Some people took a metaphorical approach, with a few swerving deep into outlandish territory. (The avatar with the horns and blood, for example, was created by a very sweet, calm, quiet girl!) Others took a more literal approach. In fact, it's a little frightening how much some of these avatars resemble their human counterparts! Regardless, it was quite an amusing team-building project.
Friday, October 17, 2008
South Park Office
Some weeks ago, I thought it would be fun to send the South Park Studios link to some colleagues. Before I knew it, a viral campaign was underway to get everyone on the team to create South Park avatars! The results were pretty hilarious, so I decided to create a collage showing the avatars of the participants. (This image shows about half of our team.)
Some people took a metaphorical approach, with a few swerving deep into outlandish territory. (The avatar with the horns and blood, for example, was created by a very sweet, calm, quiet girl!) Others took a more literal approach. In fact, it's a little frightening how much some of these avatars resemble their human counterparts! Regardless, it was quite an amusing team-building project.
Some people took a metaphorical approach, with a few swerving deep into outlandish territory. (The avatar with the horns and blood, for example, was created by a very sweet, calm, quiet girl!) Others took a more literal approach. In fact, it's a little frightening how much some of these avatars resemble their human counterparts! Regardless, it was quite an amusing team-building project.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Baseball Blues and Other Random Thoughts
I had intended to write a rah-rah blog about the Dodgers coming back from down 2 games to even up the NLCS, but a pitching melt-down in the 8th inning precluded that from happening. What a bummer. Now they are down 3-1 in the series, and we're going to need a miracle for our men in blue to pull off an upset. Sigh. Less than 2 hours ago, I was marveling at how wonderful it was to see the NLCS back at Dodger Stadium after 20 years, and how the excitement and elation of the Dodger faithfuls, decked in blue and waving spirit towels, transcended the television set. We need some serious magic from the rally monkey... oh, wait, we don't have a rally monkey. Besides, he probably wouldn't be much help right now, considering how easily the Angels were dispatched by the Red Sox. (Being an underdog fan, I am of course rooting for Tampa Bay in the ALCS.) Anyway, even though he's not their official mascot, maybe the "rally koala" can help the Dodgers turn the series around. Sure, history is against them, but teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit before.In more cheerful news, it is apparently the 50th anniversary of the first Paddington Bear book! Google doodles are a wonderful thing. Not only do I appreciate the artistry and occasional humor, but they are also very informative! Happy 50th to our favorite bear from darkest Peru!
And one last unrelated comment: I hate fire season.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Speaking of Kawaii Things...
On Saturday, I went to visit my friend Rockhopper. In addition to having lots of fun playing Wii Fit and watching Seinfeld episodes on DVD, we looked through some of her souvenirs from a trip to Japan earlier this year. Among the items was a mini origami notepad from the Osaka Aquarium. You can write notes on one side and then fold the paper into a penguin or sea otter. It really was too adorable for words.
And now let's segue to something that presents a somewhat twisted but very hilarious take on "kawaii-ness." I first learned about Meghan Murphy's Kawaii Not comics months ago at a happy hour gathering after work. One of the senior producers whipped out a very cute, animé-looking book and passed it around. We were each told to tear out one page and share it with everyone. We flipped through the pages amid much laughter, and it was immediately obvious that we all appreciated the "cute gone bad" humor of the 4-panel comic strips. I thought it was so funny that I had to buy a copy for myself (and one for my sister, too). If you like cute stuff with an edge, check out Murphy's Kawaii Not website. A new webcomic is posted every few days.
