ORK City Neighborhood Posters - STL?

I saw these posters and prints on Uncrate today, and thought they were worth a share.



They are from Ork Posters. They're cool. Simple and almost novice typography manipulation, but it really works.

I just wish they had a STL version.

I want St. Louis get back on its game, reintroduce ourselves to the world as a place of popularity with a cool cultural vibe. Personally, I think, and I am one of the biggest critics I know, that STL is an awesome city.

In the last year I have been to Nashville, Chicago, Portland, Rome, Paris, Philly, NYC, Orlando, Kansas City and San Diego. After reflecting on each trip, each city, I look back and say, "That was awesome, but really, honestly, did I do anything different here that I do in St. Louis? Was I more cultured, was the food better, were the women more beautiful, did I have more fun?"

Obviously there were various check marks in the "Yes" category for multiple reasons (The Beach, Gniocci, Subways, Mountains, etc.). But in each place I always felt like, if I got past the touristiness and the shock of seeing things I'm not used to, I would do pretty much the same thing there that I do here. Plus I would miss a lot from STL as well.

Things like relatively cheap housing. Farms. Sold Out Baseball Stadiums where people come early and stay till the game is over. The Hill. Frozen Custard (I know its everywhere, but I have a distinguished palette in this regard). House design and architecture styles (plus basements, storage, brick, backyards, trees, etc). Food. We have great food, again with good quantities, and not so presumptuous an attitude or prices as other cities. What else? Free concerts under the Arch. Seasons. You know, Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall. They smell so nice in St. Louis. Sure they get old, but right when you're pissed off about them they change, and there's that sweet smell that makes you want to lay down wherever you are and stay there the entire day.

Anyway, we just need to communicate to the world what we know and they forgot. That we can compete in the culture war. We can create new things, be thought leaders, make art, win Superbowls and World Series and Stanely Cups, but most importantly, we need to come together as a city and MAKE IT HAPPEN. Maybe we'll get a city neighborhood poster. Or maybe we should be the ones creating posters of our own.

Here are a few more posters from other cities.

Summerhaven Swim Club

I heard this song the other day, and it reminded me of my youth, but more specifically, the pool I swam (lived) at when I was a kid. It's Aretha Franklin ft. George Michael "I Knew You Were Waiting".



Great song. Makes me flashback to smells of chlorine, tastes of deep-frozen Snickers bars and that irreplaceable feeling of having the time of your life just splashing around with your best friends. The sounds of soft rock ever-present in the background.

Summerhaven, later Paddock, wasn't exclusive. It wasn't ritzy. Hell, I'm not afraid to admit the place was kind of a dump. But it was the community's dump. And we loved it. My parents, along with a group of others kept the place weedless, wet and working until and amid the 90's North St. Louis County white-flight. They did all they could do, but couldn't keep the place going, so it closed. It was a church for a while, but I think now its just a concrete hole filled with rain water. Disgusting, desolate and depressing.

What my parents and the others may now see as a worthless struggle or wasted time, I look back on as some of the best times of my life. Due to their hard word I not only learned the Butterfly and Backstroke, but how hard work, cooperation and friendship can accomplish amazing things.

"Thanks."

Here is short list of other songs that graced mine ears while frolicking in the sun and splashing in the pool... wearing Speedos, mind you. I looked good:

1. Every Little Kiss - Bruce Hornsby



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2. Valerie - Steve Winwood



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3. These Dreams - Heart



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4. I Want To Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston



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5. The Motown Song - Rod Stewart



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6. Do You Believe In Love - Huey Lewis and the News



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7. Middle of the Night - Billy Joel



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8. When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going - Billy Ocean



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9. Hard To Say I'm Sorry - Chicago



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10. Free Fallin - Tom Petty



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Check back in the next few days, and I'll post some photos of the pool and my Speedos.

Shaq vs. Albert: Homerun Derby Continued...

I caught Albert's first (fake) homerun ball.

I guess they wanted to film some B-Roll before the real deal went down. We didn't know. Shaq and Pujols both came out to great fanfare. Shaq had a round, then Albert was up. First ball off the bat came two rows behind me.

Bounce.

Bounce.

Snag.

There it was, under the bleachers behind me. It was my years of Spoons playing finally realized. I have very fast hands.

But then after Albert had done the deed. 11 times. They announced that those didn't count and they were going to re-do the entrance, the fanfare and the whole first round.

