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From MSNBC’s Week In Pictures: Photo by Christopher Chung / Zuma Press

Workers attempt to remove a 100,000-pound crane that fell onto the Santa Rosa, Calif., home of Michelle and Kevin McCarthy on Nov. 17. The couple had hired a contractor to remove a 150-year-old oak tree in the backyard for fear that it could fall. Instead, the crane fell and sliced through the house the McCarthys moved into just a few months earlier. No one was home at the time and there were no injuries.

I always cringe when someone takes a tree down. Occassionally there is good reason, and the tree is a hazard. This tree looks pretty solid though. I hate to say it..but that might just be some karma coming at them…

So I love this. But I have no idea what the man said. I was so absorbed by the visuals that I had to watch it 3 times to hear the story and not just the lovely scratchy voice with the amazing stop motion loveliness. Pretty nice spot for the New Zealand Book Council.

By BBDO & Andersen M Studio

My good friend Jen invited me to volunteer at the CAP food bank yesterday for pre-Thanksgiving food dispersal. I had a great time packaging food (celery, eggs, butter, milk…celery, eggs, butter, milk…celery, eggs, butter, milk), and bagging turkeys (musta been 200 or 300 birds I bagged), and handing out food to some Denver’ites that are less fortunate than I. It was a great experience for me, I enjoyed doing some hands on labor for the good of people. I don’t do enough of that.

If you feel like helping: Colorado AIDS Project.

Speaking of real things, if you need any fasteners in Denver..this is where to go. AAA Metric Supply. Ask for Richard. Can’t speak highly enough of Richard and his operation.

Go see this.

I’ve been thinking a lot about things. Tangible things. Things you eat. And drink. And wear. And sit on. In my business..for almost my entire career..I’ve dealt in things that aren’t really real. Digital. On screen. Advertising. Marketing. Web based. Film based even isn’t really real. You watch it, you listen to it..but you can’t really hold it. Now, keep in mind..I love the cerebral, the  psychology of advertising. I love marketing. I love websites. BUT I think there is something really necessary about needing something hard in your hands. Something primal about making a jam and eating it, or sewing a skirt to wear. It was this void in my life, that led me to develop RedCamper years ago. My whole world was unreal up to that point. Websites. As cool as they can be, as much entertainment and education as you can get, as sophisticated as you can imagine, it’s still not real. You can’t run your hands across it and feel the sensation of a perfectly sanded tagline. You can’t smell the bouquet of a website.You can’t put your things in a integrated marketing campaign.

So, while I balance the tangible nature of the struggling little RedCamper with the intangible nature of part+parcel’s services, which pay my bills in a way that RedCamper never has been able to, I find my mind wandering. I took a career test in a moment of uncertainty. I have those occasionally. What should I REALLY be doing? And according to this test, I’m supposed to be in agriculture. Agriculture? Agriculture. Turns out though, I already thought of this, and dismissed it as another one of my many many dreams. But picture it..an organic apple farm, that sells gourmet apple butter and beautifully bottled apple cider and vinegar. Sowing from the land. Dirt under the nails, and sunshine on the face. Hard work, but making something to eat. That nourishes. That is so damn appealing. Sure, it needs marketing and advertising to sell and believe me, that’s part of the appeal for me..but the foundation of it is a real thing. An apple. Not an idea, or a picture.

Today I came across this article in the New York Times.

Seltzer Man Is Out of Action, and Brooklyn Thirsts

It’s about a man selling seltzer out of an old school wood slated truck, he hurt himself, and his customers miss him. I love this. I love the old school product, the way it’s delivered, the return to old world values, I love it all. It’s refreshing.

So, what’s it all mean for me? I don’t know. I’ll just keep moving forward the best I can. Maybe Dirty Dog Jam (my last pseudo business) might just make a comeback, delivered in an old school camper. Red probably.

Kuroshio Sea – 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world – (song is Please don’t go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

Saw this last night. Great movie. Really. Those Coen Brothers sure do know how to make a movie.

Chris Piascik from Quarter Productions on Vimeo. via Boing Boing.

Very pretty video..and the soundtrack is really nice. Bonobo – Nothing Owned.