that subject

it gets more and more confusing.

Let's see...

From Strat Planner 1 -

wtf does it even mean.

well not to worry, we have 3 strat planners right? Let's see if this one can explain it better. Here's the chart she pulled out.

The Butterfly?

Like seriously man.

Sometimes i think agencies just have nothing else better to do

MD 'How do we milk more out of the clients?'

Strat Director 'I know, how about we charge clients for common sense. Let's call it... The Butterfly!'

Meh.

Two down. One to go. Let's see what she replies with.

I'm not holding my breath no more.

The Karmic Customer wheel.

Like phoar.

I don't know man.

Strats should just be a way to explain in common sense, the Big Idea

Since every strat planner and ad agency in the world wants to come up with their own chart

Maybe they should look at the purpose of coming up with the charts in the first place

Strategically, proposing charts on what strat decks are, are off strat to start with.

What we need is a simple, processed workflow of when strat is needed.

Lest we forget, why the heck we're doing strat in the first place.

Everyone's got a chart.

I was too lazy to comment.

So i just did one of my own, nobody has emailed me back since.

I think that's good news.

Smart had one good idea, and that idea was stupid

2010-03-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

You've seen 'em all.

All of those 'cool' jeans campaigns

Funny thing is you gotta ask yourself

Despite seeing all them super award-winning jeans ads

Did any of them actually made you go out and buy a pair of jeans?

No?

Stupid ads.

Well maybe they were too... smart?

Well at long last, one of them did.

Diesel. Stupid is smart. Very.

Wrangler's Gold-winning Caveman campaign? Meh.

We are animals? Meh.

Levi's the Odyssey? Meh.

The last jeans ads that actually spoke to me was when i was 15, and it was one of them stupid skateboard print ads in those skateboard mags. (Speaking of which, stupid skateboarding mags are a vault of design and copy references if you're working on above-mentioned demographics. Which at some point or another, we all do. I think I'm gonna stupidly pick up a copy or two come to think of it)

The funny (and stupid) thing is, it really does speak to quite a few of us.

I'm not sure what your stupid story is, but at one point or another, we all yearn to do stupid things and not be judged by it.

Sure, that's a common enough insight into the rebellious teenage mind.

But come on. Don't be stupid.

When was the last time you saw a campaign so stupidly simple.

Heck. When was the last time a client was balls enough to be stupid?

Think, stupid.

Can't think of any?

That's a Unique Selling Proposition right there.

(The 'stupid' positioning. Not the fact that you're thinking, stupid!)

Where I work, we have a couple of stupid phrases for campaigns that we want to do well on.

Most stereotypical award-driven KPI agencies would asked, 'Is it Gold?'

We say, 'Is it retarded? No we haven't gone full-retard yet.'

Most suits and strategists will ask, eventually, 'is it gonna be Effies material?'

(actually come to think of it they don't ask. But anyway...)

We say, 'If we wanna fail, make it epic fail.'

I wish we did these campaigns for our house ads, instead of trying to be oh-so-smart.

It's definitely inspiration for something stupid.

And all the while. You're looking at a typical fashion ad.

The agency managed to sneak in something to be proud of.

Who is this stupid agency?

Take a guess.

CP+B? They try not to do ads when doing ads, so nope not really

W+K? They make smart ads. not stupid ones.

BBDO? They're busy selling 4-wheel-drives to Koreans (In English)

Did I just say something stupid?

Wow these ads are effective indeed.

The agency?

Anomaly.

Go look them up stupid.

And stay tuned for the rest of the diesel campaign.

It's gonna be quite stupid.

(although i think their integrated + digital incarnation's a little uniqlo-ish in execution.)

For the full campaign

Please visit theinspirationroom.

Thanks for the lovely pics by the way.

Some stupid people were saying my posts are too copy heavy.

Also. I'm too stupid to know how to crop the images, so you really do have to visit theinspirationroom to see the campaign.

The video also features a catchy electronic track and what looks like my idea of a strat/creative deck.

How to present like an american consultant

2010-03-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

The Americans

They made Arabs part with their land to make Israel

They made their people believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

They made the ipod

They're pretty good at making things up that's for sure.

I had the pleasure of being in the presence of a super-killer-motivator-sell-ice-to-eskimos-person

and I would like to share a few familiar 'killer' phrases that can be 'game-changers' at your presentation.

First of all, here are some rules of usage.

1. Use it often.

2. Put the audience in a spot by using those phrases and asking them while looking at them in the eye

3. Affirm an obvious scenario. Eg - the room is silent, you say, 'see i just changed the mood of the room just by tuning my voice one octave lower, it's the power of (fill in the blank with whatever word/phrase that i have below)

Here are the few consultant-language words that make you sound smarter, or your audience slightly more stupid:

I've also included links to the words so you guys can read-up on how to use them.

1. Idiosyncrasies - 'This campaign touches on the idiosyncrasies that are specific to our target audience, and speaks to them as an individual. Now when was a last time a TV commercial did that?"

2. Ontological - "This isn't an advertising campaign, it's an ontological journey we're about to embark with our target market." Then you look the marketing director in the eye and ask "Isn't that what we should be doing with all our advertising? Great!"

3. Dialectic - You may use this word when clients ask if the campaign works for Bahasa and Mandarin, like so, "Listen, we're not about to launch into a dialectic that dilutes the purity of the big idea. What's important are the emotions that the imagery conjures."

4. Cartesian Cage - Caution. Use this phrase carefully. If you google the words 'Cartesian Cage' nothing coherent comes up. NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS. So it's a little like an emergency eject button, use it when the clients are deadlocked in an indecision about your campaign, "Let's not get locked in a Cartesian Cage with our questions. Shall we move on?" And continue selling the rest of the campaign.

5. Soulsmen - This one is power. Instead of saying 'We need our sales team to be advocates for this campaign to work' you can say "We want them to be SOULSMEN, not SALESMEN".

6. Content VS Context - I quite agree with this point. And I actually will try to use it sometime in the future. Use this when a client, in his own delusional megolomaniacal mind wants to start his own 'facebook' or 'twitter' instead of latching onto existing social media platforms. Like so, "It's a case of Content VS Context. We're already being bombarded with too much content. What we need is to utilise the content we have, in the right context. Now check out this TVC"

7. We'll figure it out - use this phrase when the clients have already bought the big idea, but wants to put a bigger logo than the picture and you don't want to argue any more in the same meeting, "Don't worry, we'll figure it out"

And now. Let's see if we can string together the most god-like opening pitch presentation speech known to man (or American man):

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. Today we have a unique campaign that really touches the idiosyncrasies of our target market like never before. In fact, I wouldn't even call it advertising, rather, an ontological journey that will do away with all the dialectic confusion you face with your current campaign (a slight gentlemanly jab at their current ad agency). So before we start, we want you guys to really take a deep breath and move out of your cartesian cage. Today we are all soulsmen, not salesmen for the brand. Today, we'll figure it out!

Please drop me a message or hire me if any readers do win a pitch with the above opening sales pitch.

Cool Use of YOUR CAMWHORE PHOTO by FCB for The Swedish Broadcasting Corporation (orsomethinglikethatit'ssoawesomewhocares?)

2010-03-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hello phantom readers and inner-insomaniacal mind,

It's been a while since the last posts

maybe it's cause i've been busy

maybe it's cause i've been too preoccupied with more quality content in front of a monitor screen like Mass Effect 2 / Dragon Age / Bad Company 2

But every once so often

And i do agree that quality is the best kind of quantity

Something pops up on your hyperlink that really puts the HYPER in the Link

(Ok yeah lame. I need to start practicing or stop pretending to be in my twenties more often)

Anyway. Yes. This totally blew my mind.

I know it's quite a few months old and i've been meaning to twit, sorry blog about it

but life got in the way

UNTIL NOW.

THE POWER OF CONSUMER-GENERATED-CONTENT

We've all been there before

We've all attempted it or tried to (we're actually in the midst of something that we hope can match a fraction of the awesomeness of what i'm about to show you)

We've all been suckered into wasting our time loading faces on certain photos

The most infectious being that 60s college yearbook app website

yearbookyourself! that's pretty good right?

This makes the yearbookyourself experience look like porridge.

Enough of my verbal diarrhea

check out the awesomeness by clicking on the word awesomeness right here!

Ok let me calm the hype and be rationale about what i love about this.

Is it absolutely the future of entertainment? yes.

In a few years, if i dont' get a choice on deciding how a TV commercial ends, then it ain't a TV commercial at all!

Is it absolutely the death of tv commercials and the film industry in general? no.

The web is another media for storytellers to spin their tale. The colour tv killed the black & white tv, but it's an evolution, not a darwinian case of media extinction them naysayers (who incidentally make millions of predicting bullshit they call trends) make it to be.

Is it immersive, interactive and thoroughly infectious in nature? Fuck yeah.

The last time i got this excited, was when i was 14 and found a usable name and password for all-platinum access to a porn site.

Functionally you can twit and facebook about it, if you wish.

But really, i think this campaign can't be measured (well just like advertising in general, nothing has changed after all) because of the word-of-mouth/chat it generates.

Everyone's a closet megalomaniac

and that is why everyone will try this website once

because it's just awesome

and it makes you awesome

so you'll want to tell people how awesome you are

nuff said.

And to cap it off.

A little self gratification of self-awesomeness.

My own million dollar TV campaign

right here

Cool Use of THE CREATIVE TEAM by DDB New Zealand for the New Zealand Coast Guard

2010-02-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

This campaign is awesome in so many levels.

You always hear talk about how much creatives love their jobs. About how we throw everything we’ve got into our campaigns. What if you could throw yourself into an ocean for the cause?

The above is speculations, of course. It could be hardy, healthy talents in the campaign. God knows how long a writer/art director/producer/suit will last in the open ocean.

The point I’m trying to make though, is that this campaign, is a perfectly integrated example of a 2.0, reality-series driven, consumer generated content world meets old school media plan of TV, radio blabla so called ‘traditional agency’ model.

It’s an example how of creative agencies can take back ownership of an idea. That we can shove a finger up sexy digital agencies, with their oh-so-smart technical know-how and say, ‘Hey. You’ve got the means. We’ve still got the ideas.’

It’s the only way to survive in the cold, merciless ocean of change.

You don’t need to be wishfully thinking ‘oh… how I wish I could do that in my oh-so-traditional agency’. You should be wistfully dreaming ‘oh… I’m gonna do this great idea. What do we need to make it happen. Is it gonna fail? No… is it gonna EPIC FAIL? Am I gonna have to do it myself? Like, am I gonna be sharkbait to make it happen?’

Yes oh.. yes. I’m looking forward to asking myself that question every day.

Oh and before you go, please visit the link to see for yourself, the awesomeness.

Cool Use of A STRETCH OF ROAD by Wieden + Kennedy for Nike

2009-12-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

It's 12:48AM on a Monday morning.
Two weekends we've been prepping a brand plan for our client.
The signs are good, fingers crossed.
You hope, pray and above all you believe.
You believe that your campaign can achieve some sort of awesomeness

The point is
There's got to be a point to all this madness
If you think it's a job
Then you really shouldn't be here
Otherwise you'll probably hate a huge part of your life
Given the amount of time you spend.

Sometimes.

A great campaign comes along
and it lifts your spirits
it pushes you on
it calls out to you...

The Nike Chalkbot campaign is something like that.

In short
It's a consumer-generated-campaign using social media like twitter to send messages of hope directly to an automated chalkbot
it will write all your messages along the road
where Lance Armstrong and his band of volunteers will ride for cancer
urged on by your messages.

Click on this link to see what it's about

It's about doing great work
It's about staying late nights
It's about believing in yourself
and
It's about believing that one day you'll do something as awesome as the Nike Chalkbot.

Cool Use of A NEWSPAPER CLIENT by JWT Mumbai for Times of India

2009-09-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

I guess we've really got to thank Droga5 for making it all possible with the Tap Project

Not to mention Leo Burnett Sydney for Earth Hour

Well they certainly were our inspiration when we set about our epic CSR campaign for Canon last year.

Epic because it was a first step. But definitely the destination is something as OMFG massive as Tap Proj. and Earth Hour.

And then comes JWT Mumbai happily strolling along with this piece of beauty

Times of India

It's an Ogilvy account

And Ogilvy India's been milking this cow at the awards to no end

Well guess what

JWT Mumbai comes along and presents something so deceptively simple, efficient and charming that it just had to be done.

Why?

1. Your product is a newspaper - it reaches millions of people every day. Politicians live and die by the ink on your press. Why not put it to better use?

2. You have one of the highest illiteracy rate in the world, yet you have as well, some of the best brains on earth. Why not put it to better use?

3. Creativity is about bringing two things together. Absolutely powerful creativity brings two people together.

And there you have it... TEACH INDIA is as simple an idea as Tap Proj and Earth Hour. It doesn't hide behind 'clever' visuals. Neither does it wow anybody with 'humourous' commercials. It tells the story in two words. Hell screw that. It moves an entire nation with just these two words.

More importantly. It's a slap in the face to the incumbent agency. It's a serious lesson in relevance and the importance of adaptability.

Let's hear it for TEACH INDIA and the good people of JWT Mumbai!

Day 50: Schizo Schedule Confuses Mind & Body

2009-09-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Soul's always in tune with creativity and capoeira, so no worries there
it's the mind and body that's in a little bit of a conflict
Rushed to training and jumped straight into it
It was strength circuit, basic kicks coupled by full body strength conditioning
i guess i've always been a cardio/jogo kinda guy
will have to work on conditioning in my next training

was hurting for the whole week
followed by another week of late night work-related commercial shooting
had a chance to swing by the academy, but ran back home to granny like the little boy i was
and hid under the blanket for 2 hours
bliss.

should be very well rested and back into the work/capoeira grind again after the raya break!

Rant & Roll 7: You drink too much 'Hatorade' Kancil Hater!

