With my experience in technical side the radio industry, there’s a subtle excitement that you get from setting up, rewiring, or moving studios around. And quite honestly, there are a lot of details to have in place before going live in a new control room for the first time.

This video was that moment for The Beat 94.5 when the mic went hot from its new studio and over the air.

Project’s not done yet, but getting to this point is certainly a relief.

I know it seems odd to be posting a television commercial after such a hiatus from posting, but there is something of a mass media critic in me that is fascinated with this ad.

Prior to doing what I do these days, I got my name on a couple of awards from the Advertising Federation of Cedar Rapids for some stuff I helped write and produce during my days at KRUI. Small achievements that almost had me consider getting into the advertising realm for a short period of time, especially if I could be creative as this commercial.

Ryan Beil - A&W funny guy at the 2010 Jessie Awards in Vancouver (photo by miss604 on Flickr)

This is where I find this ad to be somewhat brilliant. Maybe I’m in the minority of people who watch this commercial and laugh each time it pops on, and that’s even after it’s being re-used in a carbon-copy campaign right now that ran at least a year ago. I think that speaks to how well the creative was done on this commercial, not to mention a bit of pure luck.

In an era where it seems that Geico has 50 mascots and 20 spokesmen, you can develop creative to your heart’s content, come up with a funny script, and use all the CGI in the world, but the chances of having that single cut where the balloon shoots off the helium tank and deflates on the manager’s shoulder as perfectly as it does in that single shot is something that doesn’t just happen when you want it to. As soon as it cuts away to the product shot at the end, you have to imagine that the whole set burst out laughing.

“It’s a party! Everyone’s invited! Bring your kids!”

Maybe I dissect too much of what I take in terms of media, but hamburgers are something I certainly don’t ingest these days. However, it never hurts to laugh a little and appreciate another aspect of creativity.

My photo of Willie Mitchell on Flickr

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by a representative of the David Suzuki Foundation about using a photo that I had taken in one of their promotional videos. As it turns out, Devon from the DSF was actually a former intern at the radio stations where I currently work, so it was nice to make a connection with someone who has progressed in their career and on to a great opportunity to work for an organization that I have a lot of respect for.

The photo itself was from the 2008 Canucks Superskills competition at GM Place. I shot it with my Canon S5 IS, and it’s one of my more favorite shots of Willie as he was just skating around in circles during a brief moment of downtime. Anyone who goes to see enough Canucks games knows that he’s a constant mover on the ice when nothing else seems to be going on.

The video was put together to spotlight an ongoing effort on the B.C. coast by the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) to help preserve the fresh salmon from the effects of sea lice that comes from the salmon farms in the same areas.

You can see more Cause An Effect videos on the DSF website. Many thanks for to their organization for asking me to use the photo in their video.

Aside from hockey and baseball, futbol, or soccer as many like to call it, has to be the next sport in the world that always peaks my interest. And the World Cup in South Africa this year is completely worth getting excited for, much like this Nike ad has done for me. It’s quite possibly one of the best ads that most of North America will yawn at, so you should check it out.

If you’re not a soccer fan and this gets you curious about the sport at all, this summer is the time to check it out. Countries of the world with their best players going head to head in athletic competition? It doesn’t get much better than that.

Truth be told, this was the only photo I took during the entire 12th day of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. It’s not that I wasn’t taking anything in or running around the city. As the rain returned to the lower mainland, there was a noticeable reduction in the amount of people celebrating downtown. Rebecca and I are still battling through colds, so it’s more comfortable to relax on the couch and let the TV bring the games to us.

What I did discover is the amount of content finding its way onto YouTube. Some of it’s official, others… maybe not so much. Regardless, I wanted to share some stuff that I’m seeing on both sides of the borders that deserves to be shared with the world because if you weren’t watching it live, you probably missed your chance to see it.

This first video is a great piece by Tom Brokaw explaining Canada to Americans. I believe this ran just prior to the opening ceremony coverage on NBC.

A Channel in Victoria has been posting their news packages from their regular new broadcasts onto YouTube for a time now, which I think is probably one of the most stellar things a local TV station can be doing these days. As many people know, the Today show has been doing their program from Vancouver for the duration of the games. When the Today hosts took a brief trip over to Victoria to check things out over on the island, A Channel covered Today’s coverage.

Fellow True North Media House collaborator Evan Leeson has a great chunk of video that shows the madness that has been on Granville Street through these entire two weeks of the games. Nearly ten minutes of hooting and hollering, and you might hear a bad word or two.

The next video might be old news, but the fact that this Channel 6 News Online is hosted by a kid, that’s awesome. I’m all for different angles on the games, and they look to be tied to NBC, making them legit.

