When I was in college, I never could see myself as a SOTA. That grey haired, old person sitting in the front row asking lots of questions and sharing too much personal information. Wishing, that they would just be quiet so the professor could get on with the lecture. But here I am, and I can tell from the vibe I get from younger students, that I'm a SOTA. Did you have SOTA's at your college or university? Did you wish they'd shut-up?
Do you even know what a SOTA is? Well, it's a Student Over the Traditional Age. Yep, it's a person who's gone out into the world, worked for at least ten years, then gone back to school. Crazy thing is, this time I signed up for classes being seriously interested in the subject matter. I mean I don't have to go back to school, I WANT to.
I wanted to go to college and study marketing, don't get me wrong. But the classes I wasn't interested in were like torture. I didn't care to know statistics. I wanted to only know about subjects I was passionate about ,that I would actively be doing upon graduation. The goal was to get a education or degree that would lead to a career. It was a gateway. Once you've got experience, you go back to school to learn what you KNOW will help you further your career.
When you're in college, you sort of know what you want to do, but not the exact job when you graduate. You kind of wonder where each job will lead. There is doubt that comes with the first few jobs. Is this what's going to make me happy? Is this the career I should be doing to maximize my potential? I was very lucky where every job I've had, every promotion I've gotten, has lead me in the right direction. Each step was a confirmation that I was doing the best job for who I was as a person.
So this time, going to school feels different. I'm more interested, engaged. I want to ask questions, be sure that I understand the concepts being communicated. I want to share my experience and hear if what I did was done well. I'm paying for it myself and I know that if I learn what's being taught I will enjoy myself and my job that much more. I have no doubt about it. Where in college I think I lacked some drive because I wasn't 110% certain that what I was being taught was something I'd use.
So here I am after a decade of working in action sports, doing business planning, marketing, putting on events and running my own consulting business, that I find myself back in school. Part of it has to do with following a passion. I love the creative process and would like to be a "creative." That's the person that comes up with the "big idea" or is a "problem solver." In the past, I've been the planner, manager, and executor of programs, but at the same time come up with the ideas and creative. I think it will be a hard path to attain an official creative position at an agency. That's what has brought me to enroll in the Summer Boot Camp at the School of Visual Concepts.
In another life, I'd love to have been an art director with graphic design skills. I love Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Final Cut, Keynote and any creative layout type of software. It might not be too late, but that's what the classes are for. The Summer Boot Camp consists of a bunch of different classes crammed in a five week period. I'm taking Creative Thinking & Concepting, Photoshop, Copywriting, and HTML/CSS. Since my graphic design skills are ammeter, I'm going the route of Copywriter. Help come up with the idea and then work with a partner to bring it to life visually.
It's funny. Part of what makes the classes worth while is the experience of other students. Unfortunately there is an overflow of WSU graduates, fairly fresh out of college. They don't have personal experiences that they can share to add to class discussions. Well, time to get back to my homework.
Summer seems to be coming late to the Pacific Northwest, which means there is still a lot of snow in the mountains. All the rain also makes it less attractive to go hiking. My parents and I planned to go on one hike, but pulled the plug in the morning due to rain. But this last Friday, my Mom and I decided to go regardless of the weather.
The forecast was for party cloudy skies, chance of rain with clearing in the afternoon. My Mom needs to break in her new hiking boots for when she and my father go hiking through Switzerland and Austria in July. So we headed out early and drove North.
I was a little worried about my injury. I have a torn calf muscle, but my physical therapist did an impressive tape job the day before. I didn't know you could tape a calf like you do an ankle. Check it out.
We went to hike Lake Twenty Two. To say the surroundings were lush and green would be an understatement. The ferns are budding and everything seems to be growing forth. We did not however escape the rain. The majority of the hike up was in a drizzle, which turned to a pounding rain as we reached the lake. We didn't linger long, grabbed a quick bite under a tree and turned right back around. As we descended, the rain let up and the clouds began to burn off.
Truthfully, I didn't mind the rain. Hiking in the old growth forest provided some cover and the rivers were over flowing. Some of the meadows were even flooded. At times the trail was a small stream. It's just another experience and it makes you appreciate the sunny days more.
Upon returning to the car, it was still early so we decided to do a second, short hike. We drove up the road another 12 or so miles to Four Mountain Peaks(I think) where we hiked to some snow caves. The mountains here jut straight up and have multiple waterfalls coming from a big snow shelf up above. Another beautiful hike with slightly better weather. I was also very impressed with the trail maintenance.
Looking forward to going on more hikes this summer as the weather improves.
The world is blessed with intelligent, bright people. These people have great ideas worth spreading. Lucky for us, TED is a forum for those ideas to be communicated. Often when I'm bored or need a new concept to occupy my brain, I turn to TED.
Recently I found a talk by Sir Ken Robinson about a revolution in learning. He feels that "we are educating people out of their creativity." Ken discusses how we as people and a society should nurture passion and our kids interests that make them happy, instead of manufacturing them in a standardized system. To stay true to what you wanted to be when you were a kid. So that when people grow up, more of them follow and realize their dreams.
Too often today people ask each other, "What do you do for work?" Since many people do not have jobs in which they are passionate about, that they chose, their work does not reflect who they are. What many people do for work is a way to pass time that generates money, so that they might enjoy themselves on the weekend spending their "hard earned" money.
The speaker uses a great analogy, that standardized education is to our mind as fast food is to our health. Watch this video and be enlightened, educated and well entertained. Thanks be to TED, for helping educate the world.
I hate it when I struggle to resize an embedded video like this one. I look forward to when all embedded video functionality has proper resizing. So if you enjoyed this video and would like to see another one by Sir Ken on the same subject, click here.
Everybody is talking about it, but what are they saying really? It's the worst natural disaster in the history on the US. It's President Obama's Katrina. BP is corrupt and cut corners. All the different safe guards failed. The fishing/seafood industry in the South is in a state of crisis. BP blames Transocean for the accident. The people blame the government for lack of oversight. We are waging a "war" on a new natural disaster.
I think this accident or "natural" disaster is a symptom of a bigger problem. The fact that profits have become more important than general well-being and doing what's right. The responsibility or accountability for a problem like this seems to have been structured so that nobody can be held accountable. BP can blame Transocean, Transocean can blame the workers and citizens can blame the Minerals Management Service for lack of regulation. Sounds similar to the financial crisis or Enron. The problem lies with none of those organizations, but with our way of life.
Oil has allowed for many societal advances and made the industrial revolution possible over the last 100 years. We would not be where we are today without sucking oil from the earth. But oil is not a renewable resource and will continue to prove harder to acquire and process. Easy to acquire oil is running out. So what does that mean? Getting oil will become more expensive, difficult and possibilities for natural disasters will increase. We are drilling down through 5,000 feet of water and another 13,000 feet of seabed. That's a long way down. Deep drilling is expensive and can cost as much as $800,000 a day, or up to $100,000 million dollars to establish a single well.
People and industry don't want to pay more for gas/oil, so corporations like BP will continue to try and cut costs to keep margins high. It's just business. Although many people are complaining right now, I'm sure folks in Louisiana will still be pro-oil after it's all said and done. Oil and fishing are their two biggest industries. They need both. This spill is one of the costs we incur for our dependance on oil. Accidents happen, we can only try our best to prevent them. Where the anger comes from is that we did not try our best in prevention, we tried our best to be profitable instead.
Watching this media spectacle is rather entertaining. I feel for BP, as a company's brand is expensive to create, establish and maintain. In 2000, they rebranded themselves as "Beyond Petroleum" that sees a future past dependence on fossil fuels. They came out with a nice green logo that looks more environmentally friendly. Even then, Greenpeace came out with a print ad that mocked the rebranding.
With the oil spill, Greenpeace is at it again with a competition to recreate the BP logo in a negative light called "Behind the Logo." It's a brilliant negative PR campaign that should have all the oil companies motivated to start looking seriously at alternative energy. There are over 300 designs submitted so far and available to view on flickr. Here's one of my favorite redesigns.
Another entertaining negative PR campaign is the Twitter feed parody called "BP Global PR." Although it appears somewhat official, it's really not from BP Corporate. More than anything, it has become like open mic night at a comedy club with tons of funny one-liners about BP and the oil spill. Here's a couple of my favorites:
The last thing I'm going to touch on is the media trying to say this might be Obama's Katrina. Man this irritates me. Yes there are similarities, but two big differences in my mind. Katrina was a natural disaster that nobody could control. The BP Oil Spill was not a natural disaster that we couldn't control, it is a manmade disaster that negatively effects nature. It could have been prevented.
Bush was judged on how he responded to the disaster, which was slow and unorganized. In Katrina there was loss of life. It was a disaster we had faced before, just on a larger scale. It was a problem that the US Government had the tools and expertise to assist with. The BP Oil Spill did have some loss of life, but that was immediate. A slow reaction will not result in more loss of life, as it did with Katrina. The US Government does not have the expertise to stop the oil spill, nor does it have the resources to clean up or prevent the environmental disaster. It shows that both the oil industry and US Government has not advanced their clean up techniques since the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Just like Obama's overall presidency, it's too soon to judge. Time will tell.
