Undrafted.

It's been 4 months since my last post.
And almost that long since I graduated from Brandcenter.
Since then, one might say I've been AWOL.
Missing in action.
Simply avoiding the hard-nosed truth that I'm just like 16 million others.
That I'm simply unemployed.

Well, that's not far from the truth.
I have been missing.
Not from rebellion or reflection.
But for action.
For fighting the good fight.
Whether that means reminding myself,
"It's the economy. You don't suck completely, Kris."
Keeping from the ledge by convincing myself,
"I wouldn't have been happy if I didn't quit my job and gone to grad school."
Or surfing the job boards like a junkie searching for one last hit.
It's been a fight.

I've been forced to move home to sunny Wilbraham, MA.
A pretty place where no one knows my name.
Except my parents.
Me, a 26 year-old writer, stuck at home.
My parents like to jokingly add that not only am I living off their dime,
but that I'm doing so with three degrees.
All in good fun, for sure.
But like all good jokes, its roots are in truths.
And my truth is that moving home marked defeat to me.
At least it did.

Alas, this isn't a sob-storied rant.
Nor some Mighty Ducks, Rudy-flavored inspirational crap.
This is a declaration of a change in mindset.
Fuel to keep my sanity in tact.
And keep the good fight going.
A weathered realization, if you will.

See, all summer long I've refused to sit on my hands.
I've had the good fortune to work freelance.
I've worked on projects for a French international event planning client.
I've worked on the launch of a new Creative MBA school in India.
And worked on various ad agency projects,
like the launch of a new Taco restaurant.
Even a new beer.
I've had the chance to enjoy my family for the first time in a long time.
And have been blessed with the opportunity to hang with my little bro,
now miraculously recovering from a cancer relapse
that a year ago had a 10% chance of survival.
It's been good.

When I graduated 4 months ago,
it was not unlike draft day.
That day when professional sports franchises reek
of the over-promises of superstardom.
Where hard-working, talented kids
are looked to shoulder the futures of whole organizations.
And like draft day, so many went home empty-handed and forgotten.
Left to ponder what the hell all their dedication was for in the first place.
But I've always been interested in those untold stories.
Those underdogs forced to work harder and smarter to make up for what they lack in talent.
And do so with passion.
I've always loved people who love the game not for what it can give them.
But what they can give to it.
The Kurt Warners of the world.
That's why I refuse to sit on my hands.
Refuse to be considered AWOL.
Unemployed.
Defeated.
I'd rather be called undrafted.
And I hope others do, too.

I want a cool iPhone

I don't have an iphone.
I only dream of having such a cool contraption.
Instead, I rock the same phone I've had since senior year of high school.
And that was 7 awesome years ago.

My girlfriend sent me this.
Made it hurt that much more that I don't have a cool iPhone.
But if you have a cool iPhone,
I hope you do cool stuff with it, too.


Spinning vinyl ipod app from Theodore Watson on Vimeo.

I don't understand twitter. But I do understand mustaches.

What could be better than Cinco De Mayo?
Cinco De Mayo with mustaches.

That's why you should follow Cinco De Mustache on twitter.
Doesn't make sense? Neither does twitter.

http://twitter.com/cincodemustache

Follow them. Because that's what cool kids do.

Can crack make you a genius?

Found this on one of my favorite blogs Graphicology,run by Adcenter alum and Miami Ad School instructor, J. Jason Smith. Enjoy.

light show gone wild

Found this on Kanye's blog.
It's a simple idea.
Architecture. Design. Light. Taken to the next level.
I can't even think of the implications.


Apparati Effimeri ShowReel 2008 from Apparati Effimeri on Vimeo.

Dopeness from an underground legend

N.A.S.A. "Gifted" (feat. Kanye West, Santigold and Lykke Li)

Found this on Kanye's blog.
It's too good for me not to post it.

Samsung Sheep Art

Sometimes all it takes is a simple idea executed to perfection.
A simple gift of smile.
A small taste of happiness if even just for a minute or two.
Sometimes that's all it takes.
Samsung did it.
Over 3 million smiles in about 11 days to be exact.
Now, it's our turn to enjoy it.

Yes!

What's bad about this is that it has my hopes up.
Please don't disappoint me, Spike.

(P.S. Thanx to everyone who reads this blog. Ya'll rock. That's right, I said it.)

Sickness

I considered titling this post "Hope".
Because the acts I've been running across lately
make me believe.
That music can mean something again.
That music can be art again.
That we are progressing.
But I didn't think it got across the feeling
that washed over me when I heard this.
His album is too sick.
Enjoy.

New Age Diplomacy

This feels like a step in the right direction.
It feels like the world is starting to realize something important.
That diplomacy isn't about winners or losers.
It's about together.
All fighting does is destroy.
A flexing of muscles and all for very little gain in the big scheme of things.
But building. Now that is something to be juiced for.
Building.

Mr. Leslie is killin' it.

Yeah, I'm jealous.
I miss rockin' out the way I used to.
The way Ryan Leslie does.
Definitely better than I did.
Point is, I miss it.
And it's kats like Mr. Leslie that makes me question if I still have it.

Ryan Leslie - I.R.I.N.A
by wonderful-life1989

The Future's Future

Remember that time when you watched Minority Report?
You remember that time, when you thought, "Wow, wouldn't that be cool?!"
And you were jealous of Tom Cruise.
And not for his crazy or his good looks.
But because he always gets to do cool stuff in movies.
Like control a cyber-surreal mash up world with his fingertips.

