Brian Laesch .com

DJ Steve Porter has done it again. First, he brought us the “Slap Chop Rap.” Then, “Press Hop,” featuring Allen Iverson’s famous “We in here talkin’ about practice” press conference. And now, he’s made the American Idol phenomenon known as “Pants on the Ground” into something that I’m actually putting on my iPod. Which means it’s really good, or I have bad taste (or somewhere in between). Whatever the case, I love this song/video:

Don’t thank me…

Oh, you weren’t?

OK, cool. Because I was going to say, “Thank DJ Steve Porter.”

Brian Laesch is putting this on his iPod right now. You can get it here.

Happy Avatar Day. Today is the day that James Cameron’s Avatar most likely surpasses Titanic as the top grossing film of all time. Proving that technology really is taking over our lives. It now dominates movies, too. I know Avatar is the first movie I’ve ever liked, strictly because of the effects. Digital effects are never supposed to be the star of a film–or so I thought–but that’s the case for Avatar.

I’ll be interested to see what James Cameron will do around 2019 to top this. Maybe he’ll create the first film experience where local actors in costumes are hired to come out of the screen and interact with the crowd during the film. Theaters across the country, and worldwide, will spend thousands installing new IMAX movie screens with doors in them… But until that day, I guess we’ll have to watch this outdated 3D stuff.

• The Hurt Locker has been voted best film by the Producers Guild of America. Really glad to see this film getting the praise it deserves.
• As mentioned, Avatar, with an estimated $1.841 billion in worldwide boxoffice, is expected to pass Titanic as the top grossing film of all time.
• Conan O’Brien’s final Tonight Show aired on Friday. In case you didn’t see it, here it is on Hulu.
• Speaking of Hulu, Nielsen is preparing a system to include all ad-supported online TV watching in their ratings.
• AdAge: Why This $3 Million Baby Is Back on the Super Bowl
• Jeff and Erin are getting married!!! Who are Jeff and Erin? I have no idea, but their Hollywood blockbuster trailer-style “save the date” video is fairly epic. I kind of want to crash their wedding…but I’ll probably be busy on 10/09/10.
• In a somewhat uncomfortable situation, the “Pants on the Ground” guy performed a private show for the Minnesota Vikings. (The Vikings are on the ground after blowing that game against the Saints. At least, Favre is.)
• And, did you hear the White House has it’s own iPhone app? Press Secretary Robert Gibbs loves it!

Brian Laesch has compiled these links for Eleventh Hour’s “beyond the world of recruiting” blog.

OK, not really. I just really like the idea of the moment it was announced that Scott Brown (R) defeated Martha Coakley (D) in the Massachusetts Senate race to fill Ted Kennedy’s vacant seat, the crowd at Brown’s rally going nuts as they played this video of Tag Team’s “Whoomp There It Is”:

And of course, Michael Steele would be there, ballin’ out of control.

“That’s me, D.C.”

Brian Laesch is a political strategist for his own blog that he writes for himself, mostly.

Hope you had a good Martin Luther King, Jr. Day yesterday. Apparently, MLK still inspires to this day. After a dismal performance last week, everybody on my fantasy basketball team played out of their minds, including the white guys (foreign players). Unbelievable. Now I see why Dr. King was so big (totally kidding).

Seriously though, I hope you enjoyed your day off and remembered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while doing so.

And remember to text ‘HAITI’ to 90999 or ‘QUAKE’ to 20222 to help the folks in Haiti. They still need it.

Here are the links:

