Blog Archives

Picturing The Fresh Prince in 2017…

Will there or won’t there, Will?

With everybody fondly remembering how awesome sitcoms were from the mid-’80s through the first several years of the 21st century, “renewal” and “reboot” have become certifiable buzz words in today’s popular culture. From the writing to the casting to the sets to the clever laugh-out-loud humor to the heartwarming moments wrapped in subtle life lessons, it seems that virtually any show with most of its primary cast living these days is being asked about bringing their show back on primetime TV.

Enter Will Smith and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

While The Fresh Prince will remain in reruns (that’s still a plus), that photo of Will Smith looking exactly like James Avery (Uncle Phil) is enough of a gift for fans. It’s a sign of the true specialness and staying power of that sitcom. A unique sign of that once-in-a-lifetime television era.

Like this heartfelt moment between Will and Uncle Phil.

will and uncle phil

Trust me, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will live on forever.

Happy Monday!

Lightning struck last night in Rio for the third time.

Usain Bolt is scary fast and awesomely entertaining. NBC journalist Bob Costas made the astute observation that Bolt is not a show-off, but is, more accurately, a showman. And Mr. Costas was proven right late last night when the legendary Jamaican sprinter beat American rival Justin Gatlin by .08 seconds in the breathtaking 100m final for his mind-boggling third consecutive Olympic gold medal and immediately joined in festive celebration with his countless fans along the rail of the track immediately following his epic conquest. His warm-down style is by far the best in the world.

Above all the entertaining bravado, Usain Bolt is a class act. This video/interview is from a few years ago.

The world-class 100m Olympic final was pretty close.

  1. Usain Bolt (9.81)
  2. Justin Gatlin (9.89)
  3. Andre De Grasse (9.91)

Even with the razor-thin margins between Bolt and Gatlin & Gatlin and De Grasse, Usain Bolt dominated everyone’s focus at the finish line. The man that Mr. Costas determined is now a more famous figure in Jamaica than Bob Marley (hmmm…?) is a larger-than-life athlete and persona. Standing (and sprinting) at a towering 6’5″, the “Lightning Bolt” has kept our attention for several Olympics and international competitions.

Back in 2013 at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, Mother Nature went as far as to validate Usain Bolt’s perfectly given last name.

Remember this surreal, once-in-a-lifetime moment?

lat-bolt-wre0010839745-20130811

(Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)

Fans of Usain Bolt won’t have wait long to see his next strides toward Olympic glory. The Jamaican sprinter will run in the 200m tomorrow morning. As his 9.58 seconds world record in the 100m, 19.19 seconds world record in the 200m and the picture above reveal, you know something special will happen.

Wherever Usain Bolt is, a show is sure to follow.

A lightning show, to be specific.

Have a Showstopper Kind of Week!

The Imagination Whisperer

A picture is not only worth a thousand words, but now it can inspire millions of people of all ages.

Exhibit A: Robin van Persie’s diving header against Spain in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was the best goal of the tournament. Surprisingly, this moment nearly/does rise to the same level as the imagery of the Germans triumphantly lifting the World Cup trophy. That’s powerful. When that goal is replayed on television, it instantly encapsulates the top-level talent of the players and teams in that glorious tournament last summer.

This goal was the sports highlight of 2014.

Exhibit B: The highly-anticipated Jurassic World was expected to be a summer blockbuster, reinvigorating the franchise that started with the 1993 cinematic masterpiece Jurassic Park. The 2015 film will be remembered for many things, including its dinosaur-sized, record-breaking box office domination. Or how about how John Williams was welcomed back into our hearts, as well as to the top of the Billboard charts after 22 years. Jurassic World was the sequel everyone had been waiting for since watching the helicopter safely fly into the sunset over the oceanic horizon in June of 1993.

Enter Chris Pratt/Owen Grady.

As seen in the film and the trailers, Owen’s prowess for cautiously wrangling velociraptors is a spectacular sight of a person trying to control nature. There are several memorable scenes from the movie, but none like the raptor whisperer. However, the photograph after the screenshot is not directly from the film, but is instead of a child’s interpretation of the aforementioned scene with some parental coordination. And this pose has been done by many, however, this adaption showcases the dinosaur-loving kid in all of us.

This is the pose of 2015.

(Wired)

(Wired)

(Chris Pratt -- Facebook)

“Thank you to the parents of this little one. You’ve made my day” (Chris Pratt’s Facebook)

The image gets your attention, like a certain cup of trembling water…

Back to the Past in the Present

“…the oddest thing about what’s happening right now is that we’ve stopped living our lives and we’re just recording them”
— George Clooney (Esquire interview, 2013)

Pinpoint insight from Mr. Clooney who (like many of us) have been increasingly aware that the appeal and function of social media is overwhelming our natural instincts to live and simply exist in the moment. Social media has its positives and negatives and its consumers continue to make these determinations for its value each and every day. However, it has reached a critical fork-in-the-road whereby people need to determine if we (in the picture taking and video recording sense) want to be a present or past society?

Snapping (well, tapping) a picture is a good, fun thing. But tapping photos of everything is not and the same notion qualifies for recording video. We need to remember how to filter the important from the mundane. There is a difference. And not to be misunderstood, taking an amazing photo and/or video is certainly a cool thing. Without question. But as Ferris Bueller famously said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.”

Wise words.

Why should we relentlessly restrict our lives to a 4-inch screen when the entire world is within our reach and sight? What do you think Michael Cera?

The randomness of life is so awesome that we shouldn’t limit these incredible chance moments from happening right in front of us.

Think of it as “Instaliving.”