This is one of my favorite sports interviews.  Mayweather with ESPN’s Brian Kenny.

“A man of many traits, a master of nothing.”    Hilarious.

To start, here is one of my favorite nike ads:

Now watch how the UK Football Association applies the concept to joe schmo:

I was watching tv the other day and enjoyed this ad.  take a look.

I like how this ad uses mainly visuals with music and very little dialogue.  I guess this is also because the ad focuses on spelling out words in unconventional ways.

The ad does a good job of making you curious about what is being advertised.   The first time i watched it, all I was thinking was “what is this ad for?”.  Watching it the second time, I notice the absolut bottles in the forest and some other clues, but they do a good job in this aspect.  I also noticed how they show you a clip of something being made up close and then later they zoom out and show you the overall word.

For a vodka commercial, it seems like it would be difficult to create a dramatic or emotional commercial but I think Absolut succeeded here.

the guys who peaked in high school.

blokes punching above their weight.

very funny

I’ve come up with three concise sentences to help guide how I want to live my life.  Thought I’d share.

Love your family.

Be a positive influence on others.

Enjoy your life.

Each sentence should be interpreted and extended to apply to various aspects of life.  Starting with the first line, “love your family” should extend to:

Being respectful of the family members you might not like, being a good son/daughter, doing things because you know its important to them, consciously make an effort to stay in touch, remember birthdays, appreciate the time you have.

“Being a positive influence on others” mainly means that you should be someone who contributes rather than only receives.  I also apply it to being nice to those who need a friend, being courteous, and contributing time/value to charity.

“Enjoy your life” is something people lose sight of.  Life is short, I’m gonna make sure I enjoy as much of it as possible.  Do things that make you happy.  Don’t make decisions based on money, choose based on what overall will make you and your family happy.  Don’t coast and hope the fun will come to you.  Be proactive and create the good times.

I realize I’m preaching.  Hopefully you got something out of it.

I put this ad up because i think its made really well.  Its been done before, but the quick cuts with lots of images, the sun glaring at the camera and the slow, dramatic music create a very emotional ad.

Another ad that does a good job with quick cuts, matching the music with the timing as well.

I realize that most of the ads I comment on are sports-related.  most of the tv i watch is sports-related too.

I saw this on a blog from GOOD magazine.  very cool magazine btw.   Someone in Toronto found use for empty flier boxes.  I could easily see this happening in Portland or Eugene.  Thought it was worth sharing.

http://www.good.is/post/posterchilds-flierboxes/

I made this image on Illustrator a while ago.  Just an example of my work.  Pretty basic but time consuming.

I found this photo just randomly when I was using Stumbleupon.  I like it and thought my blog would be a good place to store and share it.

The second image i found as someone’s header on their blog.  Its a compilation of a wide variety of their photos.  I like the retro photo style.  My friend has a helga camera that takes some similar style shots.  I might steal their idea and use some of my own photos for this blog.

Found this on the Yahoo Sports NBA Blog, “Ball Don’t Lie”.  Link. Great blog btw, very funny if you’re a sports fan.

Phoenix Suns forward Lou Amundson pulled a prank on Shaq recently, filling his car with packing peanuts.  Supposedly, Lou is the usual victim of Shaq’s pranks.  Lou rides his bike to games and Shaq will hire staff to hide his bike around the stadium.  Hilarious.

I wasn’t initially a fan of Amundson. Actually, i particularly disliked him because he has a ponytail. Guys with ponytails don’t necessarily belong in the NBA, or many other places. After reading this story and watching a brief video about him riding bikes (linkhere) i got to see his sense of humor and now I like him a little more.

I’ve realized i really like stories and videos where you get to see more of players personality and sense of humor. Watching baseball, I love it when they just show the players in the dugout, joking around and playing pranks on each other.  This story about Shaq is great and I wish i could read more about what goes on behind the scenes.

The book Ball Four by Jim Bouton is a behind the scenes look at the Yankees and MLB in the 60’s.  He tells about pranks and antics you don’t experience watching tv or even going to games.  One of my favorite stories is how Mickey Mantle lined up towels all the way to Bouton’s locker after his first big win with the Yankees.

More pranks and stories.