The Dubble Jay

The 30-Day Project, July14

2010-07-14T00:53:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July13

2010-07-13T00:59:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July12

2010-07-12T02:01:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July11

2010-07-12T02:00:00.002-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July10

2010-07-12T02:00:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July09

2010-07-09T00:22:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July08

2010-07-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July07

2010-07-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July06

2010-07-05T16:01:00.003-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July05

2010-07-05T16:01:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July04

2010-07-05T16:00:00.002-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July03

2010-07-05T16:00:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July02

2010-07-05T15:59:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, July01

2010-07-05T15:58:00.006-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June30

2010-07-05T15:58:00.005-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June29

2010-07-05T15:58:00.003-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June28

2010-07-05T15:58:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June27

2010-07-05T15:57:00.008-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June26

2010-07-05T15:57:00.007-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June25

2010-07-05T15:57:00.005-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June24

2010-07-05T15:57:00.003-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June23

2010-07-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June22

2010-07-05T15:56:00.008-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June21

2010-07-05T15:56:00.007-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June20

2010-07-05T15:56:00.005-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June19

2010-07-05T15:56:00.003-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June18

2010-07-05T15:56:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June17

2010-07-05T15:55:00.006-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June16

2010-07-05T15:55:00.005-07:00

I sent a letter, but don't ask.

The 30-Day Project, June15

2010-07-05T15:55:00.003-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June14

2010-07-05T15:55:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June13

2010-07-05T15:54:00.002-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June12

2010-07-05T15:54:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June11

2010-06-19T06:11:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June10

2010-06-19T06:09:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June09

2010-06-19T06:06:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June08

2010-06-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June07

2010-06-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June06

2010-06-19T06:03:00.002-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June05

2010-06-19T06:03:00.001-07:00

stay posted on this one.

The 30-Day Project, June04

2010-06-19T05:55:00.001-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June03

2010-06-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June02

2010-06-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

The 30-Day Project, June01

2010-06-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

For the appearance of surprise (but mostly privacy) i've erased who's gonna be gettin my little love-notes. Let the anticipation begin!

The 30-Day Project.

2010-05-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now staring down the barrel of the final 60 days of a year in Oz. It’s been an intentional and necessary year of growth - i’ve personally progressed more on some stuff than others on a number of fronts, and in keeping with that theme i’ve decided to adopt a pet project.

I’ve pointed out (via facebook) a neat little ambition by Luke Beard in his quest to tie lines of music lyrics to imagery - every day - for the entire year of 2010. It’s a great idea for a number of reasons - exposure to new music, design, type, color, visual language - but i think the best is that this will (much like Shit My Dad Says) more than likely result in a book deal at best, and posters at the least. A lot of the very funnest things have come out of these kinds of ideas - little daily chippings until they’ve formed something bigger.

It’s in that spirit that for the last half of the year i’m instituting what i’m calling My 30* Day Project - essentially every month i’ll give myself a theme or a mission-of-sorts, and every day for that month i’ll execute on it, posting the daily results here. I think it’ll be interesting to see how having this extra little chore everyday will influence the day itself, as well as what i may actually learn from it, if anything.

So starting tomorrow i’ve decided that for the next month i’ll be writing to people - I’ve been travelling for the last year and have only sent a handful of letters. Folks like knowing they’re being thought of, and it’s always fun to receive something in the mail that isn’t a bill or an offer for cheap cable and internet (cough*Shaw*cough) so not only does it benefit me, but hopefully give others a nice warm fuzzy.

With any luck, you’ll see the first one tomorrow.

* not necessarily 30 days - some genius decided to make months of various numbers of days. Gah.

It's hard to make others jealous...

2010-05-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

When the weather here is about as nice there. Sigh.

This may be out of context.

2010-05-25T01:06:00.000-07:00

But i doubt it.

what the hell is a 7am?

2010-05-09T01:57:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last few months not having to acknowledge the world exists before 9am, so my body's been receiving a real wake-up call this week with the commencement of me making money instead of spending it. Haven't been doing anything overly exciting or portfolio-worthy - pitch document for one shop, and concept ads for another, with a third shop waiting to figure out what they want outta me. It's nice to be loved, and it's definitely been a rains it pours situation - of which almost all thanks goes to one person who's been spectacular at setting it all up for me.

Came across Wants For Sale while looking at Justin's Gignac's art-experiment, Garbage of New York City (which i highly recommend you check out - i almost bought a cube before my brain realized i was paying for an expensive box filled with trash.) He and his wife run the site, the concept of which is based on them creating paintings of things they want (whether it be a Wii or a stove) and then selling those paintings at the actual cost of the item. When they sell the painting, they can get the item.

It's a very cool concept on retail-therapy and self-control. Can't wait to see if they ever sell Financial Security.

Trés cool.

2010-04-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

I don't think shippin' shit has ever interested me more.

Love The Todd.

2010-04-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

He's just fantastic. Innuendo-Five!

this is not the 2x4 you are looking for

2010-04-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

Been doing a little retail-therapy the last couple days - bought a couple swanky shirts from Afro Funk in anticipated celebration of having finally landed some cool gigs in Sydney, and have been in a downward spiral reliving the better parts (if they can be called that) of my teenage years with the X-Files, having now bought the 3rd season to fill out my iTunes.