• In case you haven’t heard, Presidents Bush and Clinton heave teamed up to create the Clinton and Bush Haiti Fund. You can go there to donate money to Haiti, or text ‘QUAKE’ to 2-0-2-2-2.
• As I mentioned before, you can also text ‘HAITI’ to 9-0-9-9-9 to donate through the American Red Cross.
• NBC is finalizing the deal for Conan’s departure. Jay Leno says, “it’s business.” And an “I’m With CoCo” rally with hundreds of people took place outside Universal Studios’ Gate 2 yesterday. Conan responded by sending Tonight Show staffers outside with pizzas for the protesters.
• In case you didn’t hear, Avatar won best picture at the Golden Globes, and it’s boosting Imax shares.
• Variety: Hollywood helps Haiti
• The Chinese are pulling 2D versions of Avatar to make room for a Confucius biopic. This is my favorite story of the day.
• AdvertisingAge: At CBS Television City, TV-Watching Is a Science
• Here’s an outdoor ad in the UK that was designed to anger women…and worked, easily. Case closed.
• Del Taco orders up the weird with a new campaign?: “The Del Taco Super Special Show“
• Want to see every single ad from Apple and TBWA’s “Get a Mac” (John Hodgman vs Justin Long, PC vs. Mac) campaign? Not necessarily? Well here it is anyway.
• Creativity‘s TV/Video Spot of the Day: International Rescue Committee: Haiti (Text ‘HAITI’ to 25383.)

Brian Laesch posted these links and reminds you to text ‘QUAKE’ to 20222.

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In case you somehow haven’t seen it elsewhere, here are the ways in which you can help the relief fund in Haiti–a relief fund apparently being led by the United States. You know…the Great Satan? Yeah, that’s us. The country that has given more (not just monetarily) than any other country on the planet, ever. (Hey Hugo, what the f*** are you going to do? Send one more plane? Stand around and make some more sulfur jokes?)

But enough about us infidels. This isn’t about petty name calling, or who does what. It’s about a disaster that has only just begun, since the aftershocks ceased. Time is of the essence. Here is how you can help:

• Text ‘HAITI‘ to 9-0-9-9-9 to automatically donate $10 through your phone bill
• Go to RedCross.org to donate online
• Call 1-800-REDCROSS to donate over the phone
• Donate through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
• Text ‘QUAKE‘ to 2-0-2-2-2 to automatically donate $10 through your phone bill

Brian Laesch texted ‘HAITI’ to 9-0-9-9-9. It’s seamless.

The Superficial beat me to the punch…I mean, to the Sobe lifewater (hey-oh). Oh well. That’s to be expected when a massive viral media blitz featuring new Sobe lifewater flavors and hot pictures of Ashley Greene from Twilight (I’m told) in a body paint bikini hits the Internet. I could have had my “exclusive” pictures of Ashley Greene from a Sports Illustrated photo shoot up on Wednesday January 6th. (Except, they would not have been exclusive, and I didn’t receive as many photos as The Superficial did.) Instead, I opted to wait for the free samples of Sobe lifewater’s new flavors, Cherimoya Punch and Strawberry Dragonfruit, to be FedExed from NYC. I stand by my decision…regardless of any missed spike in traffic. And judging by the pictures I received, compared to the ones The Superficial has, I’m guessing it would not have been much. Even I would advise you to check out The Superficial’s pics over the ones I’ve posted.

Excuse me…I need to do something for the search engines: Ashley Greene nude. Nude Ashley Greene. Ashley Green in a painted-on bikini. Hot Ashley Greene photos. Ashley Green nude photos.

OK, I’m back. That should do the trick.

That being said, when a major, reputable PR agency in NYC considers your blog for a promotion, it’s a cool thing. And I’m happy to review these two new SoBe Lifewater flavors. (Did I mention they are called “Cherimoya Punch” and “Strawberry Dragonfruit” and each have zero calories? I know! It is cool. Or should I say “c00l”?… No? OK.)

Thoughts on Cherimoya Punch:

Ashley Greene nude with painted-on swimsuit

From the get-go, I could taste the “Sobeyness” of this flavor. I’m not too picky when it comes to vitamin enhanced water beverages (full disclosure: I contribute to the respective market shares of most vitamin enhanced water beverages), but I definitely enjoyed this lean machine flavor. And since I pride myself on being in good shape at the moment (since I’m underemployed and have the time), and as much as I joke around, I like the fact that is has zero calories. I like it a lot.

If I was Gary Vee, which I most certainly am not (my palate detects two types of wine: “cheap” and “expensive”), I’d say Cherimoya Punch hits you with a faint cotton candy scent, teasing you, until you drink it and discover a different, cool, refreshing, better-tasting Lemon Chill-type flavor–with a hint of Bomb Pops you used to buy from the neighborhood ice cream man.