2009-09-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

Kancil hater: defined as a creative that despises the local award show for its obvious big-agency bigotry. unfortunately has not won anything yet. rightfully or wrongfully, award-winning creatives scoff at their opinions as those of, 'sour grapes'

we'll call him sourgrapes.

Kancil hater II: defined as a creative that despises the local award show for its obvious inclusion of individuals deemed 'not worthy' to grace the judging panel at the Kancils. rightfully or wrongfully, creatives who're devoted to being professionals scoff at their opinions as those of, 'scammers'

we'll call him err...

scammer.

Please remember the above two characters, as i'll be conducting a seance to conjure their despicable spirits to write this blog post...

nomnomnom

*conjured!*

sourgrapes:

'It all started when someone thought it would be a great idea to reward creatives who're creative

everybody gets inspired by the winning work

we go home and feel sorry for ourselves

and the next day we give them the finger and drown ourselves in work

vowing to go up on stage, and be the victor instead!

And then someone thought

fuck it, rules are rules, let's find a way to beat them

and every creative person said, 'hey... they can do it... so can we!'

and so everyone started doing it'

scammer:

'Honestly.

It's fine.

Rules are meant to be broken.

Initiatives are just that - an agency 'initiative' to help put our money where our mouth is.

If we believe in the idea so much, let's see how effective it is and run it anyway mister client!'

sourgrapes cuts in...

'And then someone thought

fuck it, rules are rules, let's find a way to beat them

this time, let's just run ads for award shows.

let's not even bother if it's good for the clients, it's good for us!

hell let's leave the business to the suits, we're creatives, we should be winning awards

what? is this a promo ad? fuck it, get it over with and give me 50 award-winning print ads instead

not enough entries?! wtf people you call yourselves creatives?! tell you what, let's close the office for 3 months, and win some motherfucking awards.'

scammer interjects:

'if you're a fashion designer.

the clothes that you make for the runway are just that - for the fashion show

it's meant to awe, inspire and let everyone see how 'creative' you are

and that is how awards should be viewed as

a place to showcase your creativity.

the runway clothes never get made on the production line.

people go there to buy their insanely overpriced jeans and tshirts because of the brand

because it's creative!'

scammer sourgrapes speak at the same time:

'so you know what?

the scam VS non-scam thing isn't an issue

it's a matter of priorities.

when it's fashion runway time, showoff your haute

when it's the fashion sale time, make sure you have great clothes that sell!

fashion designers rarely compete in award shows

yet they're world famous marques

known for their creativity

it's a highly competitive industry

but hugo boss stands proudly next to gucci next to hilfiger next to versace

they all make ridiculous clothes that nobody would wear at fashion runways

a little like 'initiatives' that only judges appreciate

but they make really nice tailored, functional and stylish daily wear for their customers as well

that's what keeps the business moving'

sourgrapes distracts scammer with a buncha shiny pencils, and grabs hold of the keyboard:

'things get awry when lose their priorities

the awards get to their heads

winning is great

but acting like a real winner takes a lot more than trophies

oooo

yes i envy saatchi & saatchi

a company that actually fired their founders

or rather, maybe maurice and charles left because the agency no longer stood for anything but their surnames on the door?'

COMMERCIAL BREAK

read this article, if you haven't already:

http://bit.ly/1XJwMJ

scammer:

'remember kancil hater! it's just a difference in opinion of two very respectable agencies. It's a free country. We can choose to, or not to enter! We just feel like we owe it to the people to explain why.'
And now, read this one posted a few days later

http://bit.ly/QaZJp

scammer:

'screw the kancils. i don't want my work defiled by a bunch of unranked unknowns. If they haven't won any awards, how dare they judge my work to be inferior to theirs. If they like real work so much, go back and do their promo ads la!'

sourgrapes:

'you think that's bad! hah! i knew this day would come! it's karma i tell you! Even the One Show is on to you!'

sourgrapes:

'The One Show gave us a merit for our efforts this year.

But it's a merit i shall gold-plate just because of their sheer effort and intention to crack down on scams. It's a little bit like handing Chelsea that 2-transfer-ban for poaching someone. But enough about that, read all about it here http://bit.ly/E9BOa

scammer wasn't convinced, so sourgrapes pulled out the above poster.

it's not worthy of a bigger photo

so see the ad here http://bit.ly/6GRk3

sourgrapes:

' you all die lorrr.... scam la scam some more'

scammer:

'whatever man.. you're a scammer yourself'

read all about their exchanges, they go by various acronyms on the Verbal Assailant forum

but they're actually the same people.

Check out the very entertaining verbal assailant forum here:

http://bit.ly/zHQ8t

and

http://bit.ly/ZqW3D

to Kancil Hater I and II

it's funny that you're actually both sides of the same coin

a coin that the client will either keep in his pocket

or throw away at the beggar down the street

i have more parting words

but i'll let my good friend below speak about some 'hater' problem he encounters

http://bit.ly/ivtXP

scammer:

'hey, i'm gonna do a viral just like this one!'

Day 49 - Retorno pra roda

2009-09-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

happy faces post roda

rafa looking a little distracted

attack of the clones!

photos courtesy of priscilla alycia @ facebook

Day 49

A good day, or night rather

It was nice to get back in the roda

we were all shaking off heaps of rust

it showed

hell i think i even forgot some songs along the way

quek's been too busy with flu and building superficial muscles

i had a nice game with rafa

got bencao'd in the mouth though

marissa said she heard my teeth

but i think it was my pride

made it up a little in the subsequent games

malandro'd durim and nacho

marissa pulled one back with a low-blow heel to the penile area

this time, pride kept my game and gameface going

throwed in a nice lil trip

game's looking rusty in the sense that still have not pulled in many floreios that i've wanted to while in practice

honestly wasn't physically feeling the snap muscles

was just playing a more malandro/cardio movement game

the last regional game with quek was a close-roda fast kick game

i think i did alright

legs felt a lil fatigued and kicked quek a little

but didn't think he minded much.

Overall energy was really good

everyone's definitely feeling the pre-batizado buzz

Axè - 8.5

Jogo - 7

Day 46, 47, 48 - Flu Fighters!

2009-09-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

The week before has been a little fluish

as i type i'm feeling a little fluish

the entire office is a little fluish

cueca's been down the past two weeks, cause he was fluish

one wonders if exercising actually kept me going

or is perpetuating my flu

nevertheless

i have managed to clock in 3 days of exercise this week

not counting the impending roda tomorrow

the thought of a roda makes me happy

like waiting for a birthday party to happen

when you are 12 years old.

Day 46 - Futsal Flu

Despite wearing glasses

and being fluish

i was MVP scoring, passing and practically running rampant at will

i'm trying to be humble so i shall stop here

Day 47 - trainin'

Had a heavy meal with mejuli before class

definitely slugged me down during the circuits

rafa was merciful and didn't throw down any back flexibility stuff

so it was pretty good for me

nice takedown combo to train

meilua

opponent- compasso

you counter with a rasteida frente, low

and if that doesn't get him

you drop-step across as he gingas into a tesoura frente

shall train that with cueca when he's feeling better

Day 48 - gym blitz with fellow flu fighter

met up with quek for a 40 min gym circuit at his apartment

i feel better than the last time i was there

definitely finding the weights a little easier

my biceps and chest are still womanly though

what can i say

i've never been one to develop gym-wrought 'show' muscles any way

function over form anyday

hence

shaved my head for good effect.

Rant & Roll 6 : Ideas Exist Outside

2009-08-30T23:23:00.000-07:00

Up.
Don't need no links. Just go google it. Better yet catch the movie.
Signs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy0HNWto0UY

The House of Small Cubes
http://vodpod.com/watch/1418143-the-house-of-small-cubes-la-maison-en-petits-cubes

I've been having a very existentialist week
Probably attribute it to the hectic work schedule
combined with the hallucinatory state of being in and out of fever
and losing at scrabble (resoundingly) to my senior writer
and his art director
and watching a great campaign being built before your eyes
(petty i know, but i'm jealously competitive that way)
and having to juggle my 2nd week on the job as a new husband
and enduring middle-management flak (i know, it's lonely at the semi-top)
and acclimatizing to my newly renovated office and workdesk
and having my annual introversions which coincides with the kancils
(are we better off than last year creative standards-wise?)
and feeling like clients use us as dildos for creative masturbations

Funny how i always use work as a salve for my wounds
If you're down, drown yourself in what you love to do
If work's down, drown yourself in some other end of the advertising pool

But you know what?
Sometimes you've just got to get out of the proverbial pool, and take a dip into the ocean

Because Ideas Exist on the Outside.
They exist beyond finding 'that one insight that's so valuable'
They exist beyond 'what do consumers want and need?'
They exist beyond 'that one tagline that rules them all'

UP - is the most refreshing piece of storytelling i've experienced this year. It put a smile and re-wet my contact lenses in the cinema.

SIGNS - a simple piece of storytelling. no verbal dialogue. and yet so much is said. the most amazing thing? it's from an ad agency. Publicis Mojo. I love them.

HOUSE OF SMALL CUBES - poignant piano piece plays the protagonist poetically through the most precious memories of his life.

I'm sure there are more examples out there in the world. But right now, the above three reminds me of one of the most important aspects of addressing the greatest fear of the creative person.

The fear? Not having any more ideas.
The address? Definitely not your advertising agency's.

Days 40-45: Of gym rats, squirrels, grunt training, fresh fish and sun-baked walking.

2009-08-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

Wow the above title sounds just like a haiku
A very badly written one but oh well this ain't a haiku blog
This week's been quite good exercise-wise
Did my first solo dentsu park training, and i must say it's good. Shall continue to do so.

Day 40:
Quek dropped me a quick message
and we went off for a true fitness rendezvous
some strength training
did better than the last few rounds
but the finale was the leg squat-lunge
couldn't complete the 5 sets cause of sunday's gym trainin.

Day 41:
FUTSAL!
Didn't do many runs.
By my hamster-wheel standards anyway
Legs felt a little lead-like
but still managed to do 2 volley goals outside the box
overall, good cardio with plenty of breaks in between

Day 42:
What a surprise
A weekday at 5pm without rain!
called quek but he was busy
so i decided to take things into my own hands instead
Practiced the moves from celebrity fitness training with quek
Feels good to know the ground movements are smooth
I think it's an important regime of my training that i've been neglecting
training movements on my own
a lot of the moves in my jogo in the roda
right from role movements are developed from self-training
Alex was there to provide some spotting, discussions and even some contributions on street fighting and grappling techniques
i still prefer running away and stabbing them from the back

Day 43
Filed an application for official training with Her Majesty (that's my wife)
went for dinner,
she meekly gave her demure 'please don't go' tactic
but seeing the determination in my face, relented
i went there late, just as well cause i really didn't want to go through warmups
it's been 4 out of 5 days of training in a row!
Some basic drills that i'll revise at the park
Rasteida frente, my favourite
but this time there was a nifty leg shuffle to surprise the opponent with a tesoura bachu
i still prefer tesoura frente and think there might be a chance of pulling it off with the same move
definitely need to practice this with quek to sort it out a little
otherwise, revisions at park will be bencao-chapa, chapa-escourao, duploesque, flying armada thingy... yeah.
Also had a nice samba training, getting ready for lynn's sisters wedding.
We were a bit rusty. My ears were a bit dainty.
but otherwise, twas a good session. Very liberating for my spirits.

Day 44
Lynn's sister's wedding.
I had this sequencia solo that i was mucking about at the park
i think i shall utilise this as my base solo for these few months
also something i shall work on at the park during practice.
Au into qaeda-de-rins, into headstand then handstand back down into qaeda then role into flippetyflop armada compasso au semao... phew that was a mouthful.

Day 45
Charity Roda at rumah Nur Salam
Nice benguela paced games with the crew
god i miss a good roda
energy was good
movements were very basic, but i kept a very simple, sturdy benguela game
movement around the roda was good
vision and anticipation was sharp
i shall try to focus more on gaining tactical advantage and capitalising on it
at the next non-performance roda.
Stanley's developing some malandragem. i shall up our games a lil.
marissa's always been my weight-to-weight roda and training partner, will see if i can try and use more movement around them
Perereka and Malcolm are the regional specialists, will force them into a smaller game and restrict their movements to see if i can take advantage of the situation better.

While taking a shower i thought of this quote
to be considered in my 'one-day-i'll-actually-do-it' tattoo
Roda de Vida, Jogo de bomba
i gotta check with rafael
but i think it should roughly translate into
Play well in the roda of life.
Because that's what capoeira is you know... life.

Rant & Roll 5: creatives! it's not just at work you need suit-like friends!

2009-08-16T03:14:00.000-07:00

You pray that your friends are as efficient in time management as the good suits in the office. Certainly they're better than i am!

And yes. The unbridled joy of finally qualifying for marriage.

The culmination of months of hard work

Photos courtesy of Norman Tang of Sunday Photography Studio

It had to happen.
It was going too smooth.
Even my bride wasn't surprised at my apparent absent-mindedness.
I've spent months choosing the ring.
Weeks preparing logistics and stuff for the registration.
And the days leading up to it fretting over the guest list.
But i could've potentially ended up with jack. Not juli.
All because I didn't bring my identification card.

What can be learnt from this experience though?
Since this blog's posting is about ranting and rolling?

Well.
How bout this.
Lesson 1:
ORGANISATION!
Imagine that you spent a week working on some crazy-assed it's da shit award-winning creatives
Clients have approved it
On the day of launch
Someone forgot something as simple as, well... the thumbdrive that contains all the final artwork
And then unsightly things hit the fan, because clients have trusted you, brought their friends and colleagues along to show off, your entire team's counting on you,
AND YOU FORGOT YOUR THUMBDRIVE?

Creativity is important. But just like the gym. You gotta work your left side as well as your right.
(It's a metaphor for the left and right brain ok!)

Focus. Make a list. Check it twice and thrice. Rehearse it in your head. Keep a notebook. Preferably not a smartphone. Cause you'll end up playing Bejeweled 2.

