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June 15, 2009

Calvin Klein Billboard in SoHo, NYC features a Threesome (or a Forgy)

Calvin Klein Billboard in SoHo, NYC features threesome (or maybe a forgy!)

Billboards are meant to catch your attention. Is there any reason why this Calvin Klein billboard in SoHo, NYC would not catch your attention? Of course it catches your attention! It’s got 4 people who are all about to burst with sexual energy. I mean, the girl’s already topless, and the guy on the ground has his jeans unbuttoned. Is this scene depicting an upcoming threesome? Or maybe a forgy? This billboard was not only going after attention – in my opinion, this Calvin Klein billboard was meant to shock people.

I am not offended by this image. I am not here to tell you about how America is going to hell in a handcart. I am here to tell you that sexual ads like this do not even phase me any more. I believe advertising is what makes us do 99% of the things that we do. However, I cannot remember a time when a sexually-charged billboard made me go out and purchase a pair of jeans. Maybe this ad is for girls. Maybe it’s for guys. Maybe it’s targetted equally at heterosexual and homosexual men and women. I don’t know. What I do know is that, when it comes to my buying habits, I prefer less shocking advertising. I don’t want to see a hot naked lady playing a Gibson Flying V electric guitar. I just want to see the guitar. Adding all the other superflous detail and scenario context – well, it only makes me feel like I’m being marketed to. Like someone is targetting my demographic. Once I get that feeling, I’m more likely to walk away. I’ll keep my money, you marketing jerks.

Even with apathy to this type of marketing, I have to hand it to the marketing team at Calvin Klein. This billboard is just what America craves: controversy. It’s exploitation. It’s sex used in advertising and marketing. Whatever. But America will jabber about this for hours. And because America is so divided politically and culturally, this billboard will likely get approval from half of America and disapproval from the other half. Or maybe there are a ton of people like me who could really care less. However, I do care enough to blog about it, and that is why this shock marketing works: it’s about generating buzz for brand exposure. Well done, Calvin Klein. In terms of brand awareness and brand exposure, this was a brilliant ad. Maybe it will pay off for you.

June 9, 2009

Zack Morris Confirms Saved By the Bell Reunion on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Zack Morris and the Zack Morris Phone on Jimmy Fallon

Holy crap. This is one of the funniest things I’ve seen today. Last night, Mark-Paul Gosselaar made an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. For the entire interview, Mark-Paul Gosselaar was in character as Zack Morris, our favorite lead character from the early 1990’s TV show Saved by the Bell. The bit was awesome. I’ve gotta say that Jimmy Fallon strikes gold sometimes, and this was one of those times.

Zack Morris confirms appearance on Jimmy Fallon's Saved By the Bell Reunion

Throughout the interview, Jimmy keeps quizzing Zack, trying to deduce whether or not Zack Morris is really Zack Morris. There were references to Bayside High School, Mr. Belding, the Max, Kelly Kapowski, Jeff, Jesse, the Malibu Sands resort where Zack worked that one summer, The Attic nightclub – and even a reference to Zack’s unbelievably high score on the SATs (1502 to be exact)! He even did the Zack Morris patented time-in/time-out thing. Jimmy even froze during the bit.

At one point in the interview, we hear a phone ringing, and Zack reaches back and pulls out his gigantic early 1990s cell phone. Of course, Jesse Spano is on the line, and Zack confirms that he and Jesse will be attending Jimmy Fallon’s Saved by the Bell Reunion. I can’t wait for that! I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it! I’m so scared… (just a little Jesse Spano on caffeine pills speed joke).

Zack Attack performs live on the Jimmy Fallon Show

At the end of the interview, Zack Morris mentions his band, Zack Attack. Jimmy says something like, “Oh, I thought you all were just lip synching the whole time.” Jimmy then invited Zack to prove him wrong by asking him to perform as Zack Attack with the Roots as the backing band. Friends Forever was the song, and it was amazing. Zack did his best falsetto voice and actually plunked around on the guitar. He wasn’t terrible, but the funniest part was just watching him stay in character, a character from nearly 20 years ago. And he did it pretty well, I’d say.

