Friday, May 30, 2008

WHY? why the 80's?

if there is one time period that has the worst music, trends, AND design- it's the 80s.

for some reason people in italy love the shitty music, the excessive culture, and the horrid trends that made the 80s such an ugly time in american history.

i am currently working on a project where the client has asked for not only a throw-back 80's logo, but wants glitter... 3-d... green and purple....

punch. me. in. the. teeth.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

blase

Main Entry: bla·sé
Pronunciation: \blä-ˈzā\
Function: adjective
Etymology: French
Date: 1819
1 : apathetic to pleasure or excitement as a result of excessive indulgence or enjoyment : world-weary
2 : sophisticated, worldly-wise
3 : unconcerned

i like it.

scott mcclellan

it is always a good thing when you can admit your wrongs.

"In Ex-Spokesman’s Book, Harsh Words for Bush"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/washington/28mcclellan.html?hp

pesticide residue levels on produce

a study has been published by a nonprofit talking about what foods those who seek 'organic' options should really spend their money on and also other types of produce that have a very low rate of pesticide residue.

produce with high pesticide residue (go for the organic on these):
- peaches
- strawberries
- sweet bell peppers
- celery
- lettuce

produce with very low residue amounts:
- onions
- mangoes
- asparagus
- broccoli
- eggplant


for the complete list go to:
http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php

mini coopers

i got to drive a mini the other weekend- although they look small and uncomfortable, i had plenty of room in the driver's seat.

these cars are really quick.

i would still never drive one in the us though.

if you move to europe, or think you can take a lifted diesel truck with mud flaps- buy one!

flavor tripping

there is a berry called 'miracle fruit' which temporarily changes your pallet's perception of food. for instance lemons go from tasting sour to sweet candy.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?ex=1212638400&en=df9440096fe74b52&ei=5070&emc=eta1

truth

i stole this from zack's facebook album.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

rotten apple


a week ago my macbook froze, and the hard drive stopped working.

today my ipod shuffle burnt out.


does apple time all of its products to break at once??

italian cats

i've made the decision that cats are like ugly children (you only love them when they're yours).

the two cats who live at the house in tordenaso have become increasingly annoying and needy. i didn't pick them. i would do anything for my cat, kitty, in ohio though. i also think kitty understands boundaries, and is much smarter then these cats who attack the dry food bag (spilling food everywhere). kitty just chills out meowing until his bowl of food is placed in front of him.

to summarize: i don't like dogs.


(kitty lives at my parents house)

dodging an infrastructure collapse

rising fuel prices have effected everyone. but, if diesel keeps rising at a higher rate then regular grades, the truckers will remain the ones taking the biggest hit. which doesn't really effect the everyday american until, through a trickle down effect, we have to pay more for our consumer goods due to those higher shipping prices.

with the average american paying more on their own gas, and then trying to absorb the rising prices of necessary products, how will our culture still turn a profit? retail is barely keeping alive by exporting to europe and charging 1.55x more (so a $20 shirt costs 20 euros, but the american company makes a profit off the exchange rate).

america does not produce enough goods though to solely export because we keep outsourcing every possible job to other countries who can provide the same service for less... but how can we not? the rise of fuel and other manufacturing costs will keep escalating to the point where a business wouldn't be able to succeed in the us.

unless there is some economic concept i'm not getting, or some magical lottery the us plans on winning, i don't see how our economy can recover from this in the long run. i do think we will be able to turn the corner on this border-line recession, but after that there will be a much worse downturn, in the near future, unless the energy crisis can be solved in the next couple of years.

foreign marathon training

currently i am focused on training for the columbus marathon (oct 19). i am wanting to run a 3:10 in order to qualify for boston '09.

this means taking my marathon time of 3:29 down by 20 minutes.

i have gotten extremely lucky with where i am living in italy. instead running in the very flat city of parma, my house is in the hills in tordenaso (tower of the nose... odd translation). it has proved to be some very good training, and provided some exquisite views.

a problem i have run into is that google pedometer's hill function doesn't work.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

so it looks like i get to go back to the old school calculation of driving my 2+ hour routes in a car, and then doing pace calculations post run.

if you are ever in a country that uses kilometers runner's world provides a pace calculator that will convert from miles for you.

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/paceconverter/

hello goodbye hello goodbye

cultural difference:

ciao - it is the informal for hello and goodbye in italian.

every time someone walks into the office here they say 'ciao' to every single person in the office. i don't understand why you can't just say, the american equivalent of, 'hello everyone...'

i'm unsure whether i come off as rude when i don't say 'ciao' to every co-worker, but acknowledge each seating section (which is still 4 to 5 'ciao's every time i enter or exit the office). maybe they think i'm an unfriendly american, but i prefer that over sounding like the italian equivalent to the target commercials.

not standardized

a handful of colleges are now dropping the SAT and ACT as requirements for applying to their schools. instead prospective students will be reviewed by their over-all academic performance, extra circular activities, and writing skills. the biggest name currently involved is wake forrest, out of nc.

read more about it at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/education/27sat.html

Monday, May 26, 2008

why a blog?

since only 25% of the people in my office speak english (the others do try their best) i have little, if any, outlet to improve upon my writing and speech. all the ads i produce are to be presented in a basic, and broken, form of english that can be easily translated into italian.

the point is i need to improve on writing because, as an art director, it is one of my weak points. in my current location there is no better place to try to improve my skills then on a world accessible public form.

i will write about my opinions, experiences, and knowledge gained throughout my time in italy- and other relevant things that should be said.