Lesson 2
YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR TEAM.
Yes. When unsavoury things hit the fan, one can't possibly clean it up himself.
You need a bunch of people who accepts your mistake
and focus on the problem at hand as a team
rather than pointing at the fan and saying, 'you did it!'
I am rather fortunate to possess such individuals in my circle both at work and in life
(they're mostly the same people. lines blur when you do what you love as a job)
So if you've a great team around you, which i do, it shows!
and how would you know if you do have a great team?
All i can say is, remember the fan?

Lesson 3
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Often. People freeze. Or they hide under the table. Or they point finger. Or they take emergency leaves.
If the fan's stuck because of regurgitated undigested substances
It's your reaction to it that matters the most at that moment.
Smile. Own up. Follow through.
Do what you can. It doesn't have to be a domino effect.
Be resourceful. If it's mission critical, stall, buy time, distract, entertain, divert.
Laugh in the face of potential danger and imminent singledom.

Lesson 4
BUILD GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS
Just because you're creative don't mean you can hide in your little room to brainstorm and win trophies.
Meet the clients.
John Hegarty did. David Ogilvy did. Akira Kagami did. Everyone in the Copy Book did.
And that's cause the best ads came from insights into the client's business
and nobody knows it better than they do
and even if they didn't, and you knew better than them
that's when you know they'll trust you with their business.
In this case, it was my wife-to-be
she didn't freak. she laughed it off. and that really helped calm some nerves.

All in all.
It was a memorable way to kick-off matrimony
And in the end
The drama and suspense worked to our advantage
All because of the above lessons
which hopefully i will take the next time metaphorically faecal matter hits the fan professionally.

Day 39: Return to celebrity fitness

2009-08-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since i've been with the boys at celebrity
Nice to steal a little dude time with them
Did a fairly straightforward training regime
feeling a little fluish from the week's festivities
nothing like some sweat out to get the system up and running
wanted to do some weights after
but was in dude mode so decided to hit the sauna and some coffee
i can't remember when was the last time i was there
but i'm such a noob at this gym thing
definitely more of a running rampant and games kinda person
gimme the capoeira academy or a futsal field any day!

started with some simple tempo drills
followed by some tempo switch to tesoura frentes
nice little benguela move that i'll work on
the tesoura frente definitely suits my physical shape and size better than the other tesoura
cause i'm small sized and it's hard to wrap my legs around the opponent to get enough leverage

this was followed by meialua to negativa dentru then switch to tesoura frente
also useful cause the opponent might be used to getting a vengativa from there
but if you're able to squeeze and slither the other way, you'll surprise him

speaking of slithering
this was the more advanced switch to the tesoura frente
compasso troca into entrada
you do half a compasso, do a quick switch up by lifting both legs - basically to avoid the negativa
but you use your momentum to follow up with a tesoura frente
it's very technical
and if you've got a good basic on your esdobrado it helps with the move
i found that if i slide my leg to catch the base it helped me with the move
just gotta find a way to practice that in the roda
or maybe the park with cueca
which is a little rare these days with the rain and our conflicting schedules
sucks being an adult sometimes.

floreia was the same as above
compasso meia troca entrada but this time into a ponche
i'll work on my twist-over version instead
still a little wobbly
try to get my footing right...

the above drills definitely complement my jogo style
so i'll work on them a little more.

Rant & Roll 4: 95percent... c'mon rawkstars where's that 5%?

2009-08-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

http://95percent.com.my/main/95-the-advertising-academy/idea-rawkstarrs/

I love doing community service at 95percent
If there's one thing i learnt
I owe it to the people who've given their all to make me a better adperson
to make a difference in someone else's life too

Janet Lee's a great mentor to the young uns
Peter Gan's the war vet that's seen it all - and yet still comes across patient and paternal
If you're looking for a grooming school before getting into the meat-grinder that's the ad industry... there's no better place to start

so before i continue pimping them too much, let's get to the low-down.

(honestly, i only get paid a notebook every time i show up
but the notebooks are priceless for me thoughts and scribbles
certainly cheaper than one of my writer's moleskin)

Subject: 9 students
Topic: develop a strat deck

I had the privilege of sharing the panel with Joseph Icannotrememberhissurname,
Strat Head at DraftFCB.
So being a creative person, of course i'll let the pro do most of the talking
and honestly
the questions he threw at them
would've daunted the most seasoned strat/creative/suit if they were unprepared

which brings me to my next point
preparation!

I still don't understand why strat presentations have to be so dry
probably because there isn't any creative input into it
so as i'm writing this in vain hopes that more people will read my blog postings
i'm also talking to myself, noting the lessons i've picked up

might as well do it in pointform:

1. strat. in any agency marketing tool speak is essentially salad dressing for these two words: 'common sense'. If it isn't. Then it's your job to make it so. You have to convince the clients with your strat that it's plain 'common sense' that this is the strategic direction, and that i would be an idiot to think otherwise!

2. strat. in any agency marketing tool speak can actually be simplified to 5Ws and a H. Who, Where, Why, When, What and How. In no particular order. The only reason agency networks complicate the above is to make themselves sound like the only people ever to invent it. And therefore convince the clients that they can't live without them. A bit like choosing one beef burger over the other. The essential ingredients are the same.

3. strat. should always lead to selling the big idea. everything else that you put in your strat deck that doesn't do so, should be taken out.

4. strat. is the idea. the idea is the strat. just do it was a strat. impossible is nothing is a strat. ultimate driving machine's a strat. and they're all big ideas too. so stop thinking of strat as the foreign alien domain of 'the planners'.

5. strat. is what every ad person should inherently possess. suits will write better briefs. creatives will be better creatively. and strat people, well they won't have jobs. which should be the case anyway because it's because of the lack of strat inherent in suits and creatives that's giving them this fat paycheck called common sense. don't feel bad for them. they can always be clients. which means we could be selling better ads as a whole, cause we're not hoarding all the best people in the ad industry.

so in conclusion. Idea Rawkstarrs. you've got all the ingredients to make a beef burger.

some of you have toasted the buns. some have made the dressing. some have even grilled the beef. but nobody's giving the panel a nice tasty fresh off the grill beef burger with maya, egg and double cheese patty, extra mustard, no cabbages please.

better start cooking.

Day 36, 37 & 38: Free-flowin futsal, Birthday Roda with Rafa + Raped by Cueca at the gym

2009-08-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

Day 36

'Tis a good day

My suspicions are founded - i need contact lenses to play futsal

these high-index glasses mess with your peripheral vision

i had a great run, stamina was top notch, got some great assists and goals

Day 37

Made it to the birthday roda of my main man Rafael

Rafa made short work of all the juniors

i think they didn't put up much of a fight

perereka was unceremoniously dumped out in 15 seconds

i had a nice angola game with rafa

it was a 'conversation between brothers in the roda'

two children playing, smiling, teasing, both throwing hidden movements nobody else saw or understood

well rafa did put an elbow up my nose... but it was all good.

cueca had a nice game too

durim survived.

god talking about it makes me miss capoeira already

Day 38

hit the gym

cueca promises to get me in shape in time for my wedding dinner next year

for some reason i've put on 2kgs

i don't feel it

my kicks are strong, my jump is good, stamina's rockin

but when i look in the mirror... gah!

i just gotta keep the faith.

Cool Use of ELECTRICITY by Saatchi & Saatchi South African for Osram Light Bulbs

2009-08-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

When no one's at the bus stop

When someone's at the bus stop.

Photos from adland.tv

It's tough going at the outdoor categories at cannes

most of the ads are game changers.

i find the media category all the more refreshing

i wonder if the media people in other countries are scary creative

did they think up all those stuff?

or did the creatives force their hand and made their job even more challenging to change the game?

6 categories into the outdoor shortlists

the only notable was a very well art directed perrier billboard from ogilvy paris

and a dopey billboard campaign featuring americans climbing the mexican border to break into mexico for some sol beer

not exactly what i was looking for

a lot of the shortlists were also not google-able

i really wish cannes would just show the shortlisted work as well

anyway

i don't think this Osram bus stop won anything

it might've been too deceptively simple as an idea

but i thought it was a fantastic way to communicate Osram's committment to the environment

and a simple community message, 'use electricity when you need it'

nice and simple

once again, another saatchi's office puts a smile on my face

i just might be a closet fan after all.

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

2009-07-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-06T11:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

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

Day 23. A Day at Danga Bay

2009-06-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

First off

The headline of this post is copy-masturbation at its most self-glorified best

not only did I manage to alliterate danga to 'day' but also made 'day' rhyme with 'bay'

you might think it simple, but that's some pure back-to-basics serendipity magic right there

Which ties in perfectly with our posting about our latest tour-of-duty

8am dim sum with juli was the perfect way to start the mornin

Durim was late

so he missed dim sum and cost us some time on the road

No biggie

Our driver rapheal (pronounced: Ray-feel), not to be mistaken for our graduado Raphael (Ha-fa-el) made sure we got there on time

a few paranoid moments in the van

i was sitting in front

and i'm the world's most chickenshit front-seat passenger

not the mention the fact that a friend of mine in high school lost a leg that way

cause your legs are the same height as the engine, should the unfortunate event of a head-on happen, ouch.

So i tried to sit cross legged, and get some nap.

I think ray had the same idea

i caught him slipping lanes coupla times

and when i stared right at him, he was oblivious, with his eyes semi-shut!

The Bantus Bandwagon is notorious for diversions

We have never. NEVER had a trip where we got there and back on time.

diversions are always part of the masterplan.

The first was Sunny taking us to a god forsaken part of Taman Aminah in the boondogs of JB for lunch, when there was a superb variety of food at the Danga Bay streetmall.

Ok, nobody knew and we were all hungry.

Other than the street mall

Danga Bay's a god forsaken stretch of seaside with no breeze or crowd whatsoever.

The Astro Soccer Safari was under way

It was scorching! The only people who were present were of course the 3-on-3 football participants

No matter, we're free spirited capoeiristas sword to amuse and entertain even if it was a crowd of one

one small problem, the heat was merciless

And we've all been spoilt by too many stage performances

Mental note: ROAD TRIP = SHOES (It is called a road after all)

The sun was blistering. The cement tiles were blistering. My feet were blistering. Even my slippers were blistering damnit. It got to a point where playing in the roda was a better respite than standing and clapping

Roda I

Ache: 6/10

Jogo: 6/10

Roda II

Was slightly better

we warmed up a bit to the 'nice' weather with some futsal

I scored some nice headers from Rafa's crosses

Granted that the keeper was Terry, but it was a nice feeling imagining myself actually doing that in a real game

I miss futsal.

Anyway, second roda was in the futsal arena

It was just as blistering, but at least it was a bouncy floor

the enclosed surrounding and ready-made crowd was also good for energy level

The Aseana Percussion Group were at hand. We're long-time collaborators and Krshna is also my old schoolmate. Great to have them with us on the bataria.

we had a really nice tight roda, every one was very intuitive and worked flawlessly as a unit

Personally, my Capoeira Blitz training at the park's paying off. Got more kicking up-game into my more ground-movement based jogo. Threw in a semao and flippety-flop here and there. In fact had quite an airtime one. I swore i was looking at the ground for a second before landing. Time to work on something new with all that milliseconds to spare.

We were also treated to some super-cool gumboot dance moves by some students from Botswana.

Ache: 8/10

Jogo: 8/10

Roda III

The day eased into the evening.

The crowd was building up at the main stage.

thanks to the Akademi Fantasia performers

The Aseana Percussion Group and Gumboot dancers were also a nice touch.

So we had to put up a show ourselves

and put up we did

another great performance roda

The grand finale was truly epic

Gumboot dancers, Zimbabwean (i think) bushmen with spears, garb and shield, and dopey chinese capoeiristas, plus Dr. Freestyle! Malaysia's best hope at showing the world we too know how to football, powered by the Aseana Percussion Gang

All in one stage!

It was true fun.

By this time, the ball of my right foot was already ripped to shreds

But the rest of the team had a great time doing some really cool tricks to the crowd

Durim's back flik flak across the stage

Malcolm and Durim's mirror compasso back the other way

Terry's semaos

I did some gumboots with the Botswanans.

Ache: 10/10

Jogo: 7.5/10

Roda IV

By this time, i was deliberating with the toilet lady

i looked so dirty she insisted on charging me rm1 because she didn't believe that i was only going in to use the sink to wash up, (20 sen for toilet, rm1 for shower facilities)

we were given hotel facilities though

bliss

and serendipity came along with us in the form of the Aseana Percussion dudes checking out

so we took over their rooms

which definitely saved us some time

no way 8 of us could've showered and be done in 45 mins

Durim was so happy to see the shower he decided to have a Thai Songkran Water Festival in there

the only thing left barely dry, were my wits and sanity

Anyway back to the show

once again, tough crowd

think Johor's big on family dinners and nothing else

there was hardly a crowd

and we already formulated a very nice sequence for them in hand!

no matter, crowd of one, is still a crowd

and bantus aims to please!

so we did our solo entradas, i wanted to do a flipetty flop by settled for a humble headstand

Durim did a backflip despite eating a packet of rice (showoff)

and we all had some very nice benguela games

makulele was also quite tricked out

with some simple choreography to break the routine

all in all, 10 minutes went by really quickly.

Ache: 9/10

Jogo:7/10

More tomfoolery ensued.

In no chronological order, i shall recap the day's non-capoeira highlights

1. Danga Bay has nice food but miserly bathroom attendants

2. Durim sucks at directions! Don't ever put him next to the driver

3. Malcolm always has a bag of snacks at hand

4. I don't know how Lynn stays so calm

5. Rafa, durim and I can form our own Airhorn acapella group. Lynn has the videos to prove it.

6. Curry chicken and enclosed van afterwards = gas chamber. Main suspect - Durim. Chief culprit - Rafa.

7. Road trip = SHOES!

8. Rafa submitted more than 20 entries into the lucky draw - all brasil of course, but i'm the one who put Clint Dempsey as man of the match! Lynn might walk away with a plasma TV!

