BRETT

In case you missed it, my boy Brett did his thing this weekend.



Anyway, I'm sure most of you have already seen this clip a millions times. Except for Gabe, of course, whose favorite "sport" to watch is poker. Seriously. As far as this week's most exciting poker "highlight", I'm pretty sure this is it.

REHEARSAL

Had a rehearsal last week for a short film I'm directing next month.

Small production meeting and ran through the script with some of the actors.



Prior to the rehearsal, I watched a bunch of episodes of Inside the Actor's Studio. I thought it would help put me in the right state of mind to work with the actors and coax compelling performances out of them. Unfortunately they were all pretty good the first time through the script and didn't require much direction whatsoever.



Not everyone could make the rehearsal however, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a few people show up next month with awful performances or at least completely unprepared, that way I can mold their character portrayals from scratch and really feel Martin Scorsese-ish.

DRUG TEST WEDNESDAY

Had to get a little drug test done at a lab in Tustin today.

It was about as glamorous as it sounds. Basically there's a potential freelance project next month that would require me to work onsite at one of the client's LA offices and apparently they require drug tests from all vendors and employees.

Anyway, sort of an odd experience. The lab tech was super OCD and excessively thorough. I get that that's the nature of her job and everything, but she really acted like she thought I was Lance Armstrong and that the results of my test would make worldwide headlines or something.

I also signed about 20 pages of paperwork including corporate Whistle Blower policies, Ethics guidelines and, my personal favorite, a Violence in the Workplace memo which basically advised against bringing weapons and explosives into their offices if at all possible.

Anyway, when we hire our next Junior Designer, or the Personal Chef/Masseuse/Sneaker Cleaner that I've been telling Matt we really need to have, I'm going to have to keep all these nifty HR practices in mind.

RECENT WORK: IRON HORSE JEANS

Few of the promotional photos we took last week.

THURSDAY PHOTOSHOOT

Matt and I handled a small photoshoot Thursday for a client down in San Diego.

Few random, behind the scenes shots.







Also stopped by and checked out a retail space which a client of ours is considering leasing.

This place was a former butcher shop. There were holes to drain blood scattered around the floor plan.

Anyway, Matt took the day off today, what else is new?, so I've got to get back to work, but I'll post a few of the real photos up later.

MJ

As you may have heard, Michael Jeffrey Jordan was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame last week.



To mark the occasion, Michael sent me this nifty pair of black/black Jordan XXIII's in the mail today.



Well, technically I bought the shoes myself, from Flight Club, but I know that Michael wanted me to have them.



You guys would be impressed to know that these shoes are super eco-friendly; Nike claims they're biodegradable or something. On the other hand, if you knew how much they cost, you'd probably just be disgusted.

P.S. Don't mention these to Matt, I put them our Plum card. Also, if the IRS asks, these are part of my 'work uniform' and therefore completely deductible.

COMING THIS FALL...

The First Annual 0484CREATIVE Fall Preview

Seems like all the magazines and media outlets are releasing their lists for things to look out for in the next few months. We didn't want to miss out on the fun, so now that Jay's album has dropped, here are a few other things we're looking forward to. Plus, we're way more objective and trustworthy than TIME and VOGUE and those other print media dinosaurs because unlike them, Matt and I refuse to accept advertising money (hence the lack of cheesy banners or adwords on this blog), lest we risk compromising our journalistic integrity.



5. UFC 103 / Franklin vs Belfort / 091909
This is all Matt. I really don't know much about this whole neanderthal wrestling phenomenon, but he is all about it. To be honest, Matt has been a UFC fan for a long time. Like way before it got popular in all the trailer parks and Southern states, Matt was renting the UFC highlight tapes (in VHS format, mind you). If you guys want more UFC info, just post your questions inside any of the UFC chatroom message boards Matt frequents and I'm sure he'll get back to you (look for screenname 'matza_baller')



4. Capitalism: A Love Story / Michael Moore / 100209
The latest from Michael Moore. Love him or hate him, he makes some interesting films. Personally, I think I liked it better 10 years ago when Moore was simply an obscure documentary filmmaker and not a super polarizing public figure. But regardless, if nothing else, I'm sure this film will give Matt and I plenty of new topics to argue about and debate.



3. Open: An Autobiography / Andre Agassi /110909
I always liked Agassi more than Sampras. I don't know if it was because he was the fiesty rebel or because he was usually sort of the underdog, or both. Agassi always felt like Dennis Rodman-ish whereas Sampras just kind of reminded you of a dude who worked for H&R Block or something.



2. Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel / Mariah Carey / 092909
I'm going to keep it real and let you guys know that Matt and I are both waiting for this album to drop. And that's big because, as you know, Matt doesn't even listen to music.