i hope to create something more then a place of whiney inner thought and self loathing, but a place that may actually be helpful or insightful.



also - if you notice anything that is factually incorrect, please do correct me.

photos of the italian countryside

these are some pictures i have taken so far in the few weeks that i have been in italy:











obama

yup. i support him 100%.

i think our country can really use the change. i know that change is such a bullshit term that politicians throw around anytime they are up for election, but i do think electing obama would be a massive change.

do i think he can get everything he claims done? no. i think he will try damn hard though. he has run a very positive campaign, and has done it through getting individuals to contribute to his cause. it is more then impressive about how much money this guy can pull a month with an average donation of $201.

i do know people don't like change. no matter how much a person talks about how shitty they think our government is, when it comes down to it, change is uncomfortable and new. people only like new when they know the outcome . for instance, when buying a new car there is much more control then picking a candidate. why? because when a person picks a car it is an extremely specific choice, but when you pick a candidate it is the equivalent of picking a brand of car, and then taking whatever model they give you.

i think america voted republican in 2004 because the majority felt that if the kept bush is power we could keep our 'we won't take any shit from anyone' world policy, and our country would remain stable. but, obviously that hasn't worked out so well.

i hope that enough americans are sick of the way our administration has been run. i hope that they will look past race, stereotypes, the negative media, smear campaigns, and truly see that obama really does want what is best for the american people.

so i see this election as something that can unite us as the greatest world power, or further divide us- continuing to drain the world economy.

the summer in italy

this summer i decided that in order to gain a more worldly perspective into my future career of advertising that i should go to another country to do an internship.

i sent out more emails to more parts of the world then my outbox can count. i got multiple replies back, and many promising offers. i ended up interviewing with an agency based out of new york, which also had multiple locations across the world. i went into the interview knowing that i didn't want to stay in nyc that summer, and told them of my real intentions.

one thing led to another, and here i am writing this blog from parma, italy. this place is known as the 'food valley' of italy, and from everything i have tasted i can see why. i have had pork, the main staple of the area, prepared in 15 different ways within the 3 weeks i have been here.

food is one of my obsessions. i think the key to happiness definitely includes a couple amazing meals a day. italy has further reinforced this. everyone here is happy (or at least appears to be when compared to the average american). everyone is SKINNY, not to an unhealthy point, but more in shape, or just not fat. the people here portion better, use fresher ingredients, and cook their own food. it has lead many of them to flat out look better then the average american.

life is lived at a slower pace. coming from nyc, this change can get quite annoying (the hours of the small food shop near my house are whenever to whenever- with a very extended lunch, last time from 2pm to 4:30pm). there is a lot to learn from this (convenience isn't everything??).

i guess when it comes down to it, i now have plenty of time to work on my 'world communication skills' because i hardly speak any italian (up to about 5 phrases, and 15 words), and no one here is willing to speak english (out of embarrassment, although it would be awfully helpful).


to check out my artistic stylings and advertising/ graphic design/ web design/ photography portfolios you can go to:
http://www.mattkoulermos.com

a previous thought

how will staying in iraq not make us go bankrupt? 

will someone please explain how looking for more oil will solve anything as far as our economy goes? 

how can we still not have an answer to an alternative energy that doesn't cost more then its worth?

here's what i really don't understand though: how did our government not see this coming?

they had to have thought 'well maybe oil prices won't drop when we destroy iraq, and all of its infrastructures, but go way up because we'll never be able to force a democracy on these people.'

did they not figure out the chain reaction of when a gallon of gas goes up in price that people have to readjust their spending priorities in order to function?

i mean obviously the excessive, materialistic spending, is going to crash as the average person is forced into paying $4 a gallon with a constantly weakening dollar. even worse though, is that all products (from air travel to milk) keep going up in price because our society is so deeply integrated with the usage of petroleum. 

i guess my question to you, well 50% of you- how can this country possibly be thinking about putting another Republican into office?

mccain used to be a moderate-republican with 'new ideas' (the maverick, right?), but if you look at all of his current positions, he has become the standard of a douchebag, do-nothing, puppet, republican. there will be no reaching across the isle, the same as the current administration... unless maybe he can cook up enough evidence to start another war.

i'm looking toward the future trying to figure out how our country is going find its way out of a recession that isn't even in full effect yet, and won't even start to turn around until the 3rd quarter, at least in the markets (estimated by the same analysts who didn't see the bear sterns collapse coming).

what bullshit product are we going to sell the world? how are we going to get ALL of our money back from china? why did so many fucking idiots not read the small print when buying a house?

there can be no more 'hands-off capitalism' policy coming from the white house. somebody has to do something. our country can not be run by a party that thinks the government should play a minimal role (especially in natural disaster aid) in everything except in war.

the middle east has been warring since fucking cain and able. the u.s. can't change that. no matter how sweet we think democracy is, two warring factions will not just come together, never mind that area's problems with Israel. 

we need to start withdrawing troops now. we need to stop running the country's debt up by 4 billion a week. then MAYBE we can figure out the next trend that will save the world, keep 'American the Great' in power, and turn the corner on our deficit.

why are we not demanding a major change in the way our government functions? we care more about who is wearing their goddamn flag pin or not. for fucks sake, they're running for president, how much more patriotic do you have to be then saying, 'i want to lead this country'? 

America is not just going to come back from this with everyone sitting on their hands, waiting for somebody else to fix it. we have to go back to what this country was founded on- the balls to say 'we are not in a good situation- let's fix it.'