Advertising, Donuts, & Chuck Klosterman.

This past summer, I had the pleasure of working as a summer intern for Winnipeg marketing and communications agency McKim Cringan George.

My farewell email to my friends and coworkers was published today on the company's website. I feel fortunate in that they seemed to like my particular brand of humour, but more importantly I got the distinct sense they really appreciated the work I did.

McKim has a nice statement on their site which summarizes something I've been hearing a lot about lately:

There is no magic bullet — no repeatable, scalable process — for creating effective advertising and resonant brands. Only one thing is going to get the job done: great people.

On a recent visit to CHUM Radio's Pembina highway offices (home to 94.3 Curve FM and 99.9 BOB FM), sales director Bob Toogood talked about what they look for in their staff.
He said that, "People are hired on skill and fired on character." That it's far more important to be a team player than a technical whiz. I think that's very true.

I've come to see more and more how education and aptitude in the end will always take a back seat to just being a good egg.

I read an article not too long ago that said when you say something bad about a person, people partially equate the negative traits you've prescribed to that individual - with you. In other words, if you tell Susan that you think Jack is lazy, somewhere in the back of her mind Susan will think you're a bit lazy too.

The moral of the story; Accentuate the positive. Be funny. And bring donuts.

- Mr.Friday

"When I read criticism, I never learn anything about the record or the movie or the book. I mostly learn about the writer." - Chuck Klosterman

My Definition of a Bombastic Prose Style

Every once in a while, I am awed by the power of words, and this afternoon was one of those instances.

Poet and novelist George Elliot Clarke gave a reading of his verse novel I&I at Red River College today, as part of Thin Air Winnipeg International Writer’s Festival’s Campus Program.

I recently read Clarke’s novel, George & Rue for my Canadian Literature class, and had been looking forward to the reading all week. Many of my classmates who, forgivably enough, seemed a bit indifferent going in. Within minutes, the amiable and energetic Clarke had turned admirers into life-long fans, and ho-hum non-readers into converts.

Apologies for the poor audio.

An Alliterative Audience Assault

Clarke, winner of the Governor General’s Award for Poetry for Execution Poems, is the most engaging writer I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing. He greeted the audience at 11:05 a.m. with a broad smile, and by 11:10 he was thumping along at break-neck speed through line after glorious line of prose, like a trumpet player burning in musical ecstasy. He didn’t so much read to the audience, as testify like a revivalist preacher.

Clarke was equal parts funny and cerebral, raunchy and academic, subtle and gross. He danced effortlessly from topic to topic; from his love of Italian Giallo films,70s pop music and Quentin Tarantino, to the writing process, and the history of slavery in North America.

It was awesome, and inspiring in the truest sense of the word.

First-Year Creative Communications student Jeremy Williams was first out of the gate during the Q&A, saying to Clarke, “Damn you for making me interested in poetry.” Clarke and the rest of the room had a great laugh at this, but I think it summarized what a lot of people were thinking. Going in, they expected the stereotypical, bookish, introspective and dry navel-gazer poet, but what they got defied categorization. I spoke to dozens of students afterward who were absolutely blown away.

Not sure how to end this other than to say that as a student working on a first novel, this was the best kick-off to a weekend of writing I could possibly ask for.

‘Nuff Said.

-Jay

Thin Air presents After Words: George Elliott Clarke reading from his verse novel I&I, tonight at Aqua Books, 274 Garry St., at 10:30 p.m. Admission is free.

We're Movin' Across the Nation!

Things people are a little wary of lately:

1. Texans.

2. Old white men who tell you how to invest.

3. General Motors.

So why not emphasize all three in one spectacularly dumb ad?



"We're putting our money where our mouth is."

Right, wouldn't that be the bailout money?

This spot does almost the opposite of it's intended effect. If you want to restore consumer confidence, don't stick some wooden representation of all the old-money plutocrats who are making out just fine during the recession in front of the camera basically admitting that their cars were crap, but now talking about how he'll betcha that these are cars are suddenly great now.

I would not take that bet.

60 day money back? So what?

How about, "If you don't like the car. Bring it back. Period."

*That* would be a bold statement. That would make me sit up and go, "whoa, they must have really overhauled General Motors."

It'll be interesting to see how sales are in the next quarter.

In the meantime: Still the best car spot I've ever seen.

The second best.

