KC Representin', YO!

So, thanks to American Idol, we have a fellow Kansas Citian in the news. Mr. David Cook, from good old Blue Springs, MO (a suburb of Kansas City) won American Idol last night. I have to say that even though I have a tough time watching American Idol even when there's nothing else on, the guy can sing and isn't your standard pop diva. So, congrats to hometown guy David Cook. I'm really hoping that he fares better than past winners. With the success of Daughtry, I think he has a chance with his style and voice. He has a mean version of "Billie Jean" that is definitely worth hearing.

Thoughts from Oz

Tim graciously provided me with 'contributor' status to his blog and thus I feel it necessary to actually contribute something to the space. I'll likely not be as prolific, but every once in a while when things get interesting I'll pipe in - and I just couldn't resist the title this go-around. So for part one, the discussion is tattoo's.

I've thought about getting a tattoo for quite a while - probably ever since seeing the celtic knot skin-art that Flea had on his chest. I've thought a couple designs would be cool, like a compass rose on the pointy vertebrae of your neck (the one that sticks out if you look down) but mainly just a bass clef of some sort. So thinking about this I ventured into the realm of "what do other people do" and boy oh boy was I surprised. Knowing that tattoo-ing involves lots of needles and permanence, what these folks go through is downright scary. I've found some great stories and illustrations on Dynamic Tattoo (just check out their 'Profiles' - 6 straight days of tattooing? Are you kidding me?) which happens to be on the Lonely Planet Blue List.

Overall, no ink for me (you can stop worrying Mom and Dad.....for now!) but the idea of a permanent and immediate reminder of an action, event, accomplishment or sorrow is one I'll likely not forget. I've already got the scars from bike wrecks, a knee surgery, an appendectomy, lawn shears incidents, and one on my thumb that I've had for so long I don't remember what happened. I do remember when and where Dad got the cross on his arm from and the frightening energy of the fire that day - and I can't forget Tim's scar from when I hit him in the head with a wooden stool...sorry bro. All of these reminders serve nearly the same result, they maybe just don't look as intricate, clean and colorful as some of Sara's work like this one. Have to say it looks pretty 'bass'-ic (Full credit to Sara Bowyer for the artwork - nice job!)

Wicked Cool

On Thursday night, Rachel and I decided to get out for a bit of culture and went to see the touring production of "Wicked". I had no clue what I was getting into other than it was about the witches from the Wizard of Oz and that there was some song in it about "defying gravity". Beyond that, I was blank. Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for my jaw to be on the floor the entire evening. First off, the show is led by two insanely powerful female leads, which, in the realm of your standard musical is pretty different (and AWESOME). And second, I love the idea of the "story behind the story". Just like in the "True Story of the 3 Little Pigs", we learn that there is a very different explanation for a very traditional story we're used to hearing. In the Kansas City production, Katie Rose Clarke was hilarious as Glinda and Carmen Cusack was stunning as Elphaba (the green gal). If you have an opportunity to see this show, run quickly. Do not hesitate. Even if the thought of singing witches doesn't trip your trigger, you'll want to see the mechanics of the Wizard in action. And between the emerald lines there is a pretty solid message about peace, tolerance and the power of fear that we could all do well to hear.

2009: The Year of the Spielberg

I was just reading a couple articles in my weekly email animation newsletter and saw a small feature on Steven Spielberg's upcoming projects. Plain and simple, 2009 is going to be ridiculous. He finishes off his summer 2008 with the 4th Indiana Jones. In and of itself - amazing. In the fall, he jumps into the first in a trilogy of films featuring the character Tintin (an absolute favorite series of mine growing up). Not to mention that series will be directed in part by Peter Jackson and star Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. Crazy. Follow that with a biopic of Lincoln starring Liam Neeson as the title character. I uncovered an exclusive pre-production photo and I think he looks pretty convincing. So, expect some mind-blowing coverage of the Civil War from gritty hand-held cameras. Then Steven takes a turn at executive producing with "Jurassic Park IV" which may or may not be alternately titled "Steven Gets a Fat Paycheck or National Lampoon's Exotic Dino People-Eating Vacation!" Either way, there will be cool dinos. And after that, another executive producer role for Mr. Spielberg with "Transformers 2: The Kingdom of the Chrome Hood Ornament" where, I've heard, Michael Bay might blow something up.

