RISE ABOVE!

cold and cereal

2010-05-18T05:35:00.001-07:00

its the AM

im downloading podcast

unwinding before the day.

in front of a fan

eating honey nut cheerios

All For One: The 2010 Battle for the Cup

2010-04-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Texas Stars, minor league affiliate of the Dallas Stars, are in the playoffs.

It was my job in the marketing dept to come up with a slogan/brand/creative for the playoffs.

After going through a multitude of ideas...odd, risky, etc, we figure that our first year we should keep it safe.

What follows this is a slew of ideas/implementation of said ideas for our 2010 Playoff Run

- ALL FOR ONE radio spot -
start date 04/09/10

“THERE COMES A TIME IN EVERY SEASON WHERE
STRENGTH AND WILLPOWER ARE PUT TO THE ULTIMATE TEST.
----- ONLY ONE TEAM WILL WALK AWAY VICTORIOUS
----- YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE THE BEST
----- PLAYOFF HOCKEY IS HERE AND IT’S TIME
FOR A CITY TO RALLY BEHIND IT’S TEAM.
------ YOUR TOWN(pause)YOUR TEAM(pause) ONE CHANCE(pause)ONE DREAM(pause)
------ ALL FOR ONE ------ The 2010 Battle for the Calder Cup begins ___________.
Be there to see your Texas Stars make there way through the
playoffs and fight towards their ultimate goal of hoisting the Calder Cup."

So after scripting a basic idea of what we wanted, here is what I came up with. After my editing, it sounded a little cliche, but I still think it gets the job done.

Moving on to the actual branding of the building, first thing was first: the logo. This was a problem from the get go, mainly because the Calder Cup is not a known symbol. People don't know what it really looks like, and people definitely do not get tattoos of it on themselves.

The brand the league sent us was, interesting.

As you can see, it is reminiscent of WordArt and didn't have that exciting edgy look we wanted. I took it upon myself(after being told to by my boss) to create a new rendition of the Calder Cup.

After putting a few images through Live Trace in Illustrator I found one that worked well, that could be tweaked well enough to use in our logo. Which also had to be approved by the AHL for using their Cup.

I came up with this:

It's pretty basic, and maybe a little too involved...but with hockey we need to grab attention. We also need to keep hockey always present, notice the sticks.

The wordmark from the logo is the font Telegrafico, layered three times to add thickness.

You'll notice the tie-in of the logo in the background imagery of the hockey player. Being the Texas Stars we have to maintain using Green and Gold in almost everything, so I highlighted the light sources with a color overlay.

It's kinda funny, the picture I used is actually an old picture of Loui Eriksson I found as a PR intern in Dallas a few years ago....reminiscing aside:

This is the splash page I have been using on the official website since we began our playoff run.

Here are a few implementations we used with the creative:
TV SPOT-

Random Merch from the store-

the logo in the ice(sorry it's a little dark)
This next trailer wrap wasn't the same logo, but the same creative I have been sing for the playoffs. This went along with the large banners inside the arena that read" All For One" when you walked in.

That's it for now, just wanted to recap some of the things we have been doing. I will add more as it comes up.

-M@

YOU KNOW WHATS AWESOME?

2009-06-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

When people at work read your blog...

it is what it is

i called it

2009-05-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

so far I am not to far off... blackhawks vs. bruins.

so

2009-04-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

....hockey playoffs started.

I would like to see Bruins vs Blackhawks.

...just a thought

2009-03-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

work = creativity in a cube

2009-03-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

TORONTO UPDATE: Whitt is fast at work working on it... it's coming...it's her fault.

Currently listening to Vera Lynn.

A new Half-Price Books opened right by me (joy). I had to dart in there before the good stuff got taken.

I picked up an Andrew Sisters record and a Vera Lynn record... so far, wow were they both incredibly worth it.

Anyway, just had some Chinese and juice... I'm gonna play some Chrono Trigger and go to bed!

new moon!

2009-03-14T21:14:00.001-07:00

rising moon- pretty good, not blue moon good, but pretty good.

more toronto story, coming soon!

2009-03-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

im back:

Trip to Toronto, ON

2009-03-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

Me and Whitt decided awhile back we would start traveling to new places as much as possible, and an opportunity arrived at the turn of the new year. I had vacation time, and Whitt had a little time off too.