Eat this Tom Cruise.

Funny commercial.

Check this out. It's from Wieden + Kennedy.

Remember Once Upon A Time

It's been a long time since my band, Crux, released music.
A lot of reasons for this.
I (aka NuSol) moved away to go to grad school in Richmond, VA.
Trey (aka spa3) moved to Austin, TX.
Rick (aka Rick Luv) is in his last semester of architecture school out in Lawrence, KS.
Geography alone would be reason enough.

And it is a shame.
But too our fans, both old and new, a good chunk of the wait is over.


Crux's very own spa3 released his solo album, My Life Right Now.
It is a great bridge of where we've been and where we are going.

Download here.

You will not be disappointed.

Crux is back. And spa3 is running point.

athoughtaboutart

What have I learned in the two years here at Sadcenter
(playful slang we sometimes use for Brandcenter)?
I've learned my view about art.
2 years ago, I wouldn't have cared.
I liked art.
I looked at art.
But I didn't have an opinion.
I didn't understand it at all.
(Not saying I do now, just saying I'm trying to).
I just liked aesthetically pleasing things.
Everybody does.
But that doesn't make art good.
I spent a couple hours thinking about art yesterday at a coffee shop.
And this is what I came up with.

Art must say something.
It must.
Or else it's just non-sensical drivel.
Music must sing.
Film must tell and explore.
Books must inform and inspire.
And art must observe.
It must comment.
'Cause w/o an opinion
Art is just drivel.
A clueless line on a desolate page.

And as I, myself, work my way through the drivel.
I found yesterday,
there in that coffee shop,
that one day I hope to make art.

A New Chapter

As many of you know,
I am co-founder and member of the record label Stratified Vibe.
And although my contributions have been slim,
(with grad school eating up most of my time)
We are still around.
We're still making moves.
And in fact, we're in the middle of a rebrand and reposition.
We've changed the label's philosophy.
Details of which will be released at a later date.
We've hired business manager, old friend and one of our biggest fans, Jaime Zazove.
And we have big plans for this year.

One of our plans/goals has already been accomplished.
We've been blessed with Stratified Vibe artist, Nick West,
Releasing his new EP, "Future's Mystery," this past January.
He's shown tremendous growth as an artist.
And I'll be darned if it doesn't show.


Give it a listen.
And PLEASE GO GET IT!
(available on iTunes)

Be on the look out of what's coming next.

Why another music post

The answer is quite simple.
I miss my former life.
I miss late nights in the studio with the crew.
I miss the lettin' loose on the mic.
I miss the rush of hearing what pushing the line sounded like.
I miss it.
So, whenever I hear or see something that reminds me
Of my former "rock star" days, I can't help myself.
Call it nostalgia.
I call it love.

Enjoy Tony Williams' newest video.

Gotta Love Freshness

Okay.
Say that Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel had a love child.
And say that the Collins/Gabriel offspring fancied Prince.
Say that they started dating. You know, dinner and a movie. The whole bit.
Now say that the Collins/Gabriel child and Prince got married.
And after living the happy life together touring the world,
that Collins/Gabriel and Prince had a baby.
Now say that the Collins/Gabriel/Prince child grew up
and decided to go into the family business.
Yeah, that's this guy, Francis and the Lights.
Enjoy.


A Modern Promise from Francis and the Lights on Vimeo.


The Top (Music Video) from Francis and the Lights on Vimeo.

Wow.

(Note: For the author's thoughts about this piece, please check the title above.)


KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

We've been Googled.

This week, we,
along with The Martin Agency,
were lucky enough to host Google Campus.
For those not familiar with Google Campus,
it is essentially the Google crew from
Google's year-old Google CreativeLab venture.
They feed ya.
They edu-ma-cate 'cha on Google apps
and how they can be used for brands.
They even idea jam with ya on current brands your working on.
Very cool, indeed.

One of the very cool products that they showed us is SketchUp.
It is a super-cool and super-intuitive.
It's perfect for everything from package design to drafting the Taj Mahal.

Download it for free by clicking the pic below.


I was also amazed by the amount of cool products
that Google has for free that no one knows about.

Check them out HERE.

Yeah, it's a shameless plug for Google.
But I can't help it.
They're just so damn cool.

All In Good Fun

My roomie bestowed this spoof on me tonight. He found on Perez Hilton. Remember, it's all in good fun folks. First the original:

Beyonce - Single ladies from morespace.webs.com on Vimeo.

Now the spoof.


Night.

I don't wanna like it.

A cool lookin'-movie preview I found on Kanye's blog. What can I say, I'm a sucker for an interesting, almost semi-confusing concept.

Raw Talent

There's raw talent, then there's raw talent with swag all over it. That is what Ryan Leslie is. He's a producer, singer/songwriter, rapper and musician. And I know when I've been put in my place. B/c it just happened. watch.



I Know What You Like! from Ryan Leslie on Vimeo.

New Year, New Day

Although I've been away from my blog and e-voice for sometime now, I have not been far away. I appreciate the understanding and patience with me. As I gather myself and prep myself for new dialogue in the new year, I give you this nugget. It is a great discussion of putting things into perspective.