Time

Let's talk about time and all the interesting aspects associated with it. Time is indeed the element of life we shall value the most as it represents one of the most gravitational aspects in life. While money, one of the most undoubtedly valued things in life seems to be by far the winner of all, time however must not be forgotten.

It is with time that we come to this world. It is time the factor that determines growth, maturity, the love we profess, the love that we make, the relationships we value, and all experiences in life. Time determines the line between success and failure. Due time is the fairest judge and with time at hand, it is our own destiny the one we craft.

Time....in the best interest of time, is the master of our lives as it becomes the law by which we obey the rulings of destiny. Time....is what takes us from one place to the next, one smile to the next, one experience to the next...Time is what rules the end of life. Time by whereby we cease to exist once we have used it all up.

Let's talk about time and remember that in the journey of life, we are all ruled by it. Life is not just about the decisions we make, the success we achieve, the happiness we enjoy, but about how well we use the time we have.

Everybody plays the game

But only a few attempt to change it...
I guess these are the major ideas behind a dilemma that has encompassed the lives and destinies of many people.

Whenever I look at a half-empty glass that appears half-full to anyone else that I know is wrong about their appreciation, I can't help but feeling pity. Together with this feeling though, I feel urgency. The urgency that comes naturally to any living thing on the planet. Either fight or run.

The gravitating answer goes one way or the other. If ever staying longer than the maximum limit of tolerance when you know you have crossed the line to the point at which you have to go, staying longer makes you lame. Lame as a lame duck.

In this time and age, we all control our destinies. If we don't take action, we are living the life and destiny of someone else and, I don't think anyone wants to do that.

Everyone plays the game and the ones who dare to become better at it, control their lives and destinies.

Digital 2011

A definite no surprise to anybody, 2011 will continue to see digital growth. What are the specific areas to keep an eye on this year? Here's a brief slur of thoughts.

1. Tablets, tablets, and more tablets.
You didn't think that iPad was alone, did you? There are more flat devices to go about than originally thought. With Android, Palm and Windows driven systems, anything with a screen up to 12 inches and a mobile processor will provide your particular WOW!

2. Digital TV
And I mean both air and Internet digital TV. Something that started with that streaming feed somewhen not very far in the past, a cross mix between TiVo and YouTube and...kaboom, set-top box with an Apple logo on it. Apple TV pioneered what has now become a healthy set of options of the same like. With Apple, Hulu, Google TV and Netflix there's no much margin for emergent options, but definitely we'll see others popping up.

3. Mobile
With 5 billion mobile devices vs 1.5 billion TV sets in the world, it's clear to take a guess at what most people are, and will continue, watching. Tiny screens, sometimes ugly design, but definitely in everybody's hand all the time.

4. Ads
Ad networks, a continuously developing paradise for marketers. With more possibilities of individualization, more diverse and complex networks will continue to develop in a world that is about carefully thought personalization.

5. Outsourcing
If you are in the digital business, this is what you'll do a lot more. We have finally reached maturity in the outsourcing field. It's not that certain countries do a cheap job, they do a more cost effective job.

All and all, digital is now part of our lifes and whoever still sees an identifiable difference between the digital and analog worlds, lives in the latter. The days of the digital agency have ended and so have the days of the ad agency. These are the days of the communication agency in which digital is the type of communication to live and die for.

Emotions

When you look inside yourself, what do you feel? What is the passion, motivation that keeps you going? What is your reason to be alive? I've been having a few problems answering these questions lately. I think I go by the fact that my work is the main thing that keeps me going, but then again, I look at other things, I look at my emotions and feelings and while I do so I can't avoid thinking that I seem to be reaching an interesting point at which my emotions appear to be randomly changing.

It is often said that men in their 40s experience a mid-life crisis and while I don't feel inclined to acknowledge this one as such, I see my inner self having interesting questions about who I am and where I'm going. OK, granted, nobody can ever answer these questions, but the daunting questioning is something I have never experienced before. I'm not even talking about the fact that once somebody goes over 40 the possibility of leaving this world is always a chance to face as a tangible one at any given time, and therefore a chance to look inside one's self, I'm talking about the surrounding scenarios behind that chance.

As times change and life shapes into its new self, moving along the path of life seems to be an ever-enjoying adventure charged with new emotions, new people, and new experiences to discover. Whether in crisis or not, the rate of discovery is the only factor to make the rest of the journey worth living it and all whatever important comes my way just needs a bit more careful and deeper attention when evaluated. Life is not just about work after all.

Birth canal

When I look at the end of a year and the transition to a new one, I can't avoid comparing the transition to the concept of a birth canal. Right before Christmas there's the anxiety about what to do that night and how to get there while doing all the things one must do before the old year ends. Who to be with, what to do, the places to be at, the presents and all other jolly planning makes for quite a lot of stretching to go about in the birth canal. While feeling better once all the Christmas songs subside, the 2nd round begins; the new year. Who to count down, where to be, the presents and all other social compromises make a good part of the last stretching before we get to the critical point at which the new year is born. Then, we relax while thinking about new year resolutions and all the other great things we'll do in the new year. By the first week of January everything goes back to normal and we feel much better after leaving the canal and then of course, we start building another year of experiences that takes us to another birth.

Kohaku Utagassen

The 2010 edition of Kohaku Utagassen, famous NHK competition in which team white (men) and team red (women) compete with each other singing, was pretty uneventful. The competition was handed to the white team from the beginning with a poor performance from Ayumi Hamasaki that was immeditately beaten by Exile. From then on, the women were beaten on every single count by their male counterparts who once again walked with another win. While team red started on a weak note that followed through the whole competition, there were a few moments of brilliancy delivered by Angela Aki, who I believed performed too early, Perfume and Ikimonogakari. Everyone else on the female team either was wrongly selected or strategically badly placed. The men won and this time they did so not because of better performances, but because of their better strategy.

Last year was a pretty boring year for Japanese music and the event clearly showed it.