I don't recall President George Bush Senior being blamed for the Exxon Valdez oil spill, nor held accountable for it's clean up. But this is my frustration with mass media. They are in a similar position as the oil companies, in an ever increasing difficult market, they need to generate revenue and profits. Controversy, crisis, disasters, corruption, and turmoil generates more web views, hits, comments, discussion and interaction with its audience, driving their sales. If they reported that Obama was doing a good job, that BP was doing everything in their power to stop and clean up the oil spill, then they would not make as much money either. Greed is the real story here.
My family owns the Bassi Jones building over on Mercer Island. Recently we've been updating it with new windows, paint, bathroom fixtures, signage, and still have a ways to go with replacing some stairs, walkway and dry rot. It's come a long ways over the last couple months, since my grandparents managed it. My Dad likes good quality, as do I.
When the opportunity to join the Mercer Island Art Walk came up, we decided it would be a good way to meet our neighbors and feature my sisters and my Moms good friend Judy West's photography. My sister is an artist, who recently began expressing herself through photography. She mostly chose images of flowers and a couple scenics of walking trails.
Judy West goes hiking or cross country skiing with my Mom most Thursdays. She takes pictures on these trips, then creates some nice cards that she sells at Kattermans Pharmacy. The Bassi Jones building is two floors with two hallways. For the first art walk of the summer, we just used the upstairs, with one wall featuring my sisters pictures and the other featuring Judy's. Depending on how the foot traffic goes, we may extend to both floors.
Part of the fun, beside serving attendees wine, was walking around to the other businesses and meeting different business owners. Some of these businesses are participating in the art walk solely to get new business. I went into a beauty salon and each room had a different art piece. So you get a tour, you view a piece of art and then learn about the full body spray tan you can get. Or in the next room, I could have gotten my back hair removed (not that I have much).
Overall the Mercer Island Art Walk could use more press. There was not much foot traffic. Most of the people who came were people we knew and invited. Maybe it was because this was the first one, or maybe it was the poor weather, I don't know. Hopefully as summer gets underway, more people will come out. It's every third Thursday of month, come out and I'll serve you a free glass of wine.
I recently had the pleasure of seeing the play, Paradise Lost at the Intiman Theatre. Although the play was written in the 1930's by Clifford Odets as a response to the Great Depression, it proved relevant today with the state of our economy and unemployment being as high as it is. While sitting there, certain sections of the play were so fresh it was as if the play was written a few months ago.
Many people have been affected by the downturn in our economy. Either you or somebody you know may have fallen on hard times, trying to make mortgage payments, losing a job, their company going out of business, trying to find new employment, losing money in the stock market, stress from supporting a family or hearing about peoples struggles reported nightly on the news. I think you'd be hard pressed to find somebody who's been totally isolated.
Paradise Lost addresses all these situations through the eyes of one family. It showcases the torment a father feels, trying to keep his business going, hoping for the success and well being of his children, maintaining a marriage, helping friends less fortunate while holding onto his humor and hope for a better future. Against all odds, as pressure and circumstances continue to mount, can the family prevail while waiting for a new dawn of prosperity?
That's a question many families are facing today. Can they hold out for a better tomorrow? Many films and plays conclude with a happy ending. Paradise Lost does as well, but not how one might think. You don't know if the family makes it, actually you know much of the family doesn't.
The daughter finds love, but her man breaks it off due to lack of financial resources and the ability to provide. The prodigal son, who won gold medals running in the Olympics, a go-getter with a personality larger than life, who marries the beautiful woman, can no longer run, can't find meaningful work, is so ashamed he falls to a life of crime and jumps in front of bullets during a confrontation, killing himself. The other son has a terminal illness and is going to die. The father goes out of business when his partner steals money and the family loses their home.
Nope, that is not your typical happy ending. What you are left with, is a man who has lost just about everything. Yet is left standing with his integrity, passion for life and a continued hope for the future. The father is never broken. Instead he stands fast in his belief that the world and life is beautiful.
The play itself has a lot of narrative and a large cast, which makes an audience have to engage to follow the story. It may not be for everybody, but I enjoyed it. It made me think. It made me realize how fortunate I am.
The Intiman Theatre is a great venue by the way. It's rather small and has a great personal feel. I would highly recommend checking it out and going to a show. Prices aren't all that high, considering what you get compared to other entertainment in Seattle. Go to their website to learn more. Here's a list of shows for the 2010 Season: Paradise Lost, The Thin Place, Ruined, A Doctor In Spite Of Himself and The Scarlet Letter.
THE WHITE STRIPES - UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS
I love good movies. I love good music. So you'd think I'd really like movies about music? But more often than not, documentaries about rock bands or musicians fall short. They're usually about conflicting personalities, drama between band members and the most played out sex, drugs and rock n' roll ideal.
I was pleasantly surprised when I came across Under Great White Northern Lights on iTunes. It's a great rockumentary about Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes as they tour across Canada. It's not just big venues, but more down home style theaters and impromptu shows in town squares, music stores, coffee shops or even riding the bus. There's no sex or drugs, just a well thought out film that does a great job implementing The White Stripes mythology. It blends black and white footage with color that often times over saturates reds.
There's not a ton of dialog or interviews, just enough to learn a little something but yearn for more. More situational shots that showcase interaction with people and fans as they're en route from show to show, which I liked because it feels more natural and less contrived. Then it's all about the power of their music.
If you are unfamiliar with The White Stripes music, branding and mythology I'll try to fill you in a little. The White Stripes began as part of a late-nineties garage-rock revival, but the duo's music and concept - a once married couple who pretended to be siblings and wore alternating red and white outfits - was always bigger than the lo-fi rock and roll of a typical garage band.
The White Stripes played their first show in July 1997, about nine months after bartender Meg White and upholsterer John Anthony Gillis married and began making music together. Gillis took his wife's last name and a dynamic duo was born. Since then the two have put out six albums, winning several grammy's and now have added a great film to their body of work.
I think one of the reasons why I enjoyed the movie so much is in its' simplicity. Both how it was shot and in the music. Two people, one on drums and the other on guitar. Yet they still bring a powerful energy you can feel. They are great musicians and entertainers. Both Meg and Jack have a captivating presence. Meg with her quiet and shy persona, yet impressive curves. And Jack, who seems more complex and thoughtful. Although you get a sense of who they are as people, the film focuses more on the music and what the band/concept is.
If you too like music and movies, I think you'll find Under Great White Norther Lights enjoyable. Check out the trailer:
As a person of Scandinavian heritage, orange isn't my best color. Especially in the winter when I'm bright white, but it does get better during the summer when my burn fades to tan. For the last four years I have had one "go to" orange t-shirt that I've loved. The DDC Anvil Strength Torso Cover.
It has traveled with me on fun adventures from Mexico to Alaska, getting well-worn and washed repeatedly. It stood the test of time, only fading ever so slightly. After realizing it was the oldest, most worn tee in my wardrobe, I came to the conclusion it was time to put it down. But I just couldn't come to throw it out. Then I went on Draplin's website to order a new one, only to be saddened to see it was SOLD OUT! I don't think I've ever tried to buy the same clothing item twice?
I emailed Aaron to see if he had one laying around, but no. Aaron was however nice enough to send me a new DDC torso cover along with an assortment of DDC merchandise. DDC will continue to hold down the orange color spot in my t-shirt collection for years to come.
It's kind of hard to see, but look at the tooth brush around the neck line. It's an orange tooth brush with black bristles. How cool is that? A big thanks to Mr. Daplin for keeping me looking good.
I can be kind of a dork, where in my spare time I like to read business strategy books and view marketing/advertising sites. This post is about some of the interesting things I've come across in my latest readings and web surfing.
First off, I'm intrigued by what industries are doing, consumer behavior and business trends. One of the best sources of information on this topic is Trendhunter.com. They are great at making quick, entertaining and educational videos. Here's one on the Top 20 Trends in 2010:
Another couple of sites I like to visit regularly are Cool Hunting and The Cool Hunter. Both are similar in content and do a great job stimulating my mind. They both follow trends in design, art, architecture, furniture, travel, music, gadgets, fashion, ads, bars, food and events. If you're into those things, you'll want to bookmark these sites. Here's a couple shots of what you'd find there.
Check out this hotel, the top floor looks similar to a cruise ship.
I'm a big fan of digital media and utilizing it as a marketing tool. I'm constantly trying to find the latest information on the subject. I believe the most successful companies in the future will have a mastery of marketing with digital media (I know, huge revelation huh). Flash in the Can put out this video to promote their upcoming technology + art + advertising event called, "The Last Advertising Agency on Earth." The film asks what will the future of advertising look like? The answer depends on whether or not traditional advertising agencies truly embrace the power of digital to reach consumers and build brands in new, exciting ways.