CTVOlympics has setup a YouTube account and posted a lot of clips as well, but they’ve disabled embedding. While that’s annoying and kind of defeats the purpose of posting videos onto YouTube, this is a positive step in the right direction on their part. Two videos worth checking out is Jon Montgomery’s gold medal skeleton run, and then this not-so-official clip of his walk through Whistler village and being handed a pitcher of beer.

If there are other great videos out there that should be mentioned, drop them in the comments.

I cannot help but let this 90 second spot get me more and more amped for the games. I’m not a fan of the millions spent on this ad campaign, but at least they did this one very well.

I think what’s more impacting is not only the beauty of B.C. that is showcased in this commercial but the way it’s delivered. I mean, if you compare those California ads with all the athletes, movie stars, and celebrity politicians, this is night and day. Some subtle background music, amazing shots, and, yes, some celebrities telling you how amazing it is here, but it’s done in a way that is very B.C.

I think the slogan used to be, “Beautiful, B.C.” This ad actually makes that slogan work now. If you don’t believe me, just look at what Rebecca did recently: outdoor speed skating, dog sledding, and, oh yeah, she caught the torch as it ran through Prince George, B.C.

That was all in one weekend.

This brings me back to my point: I’m getting really excited for the games. The city is buzzing, evidence is everywhere, and I’m starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount of things that can be seen, done, and hopefully documented over the next two months.

We have tickets to a few events, but I feel like the most fun will be what we are able to find away from the event locations themselves. Getting to those places sounds like a real adventure, potentially a nightmare, so we anticipate doing all we can by foot, transit, and probably more by foot on the other side of that.

I know they say you gotta be here, but here is just too broad when it comes to these games. Right now, “here” feels like I want to be everywhere and do everything.

This made me laugh pretty hard, so I had to share it.

Credit to Sean Bonner on Twitter for this.

In my time in radio, I’ve been apart of my fair share of absolute train wrecks. Those broadcasts that start off innocent but head straight down the drain. On the air, it all works out and everyone does their best to maintain some sort of professionalism so it looks like what happened was supposed to happen, but behind the scenes, everything has gone to shit.

Global BC’s noon newscast had that happen this past Monday, and they played this one off beautifully.

Dare I say, this video has a good chance of going viral…

I was at BC Lions vs. Saskatchewan Rough Riders game this past Friday, working the radio side of the play by play broadcast from BC Place. I’m not the biggest football fan, but the passion and excitement of the game is always what draws me into watching a game from time to time.

Finding this clip on YouTube, this game had two great elements to it. A ridiculous comedy of a play that results in a touchdown combined with pure athletic power on display in the field goal block towards the end, the real reason I’m posting this. Seeing that happen on the field in real time was amazing.

We’ve returned from our whirlwind trip to Punta Cana and taking this B.C. Day to recover. I thought I would still get this video posted today to share something we saw on the plane ride home.

On route from Toronto to Vancouver, we caught these thunderstorms over the Canadian Prairies, looking north somewhere over Manitoba and Alberta. I’ve flown enough to see storms from above before, but nothing like this. After watching the show for a little while, I made a mad grab from my camera to shoot some video of it. It’s not the best quality, but some of the lightning displays are pretty amazing.

This was tough to shoot in terms of blocking any reflection in the window. Being dusk to complete darkness outside, I thought I would try anyway. Sadly it was just too dark to take any photo or video of the lines of flames I saw from some of the wildfires in the interior, and those gave me bigger chills than the lightning show.

Three great tunes from Nada Surf for your Monday. See if that helps you out to the start of the work week.

always love

whose authority

weightless

Mad props to John Biehler for sharing this one with me. The sugar coated geekness of this video is one thing, but the tune is damn catchy. Crank up the bass on this for sure.

If you like this one, then check out Salad Wrap. These guys are clever.

I’ll spare you the “I’ve been busy” story if you can stand the rock and roll. Imperial Teen always seems to pop up when I’ve forgot about them, so I found this. Not the best video quality, but the song is a favorite.

This one is loud, so you are warned. Coming home the other day, this popped up on random and reminded me of how much I loved to play this song at two in the afternoon on my college radio station, completely going to a different side of the spectrum of playing something nice and mellow to something such as… Refused.

The group disbanded in 1998, and fortunately for all of us, members of this band went on to form two other projects that I thoroughly enjoy, The (International) Noise Conspiracy and The Lost Patrol Band. Look for a new album from T(I)NC at the end of November.

I picked up on this video from the Apple Gazette today and found it fascinating. It was a view of what computer networks, and the Internet, would be like in the future, all in that lovable style of informational movies from that era.

The best part is the way the husband looks when he has to deal with the bills that the wife is spending money on. Obviously they saw the future of the Internet, but there was a lack of innovation for gender roles.

Not too bad. The technology is off a little bit, but the concept is there.