We Are Maven. We Are Blog. Maven Creative Orlando Florida Design Agency » Life

Our Top 10 Movies, Albums, and Shows from 2009

Chris — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:14:16 +0000

Today we say goodbye to an entire decade that apparently no one still knows what to call. But that’s in the past! The future is finally here in 2010 (”Twenty-ten” is the Maven approved translation). So friends lets forge ahead into a new year filled with hover boards, hover cars, and anything else we can make hover. And what better way to move ahead into 2010 then to just turn right back around again and take another look back at the best of 2009! So for the tens of devoted blog followers we proudly bring you our 2009 Top Tens:

Top 10 Movies

Chris Stephens
1. Star Trek
2. The Hangover
3. District 9
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Avatar
7. Moon
8. Drag Me to Hell
9. The Brothers Bloom
10. Watchmen

Ryan Kelly
1. The Hurt Locker
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Up In The Air
4. 500 Days of Summer
5. Star Trek
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox
7. The Brothers Bloom
8. In The Loop
9. Adventureland
10. Moon

Drew Smith
1. District 9
2. The Brothers Bloom
3. Zombieland
4. Star Trek
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Adventureland
7. Moon
8. Where the Wild Things Are
9. 500 Days of Summer
10. Paranormal Activity

Jake LeBoeuf
1. Avatar
2. The Road
3. Star Trek
4. Moon
5. The Brothers Bloom
6. The Hangover
7. Inglourious Basterds
8. District 9
9. Where The Wild Things Are
10. 500 Days of Summer

Alastair Sterne
1. District 9
2. The Brothers Bloom
3. A Serious Man
4. Where the Wild Things Are
5. Star Trek
6. Zombieland
7. Up
8. 500 Days of Summer
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
10. Sherlock Holmes

Jonpaul Douglass
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Star Trek
5. The Hangover
6. Avatar
7. Michael Jackson’s This Is It
8. Drag Me To Hell
9. I Love You Man
10. Extract

Corey Curyto
1. Avatar
2. Angels & Demons
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. Star Trek
5. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
6. The Taking of Pelham 123
7. The Proposal
8. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
10. Up

Top 10 Albums

Chris Stephens
1. Mew – No More Stories…
2. Passion Pit - Manners
3. Barcelona - Absolutes
4. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
6. MUTEMATH - Armistice
7. Fun – Aim and Ignite
8. Brand New - Daisy
9. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: The End of Day
10. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

Ryan Kelly
1. Brandi Carlile - Give Up The Ghost
2. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
3. The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
4. Dave Rawlings Machine - Friend of a Friend
5. The Dead Weather - Whorehound
6. Discovery - LP
7. AA Bondy - When The Devil’s Loose
8. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below
9. Wilco - Wilco
10. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Drew Smith
1. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon: The End of Day
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Me Without You - It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright
4. Brand New - Daisy
5. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
6. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
7. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
8. Wilco - Wilco
9. Sea Wolf – White Water, White Bloom
10. Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Jake LeBoeuf
1. The Civil Wars - Poison & Wine - Single
2. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk
3. Will Reagan - In The Night Season
4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5. Me With Out You - It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright
6. Empire Of The Sun - Walking on a Dream
7. Brooke Waggoner - Go Easy Little Doves
8. Lovelite - All Colors
9. Phil Wickham - Heaven and Earth
10. Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome

Alastair Sterne
1. Pilot Speed - Wooden Bones
2. Athlete - Black Swan
3. Moneen - The World I want to Leave Behind
4. Pete Yorn & Scarlet Johansson - Break Up
5. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
6. MUTEMATH - Armistice
7. Tegan & Sara - Sainthood
8. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
9. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
10. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Jonpaul Douglass
1. Michael Jackson – This Is It
2. Discovery - LP
3. Mew – No More Stories…
4. Bill Calahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were An Eagle
5. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
6. Morrissey - Years of Refusal
7. Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
8. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
9. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
10. Jake LeBoeuf – Waterfall EP

Corey Curyto
1. Bethel Live - You are Good
2. Bethel Live - Here is Love
3. Jesus Culture - Consumed
4. Jesus Culture - Your Love Never Fails
5. The Bridge Band - We Need You
6. Mat Kearney - City of Black and White
7. Phil Wickham - Heaven and Earth
8. Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain
9. Tres Valentino - Christmas Album 2009
10. Weezer - The Blue Album (Breaks the boundaries of time)

Top 10 Shows

Chris Stephens
1. True Blood
2. Lost
3. Friday Night Lights
4. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
5. Modern Family
6. Flight of the Conchords
7. Dexter
8. Mad Men
9. 30 Rock
10. The Office