So, like I said I caught a homerun from José Alberto, but it didn't count.

Who cares.

Here's the promo from ABC about the show:



That was a fun experience last night. Free. Saw two genuine sport superstars. Was literally in Homerun ally, with balls right over my head at least 22 times. Shack took off his shoes and batting gloves and handed them out to people right next to me. Albert, Shaq and AJ Pujols all, as they say in Field of Dreams, "had a catch," about 20 yards away from us.

By the way this is probably no surprise, but AJ Pujols is incredible. Better arm, hand eye coordination and composure in front of cameras than any ~seven year old I have ever seen. Trust me, I worked for 6 years at a little league concession stand, and I've seen a lot of seven year olds playing ball. This kid is awesome.

The whole event was set up so that Shaq had a fighting chance. So while Albert had to hit over the regulation fence, Shaq only had to hit over a fence about 100 to 150 yards out. Round 1 Pujols had the standard 10 outs, while Shaq had 15, Round two was a 7 to 10 out matchup and the final round was a 3 to 5 out split.

I won't tell you who won or how many homeruns were hit, you'll have to watch Shaq Vs. on ABC in mid August for that, but I will say that this could be a really fun show to watch. Other contestants include Serena Williams, Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Phelps and more.

Hint. Hint: The show might prove that not all amazing athletes can be good at every sport.

Shaq vs. Albert: Homerun Derby

My sister got me tickets to this for tonight. Shaq vs Albert Pujols in a Homerun Derby.

I think its for this new TV Show Shaq has.

I'm leaving now, but I'll let you know all about it tomorrow.

Respect! Missouri

Saw this on FFFFound.com today. Don't know what it is, don't care.

It's awesome.

Restaurant.com - 80% OFF

I usually try to inverted pyramid my blog posts, but not this time. Restaurant.com is offering 80% OFF their already discounted gift certificates to local restaurants you already go to, or definitely want to try. I saw this on Outblush.com., which is an amazing site, with cool things intended for the ladies, but awesome for guys too. Great for Christmas, Birthday or Arbor Day presents.

Heres how it works. You go to restaurant.com, where they sell discounted gift certificates to restaurants all around the country. An example would be "Buy a $25 Gift Certificate for $10". There are some limitations, like only valid Sun - Thurs, or must spend $35, etc. But you get the picture, It's a good deal if you use them.

However, this weekend, and until Monday June 15, if you enter the coupon code PRESENT, you get an extra 80% OFF your entire order. Tht $25 gift certificate you were buying for $10 is now just $2.

Here's the list of Restaurants in the STL area. But the site has options all across the country.

Here is where i got mine for, and what I paid:

Feasting Fox $25 Gift Certificate

The Drunken Fish - Central West End $25 Gift Certificate

An American Place $25 Gift Certificate

Monarch $25 Gift Certificate

Baileys' Chocolate Bar $10 Gift Certificate

Rooster $10 Gift Certificate

Flaco's Cocina $25 Gift Certificate

Cafe Eau $25 Gift Certificate

Crepes in the City $25 Gift Certificate

Coco Louco Brasil $25 Gift Certificate

Sgt. Pepper's Cafe $25 Gift Certificate

TOTAL: $19.20

Do it. Do it now.

Exipres TOMORROW - MONDAY the 15th

Celebrate St. Louis with Musical Mediocrity

So the line-up for Live on the Levee Summer 2009 was announced recently, and it's good. Maybe mediocre in the header is a bit harsh, but what can I say, I like alliteration.

No huge names, but overall I'm impressed and excited.

Many might not agree, but I am a really big fan of Counting Crowes. They'll take the stage July 4th.

Some say they never lived up to their potential or dreadlocks, but I disagree. Butterfly in Reverse, Round Here, Color Blind and of course Mr. Jones were great songs, and reamain so today. Sure their set list is fraught with covers that appeared on Shrek Soundtracks and easy listening radio, but hey... you gotta make money these days. I still like them and am proud to say it.

The rest of the list looks good as well:

Lupe Fiasco
Sonic Youth
Guster
Train
Gretchen Wilson
Angie Stone
Nat and Alex Wolff (for the kiddies)
Little Feat

I'll be there for at least 4 of these. 50%; thats a good percentage.

It's always free, fun and perfect on a nice St. Louis evening.

Let me know if I'll be seeing you there.

Does your iPhone look like this?