Here’s the video featuring Zack Morris on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:

God Bless Zack Morris and Saved by the Bell. One of my all-time favorites.

June 9, 2009

Apple iPhone 3GS Pictures & Reviews from WWDC 2009 Conference!

Apple iPhone 3GS Pictures: Front and Back

Apple revealed the new iPhone 3G S at the WWDC 2009 (World Wide Developer Conference) yesterday. Available on June 19th, the new Apple iPhone 3GS has an upgraded 3.2 mega-pixel autofocus camera, video recording, picture and video editing capabilities, a built in digital compass, and more! Here are some places you can find a more information about the new iPhone 3GS:

Apple.com (official press release for iPhone 3G S)
Gizmodo.com (complete feature guide)
Engadget.com
Techcrunch.com

Apple iPhone 3GS Pictures: Picture & Video Editing

From the look of things, the iPhone 3GS is going to be the bomb (to use the parlance of our time in the mid-1990’s)! There’s a new built-in processer, which Apple claims runs 2x as fast as the iPhone 3G. And supposedly, many of the processes will have less impact on the battery life. If you’re interested in battery life comparison between the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, check out this picture from Gizmodo.

The graphics on the new 3GS iPhone have also been upgraded. The new 3D graphics hardware will equate to 3D games! Also new to the iPhone 3GS is a magnetometer. This works with the built-in digital compass application to provide orientation data. This means that in Google Maps, you will be able to see where you are and which direction you are facing.

To make the 3GS even more awesome, Apple added Voice Control. Now, you can command the iPhone to perform various tasks, like “Play songs by Led Zeppelin” or “Call David Coverdale” or “Play more songs like this” or “Play playlist BootyCall.” Yeah, you can probably also ask the iPhone 3GS to fill out your tax forms, but at that point you are really pushing it, dude.

The feature with the most upgrades appears to be the camera. The iPhone 3G S features a 3.2 mega-pixel camera with auto focus, auto exposure, and auto white balance. There are also new low light modes, as well as a feature that supports photo and video geotagging. With geotagging, when you take a picture, the geographic location is stored in the meta data of the picture itself. How cool is that?!

Oh and did I mention that you can tap to focus when you’re taking pictures? Yep. You can do that, too! And you can edit pictures and videos on the iPhone 3GS. I can’t wait to see that feature. Oh yeah, did I mention that Nike+ support is now built in? Well, it is.

And now the bad news: If you are an existing AT&T customer, you will not like this:

If you are “a valued AT&T customer,” AT&T offers an “early iPhone upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee.” The price? $399.00 for the 16GB iPhone 3G S and $499.00 for the 32GB iPhone 3G S. It gets worse: For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB).

Yeah. That sucks. Looks like I won’t be getting one any time soon. Hopefully the price will drop a bit over the next few months. This phone makes me wish I was rich. Just for fun, here are a couple more press photos of the iPhone 3G S:

Apple iPhone 3GS Pictures: Voice Control

Apple iPhone 3GS Pictures: Built-in Digital Compass

June 8, 2009

Swedish Pirate Party Wins Seat at European Parliament

Sweden Pirate Party Flag Logo

Most Americans are not too concerned with events in the European Parliament. There is not a ton of news coverage for the subject in America. However, today we can all learn something about working so that our voices are heard. Yesterday in the 2009 European Parliament Elections, the Swedish Pirate Party secured one (possibly 2) seats in the European Parliament (source):

With 99.9% of the districts counted the Pirates have 7.1 percent of the votes, beating several established parties. This means that the Pirate Party will get at least one, but most likely two of the 18 (+2) available seats Sweden has at the European Parliament.

Founded in 2006, the Pirate Party is a political party in Sweden led by Rick Falkvinge. It’s goals are primarily restricted to the reform of copyright laws and patent laws, though it’s Wiki page list the Pirate Party’s political ideology as “Freedom of Information, Privacy, Anarchism.” It is estimated that the Pirate Party got 200,000 votes, an extremely significant increase over the 2006 elections, where the party managed to get about 34,000 votes.

