Cats, Cats, Cats. Thanks to some breakthrough technology...

...we humans can now understand what cats are really thinking and saying. check this two-partter out (h/t cuteoverload):

First, here's a video of two cats in a cat discussion. Clearly they're saying something to each other, but because they speak Cat and not Human, it's impossible to know exactly what it is they're saying. Watch...



But now, thanks to this new Cat-Tronic Technology, we can actually "hear" what they're saying. I think it's safe to say that this may be the greatest invention since the microwave:

It's Funny Cause It's True...

Now this stuff is funny...had to post it!

Technology killed the Ad Agency?

or so says a report from Accenture being touted in an AdWeek article. Thinkmulticultural has a brief but good post on this, worth a look. I agree with Accenture that ad agencies are increasingly under threat from the more nimble, technologically attuned digital media companies. Back at Saatchi, I brought 3D to the agency but in all honesty it was a struggle--the slow moving, traditional wheels of an agency like that don't adapt well to a shift as monumental as 3D--(monumental particularly in the automotive sector). but on the other hand, saatchi did come around and now it's a major part of the organisation...so it is possible for agencies to adapt...but then again that may be a testament to saatchi...not sure others are as quick to change direction. but if they want to survive, understanding digital media and acting upon that understanding is essential.

Finally...Here it IS!!! Positively, Absolutely, The The Best Video of All Time

Listen up--the end is near...

of course, no one can know for certain what will happen tomorrow let alone five years from now, but I do think there's some common sense in this IBM report that is difficult to argue with. Surely, sites like Google will gobble up much of the traditional ad budgets--it just doesn't make sense anymore to spend money on media whose results are so...ephemeral...so virtual--like TV. yeah, of course, TV ads have an impact but it's so "after the fact", "delayed", open to interpretation etc. etc. etc.

Google's now--you get served the ad and you click on it and you're where we want you. (h/t iab)

At least we got Marmite...

When are we gonna get some of that smokin hot internet access they got in other countries? Like in the UK where you can get these crazy 16-24 mps speeds via Sky TV...sometimes my broadband access feels like dialup...

Search Engines Rule!

At least that's what executives of search engines would have us believe. And truth be told, it's kinda hard to argue with. But anyway, if you want to know more about the glorious benefits of search engine advertising (e.g. seo vs sem/ppc), then be sure to check out the Search Engine Room conference 13 November...go to the search engine room for more info.

The Best Video of All Time: Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

This one used to be my favorite little video. shows you how OLD i am. man, when did that thing come out? like 2001 or something? what a loser i am.



but loser or not, it still rocks the house. go check it out.

you know you want to...loser.

The Technological Revolution hits NZ Agencies

But if you only read half the article from AdMedia you may think it's just traditional technologies that are being upgraded. In fact, this article is really signaling a much more important, fundemental shift in the way business gets done at Agencies in NZ (and around the world really). Much more will be done in-house and much more will rely upon digital technologies/software like Flash, After Effects and Final Cut Pro. It's what Patrick McAteer of Oktobor refers to as the "coming convergence". Check it out here.

Come Visit Singapore...And Your Children Will Be Killed By Giant Robots!

I mean, sure, who doesn't want to visit a country ruled by giant robots that shoot death rays...but you think maybe there's some other hook the Singapore Tourism Board could have used to attract tourists?

(This is a real Ad posted to CNN.com)

I've decided to become a Republican...

...because I've always been curious about what it would be like to be a closeted gay man who outwardly hates gay men,

because I've always been curious about what it would be like to be a closeted pedophile who outwardly hates pedophiles,

because i've always been curious about what it would be like to shoot an old man in the face,

because i've always been curious about what it would be like to sleep with hookers while outwardly proclaiming the merits of christ and family,

because i've always been curious about what it would be like to privately refer to fundamentalist christians as "the nuts" while outwardly pandering to them every chance I get,

because i've always been curious about what it would be like to effortlessly spend close to a half trillion dollars on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while doing everything in my power to spend as little money on Americans as possible,

because i've always been curious about what it would be like to embody and embrace pure Evil...

for all these reasons and more...I've decided to become a Republican!

One of the things that happens when you live in New Zealand...

...is you go to espn.com to find out when football starts (or gridiron as they call it here--which I try to explain to them is not a term used much in the States, but they're kiwis so they go right on ahead asking me if I'm a gridiron fan...to which I reply, yes, I love pancakes) and it becomes readily apparent that the season is already four games old...and on the college front, five games old. As far as my alma mater is concerned, it looks like I haven't missed much, but with the 'Hawks...seems there's at least a reason to check the scores on Monday night.

Go 'Hawks! Don't do what the M's have done to me! At least make the damn playoffs! Ya bastards!

Misery Loves Company

Just when I thought no one could suck as much as the Mariners did towards the end of the season, The Mets prove they too can SUCK.

Must be the letter M. Maybe we should have it stricken from the English language...

Email popular among marketers...for now anyway

eMarketer is reporting that email is most popular online marketing tool...and even suggests that it will continue to be. and while this may be true for some very specific types of companies (read: fly by night)--it surely won't be true for companies that care about their reputations--there are just too many problems associated with email--spam, viruses, file size issues etc...for this to remain a mainstay in the years to come.

Many people are addicted to the Internet

the results of a recent survey in the U.S. shows that 15% of Internet users can't go a day without internet access. okay sure. that's not surprising.

what's surprising is who conducted the research. it was JWT. looks like ad agencies are beginning to recognise where this ad beast is heading--and it ain't tv. duh.

it's online. that's where it is. that's where it's been. and now agencies may be looking for data to help convince not only their clients that the internet is where it's at but more likely...themselves.

