The world's largest 3-D interactive projection billboard was created to promote the Chevy Sonic on the Roosevelt Hotel in Las Vegas.

Hollywood Boulevard was taken over last week, where they re-created the giant-sized, 3D version of the old-school claw game in front of the famous Roosevelt Hotel. Passers-by were given a chance to use a human-sized joystick to direct the claw which was projected onto the side of a building and had a chance to win an array of prizes including a $4,000 vacation, a Burton snowboard, and one for lucky person, a 2012 Chevy Sonic.

The project was the work of Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Pearl Media. "With Pearl's innovative approach to experiential advertising and Sonic's willingness to try 'firsts,' we at Chevy wanted to take the partnership into groundbreaking territory. So we added the real-time experiential claw-game piece," said Kevin Mayer, Chevrolet's director-advertising and sales promotion. "Sonic is up for any challenge, and Pearl's Claw Game pushed the Sonic into a new gaming realm that combined old-school fun with cutting-edge technology."

The famous Roosevelt Hotel is no stranger to being used for 3-D projections, Lexus put a twist on traditional Earth Day activities when it brought Earth Night to Hollywood as part of the launch of the all new CT 200h. Lexus transformed The Roosevelt Hotel with a 3D projection featuring architectural light mapping technology. Using state-of-the-art projection, lighting, shadows and 3D animation, the imagery popped from the walls and windows of the hotel to animate the landmark.

Pearl also did one for the release of the X-Men film on the Roosevelt.

So how do test a new app in today's modern world? Well, in the case of Hotels dot Com Extreme Booking campaign you head to Pamplona, Spain and have Señor Andy Bell book his hotel while running with the bulls.

Running with the bulls is an adventure. Doing it while attempting to book a hotel with the Hotels.com mobile app? Extreme.

The running with bulls is the second by ad agency Y&R for Hotels.com, the first Extreme Booking was a skydiving adventure (below) where a Mr. JT Holmes went skydiving in Lake Tahoe and successfully booked a hotel room on with his mobile app before he landed.

Credits:
Created by the Ad Agency: Young & Rubicam, Chicago.

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As London hosts the 30th modern edition of the Olympic Games, Dr Craig Barker from the University's Nicholson Museum and Michelle Kiss, a Year 10 work experience student from William Carey Christian School, evoke the ancient Olympic spirit with a look at the origins of the world's oldest sporting festival that may provide parallels for the next three weeks of competition in London.

• The first Olympic Games took place in 776 BC at Olympia in Greece, a sanctuary site devoted to the Greek god Zeus. The ancient Olympics were held every four years, a tradition that remains today. However, whereas cities around the world compete to host the modern games, ancient-world athletes always competed in Olympia.

• Olympia boomed as the games increased in importance — a statue of Zeus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world — before the games were eventually abolished by the Roman emperor Theodosius I in 394 AD, supposedly because they were reminiscent of paganism. While there is much talk of the legacy of London 2012, Olympia and its athletic stadium is an important historical and archaeological site.

• In 2012, news surfaced that Australia's men's basketball team travelled to London in business class while their female equivalents languished in economy. However, during the first ancient games, gender equality in sport was even worse: women couldn't compete. Competitors were split into two groups, boys (12-18 years) and men (18+ years). Horses were also split into colts and fully grown age groups.

• While the composition of the crowds of spectators is less well understood, it's likely that only males and young girls were allowed to watch.

• In antiquity, a lit flame was tended throughout the celebration of the Olympics, and the idea of the fire was reintroduced in 1928 in Amsterdam. Every four years the Olympic flame is lit in front of the Temple of Hera then carried by torch to the host city. The torch relay was not an ancient practice and was introduced at the controversial 1936 Berlin Olympics.

• Judges were handpicked from people living in Elis, the area surrounding Olympia. The 'Elean Judges' enforced strict rules on the competitors: fines were issued for failing to arrive on time for the training period, cheating and for cowardice.

• Events in the ancient Olympics included foot races, discus, jump, javelin, boxing, pentathlon, pankration (a blend of boxing and wrestling) and chariot races. Most events, including the races, discus and javelin, took place in the Stadium of Olympia with other events taking place in the surrounding area.

• Before the start of any Olympic Games a truce would be announced, proclaiming that all wars, disputes and death penalties be put on hold until the end of the games. This truce also guaranteed athletes a safe journey to Olympia in the month leading up to the games. The truce was written on a bronze discus and placed in Olympia. The modern International Olympic Committee has revived the tradition of the truce, and all 193 United Nations member states have, for the first time, united to co-sponsor the Olympic Truce Resolution for the 2012 London Olympics.

