Digital Era Of Awesomeness: Goodvertising

Advertising in its social and creative context–serves as the bridge for what is truly personal and limitless creative canvas of the web. Advertising is social currency that gives our brands more story, spectacle, honesty and human value. 

Friendship now acts as the natural content filter and seems to be a more reliable and infinitely more personal than any algorithm, however sophisticated, that simply pushes content up or down a page-rank list. But the creation of polished content for the web, social media and traditional platforms can actively engage a community. Advertising today is the triumph of planning as well as inspired content for brands–exemplifying search and sharing for attention, engagement and market share. 

Good Art + Good Writing + Good Taste = Good Selling

A celebration of the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers who have never stopped redefining the business of creative communications: storytelling in advertising is still fundamental to our experiences. Even with the incredible explosion of technology, we all still love stories.

Product + Personality = Brand.

Row Swiftly: 160th Annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

Wonderful sport, where the unpredictable can and does happen. Even when the Oxford–Cambridge crews are pulling well together at the 160th annual boat race with a lot of tenured oarsmen who have trained like hell to be on the water on race day–the oar can occasionally get lodged in the water causing the boat to lose momentum. Having rowed as a teenager for Ridley College, victorious at the Canadian Schoolboy in our men's eight, I watched another Ridley men's boat (Ras's crew) who were favorites to win get a boat stopping crab and the coxswain simply brought the boat in. Oh, so sad for that crew for having one full year of training end that way. And yesterday, Cambridge two seat enmeshed his oar with the Oxford seven seat and pulled a crab that nearly saw him out of the boat.

 In my twenties, when our University of Toronto lightweight men's eight were racing the Canadian National Team lightweight men's eight at a precursor regatta to the Royal Canadian Henley, our adversaries boat came to a crashing halt with a similar crab. My guess was our boat was very close and it psychologically freaked them out that the University Of Toronto hacks were not going away after 1500 meters and our 500 meters finish was still there on full throttle. Most of us were on that Canadian National team boat next year winning silver at the World's. However, how did we resolve that situation then? Well, our coach Paul Peene who always had us row in both lightweight 8 and heavyweight 8 events sent us back to the starting gates with the National team boat and we did a re-row. As I recall, it was our third 2000 meters race of the day. Of course, with all that training we won Royal Canadian Henley that year with open water defeating everything from USA, Mexico and globe. Maybe this Oxford-Cambridge boat race should have done a re-row. That's what sportsmanship is about sometimes. Ha!

This morning, I had a wonderful 30 minute pull on the ergometer with a former University of London stroke next to me. He had won the Henley Royal on Thames three times which is totally awesome. Wonderful to chat and make some new friends. So much easier with rowers. Thinking of buying a shell for my wife, son and I. Glad some good rowing is happening in the Bay Area with Mike Teti at Berkeley, and Craig Amerkhanian at Stanford–but thinking of sending my son who is interested in crew to either Ridley College, Upper Canada College or Brentwood College once he is eleven. 

Live In Scenery: Scenes From A Comfortable Life

Sometimes you see the waves roping and wagging

filled with sea creatures who love water, aloofness
always moving under the cover of the sun or moon

and then as soon as you see them they are gone.

It's the wind again picking up the waves and when it clears

you keep looking for those sea creatures 

backsplashing waterwicking

you keep finding those sea creatures 

still flowing, vanishing in this

dream-life filled to the brim with long roots into ground.

Sometimes you see the whip-thin

tail of the sun on water

and then you see her, your beautiful wife
radiant, joyful, enjoying pure bliss

and then it is there the love you care for is present.

Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. Full of spectacular views and historical landmarks, the village of Mendocino is perched on a scenic headland high above the Pacific Ocean–is the perfect escape from Silicon Valley. Just four hours away, Mendocino is a haven for artists, musicians and creatives. In this gorgeous natural setting, the Albion River Inn, is the place to stay with romantic oceanic views that slow down the passage of time. The cottage homes of the Albion River Inn have all the luxuries of high-end hotels plus sunset views over the Pacific, fireplaces, fully modern bathrooms and boundless acres of natural surroundings. If you want romance and to travel to a place that is about slowing down passage of time, then this is your journey's destination of choice. Ah, the harmonious call of the sea as you gaze across the continental shore and breathe in salt air oxygen.