Monday Advertising Inspiration

Working on freelance projects as a sole stream of revenue is hard work (impossible?) at best. I am probably charging way too little for my services to start, and also putting in about one-third of the required sales and networking effort required to secure new clients.... SIGH. It's Monday, I'm sure you're depressed enough already, so here are some great ads from the recent issue of WIRED to give you a little creative boost to start the week of right!!

FIRST OFF... what the actual hell guys, the future is here and we didn't even know it. Apparently it is now possible to manipulate 3D holograms in real time using collaborative software from this company called bluebeam? All I can think is that this technology must be pretty shitty, otherwise wouldn't the fact that building the holodeck is just a few years away not be front page news!?!?! woahhhhh

Ray ban has a pretty badass multi-page ad. Wear Ray Bans: Cowboys and Rockstars do. BRANDING at its FINEST.

And this threw me for a loop: cigarette ads in a magazine subscription to a Canadian address without all kinds of crazy cancer messages!? But other than the fact that due to cost they decided to skip the third panel in this multi-paged ad (What happened to Original?), I like the esthetics of this a lot and the fact that I think the second picture is also used in a billboard campaign in Spain for pre-teen social network Tuenti which is funny... "Taste it all" does seem like a weird tagline though for cigarettes, now that it is pretty much public knowledge that "tasting it all" would imply enjoying the flavors of tar, cyanide, and rat poison....

 Go motorola! Tapping into the on-shore manufacturing craze, our obsessive need to customize everything AND accessorize your already accessorized device with hipster-esque background objects. FTW. All you need is some tiny infographic about 3D printing, and a little pic of the models-as-hipsters/engineers (because our company is so trendy) that we can all look up to for inspiration. DESIGNED, BY, YOU, MADE IN AMERICA

 Okay, I'll admit, the miles and miles thing is pretty dumb, but I love the colors, and this car looks cute and ready for adventures, just like my own 'Lil Red!! Good job, Toyota USA print agency, whoever you are...

Thank god for Netflix Vampires...

First of all, if you don't know me, then you need to know this: I have an unshakeable, pre-twilight love for vampire stories... Having thought about why I love them so much, I can only possibly trace it back to a childhood obsession with Beauty and the Beast, but I digress.

My latest obsession (I'm a bit behind...) has been Netflix videos, and I am a passionate supporter of torrents, so this is a big step for me, but there is something exciting about having instant access to thousands of movies just a click away... Being in Canada, there are some limitations (aka: pretty limited selection of shit movies), but I just consider that an added challenge!!

Check out these gems I've found in the past few weeks:

Hemlock Grove (TV show)
This is a Netflix original series with some seriously slow first few episodes, but it's worth the lead-up to the season finale!!




8 Reasons to watch:
1) Alexander Skarsgard (Eric from True Blood!)'s little brother stars... and noticing little gestures and speech patterns similar between them is an added bonus activity! Sadly, he's nowhere near as sexy, but does a REAL good "creepy".
2) The prince from Ever After grew up, and is also a lot less charming, but he's here too!
3) Jean Gray/Pheonix from X-Men is very mysterious and has awesome outfits.
4) It's all filmed in Canada! and another fun activity is noticing all the Canadian stuff (ie: cigarettes covered in the convenience stores, roadsigns, etc)
5) The main guy is also Canadian and a hotttiiieeeee
6) It is probably what Vampire Diaries was aiming for but miserably failed to acheive due to it's PG rating and poor, poor acting abilities of all the main characters. No such fail here. :)
7) Spoiler: the werewolf transformation is SO COOL...
8) It leaves about as many opened mysteries and curiosities as the first season of Lost

 Midnight Son (2011): I am always skeptical on Netflix watching these independent horror-esque films, but this one got some stupid high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's actually one of the most original vampire movies I have ever seen... I wish the main actor was a bit better looking, and the storyline was a little less rambling, but overall, a surprisingly good watch!

...and I am quite looking forward to these three:

Sci-Fi movies you should see (because chances are, you probably haven't)

Inspired by FanExpo in Toronto this past weekend (I couldn't go!!!) and my solo trip to the IMAX theatre this afternoon to see Elysium (which is totally awesome), I thought I would compile a list of other sci-fi-esque movies that I totally love in case anyone is looking for ways to spend their evenings on Netflix. Don't let your aversion for "sci-fi" turn you off, you'll only find the rare alien on this list.