No matter what, it's going to be an "awesome" year for Spielberg. And I am certain, a need for an increase in Tim's entertainment budget for 2009.

My Mom's Got Style

In honor of my mom on Mother's Day I decided that I needed to revisit some of the old photo albums. What I found in each photo, over and over was a very happy kid who had the best mom there is. Not only is she the greatest, she had impressive foresight. So, as a tribute I made a small video. Happy Mother's Day Mom! Video

Pedal Power - Kail Style

Next week, May 12th-16th is National Bike Week. Many cities, including Kansas City are putting out a Car-Free Challenge to see how many trips by car you can save by riding your bike. I'm committing to riding as often as I can. While I think it is a fantastic initiative, daily commuters of Kansas City have one major challenge facing them and that is a safe way to get across the Missouri river. I've taken a number of harrowing trips across our existing bridges and none have been pleasant, especially at rush hour. Good news is on the way. I found out today from the Missouri Bicycle Federation that plans are underway to build a new Paseo Bridge. The construction company has found that they can add a separated bike/pedestrian path to the bridge for virtually no additional cost. I think it's still going to take some pushing and convincing in city hall, but it's a good sign. I also read that KC has now adopted "Car-Free Weekends" on Cliff Drive on the city's NE side. Streets are closed and only open to pedestrian, bicycle and skate traffic. They are baby steps, but still very encouraging in a country obsessed with the automobile. Other countries have integrated a car-free lifestyle into weekly activities and are setting the bar for the rest of us. So come on Kansas City! Lets get out and get moving gasoline free!

Practicing Letting Go

I got a phone call a couple weeks back from my brother-in-law Gabe. He invited me to participate in a street art event called the KC Chalk Walk. I arrived to find that we had a 16'x16' section that had been reserved for us to create something in. Gabe and his friend Long had already gotten started on a freehand drawing of a geisha, so I jumped right in and it was off to the races. With no real plan in mind and making it up as we went along we spent the beautiful afternoon pressing chalk to pavement. We would take breaks every now and then to toss the frisbee and then get back down to business. 5 hours and 4 large boxes of sidewalk chalk later, we deemed it "finished" and stepped back to admire our collaborative piece. After stretching and momentarily admiring our work, we all departed, leaving behind our geisha. I love the process involved in creating something, but I love even more the act of letting go of what you created. Nothing is permanent and chalk art is the perfect medium to train you that it's all about the moment and the creation, not the glory of the finish. That night, rain was in the forecast and I smiled, knowing that for an afternoon, a simple patch of concrete had been our canvas for a truly beautiful experience. See photos on Flickr.

Seeing Green

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. While working on a video project for the agency, we needed to capture some game play from the original Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo. Finding this project almost too good to be true, I had to go back and dig up my old Game Boy for the nostalgia factor. I wish that I had video footage from 1989 because you would see a kid sitting in the back of a big blue Dodge Ram van with vinyl seats, his focus locked on a light grey hand-held brick. Four simple buttons and a control pad were all that was needed to transport me to that magical land. When I describe the game now, I think about how much fun it must have been in the brainstorming stages of designing these games. "No, no, no... see he gets bigger when he eats the mushrooms, and when he grabs the flowers he can shoot an unlimited number of super bouncy balls! Who cares where the balls from! What? No he doesn't have a giant backpack! And yes, the giant seahorses will be breathing fire..." What a trip. Anyone else out there high on Mario?

You Take the Low Road, I'll Take the High Road

Last year, the Show Me State got its collective resources together and put on the Tour of Missouri, a premier cycling stage race. Big names came from around the world to compete and it was an amazing opportunity to see the last race of the Discovery Channel cycling team. From a fan perspective, it was ridiculously cool. I've posted some photos from last year on my Flickr page. This year it has been announced that the race will be one day longer and the yellow jersey winner from last year, George Hincapie will be returning to defend his title. George has always been one of my favorite racers in the pro peloton. He has a ton of class, a heap of talent and an honest approach to everything that he does. He's the only guy to have been on all 7 of Lance's Tour de France winning teams. There are a lot of reasons Lance needed George in the Alps of France, and September will be your chance to find out why he's considered one of the best. His new group of guys, Team High Road will be one to watch for sure as they have been winning stages in every major event this season.