Ryan Kelly
1. Glee
2. Mad Men
3. 30 Rock
4. True Blood
5. Friday Night Lights
6. Modern Family
7. Community
8. The Office
9. Parks & Recreation
10. Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List

Drew Smith
1. True Blood
2. Dexter
3. Friday Night Lights
4. Mad Men
5. Sons of Anarchy
6. Eastbound & Down
7. Modern Family
8. Community
9. 30 Rock
10. The Office

Jake LeBoeuf
1. Modern Family
2. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
3. The Office
4. Glee
5. So You Think You Can Dance
6. Flight of the Conchords
7. d
8. o
9. n
10. e

Alastair Sterne
1. k
2. i
3. l
4. l
5. y
6. o
7. u
8. r
9. t
10. v

Jonpaul Douglass
1. Lost
2. V
3. Mad Men
4. Whale Wars
5. Flash Forward
6. Dexter
7. Pushing Daisies
8. David Letterman
9. Conan O’Brian
10. Shaq Vs.

Corey Curyto
1. Sports Center
2. Monday Night Football
3. Sunday Night Football
4. Thursday Night Football
5. Saturday Night Football
6. Sunday Football
7. Lost
8. Modern Family
9. ESPN
10. ESPN2

Maven puts the cool in Cool Ranch

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:16:54 +0000

Every year Doritos launches their “Crash the Superbowl” contest. Entrants submit a 30 second spot and the top 3 will be aired during this years Superbowl. Given that we’re all so amazingly talented and good looking we thought it would only be fair to the other contestants that we shoot, edit, and submit our spot all in less than 48 hours and for less than $48. In retrospect maybe we should have spent more time, money, and energy to actually have a shot at winning. Anyway we hope you enjoy it regardless. It’s bursting with cheesy goodness.

Doritos version 1: Do you think they know about this? from MAVEN on Vimeo.

Kyle Korver and Maven on a TV Near You!

Ryan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:41:00 +0000

It was only a matter of time before Maven started getting some publicity from the #1 Sports Network in the world… sort of. Our good friend and client, Kyle Korver (professional NBA player with the Utah Jazz) was featured along with his teammate, Deron Williams, on ESPN’s First Take program on the morning of September 2nd. Kyle mentions his site, kylekorver.com, which we were lucky enough to help create with him. Kyle is always doing great work through his foundation, so make sure you watch the video below to catch the interview with Kyle and Deron about their upcoming charity dodgeball tournament, Dodge Barrage.

How’d Day Do Dat?

Chris — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:18:27 +0000

Chris and JP let you in on another secret of the trade in the latest installment of How’d Day Do Dat? This time they’ll let you know how they made the Maven logo out of…. ice! They describe their perfected creation like this…”it’s almost like water that is frozen that you can see though.” So check out how cool this video is. And if you’re expecting to learn anything you should do yourself a favor and abandon that hope before clicking play.

HOW’D DAY DO DAT? “The Ice Logo” from MAVEN on Vimeo.

Chris’ Ultimate Muscle Mixtape

Chris — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:51:13 +0000

So it seems not a day goes by without someone stopping me and asking, “Chris how do I get so ripped and be like you?” or they plead, “Chris please show me your secret to being so super jacked and awesome! Here’s a thousand dollar bill.” Well today, with these imaginary people in mind, I’ve decided to share one of my powerful keys to shredded-ness.

Aside from a steady alternating diet of Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A, a rigorous weekly work out regime, a daily injection of creatine, and being born with a freakish metabolism, there’s one item that often goes over looked but it crucial to the muscle development process. And that’s the perfect workout mix.

Do you really think it’s hard work and protein that excels you from benching 145 lbs to 225 lbs? Not even close. It’s the power of sweet jam pumping through your now eye popping veins, giving you a temporary strength which would allow you to defeat Rambo, Chuck Norris, and Conan all at once. I think the Backstreet Boys said it best when they shouted “Everybody, rock your body right”. Listen fellas (and ladies) if you wanna get chiseled, then you gotta rock your body right. So here’s what’s in my iPod shuffle right now. Let these monster rock anthems and electric guitar riffs explode through your new bulging muscles. This is Chris’ Ultimate Muscle Mixtape.