1. District 9 (2009): Released on the heels of one of the coolest mysterious-teaser marketing campaigns to accompany a movie in the last 10 years (check it out HERE), I will admit that I went to see it not knowing anything at all about what I was getting into--and now it's probably my #1 favorite movie. Set in South Africa (cool!), it's actually a faux documentary about the occupation of Johannesburg by a camp of refugee aliens that's narrated by a quirky non-hero with the ridiculous name of Wikus Van De Merwe. Something usual happens to him and the film also follows his downward spiral... oh, and it's also an allegory for apartheid!! TRUST ME, watch it if you haven't. (and then tell me what you think!)

2. The Island (2005): DON'T CLICK THAT LINK (spoiler alert!) Okay, to be fair part of the reason I like this so much is watching Ewan McGregor act with childlike innocence.... but the concept is cool, and it's fairly well executed (okay, so you can probably see the "twist" coming from miles away, but it's still great when it happens). I feel as if a lot of people I know missed this in the theatres (I did!), but I have been hosting screenings for virgin viewers at my house regularly in the years since. It's pretty Hollywood glam, and there's not much depth to it, but I like it all the same.

3. Minority Report (2002): Yeah, it's Tom Cruise, but again, another pretty interesting concept that is executed with a pleasant blend of the expected Hollywood sci-fi action glamour with enough humanity to make it memorable. I showed a bunch of clips in MIT projects in university... but I specifically like the smaller elements of the future "world" in this movie: when he's walking by stores and the billboards greet him by name via retinal scan, and his family video "holograms". Cool shit.

4. Equilibrium (2002): Christian Bale pre-Batman. Set in the future, we see mankind's answer to world peace as the elimination of emotions via a mandatory-under-law daily injection of drugs. No passion, no love, no art, no creativity... I love the societal repercussions suggested here from humans having no emotions: the removal of literally everything that evokes any kind of emotional response.  Watch it if you missed this one.

5. Repo Men (2010): I actually have only seen this movie once, but something about it stuck with me, and the leadup to the climax of the storyline takes you on one hell of a ride. I guess the thread you'll see with all of these movies is a strong human element, despite all the crazy movie tricks and FX. Jude Law serves that up pretty well here.

6. Vanilla Sky (2001): Say what you want, this is still a great idea for a sci-fi flick. Basically, Tom Cruise gets in a car accident and then the movie traces his downward spiral of a life... but things get increasingly confusing. I actually don't even like the original Spanish language version better. Try to figure it out as you go, and don't read spoilers! It's part of the fun...

7. Knowing (2009): Again, this one was critically a disaster, but there's something about it I like. It legitimately scared me (so, not for the faint of heart), but I really like how the story unfolds, too. It's so nice to have a child actor in a movie that's not annoying, and the ticking clock of the end of the world framing the rest of the plot revelations helps to build intensity--I am not even disappointed by the ending, better than the world just exploding, right?

8. Moon (2009): This movie gets in your head, and part of that is probably due to the fabulous creepiness of Sam Rockwell putting forward an amazing performance. To sum it up, a guy is up in space alone with only a computer voiced by Kevin Spacey for company.... things don't go well. Another one that starts out calm, and takes a turn for the worse ending in a twist you probably won't have seen coming (Don't look it up! It'll blow your mind!!!!).

9. Battle Royale (2000): First, if you're not one for foreign films, trust me you will get over that in the first 5 minutes of watching this Japanese gore-fest. This movie is what the Hunger Games SHOULD have been, and it follows a very similar concept... only it was made more than 10 years before Katniss's family-friendly adventure. In an over-populated future Earth, a school class is randomly selected to be sent on a one-way field trip to an island on which they have to battle each other to the death--last one standing gets to leave the island, and if there's two? Well, you both die! I love the mix of over-the-top anime-inspired characters and violence, and how this movie also fairly realistically takes you through what would happen if the average person was faced with this scenario... something Hunger Games doesn't really cover well.