9. Keep yerself hydrated and bring TWO towels for roadtrip capoeira

10. Durim sucks at directions.

Cool Use of OL SKOOL MAILER meets NEW SKOOL GOOGLE MAPS by DDB Germany Berlin for Volkswagen

2009-06-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

Ah finally, a new batch of shortlists worth shortlisting again.

The first page of the direct mailer category A01 was rather boring,

I was beginning to lose hope

that my sleep was sacrificed for naught.

Until the second last shortlisted entry came up

The Navigation Letter from Volkswagen:

Intriguing title, and a curiously simple submission layout

You probably can't make sense of the visual above

but thanks to some simple web ferretting

(by the way, i found better hits on bing for cannes shortlist visuals and references)

so here's the link go check out the case study

http://www.xipax.com/ad/11468/the-navigationletter/

(i've got to learn how to post videos on my blog damnit!)

What's crazy about it, is its simplicity

Use google earth to find the exact route it takes from the Volkswagen office to the customer's home

Trace the outline of it, and customise it on the envelope

Viola!

A very personalised mailer, criteria number 1 for every DM kit.

Guess what they're selling?

In-car GPS of course

I was beginning to wonder why did thebigWON rank Germany as the most creative country in the world

But after this very neat piece of Direct Mailer

I can imagine the beautiful alchemy of the logic and the lucid in the land of mechanical motoring wonders.

Guess what? They're good in making ads for cars too!

And that is why, the Navigation Letter from Volkswagen rocks my balls (located 176 S, 78SW)

Here's the link once again

http://www.xipax.com/ad/11468/the-navigationletter/

day 21 & 22: Capoeira Blitz

2009-06-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Who says you don't get no inspiration from Bejewelled Blitz

First, i got me first 200k medal in 10 mins while waiting for a meeting

i get an inspirational rant about the industry and its fixation for getting the highest rankings

(see Rant and Roll Chapter 2:

http://woeihern.blogspot.com/2009/06/rant-roll-chapter-2-story-of-life-told.html)

then, because these days life gets in the way

but we're still lovin capoeira in the grass right?

Cueca and i have invented the 45 minute Bejewelled Blitz-inspired Capoeira Blitz

DAY 21:

15 minutes warmup

15 minutes floreio revisions

5 x to-the-max jogo regional - we practiced our standing kicks and up-game, been a lil out of practice, averaged 40-50 seconds per set.

DAY 22:

5 minute warmup

5 x jogo regional - average 50 - 60 seconds per set

7 minute break

5 x jogo benguela - average 70-80 seconds per set

DAY 22 we concentrated on putting our floreio and movements that we've been practicing into the jogo. A lot of times we do new moves in classes and practice it solo, which is easily ingrained into a solo performance, but it's so pretty damn hard to blood into your game.

i think we shall continue this Capo Blitz sessions should we have to squeeze in 45 minute park sessions.

we'll reserve the 60 minute ones for a little take-down and grappling drills

and if we've got more than an hour, only we'll take our time mucking about with floreios and mortals

It's about growing up

it's about economising

it's about knowing what to do and doing it efficiently

it's about Capoeira Blitz!

day 20. The road less travelled

2009-06-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Funny how they say you gotta slow down and smell the roses

Well, being a land-lubber who's so used to driving

You forget what's in store for you when you do hit the road

with your feet

You almost forget how alive your neighbourhood is

Trapped in your sheet metal monotony

Format radio droning along

Or your favourite CD reminding you of who you chose to be

Switch off Track 1 for once, and play Track Neighbourhood instead

The first thing you hear's the rustling of leaves overhead

And the pitter of the stray dead one

And the slight damp moist on your face as you wipe it off your brow

You smell wet grass, then some warm smoke from the nearby village

village? yeah it's there

most of the time you're just busy zipping past and it's reduced

to a series of flashing yellow streetlamps

you take a turn

and another

choose the one less travelled

choose the one without streetlamps

narrower, narrower

smells like teen spirit

the one i left behind along with my mountain bike

there should be a graveyard somewhere

there it is, somehow the familiar sentimentality feels me with warmth

amidst the after-rain night chill

no mist of despair or otherworldly stereotypes

just a familiar smile as i walked on

more nooks and crannies

i don't smell roses though

damp rotting foliage

familiar, yet so often far away

a darker road leads to trepidation

a lone bike looms from the back

my neck bristles, i look at my options just in case

it is dark after all

a gate, climbable to my left

the path to the right, too far and open to consider

i hear manic laughter as they zoom past, almost too close

my hands tense, they swing by awfully close and laughed

racial banter trailing in their wake

i didn't want to risk reinforcements, i climb the gate/border

funny how a simple wall divides

how easy it is to physically cross

yet so defines two neighbourhoods

i spot some patrol bikes and climb as soon as they past

lest they mistaken me for the very people that i was suspicious of

walk. walk the road less travelled

because even a mundane hour can make you feel like Jack Bauer

Nike talks about being alone with your thoughts

They never told you which neighbourhood you should do it in.

Rant & Roll 3: Portfolio Nite 7 - Student 0

2009-06-11T10:57:00.000-07:00

I thought the Tourism Selangor pitch was a fanboy experience

with Hwa, Ted, Iska all in suits doing the Reservoir Dog standoff to one another

This was a totally different league

like ... ECDs galore

as i entered the hall, some of the students eyed me as i walked to the registration desk

and past it towards the judges desk

Yeah i couldn't believe it myself

oh well it was as good as any an exposure into the cliquish big-league that was the CDs circle

I know a few of them

so let's do a quick drive-by on my encounters and fleeting conversations

Fanboy, 'Hi Dani, congrats on your new child'

Dani Coumar (ECD Ogilvy) - 'congrats on your wedding proposal'

Fanboy, 'Hey Andy, how're you'

Andy Soong (ECD Publicis) - 'hey hey, good. you want a beer? How's work? busy? that's good...'

Fanboy, 'Hey Szu Hung, i liked you in Sell out. Chow Chee Fai!'

Szu (ECD Mccanns) - 'oh my god, you saw it? How horrible...'

Fanboy, 'Hey Adrian'

Adrian (ECD Saatchis) - 'hi hi....'

Later while spotted smoking in the corner

Adrian - 'smoking's bad for you!'

Fanboy, 'Hi Lakshmi'

Lakshmi (ECD FCB) - 'Hey, how's TM? Which part of it do you all really handle?'

Fanboy, 'Hi Mun'

Mun (ECD BBDO) - 'Hi! Hmmm... where's my table and what's my table number'

Fanboy - eyes Ted Lim

Ted Lim (ECD Naga DDB) - eyes fanboy

they both continue their respective conversations with other people

Fanboy - Would you like to go first? (in reference to a post Portfolio nite interview session)

Tan Kien Eng (GOD Arc and LB) - Nah nah it's ok (looks away)

As you can see from the above

They were the who's who of the Malaysian creative scene

The above were only bout half of them

The rest i didn't get meet

but god i wish i was a participant instead of a judge

Back in those days, we would've killed to be given the opportunity to splay yourself and work in front of these people

But today

all i saw were half-hearted people who haven't bothered to prepare themselves for Portfolio Nite

I should give them credit though

because at least they turned up.

There are 30,000+ advertising/marketing/design/communication students in Malaysia and TWENTY turned up?

come on...

the ratio of 1 CD to 1 student was pretty good value

i just wished there was more time to attend to more of them

i only got 45 minutes, 15 each so that's only 3 candidates.

Pretty tiring, but a rather interesting event to be a part of.

VIDEO Interview Curve Ball moment

interviewer, 'so, what is your criteria for creative work'

bimbo noob fanboy zen-like answer 'i dunno... i guess as long as it makes you smile.'

Urg, i still cringe.

The ECDs are mingling post Portfolio nite.

I rolled myself a cancer stick

Organiser, 'Won't you stay? Your boss is still around, and so are many of the ECDs. It'll be fun'

Fanboy, 'No thanks, my team's waiting back at the office'

Organiser, 'Well thanks for coming'

Fanboy, 'Thanks for having me'

The distant laughing and camaraderie

Already just a murmur in the background

as i head back to the people that matter the most.

Day 19. my back muscle lost its virginity

2009-06-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a week of non-training

i had to squeeze in some sweat-time

great to have cueca as a buddy

he's always happy to accomodate his less-fit corporate capoeirista louhung

At the gym,

Quek: Whaddya wanna do?

Me: Whatever you're doing... but less.

And so we focused on the kryptonite of my capoeira physique

the back and shoulder muscles

started with some half au leg stretches

shoulderblades breaking at the seams

and then you dip your head through to tear it some more

and medicine ball assisted stretch

i think in medieval times they used something like this too

quek defiled my shoulders by stretching them

i think it'll be worthwile some day

final set in the circuit was the killer leg swing sit up

without a partner

i used a quek-assisted medicine ball

i think i shall cry my muscles to sleep...

hu huu hu huu

that's what a raped back muscle sounds like.

Day 18. Capoeira. Makulele. Samba. Wine. Nice.

2009-06-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

The lull before the drizzle

yes. that is the love of my life. although you

wouldn't have guessed it by the ever-increasing amount of

incriminating photos.

told ya.

the irony - local chinese boys playing capoeira

to remind south american expats what they miss from home.

all in all... a good day.

Wow it's been seven days of neglect to my lonesome blog

its only inhabitant - an empty shoutbox app still unapplied

i thought i figured it out while using the twitter app

and likewise with the shoutbox

it's true now that i'm in the new decade, i'm not being tsunami'd aside by progress

but i guess i feel its currents stronger on my less youthful brain-legs.

Better to wallow in things more familiar

like gaming, and capoeira, and of course it comes will circle with passion persistently always the pulse of a writer

so here goes:

a mirthful weekend indeed

full of catching-up with friends

and i was treated to a real blast from the not-so-distant-past

a restaurant full of latin americans celebrating south america day

well not that it's an official celebration

but Malaysians should soak in more of their capricious spirit

music, revelry, camaraderie

we certainly couldn't disappoint them

and so we went

a nice pleasant roda

no pressures

a nice team of smiling capoeiristas who know that it was to be a day of fun

malandro level down

i had a rather simple couple of games in the roda

decided to give the south americans what they were looking for... Rafael

so i took over the bataria

Terry's very eager to lead the singing now

i'm still getting used to it, because not many people do it in the troupe

it's good that he's taking charge

It was pretty bread and butter

i think everyone was still lethargic from their respective long weekends

plus it was pretty relaxed in front of a home crowd

all in all

personal roda rating - 6.5

Roda axe rating - 7

Samba was rock steady though.

Quek fell asleep at one break. But i'd rather look at it as a good thing cause we rolled with it and continued like right proper professionals.

Samba rating - 8

Juli was feeling the samba vibe

who could ask for more

fiesty brasilian free spirit, with a penchant for even more spirits free or otherwise, all in a compact chinese child-bearing woei hern-loving package

can be quite a handful

and so i was left to my own devices

in the form of Poleitia and Wei Nee

the evil twins and their rm5 wines

please see exhibit B.

All in all. A pretty great day, to savour what capoeira has always been about. Life.

Rant & Roll chapter 2 - the story of life told in two images

2009-06-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A - 4 hours of Bejewelled Facebook meditation

Exhibit B - The source of my grief

I read a lot about award-winning work

I love advertising and creativity

Much as a loathe the awards game

and believe myself to be one who is 'true' to my profession

meaning - dedicated to giving my clients the best creative solution to solve marketing and brand problems

A part of me still feels competitive

and every time this year (well maybe twice a year, counting kancils, but last year i didn't feel it)

I feel a niggling mixture of frustration, jealousy and impotence when the Creative Review publishes their annual creative rankings.

Does it mean they're better than me?

More importantly, am I as good as them?

Normally the creative child in me is just plain happy to learn, invent and create something new every day. All i want is something new in my portfolio. And if my team learns something as well, all the better. And if we all went through each campaign, and came out alive and smiling, there are sure to be something to remember on our battle scars for the next sortie.

But nooo. This isn't normal. Not with a 4 day long weekend. Not with jumping into the deep end on the wrong end of the client-agency appreciation scale. Not with the creative rankings issue hanging itself at newstands.

And so i did the one thing i could. Screen-saver meditation. Many creative books and books on creativity will always tell you to walk away and do something else, how it's good for your thoughts. And it always has. So here are some fleeting thoughts through it all.

1. Winning awards - conspiracy 1 - you get hooked, and you stay at the agency, willing to do anything and everything because that's the price you pay to get your name on that poster submission form.

2. Winning awards, irony 1 - you lose your best people after they win the awards, because at the end of the day they're chasing the money

3. Winning awards, irony 2 - last year's top creative person was purely fictional. Truth is, he's more real than most of the work that the creatives whose names are on the list have won on.

4. Winning awards, irony 3 - the 'third-person voice' in me is calling me a loser, because only losers complain about the awards.

5. Winning awards, irony 4 - where does it all end? for some people never. I guess that's what some people are paid for. It's the choices we make, and to each their own. Also upbringing i suppose. I grew up in the 'blue-collar' part of the advertising neighbourhood.

Yes. Bejewelled for Facebook. As i started chasing the rankings on the page, i realised... YES! I made it into the Top 3... look at me! I am the envy of everyone else in the rankings. On the overall scheme of things, it ain't exactly the nobel prize. And even then, they don't win on Theory. Just like architects who don't win because they submitted a sketch of the building. Neither do they have to submit their buildings for the award shows (i'm assuming the last point).

At if Hajjah should come in with a copy of the rankings, i will still buy it, study it, and scrutinise it. And of course, try to spot my name in it, semi-conciously.

The irony never ceases. Give me some work to do damnit. Or maybe more Bejewelled Blitz.