However, I've been long in need of some masculine-oriented accesories that don't involve colored plastic rubber wristbands that have lost whatever meaning people think are still attributed to them (yellow 'Live Strong' bands behest a million multi-colored 'Run for _______ Awareness' campaigns behest red 'Redbull Gives You Wings!' - it's a slippery slope, folks) or leather banding which is almost as bad, but far less tacky. I did have my two pre-requisites - my loved Nixon Kink, and a cool squared-off ring that i used to wear on my index finger.

Until i went to Bondi a couple weeks ago. And lost it to the sands of time and blonde beach-babes.

As distraught i was over losing it (having had sentimental value) i kinda knew it was only a matter of time before Australia devoured it. I'm frankly surprised it didn't happen sooner. Be that as it is, i've been on the search for new guy-jewelery. And may have found it in Digby and Iona's 2x4 Ring from the Wood collection. I love that it mimic's a curved 2x4 and is grain-etched even on the endpoints. Plus, it's not effeminate because it's representing a material related to tough-guy stuff (namely building cool shit) AND it's from a line called The Wood. Which can be a euphamism. Which i am taking it to mean.

On the suck side, i don't pay $150 for damn near anything, let alone something i already know i'll lose.

cough*christmasgift*cough

I've been procrastinating about writing a post.

2010-04-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

So i'll definitely write one. Later.

comics are mainstream cool when...

2010-04-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

... i follow my kid brother into this wine shop he's been searching for the last 3 days - and while he's chatting up the owner i happen to find two South Australian wines by Some Young Punks featuring the work of Tomer Hanuka, whose work i happen to have cast a jealous eye toward for a very long time. Always cool to search around wine shops for cool labels and new ways to feature 'em - the fabric labels and sequential comic label from First Drop i saw today was very cool, but seeing the art of an illustrator i can identify is always a special mental high-five.

Woulda ordered the pair of prints myself, but he's already sold out. damn. You can check out some o' his process at his blog here.

I didn't push him over.

2010-04-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

I did, however, tell everyone that it was his birthday. And then we sang Happy Birthday on top of the Bridge. Made my day.

Brutha's down Unda!

2010-04-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

My kid brother's been in Oz for the last few weeks, and we finally hooked up in Sydney earlier this week. The best part? We haven't killed each other yet. Not sure if i'm gonna push him off on the Bridge Climb yet.

Good stuff.

Yeah, I know it happened last week.

2010-04-06T05:42:00.000-07:00

i've become incredibly jaded about Australia's Internet - mostly because with overpriced costs and just awful upload/download speeds (at 3 pages in 20 minutes, i haven't had internet this slow since living with my parents when they had dial-up in Saskatchewan before Sasktel got it together). But that's not the point here.

as it is, i'm now on Day 2 in Sydney and have been trying to post my super-fun time at the F1 races last Sunday (the 28th, that is) in Melbourne's Albert Park. having never been, and never having been a huge F1 fan (or Racing on TV in general) it was a genuinely interesting experience to see how many people gave two shits about the cars, the drivers, the points - all of it really. i know Schumacher, Australia's Webber got a lot of attention, but other than the fact that this was the second race of the season everything else was over my head.

i know it was loud. from the cars. and the fighter jet. and the blackhawk. and damn near everything else that could be loud.

all in all tho, it was a good time, got to see some crashes, some wipeouts, and some really annoying greeks and italians.

those guys are GREASY.

When is graffiti not graffiti?

2010-03-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a regular of Bud Caddell's blog what consumes me (you can find out more about him here) and yesterday's post about mobstr's unique chat with the City of Newcastle made me pee my pants laughing - if i was smart this is the kinda thing i'd like to dream up.

ACME - er, ACMI: Fun for all ages!

2010-03-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Took a couple hours to hang out at the Australia Centre for the Moving Image a few days ago while with a couple of the girls from Perth and entertaining ourselves with one of the many fashion shows that were on display during the Melb Int'l Fashion Fest at Fed Square. The main (FREE!) gallery is really interesting, tho they did tend to focus alot on Australia's contibutions (as most countries with lesser influences tend to, ie. Canadia) but besides the cool replays of the moon-landing and getting to see Windsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur in it's entirety, two of the better bits included a Matrix-stickered bullet-time camera that you could record yourself doing for about 10 seconds. Mine's here. Also there was this awesome bit of awesomeness:

So all in all it was a solid waste of a day. As a bonus, The fashion fest used Fashion is Danger by Flight of the Conchords. As I've said before, if you haven't seen it, shame on you.

Thank You, Wonder Guy Man!

2010-03-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne has finally gone and done the unthinkable - they've created a spot promoting women's unmentionables (hereby including but not exlusive to yeast infection, tampons, facial creme's etc etc etc) that i can actually watch. And not only watch, but laugh at, enjoy enough that i want to watch it again, and watch it so much that i decide to devote a small blog post to it. Plus, that dude deserves an Oscar for his acting - i totally believed his hand-in-the-cookie-jar 'Yup' at the end.

Expect this one at the award shows as well.

PS - from the last post, it's Oliver Louis Jungwirth. Just so's ya know.

The name's Jon - Uncle. Jon.

