I wish I lived near Santa Cruz

Why? Because then I could witness this stuff firsthand. My favorite YouTube comment:

"This kind of stupid should hurt."

I agree. This kind of stupid should be illegal. It's been said that the mob and the masses in general are stupid. I would add that you should never underestimate the strength of stupidity in individuals.

Vertically unchallenged

So interesting! Had to share. I found myself:

a) enjoying the spectacle of the scenes created,
b) being overwhelmed by the creativity and ingenuity,
c) wondering how the heck they thought of, and DID all that,

all at the same time.

Another INCREDIBLE execution is Coldplay's new video for "Strawberry Swing" that came out on Monday. It's a similar idea with a plot that pits a superhero against an evil giant squirrel and done entirely in chalk. I haven't been able to find a place that allows embedding, so you'll just have to follow the link and check it out:

Full video, trailer below:

The iQ font

Now I want to be a font driver when I grow up. Outstanding - and couldn't have picked a more interesting vehicle to use... what Americans will soon know as the Scion iQ.

iQ font - When driving becomes writing / Full making of from wireless on Vimeo.

Download the iQ font.

Incubus - Salt Lake City, USANA Amphitheater

Fantastic show. It's too bad the USANA Amphitheater doesn't allow cameras - these highlights were taken on my Blackberry (sorry for the poor quality)... it's hard to dance, sing and hold a camera steady.

The set list:

Privilege
Pardon Me
Nice To Know You
Anna Molly

Stellar
Megalomaniac

Love Hurts

Drive - acoustic... Brandon and Mike paused before the last chorus to have what appeared to be a short conversation for about 20 seconds while the crowd went nuts during the quiet interlude.

Talk Shows On Mute

Dig - acoustic, and it almost sounded transposed to a different key... very interesting

Redefine

New Skin

A Certain Shade of Green
Oil & Water

Quicksand

A Kiss To Send Us Off

Wish You Were Here

Let's Go Crazy (off the new album, it was wacky to hear Brandon get on the mic and start doing the intro to a Prince song. I didn't know it was on Monuments at the time... "dearly beloved... we are gathered here..."


*Encore*
(this is the crowd shouting for the encore... "Incubus!... Incubus!... Incubus!"... they came back on pretty quick to finish up with a 3-song encore. I thought it was interesting that they ended with Warning).

Punch Drunk

Sick Sad Little World - Mike had a killer guitar solo in the middle.
Warning

The Deseret News also posted a review - I thought it was pretty accurate.

The overpass - 7/16/09

Finally! I caught someone in the act of updating this thing... first time ever. Too bad it's such a boring message :). Welcome back Elder.

Incubus - tonight!

Needless to say, I'm excited. Wifey and I are catching Incubus tonight at the USANA Amphitheater! Their new songs are growing on me, but I'm actually really excited to hear their classics as well as their rare/b-sides. With kids, sometimes it's hard to get away and see concerts (oh, did I mention we're constantly broke?), so we only see bands/artists we REALLY care about. Well, that (I) really care about :). But as soon as wifey comes up with a good group/country artist to see, I promised to willingly go along and pretend to have a good time. :)

I'll try and get some pictures and videos from my phone and post them after tonight... meanwhile...

Priorities

This guy's got his priorities straight. [/sarcasm] I can't tell if I'm disgusted or jealous.

The overpass - 7/15/09

I'm not sure what you did Emily, but someone's got an axe to grind. Either that, or you have questionable hygiene habits. Take note.

Sad but true - Americans

Sometimes I like to pretend that our country's (the U.S.) teeming cities are filled with globally-minded, responsible, kind, intelligent and compassionate human beings that, although imperfect, are still trying to make an effort to love their neighbors and be good people. Then I like to pretend my summer home is located on the moon, I'm 10 years younger and I have a dog that defecates solid gold bricks.