I also tasted a hint of New Zealand prairie grass. (Not really, but I felt the need to add something that sounds distinguished.)

Thoughts on Strawberry Dragonfruit:

I reviewed “the white.” Now it was time to review “the red.” While Strawberry Dragonfruit didn’t remind me of anything new, it did provide that wonderful Sobe flavor that I’ve come to expect from a lean machine beverage, ever since I drank the fountain version of Sobe’s Cranberry-Grapefruit Lean three times a week while working at New Line Cinema and eating lunch at Quizno’s. (The New Line Cinema reference was an unnecessary brag. My bad.) Between that, and handing out free Sobe bottles at radio promotional events for the former Zone 101.5 in Phoenix in college, I’m a regular Sobe connoisseur. (Again, I was looking at my resume today. I apologize.)

If I was Gary Vee, again, I would say, unlike Cherimoya Punch, which surprises you, Strawberry Dragonfruit picks up steam as you chug, developing it’s taste and pleasing your palate with a very definite strawberry taste, followed by a hint of the tasty part of cough syrup (with no aftertaste), followed by realized excitement about draining your lizard later that day. I also detected a hint of peppermint bark and those old style wax candy root beer bottles. (Again, not really, but I had to amp up this critique.)

Bottom line: If you liked SoBe before–especially lifewater–you will like these new flavors. In my opinion, the zero calories do not take away from the taste. And since I usually drink these after working out anyway, the taste is not my primary concern. It should not be yours either. And if it is…you have weird goals for consuming vitamin enhanced water beverages, my friend. And this is not at all to say that these flavors don’t taste great. They do for me.

And check out what they did to me after I drank them…

"The Less of a Situation"

Yup. Before I drank these bottles of Sobe lifewater lean machine, Cherimoya Punch and Strawberry Dragonfruit, I wasn’t wearing a shirt. Afterward, I was jacked, and this t-shirt and a pair of Seven jeans were painted on my body. Unbelievable. Drink more SoBe…

Related: Full press release here.

Brian Laesch is an independent blogger/reviewer of new products that fit his demographic. Don’t worry, IRS, you do not need to come after him.

It looks like NBC read my previous post, “Does Jay Leno own NBC?,” and decided to show him who was boss. Just kidding. But “The Jay Leno Show” has been canceled, and rumor has it that Jay Leno has been asked to host a half-hour show at 11:35 p.m., followed by Conan at 12:05 a.m. According to inside sources, Conan is not happy about it.

And that’s all I have to say, about that…

Here are the links:

• Variety: NBC kicks ‘Jay Leno’ out of primetime
• Variety: Conan O’Brien ‘stung” by NBC
• Avatar won the box office for the fourth consecutive weekend with $48.5 million domestically. In related news, I’m still waiting for a rapper to paint their car “Avatar blue”…
• Boxoffice.com tracked the total weekly Tweets about The Book of Eli, The Lovely Bones and The Spy Next Door. Not sure why they The Lovely Bones led the way, easily, with 7,123 Tweets. (I actually thought it would be a lot higher than that…)
• You’ve seen the new Domino’s campaign that basically says, “our pizza sucked, but it’s good now,” right? BrandFreak wonders why we should believe Domino’s now, if they lied to us before…
• In case you are interested, Hornet’s Peter Sluszka created the animation sequences from the new Michael Cera awkward comedy, Youth in Revolt.
• The Simpsons celebrated their 20th anniversary last night. Did you watch the special? Morgan Spurlock hosted it…so I didn’t feel like watching, for some reason. Or maybe it’s the fact that the show has been on for twenty years. I love The Simpsons…but it feels like they celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2002.
• Want to turn your Apple iPhone into a World War II fighter plane!? Oh…you don’t? Never mind.
• MediaFreak: The return of ‘Lost’ is less than a month away, and still so many questions (Let’s hope they get cleared up.)
• Rumors has it that the Apple Tablet will have a webcam and 3G connectivity… Good thing AT&T’s map won’t get in the way of viewing someone’s webcam. Hey-oh!