2010-03-06T23:07:00.000-08:00

Got a call a few hours ago letting me know that my brother and pregnant sister-in-law aren't so pregnant-y anymore. The Jungwirth Clan of Nathaniel & Leatta welcomed a bouncy baby boy just after 3pm today (yesterday for me, 'natch). No names have been released, but details will be coming as the investigation continues. As I don't have any photo's of my new nephew to show here's the first sketch i've done since i've arrived in Australia, doodled-up yesterday. Naturally, it's of Batman.

I can't believe i'm gonna have to wait 5 months before i can teach this kid to swear. Sigh.

Funny! Or die.

2010-03-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

Funny or Die is a site that i haven't really been in the habit of checking out - i knew it largely as a pet-project by Will Ferrell. But it seems they've really upped the ante with awesome skits and bits, with A-list actors and celebrities making cameos. It's really starting to look more like a reverse SNL - they've built all these sketches and now they've got a show 'Funny or Die Presents' on HBO which includes the attached 'Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis' and 'Drunk History' both of which are very funny stuff.

Of course, there's always the Landlord. Check it out when you can.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

Funny Or Die Presents Trailer from FODPresents

Embrace Awards.

2010-03-04T00:23:00.000-08:00

tho this Sussex-based seatbelt-safety spot is title "Embrace Life" there isn't much doubt that it's gonna be contending for alotta tin in the coming year - Cannes, probably. One Show, sure. LIAA's, yup.

and deservedly so - it's an amazing piece. running right up there with Shiny Suds, for my two cents worth. good stuff.

written and directed by Daniel Cox of Rockutainment, radio interview with him about the spot is currently the second one down, here.

Whoa, Canada! Whew.

2010-03-01T01:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't been paying much attention to the Olympics while i'm out here, mostly because well, i'm out here. Not in Vancouver. Or Canada. That said, like a good and proud bandwagon fan i've been watching the men's (ice) hockey games with much fervor - even watched our 5-2 botch-up to the US on the big screen at Fed Square, which was made even more gut-wrenching as a slobbishly fatty-fatso hippie American chick talked loudly on the phone to her mother about the hockey game 'and i have no idea what's going on' and then cheer once the game was over. I think me and about twenty others would've been fine if God had put her out of her misery.

This is where i would've uploaded a photo from that game, but i accidentally deleted it off my camera an hour ago. Dammit.

I skipped the Slov game, because frankly, it wasn't against the US and it wasn't the Gold medal game - which, let's be honest, is about exactly where we all expected them to get to. Channel 9 (the official Olympic 'caster in Oz) was to play the Gold which started at 7:15 this morning, but decided it was more important to air their Morning Show first, then lead into the THIRD PERIOD, and then replay the first two when the game was over. These guys ain't too bright.

Anyway, got to watch Canada nearly stuff it up with twenty seconds left, only to have the most amazing of plays by Iggy and Sid in OT. Well done boys, today as most i'm proud to be Canadian. Now let's all go give a good beat down on some more Seppo's.

The great backtrack pt2: ACDC

2010-02-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

The day before St Kilda, I had the very best fortune (and again, an acquaintance with many fingers in many pies) to get my hand on a ticket to ACDC's Black Ice World Tour, which may as well have been called Hey-guys-we're-gonna-sing-our-greatest-hits-and-plug-our-new-album World Tour. My track record with stadium shows hasn't been great (Bryan Adams and Shania Twain my sincerest apologies) so being able to see the band that made Thunderstruck a wedding-reception staple in front of 60,000+ sing-alongers was a wicked treat. And Angus' 20+ minutes guitar solo was absolutely retarded, as was his strip-tease-revealing ACDC shorts. Fun times.

Didn't get too crazy afterwards, as we were saving our energies for St Kilda the next day. And you all know how that went down.

On regrets and corrections.

2010-02-23T18:59:00.001-08:00

I may take that last post down. or at least modify it - i can't decide if it's funny or a transparent look into my inner Bruce Banner. Drink in the rage while you can folks, cuz it may not last. The power of the internet at my fingertips, guys.

Dear Vodafone, you suck balls.

2010-02-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

The last two days have been stupendously irritating. In a force of karma, my phone credit ran out at the same time my Visa got cock-blocked for non-payment and my australian bank account has dwindled down to a few dollars that i hadn't replenished. The result being that i couldn't recharge my phone because i hadn't put any money back into my Oz account to recharge it over the phone, and my Visa needed at least 24 hours to recognize that a payment had been made, which with the time difference actually fucked me for a day and a half.

Additionally, i'm quickly learning that while my Canadian debit card is good for taking out cash, it's pretty much a junk piece of plastic when it comes to purchases as most Australian stores that have EFTPOS (aka Interac) won't accept foreign debit cards. And, as i've just found out, most Aussie companies (like Vodafone *coughassholescough*) won't accept foreign credit cards for registering for recharge payments because it's not on their "approved" list.

IT'S FUCKING VISA! OLYMPIC WORLD SPONSOR!
I'M PRETTY SURE THEY'RE GOOD FOR IT!

But, if i'd like, i could use my RBC Visa to make a one-time online payment - through PayPal. Oh, but you'd have to register with PayPal first. And after that, there's probably only like 6 or 7 more hoops to jump through. I'm still trying to figure out what part of this whole ordeal fits in with 'easy' and 'user-friendly'. And their online automation, 'Lara', like most of the companies that have introduced characters to make their automated services seem more friendly, is complete shit. Give me back my automated numbers.