1. Refused - “New Noise”
2. Emery - “Cutthroat Collapse”
3. Rise Against - “Life Less Frightening”
4. Alexisonfire - “To a Friend”
5. Bloc Party - “Talons”
6. Rage Against the Machine - “Killing In The Name”
7. At the Drive In - “One Armed Scissor”
8. Chevelle - “Humanoid”
9. Saosin - “Sleepers”
10. Anberlin - “The Resistance”
11. Muse - “Hysteria”
12. Trivium - “Down From the Sky”
13. Brand New - “You Won’t Know”
14. The Sleeping - “Don’t Hold Back”
15. Ratatat - “Party and Bullsh**”

So what do you work out to? Let’s hear your additions to the Ultimate Muscle Mixtape!

Cause You’re Hot Then You’re Cold

Alastair — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:59:57 +0000

Something strange happens to me when I hear Katy Perry. I can’t help but dance. I can’t help but love her catchy shallow pop tunes, they just get my heart rate up a few notches. I just didn’t realize that it had the same effect on Ryan and Jake.

Katy Perry Rox!!! from MAVEN on Vimeo.

The Voice Over Audition

Alastair — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:12:35 +0000

Maven was on the look out for some professional voice over talent to be used in a video we’re currently filming. This Nordic warrior of a man dropped by the office and gave us all he had…unfortunately that wasn’t enough.

Voice Over Tryout from MAVEN on Vimeo.

**Special thanks for our friend Matt Addington for the photo of Tom.

Our Top 10 Movies and Albums From 2008

Ryan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:17:06 +0000

Tomorrow will be breaking into the year 2009, and the time has finally come. You have suffered through the “professional” opinions of Paste Magazine and scoffed at the suggestions of NPR. You’ve been waiting for a “Best of 2008 List,” that actually carries some weight… well my friend, you will wait no longer. Without further hesitation, I give you Maven’s Top 10 Albums and Movies from 2008.

Top 10 Movies:
Chris Stephens
10. Any trailer for “The Watchmen”
9. Quantum of Solace
8. JCVD
7. Let the Right One In
6. In Bruges
5. Cloverfield
4. Tropic Thunder
3. Wanted
2. Iron Man
1. The Dark Knight

Alastair Sterne
10. JCVD
9. Son of Rambow
8. In Bruges
7. Wall-E
6. Iron Man
5. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
4. Changeling
3. The Counterfeiters
2. The Visitor
1. The Dark Knight

Michael Sevilla
10. Speedracer
9. Australia
8. Wanted
7. Rambo
6. Wall-E
5. Son of Rambow
4. Quantum of Solace
3. Iron Man
2. Cloverfield
1. The Dark Knight

Ryan Kelly
10. Burn After Reading
9. The Counterfeiters
8. Rachel Getting Married
7. Tropic Thunder
6. In Bruges
5. Kabluey
4. The Boy in Striped Pajamas
3. Milk
2. The Dark Knight
1. Man On Wire

Jake LeBoeuf
10. Jake is a loser and has only seen 7 movies this year
9. Jake is a loser and has only seen 7 movies this year
8. Jake is a loser and has only seen 7 movies this year
7. Australia
6. Wanted
5. Get Smart
4. Wall-E
3. Iron man
2. The Dark Knight
1. Cloverfield

(An)Drew Smith
10. Get Smart
9. Eagle Eye
8. Tropic Thunder
7. Chronicles of Narnia
6. Australia
5. Man on Wire
4. Quantum of Solace
3. Iron Man
2. The Dark Knight
1. Cloverfield

Disclaimer: It is very difficult to see all of 2008’s movies within the actual year as most of the really great movies come out right before Oscar selections. So if you freak out because “Eagle Eye,” is on Drew’s list and “The Wrestler,” is not… it probably just means we haven’t yet seen it. Please, do not hold us against this, as these are a judgment of only the movies we’ve seen.

Top 10 Albums:
Chris Stephens
10. House of Heroes - The End is not the End
9. Bloc Party - Intimacy
8. Emery - White Broken Hearts Prevail
7. Lydia - Illuminate
6. Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vols III & IV
5. Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause To Be Uneasy
4. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
3. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
2. The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm Chord & Melody
1. Jeremy Larson - Salvation Club

Alastair Sterne
10. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
9. Israel Hill - Talk You Up
8. Portishead - Third
7. Hayden - In Field & Town
6. Hawksley Workman - Between the Beautifuls
5. Telecast - Queit Revolution
4. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
3. Jon Foreman - The EPs
2. Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Earth
1. Theset - neveroddoreven

Michael Sevilla
10. Michael
9. Doesn’t
8. Believe
7. In
6. 2008’s Music,
5. Except…
4. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through The Static
3. Weezer - Red Album
2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
1. Thrice - The Alchemy Index

