Another speaker at this week's Advertising Week Conference Day (see post below) was Contagious Magazine's Emily Hare (pic here). If you are not familiar with Contagious - where have you been? Contagious is a quarterly intelligence briefing in magazine, DVD and online format. It identifies the ideas, trends and innovations behind the world’s most revolutionary marketing strategies (I pulled that from their site). It's a stunning mag. The layout and design of the magazine is as amazing as the work it features. If you'd like to get caught-up on what Contagious is all about, you can download a PDF of what they considered to be the most contagious work of 2008 here.

As part of Canada's first advertising week, I attended Conference Day on Tuesday and I've been dying to blog about my favourite speaker of the day, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Bolte Taylor is a trained and published neuroanatomist. She speaks about brain functions, right and left, and about her own personal experience from a rare form of stroke she suffered on December 10, 1996, which later lead to major brain surgery to remove a golf ball size blood clot that was placing pressure on the language centers in the left hemisphere of her brain. Dr. Bolte Taylor is passionate, energetic, insightful and inspiring. She has also presented at TED and if you have some time, 18 minutes & 44 seconds to be exact, I urge to watch and listen to her astonishing story as she presented it at TED. We were blessed at Conference Day to be able to have an extended session with her, almost an hour, and I can honestly say she changed my life.

Psyop's latest for Coca-Cola out of W+K Portland has just gone up on Creativity and will be airing during this Sunday's Super Bowl. Watch the very cute spot, titled Heist, here. Full credits are posted here. Update: nice big glorious HD video file is now posted here.

On my new glossy site (currently in development), I'm going to be filing posts under categories. This item makes me think that I should have a "so not cool" category. AdFreak reports that Virgin America is suing AdRants over their posting of a parody ad made from a picture of the US Airways crash in the Hudson River (similar to the pic to the left). Read the full story here. This concerns me as a blogger. There are some really great spec ads out there - this Adidas spot is spec and it won an award at the AICP. Does this mean that all websites that have ever featured spec ads can be sued by the brands too? I'm interested in seeing what happens.

Shots mag has just posted two hilariously goofy spots for Softbank airing in Japan, directed by Wes Anderson and starring Brad Pitt (nice to see him without that rake-thin husband-stealing baby machine beside him - did I just say that?). Enjoy them here and here.

Here are some hilarious outtakes from the new Durex "Get it on" ad created by Superfad. See the original spot here.

Tomorrow night Boards' and Rooster are putting on a screening of Boards' Directors to Watch reel at Rooster's new Spadina Ave. digs (I'm looking forward to checking both out). Click here for more information and to RVSP (there will be free booze to warm your cold Canadian bones).

Tomorrow is Conference Day, part of Canada's first Advertising Week. The day features a great line up of speakers including Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who suffered a rare stroke and temporarily lost partial function in the left side of her brain forcing the creative right side to blossom, Chuck Porter, architect Clive Wilkinson, Disney Media Labs' Duane Varan and Emily Hare from London-based Contagious magazine ( I love Contagious). I'm attending and tickets are still available. If you are interested in attending, you can register here.

This morning I was honored to be invited to the breakfast launch of Canada's first ever Advertising Week. Creative directors and media gathered at the recently redesigned Art Gallery of Ontario (redesigned by Frank Gehry) to discuss the state of advertising in Canada and to give recognition to those involved in making this week happen. The event (some pics here) included a presentation by Mayor David Miller, City of Toronto, and a panel discussion with Taxi Chairman Paul Lavoie, Frank Palmer, Chairman & CEO DDB Canada (via phone) and Sunni Boot, CEO ZenithOptimedia. More information on Canada's Adweek and its events is here.

This is the coolest thing I've seen all week. This amazing new ad for Cadbury's Dairy Milk features two children performing 'eyebrow dance moves' to an electro-funk soundtrack by Freestyle's Don't Stop the Rock. The balloon is a nice touch. Agency is Fallon, London. Found on Facebook - Ed White from boards posted it. Thanks Ed, it made my week.

This film was created in 2004, but I wanted to post it for those of you who may not have seen it. Keep Right is a short film written and directed by Tim Godsall (Repped by Biscuit in the USA and OPC in Canada), stars Ewen Bremner and Lance Henriksen and was created for Sony Dreams. My favourite line is "the only thing I know about 'fair' is a bearded fat lady on a motorcycle on a curved wall eating a corn dog." There's an image. Enjoy.

Matt Pyke is a painter, photographer, artist, curator, designer, animator, director, producer, and lecturer. However, he is perhaps best known for founding Universal Everything. Read an interview with Pyke by Matt Newton here on cpluv.

In honor of today's inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, Canadian site Stimulant has dedicated their Random Cool section to all things creative and Obama. I particularly like the PREZ dispenser.

The flash mob thing is nothing new, but there is something that's just so uplifting about this stunt put on at London's Liverpool Street Station for T-Mobile. From watching the video, which I have done three times in the past two days, it looks like it would have been amazing to experience in person. Agency is Saatchi & Saatchi London and it was directed by Partizan's Michael Gracey. Found via shots' snazzy new site.

This new four spot campaign for Pizza Pops, out of Cossette Toronto and Holiday Films director Scott Corbett, has it all - as the heading for this post suggests. Watch Robot Friend, Monkeys, Deer Lickin and Karate Chop. Full credits, a selection of stills and notes and a Q&A on the campaign from director Scott Corbett is posted here.

Partners Film director Joachim Back takes you back to your childhood in these two spots, Sleepover and Recess, for Diet Pepsi via BBDO Toronto. Full credits, a selection of stills are some words form Back on the campaign are posted here. These spots, which are currently on air in Canada, will also air during the Super Bowl.