'Operator. Operator. No. Operator. Operator. OPERATOR! OPERATOR!'

Had to get that rant out. Angry Jonny made a bit of a comeback in the last couple days, and now i can put him back in his box. I should probably weld that fucker shut while i'm at it.

Poe - Angry Johnny
by popefucker

St. Kilda Fest

2010-02-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

Continuing our theme of left-in-the-dust stories: The St. Kilda Street Festival, celebrating it's 30th year last Sunday (sound familiar...) We started the day with a quick circuit training session (one day i will grow to love them one day i will grow to love them one day i will grow to love them) before Jess took me out with her pal Tali to peruse silly hats and multiple beverages along one of Melbourne's more popular areas. Running from the Esplanade to the end of Acland Street, the entire area gets shut to traffic (besides the trams) and becomes an open party zone. It's pretty much like Lilac Festival only more fun, way longer, and a lot more beach bunnies.

A bunch of Jess' trained and toned compatriots eventually showed (and whom i've more or less attached myself to, not having been living in a hostel to make fresh buddy-buddies) and i was in pretty good spirits until we hit Metropol, this wanker-iffic bar that charged thirty bucks just to get in, and was filled with uber-pretentious dudes who spent the entire time trying to look cool. Sunnies at night. For real. And it really killed my happy buzz to the point where each and every person in the group asked if i was having fun. I was actually fine just hanging, but couldn't get the vibe back after getting there. Even with the decent styings of Dirty Laundry (that chick is nowhere near as hot as any of her photos, btw) to merrily distract everyone else, my shit was apparently THAT CLOSE to being out the door by Jess. I didn't mean to be a suck, douchebags just kinda end up having that effect on me.

The larger story being that it was a pretty solid day that turned into a bit of a turd that i should have corrected by replanting my ass somewhere else. Ce la vie.

the great backtrack begins.

2010-02-20T01:56:00.000-08:00

Ho-Kay. Here we go.

I've spent the last 2 weeks crashing on my Perth-met pal Jess' couch while i got my bearings moving to Melbourne, trying to deal with idiot temp agencies and replacing a busted iBook (baby steps folks, we'll get there), which was incredibly gracious of her. Except for the part where i never know when my welcome has worn out (at home it's usually defined by the point where my mom has to tell me it's time to go back to Calgary cuz i've bugged my kid brother to the point that he's likely gonna take a butter knife to my throat while i sleep. that is one messed up dude.) So yesterday eve, after misunderstanding Jess' tiny hint to mean TODAY and not sometime this weekend, I struck out on my lonesome to give her some personal space. I ended up at a wicked little jazz club at the dead end of Bennetts Lane, named (duh) the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club. Got to watch a great voice by the name of Yvette Johansson and the Joe Ruberto Trio, one of whom (bassist Michael) is a client of Jess' (i should clarify that Jess is a personal trainer & manager at Fitness First, for what it's worth).

Long story short - got to see 3 hours of awesome live stuff, eat some Hungry Jacks (i know i said i'd never eat it again, but goddammit!) and still be in bed by 1 on a Friday. Wait... that's not good. Screw it, it's fine.

So now, provided she doesn't kick me out tonight, i'll be doing my bloggings from Urban Central as of tomorrow, and doing my best to catch ya'll up on the last several weeks. It's gonna take a while.

for those about to rock, we salute you.

2010-02-17T17:48:00.001-08:00

Yeah, i know it's been well over month since my last post and i've missed many, many stories. It's been bit crazy with my birthday, moving to melbourne, and general hectic stuff - but it's largely sorted and i'll be posting on a once-more regular basis.

mom, i'm sorry. i swear i'll call this weekend.

I am now fully on the Interweb.

2010-01-06T01:05:00.000-08:00

It's not 100% finished - there're some missing images here and there, details have yet to be filled out - i'll likely get to that in the next day - but the big story here is that my portfolio is now online, via carbonmade. have a look, hopefully you won't think everything there sucks. You might even like it - you never know.

http://jonjungwirth.carbonmade.com/

King's Park

2010-01-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

Been down a few times, thought i'd post a couple pic's. King's sits just southeast of CBD (Central Business District, ie. Perth proper - a moniker the major cities in Oz use to define their downtowns) on a higher elevation, offering wide views of of city and surrounding area. It's also home to their war memorials in addition to massive parks, botanical gardens, and BBQ areas (which are ultra-modern push-button grills that shut down on their own once you finish using them - tres cool) and a buncha other stuff i haven't even see yet.

i've been sluggish on posts lately, so today is Kings - maybe tomorrow i'll be up to tell about the woman who wanted us to kill her husband in Bali.

click to embiggen:

Christmas present, Christmas present!

2010-01-02T03:29:00.000-08:00

Every year my sweet sweet dearest grandparents give me $50 to buy myself something special. Usually i just end up paying the water bill, but this year as i don't have a home to pay the water bill for, i decided to get a real present. And this year, i bought myself a Spidey. He's multi-posable with 22 points of articulation, comes in a box plastered with Todd McFarlane art, and cost be about 8 dollars more than he would back home. But I'm on vacation, and this was a gift, so screw it.

He's already had adventures i'll post later but in the mean time people will continue to abuse Spidey and take pictures of him wanking to a red-headed girl on matchbox. He's got a creepy thing for red-heads. Kinda like me.