Ryan Kelly
10. TV on the Radio; Dear Science
9. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
8. Drive By Truckers - Brighter than Creations Dark
7. Buddy Guy - Skin Deep
6. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
5. Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause to be Uneasy
4. The Wood Brothers - Loaded
3. Langhorne Slim - Langhorne Slim
2. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Jake LeBoeuf
10. Cold War Kids - Loyalty to Loyalty
9. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
8. Greg Laswell - Three Flights from Alto Nido
7. Port O’Brien - All We Could Do Was Sing
6. Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds & A Sound
5. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
4. Thrice - The Alchemy Index
3. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
1. Jon Foreman - EPs

(An)Drew Smith
10. Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer
9. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
8. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
7. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
6. T.I. - Paper Trail
5. The Cool Kids - The Cool Kids
4. Does it Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into
3. Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation
2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
1. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

Merry Christmas From Maven!

Chris — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:21:11 +0000

The Maven Family would like to wish a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Click below to check out our Christmas card. Next year we promise not to wait till the last minute to make one!

http://wearemaven.com/merrychristmas/

Merry Christmas!!!!!

We’ve Got Christmas Fever… and it’s Contagious!

Alastair — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:56:37 +0000

Ryan, Alastair, and Jake would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas by ruining one of your favorite holiday songs.

Christmas Song from MAVEN on Vimeo.

Well At Least We Try Hard

Drew — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:33:01 +0000

What we can’t accomplish with natural talent we make up for with good intentions and embarrassing efforts. The later of which makes for much more interesting blog posts.

Well At Least We Try Hard from MAVEN on Vimeo.

Trashketball Madness!

Chris — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:25:29 +0000

Trashketball is a national pastime here at the Maven office. In this rare video appearance Jake attempts one the greatest levels of difficulty known to the Trashketball community..the double bank shot! She is a fickle lady. Many men have lost their fortunes on her charms and promises of Trashketball infamy. Can Jake be the first to overcome certain ridicule and tame this elusive minx?

Trashketball Shot of the day! from MAVEN on Vimeo.

Thank You Melinda!

Chris — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:38:42 +0000

Today we received a care package from one of our favorite people Melinda Van Kirk. We just want to send a special thank you to her for her friendship, her support, and her candy! We would also like to take this moment to say that we love getting candy (hint).

Tree Stump

Alastair — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:25:54 +0000

Chris couldn’t figure out why he felt so drained at the office today. I told him “it’s because it’s Thursday.” He said, “No that’s not it. It’s because I’m working across from a tree stump.”

Maven 101: Keeping Cool Under the Pressure

Alastair — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:40:05 +0000

When it comes down to crunch time there’s no better guy to have in your corner than Chris. His leadership continually demonstrates how to stay focused, keep your cool, and not get overwhelmed. We all have a lot to learn from his constant composure.

Maven 101: Making Business Cards on a Budget

Alastair — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:12:30 +0000

We needed some temporary business cards to hold us over until the super cool version was finished the lengthy printing process. We discovered a couple of tricks to take a very basic, inexpensive card, and give it a bit more of a polished & customized feel.

Check out the finished product and a clip of Alastair giving what little wisdom he has on the subject.

Business Cards on a Budget from MAVEN on Vimeo.

We Are Maven (.com)….Finally!

Chris — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:23:30 +0000

Today Alastair finally took a break from his normal routine of haircuts, 2 hour lunches, and lallygagging around town with his wife to actually finish up the website. Thanks tree stump you’re a real pro! Actually we’re pretty proud of wearemaven.com. The range in our portfolio, and the actual work looks absolutely incredible!! I’m blown away that I get to work with such talent. The site should serve us more than well to generate some early interest in Maven.

By the way, thank you for finding our blog, bookmark this thing and check back often to be filled in on the latest happening at the Maven offices. Listen friends we take our blog very seriously and can assure you our commitment is to update you with only the most vital, responsible, and professional of information. Like what Katy Perry song are the guys currently listening to?

So to our family, friends, colleagues, and clients we couldn’t do this without you. Thanks for being here with us, and please don’t be strangers. For my own sanity call or drop in, my only exposure can’t be to these magnificent goofballs I work beside. They never join me in the 4 O’clock dance off and they eat more cheese than I’m comfortable with.

I can’t remember anything I’ve experienced that has caused me such grief and absolute joy at the same time. So as I sit here in a beautiful half empty office surrounded by great friends, and overflowing with great hope, I find myself a man who knows what it means to be truly blessed. We look forward to updating you on the many exciting things ahead of us, and invite you to share in this journey with us. For without meaningful relationships with you our family, friends, colleagues, and clients we’d lose sight of what Maven has been called to be.

Thanks for reading, now forward out site to 10 friends or you’ll have bad luck for a year.

Chris