Will Ferrell is my Hero

1.) That male anchor had no idea who Will Ferrell was, and he was a stale, condescending fuck. I'd shove my dick in his face too. Learn to laugh, asshole.
2.) "Roy" Burgendy? Seriously? Fuck.
3.) Had anyone else done this, they would've been immediately committed. I worship this man.

The MacBook Air: Thinnovation

.76 inches thick of pure bliss. Released by Apple just a few short weeks back, the MacBook Air is the world’s thinnest notebook. So thin, in fact, that you can only connect it to the internet via wireless as its frame is too thin to accommodate an Ethernet port. In fact, the only ports that it does contain are a headphone jack, a usb 2.3, and a micro-dvi, all three of which are located on a fold-down hatch near the right side of the unit. A separate power port can be found along the bottom left.

I haven’t used it yet, but aesthetically, it’s gorgeous. Then again, are we surprised? Apple has built its reputation on releasing dependable, yet visually-pleasing products that we in the design, advertising, and film industry practically drool over. Have you seen their headphones? For Christ’s sake, even they’re freaking beautiful. Each day that Steve Jobs walks out on stage with that “I have a surprise for you” look on his face, we treat it like a holiday. 2007 gave us the iPod Touch, and the iPhone, and even Apple TV which may not have amounted to the success that it was anticipated to have, but still proved to be a pretty kick-ass product. Now, less than a month into 2008, we’re introduced to the MacBook Air, as it was slyly removed from an office-standard manilla envelope.

So what’s missing? Not much. Aside from the fact that it depends solely on a wireless network, the Air still contains everything you would expect from a MacBook product. The screen is a bit smaller the the MacBook or MacBook Pro options, but at 3.0 pounds and 13.3 inches with a 1280x800 resolution, it’s still impressive for its size and weight. It has a full-size keyboard, and a large multi-touch trackpad, with the addition of backlit key illumination, allowing for easy work in low-light settings.

Then there’s the balls of this machine. The elements within it that basically say, “fuck you, man. I may be little but I can still kick your ass.” Somehow, Apple’s engineers treated us to 2GB of RAM, an 80GB harddrive that I swear must retain the technology we have seen since Inner Space, and the choice between a 1.6 or 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor, custom built to fit within the compact dimensions of the Air. A built in iSight camera and 5 full hours of wireless battery life are bad perks either.

Will I get it? Probably not. I have a MacBook Pro that I use through work and my own MacPro tower at home that keeps me company in the long wee hours of the night. So, I’m good right now, but to students who are constantly racing around campus and high schools, or writers and casual users that want to introduce themselves to the wonderful, wonderful world of Mac, this is perfect. My only concern is that although they say it’s “ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else you’ve ever seen,” they don’t say it’s ultradurable. So, knowing me I’d set it somewhere where I’d end up sitting on it and breaking the tiny thing in half. Then again, maybe that’s what that big fat glowing apple on the lid is for.

The Dark Knight Viral Campaign Continues?

For those that have followed the viral marketing campaign for this summer’s upcoming blockbuster, “The Dark Knight” may have some serious doubts about it’s future. Between the months of July through December of last year (with a short hiatus in September) fans of the film were introduced to an underground recruiting crusade led by the Joker (played respectively by the late Heath Ledger). It all started with a countdown to Comic-Con, the famous California convention that hosted geeks and nerds world-wide, where “recruits” were led around the city in an online/real-world scavenger hunt in which the payoff turned out to be the first teaser trailer. It was just the beginning, but it left those participating waiting for more.

Soon after came the pumpkin, which day-by-day gradually started to resemble the famous cover from “The Long Halloween,” a graphic novel from which Christopher Nolan has stated The Dark Knight draws the majority of its inspiration from. Soon after, cities around the globe found themselves surrounded by people in joker makeup in front of various landmarks, the outcome of the November challenge, which revealed The Gotham Times, a newspaper that brought the campaign to an entirely new level and opened up the fan-base to a larger-than-life-scope ARG (alternate reality gaming) world. Fans were exposed to a variety of sites, from The Gotham Police Department to a memoir page dedicated to a girl caught in mafia cross-fire. Each site (over two dozen in total) contained clues and hints on how to get to the next level of the game, a progression of puzzles and riddles contained on the Why So Serious? site. The final step of the game required participants to race against each other to track down an assortment of bakeries in cities across the U.S. Once there, they would acquire a cake under the name “Robin Banks”, a cake inside of which held a plastic bag containing a joker card, a list of instructions, and a cell phone with a charger. The cell phone contained messages requesting that it be kept at the finder’s side 24/7, to await further instructions. Once all the cell phones were activated via voicemail, the site revealed the new teaser poster, tickets to the 7-minute prologue sequence shown in IMAX theaters before I Am Legend and the very first theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight.

That was the middle of December. Aside from a text message notifying the carriers of the phone that the lease was being extended through January, fans haven’t heard a word. And then, last week, Heath Ledger tragically passed away in his NYC apartment.

So where does this leave the marketing campaign? Unfortunately, the Joker’s game may be over. And understandably so. For one, the trades report that there’s been a shakeup of sorts in the Warner Bros. advertising division that’s been leading the campaign so far. The Creative Department has undergone a major restructuring and most of the team responsible for the creation of this campaign are no longer active in its continuance. Also, it’s a touchy decision to maintain the project directly on the heels of the death of the actor whose character is driving the entire campaign. Could it move forward effectively without exploiting his loss? Or could The Dark Knight marketing drive pay homage and respect to an actor that poured his entire being into this character. I believe it to lean somewhat closer to the latter, under the notion that the fans out there truly respected Heath and his devotion to the film and the performance, driving them to become even more dedicated to the campaign and the film that will stand as Heath Ledger’s final completed work.

And so it seems, the campaign will drive on, as just as recently as last night, I received word from a recent friend whom acquired the Cleveland phone that text messages have sprung up again, renewing the phone’s contract through the end of March. Whether the focus of the campaign is to sway more towards the Gotham corruption and Harvey Dent character has yet to be determined, but in all respect, “the show must go on.” For whatever reason, I have a feeling that Heath may have agreed.

Getting Started Again

So here we are again. I would say it's been about two and a half years since the last time I updated this thing...hopefully I won't wait that long again. Actually, I'm planning on getting this thing started as a regular activity as I've found it important lately to record my thoughts and opinions on the events and people that surround me. I don't want to be so egotistical to think that you or anyone else would feel it necessary to hang on my every word, but at the same time, I don't see how a little personal insight could cause any harm.

That said, here's what I have planned. Being involved in a creative industry, I see the importance of voicing an opinion on the evolution of that world on a daily basis. We've crossed this threshold of communication and we're watching the world change before our eyes, and at an alarming rate. It's overwhelming, exciting and absolutely insane all at once, and we're seeing it everywhere. In advertising, in film, in music and within our own homes. I love it.

I developed the bjc creative outside of this blog as a mode of thought, a process, and so much of the unexplained that we, the imaginative, depend on. Here it exists as 'the conti contemplative,' an extension of that philosophy which approaches that world in a certain state of mind. Enjoy.