Oh, woops.

About a year ago, renowned Portland DJ and radio personality Ulysses Kelley gave me a beater turntable as a symbol of his affection. I was very moved at the time, so much so that I loaned the turntable to a colleague at work. Being the sensitive soul that he is, Mr. Ulysses was very upset by my altruistic act. So he stole the turntable and gave it to another friend, without telling me. Months later, upon realizing he had acted selfishly, Ulysses returned his “gift” and apologized profusely for his rash behavior. Now, I’m sorry to admit, the turntable is broken. On my way to the den last week, I cut a corner too quickly and the thing busted into a million pieces. So, and I say this without recrimination…Ulysses, would you remind replacing our turntable with one that works?

Get Busy Living.

Assuming the Apocalypse doesn’t hit next week, Mutt will officially be open for business in seven days. As an aside, is anyone else sick of the daily dose of doomsday predictions? I know things are bad right now, and they’ll probably only get worse in the coming months. But what are we supposed to do…hunker down in a bunker and wait for the rivers of gold to start flowing again? Ugh. But I digress. Our website and various other Mutt goodies are nearing completion. Call us naïve, but we’re literally about to wet ourselves with excitement. Bring on the Apocalypse!!

Whatever.

Our most loyal readers will remember a post two months ago about the game-changing Snuggie. At the time it was the coolest Christmas gift in America. And only Portland hipsters like me knew about it. Apparently that’s no longer the case. Check out the tools from The Today Show pretending to be street in my Snuggie. I know trends come-and-go. And that no one (outside of tatted copywriters) owns cool. But this one hurts. And if Matt Lauer were sitting next to me right now, I’d do a downward dog on his head. Wait, that's not what I mean.

The Best in the Biz.

The Big Man stopped by today. No, not Lee Davis. Even better…Lawrence Teherani-Ami. The Madman of Media, the Darling of Digital, the guy who mercilessly stole my couch after I was promoted. Unlike those who have come before him (see Luhr), LTA actually picked up the tab today. Unfortunately our meal was crap. But the company was fantastic. And LTA seems happier than ever. We love you Lawrence…don’t go changing.

Long Weekend Luker.

So Steve had an interesting day. It started with an early morning meeting at Teague, which Steve volunteered to attend in person (because he was vacationing this weekend in Seattle). Much to our surprise, Steve was quite delightful on the call and never once lost his composure (even as the team repeatedly shot down his ideas). Anyway, following our 25-minute meeting Steve telephoned Mutt and informed us that he would “rush home” because “there’s a lot to do right now”. Mike and I were very pleased by Steve’s enthusiasm, and we rolled up our sleeves and dove into the day’s work. Cut to five hours later where, in the midst of an amazing brainstorm session, Mike and I are rudely interrupted by back-to-back phone calls. It’s Steve, and in a very relaxed tone he says: “Hey guy, about halfway there…don’t think I’m coming into the office. It’s been a long day.” Word.

How Bout Dim Stihlers?

Our take on last night’s Super Bowl? Great game, horrible ads. I was stoked to see Big Ben win his second ring. He went to college in my hometown (O-Town, represent). Plus my best friend is a huge Stihlers fan, so I know he had a big night. As for the ads…yawn, grumble, gag. My mom just told me that two dudes from rural Indiana submitted those Doritos ads as part of a contest and are currently being hailed as the best creatives in America. That’s awesome. At first I was skeptical about the USA Today results. Then I remembered the bar last night, and seeing the reaction of Johnny Commoner—the guffaws and giggles every time somebody got racked in the balls, the dewy eyes any time a Clydesdale trotted on screen. The whole scene was as inspiring as my soggy nachos. Regardless, I learned an important lesson last night. As the great copywriter Albert Einstein once quipped, “Things should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

PS-Had to take down that "Big Ben" pic. Was making my stomach turn.

Blast(s) from the Past.

I have a tendency to get on my high horse about advertising, and obsess over the unseemly aspects of our industry (see He Hate Me post). But if not for advertising, I would never have met two of the coolest cats on the planet—Alberto Escobedo and Sudeep Gohil. Had the pleasure of crossing paths with both this weekend—one in person and one virtually. That’s Sudeep and his beautiful wife Estelle (and their new baby Leela). Sudeep was my old boss at Wieden, though I use that term loosely—we all know Cricket was really running the show. As for Alberto, he’s got a big-time job at Sony but it hasn’t changed him one bit. He’s probably the most stand-up dude I’ve ever met. Great to see ya fellas…Mutt love you long time.