Yesterday, Mr. Falvinge was quoted as saying:

Together, we have today changed the landscape of European politics. No matter how this night ends, we have changed it. This feels wonderful. The citizens have understood it’s time to make a difference. The older politicians have taken apart young peoples’ lifestyle, bit by bit. We do not accept that the authorities’ mass-surveillance.

The Pirate Bay - Torrent Tracker Website

How did the Pirate Party grow so quickly. Within 2 years, they have become a huge political party in Sweden. Most recently, there was a huge increase in Pirate Party membership due to the guilty verdict levied in the Pirate Bay trial. After the verdict, membership in the Pirate Party more than tripled to 48,000 members. For those of you who do not know about The Pirate Bay, here is why they were charged (and also why a lot of people got pissed off about it):

The Pirate Bay “spectrial” has ended in a guilty verdict, prison sentences for the defendants, and a shared 30 million kronor ($3.5 million) fine. According to the Swedish district court, the operators of the site were guilty of assisting copyright infringement, even though The Pirate Bay hosted none of the files in question and even though other search engines like Google also provide direct access to illegal .torrent files.

A ‘guilty’ verdict for The Pirate Bay is probably the best thing that could have ever happened for the Pirate Party. It’s utterly ironic if you ask me. The Pirate Bay supporters just love the idea of free torrents. But don’t be fooled. The Los Angeles Times referred to the Pirate Bay as “one of the world’s largest facilitators of illegal downloading” and “the most visible member of a burgeoning international —or pro-piracy—movement” (source). But who can you really trust nowadays anyway? The Los Angeles Times? Everyone’s got an angle. Even not having an angle is an angle. (That’s me!)

Christian Engström, Vice Chairman of the Pirate Party

Christian Engström, Vice Chairman of the Swedish Pirate Party, is the top candidate for one of the party’s seats in the European Parliament. When he arrived at the the celebration in Stockholm yesterday he said, “It’s great fun to be a pirate right now.” I’d have to agree with that. I wonder if they’ll make any dent in copyright and patent laws. I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out.

June 5, 2009

RIP Grasshopper: Kung Fu & Kill Bill Star David Carradine Dead at 72

Yesterday it was announced that the body of TV and Film star David Carradine was found partially naked in a wardrobe with a cord wrapped around his neck and other parts of his body. Depending on varying versions of the story, he was found in a wardrobe or a closet with a cord or a rope around his neck and other parts of his body. Mr. Carradine’s body was found in a suite at the 5-star Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel in central Bangkok, Thailand. The iconic actor was in Thailand filming his next film, Stretch.

While many news sources are reporting the death as a suicide, his family is disputing their claims, reporting that his death was an accident. His mother-in-law believes it was an accident or possibly foul play involving a break-in (source). With so many friends, colleagues and friends shocked at the idea he would take his own life, it’s unclear why the actor would have taken his own life. According to that same article, Mr. Carradine did have dark thoughts, and he suffered from depression. In an article from 2004, he admitted to thinking about taking his own life (source). At any rate, the world lost a phenomenal actor who obviously was very loved by his friends and family. BBC News published a very nice obituary here.

Master Kan & Shaolin Monk Kwai Chang Caine (played by David Carradine)

Though my generation is more familiar with David Carradine for his role as Bill in the two part Kill Bill series from Quentin Tarantino, David Carradine appeared in over 100 films. However, before the Kill Bill movies he was most recognized as Shaolin Monk Kwai Chang Caine from the TV show Kung Fu that aired on ABC from 1972-1975. Kung Fu was described as a mystical kung-fu western, and it received multiple Emmy nominations and awards. Mr. Carradine was also nominated for Best Actor for his role in Kung Fu.