It's super wide format, so best viewed on vimeo or click on the video link in the paragraph above. My blog is kind of skinny for embedding vid's.
Another one of my monthly web visits is to the Razorfish site called "The Feed." I think it's mostly written by an employee named Garrick Schmitt. At least he's the only person who seems to post anything. Razorfish is an agency in Seattle that specializes in the digital arena. The other thing I think is cool is that you can embed a Keynote or Powerpoint presentation. Man I wished I had utilized this functionality in my past work. Check out this first presentation, "The 2009 Razorfish Digital Brand Experience Report."
When a lot of people think about digital media, they just think about online and forget about mobile. Mobile phones or devices, or more accurately smart phones, are an ever increasing communication vehicle to reach the masses. It's still evolving, but there's no debating the value of creating a good mobile application if their are enough users. Here is another presentation by Garrick Schmitt on whether "App-vertising Is The Answer."
I was recently cruising around Barnes & Noble in the business section and found a bunch of new reading material. The first you should check out is Futuretainment by Mike Walsh. Have you ever had a strategy or vision that you've thought about and put down on paper? Well, after doing the Nimbus business plan I found this book, which pretty much touched on the Nimbus business plan. Reading it just reinforced my theory. If you are interested in the future of media, be sure to click on the books website and order a copy. It's an easy read with pretty cool layout.
I actually stocked up at Barnes & Noble. I also bought: "The Art of Client Service", by Robert Solomon; the classic, "Marketing Warfare" by Al Ries and Jack Trout; "Ogilvy On Advertising," and "Ad Land" by Mark Tungate. I also got the magazines "Archive" and "CMYK." Lastly, I ordered a book online called "How to Get the Advertising Job You Want" by Dave Hollaway. For inspirational purposes, I'm reading "The Alchemist" for about the 10th time. Love that book. Hmm, there was a lot of punctuation in that paragraph that I'm not sure if I got right...
Another oddity of mine is that I like to read like I eat. I enjoy mixing up the material. It's kind of like changing channels on the TV. I read a couple chapters of one book, then I grab another and read a couple more chapters before I go back to the first one. I'll read up to four books at one time. Is that weird?
Besides what I bought at Barnes & Noble and my online viewing habits, I have subscriptions to: Newsweek, Dwell, Wired, Details, Esquire, Entrepreneur, Inc., and I like to skim the Seattle Times every morning. I also get a bunch of wintersports mags as promo, but I don't read them much, just The Ski Journal. Anyway, this is the info I've been consuming in my spare time. I think it's all real interesting stuff, but then again, I am kind of a dork.
Have you ever been driving south on I-99 and as you come into downtown Seattle, wondered what the building on the left with the big SVC sign was? I did, but just recently found out it's a school for graphic design, web design, ad art direction and copywriting. It's called the School of Visual Concepts. After checking the school out online, I decided to take a couple courses. They have ten, five and one day classes available. What drew me in is that it's taught by people who are actively working in advertising and design, not regular full-time professors.
I just finished my first course, called Project Management for Design, which was taught by Matt Diefenbach of Turnstyle. Matt was a cool dude, both very knowledgeable and personable. Proving once again that it's a small world, upon chatting we discovered we had mutual friends. His presentation included a lot of work from Turnstyle, which seems like a great up and coming firm. Afterward I checked out their website and really love their design aesthetic/style.
The following are topics Matt covered:
> Writing great scope-of-work documents for design and advertising projects
> Getting buy-ins from project sponsors
> Writing creative briefs that are actually useful for designers and writers
> Setting up communication expectations for clients and co-workers
> Maintaining production schedules
> Successful client and team meetings
> Building relationships that lead to satisfied clients and more buisness
An interesting component was class participation and interaction. We had case studies where we worked in groups and shared our thoughts. I enjoyed the group activities, but in retrospect realize the quality of the course somewhat depends on the skill level of students in attendance. We had a good group that ranged from people working at agencies or internal creative and marketing teams at manufacturers.
Another highlight was finding out about Onehub.com. Be sure to check it out when you have time. It's a great alternative to using an FTP site to share files. I wish I would have used something like it with Nimbus. I could have just uploaded the webisode communication tools: banner ads, imagery, editorial, videos, link graphics, etc to Onehub.com and provided all the media and sponsors with their own login info. Would have saved me so much time. There are a lot of similar applications out there like Basecamp, but I really like the Onehub UI. Will be using it in the future.
Now that I've found my first course beneficial, it's time to sign up for more. Next will be Design and Build HTML Emails and Brand Strategy for Creatives. Eventually I may step up from one day classes to multiple, maybe some Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign stuff. I know the basics but am self taught and would love to be better. In another life I could be a graphic designer. Overall, I would highly recommend SVC. Maybe I'll see you there...
There is a knack to every business. There are communities of people that revolve around some very interesting things. Take people who are bargain hunters, treasure hunters or people who go to estate sales on the weekend. My grandfather passed away a few months ago and my family just had an estate sale, where we sold many of my grandparents belongings.
My grandparents were CPA's, so they had great records, including most original receipts and any appraisals. We hired Chelsea Estate Service to assist in pricing and cataloging everything in the townhouse. In truth, it's an emotional experience. Going through their belongings, picking out what items are special to you and taking them home. Since I have a small house, I don't have much room. I chose items that had more sentimental value.
So how the estate sale is run is rather interesting. First, there is an ad in the newspaper, then people go to Chelsea's for a number. This number reflects what order people can enter the house. Only 25 people are allowed inside at one time. The bottleneck seemed to be the cash register.
My job was to work the front door, handing out numbers and managing the flow of people inside and outside of the house. Oh, that and the community didn't want the street to be filled with cars, so I had to make sure nobody parked out in front. We got permission from the church up the street to use their parking. Lastly, when big purchases were made, I was the muscle to help get things to their vehicles.
Saturday morning there were about 35 people lined up outside the front door. We had about 10 or so people waiting to get in from when we started at 10:00am to about 1 o'clock. As the crowd became more manageable, I moved inside to check out the scene. Everything inside was priced to sell, but people still want to haggle. I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I'm fairly sure somebody took prices off items, just to ask and hope for a better deal in person.
Things I didn't even think about, people would come up and ask for a price. For example, to make it easier for my grandparents to get out of their leather couch, they put it up on wood blocks. A gentleman asked me for the blocks. How much? Um, let me check...
Many of the people were regulars and called each other by name. Or they would talk about seeing one another later at the next estate sale, whether later in the day or a couple weekends from now.
The second day everything $75 dollars and under was half off. I was surprised to see many of the same faces the next day. They know the drill. Huge rush in the morning and things moved fast. I think they come on the first day, buy the "must haves" then come back the following day early for the half off sale.
What I enjoyed was talking with people who really wanted what they were buying. They'd want to know the history, who my grandparents were, what type of life they led. It's nice to know some items that have been cherished by my family will now be cherished by another.
I'm not totally done yet. A few big ticket items were left that I'm still currently trying to move. I have a Baldwin baby grand piano, a persian rug, an huge armoire, a dresser with end tables, a coffee table and a mirror. I have them posted on Craigslist. Next I'm going to post them on eBay.
We're in the process of painting the townhouse, which should be just about done, then new carpet goes in and finally the staging. The house will go on the market at the end of this month. It's amazing how much has to be done.
Making product videos can be difficult. It's hard to make them creative, entertaining and educational. Draplin and crew manage to make a cool one minute video to promote his different colors of Field Notes. Check it out:
Okay, so it doesn't hit on all three, but it wasn't supposed to be super eductional. To order his goodness, go to fieldnotesbrand.com and to check out all the cool stuff Aaron has going on, check out DDC.
So I'm sitting here all decked out in my red, white and blue. Yep, I'm rocking USA addidas, dark blue jeans, my Obama tee, red/white belt, red, white and blue socks, and my red, white and blue track jacket. I feel sort of silly, like it's Halloween again, but I'm also feeling hopefully and anxious that Obama is going to be elected President. I've been hoping that the polls are wrong, that it isn't a close race but an absolute blowout. I want to see a landslide victory.
I've noticed that I've been writing a lot of political blogs. I have to admit, I'm also looking forward to moving on from the onslaught of political news. Enough talking about changing the world and making the country a better place. I ready to now get to work and making it happen. Enough talk, let's do this.
Every so often, there are times when America must rise to the moment. Our moment is now, this is our moment. This is our time, to unite in common purpose, to make this century the next American century. Let's go change the world.
History has been made. A black man has clinched the democratic nomination for the President of the United States of America. I will admit, I lacked some hope in the beginning, that Barack could beat Hillary Clinton. I just didn't think it would be possible. But what appeared impossible, became possible. The Obama team still has a long and hard road ahead of them, but I believe he win the Presidency.