Not to cast aspersions on the populace in general. I happen to know a lot of decent, hard-working, morally sound Americans (and no, I don't happen to mean "religious" specifically, there are plenty of upstanding and kind souls that here that would "make the grade" no matter which religion you happen to be talking about... I meant generally). I know they exist - they're the people balancing out the other large group of Americans I know. The idiots. They are the people that occasionally make me ashamed to be called an American. They are the people that believe that America is the first and last word in countries that matter. They are the "ugly Americans."

That said, I thought this was hilarious.

Evian. Results may vary.

I saw this today and was kind of... well, baffled. I mean, it's a neat idea I guess. It ties into the strategy well. It's definitely memorable. But... I can't imagine how the meeting went to decide this one.

"And our favorite, I think we all agree, is that 'dancing babies on roller skates' idea... everyone cool with that one? Sweet we start filming in April."

DJ Steve Porter is awesome

A friend of mine posted this on his facebook page and I was instantly hooked. I checked out some of his (DJ Steve Porter's) other work and wasn't as impressed sadly - but that's just me. He's talented for mixing these two pieces, they're brilliant.

I put both of these mp3's on my iPod. I know, wtf.

The overpass - 7/8/09

Welcome back from your Spanish-speaking mission Elder Vah. Hope your transition back into American life isn't too jarring.

Little Caesar Off

My wife and I get a huge kick out of sign holders. I have to ask - who's bright idea was this? "Hey I know, let's pay some poor soul peanuts to hold a sign outside of our business! Passersby will be amused and inspired to purchase our product!" Nope. Seeing someone holding a sign for a business incites the same kinds of feelings I get when I pass a homeless person on the street begging for change - the only difference is that I'll usually feel compelled to give the bum my spare change because I know they're only doing it for themselves. There is something that feels very wrong about humiliating a person on purpose to sell something (especially if it actually doesn't).

But there's something very right about people that agree to do this job, and aren't humiliated. Instead, they take it to the next level - they dance emphatically. They sing. They shout. They point. They party. They do things that normal, inhibited, self-respecting people don't do - and for that I salute them. They brighten my day. I have yet to buy anything as a result, but they can single-handedly make me smile, even if I'm having a crappy day.

My wife and I favor the Little Caesar's sign holders, hands down. I'm not sure what motivates them to do things other sign holders wouldn't (and without costumes even!), but it's the best... to the point that we may have unfair expectations from less enthusiastic Little Caesar's sign holders. If you're holding a cardboard guitar painted like a pizza with "$9.99" on it, you better be rockin' it.

I was on YouTube today looking for the beloved "Origami" spot I remember from my youth (now there's some effective advertising... I still remember it 2 decades later). Then I saw these related videos and, well... I have to say... if you like bad, you'll love these.

The overpass - 7/3/09

"YADER 143"

I don't remember what I was doing actually driving on the bridge in American Fork, but here's a nice back view for reference.

Cryptic. I have no idea how this would make sense to anyone but the two parties communicating the message.

The overpass - 7/1/09

There is a freeway overpass in American Fork (yeah, that's the actual name of the city for out-of-towners... no, I'm not kidding) that I drive under about a dozen times during the week. It's unique - not because of the generic chain-link fence that adorns its concrete walls, but because of the red plastic Solo-brand disposable cups that people stick in holes to spell out messages to the public speeding along I-15. I find any attempt to communicate in a non-conventional way fascinating, and it's especially rewarding when the message is worth hearing.

Unfortunately, I've never seen anything worth remembering over the years as I've driven under it, but it's still very fascinating to see people attempt to communicate in red Solo cup. Sometimes it's "happy birthday so-and-so," other times it's "welcome back so-and-so." When the cups disappear altogether (I assume someone finally gets sick of it and cleans it up), they return days or weeks later with a new message. The message is occasionally altered, and the cups are effectively "recycled." It's like a poor man's marquee, and it stays surprisingly fresh and current.

I thought I'd start documenting the weird phenomenon - maybe someone from NPR will also find it fascinating and want to interview me. Maybe I'll create a coffee table book from all the pictures I take.

Or maybe I'll just entertain myself.

I'm not sure what happened here, but all I can make out is "1 year." I think someone was trying to celebrate an anniversary when they ran out of cups.