1. 2009-10 NBA Season / 102709
Iverson's in Memphis, Shaq is in Cleveland and I'm holding my breath that Ron doesn't ruin the Lakers' chemistry. Plus my boy, Jason Williams (the white one, not the murderer and not the motorcycle accident one) is back from a year hiatus and running back up point in Orlando. Besides all the major Purple and Gold games, I think Matt and I will squeeze in a few Clippers runs just to see Blake Griffin. I worked for the Clippers Marketing Department one year during college, so Matt and I might have to replicate a couple All-Access employee badges (don't doubt us).

P.S. Lots of exciting 0484 stuff on the way this fall too. Few websites, few super secret projects we can't yet talk about, few random internal projects. Stay tuned.

JOB RELATED RESEARCH

Stopped by Fashion Island the other day.



Had to examine jeans hangtag designs, materials use and execution. Matt and I are buried in a few projects at the moment for an undisclosed denim start up. In terms of design processes, very few small agencies and freelancers invest the type of time that Matt and I do into researching the minutiae of our clients' markets.


We're currently in the middle of sending our hangtag designs, as well as specs for buttons, riverts and zippers, to the factories in China.

We don't do the research to rip off ideas or anything, but it helps to have a current reference of what others are doing before we craft a strategy for our clients. And, since we work for people in a broad range of markets, that just means that on an average day, Matt and I discuss everything from kid's video games websites to jeans zipper sizes to e-commerce strategies for the pet bed cover industry.


We'll post pictures of the jeans we're working on, and all the packaging details as the production process progresses.

Plus we don't stick our clients with unnecessary costs. At larger 'fancy' agencies where the 'creative' people have chips on their shoulders and all wear weird eyeglass frames and blazers over their t-shirts, they'd have bought at least 15 pairs of designer jeans, at the clients' expense, simply to examine and reference the hangtags. Whereas all we really needed was a few quick snapshots from my iPhone and the only cost to the client was the $4 for my Cinnabon on the way out of the mall.

BLACK SATURDAY

The US Open is over.

My boy, Andy Roddick, was upset today in the 3rd Round by some dumb 6'9" unknown giant.

I really thought we, (Andy and I - of course) had a good shot at the Open this year. Every year, at every major tournament, I manage to convince myself that perhaps this will be the time when Andy breaks through and wins another big title. 'Maybe Federer will catch Swine H1N1 flu and Nadal will get called for jury duty and then Andy will crush the rest of the field,' I foolishly think to myself every couple months throughout the tennis season.

And sometimes he gets close. Just close enough to keep a small glimmer of hope alive for the next time.


Roddick memorabilia at our old office

Anyway, the next major tournament, The Australian Open, isn't until next January. Maybe things will be different then. Maybe Andy will make the Finals. Maybe he'll finally beat that stupid robot Roger Federer. Maybe...

LOCATION SCOUTING

Drove out to Glendale a few days ago to meet with my boy Jordan Warren.







Location scouting and discussing the script for a short film we're shooting in October. Besides that, can't say too much more about why we were hanging out in this dinky little kids gym in 104º heat.

Enjoy the long weekend.

RECENT WORK: COURTROOM WARRIOR

Recently did a bunch of work for a Manhattan Beach attorney named Michael Louis Kelly.


Mostly HTML based, super search engine friendly. Nice little Flash based navigation bar with drop down menus.


Shot this portrait myself, out at Torrance Airport where Michael keeps his planes.


We personally photographed years worth of relevant articles and awards for placement on the site.

Courtroomwarrior.com
This might be one of the largest, best executed sites that we've done in a while. Most lawyers and firms have template based sites from one of a few companies who 'specialize' in mass producing cheesy sites so anything clean and custom really separates you from the field. After the site launched, we followed it up with a couple direct mail campaigns and a bit of strategic local advertising. Anyway, overall we really enjoyed all parts of the process.


One of the promotional direct mail postcards.

TBWA/CHIAT DAY

Awhile back I mentioned that Matt and I toured the the Southern California TBWA/Chiat Day headquarters back when we were about 17.

I remarked that it was right around that time that I realized that doing design and advertising seemed much better than having to actually to work for a living. (so far, so good)

Anyway, Bobby Hundreds just posted a slew photos from his own, recent TBWA visit on his blog. Check 'em out. A massive studio filled with basketball and surfboard paraphernalia - this is basically what the 0484CREATIVE office will look like about 5 years from now. So, you're basically looking straight into the future when you view these office pictures - creepy, right? Well, we'll also probably have to have a giant octagon fighting cage where Matt and I will settle our creative disputes.

And a helipad.

And a craps table.