And now let's segue to something that presents a somewhat twisted but very hilarious take on "kawaii-ness." I first learned about Meghan Murphy's Kawaii Not comics months ago at a happy hour gathering after work. One of the senior producers whipped out a very cute, animé-looking book and passed it around. We were each told to tear out one page and share it with everyone. We flipped through the pages amid much laughter, and it was immediately obvious that we all appreciated the "cute gone bad" humor of the 4-panel comic strips. I thought it was so funny that I had to buy a copy for myself (and one for my sister, too). If you like cute stuff with an edge, check out Murphy's Kawaii Not website. A new webcomic is posted every few days.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Musings on Marketing Trends
When the 100-calorie snack packs first came out a few years ago, I had no idea just how far this trend would go. My sister was the one who informed me that the trend had a name: forced portion control. (Sounds a bit serious, doesn't it?) It makes perfect marketing sense, of course, given America's obesity epidemic. At the time, however, I simply thought the packaging convenient, and on occasion, the light snacks surprisingly rivaled their original, full-caloried counterparts in tastiness. More recent walks through the grocery store, or indeed any store that peddles packaged foods, reveal just how widespread this trend has gone. It seems you can find anything in the 100-calorie form. My favorite is the mini soft drink can. I find it appealing, not because it's only 100 calories, but because of what I call the "kawaii factor." Kawaii is the Japanese word for "cute," and these little cans just look so darn cute!
It's not just food that takes advantage of the kawaii factor. Take a look at these movie images. Is not Wall-E a kawaii version of the Short Circuit robot?
And take a look at the evolution of the iPod nano between the 2nd and 3rd generations. The 3G nano definitely has the kawaii factor going on.
Of course, the 4G nano is back to a tall and slim design, so I guess the pendulum is swinging back to the other side. Regardless, Apple certainly leads the market in product design, packaging, and marketing.
It's not just food that takes advantage of the kawaii factor. Take a look at these movie images. Is not Wall-E a kawaii version of the Short Circuit robot?
And take a look at the evolution of the iPod nano between the 2nd and 3rd generations. The 3G nano definitely has the kawaii factor going on.
Of course, the 4G nano is back to a tall and slim design, so I guess the pendulum is swinging back to the other side. Regardless, Apple certainly leads the market in product design, packaging, and marketing.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Words and Whimsy
I don't relish the frequency with which I leave work after 7 these days, but it has allowed me to catch the radio show Says You on the commute home Tuesday nights. Described as "a game of words and whimsy, bluff and bluster," Says You features wordplay and language trivia that are as hilarious as they are fascinating.
Consider, if you will, the words presented in this week's Balderdash segment: stoush and nick-fidge. What definitions would you come up with for these terms? Can you imagine saying to someone, "They got into a big stoush today," or "Don't be a nick-fidge"? It turns out that stoush is Australian slang for a fight or argument. And a nick-fidge is someone who frequently gets into trouble. The vagaries of the English language never cease to amaze me.
Another portion of this week's show featured seemingly unconnected word pairs that share an etymological origin. For example: January/janitor, bugle/buffalo, porpoise/pork, Canary Island/canine, and musketeer/mosquito. I'll give you the first one. January and janitor both derive from the name of the Roman god Janus. Janus is the god of beginnings, and January is the first month of the year. Janus is also the god of doors, and the word janitor originally meant doorman! Cool, huh? Okay, maybe this only interests word geeks like me, but if you are reading this blog, chances are that you're a word geek, too. ;P Anyway, give the rest a try!
P.S. Says You airs on KCRW Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:00.
Consider, if you will, the words presented in this week's Balderdash segment: stoush and nick-fidge. What definitions would you come up with for these terms? Can you imagine saying to someone, "They got into a big stoush today," or "Don't be a nick-fidge"? It turns out that stoush is Australian slang for a fight or argument. And a nick-fidge is someone who frequently gets into trouble. The vagaries of the English language never cease to amaze me.
Another portion of this week's show featured seemingly unconnected word pairs that share an etymological origin. For example: January/janitor, bugle/buffalo, porpoise/pork, Canary Island/canine, and musketeer/mosquito. I'll give you the first one. January and janitor both derive from the name of the Roman god Janus. Janus is the god of beginnings, and January is the first month of the year. Janus is also the god of doors, and the word janitor originally meant doorman! Cool, huh? Okay, maybe this only interests word geeks like me, but if you are reading this blog, chances are that you're a word geek, too. ;P Anyway, give the rest a try!