10. I am tempted to put The Fifth Element on this list, but if you haven't seen THAT, then get right out of town. So, for this last one, I will give a list of some other sci-fi flicks I have watched a bunch of times, that either are more well-known or I don't like quite as much, but are still pretty great (also, I'm tired and going to bed): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, TRON, Titan A.E., The Matrix..

Oooh! I thought of one more! It's on Netflix right now, I just watched it last week. VERY cool, kind of Contagion-esque, but more surreal. Perfect Sense (2011): my sister originally recommended it to me and I totally forgot about it until it popped up on my suggested films--thanks Netflix! It's about a mysterious disease that pops up in the future causing people to break down into a fit of complete sadness followed by the loss of their sense of smell... and then, you know, the usual downward spiral... :)

Also, here's two more lists I found while grabbing these links that include these, plus lots more great films if you're bored:
http://www.imdb.com/list/Ui0vVgSMM6Y/?ref_=tt_rls_1
http://www.imdb.com/list/E1fozfxyin0/

Books I know you will love too... Maybe

So, despite the fact that Googling my full name will result in numerous Amazon wishlists and listmania collections of teen vampire romance novels (please don't go do that now just to prove that you can.. I wish the internet would allow me to remove those from public domain, but alas, I have yet been able to figure out how!!!) Anyway, I thought I would make a list here of books I have read recently OR that I still think are a pretty solid use of time.

If you know me (which I hope you do if you're here-- internet stalkers stranger danger?) then you will also know that this is going to be a pretty eclectic list. But know that I don't like reading books that challenge me (I read for funsies!) and I like books particularly that weave stories that stay with you as interesting, or characters that you really get to know and love. Normally, description-heavy, complex plotlines would not fare well by me. I also like writers with a conversational tone.

Also, if you haven't discovered this already, Audio Books are the best way of surviving rush hour traffic. Or Commuting. Try it, if you don't believe me--it will change your life!!!

1. Bitten - Kelley Armstrong (have to rep. a great Canadian author, so it's werewolves... get over it! it's great! the audiobook is read by a lady with a pretty annoying voice, but after about the 1st chapter, you get over it).

2.  The Dark Tower Series - Stephen King (This one I didn't listen to, but I probably wouldn't recommend doing that anyway, based on how the story unfolds. AND, the first book is pretty boring, but it will pique your interest enough that I hope you keep reading, because by the 3rd book, this series is AWESOME.)

3. Hold me Closer Necromancer - Lish McBride (Stupid title, right? Well, I had extremely low expectations as well, but was pleasantly surprised by the wit and style of the writing. The audiobook is good too. Also, the sequel is called Necromancing the Stone--which is a movie I secretly LOVE )

4. The Strain -- Guillermo Del Toro (excellent audiobook read by Ron Pearlman. Author's name ring a bell? Pan's Labyrinth director. Very, very creepy. Be prepared to have it haunt you, but in a way that it leaves you so impressed that a book could do such a thing.)

5. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir -- Jenny Lawson (lent to me by the great Lisa Caverley, I laughed my way through this entire book. Dark, dark humor will appreciate. Tremendously...)

6. Halfway to the Grave -- Jeaniene Frost (IF you like to indulge in a little cheese romance every once in a while AND you are a diehard fan of the Buffy and Spike romance storyline, then, and only then, will you probably like these books. BUT, that said, if the above does apply to you, then be satisfied in knowing that these are pretty well-written for cheese romance, and the story is fun in a badass way that makes Spike not out to be a pathetic loser, oh, whoops, I mean Bones. How this lady doesn't get sued is beyond me.)

7. Swoon - Nina Malkin (you can still get this book for $4 at Chapters clearance, and I appreciated the clever twists of the plot, and the interesting way the author approached a pretty overdone Twilight-esque story arc. I think the style is nice too, and it reads a lot better than most of the inane trash in Teen literature lately.)

8. Life As We Knew it - Susan Beth Pfeffer (THIS book gets in your head. It reads like how a real person would actually keep a diary/journal, and that's what makes it so eerie. You literally put it down and keep thinking that what's in the book is actually happen. #apocalypseliterature )

That's all for now. No wonder I don't blog that often--it's so time-consuming! Well, happy reading, folks! If any of you actually reads one of these books, or has any other recommendations, let me know!!