Here is a scene from Kung Fu: The Movie, featuring a final fight scene between Brandon Lee and David Carradine. [Note: Something about this scene reminds me of the awesome fight scene from Road House, starring Patrick Swayze. Just saying is all.]:

David Carradine was an actor, director and producer. He starred on Broadway, and he also made an appearance in the TV show King of the Hill in the episode titled Returning Japanese. He voiced the character of Hank Hill’s Japanese half-brother. Recently, he appeared in a Jonas Brothers music video as a kung-fu master. This guy did it all. According to Tarantino, “He was a jobbing actor, he worked all the time.”

One of my favorite lines from Kill Bill was actually said off-screen:

The Bride: How did you find me?
Bill: [off screen] I’m the man.

You are the man. RIP, Grasshopper.

June 1, 2009

GM Expected to File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection Today

According to the Wall Street Journal (here) and Bloomberg (here), General Motors Corp. plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today at 8:00am eastern. 56,000 auto workers and 3,600 GM dealerships are asking: What now? The plan is for our government to purchase a majority ownership in the company (around $30 million worth). Ultimately, the government can help GM return to profitability. Or so they hope.

General Motors was founded in 1908 in Flint, MI with its headquarters located in Detroit, MI. In the first 10 years, GM would acquire many brands that we know today, such as Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Pontiac. William C. Durant, who controlled GM early on, also went on to start the Chevrolet Motor car company. At its peak in the 1980s, General Motors employed 349,000 auto workers and had 150 assembly plants. Today, GM is an icon of the American auto industry, and globally GM ranks second only to Toyota. Second place is not so bad once you consider that GM had an impressive 77 years in a row as the world’s largest automaker from 1931 to 2007. In fact, 2008 saw 8.35 million GM cars and trucks sold globally. Of course, those 8.35 million cars and trucks came from all of GM’s brands, such as Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, etc…

In our era of economic bailouts, GM has received $15+ billion from the US Treasury Department, so how about another $30 billion? Hopefully our government can turn around this company. And who is going to head the turnaround? According to the Bloomberg article, Al Koch will be named GM’s chief restructuring officer. Apparently he was chief financial officer at Kmart when it filed Ch. 11 back in 2002. I hope he can make the transition to New GM quick and painless.

But even still, as the WSJ article points out, there are a ton of challenges facing GM in the move from Old GM to New GM:

When will consumer demand for new cars rebound? New car sales are down 40% since January. Even Toyota is losing money right now.
How will GM shed brands such as Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer? How much will that cost? How much time will it take?
Can GM bounce back with new Chief Executive Frederick “Fritz” Henderson?

However, even with all of these variables, bankruptcy protection should allow GM some speedy resolutions to things that typically take months and years:

Bankruptcy protection should allow GM to pull off one of the most expedient downsizings in the industry’s 120-year history. Long hampered by laws, union strife and management practices that kept it from fast action to fix problems, GM plans to eliminate almost all of its debt, halve its U.S. brands, shutter 2,600 dealers and rewrite labor contracts almost overnight.

President Obama and other members of the government have made it much easier for GM to get through all sorts of red tape in a very small amount of time. And in this plan, the government will own 60% of GM’s stock. Plus, the Canadian government is throwing in another $9.5 billion for a 12.5% stake in GM. Thanks, Canada! You fill our hockey teams with great players, and now you are helping out one of our most famous automakers. Thanks!

I wish GM the best, and I can’t wait to see the electric-powered Chevy Volt. Even though it’s priced at $40,000, I’m just excited that a major American car maker is leaping into the electric/hybrid market.

May 29, 2009

Inspirational Quotes from a Wolf…and Gmork, too!

