Commercials and Life

I really don't care how hipster Instagram is. I love using it. There's something irresistibly charming about seeing the world through a phone. Little moments on the go. I look forward to sharing fragments from my life, as well as seeing what my friends are up to in their travels. And I've discovered that an old college buddy of mine is rocking Instagram. Meet Colby.

I'm really proud to say we're friends. In college, we lived down the hall from each other in the dorms. I remember stepping into her dimly-lit dorm room - one of the few dorms in the building that smelled nice. More than nice. Colby was always using a strong, cakey sweet perfume. I'd sit on her bed, admiring her Marilyn Monroe / Michael Jackson / Abraham Lincoln posters as she went through her beauty regimen. I'd always been interested in the past, but I think spending time with Colby strengthened that desire to immerse myself in all things vintage and research my favorite time periods. She also made me think about female role models.

Before college, I can't say I really had any. Except for maybe the heroines in the books I read. But along came Colby with her intense love for Marilyn Monroe. For our senior projects, Colby gave a riveting hour-long presentation about how different biographers have portrayed MM over the years (while my presentation had been on mermaids in folklore, using Vladimir Propp's version of structuralism - turning fairy tales into equations. So. Much. Fun).

MM wasn't quite for me, though. I looked at other Old Hollywood starlets. Who won? Mary Pickford, of course. Jeez, she was wonderful.

But Audrey Hepburn came in second. I love how she carries herself, a confidence that I've rarely seen. There's something mysterious about her as well. So far, I've seen Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. Though both films are classics, I can't say I like either that much. That's the weird part. I'm not too thrilled with the films (or even the prospects of watching the other ones), but I love the woman herself. I get the shivers every time I hear the lines from Sky Sailing's "Sailboats" song:

Once in 1964
An actress ran on the shore
And though you'll never return,
I love you Audrey Hepburn
Sometimes I can see your face in the crowd

And when I saw the brand-new commercial that Dove Chocolate released, I was in awe:



The best part? Audrey is actually CGI. It's a lot easier to notice that on the computer, but she certainly looked real to me on my plain old television. I had just assumed a lookalike actress or model was playing her. Wow. This is such a cute commercial. I get the chills (the good kind) every time I rewatch it. 
Speaking of role models, I'm guilty of periodically searching Nicoletta Ceccoli to see if she's created anything new. I'm fidgety and EXTREMELY RESTLESS because it's going to be forever (or never) until Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart film makes it to America. Please, just give me subtitles and a way to buy it. 
I loved the book and author Mathias Malzieu's soundtrack (he's a brilliant musician, so you know...). And Nicoletta Ceccoli worked on the film. The character designs are modeled after her style. I'm dying, guys. Dying. To tide me over, I found a little commercial that she had worked on:



Lice-prevention has never been cuter. If you think about it, this was a good fairy tale for Paranix to choose. Having hair that drags all over the place because it's so long must not be very hygienic. A perfect home for lice. But luckily we have princes that ride stick horses and peddle Paranix.

Writing has been going well. I always gain more momentum when I pass the halfway point in a manuscript. At 64k, I'm almost done with We Could Fall in Love. Just. A. Few. More. Scenes.

The main thing I'm keeping in mind at this point is keeping the plot tight. No flabby scenes. No fluffy exchanges of dialogue. No boring.

Which makes watching this commercial highly appropriate if you ignore the car part:


I have no shame in saying that I've been singing this song around the house as my brain recovers from mad-typing. I may be an adult, but I still find Muppet humor just as funny as it was when I was a kid. I'm probably hyper aware of Jim Henson everything these days, since participating in The Dark Crystal Author Quest contest (sorry folks, I didn't make it). 
Still, the Muppets continue to put a smile on my face. I'm considering seeing the new movie, because I can't sit through those trailers without laughing. Even if I see the same trailer 15+ times in one night. 


So what commercials have you seen these past few months that seem to be speaking to you? What a crowded month March is turning out to be already :)

The Sea in Winter

For some inexplicable reason, I miss the sea. I didn't know I did. This evening, as a I wind down from a long day of school, I'm thinking of nothing beyond the normal mundane worries of catching some sleep and wondering how much planning I'll be saving for Procrastination's capable hands.