This went up on YouTube in late November. I think it's hilarious and great for a Friday diversion. It's a behind the scenes tour of of an award-winning creative farm, juicing process and distribution in South West England. Yep, they grow and process creatives. Thanks to Patrick, who saw Giorgio Armani on the beach in St. Barths over the holidays, for sending it my way.

To celebrate Barack Obama's election and inauguration GOLD has created this killer spot set to Adam Freeland's remix of Daft Punk's "Aerodynamic". Thanks to Darren & Richard for sending my way. xo

Superfad has created this hilarious spot, fittingly titled Get it On, for Durex via Atlanta agency Fitzgerald+CO. I like how it's pretty, cute and dirty all at once - and doesn't the squeak of rubber sound a bit like mattress springs?

This short, The Importance of Awards in Advertising is written and directed by Jim Hosking (Revolver, OPC, Biscuit Filmsworks), to promote AWARD (Australian Writers and Art Directors Association). Full credits are posted here.

Crush's Yoho Hang Yue has just completed a bunch of comedic idents for the World Fishing Network (yep, you read that right - fishing). Watch six of them here. Full credits are posted here. To see more of Yoho's work, check out his reel here.

I am a big fan of The FWA and in my inbox this morning I received notification that it is for sale (a great opportunity for someone). I hope the standards that The FWA team have established stay intact.

To celebrate 25 years in the sky, Virgin Atlantic has released this sexy advert via RKCR/Y&R (they should rethink their site - I wanted to find their address & it took WAY too long) and directed by Traktor. I love everything about this ad; the writing, art direction, execution, performances, all the 80's imagery and, of course, the music.

Here are some sexy images from photographer Jean-Yves Lemoigne. A Cpluv post states that they are for 3rd issue of Amusement magazine and numerous ad blogs (including advertising/design goodness) have them as a new print campaign for adult Lego via DDB Hamburg. View them here.

I wish I were in London this month so I could go to the V&A to experience Universal Everything's installation in the John Madejski Garden. The project, which you can view here, is a collab­oration between Matt Pyke, Karsten Schmidt and Simon Pyke, and consists of a large videowall installation of endless animations that responds to an ever-changing soundtrack. It looks amazing. An online installation, generating a series of downloadable video podcasts, will coincide with the V&A exhibition on Universal Everything’s website. The studio has also created a making-of film which is here. Scooped from Creative Review's blog.

To promote Phish's summer tour, their first in four years, Blip Boutique enlisted the help of five planes to sky write over Santa Monica. On the ground multiple cameras were positioned throughout the city to film the event which is now displayed on the band's website. Blip Boutique is headed up by Mary Fagot and James Frost, the latter recently directed Radiohead's House of Cards video.

This popped up on YouTube yesterday on neverhidefilms channel. It's the latest installment in the virally successful "Never Hide" campaign for Ray-Ban (see last year's guy catches glasses with face) out of Cutwater. It's also up on Creativity, but with no production credits.  Anyone know who directed it? At the time of this post it had been viewed 32,293 times in under 24 hours. Because of its "ew factor" it's sure to be a viral success.

Here is a thought provoking new spot from DraftFCB Toronto for WWF Canada directed by OPC's Woods + Low. Light Bulb (dir cut) follows the production and shipping process of an energy efficient light bulb. The spot was shot over three days utilizing miniatures and set against real locations. Full credits, a selection of stills and comments on the spot from DraftFTB CD Joe Piccolo and OPC's Woods + Low are posted here. There is also this print execution and an online element.

Just a reminder that tickets are now on sale for Canada's first Advertising Week, January 26-29. I'll be attending Conference Day, January 27th, which features a great line up of speakers including Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who suffered a rare stroke and temporarily lost partial function in the left side of her brain forcing the creative right side to blossom, Chuck Porter, architect Clive Wilkinson, Disney Media Labs' Duane Varan and Emily Hare from London-based Contagious magazine ( I love Contagious). If you are interested in attending, you can register here.

Word on the street is that a lot of people aren't too busy right now (lucky you). If you are one of these people, and have some time on your hands, please do check out Motionographer's third podcast with MassMarket's Chris Staves and Justin Lane.

The staff at Boards magazine have posted this feature online showcasing their favourite work from 2008.

This holiday season I was really excited to turn off my phone and email (a first for me since going freelance in 2006) and not think about advertising. So what did I do? I sat on a beach and read a book about advertising. Back in August Steffan Postaer, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at Euro RSCG Chicago, was kind enough to send me an advance copy of his latest novel, The Happy Soul Industry. Over the holidays I finally had time to read it. In short, The Happy Soul Industry is about God seeking an advertising agency to promote goodness (view this trailer for a more in-depth synopsis). I really enjoyed HSI and wish I'd gotten around to reading it sooner. It was the perfect read for my holiday. It has a great mix of engaging characters, an entertaining storyline which made me laugh out loud on a number of occasions (the Vernon and Luis chapters were my favourites) and it also made me reflect on the industry in which we work (not in a heavy or preachy way - pun intended). I also think it would translate well on to the big screen. Steffan, this happening? You can pick up HSI on Amazon here (no, I'm not being paid for this post, I truly enjoyed the book).

Congratulations to Zoo Films director (and Blip Boutique CD) James Frost on his Grammy nomination in the category of Best Short Form Music Video for Radiohead's House of Cards. If you have not seen this video or know how it was made (using lasers and scanners) take a moment to check out the information posted here.

Happy New Year everyone. I'm on holidays until January 5th and I'll begin updating regularly after that. Wishing you all the best for 2009 - glossy.