It’s really the gift that keep on giving!

“HALL & OATES: The SINGLES”.

Just click below (Steve Nike approved download), I’m sharing it for anyone to have…

http://www.theretrospective.org/hallandoates.zip

This weekend saw the return of Midnight Kickball, sponsored by the extended Maplewood crew.

This basically means we coordinated team, colors, and equipment (a ball) to play something referred to as “Sports!”

And that said… Kickball is always a challenge.

Maybe because we do not have a park permit ( I tried, but they decided midnight was “too late for park activities”), It happens near a ton of bars (drunks and degenerates walking up to us during the game, awesome), and it tends to be a lot of planning (everyone is getting busy in life, WTF). That said, we had about 30-35 people show up this time, and that’s plenty of people kicking and fielding, trust me.

Team Better Team (Captained by Jon Steinmeier) proved to be just that, setting a new rule about how many runs should be allowed in each inning (10).

team better team

Team Mood Ring (Captained by Rachel Steinmeier) ended up taking the loss, but they win hands down for uniform design.

team mood ring

Check this out:

the mood ring shirt, by adrian perez

Notable moment: We actually had a Police Sergeant pull up to us in a squad car at 1:30AM saying he got a noise complaint. It turned out he was really cool about the whole thing (unlike past cops) and let us continue on as long as we didn’t scream or clap. It was actually rather tough at first, but then proved to be a whole new way to crack jokes. Nice work Mr. Sergeant Awesome!

Overall, It’s nice to see so many people dedicated to crazy midnight sports. We’ve done this for years now, and it still looks to be something that will continue on. Sweet!

All we have to do…  is figure out how to avoid being so freaking sore afterwards.

Ouch!

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Some video clips :

Maplewood will be hosting various freinds throughout the last month to say their goodbyes. It will be done with CLASS.

I for one will never forget the section of my life that was lived in that house. Basically 2003 to 2009. Hahh, that would suck if i forgot 6 whole years, but if i did… lots of photos exist to peice it back together for me. And a tattoo…

Sad times, but Team Maple Team and the extended Maplewood family will live on. The Facebook page will change to ‘Team Maple Team’ from ‘Maplewood House’, and friends will find new dwellings all over the city.

I for one just think this will add to our scheming possibilities with so many meeting places and ‘hideouts’. So many more variables to entertain.

Well, I’ll make my speeches in person later this month, but for now all i have to say is Long Live Maplewood.

I’ll say this, the primary reason for that is my work computers can’t reach this website, and most of my rants these days come to me in the middle of work.

For instance, I have decided I reached that point in life where I don’t ever need to hear “Sister Christian” again.

Feel free to discuss.

One day, you just realize these things about yourself…

===

for my newest project, visit www.theretrospective.org

or visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Retrospective/172323238430?ref=share

Cheers, Steve

Biggest update, Lena and I have a new apartment. We love it, have started to design it with important decisions like where the couch goes and what to put on the fridge. It’s coming along, and should be ready for social gatherings somewhere in mid-fall.
It may still take a while to decide where the Chewbacca suit goes…so be patient.

That being said the second big update is that the radio show is on the air. Episode one played this week, and was a personal victory to hear on the air. It was actually the same day as the move date for the entire radio station. Did this cause a problem, Yes. Lol.
There was a CD player malfunction 10 minutes in, but it resumed and technically it played in its entirety.  No harm.
Episode one featured Leonard Cohen, Episode two will feature the Smiths. Ep2 is set to air Tuesday (Sept 8th).

Regarding the show…I am loving the fact the I have not one, but two interns for the show.
This of course made me try and figure out things for them to do, which brings me to my Scheming part of the Blog…

What Should I have my Interns work on?

So far I have heard:
-Buy me cigarettes
-Dictate my thoughts
-Have them interview Crispin Glover
-Assign them to work on finding the last digit of Pi.
-Constantly sweep the floor, over and over and over.
-Build me a Y2K bunker
-Write a 400-page report on what animal shapes they see in the clouds.
-Alligator wrestling

Please share your thoughts on what you think I should have my interns do?