I think it's not just the fact a black man won the nomination, but how he did it. He appealed to Americans of all races, not just African Americans. Granted he could position himself this way because he comes from a multi-ethnic background. If Barack hadn't had a white mother, it would have been more difficult. But he didn't run as a black man, he ran as an American with a diverse background.
Obama's campaign has inspired me to get involved in the democratic process. Look out friends, I'll be talking a lot of politics and looking to debate our countries issues over a few beers or at a barbeque. I really hope he wins.
There is an opportunity for Americans to openly discuss the state of our nation. We could have some of the most important and healthy discussions that we seem to have avoided the past decade. We have two very different candidates running for the top office. We need to stay focused on important issues and not get side tracked by spinsters and the media focusing on 'reality show' type drama. I don't want to hear about McCain having lobbyist on his team, what preachers endorse him, or the trials of Obama's church and pastor. As citizens, we need to try to keep ourselves and the media focused on what's important.
Okay, so what's important. We need to talk about the war in Iraq and America's standing in the Middle East and world, we need to talk about health care, the economy, our education system, fixing our infrastructure, the environment, mass transit, balancing the budget, homelessness, poverty, border security, our military and veterans and equality for those living within our borders.
How I would love to see Obama, if not somebody just list and state our countries problems. Although Obama is inspirational in his speeches, we need to define our failings and problems. How can we begin to address what needs to be fixed until we define the problems. To agree as Americans what the biggest problems are. That will unite us, to fix what's wrong and establish common goals. We have had eight years of mistakes, compounded by propaganda and misinformation that will be very hard to fix. It won't happen quickly. It has to be fixed from the top down and the bottom up. We need the president, politicians and people to create a movement. We need to have somebody like Obama build the bridge, inspire a nation and bring about positive change.
Funny, as I write this I could go on for a long time. But I keep hearing the voices of friends who recommend I stay away from politics on my blog. Why? Let's not fight over the issues, lets discuss them openly and challenge each other on our beliefs. Educate yourselves, pick up and read both candidates books. Just become active in the process.
After a fun evening hanging out with the local Valdezians, we awoke to almost totally blue skis. We were packed, ready to go and out the door at 8:00am. Today was probably one of my top all-time ski days.
Nothing like touring the Chugach with the legendary Dean Cummings. Amazing pace and a great variety of runs today. A little deep, ultra blower powder, some nice long chutes, and some of the steepest terrain I've ever skied in my life.
Here's a couple photo's from the day.
Here's a shot of Harvey in the helicopter on the ride out. It's almost more of a self-portrait with the reflection in his goggles.
At the bottom of our first run, we looked up to see the shelf of our second run. We landed the heli on top where the black arrow is pointing.
This is what the same run looks like from the top. Can you say amazing?
Dean Cummings shows Matt Harvey his line and where to stop.
Here's after Harvey skied it.
The above image is the view of the mountains from the top of our 4th run. A super long blower pow run over a bunch of rollers down through a bunch of crevasses. The next couple shots are all of the same run, until the last image which is of the same mountain range but on the glacier bottom.
We trade off each run on who gets to go first. Here's the first turns of the run.
This is the view looking up the run we just skied down. Scale and perspective are so different in AK. Things that look small are actually twice as big as they seem.
And this last image is from the pick-up zone on the glacier, pointing towards the same peaks as the image previously.
I didn't post the image here, but we skied some super steep true Alaska terrain today. The kind you hear about and see in the movies, about 50-55 degrees. Dean our guide told us before we dropped in, "this is serious guys, hands out in front, take your time, don't make a turn unless you are 110% sure you're going to make it, and whatever you do, this is not a place to fall. This is the real deal." I'll post the image in the gallery or maybe in the final blog post for this trip. Don't worry Mom, we're being really careful and safe.
The mountains are so big and beautiful it's absolutely mystifing. We skied approximately 25,000 vertical feet in 6 runs. We were done by with our daily quota by 1:00 pm. More to come.
There isn't a whole lot going on up in Alaska, but that is exactly the point. I am lucky enough to be included in a Valdez Heli trip at H20 with Freeskier Magazine. The crew is a fun bunch, composed of: Matt Harvey (editor), Luke Blaser (ad guy), Gabe (Scott USA), and Jimbo Morgan (Olympic Medalist, Electric, Skullcandy dude) and myself.
We arrived in Anchorage, rented an RV and drove to Valdez. Fun road trip of looking out over the mountains and seeing the scenery. After six hours of cruising the roads captain Blazer brought us into the Valdez port. We checked in, got a briefing and then did our beacon searches. Long day of getting up at 4:30am to bed at a little past midnight.
Next morning we were on weather hold for a while, then got up and flew for the afternoon and logged some runs. Half of the fun is just riding in the helicopters, banking turns, taking off, and coming in for landings. Some impressive landings on top of very small LZ's.
Then today we got in a few more runs until it got super milky and we had to huff it out on a glacier. Polling out of the glacier was actually pretty fun. The mountains, the vastness of it all, and the thrill of landing on huge peaks keeps my blood pumping. Today we had the legend himself, Dean Cummings, as our guide.
These are just a few pics from the last couple days. I have a ton more and will put some together in my gallery when the trip is done.
Can you see the guy in the picture skiing? Hard to tell as the light was getting bad by now.
The only way to solve a problem is to identify it. To discuss the problem openly. Through debate and discussion to find a solution that may be heated at times, but earns one another's respect in the end. Part of the problem facing American politics is the media. The nit picking of issues to spark drama instead of substance. Their need to debate and continually discuss insignificant matters like a high school altercation of 'he said, she said" instead of weighing in on issues of substance. As they did on picking only controversial content by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
The speech Barack Obama gives goes a long way in addressing the issue of race in America. I hope he continues in this fashion and finds time to address the failings of the media to not just entertain but to educate its viewers on matters of importance. I believe that if media changed their methodology and provided intellectual content they would see an increase in ratings as well as be providing a much needed service.
If you missed Obama's speech I encourage you to view it here. Regardless of whether or not you like him or plan on voting for him, this is something outside of the political race for the Presidency, and just something we should all learn and address as individuals.
I have to admit, as much as I want Barack Obama to win the Presidency, I didn't think it was possible. With how this country has been making decisions and how things have been going, I lacked hope for something good to happen. I feel a change and conscious shift in the country.
Its not over yet, Barack has to first get the Democratic nomination, but it's looking better and better every day. The above image I grabbed of Draplins site, a true blogger.
I am more interested in the upcoming election than I ever have in my lifetime. We need CHANGE. We need HOPE. We need TRUTH. We need to help one another. We need more LOVE and less HATE. We need JUSTICE. We as a nation need to do what's RIGHT.
I have read up on the candidates, listened to the debates, and feel that Barack Obama is the person best qualified to lead us into the future. I"m almost through his book, "The Audacity of Hope", and recommend it to everyone.
There are certain films that everybody should see. The ones that make you question, debate, and hopefully act on what you see. People don't have to agree or disagree with them (although that's is usually the outcome), they just have to question and be open to the premise the movie suggests.
My friend Mark Abma sent me a link to a film called Zeitgeist that everybody needs to see. Sit down, get comfortable, and push play. It's pretty long, maybe two hours, but worth it. It takes on three very interesting topics: Christianity, War & 911, and who really runs the world (The Financial Institutions). Zeitgeist was created as a nonprofit film expression to inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective and to understand that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. Please watch the following movie.
I grew up going to church every Sunday, believing in God, went through confirmation, and became a member of the church. There was a minister at my church named Dale Turner who I truly enjoyed listening to because he made me think. Then I took some Origins of Religion and Philosophy courses that really made me question religion. There are many positive things that come from religion, like giving people hope, but there have been horrible things associated with religion as well, when an organization or power over people is abused.
The U.S. government, our political system, and mainstream media, I've been feeling are broken. I haven't been able to put my finger on why or how, but things just haven't added up. SO many things just aren't right about what happened on 911 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It just doesn't seem like we know what we are doing. Or we do know, we just don't want to say.
What is the root of the worlds and our countries problem? It's money and power. Who has it and who doesn't. There are so many appropriate sayings to express this thought. You know what I mean.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendirx.
Anyway, watch this film and you'll get the picture. Pass on the website information and get more people to watch this challenging film. Discuss it's possibilities with your friends and families.
Other films that you should see:
01. An Inconvenient Truth
02. Sicko
03. Fahrenheit 9/11
04. Bowling for Columbine - Okay, enough Michael Moore
05. Super Size Me
06. Crash
07. American History X
08. Gandhi
09. Who Killed the Electric Car?
10. Star Wars Trilogy
I've wanted to become more of a photographer for some time. The problem is, finding the time, learning, and the investment in gear. So my roommate Fletch just bought a new camera, some lenses, filters, and has been going out capturing some Seattle classics.
So I've started to think about taking more pictures. I started surfing the web for some of the photographers I've worked with in the past to see their latest work. Lots of good stuff out there.
