In studying great advertising, we see visions of brightness: lightness, darkness, and the colored shapes of textures among the silences. We hear sounds and detect impulses awakening our inclinations to touch, engaging with our moods, our hearts, and our minds. Those surprise juxtapositions create meaning and tell stories that touch us. It is what makes us humans. They are our connections with what is good, what is wonderful in our world.

And great advertising can bring us to that wonderful place.

:: continue reading this ocean post ::

DowJones/VentureOne reports that U.S. video startups received $682M in venture funding last year. Already in the first quarter of 2007 video startups have raised over $200M alone. That’s almost $2M per day.

Todd Dagres of Spark Capital (investor in KickApps, Veoh, and Next New Networks) apparently said that the online video space could see more than $1B (with a “B”) this year.

Having a behemoth like Google lay down some big-time dollars for online video certainly legitimized the gold rush for web-based video, and the NBC/NewsCorp online video plans also gives credence to this distribution channel.

Without calling it a bubble (remember Excite@Home’s graceful exit?), creeping into the billion-dollar venture range is sure to make some people skittish. Shakeout reports have been on the Interweb for some time, and some believe that a correction will happen, but when?

U.S. Video Startups Raised $682M Last Year via NewTeeVee

Joost, the broadband-enabled TV platform from the guys that brought you Kazaa and Skype, has gone live…sort of.

Previously-invited Beta testers are now able to invite an unlimited number of users (Gmail, anyone?). Instead of having a limited number of invites, current Joosters can invite friends, family, and colleagues.

Joost Launches Commercially via Geekzone

It’s time to put that 7th grade dream to the test.  Want to make your case for the Presidency?  Thanks to Mark Burnett, the reality TV guru and stalkyourneighbor.com or rather MySpace, you and everyone you know can develop a Presidential platform via MySpace profiles.  Take it with a grain of salt, but having a million dollars after winning ‘Independent’ to fund a personal campaign or to donate to a political cause, it seems worth briefly noting at the water cooler.

Looks like Jeff Berman of MySpace agrees, “Any time you’ve got two media titans like Mark Burnett and MySpace teaming up, it’s interesting, but when you’re talking about a project that has the potential to re-Democratize American politics, the potential is extraordinary, I predict you’ll see actual presidential candidates taking notes from candidates on ‘Independent.’” (Oh boy, this should be good!)

It has never been more apparent that reality TV, our passion for interactive TV/internet and online video posting are fueling our growing desire to ‘pick an ending’.  The best singer/performer, the best celebrity/professional dance tandem, our President.  Has a nice ring doesn’t it?  What’s next?  A REAL fantasy draft? Now there’s an idea…