Happy Non-Denominational Holiday Season!

2009-12-24T05:55:00.000-08:00

Or, as the Aussies would have it:
Merry Fuckin' Christmas, I reckon!

Albany is Pretty.

2009-12-23T04:47:00.000-08:00

But damn cold. When you're considering 24 degrees cold, anyway. I had to wear my bunnyhug most days. The weather, despite only be 4 hours away, drops almost 10 degrees and won't see their proper summer hit for another couple months. My friend Em has family that have a super-ridiculous-posh house that overlooks West Cape Howe (I stayed in the open spotch dead centre of the link, zoom out to check out the whole; Albany the city is on the other side of the Cape). So I got to wake up every morning and lift my head ever so slightly to look out the mostly floor-to-ceiling windows to see the water and far off lands of Southern Western Australia. I ended up spending 5 days and four hundred bucks, but it was good eats with great views and better people. Good times.

Plus, I got to see an Australian John Deer. Sweet.

The New Hotness.

2009-12-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

Last week I disappeared to Albany for a few days (more on that later). When I got back, I dutifully unpacked my backpack to find I misplaced my gym shoes. Odd, I thought, must've put them somewhere else. I continued unpack/repacking when, into my 2nd bag which is relegated to undies and hoodies, I found my Nike's packed in with my socks and skivvies. Odd, I thought, I know I didn't put those there. So I pull them out and find them essentially destroyed.

I'm all up like. What. The. Hell. About an hour later my "friend" Mark comes into the room and sees the shoes, asks what happened. I say I don't know, found 'em that way. He asks where. I say in my undies bag. He says isn't that where I left them. And I say nope. And he says Shit! and owns up to borrowing them for a soccer game, only to find that they did not have the upper support to play that game. Made for running, yes. Made for quick turns and opponents heel? Not so much. So, having a pre-paid training session the next day, I duck out and buy a new pair on the fly.

Which worked out really well, since I was planning to toss out the old ones once I got back from Oz anyway. Plus, now next time he steals my shoes he'll be playing with proper football boots. Thanks Daff! In homage to Men In Black 2:

Old Busted Joint:

New Hotness:

Pirate, or Power Ranger?

2009-12-17T05:25:00.001-08:00

Been a bit since the last post – a funny story i'll share sometime later – been busy preppin' my Christmix album, and figgerin' how to get 'em all back home. If you manage to get a copy, congrats, I still like you. And if not, well, take the hint. Saw the below at Hell For Leather while I was checkin' in to see if there were any updates on KTM's long-rumored RC4 (based on the RC8 bike, not the pseudo-car thingie), and was thoroughly embarrassed - it really does encompass what most bike riders end up looking like, on either side of the spectrum.

And the fact that I'm a Power Ranger.

Peruvian Pan-Flute Band!

2009-12-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

The other day while on the Murray St. mall I caught a Peruvian pan-flute band doing their thing, and selling their CD's for, yes, $20 each. I immediately thought of the 12th season South Park episode that essentially played these tools as a huge conspiracy for giant guinea pig's to take over the world.

It was a good laugh.

Mirror's Edge. iPod. Sold.

2009-12-04T01:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a real crap week, and one I'm chalking up to having stayed completely alcopop-free. It's just not done over here, and I think my nervous system is now fully assimilated into Aussie life. 3 bright spots this week tho:

1/ That Iron Man 2 poster - can't wait to see Cheadle in that sucker.
2/ I didn't drink a single drop of booze. Gotta be proud.
3/ Mirror's Edge for iPod comes January 2010.

While I know it won't inherit the first-person POV of my top game of '08 - the slickness, free-running fluidity and pure joy I had playing looks like it will. And frankly, a wicked soundtrack and amazing art direction don't hurt either. I'll probably buy it just to feel like I'm back home.

And I'm no gamer, but it'll get me jacked up as I'll have a lot of catching up to do when I get back - Batman: Arkham Asylum (already in contention for the best game of 2009) and Assassin's Creed 2 (the sequel to my fave but most frustrating game of 2007) will have both been out for a year, and there'll probably be a couple more (like GT5, if it ever gets out). Meanwhile, I'll have to make due with Operation Sandstorm and Real Racing. Life's hard sometimes.

Well, let's go get drunk.

I miss Calgary advertising.

2009-12-02T20:04:00.001-08:00

And with all due respect that's a bit of an embarrassing statement to make, and everyone who plays in that sandbox knows why. There's very very good stuff being done, but just the same they know why. The limitations of a small market: conservative clients, no budgets, rare tv, etc. Pick a topic and Calgary has it.

However, from my barstool they've got Perth beat by a mile long.

And here's why - local shop The Brand Agency (get it?) recently produced a spot for domain shop crazydomains.com.au, which received an untold amount of hype due to the fact that they paid out the ass to get Pam Anderson (yes, THAT Pam Anderson) to be in a spot for them. Now, celebrity endorsements are nothing new, and I'm not aware of Brand's behind-the-scenes politics, but from my vantage point Brand had a massive creative opportunity and a massive TV budget (again, nothing new for Perth) – and the best they could muster was a GoDaddy rip-off.

