Saw this today on SuperAff...still cracking up. Good luck not getting this tune stuck in your head.

Posted by James at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’d been seeing mentions of Justin.tv all over the place but just kind of ignored it, but today I read this article to get up to speed (you should too). In short, Justin.tv is a real-time broadcast of Justin Kan’s life. Word around the campfire is that Justin.tv is wildly boring and wildly addictive.

But feel free to make the decision for yourself…here’s Justin.tv:

Posted by James at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's another round of shots I took with my Holga camera. Check the photoset on Flickr.

Posted by James at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I decided to mess around with Google Co-Op tonight and put together a graffiti art search engine. I found a couple dozen sites that seem to be good sources on urban art forms and combined them to put together this search engine.

You can use it below or on its Google co-op page – and if you want to make sure your site is included, send me an email at james (at) marketingpunk (dot) com.

Posted by James at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hate to do it, but I am getting a couple hundred spam comments a day on this blog, so I've decided to shut off comments for now. Hopefully I'll be able to switch them on again sometime soon. Damn spammers.

Posted by James at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by James at 09:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a world where web design is heading towards clean, bright, smooth looking web sites, there is something strangely beautiful about a site that totally defies the definition of good design, yet fully captures the essence of the person and service being advertised. And with that in mind, I give you Pro Ghost Hunter.

Time to get this guy some love from StumbleUpon…

Posted by James at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The thing I really like about super talented businesspeople/designers/artists/marketers who blog is that they often share the same insights with their readers as they do with their big consulting clients. A perfect example is Hugh MacLeod’s post, Edelman Talk. If you want to read about what marketing is about these days, make the jump and read the post.

Also, for you design lovers out there, make sure you read Mark Borden’s Less Hulk, More Bruce Lee article from Fast Company. It’s a great story about Michael Jager, his company JDK, and how they won the Xbox 360 account.

Posted by James at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is some really cool fine art on the recently redesigned Obey Giant site. Make sure you check it out – and if you have $400 some of this stuff might be a good investment. A couple of the prints I bought a couple of years ago have increased in value by over 10x.

If you are looking to decorate your foyer, I suggest this print:

Posted by James at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not sure how long this video will stay up until the copyright police take it down, but in the mean time, please enjoy this Top Gear segment on the most remarkable car on the road right now...

Posted by James at 08:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I keep hearing about Twitter and how it was the big thing out at the SXSW conference – but let’s admit it, Twitter seems like one of those things that many people play with but very few will use once the novelty wears off.

With that said, David Troy created a Twitter/Google Maps mash-up called Twittervision that is pretty darn cool. It basically shows you people “twittering” real-time. Check it out.

Posted by James at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the last couple months I've been listening to podcasts during my commute to and from work, and I think I have narrowed down my favorites…

The Daily Searchcast – An undernourished Danny Sullivan wraps up the day’s search marketing news…and sings and rants.

Diggnation – There is a reason why this is the most popular podcast on the Intarweb...

BBC Radio Newspod – A daily wrap-up of the top stories from the BBC.

Net Income – Super affiliate, Jeremy Schoemaker interviews important people in the online community.

The Accidental Creative – Thoughts for creative sanity for creative workers who are paid to “create on demand.”

Drum and Bass Arena Podcast – Amazing live sets from the best UK drum and bass artists…this one makes me go CRAZY.

Let me know if there are any podcasts you’re listening to that I should check out…

Posted by James at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Standing out in this over-saturated media market is beyond tough. Luckily, there are still some people out there who are talented and strange enough to break through the clutter. Here are two TV ads and two interactive sites that are just strange enough to grab my attention…

Orange ad for Innocent Juice:

The Dairy Queen ad for the new Flame-thrower Sandwich – watch the ad at YouTube (sorry, embed is turned off).

Next, Scion’s Want 2 Be Square Interactive site of madness. Looks like some agencies still have close relationships with their college drug dealers.

And then there is the strange ass Hermeticon site. Some graphic designer guy decided that he needed to build a site that’ll make you lose your mind to clips of 80’s commercials. Why? Why the hell not.

Big ups to AdRants for 75% of the points in this post.

Posted by James at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mac users are an interesting group of people. Most are true brand evangelists, and many treat being a Mac user as almost a religion. Quite frankly, Mac users can be a bit annoying about their love for the Mac.

I know that Macs rule for making movies and doing creative stuff…but PCs are good at stuff too. For example this site shows the one thing that PC users can do that Mac users can’t.

And speaking of brands that people are learning to hate, let’s see how things are going for good ‘ol Sony with the PlayStation 3…

Posted by James at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Things are finally thawing out here in Denver, so Kristi and I decided to go hiking. I forgot what a rad rock climber I am. :)

Check out other amazing pictures that Kristi took here.

Posted by James at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Seth Godin is coming to DU on April 19th, and if you are a marketing type, it might be worth the $95.00 to go and watch him. Seth has an amazing way of looking at marketing issues in a fresh and insightful way – and his observations can help take your company’s marketing to a higher level.

Check out the DU site to get the info.

Oh yeah, the title of my post is wishful thinking. But Seth, if you read this, I’d love to take you to dinner if you have any interest…I know it’s a long shot, but hey, a guy’s gotta try.

Posted by James at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I’m in the middle of reading Mavericks at Work and I ran across a quote that really hit home with me. The quote is from Dennis DeFlorio, the president of retail operations for Commerce Bankcorp. Dennis says:

Banking is a dead business. It’s a utility, like a gas company. We’re creating an emotional attachment with our customers. The world didn’t need another bank on the corner – and then we came along. We created a phenomenon, a buzz, around convenience, service, and the culture of our people. We’re wacky. The majority of people in leadership roles in this bank are on the lunatic fringe. We have to be. We’ve created a cult brand in a dead business.

If you think about it, a lot of online businesses are “dead” in the commoditised sense of the word. There are a million mortgage sites, a million shoe sites, and a million places to buy that sweet digital camera. Just like Commerce Bancorp did with banking, if you are starting up an online business in an established marketplace, it is more important than ever to be a purple cow.

Posted by James at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Big thanks to the BBC and YouTube for working together to make a content distribution deal – now us Yanks get to watch all of the automotive madness that is Top Gear. Oh yeah, and thanks to all of the Brits out there who pay an annual fee to keep the BBC running :)

Here are some choice picks from Top Gear (sorry, looks like embedding of BBC videos is disabled):

Bugatti Veryon going 250mph
The Arial Atom
Lotus VS Apache
Caravan (Camper) Jump 1
Caravan (Camper) Jump 2

Posted by James at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today at work I was trying to put together a quick top banner for one of our web sites and I was in need of a little inspiration. After a quick search on Google I came across The Logos of Web 2.0 by The FontFeed. Check out the logos, figure out what fonts they are using, and go to the sites to get an idea of what is hot in web design these days. Once you find a site you like, copy the hell out of it when you are making your own site. Yeah, I know it isn’t going to look original, but it’s better than nothing.

Posted by James at 08:46 PM | Permalink

From the maker of the Washington song – a little bible story about Sodom and Gomorrah. This one is rated R – don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Posted by James at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the forefront of graffiti – laser tagging. Check it:

Posted by James at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)