Rant and Roll page 1

2009-05-28T12:18:00.001-07:00

We have a theory

Life as we know it, is about cosmic balance

for every possible action

there is an equally possible reaction

and that is the reason why monks don't act on much

because they ain't about to rack up any more reaction bonuslink points on our cosmic credit card (no credit limit)

Last week was a great week with the clients

I had a 'this is why i'm in advertising' kinda week

great campaigns

fantastic creatives that got sold (that's real work, earned through blood, sweat and tears - my eczema soaked blood, our air-conditioning-unsoaked sweat, and of course the account managers' tears physical or otherwise)

Now this is the kind of week that got me laughing

and got me a little worried

Because this week came along

and it's one of those weeks when i say the say thing, but with a question mark,

THIS IS WHY I'M IN ADVERTISING?

Client after client

meeting after meeting

we were the dildos to the client's egos

we were the virginal a-hole of a very straight but very desperate junkie willing to do anything so to give birth to his precious conceptual babies

we were prince-fuckin-charmin-gint

The only respite is the fact that cosmic karmic credit card rewards the resilient, dedicated and true

and i don't wish proverbial cancer upon anyone

but i do smile because i'm a half-full glass kinda guy

so here's why the week so far is half-full

1. i'm proud that my creative teams got a chip off the ol' block and sold their souls and respective campaigns on their own. One art director even pulled off a jedi-like mind trick, to calm a nervous new Associate Account Director and briefed her on the preso deck. My creative team scares me. Good.

2. We got put through the meat grinder. But we sorta got to know the clients a lil better as well. And we got a pretty decent brief and direction at the end of the day. Sure it took 10 TV concepts to get them to agree on the direction, but hey, them conceptual babies are as cheap as a tissue paper filled with mastubatory sperm. Time to hit the drawing block again boys.

3. I saw a pretty awesome Barca team school them Manchester pansies in the art of football. Class.

4. I've declared a long weekend ahead. So it's time to die and get reborn.

Mister clients, I ain't givin up just cause you're a bit of a shite. In fact, i'm gonna try and find a silver lining, so that i can see you in un-shite-like light. I've put in too much to see your brands get destroyed by inflation (economically and egonomically).

Cool Use of COMMON SENSE CREATIVITY FROM UNCOMMON SOURCES by Channel 4 for Honda UK

2009-05-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

(Image from Guardian.co.uk)

Nope.

Channel 4 isn't a cool new advertising agency

Cannel 4 is... Channel 4! On BBC

So web advocates beware

TV is very much alive

and there are some very smart, savvy and obviously super well-coordinated super-humans in there

How else can they pull off a super ballsy effort such as this.

Imagine that we were in a brainstorm, and we work in a TV channel instead of an ad agency

You draw questions, based on the experiences from work.

You would ask, 'When was the last time we showed something really cool on the news?'

And if you take away the floods, F1 crashes, fires, rioting and homeless people from the largest consumerist country, probably nothing.

Now that's a great place to start a brainstorm.

Next question... 'We've seen live news updates from around the world... why is it that we haven't seen any live advertising, besides the stereotypical hollywood scene of a douchebag with a home-made banner with 'HI MOM WE'RE ON TV' on it?'

Sometimes, you just gotta ask the right questions.

Something i'll try and employ at work.

So there. The low-down. 'Difficult is worth doing'

It's a message that's better off for Bugatti, Lambo or if you stretch it... a Lexus.

Lo and behold, of course Honda UK, who's been kicking ass as far as advertising campaigns are concerned, continues to be the coolest cat of all.

There was Honda Cog. Grrr. And now, Difficult is worth doing. An ad campaign strategy that reflects its brand persona, without ever showing the product - in the most conventional sense. (Honda Cog literally showed every part of the car, and Grrr met every automobile manufacturer's mandatory of 'showing my product in every frame of the commercial)

So here it is. The world's first commercial, filmed and aired LIVE during an ad break.

The feat itself was phenomenal.

The fact that they pulled it off, of course generated news throughout the UK and indeed spread worldwide via the web. (okay web fans, wipe that smirk off your faces... the bottom line is, you and TV gotta be friends now right? no elitist bigotry goin around)

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

day 16 & 17 SAMBAdy bring out the drums! + the lou hungs get some restekpa

2009-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Day 16 -

Samba was good

I think it was the green surroundings that put us at ease

Wished there was some time to squeeze in a mortal

But if there's one thing i learnt from capoeira + advertising,

Is that it's that there's no better place to be

than in the moment you're in right now

So we played

and we played

till my pansy hands blistered

and we played

and we enjoyed every moment of it

here's to more great sessions with the band.

Day 17

Started out another lazy sunday warming up with some futsal with the same juvies from coupla weeks back

Quek looked at me in disdain

'Wanna join?'

Quek, 'NO!' and proceeded with workman-like efficiency to warmup

Fine... don't want no nothing to happen to me fresh layer of foot skin anyway

A little clueless as to where/what to do

so proceeded to practice coupla au semaos

did ten reps

felt pretty good, variations of compasso and armada into it

Tried a few from martelo crusado

Getting good air on that kick

Trying to focus and control the movement so i can go into compasso and semao clean

getting there

Coupla kids also dropped by to tell us 'we were very good'

i told them they were the first people to compliment my martelo crusado.

Must be doing something right.

Tried a flippety flop into qaeda de rins

I seem to have lost it

quek said i'm getting considerably more height

rotation almost at shoulder length

and that could be why i couldn't plant my weight better

time to research on that.

Meialua into little handspin thingy is not bad

just a slight revision

think i'll just focus on these three floreios and its variations for the next few park sessions

Twas a short one

but a valuable respite from work

Quek's on parole so we cut it short

and i did 3 x 3 assisted chin ups to cap the day off

lookin forward to the next outing.

(maybe throw in a mortal as well)

day 15: the crucifixion of coelho

2009-05-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Coelho no go for tranao for 2 weeks
Coelho miss aula
Coelho come late, good, don't like stretches
Coelho ginga and teach perereca new tricks (but scared perereka teach me back one day)
Coelho ginga with cueca
Coelho happy.

Coelho practice the Crucifix
Coelho like crucifix
Coelho don't like people martello beautiful face
Coelho crucifix perereka
Coelho crucifix cueca
Coelho get crucifix too
Coelho happy.

Coelho do simple au, into role, switch to es dobrado
Coelho do all that, and then into qaeda de rins, ponche and walkover
Coelho no do
Coelho try
Coelho still no do
Coelho not happy
Coelho want to experiment and do his own version in park with cueca

Coelho do new pushup
Coelho look like dog pissing
Coelho do situps
Coelho look like he need more situps
Coelho do ponche
Coelho can stretch more now...
Coelho feel happy again.

Cool Use of HORROR by Crispin, Porter + Bogusky for Doritos

2009-05-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hotel626.com

Most Junk Food commercials range from the stupid to the stupidly funny
that's because it's junk food
and since you can't sell trans-fatty acid as a proposition
you sell the so-called fun you get when you ingest this apparently hallucinogenic manna from heaven
Every brand's guilty of this angle - drink/eat my beverage/snack, and you/your friends/your surrounding/your life/your waistline and cholesterol level will transform.

That's why from the outset,
The idea that CP+B (that's the cool way to name drop Crispin, Porter and Bogusky) came up with from the start - Bringing 2 long-dead flavours back from the dead
was already so refreshing

My web-savvy copywriter Rudy (follow him at rudylafaber @ twitter) is a huge fan of CP+B
We all are
and after visiting the website so will you
we did
at 3am in the morning at Pixelpost
numb from 12 hours of post work
we checked-in to Hotel626.

God damn.
This is by far one of the best effort in the horror genre gaming by far
not even full-length games can come close
the gameplay's pretty straightforward
but what's fantastic is the level of detail being layered unto your gambit through the hallway
every room is a puzzle to solve, to escape and to throw yourself into another agonisingly creepy room/puzzle.

What's amazing as well is the amount of effort they make you put into the game
here're a few that just blew my mind
1. You can only log on between 6pm to 6am (hotel626 ma...) - this immediately limits the engagement to hardcore late-night gamers/youth. Freeing up significant amount of server space for the highly detailed environment.

2. when you log in, the system takes a photo of you. Halfway into the game, your photo is hung out to dry in a creepy darkroom/stairwell. Making you wonder WHAT THE FUCK WHEN DID THEY SNAP MY PIC!

3. the game uses every arsenal in your laptop. You have to 'sing' the baby to sleep, and you do so by using the built-in mic on your laptop (if you don't, shame on you. get a macbook)

4. It's terribly hard to finish. Specifically one stage when you have 2 or 3 tries to decipher what the madman is saying, and make sense of it through his manic sketches on the hotel room wall. Failure to do so results in him devouring you (it's up to your imagination... personally i think i could've taken Skinny in real life) - This provides participants a reason to blog/discuss and talk about hotel626. Trust me, google it, there are pages upon pages of discussions.

The user experience in Malaysia's horrid unless you've got a 4MBPS line. But try it in the office. If it's before 6pm, just adjust your computer's internal clock.

While Malaysia's winning gold for web banners (But it's a gold because of the idea!), Hotel626 is picking up awards from judges, gamers, bloggers, web designers, brothers, sisters... basically you end it with an 'er'... chances are, they'll love hotel626. It's definitely way ahead of its time in terms of redefining the web experience (microsites specifically).

And that is why, Hotel626.com is totally godlike. A great idea. Fantastic attention to details. Immersive storyline. Easy to learn hard to complete gameplay. May I apply for an internship CP+B?

check it. Hotel626.com
(can't tell enough people about this website!)

day 13 & 14: Roda Rust

2009-05-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday

very happy to have made it for the show to help Malcolm out

lots of young blood

could this be the next generation?

core group of LinguaDeBoi, Perereka, Cabecao, Lynn, Malcolm, Jeanette

managed to play a game or two

semaos are a bit rusty

but at least pulling them off in the roda

only managed a few short games

definitely still itching for more

personal roda rating - 5/10

Roda Axe rating - 6.5/10

Sunday

was a sleepy lacklustre and lazily hot day

arrived at 7pm to only 2 people

twas a small group

i guess i'm just adjusting from the anniversary roda in the academy

energia was definitely something we needed work on

so was the singing

there was some faux pas in the swapping of instruments

need to be mindful of that

my personal roda radar - the awareness of where and who and what, was a bit off today

had a few decent games clocked in

need to learn to play better with the juniors

meaning - play WITH them

ah, but so many moves with no chances to pull off

definitely was a little too aggressive on some of them

they need some hard lovin'

flippety flop was a total flop, couldn't get enough snap to rotate myself into a decent qaeda de rin

need to clock in more park sessions to perfect the floreies

timed a perfect rasteida de frente

which was good for practice

my jogo ground movements are still intact

mixing a lil' more kicks into the game

but need to move around the person more

also need to work on my conditioning

i blame the weather, sleep deprivation, work and flu

but above all

roda rust is definitely showing

time to clock in the hours

personal roda rating - 5/10

roda axe rating - 4.5/10

Cool Use of RANDOM PEOPLE by Saatchi & Saatchi London for T-Mobile

2009-05-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of vook.wordpress.com.

Campaign courtesy of Saatchi & Saatchi London

Brave, ballsy, adventurous marketing manager courtesy of T-Mobile

We all awe at how 'I Will Follow You' by DiGi was one of the best ad to never win an award in Malaysia. It's got a whacky Yellow Man prancing around online, onground and on TV (The agency, Naga DDB has an abbreviation for him, TYM i think, i could be wrong).

Let's take a look at how DiGi and the good people at Naga DDB can take a page out of a very generic, corporate, mobile brand tagline 'Life's For Sharing'... not so different from Digi's 'I will follow you'... and take the brand/idea to the next level.

Telcos bombard conventional advertising media with gusto. In fact, you could say they're keeping half the advertising industry in malaysia alive. I'm sure it's the same, or even more competitive in the UK. What better way to break the clutter than to apply a good ol' BBH wisdom - when the world zigs, zag.

And Zag they did. A truly viral experience. It brings out the emotional moment and very essence of 'life's for sharing'.

People ask me what the hell was the big deal with Cadbury Gorilla. I think the tagline says it was trying to capture the essence of 'a glass and a half full of joy'. I say that's very subjective because firstly, i don't think gorillas are very sad creatures to start with (angry certainly, but not sad), so the juxtaposition is lost on me. Secondly, i hate phil collins. Which scarily enough, brings me to the theory that award judges firstly, don't watch discovery channel. Secondly, love phil collins.

Back to DANCE by Saatchi London. I love it. You can see the effort put into the viral on the main website

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/dance/

my favourite clip is 'The Making Of...'

as a creative person

i feel the tension and suspense of preparing and creating something that has never been done before

that sadistically sweet cocktail of fear and expectation

kinda like unhooking a bra for the first time

so if online porn's getting a bit of a chore

maybe it's time to get voyeuristic with a little randomness...

flash mob guerilla

definitely something i wanna pull off before i die a creative death.

So here it is again just in case you've missed it...

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/dance/

and just when you thought to yourself...

'nah it's from saatchis, it's gotta be a scam! they didn't have that many people dancing.. it might as well been every staff in the office + their friends and family'

feast your eyes on this link... oh jaded one -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orukqxeWmM0

i almost shed a tear from the sheer emotion of it all.

something a phil collins-loving gorilla can only dream of doing.

And that is why Saatchi London gets my vote for Cool Use of RANDOM PEOPLE.

