The World is Just ... Awesome

The World is Just ... Awesome.

The world is awesome and very rarely does a commercial come along that while branding something makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. While this one might not make you feel fuzzy inside, you cannot help but be uplifted by its imagery and positive feel to it.

This was first used for the discovery channel in 2008 after a change to it program line-up and target base. Taking on more than just educational programs and starting to introduce more reality programs the new direction has been a success. The music used here is from Morcheeba, a British band form in 1996, from their album The Antidote, entitled Wonders Never Cease. Making this a good mix of music and imagery to create a unique commercial, and one that I enjoy.

The ad show cases the various programs on the Discovery Channel and shows you just how awesome the world is, while we look to space and the final frontier, there are still so many things on this tiny blue marble that we have yet to explore. So get out there and discover your world, because you never know what awesome things will be waiting for you.

Dos Equis

Well it is now the long weekend, and what are you going to do? Well drink of course, and what o drink, well if Heineken did not do it for you, then may i introduce you to Dos Equis. These commercials are by now famous, who has not heard of the most interesting man in the world? You, you say well enjoy.

Apart from getting different images in your head, as in who is your most interesting man, Bond, Dr. Evil, or Bob Marley. The things and metaphors that are used are outrageous, his personality is so magnetic he is unable to carry credit cards is one great example.

The beer itself is Mexican, first brewed in 1897 by a German born Mexican, Wilhelm Hasse. It was originally called Siglo XX or 20^th Century. The label had two giant X’s on it to mark it, hence the name now of Dos Equis, or Two X’s. Dos Equis features actor Jonathan Goldsmith as the the most interesting man in the world, with Frontline (the public affairs T.V. program) narrator Will Lyman doing voiceovers.

On in interesting side note Dos Equis is brewed Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma, which is a major brewery based in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It is currently a subsidiary of Heineken International, which explains the similar feel for both commercials for Heineken and Dos Equis.

Heineken - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

So, now you have a wife and kids, where to?

Well to the bar of course, But what to drink? There are lots of choices out there and how are you going to make such a difficult choice. Well with great advertisement. Heineken is a good choice

This commercial makes it seem like you too can be the life of a party. If you drink our beer, look what can happen. Great music, good friends, and most importantly, a good story. This is not your typical beer commercial with boobs and beers and sand. No this is much better. It shows a glimpse into a life that everyone can relate to in some way. Not because you lived it, though some of us have. No rather it brings you back to those innocent times when perhaps you saw your first bond film, or your first music concert. Or perhaps your college years where everyone knew you and you knew everyone, there was no party off limits and you where cool. Don’t you want to recapture that, just drink our beer.

The music is good, a Danish band called The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. This has been a major push for Heineken, and great publicity for the band, which has been collaborating together since March 2011. This commercial has been a great success, with over 4 million views on YouTube and countless more on the old fashion Television.

What is your favourite beer?

VW - Rabbit

Now for the next stage in life, after you run off with the hot girl in the bitching car, you inevitable have to deal with kids.

This commercial came on the scene as the VW Rabbit was released. (Duh) The great thing about this commercial is that nowhere, and I mean nowhere in this commercial do you find out about the size of the engine, or the speed of the car. No there is no info on the car except that its called a rabbit and it has been re-introduced. Yet after watching it you cannot help but want to go out and buy one, marketing at it best.

One more fact about the VW, their name is Volkswagen, German for the people’s car. It was founded in 1937 by the Nazi trade union the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront). One thing about the car is that in the 30’s cars were still a luxury and not everyone could get one. Hitler decided this was no good, and as part of his economic recovery plan for Germany sought a car that the people could afford, hence the name. So on 22 June 1934, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche agreed to create the People's Car for Hitler. The only change Hitler really wanted to make with the new design? Well he wanted it to be a happy car so designed the front of the now famous VW Beetle to look like a smiley face.

So the next time you see a beetle and its smile puts one on your face, don’t forget to thank Hitler.

Nissan 300zx - 1990s

Commercialization

Being a child of the eighties and nineties one thing stands out to me that this new digital generation, with their TiVo’s and downloads may be missing.

Commercials.

So these things came about because everyone was sick of watching them, but that has more to do with the fact that programs have allows more time for them and now product placement is on the rise. But there was a time when there where commercials, most of them terrible, but some a golden few were memorable, even magical. They were sometime funny, sometimes just catchy, but always you remember them.

So I start this new segment with a commercial that has stuck with me throughout the years.

Nissans 300zx commercial from the early nineties.

It was made before CGI was big. This means time and effort went into the making with models and stop motion. Something that sadly has gone the way of the dodo, but it was an art, a time consuming often painful art.

This was a good commercial because it made you stop and think why was Barbie with Ken, when GI Joe was in the next room? Maybe she liked that sort of thing, but were all the Barbie’s the same? Surely not. Also this was released about the same time as the first Toy Story, and while that movie has entered the movie lexicon, and personified toys are almost main streamed, at the time it was not. It also makes you ask would you rather have a hot place and a bitching wife, or a hot wife and a bitching car.

