desertDJ’s Halo Halo

It’s been a while since I posted a “weekly photo” (it’s been more like yearly photo) but here is a special photo I would like to share for the Weekly Photo’s grand return!

On one of the last weekends cool weekends in the year before the hot desert son scorches everything in it’s path,  my brother in law Josh and I hiked the famous Superstition Mountains.  The alien like rock formations have always intrigued me. Visible from my 10th floor office view, they create the backdrop for the sunrise for myself and most of the East Valley. 

It wasn’t until about a year ago I found out that there is a hiking trail to the top. (Flatiron Trail)  The opportunity presented it self and we were off, early one May morning. My GPS app on my phone was off capturing my every move while I broke in my brand new Camelback for hydration, key for any desert hike.

The hike was tough, but gave me confidence in my hiking ability after making the 2,717 ft elevation climb. (See my hike stats below the photo) The awesome part of such as drastic climb is you are changing climate zones. You go from small shrubs, to tall trees. Along the way I captured this colorful cactus. The bright purple bloom is in stark contrast to the reddish brown rock that was surrounding it. Another contrast is the sea of yellow needles surrounding and seemingly protecting the delicate prize in the middle.

This was just one of the several snapshots of nature I captured on the hike.  I recommend you try this hike as soon as the weather permits! Like I said, it’s not easy, but the panoramic view from the top is a worthy reward. (Pack a sandwich to eat on top of “flatiron”)

 (Be sure to view (and download!) the full size version by clicking the image, check out the pollon on the petals) 

Growing up, my parents didn’t take me and my brother to see too many movies. In fact, I could count on one hand how many movies we watched. But the ones we did watch were real winners. I still have the ticket stub of when I watched Toy Story at the AMC 6 theaters near Baseline & Rural. Yes, they used to have movie houses with only 6 theaters in it, by the way. Today the theater is a sign of a past time since it now houses a large gym.

A lot has changed since 1995 when Toy Story was originally released. For one, I’m not 10 years old anymore. Movies have to compete with Facebook, iPods, ADD themed TV programming. How can a kids themed movie entertain us twenty-somethings when we get blown away by movies like Avitar? Another question is can Pixar even remain relevant to its original viewers, while capturing a whole new generation of kids?

In 1995, computer animation was novel. Toy Story was the first full length computer animated feature film. Today you can hardly find a movie without animation in it. Although as strong as Pixar’s strength in computer animation was, Pixar always knew it was about the story. A weak story line can’t make up for great graphics.

15 years after the initial Toy Story, another level of depth is brought to the story. Woody, Buzz Light Year, Rex, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head and the rest of the familiar cast have been though a whole lot together. Toy Story 3 expands the depth even further where they face their greatest challenge yet, their owner Andy moving to college.

Right from the opening scene, you can see the new challenges the toys face. Cell phones, laptops. Everyone around these main characters are aging, moving on. Everyone, but the toys.

Now don’t let the same looking Woody and Buzz fool you. They are determined to be relevant and be some owner’s toy. In that quest, their friendships are tested, their morale is broken, and their survival is at stake. What comes out of this challenge is one of the most emotional, heart wrenching scenes in an animated film I have ever seen.

I believe they are able to pull this off because, over 15 years, we have become attached to these toys. We’ve seen them when we visited Disneyland. We played with them in our Happy Meal toys. Our friends wore Buzz Lightyear shirts, or Woody hats. If some of those memories faded away, Disney subtly put them back in our mind. That nostalgia, in part was planted by Disney. Here are two examples below of great Disney advertising:

As far as I know, there is no such thing as Lots o Huggin bear, one of the main characters in this film. But we do all remember those old commercials for kids toys growing up. Some of us have even revisited those old ads on YouTube. Disney caught on to this and created this ad that looks as if it was ripped straight from ABC’s 1985 Saturday Morning time slot.

Another trick Disney used around college campuses was to place Now Hiring signs on kiosks for Pizza Planet, which you have to remember from the first film with the aliens and the claw. It included a tear off website to apply. That website led you to Toy Story’s Facebook page. (Via http://www.pixartalk.com/2010/04/pp-hiring/)

There are numerous other examples of great Disney advertising, and all of it, whether you seen the film or not, built up to one great movie.

Now with the success in the box office, there will certainly be talk of another sequel. I’m sure Pixar can pull off a Toy Story 4, but I don’t know if they would even want to. Toy Story 3 is a great finale to a generation of Toy Story movies. I felt a lot of closure to the ending of the film, and a lot of satisfaction afterward. So go see it and relive your childhood memories of Toy Story.

If you have a need for your business, event, occasion, I’m your man!

I just wrapped up a great run with RIESTER, a major Phoenix advertising agency. Check the list of clients I was able to work with:

• Arizona Lottery
• Thunderbird School of Business
• LiveItChangeIt.com
• Ashline
• Arizona Smokers Helpline
• Venomocity.com
• Camp To Belong
• Herdez

I specialize in Social Media and creating content for any medium, especially online.  In addition I have experience with the following:

• Managing small business advertising
• Videography Editing and Filming
• Photography
• Event Planning
• Small Business websites

Some of my work is displayed throughout the website and on various client webpages.  I would love the opportunity to speak with you. Please feel free to call me @ 480-331-ERIC, tweet me twitter.com/desertDJ or contact me through the website: http://www.desertdjproductions.com/contact.html

Working with the Arizona Lottery

Here is all the details:

Snowboarding in Sunrise, AZ.

Saturday, Jan 16th – Monday, Jan 18th.

Quick Details: Staying in spacious 3 bedroom/3 bathroom cabin in the Pinetop, approx. 3 hour drive from the East Valley. Will leave Saturday (if you want to go boarding Saturday, leave early) and be back around 4:00 – 5:00 pm Monday. We will spend all day Sunday snowboarding! The rest of the time we hang out and enjoy the mountains and party it up.

Cost: Approx $100/per person . Covers 2 night stay in cabins, 1 all day lift ticket, dinner for Saturday and Sunday night. First 4 couples to pay reserves their bed. Anybody after that needs to bring sleeping bag/air mattress. $40 deposit required to secure your spot due ASAP. Final $60 due weekend before Sunday, Jan. 10th. (Special arrangements can be made if necessary)

Transportation: Carpool with everyone! (Leave in comments if you need a ride) I recommend carpooling and splitting gas cost.
Sign up: Comment on the blog (or text me!) with your name and anybody you might bring. Please try to pay or promise to pay ASAP. Rent your snowboarding gear in Phoenix! I recommend Sports Chalet. Cost to rent is about $45 for the weekend. You will need to buy your own snow goggles, I recommend Big 5 Sporting Goods.

This date is coming up fast so act quickly. Plus we can be the first ones up and by pass hour long lines if we have our lift tickets and snowboard gear since a lot of people will go up unprepared. Sunday we will be getting up early and leaving right away to go to the snow, please take showers and get all ready Saturday night.

If you have never been snowboarding, you will fall many times but you’ll get it down by the end of the day. A lot of people who are going know how to board so they can help you out if your rookies!

Other notes:

Other notes: Saturday the mountain is open for night snowboarding only $22!!. Feel free to go to that.

Here is the location we are staying at and photos:

Pinetop Country Club

Directions:

EXACT DIRECTIONS WILL BE GIVEN AFTER YOU PAY $40 DEPOSIT