-J

A Death in the Wardrobe

I was in the bedroom this afternoon when I heard the news.*

“What are you wearing tonight Babe?” said my fiancée.
“I dunno, I guess my light blue shirt.” I said, defaulting to what I felt was my most comfortable, timelessly fashionable, effortless and favourite shirt.
As the steam from the iron curled around her, a pained look crossed her face.“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to talk about that today.”
"Why?" I said innocently, like a child who has noticed of late that Rex has lost that spring in his step. That Mittens isn't eating her kibble anymore.
"Go look at the collar," she said gravely.

I fetched the shirt from the living room chair where I'd thrown it a few days earlier. Alas, it was true; my favourite shirt is worn well past its prime. The collar and left sleeve are starting to fray, and both elbows are thinned out to the point that they’ll soon cash it in. The end of an era.




A History of Losing My Shirt.

Everybody has that favourite article of clothing that they rely on for almost any occasion. The one that nets all the compliments. The one that makes them look good, feel casual and dressed up at the same time, and most importantly inspires confidence. I’ve felt a certain affinity for so many pairs of shoes, jackets and shirts over the years, and it never stops surprising me how pained I am when I have to admit that they are worn out. Among those that I miss dearly, and hope to be reunited with someday in Asgard: my Stone Temple Pilots t-shirt, my square-toed shoes from Brown's, that one black shirt, and the legendary Patch Brown shirt which I slept in on a train crossing Russia and accompanied me on many other adventures.

NYNE Lives

The light blue shirt which has passed into history was made by NYNE, an acronym for “New You, New Energy.” NYNE makes the best looking, best fitting shirts I’ve ever owned, hands down. I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve received on these shirts - the light blue one especially. I have the same basic shirt in four colours, which I purchased about three years ago. For some reason, the Bay stopped carrying the brand, and NYNE is no longer available anywhere in Manitoba. To add to my frustration, they cannot be ordered online.
















The shirt and I in better times. Varadero, Cuba


Tonight, go to bed wearing the shirt you love the most. Wear it to work a little rumpled tomorrow. Your clothing's life-cycle is shorter than you think.

Light Blue is predeceased by STP, Alice, Charcoal, and Patch Brown; and survived by his brothers, Pinko, Chocolate, and Gunmetal.



In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to the League of Canadian Tailors.

-J


*To be read in the voice of Daniel Stern from The Wonder Years.

O Brother, Is Thou Art?

I read this a couple of days ago.

A $15,000 (presumably U.S dollars) prize was awarded to, literally, a pile of trash. Titled "Collateral," the piece by Berlin artist Dane Mitchell is composed of the wrappings and assorted leavings of the other entries vying for the Waikato National Contemporary Art Award (Which in all honesty, I have never heard of). Not knowing what any of the other entries looked like, I think it's safe to say this has likely pissed off a lot of people.

This isn't the first time I've seen work like this presented. I recall my first class in Basic Design at the University of Manitoba School of Art in (I think) '98. A young woman in the class removed all of her required course supplies from their disposable accouterments , and then as the rest of the class attempted to produce a piece of work as part of an on the spot assignment, glued the crumpled and torn packaging back together in a small heap. Naturally, our instructor was ecstatic, and propounded upon the strength of the work for about 15 minutes. At the time, I was totally disgusted, and it's no coincidence I ended up dropping out of art school later that year.













("Collateral," by Dane Mitchell... or the current contents of my jacket pockets? You decide.)

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Much like a fine jar of pickled herring though, I matured. My appreciation for art has grown and expanded greatly these 12 or so years later, and I find myself liking a lot of stuff that I would have completely dismissed as a narrow-minded, loud-mouthed 18 year old art-snob. Artists like Marcel Duchamp, Piero Manzoni, Damien Hirst, and hundreds of others, have taken everyday objects and by methods as subtle as simply adding a title or a signature, have elevated mundane items into artifacts to be contemplated, feared and revered.

Now getting back to "Collateral"...

I consider work like this to be on par with, at best, mildy clever word-play; and at worst, a pun. Also, it just seems very obvious to me. If a young woman in a first year art class can concoct essentially the same piece of work 12 years ago (and I suspect that someone before and since has probably had the same idea.) then how can this really be an important and original piece of work?

How the hell should I know? I'm parched, and it's well past gin thirty.

-J

Make it so.

You see a heavily medicated amphibian gliding along the surface of popular culture toward you.
It wants to talk about art, comic books, advertising and film.

Do you:

1. Attack it with your sword. (Turn to page 17)

2. Lick its slimy underbelly in hopes of a funky psychotropic night flight to some intrasolar planet. (Turn to page 88)

3. Add it as a friend on Facebook.(Turn to page 52)

4. Flee in terror. (Your adventure ends here)