• the sixth-century BC wrestler Milo of Croton, who was said to have died when he was wedged against a tree during a display of strength gone wrong and subsequently devoured by wolves

• Astylos, also of Croton, who competed at Olympic Games between 488 and 480 BC, but was expelled from his home city when he agreed to compete for Syracuse, and so can lay claim to being the first free-agent in sporting history

• Roman emperor Nero, who despite being thrown from his chariot in the 10-horse race at the 67 AD games, was still proclaimed the winner on the grounds that he would have won had he been able to complete the race

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The British Museum has acquired a digital copy of the Trust for African Rock Art (TARA) photographic archive to ensure that this important collection is preserved and made widely available, thanks to generous support from the Arcadia Fund. The 25,000 digital photographs of rock art sites from across Africa will be catalogued and made accessible through the British Museum’s online collection catalogue, drawing on documentation from TARA staff and archaeological and anthropological research. The Museum will digitise its own African pictorial collection of 19th and 20th century photographs alongside the TARA images to support the integration of this archive.

The TARA collection will be presented through the British Museum’s Collection Online and will form one of the most complete searchable databases on African rock art worldwide. Africa’s rock painting tradition is believed to date back at least 50,000 years while abstract engravings in the Cape, South Africa have been dated to 77,000 years of age.

Today only a handful of isolated cultures still engage in rock art and a few sites are still used for rituals, such as fertility and rainmaking, showing that it is still a living form of expression. TARA’s work over the last 30 years has created one of the best and most extensive photographic surveys of African rock art. Highlights from this collection include images of sites across the Fezzan of Southwest Libya, with dates ranging from 10,000 BC to 100 AD. These include sites in the Messak Sattafet as well as in the Acacus Mountains, (part of the Tadrart-Acacus trans-frontier UNESCO World Heritage site) and depict a wide range of subjects, such as hippopotami, men in chariots and hunting scenes.
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There is a survey of South African sites showing the different styles and subject matters of the Khoi, San and other groups from thousands of years ago to the recent past day. The collection also includes engravings and graffiti by European settlers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In east Africa, the TARA archive contains geometric paintings and engravings by Twa forager-hunters as well as paintings of livestock, shields and clan markings made by Maasai and Samburu pastoralists in rock shelters. In addition to these depictions there are images of rock gongs, rocks with natural resonance once used for communication and divination.

As rock art can be susceptible to destruction by natural and man-made events, and, in most cases, is fairly inaccessible geographically, this project will allow a greater access to rock art images and research for both academic and general audiences. By integrating these images with existing African collections, the British Museum is able to offer new insights into the techniques and tools used, the subjects represented and the people that made them.

The project will take five years and involve research by Museum staff and on-going collaboration with TARA, as well as involving African communities. Through the incorporation of this collection into the British Museum’s online database, people across the world will be able to both use and contribute to the archive and its documentation. Partnership between TARA and the Museum will help preserve and disseminate this important collection and establish it as a major academic resource. By combining a wide range of research from the Museum, TARA’s international network and colleagues in Africa, the archive will capture and preserve knowledge about rock art for future generations.

Source: The British Museum [February 18, 2013]

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“The archaeologist,” said Sir Mortimer Wheeler, one of the grand old men of archaeology, “is digging up, not things, but people.” The point about sites of antiquity is that, often surviving in a fragmented state, their meaning doesn’t immediately rear up and hit you between the eyes. It can be hard on a 21st century holiday to see a temple and imagine the priests and priestesses, the colours, the crowds, the ceremony and the sacrifices.

Sicily’s archaeology is extremely high calibre. The island was at the centre of trade routes in the days when travel was often easiest via sea. Ancient empires, from the Greeks and Romans to the Moors and the Normans, cast covetous eyes upon Sicily and left an enduring imprint with a great many magnificent buildings.

When the Greeks arrived here shortly after the turn of the first millennium BC, they quickly settled and started building their magnificent stone temples on an enormous scale. At Agrigento, they were erected along a ridge to create an intimidating line of massive architecture visible from the sea, which remains visually arresting today.

At Syracuse — once occupied by the Corinthians and over which the Greeks and Romans waged a drawn-out war – much of the story is told by remaining monuments: temples, fortifications and the famous stone quarries which doubled as the final prison of thousands of enemy soldiers used as slaves, most of whom died.

All of ancient life is here; religious, military, those of vast fortune with their showy villas, as well as the gifted craftsmen and artists who made them.

In some places in Sicily, the archaeologist’s trained eye helps put together the less obvious clues to bring the place vividly back to life.