So I’d like to use this post to talk more about what Viral marketing campaigns are, and why they interest me. The power of the Blog compels me.

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Wikipedia says:

“Viral Marketing… refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness. It can be word-of-mouth or… enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.”

So, Yeah…I know I fall right into this advertising trap with each campaign, but I honestly find them fun and innovative.  The line blurring reality and fiction is interesting to me, so i play along.

So with this Post I am going to highlight Four notable campaigns: Two that worked, and Two that didn’t.

1)

Years ago the first campaign I noticed was for Speilberg’s movie A.I.

The concept was a series of hidden clues inside the movie poster, which led to websites and phone numbers about a murder, robot intelligence, and robot oppression. Basically the plot of the movie, but with different characters and very watered down.

Didn’t work though. The movie underperformed, the campaign was too complex for people. It didn’t leave much of a mark.

I for one love this movie, but not the campaign, I found that confusing.

2)

By contrast, last year’s “The Dark Knight” Viral campaign was brilliant.

I followed all the links and played along with the games. I even cheered along downtown with a team leading a march for Harvey Dent’s District Attorney campaign.

“Who do we want. Harvey Dent!”

This Viral campaign had multiple websites, one for harvey, one led by the joker, some with games, a few for gotham itself, like the times,  media outlets, and police dept. Brilliant!

3)

Now, sometimes the viral campaign backfires, like with Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The movie. In their case it backfired BIGTIME.

They shut down Boston with a bomb scare after placing lightup boxes featuring a character all over town, especially one under a train. Bad Idea.

They got sued by Boston (who had to close traffic and detonate the box with the bomb squad) for 2 million dollars.

The movie also bombed (pun intended).

4)

Now we have a whole NEW viral campaign, and I am so happy about this. It’s for TRON 2, or should I say “Tron Legacy”.

I have been waiting for a sequel for this movie for years. I really loved the concepts in the first Tron. It’s more than just video games, FYI for those who haven’t seen it. It also had to do with blurred reality and religion.  Just sayin’

And…If another movie wasn’t enough, they hired Daft Punk to compose music for the film.

Ok, so I’m already into this movie, big surprise. But now they are rewarding fans with a fun viral campaign aimed at revealing plot details.  Sweet!

first is the main page talking about the disappearance of Flynn (jeff bridges)

Now, they have a countdown clock for some event happening tonight.

possibly a trailer for the movie, we’ll see…

But the big news is that so far there have been no TRON bomb scares, so they seem to be doing alright. And I love the fake magazine articles and character quotes on the flynn page. It’s a good start to a possibly successful viral campaign.

But, Let’s hope this movie doesn’t suck!

Impressive marketing campaigns aside, if the movie sucks…whats the point.

-Steve

Watchmen, for me, has been the most interesting and compelling graphic novel I have read to date.

But… to be honest, i haven’t read that many

“Batman Year One” was really amazing, “The Dark Knight Returns” was also rather fun and epic, but Watchmen takes the cake.

I proceeded to get all revved up when the news of the movie version came about, and even more so with Zack Snyder’s name being attached as director (300). But then the movie finally came out, and it was time to see if the massacred it for a quick buck…

But they didn’t. It was actually (and quite painfully) accurate to the original story.

Now, I’ll say honestly that I liked it. Especially the way it looked visually was really amazing.

But… I could easily tell that it would be massively confusing to anyone who didn’t know the story. I even gave Lena a big synopsis before we saw it just in case it came out confusing.

—  So… why am I so excited about the DVD release this month?

Finally I’ll get to see the full epic version, which is a whopping 3 and a half hours long (a full hour longer than the theatrical release).

Crazy! I know…

But any book made into a movie the right way would make a long-ass movie… and this is no exception.