I quickly checked Priceline.com for an answer, and the commercials are great! I was hell -bent on leaving the country, but Ive been to Mexico, and I wanted to go farther than that. My first idea was Vancouver, pretty city I've heard...but the cost was a little much. The next viable option was Toronto, and I soon as I did a little research it was where I wanted to go.

Sure I love hockey, but that's not the only reason I wanted to go. And sure, we got glass seat tickets to a "Toronto Make Me Laughs" (as I would later learn they are referred to) game. And SURE, the hall-of-fame for the greatest sport ever is there. So what? That's not why we went, at least that's not what I told Whitt.

Day 1: Thursday
I got the go ahead from my boss to leave a little early, this was fine. I had the fun drive of Austin to Fort Worth under my belt a thousand times over, but it never hurts to beat the 5 o'clock traffic. I headed back after packing a quaint little carry-on for the plane, which I told Whitt to try and follow suit. Props

Day 2: Friday
Woke up feeling shitty. Maybe I got something caught in my throat and it sat their all night irritating my subconscious. In my head I wonder why I didn't wake up and get some water, I must have been tired. I don't even know when Whitt got in, she wasn't there when I went to bed. Either way, we had a schedule to keep! I wake up at 4, Whitt wakes up at 3:30 (always). Had to leave my parents house by 4:15 am to make the flight. My mother dropped us off, bless her heart, and we proceeded through security.

I'm not sure what can be blogged about this that hasn't been, but airport security is a gong show. I feel like such a dumb-ass everytime I do that show. Keep in mind we didn't bring much, it just so happens everything I bring is one of the few things you have to take out. Taking out my belt is awkward enough, but the shoes, then my laptop, my two phones, my wallet, my joke of a toiletry case, jacket.... ha. I always spend about 10 minutes getting my life back together after that rundown.

So we get into the terminal. I think for the last month or so Whitt and I have both had an extreme craving for Dunkin Donuts. No particular reason really, neither of us are that fond of shitty food, but we pass by one a lot in Austin and think..."wow, we should really try that!" So the one time I have a real reason to go to one, in the airport, next to our terminal, in the morning, serving breakfast....its not open. Sweet.

Anyway this airport morning drags, but I have Chuck Klosterman's book "Killing Yourself to Live." I have to say it is a righteous read so far! And anything to keep my mind off of the impending Watchmen: the Movie reviews is good. I had gone back in forth in my head as to whether it is ok or not to see a movie on vacation. In my head, NO is the clear answer. Movies are a thing I can do in Decatur, TX...not Toronto, ON. This is the Watchmen movie though, just sayin'.

Our first flight leaves for Minneapolis where we will change planes and hop up to Toronto. Once we get to Minn---------
-
-
-

We hop on a little toy airplane that couldn't hold more than 30 people and fly to Toronto, ON. I felt like one of the Jonas Brothers, or Hilary Duff (which I will touch on later, the topic not Hilary). Time to go through customs, get a cab and get to the Sheraton. I must say, we didn't expect $49 for a cab. sucked. The guy in the cab gave us an awkward "tour" of the city that seemed to go on for a long time.

We check into the Sheraton in downtown at Queen and Yonge (i think). It was nice it overlooked a building that looked very "governmenty" but we forgot to ask what it was. It also overlooked a little skating rink situated on top of a mall. At night this rink would fill with little hockey players that would play into the wee hours. Cute.

Anyway, at this point I am really really sick. I feel like I am going to pass out, all from a little cough. I was running a fever. So the first thing we do in Toronto is nap. Whittney, the trooper that she is, wandered around TO and found me some Benidyne(amazing). She also got some sweet photos!

So after a quick nap we embarked on our first journey into TO. It was big, cold and nice. The first night out on the townwe figured, ask the concierge whats "hoppin." Bad idea, you see, without proper direction it's freakin hard to go anywhere. So we wandered around and into a Tim Horton's.

Tim Horton's is a place not unlike Starbucks in that they are everywhere. But not unlike McDonalds in that there is no "yuppie" factor to them. They are like Dunkin' Donuts...but they are EVERYWHERE. I made a point of telling Whittney every time I saw one, she didn't like this. One bartender said, "Canada runs on Tim Hortin's." crazy.

Our first time in a Tim Horton's, I simply went for the "coffee"...or "double double" as my Canadian brethren say. Fantastic coffee, not to strong like Starbucks or hot like McD's. Whitt decided she wanted to order some dougnut holes, so she did. She did not realize, however, that the Canadians aparently have no idea what dougnut holes are so they started filling up an entire box of regular doughnuts. Whitt then had to correct them, only for them to correct her on her "dougnut hole" name. You see in Canada, they are called "Timbits."