Again, not sure if people in Australia are aware of GoDaddy (I expect not) so seeing a milk-drenched Pam & co-hort will create a ton of buzz and likely skyrocket crazydomain's click-thru's, but from Brand's creative standpoint I'd be thinkin' one of several things happened:

1/ crazydomains directed them to produce something like GoDaddy.
2/ Brand was unaware of the exact same thing creating the exact same noise in the ever-watched USA.
3/ Brand was aware, and decided to move forward anyway.

Now, I can't claim to have done better work here - because quite frankly I haven't, which is something that aggravates me to no end. But that Brand is largely being commended by their WA peers is either a comment on how unaware they are of advertising, or their dismissal of it to congratulate mediocrity and repetition.

Back in YYC this sort of thing would never have gotten past the creative team, let alone the CD to make it to the client preso (as anyone who knows Saro "I've Seen That" Ghazarian can attest). So Calgary, I tip my hat at thee. Keep up the good work, I miss you.

I am not a 14-year old girl.

2009-11-30T19:46:00.001-08:00

Nor am I a 25-50 year old woman. That being said, this little guerrilla tactic by US Sydney to promote the mature readers version of the Twilight series was well done.

WAR MACHINE!

2009-11-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Sweet baby Jesus, yes!

jonny's got a brand new wallet.

2009-11-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

I hate wallets. Specifically, I hate those traditional billfolds that, as most guys seem to have, end up looking like George's wallet from that one Seinfeld episode. They're thick. They're bulky. They make my ass hurt. So in the last few years in addition to simply carrying only the essentials (DL, credit/debit cards, metro or access cards) I've eschewed those types of wallets for things that are typically much, much thinner - and as a result have a much shorter life expectancy.

My ultra-thin and super-handy All-Ett wallet finally burned out earlier this month (to be fair, it didn't really burn out, but the corners all burned decent holes thru, and for $5 I'd consider that used and done) and while I was at RG Madden in Subi I came across Dynomighty's Mighty Wallets, which are very cool (tho traditional style) wallets formed from a single sheet of Tyvek (the same stuff USPS uses for their envelopes). And as soon as I saw the NYC subway map version (that's officially licenced by the MTA), I knew I found my next wallet.

Plus, on the outside I can see where I stayed last time I was there (Charlton St at Varick). Good stuff.

Good. To. Know.

2009-11-24T19:46:00.001-08:00

Downloaded The Hangover yesterday. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend it. Personally, it was the best movie of this year, period. And that's including a stellar Star Trek.

A love letter to TransPerth.

2009-11-24T03:46:00.000-08:00

Dear TransPerth,

I should preface this by telling you that I've always hated public transit. Never liked it in Calgary when I was in college, and have avoided it like the plague anywhere else I've been. I'll walk for an hour if it keeps me from waiting on unreliable timetables, early or severely late trains, change for tickets, and mentally challenged transit officers.

So you can appreciate my surprise when I arrived in Perth to trains that ran like clockwork and timetables that were concise. Super-impressed.

And then things went downhill.

It's generally agreed amongst my hostel peers that Perth has, without a doubt, the single largest collection of officers any of us has seen for a metropolitan transit system. We're talking New York, London, Stockholm. Big cities, with bigger problems than you assume you have. Rock throwing and keyed glass? That's what you have more officers for? The fact that a ticket costs me $3.60 (or $3.06 with my super-not-convenient 'SmartRider' card) only justifies to me that the charge is being used to cover the cost of the 8-12 officers I'll see on my way home tonight. And why there's so many officers checking my ticket. If I get away with riding the train without having my proof of purchase checked, I feel like I did something wrong. Seriously.

So why, after being in Perth for the last 3 months, am I writing you this letter? Well, after dealing with overzealous female officers that feel they need to be hard-asses to compensate for a lack of penis, the last nail on the Stupid Coffin got hit today.

You see, around 3pm today I went from Subiaco to CBD for a client meeting. Typical enough, the only difference was that I was using a company SmartRider card rather than my own. Tagged on, got on the train, got off at CBD. No problem. But as we were leaving the main station towards Murray Street, I couldn't get my card to activate the cattle-corridors you have. At which point, the observant transit officer (who I'll herein refer to as Rodriguez) asked me what was wrong. The following is a transcript as per my brain:

Rodriguez: Is there a problem?
Me: Yeah, can't seem to get my card to tag off...
Rodriguez: can I see your card please?

Here I pleasantly hand my card over, hoping he'll just tag it with his little green handheld and I'll be on my way...

Rodriguez: Did you tag on before you got on the train sir?
Me: Yup.
Rodriguez: No you didn't.
Me (after a beat): If you knew that already then why did you just ask me if I did?
Rodriguez: May I see some ID?
Me (again, realizing the stupidity of what he was asking): For what purpose?
Rodriguez: I need to see your ID.
Me: You could, but it's not going to give you any information. That's a company card and has nothing to do with my identification.
Rodriguez (getting a little agitated): Sir, some ID.
Me (now with a screwed up look on my face): Fu... yeah, whatever.

At this point I pull out my wallet and get my driver's. My two co-workers at this point have come over to see wtf is going on.