If not, you should think about joining the club!

NGAGE now Hughes...

Sorry I have been out of sorts lately. I was on vacation, where I destroyed at least 5 burritos, frolicked on 2 beaches and took in a whole lot of sunshine in San Diego. Also, work has been crazy lately. We're cranking out a website and promo pieces for Astound Sound. They're an audio software that takes your compressed music and movies and expands the sound without stretching it. Its pretty incredible, and the work we're doing for it is very cool. The new site should be live in a couple weeks. Here's the banner I'm working on now, just to give you a sense.



But also, we found out a few weeks ago that my company NGAGE has merged with an agency known as Hughes, and that we are going to retain their name. Hughes has been around for more than 30 years, and has about 30 clients. Scottrade, our biggest client, will remain so for Hughes, but we are also bringing our other beautiful clients, much needed digital expertise and agency culture/brand. Here's some of our combined work, I did some of it.



As I said, Hughes has been in existence for over 30 years, and has seen at least two generations of Hughes at the helm. They have been profitable, versatile and extremely thorough. They specialize in the front end, and the back end. The research, and the PR proliferation. We are charged with bringing them a better creative product, opening doors in the digital space and most importantly breathing some new life and freshness into the company.

The immediate question from everyone when I tell them is, "Is your job ok?" The answer is an overwhelming yes. First off, I plan to approach the situation like my job is in danger, even though it's not. I'm going to dominate. But, lets go through the list of pluses in my court:

1. Hughes is an agency that falls more in line with my educational background (though I feel like my education may have been a bit outdated), and NGAGE has prepared me for where Hughes and the marketing world is moving. I'm covered.

2. My Creative Director will remain my CD, and immediate boss. This is huge, and if I was jumping onto a whole new creative team, I think I might be a bit more concerned. Though new creative thinking is never a bad thing, it's nice that I am on the inside of this transition.

3. I don't have to move offices again. Hughes (South Campus as we're calling it) is coming here. Which means a new creative floor. Thus less shushing from the AEs and more creatives being creative; collaborating. Never a bad thing.

4. More clients. More variety. We're like Y98 over here.

5. New people, more people. Fresh blood, fresh ideas. More business contacts. More growth potential.

So, I'll keep you guys up to date on how I feel moving forward, but as of now, I'm pumped.

St. Louis Originals

So we all know how I feel about local restaurants vs. chain slop houses ( See my post about The Hill ).

Well I have been a member of this St. Louis Originals rewards program for a few years now. I'll admit, I tend to opt into things, use them religiously, and have absolutely no clue how to benefit from them... so I don't. This held true for this card until yesterday.

Listen to this long, drawn out and difficult process. I had to go to the website, enter my card number... okay, that was it. And it generated an unexpected surprise. I have earned $40 in rewards. That's cash money, player.

This is how it works. If you flash your St. Louis Originals card at any of the participating restaurants, you earn a point per every dollar you spend. So to beat a dead horse, a $10 check means 10 points, and a $200 check means 200 points. For every 150 points you acquire, you earn $10 towards your purchase at any of the St. Louis Originals restaurants.

Aside from that, your membership gets you drink, appetizer and meal specials at many of the restaurants as well. Here's a good example from Bailey's Chocolate Bar – widely regarded as the best dessert spot in STL:

Come in to Baileys' Chocolate Bar on Mondays and Thursdays to receive any of our martinis at HALF PRICE with your food purchase. What better way to spend a cool spring evening in St Louis than with a delicious (half price) martini and a light snack followed by a decadent dessert!

And last but not least is something that I can't quite wrap my head around. St. Louis Originals offers gift certificates for all the restaurants on their list. That part I understand. However, they offer them at discounted rates. So a $50 gift certificate only costs $35. A $25 gift card will only set you back $17.50.

What!?!

That is by far the coolest offer I have ever heard. I don't know how long they will have this offer, or if there is some legal copy I am missing, but you can check it out for yourself here.



I am pumped, and excited that I have another excuse to go to these great culinary establishments and splurge.

Another round, "Hell yeah!"

Dessert, "Why not!"

Truffles, "What the hell is a truffle? Who cares?"