Say hello to a new (er, re-branded) film company

As CampaignBrief is reporting, Chris Graham and Treza Gallogly have just re-branded their film company gladwrap flicks with the name The Film Brewery. All the best!

The Effing Effies are Here! The Effing Effies are Here!

Per AdMedia, the Effie nominations are here and looks like the nz sister agency to my old stomping grounds is in the lead...Saatchi & Saatchi's got 13 followed by Colenso & Colenso w/8, Oglivy 7, BBDO 6, DraftFCB 4, DDB and Y&R 3, etc...

For the full list go to www.caanz.co.nz.

Maybe I was too hard on Lame-Man...

in my last post. He actually sounds like a kindred spirit. (h/t huffington post)

So what if he can't act...

Scorsese's Iraq

There was a part of me that did not want to see the Departed--despite its widespread acclaim. Everytime I went to the video store I always looked at the case and thought maybe...but then kept going.

Thing is, I'm a huge Scorsese fan. Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Kundun, After Hours, Taxi Driver...those are some of my favorites and a few of them (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver) may be among the best films ever made. That said, let's not forget that Scorsese also directed The Color of Money, New York, New York, and Gangs of New York....

So he's not perfect.

Plus, a quick glance at the cast of The Departed should give anyone cause to pause: DeCrapio, Marky Mark, and Jason Bourne (er I mean Matt Lame-man)....and the cartoon character himself (who used to be something to behold)--Jack Nicholson. I mean, there's not a whole lot to look forward to here. But I figured, well, it is Scorsese and he did win The oscar for it...

So the other day I finally rented it.

Damn me to hell.

The Departed was one of the smelliest pieces of crap I've seen in a long long time. Oh sure, there were some good Scorsese moments (though honestly, a day later and I can't remember one)--but overall the thing stunk. STUNK.

DeCrapio was by far the best thing on the screen--I mean the poor kid was working hard, very hard to show his anguish and fear and loathing. And when DeCrapio is the best thing going, you know you're in trouble.

Lame-man, The Human Cartoon and Marky Mark were all equally crappy in their own way. Marky Mark with his wooden delivery of some of the more colorful lines in the script was completely and utterly forgettable. The portion of the screen occupied by Marky Mark pretty much disappears--he's as vanilla (ice) as it gets.

Then there's The Human Cartoon. Talk about not scary--when that's mostly what he was supposed to be, talk about not interesting--when that's some of what he was supposed to be, talk about lame-ass in-and-out Irish accent...well you get all that and less from our friend, The Human Cartoon (I know he did some great acting in the 60s and 70s, but can't he just go away now?).

And finally, let's not forget Matt Lame-man. Here is an actor who somehow has been dubbed one of the young great american actors--and yet, the funny thing is, he can't act. He can't be complex, he can't be simple, he can't be dark, he can't be light--he can't convincingly pull off anything.

So here we are left with scenes like the one where it's just DeCrapio and Lame-Man on the screen (in split-screen) with phones to their ears--the bad cop finally comes ear to ear with the only man who can bring him down--it's one of the huge Scorsese moments...but one that falls completely flat as we realize that the huge moment is being delivered by two of the more boring actors in recent memory. We're left watching two uninteresting actors plopped down in the middle of what could have been a fairly interesting scene. But I do mean fairly interesting scene--let's not go overboard here. This scene is nothing, repeat NOTHING, new. And the amount of silly cell phone tricks that Scorsese uses in this film is not only silly but highlights another of the many problems with this film. IT WAS FULL OF ANNOYING HOLES, OF SCENES THAT DEFIED ALL LOGIC, or to put it more matter-of-factly--The Departed often made no fucking sense at all. Here's just a few questions I have:

1. When Lame-Man finally hears De-Crapio speak--why doesn't he immediately call the Human Cartoon and describe the voice to him: youngish, boyish--as far as I could tell, everyone on the Human Cartoon's payroll was over 50...except DeCrapio.
2. When Sheen is pushed off the roof--where are the cops? The scene of the cops is shot in such close-up that we have no idea where they are--which is probably because in reality the cops would have seen Sheen and thus would have seen DeCrapio. Instead, Scorsese tries to get around this problem by piling them all into this small car (they looked like they were clowns in a clown car) having them say things like: "someone fell off the roof--but we can't see him". And even if by some miracle they were situated in such a way that they couldn't see Sheen--what would the harm have been in driving the car around the building until they found Sheen?
3. It gets worse: DeCrapio's got Lame-Man and he's bringing him in (which in the first place made no sense--why didn't he just immediately grab one of the cops and tell him who Lame-Man was and that he had recorded proof of it??!...and don't tell me it's because Lame-Man deleted his file--several other cops knew who DeCrapio was--they're the ones who told Lame-Man he was waiting for him)...but just as the elevator opens DeCrapio gets shot in the head by...some other cop who was working for The Human Cartoon. WHAT?!? Scorsese pulls some other character out of his ass at the last second, literally from out of nowhere (how the hell did this nobody know where Lame-Man was in the first place?).
4. It gets even worse: Why is Lame-Man free at the end? Didn't DeCrapio give the Psychologist a fucking envelope to open and hand over to the cops if he ever got hurt? Was I just imagining that scene? And if for some reason she I don't know lost the envelope, why was she and those two old lady neighbors shunning Lame-Man at the end? Either he was innocent or he wasn't. And if his story was believed then he was innocent...
5. Last thing: why did Marky Mark shoot Lame-Man at the end? Huh? What the fuck was that?

The last 20 minutes of that movie were equal to or worse than some of the lamest B-Grade Movie scenes in the history of cinema.

And yet...it won the best picture and best director oscars.

Maybe we should throw in a medal of freedom while we're at it.

Friedman was is and always will be a lips...

...on ass kind of a guy. ass in question belonging collectively to bush admin. (h/t crooksandliars)