I just discovered Jelly Helm’s blog, where he writes about how he came up with the idea of w+k’s 12 school and pitched it to Dan Wieden. 12 is just one of many interesting things that one of the most awarded agencies in the world does besides advertising. In a nutshell, it’s an experimental school within wieden that only accepts 13 students a year and whose goal is to discover new ways for people to create together.
Why 13 and not 12 is beyond me, nonetheless, the story of how it came to be is a really interesting one with some key lessons for the taking.
The first lesson is the importance of figuring out how to work your passions into your job. A valuable piece of advice he received early on in his career was this: “write down a list of everything you love to do, draw a circle around it and call that your job.” I have to try that sometime.
Secondly, it’s a lesson on the importance of selling your ideas through. After Helms’s first unsuccessful pitch, he revised the idea and his presentation approach. Pitches should be focused, brief, and easily digestible. This is something Guy Kawasaki recently emphasized about as well in this Q&A with the NY Times.
A bunch of us crammed into a friend’s apartment to watch history being made last night.
My friend Rok summed up the mood in NYC last night pretty well in this email:
“Not too shabby America! I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one
who’s excited at the prospect of never having to hear about Sarah
Palin or Joe The Plumber ever again. Of course the cynics will say
that President Elect Obama is merely the lesser of two evils: y’all
and Ralph Nader can have your own celebration in the year 2000 and
never. For the rest of us living in the United States of Reality, last
night was our night…
And what an epic night it was! Heads were BUCK-WILDING. I haven’t seen
people this amped since the Mets won the World Series back in 1986,
and since they won’t be winning again until 2086, Barack’s victory
will just have to do for now.
Seriously though, Times Square was like New Years Eve 2000, The riots
of Los Angeles and The Blackout of ‘77 all rolled into one. On 14th
Street people were high five-ing each other at random, and doing
somersaults over taxi cabs. Bedford Avenue was complete and utter
pandemonium. Hipsters were playing drums, banging on pots, screaming
incoherent gibberish at the top of their lungs, blocking traffic for
miles, and drinking 40’s right in front of police officers. It got so
rowdy that the Riot Squad had to come break things up, and up above
helicopters were circling the greater Williamsburg area. Fantastic!
I think that last night we learned that ANYTHING is possible…”
My ears can’t thank me enough for picking up these Aiaiai Y-com earphones a couple weeks ago. At $65 a pop, they’re a steal compared to some of the higher priced offerings from the Apple store. These earphones are the result of the collaboration between Aiaiai and Kilo design in Denmark The Netherlands. They feel absolutely solid from the jack all the way to the Y-shaped plastic which separates L and R earpieces. One of the annoying things about earbuds is that I’m always losing them. These feel like they aren’t going anywhere. But the most important criteria to judge any earphones is the sound quality. Being noise-isolating, I can put these on and get lost in my own world. Perfect for commuting to work on the subway. Not so safe for bike riding though. The additional benefit of having an inline mic for my iphone is icing on the cake.
Thanks to Monocle for recommending these to me in the first place. I picked em up at DigitalFix in Williamsburg.
It’s annoying to have to google keyboard shortcuts or html code for special characters. This simple site geniusly solves that problem. It’s basically a list of special characters that you can copy as text or html. I’ve been using it a lot lately. Like Umbrella Today, Copypaste Character underscores a desire for simple, functional websites that make your life easier or better in some way.
My last computer was a Powerbook G4 purchased in ‘04. I’d been due for a new computer since earlier this year, but decided to hold out based on the rumors that a new Mac design was around the bend. This was in May.
The wait is finally over! Just in time, as my powerbook gave out two weeks before the these bad boys came out. So far I’m pleased with the design and performance. I opted with the faster 250GB, 7400RPM Hard drive, and topped up the memory. I’m flying on the apps except my internet’s been pretty shoddy the last week. Once I sort that out, I hope to be blogging more in this space.
My client, Mark, was in town so we went to check out Mike Relm at Spiegeltent. It’s cool to have clients who you can kick it with, without the usual client-agency politics. Trust me, in the ad biz, it’s few and rare. Even though a little out of the way, Spiegeltent’s a pretty crazy venue. It’s literally a circus tent with a bar. They need to do more shows there. I had heard of Mike Relm but not too much. How would I describe his music? Visual mindfuck. You have to watch this video to see it for yourself. Not only is he an insanely talented turntablist, he’s also a film Producer and Director. How do some people seem to have a never ending well of creativity and ideas?
I was in Singapore for a few days last week. Every time I visit Singapore, there’s something new going on. Singapore is a city of progress, continually pushing and planning ahead. Lucky for me, The Formula 1 Grand Prix and Singapore Biennale were taking place the same week as my trip.
Although I didn’t get a chance to actually get into the course (Tickets were sold out weeks earlier), the sense of excitement running through the city was undeniable. It was a big deal - The first ever night race on a street circuit for F1. Since the track was literally carved from the real streets of downtown Singapore, you could hear the cars roar from anywhere within the central city perimeter. During the actual race, the race leader (Ferrari’s Masa) went from first to last after making a critical mistake at the pit stop. In an event like F1, even the smallest error can determine who wins and who loses. There’s no room for fuck-ups.
This was one of two favorite exhibits at the Singapore Biennale. The other deserves a post of its own. This is a video installation is by Charly Nijensohn, a german-based videographer who traveled to the salt deserts of Bolivia. Sitting there in the dark room within nothing but the sound of the wind and water ripples, it was really meditative and calming. Looking at the pictures, don’t you wish you were there right now?
When people compare Beijing’s music scene to New York’s 20 years ago, it’s not to say that China’s behind the times. More often than not, it’s a tribute to a time when NY was young and experimental…when b-boys and punk rockers ruled the city. Probably the most well known indie band out of Beijing are the Carsick Cars. The trio has opened for Sonic Youth a few times, and might even be considered so popular that it’s uncool to know them (Making this the most uncool blog ever). As an outsider to the scene, I’m digging their sound and attitude. I read here that lead singer, Zhang Shouwang (now 22), wasn’t exposed to western music until a late age, listening to Michael Jackson for the first time at 16. We’re witnessing the a generation in China exploring, for the first time, the freedom of creative expression. And it’s more exciting than ever.
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Most stalker movies don’t reveal the killer until the very end, but in The Chaser, the killer is apprehended within the first 20 minutes. The rest of the movie follows a cop-turned-pimp whose detective instincts kick in after his girls start disappearing. Since the killer is caught (but on the verge of release), it’s a life or death race to find where they’re hidden. The film swept up most of the awards on the Korean film circuit, and there’s been talks that the team behind Infernal Affairs plans to do a Hollywood remake. I don’t know if you could call it a dark comedy, but it has its moments. The Korean film industry has nailed this genre with films like Old Boy and The Host. I recommend checking outThe Chaserwhen it comes out.
In my eyes, The Cool Kids are the most dynamic duo in hip-hop right now. They brought the energy, even though the most of the crowd was content taking pictures including myself:)
At the end of the day though, “Delivery man,” is a hot track. I’m curious about how Green Label Sound will pan out. There’s definitely an element of “selling-out” they will need to overcome. For now, I’m enjoying the music.
I just discovered Jelly Helm’s blog, where he writes about how he came up with the idea of w+k’s 12 school and pitched it to Dan Wieden. 12 is just one of many interesting things that one of the most awarded agencies in the world does besides advertising. In a nutshell, it’s an experimental school within wieden that only accepts 13 students a year and whose goal is to discover new ways for people to create together.