The formula for creativity

2009-05-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

equation courtesy of BBH @ bbh-labs.com

Day 12: Another Lou-hung day at the park

2009-05-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

twas a bright and sunny sunday evenin

lookin forward to some nice sunshine

don't get that much at work

it's gonna be a glorious flippety-flot day indeed

decided to warm-up with a buncha kids ranging from a quarter of my age, to the oldest being a third.

yes. i'm that old/they're that young depending on the half-empty/half-full point-of-view

was a good runabout

quek decide to join me

ouch

i feel a tear and searing heat/pain

looked at my foot, and the sole ripped open a fresh blister

hmmm

my feet used to be much tougher

must be the lack of capoeira conditioning

and the fact that we did lotsa high impact gingas in the previous training

whatever the reason

it is the cause of the demise of my flippety-flop afternoon

quek did a coupla elegant mortals

nice height and very clean tuck

jealous

well it's off to the training area for some upper body resistance training

Push ups - 2, assisted. second attempt - 3, assisted

I. Am. A. Weakling.

situp bench, incline - 30 curlups. 30 reverse curlups. not too bad thanks to benguela/30-year-old trunk

pushups - 30, okler, standard

horizontal bar chest pullups - 2x10.

dips - 2x5

hanging leg swivel - 10, half height

discovered a nice simple shoulder stretch though

shall do it more often

hmm after blogging it down

the above doesn't look like i did much

must work on my strength.

maybe waiting on my pansy fairy feet to heel up (yes! my first blog pun!) i shall do so

Your online footprint

2009-05-09T00:19:00.000-07:00

okay

i know i'm supposed to name-drop the source of where i get things from

i know

but i forgot

but i felt it necessary for whoever who's viewing (probably the entire nation of Me)

to get a low-down on how web-savvy exactly are we

the chart above works as sort of a new media/advertising/pr/marketing blueprint of how extensive is your client's brand's web presence

and if you're still proposing microsites and flash banners only

well that isn't a footprint

just the big toe

Day 11: Twist and Shout (ouch)

2009-05-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

My first tranao as a married man

well technically not

but i've proposed

so that means i'm owned

and have to get used to calling uncle, dad and auntie, mom

and my girlfriend, my fiancee. I don't even know how to put that wiggle above the 'e'

which 'e' should i wiggle?!

bah

back to training

started with cardio warmups

it's actually better than doing normal stretches

gets the blood pumping and the sweat oozing

then it was back to good ol stretches

hamstrings feel good

and they stretch more on their own now

which gives me hope for my shoulder flexibility and ponche

KILLER STRETCH

legs apart, hands to the floor shoulder width apart

stretch one leg across and over like an au

push your head through your shoulders

stretch the leg some more

repeat 29 more times

when my fellow-non-flexible-capoeira-partner-in-crime Durim tells me it's killer

i trust him

and it's true... it's killer. but i think it's a good stretch for me. as usual, the more flexible ones get by much easier. Bastards.

GINGA DRILLS WITH GROUND MOVEMENTS

paired up with fellow-low-hung-in-crime Cueca

we read each other's game much better these days

the difference from coupla years back

we're not capo-blocking each other because of that

rather therapeutic

Opponent Qaeshada, you RASTEIDA FRENTE

I find it hard to execute this move when opponent is doing a qaeshada, but maybe cause i'm short, i dunno

the trick's to fake a negativa... maintining eye contact is ideal

of course, i wasn't wearing glasses since my new training regime is to 'train blind'

i always find it easier to execute RASTEIDA FRENTE from compasso, armada or meia luas

Opponent Meia-Lua, you RASTEIDA FRENTE

ah... this is more like it

either Rafa realises this as well

or we collectively suck in the previous drill and he wants us to start with an easier kick

could be both

this is more like a refresher course for quek and me

of course in drills our heads are 'lazier' and more exposed when going in for the rasteida

must take note and not take it for granted

Opponent Meia-Lua, you RASTEIDA FRENTE, Opponent Paralela, you switch to a TEISOURA FRENTE

Rasteidas and the frente variants always send opponents into a reflex-induced panic

or they're confident/quick/slick enough to know they can shift their weight quickly from their kick into a paralella or back into ginga position

don't force this move if you see that his leg is too far back (ginga position)

the trick's to look first

and personally, the RASTEIDA FRENTE works better as a fake, for this move

the trick's to STAY LOW when you turn and move into the TEISOURA FRENTE

quick, low and fast

reaching your arms quickly to the ground helps keep you grounded, and homed-in on your opponent

Quek and I are still struggling with this one

but agree that it's a kickass move to pull off in a benguela game

godly if executed in regional.

MEIA LUA, oppenent rasteida frente, you CONTRA RASTEIDA with a PARALLELA

Do not attempt this on bigger/stronger and more experienced capoeristas if they are doing a normal rasteida, wrong timing means they'll literally sweep you off your feet

a rasteida frente's more technical and a finesse move, so it is possible to block him off with this

just make sure that you mark the ankle joint which is his weakest link

make contact with lower leg, because if it's too high, it's his shin VS your calf muscle

you know who wins on that one.

Executed well, this can put you in a very advantageous position of having his back facing you

and ripe for a...

TESOURA FRENTE TEMPO

i don't quite know how else to explain this move

except that once you get the hang of it, it's super fun and actually quite game-finishing.

Lots of people tend to do role, and do tempos with their backs to you

this too can be applied to them.

Back to the move

his back's facing you

and you've rastaida's his rasteida frente leg, meaning his weight is on the other leg

do a quick hop/shuffle with your meialua/parallela-rasteida leg in between his, step in with the other - now you both are facing one direction

all that awaits is for you to pop your hips and twist

reach your hands outwards into a role move for added torque

this is a nice move and practice worthy.

FLOREIO of the DAY - COMPASSO TEMPO, SWING LEG and JUMP TWIST, Land and continue move with HELICOPTERO PARA TRAZ

Once again

i epic fail this due to inflexibility

Once again

i shall try and improvise this into my own devious version of it

the fundamentals are there -

i need to get accustomed and train myself to do my flippety-flop move from just one leg instead of two

getting the hang of the AU leg swing entrada for that

i shall start practicing that first before coming back to the above

Also, the KILLER STRETCH OF THE DAY could help improve this move too.

ok time for some sleep and healing.

Cool Use of JAPANESE CHICKS by BBH Asia Pac for Japan Axe

2009-05-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

http://202.218.121.130/2008/axewakeupservice/en/

My copywriter/homeboy Alexis always likes to use the phrase 'blurring the lines between realities'
And the above is a pretty darn good example of how

Axe = Sex
The web's full of sex anyway
how else can you utilise digital in a way that stands out in the land of JAV Queens

The solution?
Get them to give you a wake up call

watch the video
get amazed as BBH 'blurs the lines between realities' when the a virtual video call happens while you're gawking at them jap chicks.

as far as submission websites go
the link is also a pretty good example of how you can keep it clean, concise and still retain the essence of your idea
so check it out peeps

http://202.218.121.130/2008/axewakeupservice/en/

Flashback to DAY 9: photoblog that says it all

2009-05-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks Alia for capturing the story of my life with rafa
Alia's good at capturing life's stories
the above picture says a thousand words
i felt no pride in picture A
i felt no humiliation in picture B

such is capoeira
and such is capoeira with the person who taught you capoeira

If you guys wanna see more of Alia's photos check out her blog at
spectrumscraps.blogspot.com

Day 10. The 45 minute run

2009-05-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Okay
I come from a very cardio-strong DNA lineage
my dad at 55 is still doing full marathons
and this year he's doing Mt. Everest

I don't usually jog
But it's been so long since 'Day 9' that i've decided to sweat it out by hook or by crook
quek's schedule has been a bit unaligned with mine
so i decided to do a solo jog

i've forgotten how liberating it is to run alone under the moonlit sky
those metaphor commercials of you leaving everything behind when you go for a run
all very true

the first 20 mins was pretty bad
had a muscle pull at the abdomen
must be the love handles fighting against the formation of muscles
didn't feel out of breath though which is a good thing
also forgot that i'm 30+ so didn't warmup which could've contributed to the strain
ALSO
dinner an hour before
not a good idea

The blood rushes to your gut to digest
which means less blood and oxygen gets transmitted to your muscles
mean acid lactic buildup
means cramps and muscle pulls

capoeristas who have ill munchies before class take note
simple carbos and in low amounts before training is best
like a bun or something

the next 25 mins was pretty good
warmed up
and i think i did about 7km within 45 mins which is on par
considering the fact that i had a cramp before... not too shabby

in singapore on a biz trip now
which means being holed up in a decent hotel with a gym
will try and do some weights tomorrow morn at 7am!

goodnight world.

Cool Use of IT'S A BLOODY LAMP POST WHAT CAN WE DO WITH IT by Big Ant International USA for the Global Coalition of Peace (Yeah right)

2009-05-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

The last posting was totally alien-like mind boggling
It was design as a communication language
sorta like watching aliens trying to talk to us
So i thought i'd balance the cerebral with the simple

a true measure of a great idea is simplicity
And a true measure of a great ambient idea is well, the use of ambients around it!
No wonder this simple wraparound's an in-book nomination in the D&AD
a simple idea - What Goes Around Comes Around
a guerilla medium - Lampost
and a dubious client - Global Coalition for Peace

Nevermind the fact that the average pedestrian in the United States isn't a gun-toting, Al-qaeda hunting Navy SEAL member
I think they should've put these posters up in Iraq
hmmm
maybe i'll do that for one of my own ambients... now that's a simple idea. Suicidal, but simple nonetheless.

Cool use of OMFG I'M GOING APESHIT THIS IS TOTALLY MINDF!@K by ART+COM, germany for BMW

2009-04-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhVClFMg6Y

I couldn't sleep very well

decided to make myself a hot drink and saw on Twitter that the D&AD nominations were finally out.

Consistently throughout the years, the British D&AD award nomination for me has been the benchmark for creative excellence - Except for the awards they give to Harvey Nichols every year.

One judge from Malaysia recently claimed that the D&AD was actually a 'british award show'. Oh! There are only 5 nominations from Malaysia, and yours isn't one of them. I can see why it's a british award show now.

Enough about that and onto the work.

This blog is meant to be the silo for all things inspiring to me in the advertising world

I love it that after all these years, i still retain my child-like wonder when i see something that renders me totally speechless

of course, it's been seven long years in the industry, it's easy to get jaded and have that 'i've seen it before' feeling

the trick is to keep looking.

If 'you've seen it before' it's because you've been hanging around way too often looking out the same window in the same house (for the literal, please, it's a metaphor)

A true gauge of creativity is the level of 'OMG HOW DID THEY DO THAT' you can squeeze out of your audience

kinda like a magic show

and in terms of sheer entertainment, and design as a communication language

nothing can come close to what i've seen from BMW

This design sculpture is done by ART+COM for the BMW Museum in Munich

If the still frames above look mesmerising

you're in for a treat when you click on the actual 'performance'

according to Joshua Topolsky of endgadget.com (thanks for the above still frames)

it's 'a wave of undulating orbs that appear to weightlessly float''

Thanks Josh for that really cerebral description, but i think it's better we sit back and watch the video, and say outloud now... "OMFG! THIS IS TOTALLY MINDF@!K"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVhVClFMg6Y

Cool Use of DAMN WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT BEFORE! by Vitruvio Leo Burnett, Spain

2009-04-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

Smart use of ambient media

usually the domain of JWT KL

They've been building a steady reputation throughout the years with some mind-fuck style creatives at the award shows - Missile car for one and last year's optical illusion-esque Scott's tissue poster campaign.

Publicis also has a 'tear in reality' ambient which I thought was totally mind-fuck and deserved a little more than a coupla shortlists

Vitruvio Leo Burnett in Spain aren't pushovers too

with this campaign for Leica. Proposition's pretty obvious - Optical Zoom.

Definitely a great use of the ambient. And so campaignable as well. The above are just 3 of a many incarnations of it.

Gold at the Art Director's Club of Europe Awards

nuff said.

day 9. well rested. bantus 5th anniversary roda

2009-04-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yep. That's us. 5 years after all the blood, sweat and tears

and we're still here

better and stronger

thanks to each and every one of you who've made Bantus so much stronger

Quek opened with a very 'emo' thank you to all the seniors who've been through the thick and thin with us

My hamstrings ain't hurting no more.

all those stretching outs while in the lift (when nobody's looking) definitely helped recovery

also, the overwork at the office balances out the times when i train hard

Weirdly enough i had 8 hours of sleep beforehand

Games in the roda feels tight

no fancy moves from anyone

straight up, pure jogo capoeira

i like

nearly got my head shaved off by rafael

(what else is new)

i think maybe cause my head's shaved that i feel the breeze a little more

point is, reflexes are still there

but alas, rafa knows my game inside out

ownage as usual

got him back with a headbutt at an impromptu angola game

definitely will be up there in my highlights in my capo life

great energy at the roda

good to see everyone from every class converge

i was absolutely buzzing

in fact, felt that the roda ended a bit prematurely

feeling pent up, quek and i decided to jump straight into some informal angola game

i think we've got a real understanding to have a 'showmanship' esque angole 'performance'

as one angolero capoeirista told me

angola, is malandragem, and it's also a performance... almost poetically theatrical

to the untrained eye, it's slow and meandering

to a true capoeirista

that's what the game is truly about

a dialogue

a banter

a joke

an exchange of opinions through every twist, turn, fake, smile, trick up your sleeve

that's what friends do with each other when they meet up don't they?

catch up and talk cock

manifested in the roda

it's funny how chemistry between two capoeiristas place a very big role in angola

with rafael and quek

we have a conversation

i guess it's a matter of getting to know more about other people

terry, durim and perereka are still playing

but they're not ... how should i put it

creating a dialogue with your opponent

and that is a beauty, and subtlety of angola games

i'm feeling a lil sore

must've been the rare knocks and kicks i got in between

adrenaline numbed the pain till now

but it's all good.

all in all. simple games, filled with lots of improvised malandragem

i'm happy with my jogo for Day 9

even happier that we're stronger and bigger than ever, 5 years after

here's to many years of jogo bonito to come bantulinos

i will be there for you all

as i'm sure you'll be there for me

in the meantime

see y'all at the next roda.

much love and respect to all.

ps. riz uploaded some sick pics on facebook. go check em out. anyone else got photos? feel free to spread em around on facebook.

value napaz,

coelho.

Po Po...

