You know World Cup mania is approaching fever-pitch when the requisite Nike ad comes out. And the 2010 WorldCup edition is absolutely brilliant. Not only is the soccer imagery dazzling, it mixes in today’s soccer greats like Rooney and Ronaldo with non-soccer greats like Kobe, Federer and Homer Simpson(!). And the Facebook “like” button makes it in there as well.

Nike Write The Future from Wieden + Kennedy London on Vimeo.

Write The Future from Nalden on Vimeo.

The Wayne Rooney segment is just hilarious, but given the way our stock markets have been (mis)behaving recently, some of it hits a little too close to home. And it’s obvious that Nike couldn’t predict Ronaldinho not making the Brazilian squad, or they wouldn’t have featured him so prominently. I only wish Messi (the world’s greatest player right now, without doubt) were in the ad too. Oh, and as a Manchester United fan, I miss Ronaldo and I hate Ribery!

“Write the Future” indeed. I cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. Should be amazing.

I found this talk and Q&A with Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk to be very authentic and insightful. I’m definitely not a writer, but there was a lot in what he said that I found to be personally relevant to my work and how I approach it. It’s a little long, but it is definitely worth your time if you have about an hour to spend.

Chuck Palahniuk from Grub Street on Vimeo.

Thanks to Crystal King for sharing this via her Twitter page.

Our last day (Day 4) in Barcelona was a gray, dreary day. There was a continuous drizzle that dampened our plans. But we stuck with it, and spent the day walking around trying to take in the architecture of Barcelona. Which is completely worth all the trouble. Nowhere else have I seen such diversity and range of architecture, from the historic to the bizarre to the modern. It was simply amazing.

The big influence of course is Gaudi, whose Casa Milá and Casa Battló are two of the most distinctive, intriguing and weird buildings you will ever see. Casa Milá looks like it could have been hewn out of a mountain face or something.

Casa Battló is probably one of the most exotic buildings in the world, looking like something straight out of a fairy tale.

And the Casa Comalat, designed by the Gaudí-influenced architect Salvador Valeri i Popurull, is an unusual looking house that has two different facades, formal at the front, more playful at the back.

And then there were the modern looking buildings that dotted the graceful Passeig de Gràcia.

The day ended with us trying to seek shelter from the rain at a children’s play area, followed by another round of delicious  tapas. And just like that, four lovely days in one of the most intriguing cities I have visited came to an end.

Day 3 has been all about exploring some of the diversity in beauty that this city has to offer. Our first stop was the beach, where the Sunday crowd was out in force to enjoy the sun and the sand. Not too many people were in the water though, which was pretty cold. But the beach was a fun place to hang out, and the fact that it was right there in the city (it didn’t take a 1 hr drive or 2 hr train ride to get there) was awesome.

We also enjoyed some excellent fideuàs (paella with noodles instead of rice) at the grand Can Majó. Sipping sangria while enjoying the food, the sun and the view of the blue water was exactly what this vacation needed.

This was followed by a trip up the mountain of Montjuïc, the largest green zone in the city and home to a castle, the Olympic park and lots of greenery. But be warned – don’t try this trip with a stroller or you will be dead by the time you are done!

In the evening, we descended to the base of Montjuïc for a unique spectacle. Dancing fountains may be all over the world now, but the Magic Fountain outside the MNAC is pretty spectacular, built as it was  for the 1929 world’s fair, and still one of the best (better than anything in Vegas, even if the musical set started with Disney tunes).

Excellent tapas at Taller de Tapas rounded out the night, though their attempt to solve the mystery of tapas by spelling everything out in English does need to be matched by understanding service. Even getting caught in a downpour on the frantic walk (run) back to the hotel did nothing to dampen our spirits from the day of fun.

Again, random photos from our trip have been uploaded to this tag on my flickr account.

It’s been 2 days in Barcelona, and here are some random thoughts from two tiring but inspiring days in a city I am coming to love.

Day 1 was all about being reminded that I was definitely in Europe. The bus ride from the airport to the main plaza near my hotel was painless and a pleasure. The bus was clean and new and definitely kid friendly, in that the windows went all the way down so Arav could look out while sitting down the whole ride. There were grand plazas, fenced in by historic buildings on one side and great sidewalk cafes on the other, and there were grand avenues to walk down, admiring the sights and sounds of a grand European city.

Day 2 was all about Gaudi, the most honored of Spanish architects. We started the day in Parc Güell, a place for which the word “whimsical” would be an understatement. It’s like someone who grew up on a steady diet of Hans Christian Anderson went wild and started creating a fairy tale world in a park.

We then topped that by a visit to the world famous Sagrada Família, a cathedral unlike any other in Europe, whose unique shape and adornments are amazing to behold. The fact that it is still being constructed is ridculous in of itself.

A visit to the not-too-bad aquarium was added to the end to make the day a bit more palatable for the munchkin, who greatly enjoyed the excellent children’s play area at the end of his tour. And a fitting end to the bizarre and wonderous sights of the day was an all-dessert dinner at Espai Sucre, where our 3 and 5 course meals of all dessert based dishes was a true joy, and a fitting reward to 2 days of walking our soles thin.

I can’t look forward to what else Barcelona has to offer in the two more days I have here. I am going to keep uploading random photos from our trip to this tag on my flickr account. Check it out if you can.