A Sports Night For the Ages

Saturday night (Halloween) will be good for more than just ghosts and goblins. The kids will get the candy, but sports fans will get the treat. Listen to this lineup: Oregon Ducks vs USC, Blazers vs the Rockets, and game three of the World Series, Yankees vs Phillies. The only thing that would make it better is if all of these gems didn't overlap in some capacity. I only have two TVs for crying out loud. Having this many game options is a high-class problem to have. But I'll manage.

Words from a two-year-old

At breakfast this morning, my daughter looked up from her bowl of Fruit Loops and proceeded to say, "Dad, you're a guy."

"Yes I am," I replied.

"You're a good guy."

"Well, thank you Sophia."

"You're my favorite guy."

And the she grabbed her spoon and continued eating her cereal.

And1 Tai Chi Heritage Video

I wrote and produced this at work for the And1 Tai Chi launch. We were able to get a great video made on a limited budget and time.

And1 Tai Chi Heritage Video from And1 Basketball on Vimeo.

And1.com Gets Flashy

The fruits of my recent labor, I was the copywriter and project manager on the And1.com launch. The new And1.com combines old school wisdom with new school fresh. Frank created a layered homepage that invites you into the world of the Tai Chi Prophet, a new character that interacts with consumers and spreads the wisdom of ball. You can discover the Tai Chi Mid, find a retail location, or follow the Prophet on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. At the very least, the Prophet allows you send smack talk messages or inspirational proverbs to your friends. Listen to his words and your game will follow.

I need new music

I'm looking for some good new music. The last recommendation that really paid off for me was Donnie's insight on "The Everbodyfields." I still dig those Tennessee tunes. Mr. Strahl is not allowed to make suggestions because no matter how hard he tries, we're just not on the same wavelength regarding what's good. I guess one man's ceiling is another man's soiree of mediocrity.

I know I dogged the 49ers' Michael Crabtree for being a money-grubbing punk but winning heals all wounds. If he blows up this weekend, I will forgive his stupidity. Yes, I'm a fickle fan. But fan is short for fanatic, so I guess that makes sense.

4-Day Work Week Please

Utah went to a 4-day work week for government employees last year and saved over 4-million dollars on the state's spending. I would love to only work for 4 days a week. My wife works three 12s. Granted it's hard work being a nurse, but anytime you have more days off than you have on, you're not doing that bad. I'm jealous.

I love Danner Boots.

Halo Cloud Explained...Kind of.

A crazy looking halo cloud appeared over Moscow Russia last week. Scientists said they had a perfectly normal explanation for it. They said, "Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west — this is how the effect was produced."

Oh really. Thanks for that insightful pile of bull. I was hoping that the scientific explanation would include actual scientific information - like the angle of refracted light through air temperatures less than 23 degrees combined with a mirroring effect of crystallized water droplets that couldn't escape a strong upcurrent always produce accentuated effervescence. I would have believed that.

Instead, we get some Russian meteorologist blame it on the intrusion of arctic air and the sun shining from the west. Thanks Russia for keeping us wary of your ability to be truthful. Perhaps if this happened over Brazil, we could believe it. But coming from Russia...I don't know.

Cool Product. Funny Ad.

Obama Gets Paid

Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize for... making a good speech. Yeah, it was inspiring and all. And sure, if half the stuff he promised gets accomplished, it would be pretty cool. I just thought that winning the Peace Prize meant you've actually accomplished something. Don't get me wrong. I know he's trying, but my daughter is also trying to draw faces. That doesn't mean her faces still don't look like jacked-up amoebas with one eye.

All I'm saying is if you want to give the guy an award, let's wait a year. Then if all his efforts start paying off, you can give him all of the metals you want. Because anybody can stand up in front of a mic and spout world peace and denuclearization. Hell, the homeless guy outside my office does it every day.

By these standards this could easily be tomorrow's sports page headline: After a rousing pregame speech by Derek Jeter, MLB decides to crown Yankees World Series Champs before game two even starts.

I just burnt my mouth on a Bunk meatball sandwich. The pain was worth it. Delicious.