I can’t possibly take credit for this idea, but I certainly had to post about it on my blog. Sometimes inspirational messages and quotes are awesome. I enjoy them every now and then, but I’m pretty sure that they are always enjoyable (and maybe even more meaningful) when they are coming from a wolf. Here are this wolf’s inspirational messages:

Bite off more than you can chew – then chew it!
An obstacle is only something you haven’t torn through yet.
Nothing’s gonna stand in your way. Not tonight!
The world is dark when you’re depressed. You thoughts have the power to invent your world.
You were born a winner – You were the fastest sperm!
Depression breeds depression. Effort breeds success.
If you never give up, you never lose.
Don’t believe in yourself. Believe in me, who believes in you.
The doctor said it was cancer. I call it a challenge.
You are awesome. Go and prove it.
Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.
You have no limits.
You feel alone, but someone is thinking of you.
Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
If life asks for your all, give it even more.

Again, I didn’t create these quotes. I just think they are awesome. Be sure to check out the source to get the full effect.

"People who have no hopes are easy to control." - Gmork

On a side note, doesn’t the wolf remind you a little of Gmork from The Never Ending Story movie? Gmork was a badass. Gmork had some awesome insights to share in his brief meeting with Atreyu. For example, he reminded Atreyu that “Fantasia has no boundaries.” That’s pretty useful information, especially for Bastian. I mean, Bastian needs to know that information in order to save Fantasia. Gmork even added, “People who have no hopes are easy to control. And whoever has control has the power.” Gmork was obviously a student of philosophy at some point. Wise wolf, that Gmork. Yep, he was a wise wolf, even if he did let the cat out of the bag regarding how to save the world of Fantasia. Well, it looks like I have derailed – and how!

Enjoy!

Update: Someone left a comment, accusing me of stealing 4chan‘s memes. I first saw the Courage Wolf here, and I gave a link and credit to the source. Isn’t the spirit of the internet finding stuff and then writing about it and linking to it? That way, I’m promoting 4chan and the Courage Wolf. It’s not like I’m taking credit for the idea and then selling a Courage Wolf T-Shirt, like this company here. Calling me a thief is an over-reaction. This reminds me of the scene from The Big Lebowski, when Walter brings a dog to the bowling alley:

Walter Sobchak: Huh? Oh, that’s Cynthia’s dog. I think it’s a Pomeranian. I can’t leave him home alone or he eats the furniture. I’m watching him while Cynthia and Marty Ackerman are in Hawaii.

The Dude: You brought the fuckin’ Pomeranian bowling?

Walter Sobchak: What do you mean brought it bowling, Dude? I didn’t rent it shoes. I’m not buying it a fucking beer. He’s not taking your fucking turn, Dude.

The Dude: Man, if my fuckin’ ex-wife asked me to take care of her fuckin’ dog while she and her boyfriend went to Honolulu I’d tell her to go fuck herself.

Relax already. I’m staying. I’m finishing my cup of coffee.

May 26, 2009

Mr. T Sings Take Me Out To The Ball Game At Wrigley Field on Memorial Day

This has been a jam-packed news week. Just in case you missed them, here are some of the lead stories:

North Korea tested a nuclear bomb at an underground facility and also test fired a bunch of short range missiles. (more)
Iran sent 6 warships into international waters. They said it was to protect their sea vessels against pirates. (more)
The California Supreme Court upheld the ban on gay marriage, but then said all gay marriages that occurred before Prop 8 will remain valid. (more)
President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. She would be the first Hispanic and third ever woman Justice. (more)

That is an incredible news week in my book. Bombs going off. Battleships in hostile territory. Supreme Court indecision decision. Minority nominated for US Supreme Court. What an incredible news week! However, all of those stories pale in comparison to this one: Mr. T threw out the first pitch and sang “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Memorial Day:

In the midst of all of that world news, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss Mr. T throwing a baseball and singing the beloved 7th inning stretch classic. Harry Caray would be proud. Yep. He would.

May 25, 2009

On Sale in 2011: Air-Powered Car from Zero Pollution Motors

I enjoy science fiction, but I must admit that I’ve never read any of the works by Jules Verne. I know. It’s terrible, but I have never really taken to reading. I think it’s because books don’t come alive to me, as they did for Bastian Balthazar Bux (the kid from The Never Ending Story movie. Or was that a book? Sheesh!). Anyways, I always wished that reading would appeal to me, but I have not been hooked…yet. [Note: I’m hoping one day I will be a reader of many books. Sometimes I think reading is an acquired taste, while other times I just figure that it’s a lot like taste buds – they change over time. One day you love a certain food and hate another type. Five years later and there you are loving the food(s) you once hated. But I digress. Big time.]