I have the latter, how is your life arranged?

On closer inspection you may also notice that despite the persistence on the name of Barbie and GI Joe, both are close but not actually the toys, she looks more like Barbie dark haired vixen and he looks more like the Army Man from the discount store, you know GI George.

Not that either matters, the commercial was good and it stuck with me, and at the end of the day all that matters: Did you remember it?

Sailing 101

So time has come to finally start the journey into saildom. I have to admit it was more than I was expecting. The first and most important thing to think about is what kind of boat will do you want; followed by the more important question, what kind of boat can you afford? As it turns out my position is leaning more towards the latter, which by the way is a good thing. I have learned a lot about my first boat recently. The most important thing is saleability, your first boat is not your last and you will upgrade at some point, so it is a good idea to find something that meets several requirements:

1. In your budget, this is not to say what you can afford, but rather what you can afford to lose. You see your first boat will be a learning experience, on all fronts. So make sure it something that in worst case scenario you will not be too terribly upset at seeing the boat at the bottom of [insert area of sailing here].

2. Repair costs, while this would seem to go into the first point, it is something that needs real consideration, as a larger boat will have more expensive parts, and dockage fees this is something that should be looked at as a monthly expense. If you cannot afford this you cannot afford the boat.

3. Saleability, as in if you somehow manage to not sink the boat or rub your nerves raw in the attempt to sail(or sink) and you want to move up to a bigger, faster, or prettier boat you can get rid of the previous boat with little trouble.

4. Right size, make sure you do not bite off more than you can chew, I know this is something you have heard since grade school, but it is especially true with boats, something that is too big will result in a hazard for all, you need to be able to control your boat, start smaller and move up from there. Sailing is an art, and as such cannot be calculated or planned for.

5. You, of course you need to like the boat. As an art it needs to be likable, you must want to visit it, spend time with it, like any relationship in life you must want to be a part of it, otherwise it will sit in dry-dock and rot. There is always the ascetics of anything you will spend money on.

With this in mind I plan to start the journey now, the first thing to do is of course review some boats, find out what is good and see where it goes from there. I will be reviewing four boats to see which one will be crowned the winner of the Das Newf name.

The first matter at hand is of course the budget, as it turns out the Budget subcommittee has found out what our afford to lose amount is and it is much lower than I would have wanted, but then again we do need to eat. We have looked at our options and our want lists and have come up with some things to look at. We will be looking at boats between the 22 ft and 30 ft. This range was chosen because they would accommodate an overnight trip for two at the lower end to weekend sails with friends on the higher end, this way we can enjoy sailing with friends. The range also give us creature comforts of a head, and a bed, and a basic engine to look after and use, without the need to spend lots of money on costly repairs. It also fits into the monthly budget on the higher end.

Cell Phones, Minutes, Data, Oh My!

This is insane. People need to wake up and think about things before they just start to yell and scream.

They say that people in Canada pay more every month for cell phone bills, and it has a lot of extra fees and they are right. System access fee? Really, I mean really, it is there because it is a good way to make extra money, it should really be called we just want more money fee. Then they go and change it to Government regulatory recovery fee, which by the way if you check out certain providers website it specially says that this fee is NOT collected to pay the government or required by the government. So really, what is happening here? This is the only industry that says; hey the government is making me pay for my business licence, so I will pass that cost on to you in the form of a fee, but not really because it is not required or even really going to the fee.

Imagine you go to get some street meat and it is 2$, but then they tell you it is 2$+0.50$ street venders licensing fee, or you go to take a taxi and there is another fee on top of everything for their drivers licence and their taxi licence and extra cost for having lots of bags and more money to cover their gas cost. I mean really, would you take a taxi then, would you put up with it from any other industry. No you would not. It would be unthinkable for any other industry, well except maybe airlines... but that is another rant.

That being said, people need to get their act together. You got the 750$ cell phone for 99$ based on a contract that you signed. Complaining that it has been 6 months and you backed over your phone so now you want another one, and they say ok, that I s 750$, and you get mad. Why? You broke the phone, and you got the phone for a cheap cost and the company has not made their money back on your phone yet, and you want another 750$ phone for free. Are you on crack? Then they would be bankrupt. No other industry would do this, if you bought a car on loan then crashed it, you would not go back to the dealer and demand a new car at no cost.

They would laugh at you, and so would I.

People need to think smart, pay more for the phone up front, you will pay way more than 750$ for the phone over the 3 years you signed up for, than if you just paid for the phone and went with a cheaper plan. Then maybe there would be no hidden cost, or fees, or the need to lock you into a contract. Cheap phones have strings, you should try to remove as many as possible.

Think of cell companies as gas stations, you should buy the phone from the dealer, and simply go the station to fill up on minutes or texts or data. The only thing you should really be demanding from them is better coverage, or maybe a full service station, or the occasionally the window squeegee or car wash.

Never get into bed with any company that promises the moon, you may wake up in a tub, missing a kidney.