Underwhelmed

I just came across the first ad for the 2011 Portland Timbers Soccer Team, and I have to admit that I was completely underwhelmed. I know I'm biased because we came in second to the company that got the gig, but I was hoping to be blown away by their stuff because of that. I wanted to see something that justified us losing the client, but I didn't.

It's not like the ad is bad. It's just a little generic. It could be the ad for any sports team in any country. If you swap out the city or logo, the ad and messaging stay the same. So I will take this as a lesson learned. No matter how creative you want to get with pitches, it may serve you well to include a standard concept. Duly noted. Point taken. This is my pity party.

The copy said "Liverpool. Milan. Barcelona. Madrid. Portland. Finally, we're on the world's pitch." It could have easily been the words on the back of an airport tourist t-shirt. "Liverpool. Milan. Barcelona. Portland. Culture lives here....This ad was paid for by the tourism board of Oregon."


Who knows? Maybe the next ad will have a bigger payoff. Perhaps this is a layered campaign that slowly builds to the genius level. Or maybe sports teams just don't like to take risks when it comes to their advertising. Either way, it doesn't do me any good to sulk.

Up in the Air - Looks Fun

Fantasyland

After posting the the second highest points total for the first three weeks, I was faced with an abysmal 1-2 start. Unfortunately, the last two douches I faced had the best weeks of their lives, thus screwing over my record. So this week I was out for blood. I'd say I had my revenge.

Yes, my team is Ax Man.

CNN Heroes

Voting for CNN's Heroe of the Year is going on right now, and apparently my work fixing the covered up exterior light on my back patio has gone unnoticed. My family can now enjoy that space at dusk, but I guess that doesn't really compete with Jordan Thomas, who lost both his legs in a boating accident. Whatever CNN. You can ignore my day spent under my house, knee deep in smelling compost water too. It doesn't bother me.

Ohhh, nevermind. It's for ordinary people who do extraordinary things. No wonder they didn't come knocking on my door. I'm an extraordinary person just living life. I get it now.

Don't Fall Asleep. Freddy's back.

In the constant rehashing of old horror movies, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" gets its number called. Will it strike fear in the hearts of a new audience or fall flat like the unimaginative "Freddy vs. Jason?" I'm sure a less campy take on the cheese horror franchise will serve well for producer Michael Bay. It's just too bad it isn't being released in time for Halloween. Instead, we're stuck with yet another Saw movie. Yawn.

The "2012" trailer makes the movie look like it's one over-produced, special effects laced scene after another.

Selective Memory

Hollywood has fractured it's normally unified stance on almost everything in regards the recent Roman Polanski arrest. Many stars are petitioning for his immediate release while others are less quick to forget that he plead guilty to sexually assaulting a minor. Whoopie Goldberg went as far as to say that it's not like it was "rape-rape." No Whoopie, it was only getting a 13-year-old girl drunk and drugged up so he could anally and orally penetrate her. No matter how I look at it, that sounds like rape. Just because someone isn't actively fighting back in a dark alley, doesn't mean the crime didn't happen.

And let's not look past the fact that the girl was thirteen. That's seventh grade age. Most people forget how young kids are mentally and physically at that age. Thirteen is too young to drive or watch rated R movies. Just becuase it ends in "teen" doesn't make it any further away from twelve. Even if the girl had consented to the act, it still would have been statutory rape because she was thirteen!

The guy made good films and had his fair share of hard times but that's no excuse. Michael Jackson was raked over the coals for allegedly having inappropriate relations with kids and he wasn't even found guilty. Polanski admits to it and people just look the other way. Not cool, Hollywood.

Pass the Popcorn: State of Play

Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and Jason Bateman all signed on to make what they probably thought would be the next "All of the President's Men." What they ended up making was an expensive two-hour episode of Law and Order. State of Play follows a team of investigative reporters as they try to solve the murder of a congressman's mistress. And of course, the plot thickens from there. It was good enough to rent but a let down considering the cast. If you've already seen everything on your DVR, give it a try.