We walked around the city for the rest of the night, saw some of the downtown nightlife, and decided to go eat at Wayne Gretzky's place. It was more or less a Hard Rock cafe with better food and hockey shit everywhere(a theme very common up north).

Day 2: Saturday

Saturday was a busy day so I will hit the highs.

CN Tower: Apparently this thing has a glass bottom, it is rediculously high as well. check it out if you get the chance...you will be able to see your house. Some French people made out the whole time me and Whitt were there.

Rogers Centre: World Baseball Classic USA vs. Canada.
Not being the biggest baseball fan, I was almost completely unaware of what was going on, and Whitt and I wanted to check out a Baseball game. Turns out t was the WBC. We got to see the USA team beat Canada. Fun times!

Air Canada Centre: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Edmonton Oilers.
This was the highlight of the trip for me. Sure the Leafs are terrible (very), but the seats were amazing and to see such a storied franchise play in there home town was unreal. The opening theme for the team was that Killers song "I got soul but Im not a soldier." odd choice. ...All in all, after the $14 beers(srsly), it was a great game....AND WE WERE ON THE GLASS!

DAY 3: SUNDAY! (whitt's turn)

So apparantly I am responsible for updating on Sunday and Mondays happenings, and I guess Tuesday as well. Although leaving was relatively uneventful.

Sunday.

We awoke and decided to do some shopping in the mall that was recommended to us. Toronto is famous for having these underground tunnels of shopping malls that connect to more shopping adventures above ground. We didnot however remember these secret tunnels until we stumbeled upon them the last day. But we enjoyed the city and we stumbeled upon one area that closely resembeled the hustle and bustle of NYC.

Matt picke dup a sweet V-neck and I found some sweet shades at the local H&M. Matt was so amazed by the cheapness of the clothes. I wasnt too impressed considering my entire wardrobe comes from forever 21. I am a custume to the cheapness.

Upon exiting the mall a man approached us and questioned whether or not we would be interested in giving our opinon on male hair fashion for a commercial shoot. We thought "what the hell" and signed the waivers that stated 'axe hair products' on the title page. A blonde girl interviwed us as a couple and apparantly had the hots for Matt's sweet doo. She asked us questions with sexual connectations behind everything she said, I'm assuming for entertainment value. It is supposed to air on heavy.com. Keep an eye out. Matt does a 360 example of how a guy should style their hair. I was proud. Especially considering the advancements he has made in his hair style over the last couple of years. :)

We then proceded to the hockey hall of fame,

where we indefinitley spent the remainder of our day. Unbenknowest to ourselves, we closed the place down. They had to close the door behind us as we left. Apparanly we are very interested in the history of hockey.

Matt spent plently of time educating me on things I didnt know and have since forgotten most of what he said. There is just so much hockey knowledge I have space for. But I enjoyed the retro jerseys and getting to be with the stanley.

At this point it was 4:00 in the afternoon and trending like we had behaving on this vacation...we had no plans. She we wondered the streets and stumbeled upon some really cool places that were all closed for the day. But we made a mental note to return the next day, especially to this rad comic book store. It was completely decked out in watchmeness.

The rest of the evening consisted of doing what we do best. Bookstores. And a couple of beers here and there. We caught most of the stars game a this local canadian bar called Jack Astors. Their chips and salsa were terrible, but the beer was tasty. They had the rikards white we loved so much. We shared a crepe and visited a bookstore.

We didnt know what else to do so we decided to drink the rest of the night. We had some drinks at this nice bar. And then at another bar. And then decided to completely go crazy and have some fun at the hotel bar. Lets just say we slept decently well and very hard that night

Day 4: Monday and Day 5: Tuesday

Monday

We awoke once again to a fire alarm at 0300 in the am. Since this wasnt the first time this had happened Matt remained in bed and I sat with the door open to assess the situation and the amount of people actually evacuating. An hour later we were cleared to officially return to sleep. Some kid pulled the alarm on the 48 floor of th hotel. Lovely I know.

Monday consisted of returning to the shops we found the day before. We spent some time exploring the comic store which Matt found this.

I know!!! We wandered into record shops trying to find some treasures and soms vintage thrift shops trying to blend in with the local folk. Matt got a custom fitted 59/50 hat that was pretty sweet as well.