And then, like magic, the television shows this surprisingly endearing commercial.

Suddenly I find myself looking around the living room, wondering if I have a shell that's waiting patiently for me to pick up. It's unlikely since I've developed a love for very tiny, broken shells. I have a small plastic bag with a handful of them inside, all specks of swirling colors that I pried out of the sand before the tide came in. But that was years ago - I'm not a beach person and I don't go very often. My idea of a fun beach trip is spending the evening there, when the sun is setting and the air is cool. I'd take off my shoes and walk into the ocean up to my knees, letting the waves soak my rolled up jeans. I wither in the unrelenting Florida heat (hence, the almost vampirelike preference in beach time), turning grouchy within minutes of sitting out under a cloudless sky.

When I was little, I used to jump fearlessly into the water and bob about, ducking under waves. My father would carry me out further and we'd laugh as the larger waves knocked us over. But then... I was a tidy kid. After getting seaweed stuck up my swimsuit and finally tired of sand caked into every curve, I stopped going in the water and switched seashell-hunting strolls instead. I didn't regret it (after all, I love pools, haha).

Anyone who has been following this blog knows how much I love commercials. When they are done well, I think that they can be pieces of art. So it was with this one - a cruise commercial, of all things! But as soon as it aired, I looked up from my laptop with an open mouth. The sea has a lovely, coaxing voice. So unlike the haughty, fickle oceans I've been writing about in a particular project of mine. Not that I don't see the beauty in the sea (who can forget), but the touching nature of the sea in this commercial made me think of those calm evenings on the shore.

Perfect, right? Thinking about the sea in the winter. But it's hot again here and the air conditioning was severely lacking in the school building today. If only a seashell with a ringer had been hidden under a mound of last semester's papers or tucked behind the coffee mix. But I guess that's what commercials like this are for :)

The Traveling Dreamer

I often tear up when I see things that are overly whimsical. I can't explain it exactly, but it must have something to do with the ideas of imagination blending with and distorting the real world to create something wholly beautiful and nostalgic. It's harder to do this, I think, than bending reality for a new horror film.

I seem to have a penchant for commercials (Refer to my Mr. Peanut post) and so I admit with no shame that, yes, a mere commercial sparked this sense of wonder within me. Again.

Why commercials? I have a theory. Commericals = flash fiction. Do you see it? They share the same power. Both are short on time. Both can leave an imprint. Either you can flash a bunch of numbers and facts with a plainly dressed woman with white teeth or... you can take the opportunity to hit your viewers hard. Create not just a good ad, but an unforgettable story; something that still lives inside the viewers mind long after the program comes back on.

The commercial this time is for the Kia Optima 2011. Now, I usually hate car commercials. I'm not impressed with grinning families piling into shiny cars. I yawn when the sleek racers traverse various terrains. But this is no average car commerical. Here's a bar of screenshots:

A train full of animal-headed gentlemen and a pretty girl? Ooooo. Here's the commercial in its entirety:


Cool, right? I'm in love (of course I am - did you see the diorama?).

It's nostalgia alright. A pure dose of it. But after my head stopped spinning, I noticed that there was something familiar about it. Boy is in his room, ready to fall asleep, and then he goes soring off somewhere in his bed. Hm. Okay. Just like the animated movie, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989).

Originally a comic by Winsor McCay, Little Nemo became one of those classic videos that was a staple for little kids growing up. No matter how it made it into your VHS collection, it was there. I think we have to thank it for a lot of things. Sparking creativity? Number 1. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a nice clip to give you a feel for it (and prolly the main plot):


So what is with this image of the sleeping child going on a moving journey through odd, magical worlds? It's become a symbol. I believe it represents hope because we still have the ability to dream. The most important part is to never forget. So even as the kid in the Kia commercial becomes a grown-up in a fancy car and Nemo wakes up after his final adventure in Slumberland, we still leave both worlds with the strong sense that they won't forget what happened in their dreams. What do you think?