The other thing I've been looking into and thinking about is an Action Sports College Seminar deal. Who could speak, what the curriculum would include, what campuses, and who would sponsor it. So when I was at Chase Jarvis's site, I saw his presentation video for Photoshelter. It's good stuff but pretty long. So if you're interested in photography, give it a look. Also big ups on having a DJ spin during your presentation.
So in doing a little website maintenance, I checked out DDC or Aaron Draplin's website and saw this thing called Layered Tennis. Pretty freaking cool if you like checking out graphic design. DDC takes on David aka. "Multifresh" Nakamoto. Both do amazing work. I was lucky enough to be influenced by them when they were both working for Cinco Design. Both these cats can hold it down. Who is going to win this one? Upon my viewing, I'm going for Multifresh.
So Layered Tennis is where two designers shoot designs back and forth. First, go check out Cloudal Partners and view the coin toss. Then click here to see the match. Go through the volleys numbered 1-10 and you'll get the idea.
Also, be sure to check out David's site, lately he's done some pretty cool work. Especially the HOLDEN apparel site. So clean and the videos showing everything is cool. I dig on artsy fartsy.
The winter season is so close I can almost feel the burning in my legs. There are resorts in Colorado who've already opened a few runs by blowing enough snow. There's one thing good about the jib scene, a resort can blow a bunch of snow and set up their terrain parks and the kids eat it up.
It's been snowing here in the PNW as well. Fresh dusting in the mountains last night and the arrival of the new chair at Crystal Mountain has me excited. My friends at Helly Hansen were nice enough to still hook me up with new gear. Time to sell my old skis, mount up my new ones, and try to score some discounted passes. Thanks for the glove hook up from the boys at POW.
I've completed my normal rituals of going to see the new film premiers at the local spots. Watched a great new production by MSP, called "Seven Sunny Days". Went to evo and saw the triple threat of "PNW, Yeah Dude, and IDEA." Might go to WME, we'll see if I can get up for it. Now there are only two things left, well three things, on the "to do" list. 1) Work out as much as possible to get in shape, 2) go to Alpine Huts Pray for Snow Party, and 3) get the first day of skiing under my belt.
Every time I've gone to this event, it's been a huge success. My good friend Adam even asked his current wife out for the first time at the party. Now I'm not hoping for that kind of magic, but I'll still be keeping my eye open. I always run into the Crystal Mountain crew that I make a few laps with.
So if you happen to be a skier or snowboarder and want to come out and get pumped up for the ski season, I hope to see you at the Red Door this Wednesday, it's sure to be a great time.
So I haven't blogged a lot in the last, oh, 5 months... because my blog plug-in to my website has been on the fritz. Sometimes it would work but most of the time I was getting error messages. Super frustrating. Especially when you write something, reformat imagery, get around to hitting publish and then you get denied.
I went through reading the user's guide, trying my best to fix the situation. Then I emailed the company Movable Type and got nothing back from them to help me fix the issue. So I tried calling customer service but all you get is a recorded voice telling you to email customer service. It became a never ending loop without any results. Not the biggest fan of Movable Type anymore.
Then I got a hold of Harrison Boyce, who programmed my site and he was able to fix the problem. Weird how it just stopped working one day. Or how on a couple nights while drinking too much and just needing to write for therapeutic reasons, it just happened to publish. Then when I went to re-edit the piece, it wouldn't work again. That would be my last two entries. One about my grandmother passing, another about my folks cabin. Never drink and blog is my new rule. Well, except for the beer I'm drinking now.
So this is sort of a test, to check and see if it is truly working again. I have lots of topics and much I want to start sharing again. I want to re-connect to the interweb for multiple reasons. The main one is to keep writing, to help further my copy writing ability. Practice, practice, practice. Another is to keep my friends and family in the loop with what's going on in my life and in my head. Lastly, it's just good for my mental well being. If you are like some people who used to check my blog on a regular basis, I'm here to tell you, "I'm back."
As the seasons change, so does ones life. It's summer in Seattle, it's a time to be outdoors, enjoying nature, blue skies, and it tends to make one feel more social. The weather has been on pace with Global Warming, beautiful with hot nights.
It's now been just over a year since I left my old job, took some time off, and am now threee months into my new employment. I think after my time off I was expecting my new job to be something more than what my old job was, it hasn't been, but it's what I missed, and I'm glad to be at it again.
My old roommate has left and successfully finished her training as a flight attendant. I have a new roommate, an old friend from college who just moved in. Not as clean and easy on the eyes as my old roommate, but it's nice to be living with somebody again.
I've gone up to my parents beach house a few times, it's been an amazing place to relax and get away from the fast paced life of the city. Besides that, it's mostly been back to work. I'm still playing soccer twice a week, going to the gym some, and running here and there. I haven't been to Pilates or Yoga since I started working and I miss the balance and health it brought to my life. I need to get back to Maya, as it was one of the better parts of my new routine.
The rest of July is going to be busy. I have a good friends wedding this weekend in which I'm a groomsman. Tis the season for weddings and this one will be perfect to start things off. Then it's off to Mt. Hood and Hood River to edit video for the LINE website. Back working with my friends Kris Ostness and Eric Pollard. That and I'll have a chance to make a few turns and experience Windells summer ski camp.
August is going to be the time to start looking for a new place to live I think. I'm hoping I can afford a house, at least a town-home, but maybe just a condo. I know Condos are the big thing, but they just feel kind of like living in a fancy hotel to me. Having spent so much of my life on the road, I need my home to feel just like that, a home.
I need to become more diligent in my blogging. I paid a fair junk of change for my website and it just makes sense to put it to good use, keeping my friends and family up to date on the happenings of my life.
I hope the summer finds you all well, enjoying the sunshine, friends, and getting a good tan. Peace.
So as you may have heard, I'm back in the wintersports industry and couldn't be happier. Good product, good people, and good times. So my first month was pretty much a sprint. The last week of April and I did a photo shoot in Lake Tahoe. We stayed in Kings Beach on the water at Ferrai's Hotel. Then during the day we got our shred on at Squaw Valley.
In years past I had a little more time to plan photo shoots. This one I had basically 2 weeks to get together. Contact a bunch of riders I had never met before, book flights, hotels, rental cars, and get the resort relations dialed in.
Like all photo shoots, you have to sorta roll with the punches. One athlete didn't have a passport, and decided to communicate this after booking his flight. The first day of the shoot, and park manager had stayed up the night before creating two big jumps, only to have the hill manager tear them down that morning.
First days of photo shoots can be junk shows, so I was prepared. We showed up, met Savannah, the PR Manager at Squaw and filled out our liability waivers. Then it was off to the Special Ticket office where Squaw was cool enough to give us spring passes. Then of course some of the riders didn't bring ID, so they had to get lift tickets. All took a long time, especially since we were such a large group.
We went up the lifts to find no special features built for the photo shoot. No problem, just a concern. Time to get the rails, wall ride, and hiking shots out of the way. Got the crew going and then called Tom. Super cool guy who came up to the hill and we made a new plan of action. For the following evening, we would build a quarter pipe up to the last riblet of a chairlift. Then he'd re-make the big kickers for us the next day. Bamn. We are rocking and rolling.
So the next evening we had the quarter pipe session. Had a few too many people along for the show, but that's the way it goes some times. Almost got closed down again, but it all came together, including the weather. Beautiful sunset and the evening yielded some great shots.
Next day we hit the big kickers and killed it again. Then to have the evening sunset shoot go a little better, we picked just four riders. That night was super-productive. Just did laps with two snowmobiles over and over until we nailed every trick with grabs. Then down the tram at the end of the sunset.
Big thanks goes out the the athletes who worked their butts off. It was refreshing to be out with younger athletes. Thanks to Savannah and Tom at Squaw Valley who were super to work with. You made the shoot easy when we were a bit of a junk show and a BIG group. To Rom and Matt Connelly our local reps, thanks for being such a great support team, shuttling athletes and grabbing food. And a big thanks to Porters for letting us take over your ski shop and fit boots and mount skis.
If you go to my gallery, you'll see a small selection of images by the pro photographer Felix, and just a couple that I took. There are a butt load more, but this will give you a sampling of what went down. It's good to be back.
Aarrghhh... I know I'm an instant gratification type of person. I'm all about an action then a re-action. Ya know, badda bing, badda boom. I can see my life ahead of me, or the life that I want laid out. But there are certain turn key situations that have to unfold for everything to work out.
That first 'thing' being a new job. I recently found out that if you are hired in an industry that you were previously successful and established, that your interest rates can be lower. So I am waiting for this job to come around, to receive an offer, to then finish my home loan, to then negotiate the purchase of my new place, to remodel it, to move in, and to get to work.
I have been unemployed for 8 months. I have achieved a good number of things in this time period. But now I'm done with my self improvement. I had planned on getting back to work in March and had job offers when an new opportunity arose. I've now just been waiting. I never thought it would take this long. Waiting for it to happen or not. I continue helping a few friends out with their businesses, but my mind is stuck in time. I have brain freeze. Or maybe not brain freeze, just that's it's stuck on this possible employment scenario. It's the job I want and I won't be able to look or accept any other job until this has been resolved.
