Almost nothing says more about a New Yorker than what they carry in their bag. Books, music, makeup, blackberries and everything in between – there’s a lot to be found from taking a look inside a purse or satchel. That being said, welcome to “What’s in Your Bag?,” a pictorial feature taking a look at the stuff SaatchiNYer’s lug around the city with them all day. First up, Junior Planner Courtney Winegar.
Someone's been reading The Hunger Games series . . .
Adele and AA batteries.Nice.
Do you think the iPhone is for work or personal use?
The umbrella is the #1 must have accesory for all NYer's
The Entire Contents (in no particular order):
Sunglasses- Rice’s Flea Market (in PA) – 3 for $5 (I’ve already lost 2 pairs)
Book- Mockingjay. It’s Book 3 in the Hunger Games trilogy to feed my inner tween.
Umbrella- Just in case, but if opened you will see that it’s been mangled by the Hudson/Houston crosswinds
Clear nail polish
Blinc mascara – Best mascara because it creates a tube around your lash. Fair warning–when you wash your face the tubes just rinse off—at first I thought my lashes were falling out!
A&P Card – yes, i live in Yonkers and I shop at A&P
Physicians Formula Mineral Face Powder and Bronzer (my Lovemark) – The bronzer is cheap but packaging is very chic.
Thanksgiving was great wasn’t it? And now we’re back, grinding out end of the year stuff and working hard. So today we’re going with some nice, entertaining video content to start your day right. Below are the presentations of Jason Feifer, Bob Gruen, & Todd Greene speaking at 7×7: Advertising Week last month (yes, two of them went longer than 7 minutes . . . but we’ll give them a pass because they were all-around good guys). Be sure to check back next week when we’ll run the rest of our presenters vids, including Jess Greenwood, Matt Van Hoven and show-stopper extraordinaire Reggie Watts.
Mark Cochrane presents this year's winners w/ their $500 prize!
Each year, Saatchi & Saatchi offers Management Training Program “to entry-level employees in order to provide them with a solid understanding of the Saatchi & Saatchi way of doing business, develop the skills needed to ensure long-term professional success and build strong professional and personal relationships with others throughout the agency.” Yes, that definition is taken directly from the program kick-off slide. During the last week of the program, each of the five teams presents a pitch to the entire agency, with one team claiming bragging rights and a $500 cash prize.
Just before the Thanksgiving break we were ecstatic to announce Team 5 (Daniella Perez, Renee Siu, Jyah Hoy, and Courtney Winegar) as the winners of this year’s pitch, which was centered on Pampers. We’d like to thank and congratulate everyone who participated. Getting through the program is no easy feat, and we’re happy to have so many talented people working at SaatchiNY at the moment. Complete list of participants below.
Team 1
Woody Wright
Nicole Sander
Lauren Stillo
Laura Sammartino
Jacque Sloan
Team 2
Charlie Lodge
Kate Monahan
Alison Moser
Thea Hughes
Alice Ng
Team 3
Christine Raia
Courtney Griffin
Adam Beilman
Kelsey Montague
Steffan Bankier
Team 4
Molly Dwyer
Aisha Washington
Anitha Thenappan
Team 5
Daniella Perez
Renee Siu
Jyah Hoy
Courtney Winegar
The H/H team are away for the rest of the week stuffing our faces, watching football and generally and giving thanks for a great year. We’ll see you on the 28th. To celebrate the vacation, we Googled “the most searched for video on thanksgiving.”
We will now leave you with the resulting classic “Thanksgiving Song” by Adam Sandler. Hit us up in the comments if you’ve got any good recipes to share!
Underground Sounds is a regular shout out to SaatchiNY employees favorite up and coming/unsigned/ about-to-blow up bands. For our first installment, H/H regular contributor Cristina Pansolini gives us the skinny on The Bailen Brothers.
The New Album, “Must Be Mistaken” Available on iTunes 12/1!
When the H/H team first came up with an ongoing feature of local unsigned bands, The Bailen Brotehrs immediately came to mind. They’re one of my favorite local music talents, who I got the chance to meet and know at NYU. They’re a pair of brothers who have been creating amazingly catchy music for most of their lives, playing as a band for several years. In 2007, David and Daniel Bailen, aka The Bailen Brothers, went into the studio to record for the first time. The resulting record was “Come and Get Your Art.” Shortly thereafter one of their songs was featured on Nickelodeon.
THE BAND
The band has been playing on the New York Club scene since 2007, with short college tours in the Northeast and California. In 2010, they moved to Florence, Italy for a year, where they had a weekly residency at two clubs in the city center. I actually got the chance to see them play and they killed it – becoming miniature local celebs while they were there.