Neil: Everything all right?
Me: Yeah, guy needs to see my driver's to confirm it has nothing to do with the card...
Rodriguez (as he's idiotically comparing the company SmartRider card to my DL): How long have you been here?
Me: A couple months... wait, what does that have to do with anything?
Rodriguez: You have to tag on when you get on the train, otherwise it's a $100 fine.
Me (getting right ticked off at this point): Dude. Look. I thought I had tagged on. I clearly used the wrong card and didn't. It was a mistake. Why would I not tag on if you're holding my company transit card?
Rodriguez (after a moment): I'm going to let you go, but next time it's a $100 fine.

So Rodriguez passes me my unrelated cards back and waves me on as I give him the most incredulous look my face has probably ever made, and I catch up to my comrades who have been waiting.

The story of the story? When a mistake like forgetting to tag onto the transit system is made, a few things can be guaranteed:

1/ you will be asked the dumbest, most irrelevant questions that have nothing to do with a mistake.

2/ TransPerth will look like it hires people who ask the dumbest, most irrelevant questions that have nothing to do with a mistake.

3/ TransPerth apparently has a system in place that screws you for making a mistake (forgetting to tag OFF results in the charge of a full fare, but forgetting to tag ON is a $100 fine? are you fucking insane?).

4/ I am a traveller. Working for a company that probably spends a helluva lot more than a hundred bucks a month on transit fares. Now, I'm not sure what would've happened had Rodriguez decided to try write a ticket, but I can promise that not only would my name and address have not been my name and address, but that ticket would never have been paid by either myself or the company I'm working for, simply based on the stupidity of the occurence.

5/ TransPerth and it's eight hundred million transit officers can officially now place their collective faces under my left scrotum, rather than standing around like morons. Enjoy.

Sincerely, Jon Jungwirth

PS - here's just 6 officers I photographed standing around on the way home last week. Although it could have just as easily been the other night, or tomorrow. Keep up the good work, guys!

PPS - so our officer tally for last night was 9. we were on the low end.

method mADness!

2009-11-23T18:15:00.001-08:00

Awesome spot for consumer-sudsy maker method by Droga5 in support of a US bill that would require companies like Johnson&Johnson to list the product ingredients of their cleaners and detergents. Should be interesting.

Make sure to listen a few times to hear all the comments from the bubbles. Their statements and inflections are killer.

Always remember to flush.

2009-11-22T20:17:00.001-08:00

On several occasions during my tenure as a participating member of the living, the discussion has arisen of what you would personally do if you were so stinking rich that money were literally no object – and inevitably turns to someone making a crack that they’d use it as TP and wipe their butts with said money.

Now, about a hundred bucks is worth around a million in Bali, and everything is ridiculously cheap. Which makes me feel spectacularly rich. So, acknowledging that this is with all due respect the richest I will ever be, I indulged in that one act everyone talks about doing.

And wiped my ass with 1000’s.

Just thought I'd share.

Tom Hanks already did it.

2009-11-20T00:04:00.000-08:00

Chances are that if you are old enough to remember Tom Hanks in the movie Big, the first scene that comes to mind (short of that amazing scene where he touches a boob for the first time) is the one where he dances on the big piano in FAO Schwartz. Volkswagen decided to take a page out of that playbook and created the same in a subway stairwell in Stockholm. Result? More people took the stairs.

Duh.

Cool trick, but riddle me this – what exactly do you think the outcome was of people 1/ knowing it was even put on by Volkswagen (and effectively cared); and 2/ the odds that this stunt infected them enough to go out and buy a Passat or embed VW into their subconscious for future autobahn vroom-vroom? My guess? Not a helluva lot.

This is the kinda stuff that tears me up inside because as cool as it is, it’s got fuck all to do with the brand as I know and appreciate it. I could be wrong.

mADness is back!

2009-11-18T20:38:00.000-08:00

Formerly Monday Morning mADness, I've now reached a point in my life that i can acknowlege that 1. I hate mornings and the odds of me ever being consistently on time for work will never happen; and 2. I hate mondays and while it was witty, I procrastinate too much to obligate myself to posting things because I feel I must. So with that in mind, the campaign for Dos Equis - thanks to Seb for reminding me of this wickedly awesome campaign.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

Things I learned in Bali

2009-11-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

Returned from Bali last week, and as much as I enjoyed hanging out with the wicked group I was with, I realized some very important things:

1. it doesn’t take much to break a finger at a foam party.
2. a 1L Bintang Pil will set you back about 2 bucks.
3. every foreign toilet should have toilet paper.
4. unbreathable 40° days make you question the relativity of ‘hot’.
5. banana smoothies are awesome.
6. Pepe doesn’t like when you swim in the pool at 4am.
7. surfing is ass in November.
8. no one needs to go to Bounty more than twice.
9. 5-passenger rentals realistically only haul 2.
10. SPF15 shouldn’t exist.

Shocking wins at The Melbourne Cup.

2009-11-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

Only listened to it over the 'net while working on some stuff, but the Melbourne Cup was won by Shocking today. Much akin to the Kentucky Derby it's the biggest horse race in Australia and one of the richest in the world, and a public holiday in the city of its namesake. Ladies get all sexified and wear fancy hats (which, even in Subiaco, I was privileged enough to witness as I went out for lunch) and pretty much everyone fucks off to get drunk.

It's kinda like Stampede, but only for a day and a helluva lot classier.

There was an inter-office pool and my horse, the lovely Mourilyan, placed third winning me a massive twenty bucks. Huzzah!

