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Ontario Lakes Project: Big Trout Lake

By on February 24th, 2012
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Big Trout Lake, home of The Ugly One

Big Trout Lake is home to a lake monster called Omajinaakoos, or ‘The Ugly One’. And  according to the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nations legend he’s an omen of bad luck. The most recent sighting of Omajinaakoos was in May of 2010 when two Health Canada nurses stationed at the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Band reserve on Big Trout Lake went out for a walk with their dog and stumbled across an Omajinaakoos that had washed up on shore.

The Omajinaakoos are rumored to live in swamps and feed on beavers. When the monster was found it set off a major internet controversy and speculation as to what the Omajinaakoos actually was. It is believed most likely to be a hoax or an opossum or otter or some kind of mink. What do you think? Is there a monster living in Big Trout Lake?

 

 




Ferris Bueller Part 2 – The Letdown

By on January 31st, 2012
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Or alternatively “How to damage 4 brands in 2 minutes”

I think I’m beginning to understand the outrage my parents felt when Bank of Montreal launched its re-branding as BMO using a Bob Dylan song.  The new Honda CRV commercial, which is a tribute to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is debuting this weekend at the Super Bowl. It’s been leaked, and I couldn’t resist watching it.

When I first saw Ferris, I was 11, the movie had just come out in theaters and I was in love with it. It was funny, and rebellious, and poignant.  Most importantly though it was clever. This commercial is the exact opposite.

In the synopsis on the YouTube page the marketing copy is enthusiastic, and a bit disingenuous:

Relive movie history with Honda’s fresh twist and wonderful homage to this ’80s classic. Think you’re a true fan of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? We hid over two dozen references to the movie throughout the commercial. Some are obvious, some are VERY subtle. See how many you can find.

Fresh twist? Not to nitpick but you’re copying a movie that’s 25 years old, and your fresh spin on it is to put the now 50 year old star in a 2 minute remake (sorry tribute) minus the other cast, the well written dialogue, and the cool sports car? Your fresh twist is a bit of a let down.

The real risk might have been to show us Ferris Bueller at 50, did he marry Sloane? How’s Cameron doing? If the goal is to connect with your audience you’ve got to make them feel something, and sadly with all of the potential here, all I felt was bored.

What would you have done instead? Should we start a write-in campaign to Honda?




Ontario Lakes Project: Lake Belwood

By on January 26th, 2012
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Lake Belwood is home to one of the events in the World’s Largest Triathlon series.  This event is internationally known and has been important to the careers of several famous Canadian triathletes including Jasper Blake and Canadian Olympic medalist Simon Whitfield. It’s very cool but there’s not a lot of concrete information about the race. That was until I stumbled upon race reports.

There’s a whole culture of amateur triathletes reporting their races. They talk about their times, how the temperature of the water affected their stroke, where they stopped for Gatorade vs. water, and if their electrolyte levels caused them to cramp. It’s really quite detailed, right down to the muddiness of the water during the swim, and how they changed out of their wetsuits without falling over.

The next hurdle for me was the whole dignity-exiting-the-water thing, and I knew I had to nail this one or else make the sort of spectacle that’s painfully retold for ages at family gatherings. Discretion being the better part of valour, I chose to not break into a heroic sprint as soon as possible and risk falling, and instead staggered up to the transition zone with the measured purpose of a bar patron zig-zagging to the john after several hours of drinking. – Stephen B

They’re very human stories and as a person who isn’t particularly athletic I found them quite compelling. And almost inspirational enough to consider taking up biking again.

Funny how triathlon works sometimes. You know that old saying that you can’t win the race in the swim but you can lose it…well its true. In a 90 minute endurance event my race was essentially over in the first three seconds. – Ryan Power

This is a race report from Get Out There magazine, who was at last year’s triathlon.




Photoshop; Does it make every photo a lie?

By on January 26th, 2012
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This video was in my Facebook news feed yesterday:

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Almost every image we look at has had some kind of tweek. (Hypenotic’s own Graphic Designer Sonja photoshops most of her Facebook profile pictures. Don’t tell her I told you.) From basic colour correction to a complete metamorphosis; it’s a given that every beauty industry marketing image we look at is false. Every single one. And we have no idea to what extent. As consumers we rely on these ads to show us how a beauty product will perform. I can’t take lipstick back to Shopper’s if it isn’t plumping my lips as promised on the packaging.

There is a however a growing backlash. Recently L’Oreal ads were banned in the UK for being too photoshopped. And in the US, there is now a push to pass the Self Esteem Act, which would label all photos that had been airbrushed or photoshopped in any significant way.

At this point though as savvy (and cynical) consumers of marketing aren’t we aware we’re being lied to? We all still have pores, blemishes, age spots and wrinkles despite all of the promises cosmetic companies have made to us. I know my mac foundation isn’t going to make my nose smaller and my wrinkles disappear.