The Graeco-Roman theatre at Taormina, set against the formidable backdrop of Mount Etna, also takes some beating for sheer emotional impact.

Andante stresses the “knowledge worn lightly” aspect of these comprehensive tours of the island, and also offers a Relaxed Break here – seven days based in one lovely hotel on the island of Ortygia with your own archaeologist, as well as Andante With Independence, for those who want the archaeologist and the specialist arrangements, but less of the “group” aspect.

Sir Mortimer would have been proud — on every tour it is not the monuments that are the focus, but the people who made them.

Author: Jack Wilkinson | Source: The Telegraph/UK [February 03, 2012]

Work It Kitty, a great multi-phase campaign for the Temptations cat treat full press and credits below:
TEMPTATIONS TREATS LAUNCHES THE PURRFECT CAT WORKOUT: WORK IT KITTY

The cat’s out of the bag! The makers of TEMPTATIONS® treats, the irresistible snack cats love, is shaking up the feline fitness world in order to encourage Canadians to get more active with their cats. The leading Canadian cat treat brand quietly soft-launched its WORK IT KITTY™ campaign with the release of a cat workout/music video and www.workitkitty.com microsite.
The WORK IT KITTY™ video is the exclusive meowzercise workout for cats and features fictional characters Kate and George— cat hotel owners and premier cat workout professionals. Reminiscent of a 1980s workout, sweatbands included, cathletes Banjo, Fritz, Harley, Pumpkin and Tom, demonstrate the hottest feline fitness moves, including ‘paw rotations’; ‘jumping box squats’; and ‘paw extensions’.
“The TEMPTATIONS® All Natural treats brand wants to encourage Canadians to find simple ways to keep their cats active in a fun way,” says Brittany Compton, Senior Brand Manager, TEMPTATIONS®, Mars Canada Inc. “The WORK IT KITTY™ campaign video and microsite have generated great consumer response, and we’re thrilled that the campaign is gaining so much organic attention.
The WORK IT KITTY™ campaign, created by the TEMPTATIONS® treats’ creative agency DDB Chicago, officially supports the TEMPTATIONS® All Natural treats product portfolio.

Created in partnership with Ultra Music and produced by Biscuit Filmworks, the WORK IT KITTY™ video features the song I Don’t Wanna Dance by Alex Gaudino ft. Taboo. The video was seeded out to consumers through Ultra Music’s YouTube channel and encourages viewers to visit www.workitkitty.com. The video and microsite are currently supported with public and media relations by Fleishman-Hillard Toronto, and Proximity Canada is communicating the campaign through the TEMPTATIONS® treats Canada Facebook page.
The WORK IT KITTY™ campaign officially launches mid-July 2013 and targets Canadian cat owners and lovers, ages 18-49 years old. It will feature the video repurposed into a national, English and French 15 second ad by DDB Chicago that will run on a national television and pre-roll media buy co-ordinated by MediaCom. Match Ignite developed and will execute an in-store UPC collection and redemption promotion and in-store display tools as well as mass direct-to-target consumer sampling.
Agency Credits:
Title: WORK IT KITTY™
Client: Mars Canada Inc. TEMPTATIONS® All Natural Treats
Creative Ad Agency: DDB, Chicago
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Andreas Nilsson
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Music Video Seeding: Ultra Music
Public Relations: Fleishman-Hillard Toronto
Media Buy: MediaCom
In-Store Marketing / Direct-to-Consumer Sampling: MatchIgnite
Facebook: Proximity, Canada

Style Icon: Audrey Horne

My most recent style icon just so happens to be a fictional character - Audrey Horne from the television show Twin Peaks! The show, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, ran from 1990 until 1991. It follows an FBI agent's investigation of a young woman's murder in the small town of Twin Peaks. I started watching the show on Netflix this summer and I was hooked from the start! There's all kinds of great drama, as well as lots of humor, too.

Audrey, the daughter of a wealthy hotel owner, was played by the super beautiful Sherilyn Fenn. Ah, just look at how perfect those brows are! Who wouldn't want to be this girl?

Audrey's look is all about the sweater. She's often seen sporting tight-fitting sweaters in soft colors: perfect for fall! The addition of the saddle shoes to this outfit make it so perfect. Sweet and fun. For anyone who thinks that a sweater and skirt combo is "too stuffy", or "too preppy", just take a gander at this next photo:

Um, hello! How sexy is that look? She looks great - super polished and very classy. Now if only I could learn to tie a cherry stem with my tongue... (Oh yeah, she looks great in a Little Black Dress, too!)

