1) Nike
2) ESPN
3) Apple
4) Carl’s Jr.
5) Budweiser
Runners up: Volkswagen, DeBeers
Note: This is not best one-off commercials or campaigns, this is over time. Also, I should note that I am completely aware of the fact that I am the exact demographic for every one of these companies and therefore might have a slight bias.
Kings of Leon is one of my favorite bands, and the video above is of a performance of “Arizona,” one of my favorite songs from their last album. The band is getting set to release a new album and will be on tour this fall. Their last album, Because of the Times, was just plain awesome and the Rolling Stone review of it is a classic. If you haven’t heard it, give it a try. You can hear the songs “Sex on Fire” and “Crawl” from their new album on their MySpace page. Robin and I and some friends will be at their LA show at the Nokia Theater in October. Join us!
Kaimi asked for a separate post on the danger of film makers working with their spouses. Just to keep it interesting let’s expand it to everyone: directors, writers, producers, or actors. What are your examples of disasters. Here are a few of mine.
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I don’t just mean bad directors. (Paul Anderson of Aliens vs. Predator infamy I’m looking at you and trying to figure out how you keep working) I mean directors that have a ton of promise but somehow never quite live up to it.
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Those of you who have been reading my Photography Tips series will remember that commenter Abby picked up a DSLR. She was in town this week with her family on vacation, so we met up at the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach.
She was hoping I could explain some of the concepts my posts have dealt with in person and help her figure out her camera, which I did. We also had lunch at the Ruby’s at the end of the pier and gabbed non-stop. Abby rules.
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Is it just me, or is this show pretty much dead in the mind of America? (more…)
The other day I was flipping through the CD section at my local library (which I often do) and ran across an album called “Paradise Lost” by a band named Symphony X. The cover looked like it was inspired by a fantasy novel so I knew I had to check it out. I was not disappointed — when I popped the disc into my car’s CD player, out poured symphonic heavy metal. Turns out that Symphony X is a prog metal band. And yes, “Paradise Lost” was inspired by the epic Milton poem of the same name.
As I listened to the first couple of songs, I was struck by the word choice of the lyrics. Very fantasy novel. Very D&D. So for your enjoyment, I have created a selected word list for the album. I can make no claims to thoroughness as I did this rather quickly (luckily, there was a lyric sheet). Please also note that many of the concrete nouns are used in combination with other nouns and/or adjectives that might make them more figurative. (more…)
Because he just swims. I can appreciate the fact that he’s really good at it and that he’s good at both the freestyle and butterfly, but it’s still just swimming. Call him the greatest swimmer of all-time. Would you call an NBA player who excels at free-throws, 3-pointers and jump-shots a contender for the greatest athlete ever?
Now, I’m not saying Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete of all-time, but at least he can both hit a baseball and run over Brian Bosworth.
Meme Machine. A history of all those internet memes. (HT: Greg Laden)
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This was recorded a couple weeks ago. Then I had a technical problem (the last 5 or so minutes of us is cut off and goes directly to Brian and Susan’s song commentary). Then I wanted to fix the technical problem but I put it off. Then my computer died and I thought I lost the entire file. Then my wife had a baby.
I guess our discussion of The Dark Knight is old news by now, but without it your opinion on the matter has no merit. Listen now!
Oh, and the feed will be up on iTunes very soon.
LostWinds, a game I bought for only 1000 Wii points ($10) just might be one of my favorite games on the console. It’s beautiful, a joy to play, and makes very good use out of the Wii’s motion controls. It’s not terribly long or deep, but for the price and the experience, it’s can’t miss. (more…)
So after last night, who do you think wins? I’ve thought since the beginning of the season that it would be Joshua and last night really solidified that view.
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Ok, if you’re lucky enough to have a Mac, here it is: Manifesto, my iTunes visualizer that almost meets all my criteria for a visualizer. It violates criteria #5 in that it does not reproduce exactly the same patterns when the same song is played twice, but it will have the same “feel”. (more…)
Here’s what you do. Open your iTunes or Winamp or whatever you use to listen to music.
Sort by play count. (In iTunes, go to View->View Options and check “Play Count,” then click on the Play Count column that is displayed.)
Give us a list of your top 10 songs.
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Loading ...Nominations are now open. Rules: Must be music (as defined by me). Must be released in 2008. Must be new material (no live albums, reissues, compilations or movie soundtracks, and especially no remixes). (more…)
I gotta get me one of these.