I’m still in London, so I obviously couldn’t watch the Superbowl. But being an Advertising major, It’s kind of my job to watch all the Superbowl ads on Youtube. Since I watched them ALL..and yes, I mean all. I decided to choose my five favorites.
(Ummmm..can someone tell my why the Snickers Betty White ad is so popular???)
In no particular order:
FLO TV – My Generation
Google – Parisian Love
VW PunchDub
Cars.com – Timothy Richman
Vizio – Forge
I was sitting in a cafe in London, and it had currency hanging up on the wall (Pounds, Euros, Dollars). It was at that moment that I noticed how UGLY the US dollar is. The Pound and Euro have really interesting and colorful designs. And what do we get? A puke green color with random yellow (why yellow??) numbers floating on the back. How is this at all considered good design?
So I took it upon myself to see if I could find interesting redesigns of the dollar bill. Turns out there is an online contest for the best redesign of the dollar bill. Some of the designs are just as hideous as the actual dollar bill, but many are pretty great submissions.
Here are some of my favorites:
Michael Tyznik
Jan Michael Guzman
From ‘Russia’ With Love
Chris Collins
Elias Stern
Michelle Haft
Side note: I think you know you’ve been in Europe too long when you start looking at the dollar bill…and think it’s fake.
Here are some pictures from my mini holiday to Amsterdam last weekend. (I said holiday…I’m becoming so British…haha)
Quick recap of the weekend: We checked the weather ahead of time and noticed it was supposed to snow all weekend (bummer!). But to our surprise, it was only raining when we got there. Later that day, we walked out of the Anne Frank Huis and it was super sunny! So (being my perfectionist self), I decided to run around the city and get as many pictures as I could with the sun out.
Next day, we woke up and saw it snowing like crazy out the window. But, the minute we stepped out the front door of the hotel…it was bright and sunny again! The weather Gods were very kind to me…until that night. As we were walking around the centre of town and the red light district…it started HAILING! Must have been a sign…
Last day was actually pretty pleasant. Didn’t rain, didn’t snow, sun was out on and off. We finished the weekend by seeing a few more museums/churches, and then ventured a bit further out of town to see a windmill.
Overall, it was a pretty successful weekend. The city is beautiful…definitely interesting, but lots of fun! Now I’m really curious to see what it looks like during the summer. Guess I’ll have to go back…
Oh, one last thing…our hotel (Hotel Di Ann) had the steepest stairs I have EVER seen! Picture is below…video coming soon.
Here’s what we ended up doing:
DAY ONE (FRIDAY JAN 29th)
- Arrived at Schiphol airport at 9:30 am
- Took train to Centraal Station in Amsterdam
- Had Burger King in the train station…everything else was too expensive
- Bought the I Amsterdam card
- Checked in at hotel
- Went to the Amsterdam Tulip Museum
- Anne Frank Huis
- Ran around the city taking pictures
- Had yummy pancakes for dinner
- Went to bed early…no sleep the night before because of 6:10 am flight (left for airport at 2 am)
DAY TWO (SATURDAY JAN 30th)
- Woke up and had breakfast
- Hopped on tram to go to the museum district
- Rijksmuseum
- Van Gogh Museum
- Saw the Concerthall from the park
- Watched ice skating
- Ate more pancakes (actually they were Poffertjes)
- Took canal cruise around city (I stayed on the deck for most the trip…it was FREEZING!!)
- Walked to the Museum Van Loon (fancy canal house)
- Museum Geelvinck (another fancy canal house)
- Checked out the restaurant center of town and had Italian food for dinner (The restaurant said they don’t have tap water…I was so pissed…)
- Took the tram back to the hotel, then headed to the Red light district
- Checked out the Sexmuseum (um…wow…)
- Saw a coffee shop
- Headed back to the hotel
DAY THREE (SUNDAY JAN 31st)
- Houseboatmuseum
- Pancakes Amsterdam! for breakfast
- Amsterdam Historisch Museum
- De Nieuwe Kerk
- De Oude Kerk
- Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (Something about god in attic…there was a church in the attic of the canal house)
- Took a bus to see a windmill
- Headed back to London!
Now for some pictures…
View from our hotel room terrace
Anne Frank Huis
Dam Square
Centraal Station
Red Light District Ahead
De Oude Kerk (Church)
Hotel Di Ann Entrance Stairs
And no…it’s not Disneyworld.
Now it was kind of a last minute decision to go, so I didn’t have my camera. But, I used my iphone to snap a few quick shots, and even on the iphone it looks amazing. Oh, can’t forget the chocolate…well, just see for yourself.
Look close. They spelled SALE with the HARROD'S letters.
Yes. I really did take a picture of the packaging...
I’ve found a new hobby. Since I’m going to Europe in less than 9 days, I figured I’d try and learn something new while I’m there. So, I’ve decided on HDR Photography. If I’m going to be surrounded by beautiful architecture and scenery…I might as well capture it on film.
If you’re looking for a new hobby and might be interested in learning about HDR Photography, check out these links below:
- Stuck in Customs HDR Tutorial
- How to Create Professional HDR Images
- Vanilla Days HDR Tutorial
- Modern HDR Photography, a how-to or Saturday morning relaxation
- Really Cool Photo Art Tutorial
- HDR Experiments and RAWS for Download
- How to Create HDR Photos – HDR/Photomatix Tutorial
For more HDR Photography Tutorials check out: