Benchwarmer

Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary

(John Keating, Dead Poets Society)

The above line is one quote I find myself, not thinking of perhaps, but rather, vouching for, whenever I go to bed at night during the holidays.

Tommorrow will be another day, a new day.

The sun will shine, clouds will make way, for it will definitely be my day.

A day to set things right, to turn on the green light, to make things happen, to take things by the scruff of the neck.

Giddy-giddy, Ole! Let's go people, time to roll!

Alas, by the time the 10 AM, or 11 AM, or -nah, 12 would be obvious- 3 PM o'clock pokes my insipid eyes the following day, all foolish notions are quickly vanquished. Here we go again. Twitter-set. Facebook-set. Formspring-sometimes set. Youtube-set. Pamper me, fellas.

Most times it's peeking and poking. A lot of times it's a case lalalalala... tube karaoke.

But sometimes, I go around and around and around and I find something worthy of my going around (aside from softcore porn).

That something for me today is the works of Japanese film director, Kosai Sekine.

I was originally googling for ad agencies, as I am currently possibly in need of an internship experience. By unorthodoxically stating 'possibly', I'm saying here that I'm still perplexed and not sure on if I really want such an endeavour or not, and on the reasons for both sides of the issue. Call it a long holiday pre-senior year undergrad complex.

"BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY"

(Epilogue text, Conan The Barbarian and Conan The Destroyer)

Anyway, from google I went to tube, a spin-off from the original pursuit. Now, was the time to see some cool ads, I thought (and tell about them to the world to make myself seem like a bloody eccentric, eclectic, hip, cool, quasi-aksara, know-it-all dudey-dude).

Keyword: Saatchi & Saatchi. Not that I want to end up there, but I've heard of the London-based multinational agency as one of the best in business of nabbing awards, and thus, I expected to have my need for some "oohs and aahs" fulfilled. Turns out they had this channel for this cool event at Cannes International Advertising Festival, dubbed the New Director's Showcase (NDS). On it (or is it, in it?) were these really cool shorts from young, up and coming directors from around the world. Needless to say, although they weren't exactly, ads, they were totally cool, and made me go ooh and aah.

One of the up and coming directors was the above mentioned Japanese director. I heart his following work for Adidas.

Original, insightful, and kind of funny. The grin I had from watching it drove me to browse the related video's sections and on and on, to indulge my curiosity further on. And boy I saw some cool stuff.

And lastly, my favorite, the award-winning short, Right Place

I really like how his works connect with the human, especially in Right Place with the OCD theme. The technicalities and the art, are top notch, and as commented by Richard Grey, Creative Director Global Culture S&S Worldwide on Break-Up Service,

"Excellent storytelling. Great editing -not a frame wasted. Love the casting too."

That comment kind of sums up all of my newfound admiration towards Master Sekine, I guess.

And, my something for today. Gosh, how can I someday be at least involved in stuff like those, I have no idea.

One thing's for sure, though. Carpe diem, needs to happen first. Although, for now....

I'm happy watching from the stands. Life is good :P

-R

PS: For more info about Kosai Sekine, visit his tube channel and his homepage