Back to Jules Verne. Here are a couple of quotes from Jules Verne:

The Mysterious Island (1874): “Water decomposed into its primitive elements (Hydrogen and Oxygen), and decomposed doubtless by electricity, which will then have become a powerful and manageable force. Yes, my friends, I believe that water will one day be employed as a fuel.”

Paris in the Twentieth Century (1863): “Our modern cities, with streets a hundred meters wide and buildings three hundred high, and which are always maintained at the same temperature, and with the sky furrowed by thousands of aero-cars and aero-buses!”

Jules Verne predicted a lot of stuff. Water used as a fuel. Water-powered vehicles. Aero-cars. Aero-buses. In Paris in the Twentieth Century, Verne even predicts the internet (in telegraph form), televisions, the electric chair, calculators and high-speed trains which run on compressed air. Sounds like a bunch of 20th century hogwash, right? I jest. Many of his predictions have become a reality, and now it seems that Zero Pollution Motors has realized the vision of using compressed air as a fuel for automobiles. Here are some of the designs of the first air cars, cars powered by gas and air:

Air Car Designs from Zero Pollution Motors

I know. I know. It’s more weird car designs. There must be some scientific law that states: “All cars with new fuel technologies must look really weird.” Regardless, ZPM is hoping to sell these cars in the United States as early as 2011, and the price tag will be $18,000-$20,000. That’s pretty good for a car that gets about 100 mpg and runs on compressed air and a small conventional engine. I dunno. I think it’s pretty cool. You can read more about it here if you want.

I like the idea of all of these energy efficient cars, but I’m still waiting for a perfected version of Mr. Fusion. Just imagine if Doc Brown hired the ShamWow guy to sell Mr. Fusion. I’d own four of them like five months ago!

Doc Brown Pours Beer into Mr. Fusion in Back to the Future

I mean, I can run on beer. Why can’t a car? Just kidding. I don’t run. And I don’t drink beer. But I still think the notion of using trash as fuel is terrific!

Bonus: Just because you may want to know who invented the compressed air technology for cars – it was a dude named Guy Negre. Here he is, standing between two air cars from ZPM:

They don’t call this thing an Air Pod for no reason. It looks like an escape pod from a submarine. If only submarines had such awesome escape pods.

Enjoy!

May 24, 2009

New Dallas Cowboys Stadium Features World’s Largest HDTV

Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision HDTV at Dallas Cowboys Stadium

Have you ever seen anything like that before today? That Mitsubishi 1080p HDTV is the world’s largest HDTV, and it’s sitting right here in our backyard of Arlington, TX. I guess the old cliché is actually true: Everything is bigger in Texas.

Could it be that the release of Terrell Owens freed up some of the budget for Jerry Jones? Probably not. But you are probably wondering how much that TV cost Mr. Jones? And just how big is it? Well, you are in luck! I did some research. Here’s the skinny on the new Mitsubishi HDTV at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX:

Built by Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision System
Made up of 4 video boards
The main video board is approx. 53 yards wide
The endzone video boards are approx. 23.6 yards wide
25,000 square feet of display
Each sideline board contains 10.5 million light emitting diodes (LEDs)
1 year to build it
4 months to install it
30 million light bulbs
Price tag: $40 million
Weight: 600 tons (approx. 220,000 lbs)
Hangs 90 feet over the center of the field

World's Largest HDTV at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium

I don’t know about you, but I think that TV is amazingly awesome. It looks like the entire display stretches from one 20 yard line to the other 20 yard line. Goodness. And you know that some drunk girl from the Mid Cities is totally going to take her top off and be seen on that display. And then we’ll really see how everything is bigger in Texas! Laters.