Halloween is for nudists.

2009-11-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

As it was October 31st, Saturday was Halloween. Except in Australia people don't really celebrate Halloween. They don't even really acknowledge it. But, living in a hostel with people who do celebrate it and don't really need an excuse to dress up and get annihilated, we all spent the day preparing (aka going to the Fancy Dress shops and just buying) our costumes. I debated for a bit on whether to do the expected but safe cowboy/inmate/hippie thing, but ultimately landed on the photograph-able decision of a cute bumblebee. A 6'4" bumblebee, but a cute one. Or so my mother says. Well, maybe not even her, but someone. Somewhere.

Eventually we all got back to the hostel at which point we showered, began pre-drinks, got our duds on, and made our way to the house. The variety was quite nice, as in addition to our general run of gangsters, pimps and ladies in Aussie flags we had a full-on Cookie Monster, Waldo, a character from The Mightly Boosh, an actual nudist, and an actual catfight over a boy. Good Times. Funny story about the nudist (who we now suspect was actually a hooker) that goes something like this:

Nudist (looking a lot like a hooker): Hey! Those are great!

Us (outside the bottle shop): Thanks!

Nudist (coked out of her head like a hooker): What's going on?

Us (referring to our costumes): Halloween party.

Nudist (hindsight being 20/20...): Halloween! Great! Can I come?

Us: Sure, you gotta have a costume though.

Nudist: Oh that's easy! I'm a nudist!

At this point she grabs her shirt (from under her jean jacket...) and yanks it straight up and yup, she's a nudist all right. So she proceeds into the liquor store and we proceed to the house around the corner. Maybe 10 minutes later one of the guys is grabbing me saying

James: Mate! Mate, you gotta see this!

Me: What? Wha-

At this point I get a full view of our friendly nudist lady buck nekkid and laughing her ass off while a dozen camera's go off. Photo-ops ensue, inappropriate imagery is taken, several of which result in the next day request of

Shawn (name changed to protect Shaun's identity): Mate, you cannot put that photo up on facebook.

Me: Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem.

So here's the photo up on blogger.

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team.

2009-10-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

2010. Liam Neeson as Hannibal. Bradley Cooper as Face. Rampage Jackson as badass B.A. Baracus. Can't wait.

Oz is weird: Um...

2009-10-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

COON CHEESE.
Only in Australia is this not both derogatory or disgusting.

Hostel Games: Sack or Shaft?

2009-10-27T18:41:00.001-07:00

Really, there's never a reason for this game to be played.

Same show. Different city.

2009-10-27T02:22:00.000-07:00

'Blah blah blah our market is a cradle for talent that go on to perform on the international stage blah blah blah continue to prove we can compete at the national level blah blah blah.'

Participated in the Perth Advertising and Design Club Awards on Friday. Thoughts below. Two really nice things, average everything else. I was at the 'Festival of Ideas' (aka The Judges Talk While We All Get Loaded) in Yanchep last month, and when Matt Eastwood (ECD, DDB Sydney & winner of Best Agency in Australia the last 3 years) was grilled about the work this year, his comment of "it looks like Perth rested on its laurels" really turned my head. Turned out, he was right. Never woulda thought.

Pros:
1/ OPEN BAR
2/ didn't pay for my ticket (thanks meerkats!)
3/ Lots of really hot ladies. Seriously. They do not fuck around.
4/ OPEN BAR
5/ Delicious 3-course meals and few tablemates = 9-course meal. Yum.
6/ OPEN BAR

Cons:
1/ Same spiel about small markets still being able to do great creative.
2/ Gold, Silver, Bronze and Finalists. If you thought Ad Rodeo was a long show...
3/ 2.6% beer.
4/ Another show I didn't win anything at.

i wish i had been wittier when i was a kid.

2009-10-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

stop-motion animation kicks ass.

2009-10-21T21:26:00.002-07:00

Stop-motion animation that uses a freaking BUILDING as the canvas is about the most ridiculously awesome thing ever.

Oz is weird: Left-hand drive

2009-10-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

... And the info to prove they and several other countries are just too stubborn to join the status quo. Jerks.

Dear Jesus: Don't let us starve and/or die.

2009-10-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

Was in Fremantle on Sunday hanging out, and spent the better part of the morning wondering what the hell was making that thunderous noise that woke me - thought it was just delivery trucks, but turned out to be day-long fireworks to announce The Blessing for the Fleet, a yearly celebration of sorts where the good church-goers parade down the streets on Fremantle with Jesus banners, statues, and a Rosary made of buoy-balls & towing rope - led by priests who all go down to the wharf and bless the fishing and sailing ships for good fishing and safe passage.

Completely unexpected but interesting family-friendly way to spend part of the day. The rest of Sunday Session however, well...

Tuesday nite at the Cott

2009-10-14T01:21:00.000-07:00

Cottesloe Hotel, to be exact - for whatever reason bars here are called hotels. Few actually have places for you to sleep it off, and with .05 limits being pushed to .02 you'd think that'd be a no-brainer.

Anyway, Tuesday's the live band kick a lot of ass, and we all had the privlege of a linebacker-sized drunk-off-his-ass Pom owning the floor simply because he couldn't be contained. So huge was his awesomeness that even the bouncers couldn't handle him.

Fun stuff. May be pushing too many nights of this tho...