Aside from having great fashion sense, Audrey Horne is cool, intelligent, and confident. I think that makes her a pretty great style icon, wouldn't you say so?

Innovative architecture in the United Arab Emirates

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Fragments of Humanity: Archaeology in Québec is the first major exhibition dedicated entirely to Québec archaeology. Some 350 significant pieces will be featured, celebrating 50 years of archaeological discovery in Québec.

The exhibition looks back at the events and ways of life behind fragments of humanity that, each in their own way, reveal various facets of our heritage. Taken out of the ground, these objects summon up stories and, when placed end-to-end, are invaluable material evidence that ultimately tells us about our history. Highlighting the richness and diversity of Québec’s archaeological collections, the exhibition is divided into four thematic sections relating to archaeology: ancient history or prehistoric archaeology, a land of trade and commerce, chronicles of daily life, and subaquatic archaeology.

Imagining: ancient history

The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the era preceding the Europeans’ arrival on Québec land. Through archaeological discoveries, it has been possible to confirm that small groups of men and women had already trod upon Québec soil some 12,000 years ago. Without archaeology, this whole swath of Québec’s history would remain unknown and continue to elicit questions.

Discovering: a land of trade and commerce

The next section of the exhibition is devoted to trade between Europeans and Amerindians, and to commercial activities carried out on Québec land beginning in the 16th century. The Basques, Normans, Bretons, and French, drawn by such natural resources as marine mammals and cod, set up facilities along the banks of the St. Lawrence in order to exploit its assets. The artefacts found among the remains at dozens of archaeological sites also underscore the increasing number of trade areas and, starting in the 17th century, the development of local industries. Fishing tools, munitions, weaponry, coins, and other items of trade found on the sites of trading posts, forts, and the king’s stores are concrete examples of the meeting of peoples who socialized and mixed with each other in trade… or in competition.

Visitors are then invited to take a look at daily life in the 18th and 19th centuries, filling the void left by written documents. The theme is approached from three angles: food and the culinary arts, hygiene, and games and toys. An examination of found objects provides insight into our ancestors’ private lives, allowing us to consider changes in mindsets, practices, and styles. For example, while gatherings around the table among the upper-class in 18th century Québec City and 19th century Montréal are characterized by abundance, objects found in more modest milieus suggest a simpler diet in which soup was very popular!

Several hygiene items found among the remains—such as chamber pots, lice combs, shaving basins, and toothbrushes—indicate that the practice of “dry bathing” was quite widespread: the elite, while decked out in fine clothing, only gave a cursory cleaning to the visible parts of their bodies. A number of medicine jars, bottles of alcohol, mineral water, and milk of magnesia have also been found, and show that the preparation of home remedies was a common practice. Lastly, evidence of 19th century industrialization can clearly be seen in games and toys that have been found, mainly in more affluent areas.

Bringing to light: stories from the depths

Subaquatic archaeology is featured in this exhibition, with the remains from five shipwrecks on display: the Elizabeth and Mary, the Machault, the Auguste, the Empress of Ireland, and the Lady Sherbrooke. Interest in subaquatic archaeology resides in its ability to provide a snapshot of the moment of the wreck, thereby bringing to life tragic experiences, using a precise technique and recognized expertise to recover, stabilize, and preserve the meaning of submerged artefacts. These include arms and munitions, clothing and shoes, jewellery, and moving personal objects evoking the lives of men and women during the months spent on board.

Exclusive objects

Several objects in the exhibition are being presented to the public for the first time. Some have even been restored specifically for the exhibition, notably some earthenware jars found in the Basque sites on Petit-Mécatina Island on the Lower North Shore, and objects relating to Amerindian funeral rites. These include the offerings from the first Amerindian grave to be brought to light in Québec during the refurbishment of Champlain Boulevard, in Sillery, in 1966.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the exhibition is a dugout canoe made out of a single piece of wood, which was found in a lake in the Laurentians in the mid-1980s. Discovered by amateur divers, the 15th century dugout required special care to be properly preserved and to prevent it from deteriorating after having spent 500 years below the water’s surface. There are only about ten surviving prehistoric Amerindian dugout canoes in Québec, but none is in as fine a condition as that on display at Pointe-à-Callière.

Fragments of Humanity: Archaeology in Québec is an exhibition produced by Pointe-à-Callière, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Communications. This exhibition is funded by the Government of Canada. The Museum also thanks its sponsors, the InterContinental Hotel and La Presse.

The exhibition will run until January 8th 2017

Source: Pointe-à-Callière [February 24, 2016]