We grabbed a delicious late lunch and probably the cheapest place we ate all weekend. We soo need to market one of these mini habachi, cook it yourself in your table, restaurants down here.

When we realized we had nothing else to do, we retired to our room. and flew home.. We DID stop in Detroit and eat peanut butter sandwiches in the airport!

note* Asian People- If I could be another ethnicity it would definitely be Asian, I think I would fit in much better with different aspects of their culture. This fact aside, there are more Asians than white people in Toronto. It is awesome.

-fun was had-

2009-03-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

gotta get comic style... watchmen so soon!

2009-02-25T12:01:00.000-08:00

... if only there was a way
to be with you everyday
pass around a cold blue moon
or a diet A & W...

No one watches the Watchmen

2009-02-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

I drove about 40 minutes to South Austin for a special screening of the watchmen movie. I waited in line about 20 minutes with my print out of credentials. Turns out, they invited all of Austin.

Didn't get in.

New Purchases: Holiday, Allen, etc.

2009-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

(Lily Allen- It's Not Me, It's You)

(Billie Holiday- Half Price Books great finds)

the last bunch are all great stuff, i can't wait to break them in...more

2009-02-19T06:37:00.000-08:00

Is there anything Lily Allen does that I don't find endearing?

Her new album, "It's Not Me, It's You," is fantastic. It has some great hooks. Songs highlights from the album include: "Chinese," "Fuck You" (tribute to GWB), and her successful attempt at a Billie Holiday-era jazz song "He Wasn't There."

Her first album, "Alright, Still," was slightly better, but only in the sense that there were a few songs that carried the rest of the album. To be honest if she stopped after writing "LDN", I would still think she was great...that song is amazing. I decided to cover it once for fun.

Her new album is good through and through, it just doesn't have the high points of the first.

Good to watch: Common ft. Lily Allen "Drivin Me Wild"

fake video game ads round 1

2009-02-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

(click to enlarge)

(that's what she said)

2009-02-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

listening to the new 1up.com podcast. got back from a run. got ben kweller in the mail. hmm

CHRISTMAS IS HERE, blue moons too

2008-12-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

...well, it will be soon. blue moon is cracked open for a good sunday night.

on that note, here is my Christmas purchases. I have narrowed them down to a playlist for your listening convenience.

-Carol of the Bells 2:04 The Bird and the Bee Carol of the Bells - Single Holiday 3 12/14/08 10:10 PM(I can't believe they did this, it's great.)

-It's a Good Day 2:34 The Belleville Outfit Wanderin' (local austin outfit)

-Young Folks 4:39 Peter Bjorn and John Writer's Block Alternative 100 2 12/14/08 10:06 PM

-Bruises 4:02 Chairlift Does You Inspire You Alternative 3 12/14/08 10:06 PM(damn apple commercial)

-Paranoid Ft. Mr. Hudson 4:38 Kanye West 808's And Heartbreaks hip-Hop 2 12/14/08 10:07 PM(best song on the album)

-Green Light [Ft. Andre 3000] 4:44 John Legend Evolver R&B 2 12/14/08 10:07 PM

-New Soul 3:35 Yael Naïm Yael Naïm Pop 1 12/14/08 10:08 PM

-P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care) 4:39 John Legend Once Again R&B 8 12/14/08 10:11 PM (legend kills it)

-Live Your Life (feat. Rihanna) 5:39 T.I. Paper Trail (Deluxe Version) Hip Hop/Rap 1 12/14/08 10:17 PM (no excuse)

-Walk On The Moon 4:34 Asobi Seksu Asobi Seksu Pop 1 9/19/08 7:43 PM

Mirror's Edge and co

2008-11-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

You know what? When I played the demo for Mirror's edge on xboxlive i was instantly hooked. As it turns out, I think I like the idea of the game more than the game.

Not that I didn't like it. It was good.

Just not what I had hoped.

Good idea though. Good rental.

2008-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

The Dallas Stars need to really pick it up... that's all I need to say

The Pipettes-what you may miss

2008-11-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

When I first heard(saw) the Pipettes...I was instantly hooked.

Then again, I am obsessed with British girl singers...

...Then again, this album is unreal.

If you can make it past the terrible first track(which is beyond me how that shit made the album)...this album is fantastic.