Oh how I want to start working the beginning of April. I want this life that I can envision to play out before me and not unravel. I think I'm a confident person, but every day that goes by without communication makes me slightly doubt myself. Is there some skeleton in my closet that I'm not aware of? Does one of my references not care for me anymore? What could be taking so long? My mind just keeps going round and round.
Well, to get my mind off my possible new life scenario, I'm going on vacation. I'm leaving in a couple hours to Nelson, BC for a little helicopter and snowcat skiing. I threw together a little bachelor party ski/snowboard trip for my friend. We'll be back next Monday. I'm bringing my photo pack so you'll be able to see the trip in the gallery. Then I think I'll go up to my folks cabin, walk the beach and play a little golf.
Wow, this is only my second entry for March and it's almost over. I have tons of topics for my blog, I just have had writters block, all focus being on my potential new path. I will start writing again on a regular basis soon.
Life got a little busy. After going to Las Vegas I figured out what a great "network" I had. Noticed a lot of friends working really hard but some need a little help. I decided I have time to help them. Bought my business license online and am patiently waiting for it to come in the mail.
I currently have four clients. Mostly working on business and marketing plans. Some for executional purposes and a couple to obtain new investors. It's fun to do as I love strategy and planning. It's also exciting because two of them are outside of the action sports industry. Haven't sat in front of my computer this much in months. Realized how much I enjoy my work. Crazy thing is I have clients lining up. I think it can easily become a full-time job if I so desire.
Trying to get everything that I'm currently working on done by months end. I'm hoping the beginning of March will bring some fun and exciting new challenges. I'd say what they are but I don't want to let the cat out of the bag in case it doesn't come to fruition. Oh but I'm so hoping that it does...
Still exercising like crazy. The more I work the more I find I want to exercise. Been working out, doing Pilates, running more, and playing soccer. I want to enter some running races coming up, so I've been running around the inside of Green Lake at 'race-pace', running around the the inside twice at a medium speed, then running around the outside and up through the dog park into the Zoo at a super slow pace. Training like I did in college.
My co-rec soccer team won it's first game of the new season last Thursday night. Our team won the championship the last two seasons, so GSSL moved us up two divisions. All of our games have been close, we just haven't been able to pull out the wins. The whole team played extremely well the other night. I'm not sure when it happened, as I had a couple good collisions, but I ended up with a big bump on my head and a slight concussion. That evening I couldn't sleep, was dizzy in bed, and threw-up in the middle of the night. It's been awhile.
Still went skiing the next day. After skiing 2, 3, or 4 times a week most of the winter and then not going for 2 weeks, I needed a dose of nature. I also needed to go set up a photo shoot, get lift tickets and lodging dialed in. It was awesome. The mountain air and exercise cleared my head by lunch time. My goggles were a little tight on my welt, but otherwise all was good. Also saw a few friends on the hill and did some fun runs.
Ah what else. Been hanging out trying to better myself for seven months. The money I put aside for this semi-retirement stint is starting to run low. I told myself I wouldn't dip into my "house account" or retirement funds so it's time to get serious about a new salary stream.
Another interesting note, I found an intriguing woman I want to ask out. I haven't really dated anybody for four years. Why? Well my excuse is that I was always traveling, on the road, and the relationships I did have didn't last. So I stopped trying. Once I started to look for something, now that I'm not traveling, I didn't see anything that caught my eye. But all that has changed. Truthfully I'm a little nervous, but a good and excited nervous. Time to ask her out.
The Ski Journal Party was really fun. Great artwork from K2 in the gallery. Great magazine. Also a few friends have been in town. Been going out and networking a lot. Kevin Back of Powder Mag was here, thanks for picking up dinner. Went to a DOE and Utility open house. Cool agency. Few more magazine folk in town this upcoming week. Should be fun.
Okay, time to get back to work on these business plans.
Timesinfinity Gallery @ EVO / The Ski Journal Launch
Click on the image to go big, otherwise you won't be able to read the copy. This Friday, in the gallery at EVO, will be the launch party of THE SKI JOURNAL. If you are a true skier and want to support a magazine that will make skiing and the industry better, then you need to come. I got the first issue and read it cover to cover. This is a magazine that skiing has been waiting for. I mean there are really good ski magazines out there, for me it's the business model of how the magazine is put together that I applaud.
Upon reading the first issue, ever article and every page spoke to me. I'm looking forward to celebrating this great new venture and voice. Please come on down and tip one back with me. Hope to see you there. For more information, go to: http://www.evoseattle.com/.
Not as much fun stuff to report lately. Been getting serious about finding work. Got my 20th ski day of the season in last weekend. But it was one of the first weeks where I only skied one day. Going up to Alpental this evening to talk "business" with a potential G Brand client. Will be my first night ride of the season.
Did have a fun playoff filled day of watching football at a friends house. Ate, drank, cheered, and was merry. Too bad for the Seahawks but what great games.
Looking forward to my Pilates instructor coming back from Hawaii. I miss my Pilates. I've talked a couple friends into signing up at Maya to share in good health.
Been typing up and sending out some more cover letters and resumes. I like switching up the styles. Some are more "ACT NOW" used car salesmen type with fun tonality, others are straight up business. I find it's interesting that I'm getting better responses with the fun cover letters. I think HR people need to be entertained.
Helped my sister and let her use my Mac to reformat an ad for an interview test. Glad I could help her out but she reformatted all my pallets in Illustrator. She even changed the highlight color from blue to red? Took me a while to get everything back to how I like it. I wonder if the companies I'm sending my cover letter and resume to realize I did them in Illustrator.
Working on my calendar a little and inserting the next wave of summer weddings. Got three 'save the date' and wedding invitations last week. Good thing is now I have more bachelor parties to go to. I've been unemployed for a while and spending money like I still have a job. Just dropped some coin on going Helicopter skiing for one day and Cat skiing for another two. Going up to Valhalla Powdercats in Nelson, BC the fourth weekend of March. I'm just impressed we have 12 guys going and it's for my friends bachelor party. Went there on a photo shoot a couple years ago and it was awesome. I'm sure this year will be no different. It will be my first time as a true end consumer.
Ok, time to get back to my 'semi-retired' work. Take it easy.
I am so glad I bought stock in Apple. They are pushing technology farther and faster than anybody else. They announced two new products for 2007: Apple TV and the iPhone.
I can't do either full justice here in my blog, you need to go to apple.com and take the tour for yourself. First check out the new iPhone. I mean, this should change cell phones like the iPod changed MP3 players and how we listen to music. I just bought the new Blackberry Pearl and can tell you that I will be switching to the iPhone once it's available in June. It's basically a really, really small laptop computer. I'm going to call it a pockettop, see if that catches on.
Then there is Apple TV. The thing is, it's so cheap. Microsoft for a long time wanted to bring the internet and computers to every home and integrate entertainment and computing. Well they tired where Apple has succeeded.
I made the switch from PC's to Mac's and Apple products about four years ago and couldn't be happier. My stuff doesn't break down and give me the chronic blue screen. Everything just looks and works better. I'm glad I made the switch because I think down the road, more people will be working on Mac's than PC's. It's a long way out, but if you want a competitive advantage then you'll be using Apple products, period.
I could rant about this for a long time, but I have to keep working on using my Mac competitive advantage in getting a new job. Be sure to also click on the Macworld Keynote address. It's pretty long so get comfortable. There is also a great live performance by John Mayer at the end. Trust me, watching the whole thing is worth it. It will blow your mind.
As we go through life we experience different chapters, periods, stages, and versions. Some people change a lot, have multiple chapters in a long novel of life and others stay steady with little changes and less diversion. Some of our life story we get to write and change to our liking, but the project is a group effort with many contributing authors. Where do you find yourself in the book of life?
I personally am starting the 4th chapter or version of myself. The first version was growing up in Seattle from birth through graduating High School. Version 2.0 was when I went off to college at Montana State University and started to become more independent. Version 3.0 was my first career at Helly Hansen. All of the versions were pretty good, with 3.0 running a little too hot and fast; resulting in it getting a little bogged down, catching a view viruses, and on occasion having to shut down or re-boot.
The new lighter, faster, and healthier Gary 4.0 version has been under development and strenuous testing the last 6 months and is now ready for release to the general public. This version has reconnected with old friends, gotten a lighter frame, filled itself with new skills, functions, and up-to-date data, branded itself, and created a life plan. This version is no longer as narrow in its' application and has much more balance.
The next step will be finding a new path for my career. What I want to do is keep my connections in the Action Sports Industry while broadening my horizons. I'm going to take two paths: 1) see what kind of contract work I can get under the G Brand and 2) look for work as an Account Manager for a Creative/Design/Ad Agency here in Seattle.