Our Collective Memory

Linkory is a very interesting site with a pretty cool premise. The hope is that people will jump on to Linkory and use it as a social hub for connecting through memories of events. You can join existing conversations such as, "Where were you on September 11th, 2001?" or "What are your memories of last year's family reunion?" Friends and family can join your threads and upload their own versions of events through writing, photos and video. I think that it's a fantastic idea that is just in its infancy. So, jump on, jot down some memories that you're ready to share and see who else has had the same experience. Hey Josh, remember paper routes at 5am in the Iowa snow? I wish I had video. :) Thanks to Joseph Jaffe for the link.

Stefan and Buddha

Came across this beautiful piece about amazing designer/artist/cool guy Stefan Sagmeister, produced by Hillman Curtis Films. Featuring Milton Glaser, another favorite designer and showing off Stefan's work, it is an inspiring short film. I especially appreciate his list of mantras towards the end. My personal favorites, "Keeping a diary supports personal development", "Trying to look good limits my life" and "Worrying solves nothing". And watch for the wall of bananas at the end.

Fedora Style

It's a matter of 16 days, 13 hours and 16 minutes (according to the official Indiana Jones widget) until the release of the next installment of the Indiana Jones saga. I have always loved these films and grew up wishing that I had a bullwhip of my very own. Not only does this mark the day that Dr. Jones returns, it also means another fat paycheck for illustrator Drew Struzan. He's THE master of the movie poster. Everything else is just a knock-off. My Struzan favorites? Check out his 'Drawings' section.

First!

Our first iris of the season popped out yesterday! A bright and enthusiastic greeting for spring.

And the redbuds are in full bloom. That specific color has to be one of my favorite sights come April/May each year. The sun was shining and there were an awful lot of flower beds to inspect for our cats. Diego is always on code red high alert and Winslow is usually getting himself into trouble trying to eat something he shouldn't. All in all it was a great outdoor day for the Kail family.

Vader Loves Babies Too

This morning I participated in the March of Dimes "March For Babies" in Kansas City. It's a great fundraiser for one of our ad agency's clients. It was amazing to see so many people gathered in downtown Kansas City. The Power & Light District was hopping. With so many people there helping to raise money I shouldn't have been surprised that there would be celebrity appearances. But I was amazed to find that Lord Vader had sent a few Imperial representatives to walk a mile in full uniform. Apparently he has a soft spot after all.

And word must have gotten out about supernatural activity in the area because the Ghostbusters were also in attendance.

Word to your Mother Nature

Last night was a rough one here in Kansas City. Mama Nature showed us some of what she's all about come springtime in the midwest. They can't say it was a tornado, but sustained winds of over 80mph and what sounded like an impromptu monster truck rally in my backyard made for a pretty startling 2AM wake-up call. Along one of my favorite bike routes just north of our house, subdivisions were torn up pretty bad. I'll have more photos coming as folks here in KC wake up and survey the damage. Thankfully, no major damage to report at the Kail house.

George Lucas = Licensing Jedi

Mr. Lucas has to have a giant vault that he takes a daily swim in Scrooge McDuck-style. The man has gotten more cash from one film idea than I can wrap my little Jawa-sized brain around. And the hits keep coming...

Now, coming to a galaxy of possibility near you, no home-theater system is complete without this piece of galactic video awesomeness. What's next? Rocket boosters sold separately.

Rock and Republicity

Like the Oakland Raiders in football, the "bad boys" in the cycling game have emerged. The new Rock Racing Team is sponsored by the high-end fashion brand Rock and Republic and is quickly developing a rockstar image. After hiring a number of riders returning from doping suspensions many in the cycling community are distancing themselves from the controversy. In a strange way, I actually think Rock Racing is great for the sport. The coolness factor cannot be denied and I think that their whole approach has been new and different in a sport whose primary operation has remained virtually unchanged for decades. That, and team director Michael Ball has promised custom jerseys for almost every race, giving the team a hip and fresh look in the peloton. This ain't your average lycra. And I'm hoping, in 18 days, 10 hours and 31 minutes (according to Rock Racing's website) I'll be able to get my hands on some of my very own Rock Gear.

Seen here sporting custom jerseys for the recent Tour de Georgia.