Step Up 2: Electric Boogaloo – the live blogging experience

Lucky Flash by Robert Swier, on Flickr

I was staying with a colleague in Frederick, Maryland back in September, and his girlfriend (now fiancee) happened to be nannying for a couple of kids. It was movie night over here and the movie we’ve picked (aka, these kids) is Step Up 2: The Streets (aka Step Up 2: Electric Boogaloo).

Spoiler alert! If you’re planning on watching this movie, well, I’d recommend that you don’t.

I was a little worried that this film would be way over my head, having not viewed the first Step Up film. Don’t worry though, folks. The film makes perfect sense. Which is to say, that I don’t much give a crap, either way. Which is why I wrote this blog entry in the first place.

Taking place in local Baltimore (and no, this isn’t a John Waters film), “SU2:EB” is a classic example of the clash between privileged private school kids and street thugs. Pair that with a romantic storyline and you’ve got Hollywood GOLD. I’ve never seen street-based hip-hop dancing like this. Oh wait, I have. This is the same contrived bullshit that HOllywood has been shoving down the throats of teenagers for years.

Did I mention the witty banter? Because this film is chock full of it. Favorite lines:

• “Everybody’s hating on you because you’re so dope.”
• “The Streets? You mean, like Sesame Street?”
• “Oh Miss Thing, you got titties!”
• “We call this a battle, but what are we fighting for?”

Yes, people, this movie is like the bastard child of a drunken 3-way between Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, Footloose, and Bring It On. This bastard has uncles you might know: like West Side Story and You Got Served. Because when you’re a Maryland School of the Artist, you’re a Maryland School of the Artist.

Ooh, theres even a rad viral video that the private school freaks made in iMovie to the tune of the Humpty Dance. Oh, but the pranks escalate into full-on vandalism.

Oh, and who could forget the snotty fuck rich kid getting his ass kicked on the mean streets of Baltimore? This is class warfare in a thinly veiled movie about dancing.

Did I mention the asshole president of the Art Academy? Oh, because he’s definitely an asshole. And it turns out that his brother is the chick’s love interest! This movie is like an onion – so many layers upon layers of lameness. It’s like an onion that tastes like feces.

And the dance-off at the end? Heavy suspense, my friends. The prepsters really came through after getting kicked out of the dance-off. They really won their respect.

Ultimately this movie is the piece of shit that I expected it to be.

IMG_3633 by nerfski, on Flickr

White House Flickr Photostream Remixing Contest

President Barack Obama meets with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in the Oval Office 3/25/09. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Get ready to fire up Photoshop and create some wonderful remixes. Von Glitschka, an awesome illustrator who I’ve been a fan of for a long time, posted tonight about the White House’s official flickr photostream*. I took a look at the 293 images on there (and there are some really amazing ones) and noticed they all have a Creative Commons license that allows us to remix the images. Which is where the “White House Flickr Photostream Remixing Contest” comes in.

If we get enough submissions that are awesome, I’ll work to secure some gallery space in Denver and we’ll have a show!

White House Flickr Photostream Remixing Contest

Your task:

• Take any photo from the White House flickr photostream.
• Remix it with one or more flickr photos that have a similar Creative Commons license (search Flickr’s Creative Commons images, any one of those but the “NoDerivs” ).
• Produce one composite image.
• Post it to flickr, and embed the photo in the comments section of this blog entry.
• For your image to be considered for the show, it will need to be 300DPI, printable in a high-resolution format.

The Rules:

• You must provide links to all photos in the description of your uploaded image.
• All entries must be received by Noon on Monday, May 18, 2009.
• I reserve the right to disqualify anything I deem inappropriate (well, we can talk about that means if you or I bring up a suspect image).
• We will all then vote on the winning submission. I will give that person a prize of some sort, TBD (anyone out there willing to sponsor a gift?).

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden practice their putting on the White House putting green April 24, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

* I also think that it’s really hilarious that the photostream has this title in it: The Official White House Photostream’s photostream.

An example of the power of the brand ambassador

The key to effectively leveraging social media: at some point your brand ambassadors start endorsing your brand on their own, as is evidenced from this conversation I found on Twitter recently (see images below). I see this conversation as a way to know that we’re doing a better and better job of getting the message out about our beers. The next step is hopefully to see a marked increase in these conversations like this. Passionate consumers make for passionate brand advocates.

An Open Letter to Chipotle

I’ve been going to Chipotle since it was the lonely single store down on gilpin. i noticed a change in your branding and corporate positioning recently and was wondering why you were taking such a “budget” approach. i’ve never heard anyone say that chipotle was too expensive in my whole life. to me, the “low roller menu” comes off as cheap, and the new campaign feels unfocused and rushed.

i used to greatly admire Chipotle’s marketing and positioning, even through the whole “McDonalds” phase. The edginess you used to have has been replaced by just another mega-chain attitude that cheap is better.

i do, however, like the new kids menu. i always saw that as a barrier for families, because even the pico de gallo is a little spicy. Would have loved to see fish tacos as a menu option. Or burritos smothered in green chile.

I work in the creative industry here in denver (I’m the Creative Manager at Flying Dog Brewery) and could name 5 agencies off the top of my head that would have developed much better creative than what I’m currently seeing.

Plus, it was sad to see Bank Gothic go away from everything you’ve done.

Thanks,
Josh Mishell