I think it speaks to a greater problem though. And that is:  How do we make beauty marketing meaningful? Right now as consumers we know it’s currently all about figuring out the lie. Do we legislate it? Can companies be counted on for self-regulation and transparency? (I think there’s a significantly greater chance of this in an age of social marketing, and  with the rapid dissemination of information on-line. But I also think I’m a bit naive.)

What do you think? Can we move to honesty in cosmetics and beauty advertising? Are we ready as a culture to accept natural bodies and faces on magazine covers and in advertising? Is this a slow shift or something we should jump into? And is this part of a greater shift of self acceptance and rejection of current unattainable standards of beauty?




Welcome to the team Blue!

By on January 9th, 2012
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Blue is our charming new office dog. He’s a 10 week old Australian Shepherd and the reason I probably won’t be getting much work done today. You should come by and meet him!




The Jews get it right again – Technology Shabbat

By on December 16th, 2011
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*Full Disclosure, I am a Jew but I’m more -ish*

I spent most of last week really sick. I slept the most I have in years, 12-14 hours every night, plus naps. There may have been some homemade chicken soup involved. And I spent almost no time on my iPhone. My laptop didn’t get very much love either. As a person who quite frequently is actively using her phone, laptop, and an iPad at the same time it was a huge shift for me.

When you’re couch bound and sleeping solidly you get a glimpse of a different life. Your regular day to day routine and stressors are replaced by a fairly simple existence.  I don’t think I’ve been that relaxed in a really long time. Instead of my usual litany of rolling to-do’s, multiple in-boxes to check, and the weight of deadlines I simply pondered which soup I wanted and would I have apple sauce or jell-o? I knit. I read from an actual hardcover book.

More than one of my friends has related the same thing to me. The only real time off they’ve had lately comes from being incredibly sick. And I think it comes from our in-ability to unplug. It’s more and more difficult to stop constantly searching for information to share or want to know what’s going on all the time. I have six email accounts, four Twitter accounts and one for work, monitor five Facebook accounts; two of which are mine, three Tumblrs, LinkedIn, Foursquare, G+, Path, and two google reader accounts. And I love it. I find it all incredibly interesting and stimulating. But I am losing sleep and downtime.

Jews have had a sabbath for thousands of years. From Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown Orthodox Jews (and otherwise) take a day of rest. The idea is that you take that time to get closer to God, celebrate your time together and your family.  You can read and talk and study and eat (yum!) but you can’t use any technology.  And this day of rest is now being adopted as a screen free day by a growing number of people.

I think it’s a brilliant idea, and something I’m hoping to introduce into my own life but without a landline I’m not sure how I could go a whole day without using my smartphone. Have you gone screen free yet? Did you make it a whole day? How did it work for you?

 

 




The most wonderful time of the year!

By on December 1st, 2011
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Desperate for a hit of caffeine this morning I stumbled into Starbucks. The red cups are out, and with them come the eggnog, gingerbread, and peppermint lattes. The holiday snacks, which are a million times better than the usual menu, gingerbread loaves, peppermint brownie cake pops, and my dearest friend the cranberry bliss bar. (I like to support indie coffee shops as much as I can but I will cut you for the last cranberry bliss bar.)

My favourite cupcake place has come up with a bunch of fantastic holiday related cupcakes. In less than a week my Dad will start his holiday baking, Christmas cake which is actually yummy; rich, crumbly golden shortbread; and a plum pudding with buttery hard sauce (butter, sugar, brown booze what isn’t good about that?). I have two cookie baking party invites so far. Plates full of home made goodies are starting to appear in all kinds of unexpected places; even my hair salon has sugar dusted irresistible baked goods.

On top of all the yummy Christmas treats, there are also Hanukkah goodies. Chocolate coins, dreidels full of smarties (so retro!), deep fried sweets, and the incredible gourmet variations on potato latkes.

With all of this holiday delicious excess comes the deeply conflicting messages: eat all this super yummers deliciousity which is only available for a LIMITED time (nom, nom, nom) but watch your figure, don’t gain any weight, and even lose weight over the holidays. (Dear Body, I’m sorry to try to obfuscate  your efforts to put on your winter weight, something the human body has been doing for thousands of years in this climate.) And the dire warning that the average person gains between 5-10 pounds over the holidays.

As a fat kid, I snuck all the holiday treats I could smuggle back to my room, along with a crushing sense of guilt for wanting it and an incredible sense of glee for enjoying all of my bounty in a way that the adults in my life could never seem to let themselves. As an adult I still have that same sense of glee around the holidays (surprisingly 7 years in retail didn’t kill it, I just have a moratorium on Christmas songs until December 20th.) And I’m no longer going to feel bad around holiday food.

And on that note I’m giving you the best holiday gift I can think of this year. The average person gains one pound over the holidays.  That’s it. So stop worrying and feeling guilty around your special delicious food and enjoy it instead.  Happy Holidays!




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