On their return to New York, they kept the weekly residency thing going by hosting Thursday Throwdowns @ the Local 269. Since being back, the Bailen Brothers have played on the Vh1 Save the Music Summer Concert Series, Harlem Jazz Museum’s Annual July 4th Concert in the Park, and the CMJ Music Marathon. They have also played residencies at the Bowery Poetry Club, Bitter End, Sullivan Hall and the Studio and Webster Hall. They’re currently working with world-renowned producer Joe Mardin on their first full-length record.
THE INTERVIEW
Since I’ve known David and Daniel for a few years I thought it would be fun to close with a brief interview about their style. The transcript of said interview is below:
What’s a fun Fact about the band?
DAVID: We have three sets of twins in the band!! It’s us, Michael and John Fatum (Trumpet and Percussion) and Raymond Mason (Trombone) who also has a twin, Alex . . . but he’s not in the band.
How did you guys decide to start playing together?
DANIEL: David and I have been writing songs since we were 5 years old. The first we ever wrote was composed on pots and pans. It was called “Fire in the Kitchen” . . . we followed that up with “You’re the Girl Who Taught me How to Love”.
DAVID: Yup . . . we were writing from experience haha. Those are still two of my favorite Bailen Brothers songs! We’ve pretty much always had a band. This particular group has been together for three years.
When did you guys start focusing on your vocal harmonies?
DAVID: We learned to really sing well when we were in the children’s’ chorus at the Met Opera. We had a really strict chorus master who scared the crap out of us. She would beat us with a stick when we sang out of tune! (Just kidding)
DANIEL: Those were the golden years…we sang on stage with Pavarotti and Domingo, and didn’t think twice about it.
When did you start getting serious about the band?
DANIEL: Well, in 2010 the band moved to Florence. We all lived in this broken apartment together, playing twice a week at two different clubs in the city. Florence was great, because there was always an audience to play for…and we started to build a great fan base. It really felt like our “Hamburg years,” (especially because a Beatles cover band played the night before us at one of the clubs.) The band got tight and we really learned how to perform. We wrote a new song for every show. Actually, most of the songs on the new record are from our year in Florence.
DAVID: But when you say “get serious” I feel like that period taught us to take ourselves less seriously. People can’t have fun when the band has serious faces on!!
You have a really eclectic sound. On the new record you range from Folk, Rock n Roll, Funk to Pop, how do you write in so many different styles?
DANIEL: Well, when you grow up in a city like New York it’s hard to write in one style. You’ve constantly got a million different sounds coming out you all at once.
DAVID: In high school we were playing music in totally different places. We would play Mozart in orchestra, take the G train to Brooklyn and hold down the rhythm section at this Hatian Baptist Church, we played in jazz groups and had The Bailen Bros going on … meanwhile we were listening to our parents’ orchestras and chamber groups, my Dads folk/bluegrass band, and his Rock n’ Roll band!
DANIEL: It’s pretty hard to block all that out and just write in one style. But in the end its always us singing, so you can tell it’s a Bailen Brothers song. We definitely have our own sound.
Slice Founder Miki Agrawal with her twin sister Radha
SAATCHI EATS is a casual insider’s guide to cool food finds around the neighborhood. This week – neighborhood newcomer SLICE. Not only did we send a few correspondents out to eat the delicious pizza at 535 Hudson, we also got to ask the founder (Miki Agrawal) a few questions. If you’re looking for a good lunch spot, Slice is a great opportunity. They welcome everyone from free-range meat lovers to vegans, celiacs to oenophiles, and everyone in between.
WHAT’S THE ORIGIN OF SLICE?
“SLICE was born in New York City on Oct 27th, 2005, seeking to evolve the current pizza eating experience using fresh, local, seasonal ingredients and deliciously innovative and internationally inspired toppings. We love to offer customers options like a hormone-free chicken tikka masala pizza.”
an inside view of Slice
TELL US ABOUT THE CHEF BEHIND THE TASTY FOOD
“Our new Chef Jose Martinez (formerly under the tutelage of Todd English) recently joined the SLICE team and has added many delicious seasonal, local and farm-fresh menu options that go far beyond pizza. Try our seasonal beet salad with goat cheese and arugula, our quad of seasonal carrot, bean, chickpea and cream hummus dips with our homemade pitas, our new local Asian salad (cabbage and field greens from Satur Farms located in the North Fork of Long Island), seasonal soups and soon we will be offering pastas and fresh house made Panini’s.”
The Novice Pesto Slice
WE’VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT YOUR DRINKS AND DESSERTS . . .
“Chef Martinez began his career as a pastry chef and has created several signature desserts for us. People love the named “SLICE Cream Sandwich”. All of our coffees and teas are locally sourced from Irving Farms and Serendipitea. We have the widest selection of local New York State craft ales in the city and we have a fab selection of local NY State wines as well.”