I’m excited, but I don’t expect anyone else to be as excited. So far I haven’t heard one good review from any of my friends about Watchmen, so it will just have to be something I appreciate all alone…

So, I’ll watch the Watchmen, even if its by my lonesome self…

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If your interested, here’s the first 5 minutes of the film. This beginning summarizes the story of the early ‘costumed hero’s’.

Watchmen is set in an alternate 20th Century, one where regular people start wearing masks to fight crime in the 1940′s. Some were killed, some went crazy, and some retired… The main story takes place in the alternate 1985.

I’ve finally reached an age where I care about such things, we have to stay healthy you know…(I’d hate to do any damage to my pommel horse and floor routine).

So in my search I came across this chair below, which to me looks batshit-crazy.

And…It’s only $1,595

C’mon!  Do you know how many more things could you spend your money on. I mean, i’m sure its good for you in the ways they tell you it is, but you would look like an astronaut at work.

Which…

now that I think about it…  it actually does seem kind of cool…  hmm…

“A simple yet elegant solution to a complex problem that affects nearly all of us. “I want to feel as good at the end of the day, as I did when I started the day.” An angle chair allows posture shifting, which lets the blood flow and relieves stress on your muscles; you simply feel better.”

you know… she just looks so happy

In honor of this past time, I have not only dedicated my main blog image to three uncanny Star Wars dog costumes, but I have also dedicated this next post.

So enjoy, and vote for your favorite one…

1. Darth Vader Dog

2. Scuba Diver Dog

3. Elvis Dog

4. The Headless Horseman Dog

5. The Court Jester Dog

6. The Pirate Dog

7. The Prisoner Dog

(If you are just blown away and need to see even more dogs in costumes, I recommend www.dogsinduds.com)

Honestly, it doesn’t effect me personally. So I started the day not even realizing that today was the last day for antenna television.

I have been into watching things off the internet, computer, or even the Maplewood basic cable package when in the mood.

But it does make me a little sad for all the cool rabbit ears I own. Seriously, I have some cool ones that look like their from the future.  (but how could they be from the future if the future doesn’t use them anymore. so confused.)

I suppose I could use them as installation pieces, perhaps a comment on 20th century technology and the progress of time. Or maybe just mount them on my car to make it seem like I’m really important and need some type of high-tech CB talking device to communicate with my cronies. so many options. what to do.

BUT… I have been finding it rather amazing to see how many people have no idea what the hell is going on with this conversion. I have been getting calls from people asking:

“Is CAN TV going off the air tonight?”

“How can i make my tv still work?”

“Can you give me a coupon for a tv box?”

So, because I answer my phone when it rings, I have been basically thrown all of these calls. Random as they might be, I have been trying to help people understand. Not easy.

It is rewarding though -  I just spent the last 15 minutes helping a really nice Hispanic lady with strained English get some free converter boxes from the government. She really had no idea what to do, and no access to a computer, so I felt it was my duty to just help as much as I could.

She said she was worried that her kids couldn’t watch sesame street anymore. 

She also said that the people she called for help only gave her the phone numbers to Cable companies, which were then just salespeople selling basic cable packages.  At that point she said with heartfelt emotion they “have no money for the cable, they only watch channel 11 for the children’s tv shows”.

She was angry those were the only numbers she got from people, and she called all the TV stations and the city help numbers she could.

I was angry too, but then glad she found me (since I actually knew how to help her).

The thought of these amazing and cute little Hispanic kids crying when there was no Big Bird or Elmo to watch, so I jumped into action for them. Man of action, that’s me. I got them two free Converter boxes from the government, which are on their way being delivered directly to them.

Sometimes, I really love my job.

But honestly, how many kids have no idea that when they wake up tomorrow they won’t see Big Bird. I wonder. Makes me annoyed.

But for today I have done my job, we will have to wait and see how many families in need I can help tomorrow. Again, Man of action.

So, in summary:

Rabbit ears go bye-bye, Cable companies stink, and GOD BLESS SESAME STREET!