Here are the list of establishments that St. Louis Originals lists as their members ( I'll !!! my faves):

Baileys' Chocolate Bar !!!
Bryan Young Catering Plus
Cafe Provencal
Companion
Cravings Rest. & Bakery
Dierdorf & Harts
Duff's
Eau
Eleven Eleven Mississippi !!!
Harry's Restaurant & Bar
Harvest
Herbie's
LoRusso's Cucina
Massa's
Mike Shannon's
Monarch
Ricardo's Italian Cafe
Riddle's Penultimate Cafe !!!
Rooster !!!
Schlafly Tap Room/Bottleworks !!!
Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream
Soda Fountain Square
Square One Brewery & Distillery !!!
SqWires Restaurant and Market
Sunset 44 Bistro
Tenderloin Room
Terrene
The Delmar Restaurant & Lounge
The Gardens at Malmaison
The Scottish Arms
The Shaved Duck
Three Monkeys
Trattoria Marcella
Vin de Set !!!
Vito's Sicilian Pizzeria & Ristorante
Wapango
Wild Horse Grill

Bon Appetit!

New Office for NGAGE

So... many people are flabbergasted when they hear I have never seen the movie Office Space. To be honest, I've seen bits and pieces throughout the years (Thank you TBS), but I never seem to see the whole thing. It has never really kept my interest enough to overpower my addiction to changing channels during commercials.

I kinda feel like it might be because the movie has never really applied to me on a personal level. I was in High School when it came out, in college when it hit its peak popularity and now that I am in the working world, I haven't worked anywhere that was terrible. In fact, most of the places I have graced with my incredible talent and unyielding intelligence for hire have rejected the Office Space clichè of Hawaiian shirts and facsimile machine malfunctions.

Holding true to this track record of excellence has been my current and hopefully long time employer NGAGE.

Check out our new office in downtown St. Louis.





















You can find out more about my company here if you want. We just recently launched our new website as well, it's pretty awesome.

Check it out.

Vivà la Hill!

I'm putting forth a Non-Binding Resolution in the city of St. Louis. Are you ready?

Anyone within reasonable proximity (~30 sq. mi.) to the highly Italian American populated St. Louis Neighborhood known as The Hill should rule out every restaurant on The Hill before choosing a chain restaurant like, but not limited to, The Olive Garden, Carabas, Maggianos Little Italy or Macaroni Grill.

It baffles me that in a town with some of the best Italian food you can get in the country, many of my neighbors and friends choose fake stucco walls, ridiculous terra cotta roofs and whatever the hell an "italian margarita" is instead.

What possible reasons could one have for not choosing the experience you get on The Hill?

Maybe someone isn't into way better tasting Italian food, authentically prepared, and usually by someone who actually speaks Italian.

It could be that they don't think about the benefits of supporting the local community and helping to boost the St. Louis economy.

Some individuals might be self conscious about having to read from a menu that doesn't simplify the names of the items to begin with a well known Italian city and end with the type of meat or pasta in the dish. Tuscan Chicken. Sicilian Scampi. Florence Filet.

Or maybe someone from out of town gave them gift cards to one of the chains for Christmas. Which is exactly what happened to me this weekend. I actually got a really good compare and contrast. Saturday night I was on The Hill at Cunetto's House of Pasta for Valentines Day. Sunday I went Gift Carding at The Olive Garden. The experience only solidified my stance, and actually made it a lot more stedfast.

Let's compare:

Wait Time:
Cunetto's - 3+ hour wait | Olive Garden - 30 min wait

Winner is Cunetto's. Believe it or not, I take solace in the fact that probably 75% of people that were confronted with a three hour wait at Cunetto's stayed. It's a testament to the food and service, or maybe it was just the bar... either way.

Atmosphere:
Cunetto's - Rat Pack | Olive Garden - Fake

Winner is Cunetto's. Don't get me wrong O.G. was beautiful, pristine, clean... all that. It was just fake. From the flowers, to the paintings all the way to the balcony seating for two that was not actually accessible by anyone. Cunetto's is dark and plain, but sophisticated. Not pretentious. The set decorator for The Sopranos couldn't ask for a better template.

Service:
Cunetto's - Quality/Classy/Stereotype-reaffirming | Olive Garden - Good/Friendly/Stereotype-reaffirming

Winner is Cunetto's. You knew where this was going. O.G. was good, and as I said friendly, but it was stereotypical chain restaurant service. Our waitress was missing teeth. Her missing teeth were not her fault, what can be faulted to her was the fact that she didn't know how to pronounce many of the items on the menu. And apparently neither could her counterpart serving the table behind us. The special of the day was Gnocchi (NYOH-kee), not NOTCH-ee, as both of them kept calling it from table to table.