As he mentions in question #1, Charles Lodge is a Junior Planner at SaatchiNY. He’s also hilarious. Like, really, really funny. Follow him on twitter (@QuidProBro) and you’ll see what we mean.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT SAATCHI & SAATCHI?
Technically I am Junior Planner, but overall, I guess my job is to keep it real.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
The summer after freshman year of High School I mowed the playing fields and painted classrooms at the middle school I went to. So short answer . . . janitor.
WHAT LED YOU ON THE PATH YOU’RE ON TODAY?
The first internship I had (between freshman and sophomore year of college) was at a production shop called Smuggler. That summer marked the six-year anniversary of the company’s existence, and they had already won a Palme D’or at Cannes for Best Production Company, so I got to see a lot of phenomenal work going on. From that point on I knew the only thing I wanted to do was write ad campaigns. I also like to think that I could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE AD (ALL TIME OR CURRENTLY)?
I have always really liked this one for Minute Maid:
And this one is awesome (won a gold lion last year):
IF YOU NEVER HAD TO WORK AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO DO?
Well, my favorite vacation activities are golf and skiing… but I’ve always wanted to learn more languages, and how to play the piano. I’d probably also see more live music.
WHAT’S YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION?
My black lab, Sam.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEO?
But all this guy’s videos are pretty funny.
WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU MAKE REALLY WELL?
Chicken Parmesan
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WARM-WEATHER NYC ACTIVITY?
Anything on a roof deck, even though I’m not fond of heights.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHTIME SPOT NEAR THE OFFICE? Mamoun’s on MacDougal. The hummus is out of this world.
WHAT’S YOUR GO TO KARAOKE SONG? (COME ON, WE KNOW YOU HAVE ONE).
My singing voice is too pure for the likes of a karaoke microphone, but I like anything that would have been sung at Lilith Fair. Amy Grant, Bonnie Raitt.
WHAT’S THE BEST MEAL YOU’VE EVER HAD?
There’s a Chinese restaurant in Midtown called Tse Yang that has AMAZING Peking duck. My dad lives in London and we go there whenever he visits NYC. It’s an old favorite.
IF YOU COULD BE THE WORLD RECORD HOLDER OF ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
My friends and I made up this thing called the sitcom challenge . . . it’s where you watch an entire day of sitcoms in one sitting (so 48 episodes). It’s not in the books yet, but I’d like to think I could do it. #30rock. #NYCdelivery.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CREATIVE PURSUIT?
Cooking and woodworking.
Charlies most prized posession (the pup) stands in front of a chair made with his bare hands. Impressive!
WHAT BLOGS/MAGAZINES/BOOKS/PAPERS/WEBSITES CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT?
I just started reading Vince Flynn. He writes CIA “novels” about a counter-intelligence spy who kills terrorists at will. Total “airport bookstore crap,” but between books I actually miss his lead character, Mitch Rapp. I also love FastCoDesign.com; it’s amazing what people are building these days.
WHAT’S THE LAST GREAT EVENT YOU WENT TO?
I went to the Rangers’ home opener two weeks ago; despite the loss it was an amazing game.
WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
Nothing worth having ever came easy. I know it’s trite and not true in every single case, but it’s a great thing to remember when you feel like giving up.
WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE STORY?
When I was in High School some friends and I drove up to Maine for a camping/hiking trip in Baxter State Park. The finale of the trip was to be climbing Mt. Katahdin (the highest Mountain in Maine), and traversing the peak’s “knife edge” and then going down the other side of the mountain. On the day we were supposed to summit the beast, the weather turned sour. There were 50 mph gusts and terribly flat lighting at the peak, but we decided to at least give it a shot. We climbed the 5,268 feet to the top, only to find that the knife’s edge trail was closed; what was supposed to be the ‘best part of the trip’ had been stolen. So we turned back down the trail we had just come up, disappointed and disheartened.
While we were sitting around the campfire that night, discussing which interstate to take home the next day, one of my buddies stood up (just like out of a movie) and proclaimed he was not leaving Baxter until he had crossed the Knife Edge. So the next day we got up a little before 4 am, crushed some granola bars, filled our water bottles and headed back up the same trail we had traveled twice the day before. This second try came on one of the most glorious Maine mornings I have ever seen (this coming from someone who has spent a lot of time in The Vacation State). At around 8:00am we reached the top of the mountain, enjoyed the view for about ten minutes, and then started our traverse of the mountain’s peak. We were so excited to be allowed on the trail that a half-mile drop on either side of the three-foot-wide path barely fazed us.
Again, I’ll remind you that I am not fond of heights, but I wasn’t about to be the sissy who, for the second time in as many days, prohibited the group from crossing the knife edge. We made it across and down the other side all safe and sound, and hitched a ride on a summer camp bus back to the park’s main campsite. Several hours later we were crossing the border on our way out of the great State of Maine, and I have never been so happy to have “given it another try.”
