day 21 & 22: Capoeira Blitz

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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).