2009-04-22T09:15:00.001-07:00

Po Po

2009-04-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

it's been a morbid look at mortality for me
i guess it is one of popo's many gifts to me
growing up, i've learnt many lessons through her
mostly just by being around her
this time is no different

she held my hand
i swore she knew i was there
she slept, but didn't want to let go
when finally i left
she couldn't remember i was there when mom asked

in a day
i experienced the fleeting impermanence of life
we can choose to think it never happened, because she didn't remember
or we can choose to think that she did, at that moment.

i choose the latter
and i choose to help her live that moment as often as i can

Day 8. The lethargydargy continues

2009-04-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

We had a repeat roda on sunday.
Was lookin forward to some good ol' fun filled roda
Roda's always good no matter what
puts the ol' smile to good use.

This roda was a bit lacklustre
coupla basic games
Kicks are still going good
vision is still definitive
benguela-esque ground moves
Surprised to see Durim play a more tactical benguela game with me
Good to see Perereka back in the fray, gotta say i miss him
Good recap i guess
didn't pull off any fancy moves compared to the last one
me hamstrings are hamming up the moves
Quek's also lethargydargy
but still manage to pwn Malcolm with a workman-like rasteida

Music was a little lacklustre
The group still needs to learn that the roda happens whether you're in a jogo or not
when you're in a roda, you are in the roda
whether you're in the bataria, or as part of the circle
never underestimate the energy you emit
and the power of a voice
and the strength of a group as a whole

in the meantime
i shall nurse my hamstring by cross-training some weights in between
quek's schedule and mine permitting
i can never bring myself to gym on my own
i still prefer playing...
ouch...
hamstring...
good night.

Cool Use of Love/Sex - Sagami 0.2mm Condoms by GT Tokyo

2009-04-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Love knows no distance.
Condoms do, however.

0.2 mm to be exact.

Another example of the beauty of Japanese advertising

The use of an emotion to convey a very factual and insightful selling proposition

And an ingenious feat of storytelling that strategically loopholes the law of condom advertising in Japan

If this campaign was done in the west, like many seen-in-award-show condom ads, you know you're walking into Girls can't resist me Axe territory, or I-can-go-all-night-honey positioning.

But it's Japan

GT Japan has positioned Sagami condoms up a rung from the usual filth

Condom = making love responsibly

And trust me, they should up the brand positioning, because i've seen Sagami condoms in Bali, and they cost 10 times as much as the usual rubber. Shouldn't it stand for something more than a trivial tryst?

Back to the campaign.

2 Real lovers

having a 1000km long distance relationship

GT Japan built a story of how the two gravitate towards each other (by running)

all month long

readers can follow their story via their correspondence, hosted on the lovedistance.jp website

because of strict laws with condom advertising in japan, the campaign was only branded as Love Distance

But as the month-long journey of two lovers reach its climax

they revealed the Sagami brand

and the twist

love knows no distance

that's why we've kept it as close as possible, with Sagami's 2mm ultra-thin condoms

not that it needed copy

because they're japanese

and that's why it's the winner of the Cool Use of Love/Sex Award.

View the case study

http://sagami.non-grid.jp/award/video/video-en.html

View the website

http://www.lovedistance.jp/

View the agency

http://gtinc.jp/

ps. the campaign was created by one-man-army creative director/art director/copywriter/planner Naoki Ito! kinda reminds me of Sonal, but more convincing because it's not an initiative but real work.

day 7. i found the root of the hamstring

2009-04-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

there really is nothing much to blog about, capoeira-wise for day-7 of training

both quek and i are suffering from fatigue

i went out to the park 10 minutes before... i was only warmed after 50 minutes

it's fatigue

between late nighters at work

training at night

and the super-resting powers of the Geo Mineral and Memory Pillows combined

it's pretty obvious the 20 year-old mind is willing, but the 30+ old body needs a little convincing

Hamstring strains

are nature's little alarm bells to chill and take a break

well i couldn't have done anything even if i wanted to

Even training simple take-down drills

the mental alertness was down

hence quek stomping and spraining my right toes

and durim stomping on my feet the training before

Quek and Durim

Also nature's way of forcing your body to rest, if you don't listen to hamstring

damn you nature! You win, this time!

zzZZzz

Cool Use of a super small insignificant Web Banner Space - Collapse Window, Burger King by CP+B

2009-04-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.cpbgroup.com/awards/2009/ca/banners/collapse.html

You people better appreciate the image above

it was cut from a link, pasted onto microsoft PAINT, and cropped after 30 minutes of correspondence with Rudy (thanks rudy!) over MSN messenger on how to crop away the white background.

This was after an hour researching about the alleged Snipping Tool function available on Vista. Apparently you can 'unlock' this function via the Control Panel. I didn't find it.

Which led to another hour googling 'WHERE IS MY SNIPPING TOOL'.

Anyway, back to today's Ad of the day.

The good people at Crispon, Porter + Bogusky are definitely another buncha dudes who know how to show a brand a good time. Their subject? Burger King. From massive integrated campaigns (Burger King PS2 Games?), to cutting edge websites (anyone remember the Subservient Chicken? Shame on you! Google it), to creating random ideas that're relevant to the product - a Whopper perfume for example, and a worldwide taste test for Whopper vs a Big Mac featuring people from parts of the world who've never seen or tasted a burger in their life!... they definitely are the cooler cousin of McDonald's.

So cool that in fact, not even the smallest of ad spaces or the most restrictive of advertising (movie tie-ups) can stop them! I don't need to say much, except, yeah the fake article on this link is also quite entertaining.

Click on this link. And remember... DO NOT GRAB THE BURGER!

http://www.cpbgroup.com/awards/2009/ca/banners/collapse.html

day 6. still no ponche. stamina rising. hamstring falling apart.

2009-04-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

Twas nice to have andrew back in training.

well he's been training ler, what i mean is twas nice to be in the same class as him

it's been a while

Man my hamstring is really fuckin tight

i worry i've torn something

but according to quek, if i can still walk, it ain't broken

according to rafa, it's my muscles loosening up and the only solution is biting the bullet with more training

fuckin jocks...

GINGA DRILL

yeay

as always, durim and i get overzealous on practicing takedowns and such

i swear one day we're just gonna headbutt each other and have a double KO in the roda

COMPASSO, Qaeshada BASHU

This move works the core muscles

the trick is to think that you're going into 2 compassos

it's good for a fake

twist your trunk till you face the opponent for optimal maladro effect

and snap, crackle and pop the other way

heel, meet face.

COMPASSO, COMPASSO SOLTA

this is turning into a rather pleasant move

the torque you get from the first compasso really adds to the potency of the compasso solta

2 things to take note of

1. the momentum can get out of control on your second move, the compasso solta. You really need to remember the basics of all kicks, the ginga position really helps with keeping you centred after your kick. We discovered that if you yank your hand and be concious about getting into the ginga position, it prevents the momentum from carrying the rest of your body into an exposed position... which can be dangerous if someone counters with a chapa. bottom line, kick... kick again... protect your face.

2. it's easy to get disorientated after the first compasso. Specially with the speed of the second kick. Therefore it's muito importante to look at your target before each kick. Easy to forget, because we're just obsessed with getting through with the drill. Quality... not quantity!

CHAPIADO into your opponent's ARMADA

Deadly when timed right.

timing is everything.

most of the time, in drills, in the roda, the ginga's dynamic, but chances are you'll be on opposite gingas.

when the opponent does an armada, we noticed that you will fall into a half-way position, cause you're shifting your weight to the next ginga

it's important to practice the speed of your negativa dentru

this can work to your advantage, cause the opponent might think you're doing a compasso, or something else

bear in mind, chapiados are strong, but very wild kicks if you don't have a target

apply the armada look over your shoulder technique

bottom line - look and aim at a target before you kick

ARMADA, opponent CHAPIADO, counter with a TRAVA DE OMBRO

Sneaky.

Pulling it off almost feels like you've just successfully entered 'bullet time' ala matrix

feels good

not sure about pulling it off in the roda

but stepping into a CHAPIADO - IS ALWAYS THE BEST THING TO DO

you block the impact of his kick

back to the sequence

armadas, like meialuas are good as 'sucker' kicks

meaning it's good for baiting opponents

the trick to being faster than a CHAPIADO once you commit to your armada

paralella dentro!

that means drop whatever you're doing, step diagonally towards the opponent

with enough practice on timing

just perfecting this move alone guarantees pwnage for any foolhardy capoeirista thinking of taking your head off.

control of your armada's important

and it's a timing thing as well

this is best pulled off when you know the opponent is committing the chapiado late

when is 'late' depends on your armada, when you read the move, and how fast can you physically move

in other words. practice.

SAMBA was a nice touch

i'm a bit out of practice

but i think we had a very sweet session

we're really feeling it as a unit

ok so i messed up a few lines

recovered quick enough

just have to clock in the hours to remember the sequences i guess.

that's it for today.

i shall leave you with the ultimate malandro move of the day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAGCrg3UCh8

watch how lepra (the white guy) gets taken down in a chamada

watch it again

notice how eduardo (the black guy, can't remember his name, but it's close enough) catches the moving leg as lepra as he shifts his weight.

masterclass malandro.

Cool Use of Evil Villains Award - NO EVIL by Droga5

2009-04-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the people at Droga5

They really know how to have fun

This is a campaign for what i presume is a prepaid telco provider called NET10.

You can check out their super-funny cartoon webisodes featuring a League of Evil here -

http://www.no-evil.net

What's more Evil than the most dangerously hilarious collection of evil-doers?

Your evil cellphone company of course!

On the flipside

They have a documentary-like campaign featuring a bunch of the most lifeless i mean selfless individuals on earth

who would harm these gentle folk with noble intentions?

Your evil cellphone company of course!

Droga once said in an interview that he loved to deal with the darker side of humanity

the frailties and weaknesses

it's by exposing these emotional truths that you open yourself (your brand) up to the public

Also.

Not many brands are ballsy enough to embrace that fact

making the brands who do (the ones Droga5 work on), stand out all the better

Imagine selling a local telco client that line... NO EVIL

chances are, they'll probably say 'don't la use the word evil... let's say... ALL GOOD'

okay... so you might have the Justice League of America, a buncha do gooders... and the only thing that can do GOODER is.... YOUR CELLPHONE COMPANY...

see how that might've turned out?

chest thumping. and totally unconvincing.

Droga's right. We've got to explore our own fears, frailties and humanity

and by finding the strength to be weak, open ourselves up for our customers to embrace the poor weeping child of a brand that we have

(please buy me... please... )

so check it out... the winner of the Cool Use of Evil Villains Award, NO EVIL by Droga5

http://www.no-evil.net/

day 5. hot iranians. pretty politias. hamstring unstrung. left knee slightly sprained.

2009-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing i learnt

it's that if you wanna grab some grub before class

it better not be heavy protein-based stuff

complex food, like pork balls, beef, chicken.. anything that needs your digestive juices to get going

don't even go near there

more blood gushes through the gut to get to work

meaning less blood circulating through the rest of your soon-to-be-abused muscles

post class discussion concludes according to Terry that light protein like eggs are fine (i agree)

i usually drop in two bricks of weetabix and some milk

i fart a bit in class

though nobody notices (cept when we do sit ups... they can get quite taxing on the abdominal muscles... all those clenching motion has to go somewhere)

GINGA DRILLS

i always liked ginga drills

it's amazing what you can learn from your partner just by the way they move

also.

tempo rasteida. nuff said.

tried. tested. now gonna train it.

ARMADA into COMPASSO SOLTA

i deceptively simple move to execute

you lack the pizzaz of the more intimidating and obvious tempo version

but the slight shift in position into an opposite side compasso can mean destruction to someone's face (just ask durim's hands... thanks durim)

it's also the most deceptively simple yet tiring drill

you need to plant your foot back into the ginga after the armada and then shift your weight the other way.

sneaky. do it right. you also train negativa dentro, vengativa and an entrada to a rasteida.

hamstring was so tight i let off a girly 'eeep' on my first compasso

damn you hamstring

ARMADA tempo COMPASSO

very nice alternative for regional games

just a change in pace timed right will throw the opponent off

specially when you're doing 3, 4 kicks in the same direction

flashy too

so you can actually use the tempo to fake the compasso to move in for a tesoura or whatever

PONCHE WALK

still no ponche walk

but thanks terry and catatao for helping me out with the drill

also very tiring

i don't know, i think the memory pillow i bought actually saps your strength because it WANTS you to sleep on it

evil pillow!

VENGATIVA INTO SOMEONE'S CAESHADA

i just realised i don't know how to spell qaeshada... anyone?

An interesting drill, we've done it a hundred times

yet it's in the little details before you step into the vengativa that's important

one small lil step

if you're committed, step into negativa front and shift your weight

a sneakier option is practicing the ginga... take a small step in front instead of stepping to the side when gingaing

he'll never know what hit him

... TESOURA COUNTER FROM A VENGATIVA

the holy grail

well quek's been pulling it off a coupla times

i suspect it's a body mass issue here

for smaller framed people, i seriously think tesoura frenche's a more practical/elegant option

just looking at Durim and Catatao dry humping each other is enough to make me reconsider attempting so freudian in the roda

Durim - 60kgs. Me - 58kgs. Catatao - 85 mother-lovin kgs.

Catatao tesouraed me and my leg got caught in the process, semi spraining my knee from the sheer can-opener movement and 85kg leverage

with Durim it's a little more different, i catch him early, he falls forward... a nastier tesoura is to catch his hand instead, judo-style (ouch)

will try this with quek another day

ok well that's it for day 5.

iranian. please join class.

politia. thanks for the water and entertaining chat.

hamstring. man the fuck up.

left knee. i have a desk job, so you've got no excuse either.

Cool use of integration award - UN Voices by Saatchis Sydney

2009-04-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

Okay

So everyone in the world has started an award show

Why not me.

