Also?

This weather sucks. This wind’s about to blow my damn house over. I will only accept ONE more snowstorm, after that, I’m just bringing a sleeping bag to work.

A well-lubed sandwich

I was behind a guy at Subway today, who literally ordered a sandwich with just salami, and then like 3 POUNDS of sauce.  I could hardly disguise my shock when he asked for extra mayonnaise, ranch, barbeque, sweet onion, oil and vinegar, and this orange concoction. It was literally dripping off the bread. The poor girl making it was incredulous, questioning him at one point (“You want more?!) to which he said, ‘nuh, I luv it. Pile it on.” Enjoy your death wish.

Breathe

I passed by a blaring ambulance on the way home, and I could just see all the way in to the life-saving compartment. They were clearly trying to resuscitate a person, the EMP pumping away at their chest.

I was shaken by that. I mean, I immediately thought of the family following behind the ambulance that would be given the bad, maybe good news upon arriving, and then wondered if they have a protocol for that, or if it was just something that happened all the time. I then questioned as to why they didn’t have privacy glass on ambulance windshields. I could’ve been a child with a delicate view on death. **

Anyway… perhaps it’s high time I gave up smoking.

* Sorry to anyone who finds this posting insensitive!

Sacrificing good design for critic quotes and floating heads

Okay, the following is a gripe I have about film studios, and their abilities to really cock things up. This time it’s the re-design of a film’s poster into a cheesy DVD cover. As a designer myself, I take notice of all these cool movie posters, thinking about all the time, consideration and creativity that went into making an oft-rubbish film look like something worth watching. There are plenty movie posters that I’m totally wild for, that advertise films I wouldn’t feel remorse in throwing their original film reel into a den of hungry buzzards. The studios obviously blows a majority of the marketing budget for each film on its pre-release; getting some sleek urban agency to whip them up some brilliantly crafty & cool poster and marketing pieces.

Because after the movie’s done it’s public release business, the studio obviously throws it to some Siberia of a Home Release department, where they feel the need to absolutely RUIN the previous designer’s branding efforts. There must a poster hanging in most of these offices that say things like, “Design’s overrated! SELL! SELL!” or “ALL CHARACTERS ON FRONT” or “More guns, less mystery”.

Remember the mantra “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? 99% of the time, this applies.

A few examples of recent films:

And the most under-whelming makeover I’ve seen lately:

WHY DID YOU CHANGE IT? It was wonderful! Now they’re just a bunch of looney eyed goons in some generic-looking rom-com.

Writers strike included myself, apparently

Ha. Sorry about that. I realize I’m basically dead to the blogosphere, but it’s never too late, right? I’m sure I’m like many when I admit that either I got tired of blogging about “this is what happened on the way home from work”, decided my life was too boring to blog about at the time, or just got too damn busy. A, B, and C all sorta apply.

 ANYWAY, back to the brass tax. Life has obviously continued since I last wrote, which has included the following:

• The whole baby-Jesus birthday party season, which ROCKED, which because all my friends were in town and my NZ cousins rocked into town for Christmas. This is significant for those of you who know that 90% of my family has lived overseas for the majority of my life. Also worth noting: the difference between gift-giving as a student and as an adult with proper full-time job. I make money, so therefore am expected to now actually go to the damn store, spend a proper amount and not have any money for the next 2 months. Bah hum bug.
• New Year’s Eve. My bro was off being an American in Israel, I was loft-sitting … do the math. I threw a dinner party for all my mates, which I’ve since decided I need to do more of – we ate and drank ourselves jolly and then avoided a stabbing and rang it all in @ Harry’s Country Club. And then Lauren and Meagan fell like a bunch of drunks.
• I have not, YET, moved out. It’s sorta a long story, or maybe not. I’m wanting to save money and get my life sorted, and sometimes life at home’s not too bad. Please note the boldened keywords.  
• I have discovered some really cool things about KC. Example: the world of Midtown. I thought cool KC ended after old Westport; it however, continues to blow people’s minds with all the nifty thrift stores and cafes that I found by chance one night.
• Atonement? Not so great.
• Kate Nash? WONDERFUL.
• Grinders = new favorite bar in the entire world.
• Totally stressed at my job. The month of February can just go to hell. I’ve got more deadlines everyday/week and responsibility now than I would’ve ever expected from this job, which for the most part is a cool thing.
• I hate, HATE, cold weather. Now I see why everyone was in such a grump with the weather when I came back this time last year. Jason, please refrain from smug-Seattle-weather’s-better remarks.
• Everyone’s either a) getting married or b) breaking up or c) getting pregnant.  

That’s really all the bullets I got for you right now. I toast myself this week in celebration of the one-year mark of my return to the States. I feel like I’ve been through a lot since returning – maybe it’s the age I’m at.

Anyway. More later… I promise.