I really had to find out where these songs came from. The chorus and melody in each song is so catchy. As it turns out "Monster Bobby" formed the band in 2003 trying to start a sort of revivalist version of the oldschool female doo-wap bands. I think the guy was really onto something. Though the band is still not gigantic, I DID see them on a TV floor display at Best Buy the other day. Me and Whitt were shopping for a new TV and I had to stop and watch the video....twice!

Check out this video:

it's hard for me to not smile the whole time.
I would totally understand if this was the "hot" music for people in general, instead of the Miley Cirus'(plural) of the world.

Anyway, I am a big fan, and I recommend this first full length completely. Even more so if you are sick of modern music. This is a big change of pace.

LABOR DAY ESSENTIALS: THE MIX UP

2008-09-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Labor Day which after wiki'ing I found out what it actually was: "The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens"."

Anyway, to keep with the spirit I searched through my songs for titles with Labor/Work/Day, or just pertaining to hard work... Here is the "TOP 5 LABOR DAY" mix:

1. Bob Dylan: "Workingman's Blues #2" from the album Modern Times

I have honestly never been the biggest Dylan fan, but this song is great and it really captures the whole "work" thing. Anyway, it's good

2. Jimmy Eat World: "Work" from the album Futures

This is one of their best albums, although JEW has never really put out anything bad. This was the single for the radio...that honestly stil holds it's own unlike most singles.

3. MDC- "I Hate Work" from their Discography

Austin's own! They had to make the list. Really good stuff, almost Minor Threat-ish. Cool, fun song.

4.The Dingees- "Workin' Man's Blues" from the album Armageddon Massive.

My friend Zach has dibs on meing this bands biggest fan ever, and he has reason. For being relatively unknown they have one of the more mature sounds to come out of the era of punk. I really dig the ska sound in small doses and they mix it up right.

5. The Beatles- "Hard Day's Night" from the album One

Its the Beatles, go figure.

The Clash: My Piss-Poor Reaction

2008-08-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

I don't get it...I really don't. A band can be around for, well, ever and I can completely miss out.

The first time I heard the Clash I simply passed them off. I thought it was an interesting sound, but nothing to go apeshit over. What was this epic, genre-defying, god of all that is punk, that I exactly missed? Maybe I wasn't ready. Maybe my ears had not heard enough or "matured" enough to recognize the genius.

So I made a list of my top three Clash "Spring-Board" albums..

Let's Start!

London Calling: the album that defines a lot a rock and roll. Actually it's their third album, you see, where most bands go bad after one the Clash just got better. I heard it once and thought it was alright. Just recently I started jamming it again for kicks and ever since I can't listen to anything "un-CLASH." Being a long time fan of punk rock this struck me as baffling. It seems the more I listen to them ad appreciate their catalog, the more I realize I wasn't alone in my boat.

Nay, I say to you! Most people.....most PUNX, only know few key Clash songs: London Calling, Should I Stay or Should I Go, Rock the Casbah. Most of which have been featured in at least 50 commercials at this point, you know Starbucks, Hummer...real legit shit. real punXor shit.

I digress, I just want to say that, London Calling is where you should start...and for a reason. It is the BLUE ALBUM in Clash terms. I ended up picking it up on Vinyl for 10 bucks at ......sigh....Hot Topic:(

Next up! The Clash: The Clash: Wow, now let's go back to their self-titled album. It really kicks your teeth in on the first track "Janie Jones. "

"Hes in love with rocknroll woaahh
Hes in love with gettin stoned woaahh
Hes in love with janie jones
But he dont like his boring job, no..."

This track is not only a great starter, it's got a great gang vocal hook. Alot of hardcore bands should take note. Anyway, this album has got some great perks, "White Riot"...and my personal favorite "Police and Thieves." Speaking of which, if your a big Reno 911 fan, the RENO911 movie that came out in theaters awhile back featured "Police and Thieves" performed by the Foo Fighters as the theme song....The Foo Fighters had to remain unamed because of their lable...dumb. Either way, damn great cover.

Next I would move to Combat Rock. This may strike some people as odd, but with the odd experimentation that goes on, it may be a little much to get your head around if your just want a straight jam record. I will say however, this record is still fantastic and rivals the other two prior mentions...just a personal preference I guess. This is a very reggae funky album. With that said, some of the most kickass tracks have a very rock steady feel...such as "Car Jamming."

Their are still more Clash Albums to be explored...but this should be a good spring board. If you do get through these 3...I would head right over to "GIVE EM ENOUGH ROPE" next. You definitely will not regret it!