Vitaluna.net -- Crazy Life in Emo, Ontario » Miscellany

Hardcore Fridge Magneting

Lincoln — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:50:29 +0000

Frances and I have been off-and-on fridge magnet-types for a long time. Our past purchases have included a big honkin’ Elvis (straight from Graceland), as well as a variety of cool/ridiculous smaller ones. No magnet poetry, however.
The folks at Motifo have taken it to a new level, with a full-fridge magnet set. Very slick and creative; I can only imagine what my chilluns could do to my fridge with that.
There’s a contest to win a set over at Random Good Stuff — check them out, if you have a minute. They regularly keep me plied with time wasters on my lunch hour.

Another effective NGO ad

Lincoln — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:31:27 +0000

A bit obvious, but excellent, nonetheless:

Found at Random Good Stuff.

Campy marketing truism

Lincoln — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:06:46 +0000

I’m finishing off an integrated marketing communications course right now, and have to do an evaluation of the success of my campaign. Here’s my little bit of obvious:
“Any major campaign that begins without testing of concepts and creative strategies is like cooking for a dinner party without a recipe: creative intuition may result in a satisfying meal, but it

Cambrian Youth Event

Lincoln — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:59:53 +0000

We’re all in Thunder Bay at the moment, and participating in the semi-annual Cambrian Presbytery meetings, which includes the (10th year!) youth event at the meetings. We’ve had a ton of fun with the teens this time, looking at media, marketing and self-image, along with some of the stuff from the United Church of Canada’s “Emerging Spirit” campaign, part of which is the discussion forum, Wondercafe.ca.
On Wondercafe, they’ve got a commercial that was produced as part of the campaign, titled “EZ Answer Squirrel.” This weekend, the teens came up with their own parody versions of the ad.
Here’s the original:

Here’s the first one:

Here’s the second one:

Here’s the third one:

Getting To Know You Games & Icebreakers

Lincoln — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:34:29 +0000

Many that know me know I’ve spent a really, really long time doing volunteer youth work in the United Church. Over that time, I’ve developed a list of games and such for icebreaker situations, many copied from other locations, other people, other resources, etc. Great artists steal, and all that. I wanted to compile it all in one place and make it available, since I have lots of people who ask me for resources, so I’m putting a PDF up here. It’s got appropriate games, activities and such for youth groups, school classrooms, and even for adult icebreakers too. We don’t spend nearly enough time getting silly as adults

Cheap-Ass Mosquito Magnet

Lincoln — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:27:49 +0000

Being as I’ll be unemployed in two weeks, I’m scopin’ for cheap stuff — more so than usual, that is. I found this DIY mosquito trap that I’ll definitely be trying out this summer. We have scads of mosquitos, and I apparently release copious amounts of CO2, since I’m always the litmus test for when the kids should go inside for the night.

Brilliant Flag Art

Lincoln — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 13:49:25 +0000

From Steve’s BNL Blog, I saw this amazing work by Icaro Doria, a series of flags that subtly decry injustices (and ignorance) around the globe. Amazing, cool way to visually represent the data. I wonder if there’s a plug-in for Excel to do nonstandard data graphing like this…

The Zip.ca Roulette Wheel

Lincoln — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 15:23:13 +0000

Since November, when one of our two local video stores closed (ahh, the vagaries of living in a town of 1500 people), we’ve subscribed to Zip.ca, A Canadian answer to Netflix.
Cost-wise, it works out to be a little cheaper than renting from a video store. And, you can usually keep a fairly steady flow of movies coming and going.
But the best part of Zip’s service is the randomness of the titles that arrive. You can specify two titles at a time for “ASAP” delivery, but the rest come from your list of titles. Frances and I spent an evening going through and playing our own version of six degrees of separation, picking over 200 titles to put on the list. And they include movies that are everything from “I really should see this, but haven’t bothered yet” titles, to “The terrible movie that I can’t resist renting” titles. Zip has removed the barrier for renting ridiculous nostalgia titles like Summer Rental — just for the hell of it.
Here’s what we’ve seen since November. Notice the prediliction towards Buffy. Man, I wish we’d watched the show when it was running — we both love it now:
Shark Tale
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 2 Disc 3
Shaun of the Dead
Matchstick Men
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 2 Disc 2
Project Greenlight’s Stolen Summer
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 2 Disc 1
The Day After Tomorrow
Scooby-Doo
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 1 Disc 3
The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville)
Shrek (Full Frame)
Escape From New York: Special Edition
61*
Stuck On You
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 1 Disc 2
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 1 Disc 1
Mona Lisa Smile
Stuck On You
Anger Management
Clifford’s Really Big Movie
Something’s Gotta Give
The Cooler
Arthur’s Snow Day
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
Pieces Of April
Clifford: Clifford Saves The Day!
Max & Ruby’s Christmas
Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-lot
Honeymoon In Vegas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Aladdin
V: The Final Battle Disc 1
Bulletproof Monk
Memphis Belle
Super Size Me
Hellboy
The Man With One Red Shoe
The Incredible Adventures Of Wallace & Gromit

Kidney Donations to Perfect Strangers

Lincoln — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 16:52:29 +0000

I heard a piece on the CBC yesterday about kidney donation. A woman in Toronto donated her kidney to a perfect stranger who was in renal failure. It was a painful story to hear, as they detailed the red tape they needed to wade through to make it a reality (doctors, psychologists, counselors) before the Canadian health system would let her donate.
By coincidence, I found this story this morning, at Craig Newmark’s blog, how several people were using craigslist to find a kidney donor.
I’m amazed at the generosity of spirit that would enable someone to do this for a friend or relative, let alone a stranger.

Be still, beating heart…

Lincoln — Sun, 12 Sep 2004 01:01:11 +0000

…I’m trying mightily to keep from bidding on the opportunity to have a non-speaking, walk-on part on the “George Lopez” show.
No, I’m not. But apparently 44 other people are, and someone’s willing to spend $1,000 to work for free, and be not-famous for a fleeting moment. Great idea on the part of the production company though. “Why pay extras, when we can SELL them the opportunity to do what others usually get paid fairly well for?”
Can anyone else hear the union lawyers’ collective apoplexy?