Thank you. Thank you, very much.

Brian Laesch compiled this list of links from the worlds of entertainment, advertising, marketing, tech, and more for boutique recruitment agency Eleventh Hour.

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By now, you’ve heard the rumors about Jay Leno reclaiming “The Tonight Show,” moving back to the 11:35 p.m. timeslot, moving to Fox, or whatever other rumors are out there. (I may start a rumor that Jay Leno refuses to comply with his current contract unless NBC brings in James Cameron to shoot the show in 3D.) One thing seems certain: the status of Jay Leno’s new show seems completely uncertain. (THR: ‘Jay Leno Show’ future uncertain. See?)

But does Jay Leno own NBC? It’s all speculation at this point, but with all of the stories out there in the trades, the mainstream media, and the Twitter stream, it seems that the comedian/mechanic has the upper hand in all of this. NBC says they are committed to keeping Conan O’Brien…but they seem more interested in keeping Jay Leno and their affiliates happy, at any cost. I understand the concern over appeasing the affiliates who do not like Jay Leno leading into their local news. But shouldn’t they be just as worried about losing Conan? Sure, Conan’s ratings have come nowhere close to Leno’s on The Tonight Show…but isn’t Conan’s younger audience better for the future of The Tonight Show franchise? Or maybe NBC is ahead of it’s time. Maybe Conan should be the host of the Tonight Show in 10 years, when more of his long-time fans are more frequently settled down at home. Or maybe NBC should just move The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien to NYC and the magic will return.

Whatever happens, it seems as though Jay Leno will get his way, and go riding off into the sunset in some sort of antique car that he will only drive once.

Let’s face it, for whatever the reason, Jay Leno owns NBC. His monologue last night confirms it (via THR):

“What does NBC stand for — never believe your contract?” He also suggested he might switch networks. “If we did get canceled, it will give us time to do some traveling,” he said. “I understand that Fox is beautiful this time of year.”

Brian Laesch forms these opinions on very little “inside knowledge” and mostly the same information available to the general public…but in a cool way.

Welcome back to Around the Creative World. This is the first posting of links in the new decade, and in the year “10.” (Is that what we’re supposed to call it? That’s what I’m calling it. In this economy, there’s no time to waste saying the “20″ before it. So “10″ it is.)

Untrue fun fact of the day: The time saved in a year by not saying the “20″ in “2010″ adds up to three weeks.

Here are the links…

• Avatar continues to dominate the box office, threatening Titanic and Dark Knight for the title of highest grossing film of all time. In related news, no rappers have yet coined the term “Avatar blue” to discuss the paint job on their “whips.”
• In real related news, Avatar could soon be the fifth film in history to gross more than $1 billion worldwide. And it’s done so with the help of an awesome advertising and marketing campaign.
• The National Society of Film Critics has awarded “The Hurt Locker” (find a screener somewhere if you haven’t seen it), and I’m really glad they did. I think everybody who saw it agrees with me. With all due respect to James Cameron, forget Avatar. The Hurt Locker is the Best Picture for 2009.
• Flixster is buying IGN’s Rotten Tomatoes. I like it. I hope they create a site that puts social media head-to-head with Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregated reviews from critics. It would be interesting to see the percentage of people in social media who like a film versus the critic percentage. I’m guessing they are markedly different for a number of films.
• AdvertisingAge:  Who’s Buying What in Super Bowl 2010 (I actually edited their headline because “the Super Bowl 2010″ sounded awkward. You’re welcome, AdvertisingAge.)
• This awesome Johnnie Walker spot is considered a “Pick of the Year” by Creativity.
• Are you unsatisfied with your posterior? Then try Booty Pop! (Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s real.)
• TechCrunch: An Inside Look At A Twitter Style Guide: 140 Characters (Have I mentioned that Eleventh Hour is on Twitter?)

Brian Laesch has compiled this list of links for Eleventh Hour. He is disappointed that he didn’t know about Booty Pop before Christmas.

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