P.S. Says You airs on KCRW Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:00.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Mystery Solved
I don't know about you, but during the Olympic Games, I kept seeing people dressed in white pants and blue-and-white polo shirts at the various venues. What made these people stand out to me was the word "BOB" emblazoned on their backs. Of course, I knew it had to be an acronym, but seeing all those BOBs, well, bobbing around tickled my funny bone. Especially since "Bob" is the codename I use at work when marketing, political, or other corporate reasons cause me to produce content that I don't believe in. Such a codename can come in quite handy. During frustrating times, I can tell a few select people, "I'm having a Bob moment." Having a codename and being able to make cryptic remarks are hallmarks of membership in an underground society. ;P Anyway, back to the uniformed BOBs. So, I finally did some sleuthing (i.e., ran a Google search), and it turns out that the acronym stands for Beijing Olympic Broadcasting. I should've known that it was something terribly mundane.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Fortnight in Review
Okay, so it's really closer to 3 weeks than a fortnight, but I don't know of any nifty sounding word that encapsulates a 3-week period. Besides, this is what my blogging habits have dwindled to...
Roadside Assistance. Almost 3 weeks ago, I left work one evening to find that one of my rear tires had gone completely flat. (I later learned that the culprit was a long, shiny silver nail embedded in the tire. I hadn't even noticed when the puncture occurred.) Thank goodness the flat tire was on the driver side; otherwise, I would've attempted the long commute home, blithely unaware of why my car was trundling along. Thank goodness, also, for the AAA. It makes one feel a little safer braving the streets and freeways of the LA jungle, knowing that inability to change a tire wouldn't leave one indefinitely stranded.
Well Fed. A couple days later, we had a 2-day writers conference at work. This meant lots of presentations and meetings, but also lots of free food: 2 catered lunches and a big dinner at PF Chang's. I'd been to PF Chang's many times before, but this was the first time I'd seen their mini-dessert sampler: a tray of 8 different desserts presented in shot glasses. Some were too sweet, but I still thought the concept was pretty cool. (Here's a photo I found on a review site.) We had about 26 people at dinner, sitting at 2 long tables. Three of these samplers were ordered for our table alone! Needless to say, I was in a bit of a sugar coma as I drove home.
OD-ing on Olympics. The Opening Ceremony was amazing, but the glamour of the event waned a bit when I found out that parts of it were pre-recorded and digitally enhanced. Oh, and the fact that the little girl was lip-syncing. Makes one wonder what else was not real. Phelps and the US swim team rock; every superlative has already been used to describe the amazing feat of 8 golds in one Olympics, so I will simply remain in silent awe. Nastia Liukin embodied breathtaking elegance and artistic gymnastics at its best, while Shawn Johnson was an adorable dynamo of power and precision. Too bad the competition was somewhat marred by underage controversies, questionable scoring, and wonky rules. But, then again, what else is new in the world of gymnastics? At least most of the medals went to people who deserved them. It certainly was an exciting 2 weeks of sports, and it was cool to see competitions that are never televised in non-Olympic years. Of course, my sleeping habits became even more messed up than usual during the 17-day span, but I think it was worth it. Oh, and I just love the Google Doodles that accompanied these Games!
Night at the Bowl. It's been 3 years since I last attended a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, so when free tickets were being offered as a bonus at work, I jumped at the opportunity, even though it meant missing part of the Women's Gymnastics competition. It was a wonderful concert, and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not being familiar with the music (Philip Glass: Two Interludes from the CIVIL warS, Violin Concerto; Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations). And the seats were amazing too: garden boxes. So this is how the other half lives...
More Good Food. Two Thursdays ago, some co-workers and I went out for a vegetarian dinner at Fatty's Café. The word vegetarian turned a lot of people off from attending the dinner, but I'm glad I went because the food really was delicious. Our little group shared a "monster four" appetizer sampler, 4 entrées, and a chocolate fondue dessert. Yum. I definitely plan on going back again.