There are only a handful of brands in Action Sports that I would like to represent and collaborate with. I still have an amazing passion and drive for the industry and it comes naturally to me. As many of my friends have been telling me, why fight it. If I can get a base of 2-3 clients from the industry and then branch out to new things, then the G Brand will be in full operation.
If I can't do it on my terms working for myself then I will go work for one of my top 5 targeted companies here in the Seattle area. I'm ready to rejoin the working world and become a more productive member of society. It's been great to stop, fix 3.0 and recharge the batteries, but with the new year Gary 4.0 wants to begin a new career.
So if you are reading this and would like to know more about the 4.0 version, shoot me an email. Or if you know a company that fits the description please forward on my information.
I plan on accomplishing more than just a new career with the 4.0 version, but that will come later. Right now the first objective is starting a new career and the other aspects I'll post later. I suppose it's kind of like making a picture by connecting the dots. I can see all the dots (things I want to do and accomplish) and about half of the picture (my life's story), now I just need to draw some more lines connecting a few more dots.
Don't knock it unless you've tried it. Move over Yoga and welcome to Pilates!!! Most people in Seattle go to Starbucks for their Espresso, get Thai food on the corner, and do Yoga. Face it, it's hip.
But have you tried Pilates? I have always been active in sports and gone to the gym to work out. But not until recently, when I blew out a couple disk's in my lower spin did I realize how good Pilates is.
Both of my parents go to Pilates. My Dad used to be rather hunched over with bad posture, but I noticed how much better he got. I too had become a slouch with all that time sitting in front of the computer. I also kept on hurting myself whether I was skiing, playing soccer, mountain biking, or just going out for a jog.
Some of my friends think the fact that I go to Pilates is silly. They say, "dude, chicks go to things like Pilates and Yoga; and if you're a guy going to Yoga, your their to pick up on the chicks." Well I'm here to tell you that the saying is true about criticizing the things you don't understand (although my instructor is a beautiful woman).
Pilates strengthens your inner core of muscles, the ones that don't pick up chicks but makes you feel good. My posture is better, my back doesn't hurt, my knees don't hurt, I'm not pulling my calf muscles regularly, and I think my skiing and soccer has improved because of it. Granted I don't think it helps shed any pounds, but it does give you more balance. The exercise and breathing also helps to clear your mind.
If you are looking to try it out, I highly recommend going to Maya in Fremont. The people there are very nice, very informative, and make the workout fun. I look forward to my little sessions. Check out the Maya website link on my Network page.
Sign up, take some classes and thank me later. Especially if you are like me, who's been active their entire life and all of a sudden things start to hurt. It will fix you up and keep you active. Oh, Yoga is also really good and don't give it up. I think they are both beneficial and better than getting your 'beef-cake' on at the gym. Your life is what you make it, make it good and healthy.
I went to my one and only Seahawks game of the season. It just so happened that the same day Seattle experienced some seriously challenging weather. It rained harder than I've seen it rain in Seattle in years. Then the wind picked up and things got ridiculous around town.
The game started at 5 so I left my house around 3:15. I sat in traffic and maybe, just maybe, broke 20 mph. For the most part it was just a stream of red tail lights. I got parked about 4:45 and walked to meet my group at FX McCrory's.
As I walked from my parking spot under I-99 I saw things I've never seen before. Water spurting up out of man-hole covers 4 feet high, parking lots under 8 inches of water, gutters under I-99 bursting with water at every joint, I-99 bursting of water not only at the gutters but at the concrete joints as well, and drains and spouts at a water capacity limit. Check out a couple shots that I took on my walk...
Part of the entertainment from the evening was individual stories. My buddy Adam had to walk a couple blocks and didn't wear clothing appropriate for the storm. He showed up soaked. Shoes, shirt, jeans, hat, jacket, I mean everything was totally soaked. He was drying off using napkins from the bar, going to the bathroom and ringing out this clothes.
We met some people at the bar we see up at Crystal Mountain who had taken the bus from Tacoma. They were waiting for friends from Spokane who had the tickets to the game. The pass on I-90 closed and their friends had to turn around. They got a phone call notifying them that their basement had flooded. They packed up their things and hopped back on the bus for home without ever making it to the game.
Adam and I were waiting for our friend Scott from Vancouver, Canada with our tickets. The traffic and border crossing was so bad that he didn't show up until halftime. So we got to the game at the start of the 3rd quarter. Too bad the adventure getting to and from the game was more exciting. The Sea-"Chickens" are sucking it up. You can see it's all mental. Left early the game was so bad. That and I had another holiday party to attend following the game that had more potential than the game.
Trevor and Paige were in town for a holiday business party, so on Sunday we got together at the Cyclops for a little brunch. The group consisted of Trevor, Paige, Joel, Lindsey, Drew, Ryan, and myself. Wow, I had forgotten how good the breakfast meals are at the Cyclops. If you have a chance, go check it out.
It was fun to catch up with the newlyweds. I looked at all of their images from the wedding and honeymoon on Trevor's iPod as well as gave Trevor my wedding images and video footage. I'm looking forward to checking out their post with all the images together. Here's a shot of Trevor, Joel, and Drew.
Then I went over to Adam's house to catch the second half of the Seahawks game. Man they blew it. I'm starting to give up hope that they will repeat getting to the SuperBowl. They just aren't getting any better.
Then I cruised over to my folks house for dinner. I gave them the 'Gary' update, we exchanged X-mas lists, booked some shopping days, and a night to go see a play. Now it's time to tighten up my website a little more, send out some emails for jobs, contract work, etc. And I need to get out and do my Christmas shopping.
Tonight I went out to dinner with my old boss, mentor, and good friend Cory Bayers. We went to Wasabi Bistro and grabbed some very tasty sushi. You know how you have some friends that you don't see very often, but when you do it was just like yesterday? That's what it was like tonight. Man I miss working and talking the 'talk' with Cory.
He had just come from a photo shoot with my friend and replacement, Mike Arzt, and our staff photographer, Mark Gallup, and the stories from the shoot made me miss my old job. How can you not miss good trips with great people that produce great results. I know I left a couple 'issues' or 'skeletons' in the closet that my replacements had to deal with, but I'm also proud with how I left things.
I do miss my old work or I should say my old passion. I had forgotten how much fun working with Cory and discussing the issue/challenges that face the business. I still feel I made the right decision to leave my old job, as I'm a much healthier and more balanced person, but what a dream job. One of the first questions I have during my interviews is, "why did you leave your last job?'
I wish the best for my athletes and people who I hired upon leaving HH. So much talent and such potential that is yet to be realized. They all deserve success.
A big thanks goes out to Mr. Bayers, you are 'the man'. Keep the dream alive and keep treating the 'good' people at HH as you have. You are the point at the top of the pyramid that will keep the foundation in place. Don't give up and keep pissing the little and big people off to keep things on track. And most importantly, don't be a stranger...
Today I'm just trying to get on top of my 'to do' list. Trying to contact some companies for contract work, booking a cat/heli trip for a bachelor party, tons of emails, looking for riders for a ski and snowboard team, finishing up my gallery on the website, etc.
Going to take the rest of this week for some office time. With the record precipitation in the Northwest, it's been hard to do much but go skiing. Went back up to Crystal yesterday and met up with an old friend from college. He drove up and back in one day from Portland. Damn, that's some serious driving for one day. Been fun catching up with people.
Still in the process of figuring out what I want to do with my career. Declined a couple employment opportunities on Monday. It was tough. I also called a couple companies down in Portland that wanted me to come down for interviews and declined. One thing I do know is that I want to stay in Seattle. They were all good potential places to work but I just wasn't excited enough. I should feel pumped and passionate for the place I want donate my next set of blood, sweat and tears.
I was starting to think I needed to work because I've been unemployed for awhile and the $$ is starting to get a little low. I actually caught myself thinking, "well, I can get a job now and keep looking in the meantime". What I really need to do is give myself a swift kick in the ass, focus my energy, and get after what I want. I can't wait to just get lucky. It seems like some people have all the luck in the world, but they are the ones who never depend on it.
So here we go... December is the time to set myself up for success, beginning of January will be when I get it. Since December is filled with so many holiday parties, events, and is just plain busy, it will be more about teeing things up.
One thing is for sure, I'm getting itchy to work again. I love working and am starting to miss the pressure and rhythm of the creative process.
Check out this park bench and billboard campaign. I think it's extremely clever. It just sort of hit me today as I'm reading Al Gores book, "An Inconvenient Truth". We can all do better and consume less. Our future depends on it.
My friend Mike Whalley is a member of Just Cauz and asked me to volunteer my time at their 2nd Annual Casino Night & Charity Auction. The evenings charity event was to help kids. To check out more information on the organization go to: www.justcauz.org. I'm sure they could use some more good people.
Oh, I found out during the evening that the organization was started by a Roosevelt alumni named Peter Finnely. He was a couple classes ahead of me. I saw and recognized him but didn't introduce myself.