So there's always a 'best of...' category

But I think so many interesting entries get lost in the finalists page

I like to start scrutinising work via the shortlists before the winners are announced

And of course, there can never be a 'best of...' because that makes everyone else bitter

'who the hell are you to decide if it's the best! Oh of course, you're the judge! Well MINE'S the best and if it ain't then you're just biased because of....'

sorry the ghost of Neil French took over for a bit... down! DOWN you selfish self-serving devil!

Onto the review

Tonight's insomniacal award, cool use of integration goes to 'UN Voices' by Saatchis Sydney!

even found their award entry page, which deserves an art direction award for simplicity and clarity itself -

http://www.ourentries.com/2008/unvoices/campaign/

Refreshing, coming from a region and a network that's known for fantastically fraudulent creative work...

UN Voices is a campaign that combines the integration of mobile phone and poster. You take a photo of the subject's mouth, send UN Nations an MMS and you get to hear their story. Beyond that i'm not sure what the action phase would be for the consumer, but the experience in itself is genuinely novel. At least it's pushing boundries of media, rather than winning through their conventional 'poster & print' domination.

Saatchi. I'm scared of you guys again. Not because of Poster best of shows. But because of the above. And that's why tonight's insomniacal award goes to you guys for UN Voices. Good job... good job.

day 4. we roda at the curve

2009-04-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

twas a wet afternoon

as always

me hamstrings are still raw and tender

we're supposed to do a roda and a workshop

so off we went

the acoustics of the centre court at the curve is pretty good i must say

we didn't need mikes and the berimbaus travelled very well

so did our axe (anyone knows how to put the squiggly thing at the top of the 'e'?)

durim went flying, and then he changed his mind while upside down

not bad i must say

at least he's got the presence of mind to know which way the floor is

park sessions are paying off

did a couple of combi-seu-maus in the roda

(hamstring... ouch)

and also the new animal move

great success

i feel that i've got better awareness now

can work the roda a little more, and definitely throwing more kicks in the game

i think it's training without glasses

things look slower when you do have perfect 20/20 vision

it's a little like training blindfolded, it's not hard when your eyes are that small, combined with -450 short-sightedness.

quek's working it

game's lookin ahem... 'matured'...

even pulled off a long-range tesoura

bet his hamstrings are fine.

it was a little nervous for a few of the newbies

i think it showed specially when they bought the games in the roda

messy

nothing a few more public rodas and performances can't fix

it's always nerve-wrecking playing capoeira in front of people

the trick's to just smile and have fun

play for yourself

not to the crowd

every chance in the roda is a chance to jogo... play!

let's put it this way

you're going through the drills in class

you're being put through a can of whoop-ass by rafa

and you're not gonna have a big smile on your face to be able to run rampant in the roda?

just like gambling

if you ain't having fun, walk away...

but that's a bit harsh.

i think everyone gave their 110% as always

it was a tough crowd though

what the hell is wrong with chinese kids anyway?!

so protective their parents are

and so unsociable and introverted our next generation

so, we gave a 'workshop demonstration'

quite refreshing

it was like a condensed version of class at celebrity fitness

of course, everyone's still got plenty of juice to spare

so it ended up in a b-boy style one-upmanship, who's-got-the-best-whatever-move session

i think we're gonna be doing another session here again next week

i say, the more the merrier

2009-04-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

i wrote this a while back on a now-defunct blog that started out as a idealists playground of copywriters trying to change the world. Gone. Now i just try write for writing's sake. As it should be, in a diary. Here goes, hope it helps someone...

The Copywriter’s Guide to becoming one with advertising or,

How I hate the ipod.
(by Woei Hern)

My boss writes a column in this small box about the way the world of advertising is moving. Among other things. He’s a reservoir of information when it comes to marketing, strategy, public relations and French women.

His battlecry is “integration”. He prides himself in the fact that our venerable, respected and pretty intimidating (well in Japan anyway, we’re like the Alamo down here) agency is at the forefront of this re-revolution.

Of course, every other month we see some agency or another try to come up with their own terms of what integration means. And flout their new “direction”. That’s the other thing that irks me about agencies.

Why on earth do agencies who’ve established one of the best brands in the world always come up with the worst, tackiest, most pretentious and nebulous “proprietary” tools for what basically is “common sense”?

But I’m not here to talk about that. The paragraphs above would’ve already guaranteed a semi-blacklist amongst said agencies. I’m here to talk about how a copywriter can learn “integration” away from the micro-ecosystem of advertising.

Integration in its purest sense, is almost zen-like. Long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the copywriter writes what is called a “copy strategy”. Which is the birth of many above mentioned “proprietary” tools currently the domain of strat planners.

Copywriters did “type-setting”. Something that Adobe and Art Directors hijacked for themselves. Even if they don’t ever read any bodycopy to start with.

Copywriters did “research”. Which means taking a month off work to work in the manufacturing plant, mingling with factory workers. Or even spending a whole year being homeless just to write an ad for them.

Heck, we even went to take the “brief” before sitting down with the account managers to write it. In the good old days, this meant great “single-minded propositions” that could’ve already been the “big idea”.

Integration is about bringing all the various fragmented disciplines of advertising together - above-the-line, below-the-line, through-the-line and on-the-line becoming just well, “the line”. (I should copyright and trademark that as the next proprietary tool)

But before we start doing that, let’s take a look at our lives and how by living an “integrated” lifestyle can help us become uber-copywriters.

Let’s start with the laptop that I’m writing this on. As I am typing this will-be-scoffed-at-till-i-die-upon-which-will-become-the-stuff-of-legends article, I have hooked up my Altecs to the tunes of Thief – Sunchild.mp3. I am also online, checking my emails, downloading stuff, watching youtube and chatting with my friends. With a little help from wifi of course.

A quick recap. Laptop and mobile phone = all you need. Integrated.

Everybody loves the ipod. But the ipod is the ultimate Chernobyl of integration. Of course they would beg to differ. “It’s all you need to listen to music”, said my 23-year-old junior. “I like it. It’s nice. And it’s an apple”, said my 40+ year old boss.

“I can carry my music with me everywhere”, said a fellow copywriter who obviously plagiarised that from the brochure.

Integrated? I think not. Because of the ipod, you need “ipod speakers”. Tiny, tin-canned players that function only if you drop the pod into it. It can’t play CDs, music from thumb drives or the internet.

To upload your playlist, you need “iTunes”. A RAM-devouring programme with Nazi-like traits – it makes itself the designated player, and ensures that you have to upload everything it wants to, and not you.

You also need an i-something to plug your pod into your car player. You need jeans and running shoes that are called i-something-else.

You watch “movies” through a screen so small, you’d think you’re watching Hero instead of Heroes. Of course, you can now plug it into an “apple server” (I forgot the name, there’re already too many i-somethings. I think it’s called iforgot) that links itself to your TV, sound system, blablabla.

By making itself the one, absolute source of everything that’s cool and I guess, music, the ipod has convinced you to buy 20-million more accessories. The only thing integrated about it, is Apple’s profit margins.

You want to learn what integration is all about? Stop reading articles. Stop asking the so-called ipod-carrying experts. All you need to do is give your 15-year-old nephew a surprise and let him inherit your disintegration.

Living without an ipod, means plugging fat speakers to your laptop. It means playing loud music while you type “dengki” articles like this one. It means skyping and video conferencing people on messenger free of charge. It means so much more, including being integrated, and in about 2 weeks, a better copywriter.

day 3. the mortal returns

2009-04-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

It was raining at 3pm.
Quek still insisted on going to the park.
I was happy to just veg out at the gym.
Quek is persistent in his insistence.
So i go out at 5pm to check the grass. Damp. But firm. ok.

Kicked off at 6pm.
A little stretching... ouch... fuckin hamstring's tight like a tiger!
quek says it's a good thing
could be the reason why me kicks are suddenly a little longer and straighter
quek says my muscles are breaking and regenerating and getting more flexible
well he wasn't that articulate, it was more like, 'okla... i also got... should be better...'

worked on my little animal move
shall try it at the roda tomorrow
worked on a few kicks-to-seu-mao sequencias
ouch more hamstring... maybe it's the whipping motion
trying it in a more circular format so that i can implement it in the roda

quek's working on some nice ground moves too
i try working a more benguela version of it

meialua to rais is back
it's getting the courage to jump off that standing leg that gives it the torque
tried it facing a target just to gauge where i'll end up
shall try it with Durim in the roda since he knows me best (meaning - we're both paranoid about taking each other down to ever end up doing anything to each other, so we can actually do stupid floreios in between)

wrist still stiff from when Claudinho sat on me
can't pull off my flipetty-flop move that well yet
i don't know the name for it... maybe i should call it the coelho.

did a few trial runs into a mortal
got heckled by quek
i stall by walking back for a glass of water

we're trying to be disciplined about training
so was about to go into drills

rain drops
knew we should've headed to the gym.

one last chance
a bunch of tudung'ed ladies were attempting to play football for the first time
stray balls fly our way
and they're taking our favourite launching spot

i try a few more test jumps
a little too close to cement for comfort
shift position

more raindrops

it's now or fuckin never!
au
jump
tuck
ouch
forgot the untuck part

over-rotated my ass to the grass
i think it's a good thing cause previously i was too pre-occupied with tucking out to make a clean rotation
i call it a good day, first mortal of the year

quek's a little angsty cause we only clocked in half an hour
oh well
i'm happy

oh yes...
youtube clip of the day goes to...
Contra Mestre Torneiro Capoeira Paris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZf7AQKCJaA

Check out the sick vengativa counter with a tesoura
then check it out again
and again
and again in slo mo
bring on the vengativa Durim!

Good Friday Indeed

2009-04-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

More random learnings for the day:

According to Janet, it rains at 3pm every Good Friday
AROUND THE WORLD
except for the antarctic

I wasn't really paying attention
but Jesus made it the Bethlehem before being betrayed by some Jews
and because he's been walking in the desert for 40 days without food or water
he needed lots of it when he arrived.

The morning email was a refreshing one
it's always a kick looking out for your agency name when a shortlist comes out
it's a little like checking the lottery
you know how that excitement usually ends up...
sick, disgusted, and ashamed at your initial enthusiasm at something so obvious a longshot
a little like jerking off when you're bored
(why did i do it? poor lil fellas... )

well we made it to the finalist for Canon Goes Green interactive
I harbour no hope for integrated
Malaysia's got a long way to go
the sooner we stop scamming and winning posters
the more time we have prepping for some real work
i mean, CGG took 9 months preparation + execution
looking at them titanium winners at Cannes
that's gotta take just as long, judging by the magnitude of the execution and idea

Well, fingers crossed.
Would make a nice paperweight, that One Show pencil.

Lunchtime was just as entertaining
I did the 'pop-the-question' tour of duty
after much procrastination and work in between
suet volunteered
couldn't have chosen a better person

i've got some shortlists...
it's a little inconvenient to post this now with the human traffic around the house
i'll fill you in later.

got some work sorted
some interesting projects that definitely makes it all worthwhile
as always
fingers crossed we're going in guns blazing with all our dentsu GROs/creatives this coming week

best of all... continuing one of the reasons i started this blog...
Day 3 of louhung capoeira training at the park!

326pm Thu Mornin April 8

2009-04-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

If you make pancakes, would you eat your own?
If you sell chicken rice, would you look forward to, well, chicken rice every day?
Likewise, if you're a copywriter by trade, would you write your own blog?

There are a few reasons why i went ahead with this rant
so let me see if i can list it down to start with
1. i have trouble sleeping, well i don't, i just don't like it much
2. i've been posting capoeira training progress logs on my facebook notify list, and due to popular demand (5 people) i've started a blog to log progress, or rather, the attempt at not regressing at capoeira. We're on Day 2, so stay tuned.
3. twitter's getting me addicted to the net again. i still don't know why.
4. ever since taking on the role of associate creative director, i don't write all that much no more, so i guess this is a good place to start. (Who's listening? )

Is there a template to the things you want to write about? Only if you're after hits i guess. So where do i start with this rant.

The day started well. It's always good when you wake up before your drill-sargeant of a girlfriend. Meeting at TM went well. The good pimps at dentsu were at it again. Charmin' the hightops and having mind-sex with clients. Stroking their egos with our charm, and arousing their shiver-me-timbers with our creatives.

We've got a good radio that i really want to see born. Once again, the tempting 'I don't care which radio we sell we're gonna record this one for sure cause it's good for my folio and maybe for a metal' feelin rears its ugly head. No. No. We shall sell it the honourable way. They bought it anyway so we'll just have to pimp it that much harder in the 2nd round with them bosses.

It's great to go for shoots. Therapeautic. And good to see the team enthusiastic about a Testimonial TVC campaign. How many creative teams would scrutinise every word, (we had a teleprompter) every second and every twitch of a twitchy eyelid from our rag-tag bunch of SME talents? Ok i'm sure you're out there... i'm just proud of the crew is all.

What you don't believe us? Well then. How many creatives would do a 'Client Award Night' video just for kicks, and not because it's a chance to do a scam for the awards? Here's proof:

.
.
.

okay i'll upload the video eventually when i figure this blog thingy out.

ooh. writer's blog. i mean block.

oh yes. blogs should be a little educational no?

learnt more super-useless mac/internet facts from rudy

if you've spent too much time in front of your mac
the good people at apple have devised a shortcut to make sure you... well spend more time in front of it i guess. And reduce eye fatigue.
Not sure about that, but it does look cool.
If you hold CTRL + ALT + APPLE + 8
your screen will turn negative like the film
apparently this change is better than eyemo
i think i'll just use it as a cheap prank on colleagues
anyone knows if Vista has this function?

Blogs also need to have photos right?
I'll see if i can figure the bluetooth + razr (archaic, i'm old school ok!) connection
see if i can drop in some pics of the day i suppose
i have a collection of car parking bay numbers that one day might look cool in an exhibition

344pm - i've scheduled myself to sleep. i still need to work in a few hours. or get through it at least. Gotta pimp gbum's SME logos among other things. The weekend couldn't have come sooner. Monday already felt like Thursday.