Cunetto's server got everything right, though I probably didn't. The service was impeccable. Even during our wait, the busy hosts were patient with folks checking their status in the queue. And the best and most telling moment of the night happened when we were leaving (close to four and a half hours after arriving). The owner, who I had seen, but not spoken to throughout the night, thanked me by name, "Mr. Hutti," and then proceeds to assure me that the next time I am in he will, "Take care of me".

Awesome. Talk about a stereotype I am okay with being reaffirmed... great Italian service and class.

So, next time you're wanting Italian food consider The Hill first; maybe consider Cunetto's House of Pasta. If you can't get there and settle for a chain, I guess thats ok. I think MSG can taste really good with some Italian seasoning.

PS. I am against Olive Garden on principle also due to their rediculous comercials. See what I mean:



Or this:




Mad TV feels me:

Half Naked Animal Activists.

I got a text today that said simply, "Half Naked Girls at 8th and Olive". So after rounding up a posse from the office, to help alleviate any self-conscious thoughts of being a pervert, we went to check it out. Contrary to what you're thinking, I wasn't going for any type of voyeuristic sexual purpose. I had heard that PETA was out in Downtown St Louis to protest fur and support loving animals for Valentine's Day.

I always try to support anyone trying to make our fair city more city like. What wouldn't qualify as a teenage prank in New York City can fairly be called a Guerilla Marketing Event in the STL. And I support that. Here's an example.

The four block walk was chilly and brisk, but it wasn't long before we were confronted by cold, but spirited, animal lovers strutting their stuff in the name "furlessness".

The photo above originally featured a coworker, but out of privacy for her I have replaced her head with that of Joaquin Phoenix. A former PETA supporter and spokesperson, now resident lunatic trainwreck in Hollywood.

Those PETAish/GoVegitarian type people are persuasive. If you ever get a chance to watch Meet Your Meat, DO IT... or DON"T DO IT. You have to be all in or all out, because it'll have an impact. If it doesn't decrease your Meat consumption, It'll at least make you think about what kind of meat you eat and where it comes from.

You can watch it below.



Happy Valentines Day.

Hey! Remember the VP Fair!

We were pining for the Fourth of July on a cold February morning the other day, and the conversation turned to the quality of concerts that have performed at the VP Fair (Now Fair St. Louis/Live on the Levy) through out the years. I knew I had seen some greats in my childhood, but I wanted to find out exactly who was there. I found this recap of 81' through 91' here.

Were you there?

1981 – Rained Out – Loreta Lynn

1982- Chuck Berry, Bob Hope, Dionne Warwick, Roy Clark, the Beach Boys, and Elton John

1983 – Harry Belafonte, the Charlie Daniels Band, the Osmond Family and Linda Ronstadt, as well as 100 additional acts running the gamut of musical styles from Dixieland to rock, jazz, blues, and country.

1984 – Chuck Berry and John Denver performed “Roll Over Beethoven” on the river overlook. len Campbell, Helen Reddy, John Denver, Nancy Wilson, Buddy Rich and Tom T. Hall. NBC weatherman Willard Scott also attended.

1985 – Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Liza Minnelli, and Up With People

1986 – Dolly Parton on the main stage Saturday, July 5. Disney characters, charity fund-raising concerts by Ben Vereen and Lola Falana.

1987 – Tony Bennett, Suzanne Somers, Bernadette Peters, Chubby Checker, Natalie Cole, Peter Allen and the Rockettes. [68] Robert Urich and Oprah Winfrey co-hosted the show.

1988 – Patrick Duffy and Joanna Kerns, and featuring Glen Campbell, John Hartford, Kool and the Gang, Leroy Reems, Restless Heart, Judy Tenuta, Michael Winslow and Pia Zadora.

1989 – TBD

1990 – two actors from television’s Sesame Street. Fairchild, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Natalie Cole, Juice Newton, the Temptations and the Four Tops, the Grass Roots, Johnny Rivers and the New Riders of the Purple Sage.

1991 – The 1991 Veiled Prophet Fair was moved to the Labor Day weekend. Mary Wilson (formerly of the Supremes), Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Huey Lewis and the News, Styx, Bill Cosby, Smokey Robinson and Kenny Rogers performing.

1992 – 2008 – TBD