Parking Lot Technology. Last weekend, I met up with a friend at the Century City mall. (Not surprisingly, it has become yet another Westfield property.) I can't even remember when was the last time I set foot in that shopping center. Probably ten years ago. So, I was quite taken aback by how much it had evolved. The aspect that impressed me the most was actually its parking garage. The massive lot has a sensor above each parking space that remains green when empty and becomes red when a car parks in it. Along the major lanes, arrowed lights tell you how many vacant spaces are available in each direction. How awesome is that?
Roadside Assistance. Almost 3 weeks ago, I left work one evening to find that one of my rear tires had gone completely flat. (I later learned that the culprit was a long, shiny silver nail embedded in the tire. I hadn't even noticed when the puncture occurred.) Thank goodness the flat tire was on the driver side; otherwise, I would've attempted the long commute home, blithely unaware of why my car was trundling along. Thank goodness, also, for the AAA. It makes one feel a little safer braving the streets and freeways of the LA jungle, knowing that inability to change a tire wouldn't leave one indefinitely stranded.
Well Fed. A couple days later, we had a 2-day writers conference at work. This meant lots of presentations and meetings, but also lots of free food: 2 catered lunches and a big dinner at PF Chang's. I'd been to PF Chang's many times before, but this was the first time I'd seen their mini-dessert sampler: a tray of 8 different desserts presented in shot glasses. Some were too sweet, but I still thought the concept was pretty cool. (Here's a photo I found on a review site.) We had about 26 people at dinner, sitting at 2 long tables. Three of these samplers were ordered for our table alone! Needless to say, I was in a bit of a sugar coma as I drove home.
OD-ing on Olympics. The Opening Ceremony was amazing, but the glamour of the event waned a bit when I found out that parts of it were pre-recorded and digitally enhanced. Oh, and the fact that the little girl was lip-syncing. Makes one wonder what else was not real. Phelps and the US swim team rock; every superlative has already been used to describe the amazing feat of 8 golds in one Olympics, so I will simply remain in silent awe. Nastia Liukin embodied breathtaking elegance and artistic gymnastics at its best, while Shawn Johnson was an adorable dynamo of power and precision. Too bad the competition was somewhat marred by underage controversies, questionable scoring, and wonky rules. But, then again, what else is new in the world of gymnastics? At least most of the medals went to people who deserved them. It certainly was an exciting 2 weeks of sports, and it was cool to see competitions that are never televised in non-Olympic years. Of course, my sleeping habits became even more messed up than usual during the 17-day span, but I think it was worth it. Oh, and I just love the Google Doodles that accompanied these Games!
Night at the Bowl. It's been 3 years since I last attended a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, so when free tickets were being offered as a bonus at work, I jumped at the opportunity, even though it meant missing part of the Women's Gymnastics competition. It was a wonderful concert, and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not being familiar with the music (Philip Glass: Two Interludes from the CIVIL warS, Violin Concerto; Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations). And the seats were amazing too: garden boxes. So this is how the other half lives...
More Good Food. Two Thursdays ago, some co-workers and I went out for a vegetarian dinner at Fatty's Café. The word vegetarian turned a lot of people off from attending the dinner, but I'm glad I went because the food really was delicious. Our little group shared a "monster four" appetizer sampler, 4 entrées, and a chocolate fondue dessert. Yum. I definitely plan on going back again.
Parking Lot Technology. Last weekend, I met up with a friend at the Century City mall. (Not surprisingly, it has become yet another Westfield property.) I can't even remember when was the last time I set foot in that shopping center. Probably ten years ago. So, I was quite taken aback by how much it had evolved. The aspect that impressed me the most was actually its parking garage. The massive lot has a sensor above each parking space that remains green when empty and becomes red when a car parks in it. Along the major lanes, arrowed lights tell you how many vacant spaces are available in each direction. How awesome is that?
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