As much as I’d like to make this an evocative epic post, I’ve only just finished packing, it’s late and I feel like the past two days have been pretty much a blur. And the fyorenol I took this afternoon is beginning to wear off. But at this time tomorrow—we’ll be in a 747 bound for Zambia.
My original intention was to make an elaborate post describing our itinerary, reminiscing about the previous three trips to Botswana, and waxing poetic on that special something that makes Africa unforgettable, inescapable and intoxicating. It is all those things but I am at the moment too exhausted to even try to describe them.
Poring over some newsfeeds this morning, I followed a link to the first video to be released from Guantonomo. Without thinking, I stumbled upon a scenario that took my breath away, and after a few frames of watching a weeping 16-year-old, my shaking hand stopped the images.
It hung over me like a damp blanket. I couldn’t get my mind off the brutality of the world in which we live, off of why nations wage war against nations, or at how terrorism and counter-terrorism supposedly define the “new normal”.
And then—just as unsuspectingly—I tripped over this. A project called Where the Hell is Matt?. I can’t describe it, other than to say for the duration of this video, I smiled, and cried, and ultimately felt an overwhelming sense of joy and hope.
Wow.
To watch the video in High Quality—and I strongly suggest it—go to the YouTube page and be sure to select Watch Video in High Quality just below the video.
I wouldn’t want to try and guess how many commercials I’ve voiced over the past 25 years, but it’s well into the triple digits. But as I reported to Junior when I came back from this particular session, I have a new favourite.
I recorded at PorkPie Studios / Imprint Music, under the watchful eye (listenful ear?) of Fraser MacDougall (thanks for the shirt, dude) and I said then that I thought the spot was brilliant. Beyond the concept—which is great—the credit for this spot has to go to Second City alumnus Jim Annan for his characterization of the over-compensating host. Perfect. His last line … oozes.
Check it out:
Here’s the folks that made it:
Released: May 2008
Avertiser: Angus
Agency: COSSETTE COMMUNICATION-MARKETING
Country: Canada
“The Angus Burger tastes so much like homemade you’ll want to take the credit.”
Product: Angus Burger
Agency: Cossette Communications
Executive Creative Director: Darren Clarke/Daniel Vendramin
Creative Director: Pete Breton/ Dave Douglass
Art Director: Marco Parisella
Copywriter: Mark Lewis
Agency Producer: Leanne McLellan
Director: Tim Godsall
Prod. Co: OPC, Toronto
Country: Canada
Not sure what’s more compelling: the quality and fearlessness of journalism then, or the desperation of people whose lives and ethics have been ravaged by war. Either way, this video is difficult to watch.
Every day, every moment, every second, we have to ask ourselves what is important and what isn’t, and we have to ask our leaders to prove their judgment and honesty. We have to avoid armed conflict, at almost any cost. It may be true that sometimes there are no choices. It’s also true, that often, choices have been overlooked. My allegiance remains with our veterans, our fallen heroes, and perhaps most importantly, with our young men and women who currently serve. We owe it to them to demand that government remains transparent and open and justifies any foreign policy that places them in harm’s way. We owe them our diligence.
From Wikipedia, there is a footnote to the Vietnam War entry (known in Vietnam as the American War):
General Maxwell Taylor, one of the principal architects of the war, noted “first, we didn’t know ourselves. We thought that we were going into another Korean war, but this was a different country. Secondly, we didn’t know our South Vietnamese allies … And we knew less about North Vietnam. Who was Ho Chi Minh? Nobody really knew. So, until we know the enemy and know our allies and know ourselves, we’d better keep out of this kind of dirty business. It’s very dangerous.”