The evening seemed more like a good place to meet 30 something successful singles in the Seattle area than a charity. Just a bunch of young professionals needing to spend some money and mix and mingle with other single Seattle folk. I met a couple people who asked if I was a part of some online singles mixer deal. So I suppose I was in the right place...
My volunteer duty consisted of being behind the bar from 7-10 pm working the kegs. I just had to keep pouring as the servers would grab the keg cups and pass them out to the paying patrons. Can't say it was too tough, as I've poured a few beers in my day. It's all for the kids you know.
My roommate Sarah was there with her boyfriend Kyle, Josh and Melissa came, Peter and his wife showed up, Marco was there, and a couple hundred other good locals. Good times for a good cause.
I gambled for a little while but am not much of a gambler. Since I once again was going skiing the next day, I wrapped it up around 11:30 pm and went home.
I always love it when it snows in Seattle. It doesn't always happen every winter like it used to. I remember growing up and it seemed to snow every winter.
How it's changed with what may or may not be global warming. I also don't remember it being such a huge deal when it snowed in the city. Yeah schools would close and things would be cancelled but with the way news stations report the conditions in the 'Severe Weather Center', it's seems like the city is under panic.
The roads are 'treacherous', you risk 'deadly injuries', stay home, etc. It makes me sick to watch the local news. What ever happened to just good advice of be careful and curtious to those around you. Deal with the weather. Where I went to college in Bozeman, Montana, there was snow on the ground 4 months out of the year. It was just normal.
I love it when it snows. Anytime, anywhere... I'm just happy we've had a few days of snow already this winter. The snow puts be in the holiday spirit more than X-mas lights, commercials, and parties. So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
Getting the house clean and ready to have the family over for Thanksgiving. Should be fun.
Harrison my web friend is on the way over and hopefully we'll get this garywinberg.com thing all finished and me completely self-sufficient. I'm looking forward to having my Gallery all updated and working. I love photography and hope you enjoy the imagery.
Went for a great run around Green Lake this morning in the pouring down rain. Sometimes it just feels good to be out in a down pour.
I may be sore after today. Got home around 2 am, woke up at 6:30 am and drove back up to Crystal. Another spring day of skiing. Rode straight from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm with just a quick water break. Saw some good looking people dressed in HH and checked it out. They ended up being employees I used to work with. Then I also saw Nancy, Katie, and Scotty. I thought they'd all be in the Snorting Elk afterwards, but nobody showed. Had a sandwich and rolled home. Another beautiful day making the happy turns. Back still strong.
Time to rest up and wait for some new snow. Oh, and keep looking for a job.
Yesterday was the official beginning of my 2006-07 winter season. I got up early after a fun Pray for Snow Party and drove up to Crystal Mountain for opening day. Can't say the conditions were all that great, it had rained the day before just about to the top of the mountian. The snow was pretty hard in the early morning, but the sun was out, and the people on the slopes made the snow turn soft in the afternoon. By eleven it was starting to feel more like a spring day of skiing than the first of this winter.
Looking back it was one of the funnest days I've had on snow in some time. Not because of the conditions but more the new atmosphere. It was the first time riding in 6 years where skiing wasn't a job. I always had personal days to go ski, but everything just seemed kind of different. I wasn't thinking about doing laps to get in shape to keep up with pros, worrying about photo shoots, or that somebody was asking me about my upcoming winter plans...
I also skied by myself for the majority of the day just listening to my music, enjoying the view, and getting my groove on. The back that I blew out early this summer didn't hurt at all which was an enormous relief. Come to think of it, nothing hurt, not even my bad knees.
I had a couple beautiful surprises during the day too. I saw this attractive blonde all by herself waiting to get on the chair and figured I should hustle up and join her. I hop on the chair, look over to start a conversation, and it turns out to be Jessica Sobolowski. Jess is a cool woman that I sponsored through HH for the last 5 years and she happened to be in Seattle for the Warren MIller show. She came up to Crystal and we just happened to run into each other. We did a couple laps, hugs, and laughed.
Then I met this guy who was skiing on one leg, with the two arm supports, and was 81 years old. His outfit was from the 70's but his smile and passion for the day was completely current. He told me he hadn't missed an opening day at Crystal the last 11 years and that he should have sharpened his edges this morning. He told me how great it was to be skiing and even if it was raining he'd be having a good time. He told me he hadn't gotten too much exercise lately because his wife fell down and dislocated her shoulder so he couldn't water ski without his wife driving the boat. What an inspiration.
The joy of riding the mountains is timeless and undiscribable to those who've never done it. There's just something about it that you can never get enough of. Glad the new season is here and I'm looking forward to going again tomorrow. I hope to see more people at Crystal tomorrow.
Today I have a couple things on the agenda to talk about. First, if you live in Seattle you need to come down to the Red Door in Fremont for the Pray For Snow Party put on by my friends at the Alpine Hut. Plus we need to have a good winter, praying can't hurt, and it's always a good time.
Then I also have to state if you are an avid skier, then you need to see the best ski film put out in years, so be sure to buy a copy of PUSH/PULL by Matchstick Productions. I just got my copy and plopped it into the DVD player last night. It's one of the best ski films MSP has ever made and one of the best ski films period. It should be in ever skiers essential ski film library.
The first film called PUSH is the theatrical version and has a fun feel. Good adverture segments, sick pillow lines, cliff hucks, and some jibbing that's been missing from past films. Then pop in PULL for all the footage of each athlete. It's amazing how much footage is shot that doesn't make the original feature. Steve, Murray, and Gaffney have a tough job trying to figure out what shots to put in.
Not sure how to do this, but I got to add a section to my 'routine' called the rant. I had a silly interview scheduled today that I walked out on. To hear my rant click on the Extended Entry link, where ever that shows up.
Lastly, I go to a super cool Yoga and Pilates Studio in Fremont called Maya. Just found out today that my instructor is the owner. It's always fun to meet nice, cool, interesting people and Erin makes the list. So check out www.mayawholehealth.com and drop on by the studio this Sunday as they are having a wellness open house type of a deal. Damn, I forgot already exactly what it is but at least I remember when my next appointment is. You can also link to her business through my 'NETWORK' page under People Who Fix Me.
It feels like Monday... Probably because for the first time in a while, I got up at a decent hour, dressed up, and have to do a commute. Yep, this week it's all about starting the employment process. I had a couple interviews before my trip to Mexico, but now it's a full press. Two interviews today, two tomorrow, and possibly another one on Wednesday. I just put together the G package and sent it out to my top 5 potential employers this morning.
I will admit it's kind of fun dressing up and doing interviews. I find it a revealing process about ones self. It's kind of like drilling down into who you are and what you want to do and the interviews help me answer those questions. It's also fun to be on the other side of the coin, since before I was the one doing the interviews, whether it was of potential athletes, film sponsorships, events, etc.
I wonder if it will be more difficult to find the next job of my dreams due to the timing. It is coming close to the end of the 4th fiscal business quarter and there's Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays coming up. If it doesn't happen until January then I'll have an excuse to get a ton of skiing in.
Speaking of skiing, looks like opening day at Crystal will be Thursday. It may not be all powder or good conditions as it's supposed to warm up and rain in the mountains on Wednesday. Looks like Thursday I'll be doing double duty with skiing during the day and soccer that evening. Good thing is I just scheduled my Subaru to have it's winter tires put on this Wednesday. Bring on the nasty driving conditions, the Subbie can't be stopped.
It sure is looking good up there though. Hope to see you all up at Crystal this Thursday.
I'm rather excited about the prospect that Crystal Mountain will open the 2006-2007 winter season this upcoming Wednesday. Look at the snow in the picture above, it's absolutely beautiful. I have nervous jitters because I blew out my back early this summer and have been working out and doing physical therapy all summer/fall to feel normal again. Most of my exercise has been measured in my mind by, "I think I'll be able to ski this winter" or "skiing is going to be painful this winter." This Wednesday I'll find out how well my re-hab really went.
Time to get out all the gear, adjust the boots, wax the skis, and put a ski movie in the DVD player. Looks like I will also go to the gym today and probably over-do it with a tough leg workout. Hmm, l need to get my winter tires put on the ol' Subbie as well. Going from the beach to full on winter; I dig it.
After having the plane cancelled due to mechanical problems on Tuesday, then being switched to Alaska Airlines and a later flight, then delayed in San Francisco for another couple hours, I made it home around 12:30 am on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I'm so tired from having too much fun and I brought back with me a Mexican cold. Going to have to get over that quickly.
Yesterday I unpacked, went to T-Mobile and bought the new Blackberry Pearl Cell Phone, worked out, did laundry, and watched a movie. Today I had physical therapy, caught up on emails, updated my blog (routine), paid bills, and started to list what additions or changes I need to make to my website. Time to finish up a bunch of odds and ends and start seriously looking for new employment.
Hmm, it's starting to snow in the mountains. Going to be skiing soon. Can't wait to start making turns.
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