Mikey And Jj Break In Story

[Tavarus Calamia]

Ifyou had told my twenty-something self that I'd end up designing corporate PowerPoint slides for a living, I might have laughed in your face. Or maybe cried if I thought you were serious. Around 2008, I was wrapping up an Advertising Design MFA from SCAD, and with my sights set on becoming an art director at a big fancy ad agency in New York or LA, I was thinking about Super Bowl spots, not sales decks.

At least, not right away. Just as I was applying for advertising gigs, I met a very special lady from the Hoosier state, and changed plans abruptly. I finagled an internship in downtown Indianapolis at a B2B Software-as-a-Service content marketing startup called Compendium Blogware, and when I took the job, I didn't know what any of that meant. I grabbed on for dear life, designing everything from the company website, corporate blog, customer blogs, trade show booths, print ads, digital ads, email newsletters, webinar presentations, sales decks, slides for the CEO, social graphics, blog ctas, event shwag... you get the picture. This unexpected startup experience taught me how to be scrappy, learn on the fly, and take great pride in working fast.

I still had that itch to work at a big advertising agency though, and I eventually scratched it with a design role at Barefoot Proximity in Cincinnati. At Barefoot I was able to fine-tune my production chops, creating ads for some big consumer brands like Swiffer, Febreze and Dawn. More importantly, I found mentorship from a group of master storytellers who taught me how to think more strategically about messaging and creative problem-solving.

It turns out I have an entrepreneurial bug, and I eventually shoved off on my own as a freelance designer. My friends at Compendium had recently been acquired, and I lucked into some contract work with a prolific group of product marketers at the newly formed Oracle Marketing Cloud.

Working with this group of B2B marketers was highly rewarding. There was tons to do, and we did it. After some time, we had established an efficient workflow turning out sales decks and one-off slides at an exceptional pace. We found our stride, hit a rhythm, and before I knew it, nearly two years (and probably thousands of slides) had flown by.

Anyone who's looked into the history of advertising probably learned about the "Creative Revolution." Long story short, advertising used to suck. Then, during the late 1950s, a small band of advertisers flipped some conventions around; instead of talking down to us like dumb dumbs, art directors and copywriters challenged us. When big cars were all the rage, Doyle Bernbach and Volkswagen invited us to "Think Small." Instead of yelling, they whispered. There was more pull, less push. Brilliantly unexpected pairings between art and copy leading to more "ah ha!" moments.

Do you think Doyle Bernbach ever Googled "free print ad template"? Obviously no, because computers didn't exist back then, but even if they had, the brothers and sisters of the Creative Revolution knew that every brand's communication problem was unique and required a very specific solution. Templates can't tell your story. How about Google images and "hand-me-down" slides? Not so much.

In 2015, GhostRanch was founded to help focus on the substance within each deck. We assume our clients already have corporate templates to work with, and that is perfectly fine with us. Our sole purpose is to focus on the story within. Every slide is a blank canvas and serves an important role in the telling of your story. Each slide is an opportunity to sell your concept, change minds, break through the noise, articulate your point.

Slide design can all too often become an after-thought, and with the bar set so low, we see a massive opportuntiy for our clients to stand far, far apart from their competition by investing in more polished presentations.

Michael "Mike" Ehrmantraut is an American career criminal, Marine Corps veteran, and former Philadelphia police officer. Calm and calculating, Mike later became a parking garage attendant, private investigator, hitman, assassin, and violent fixer for drug traffickers to financially support his family (his daughter-in-law Stacey and granddaughter Kaylee). He worked for both Gustavo Fring and Saul Goodman as a private investigator, head of security, cleaner, fixer, and hitman. Mike has extensive knowledge of how to operate on both sides of the law without detection. As a former beat cop and true professional, Mike maintains an extensive, up-to-date knowledge of forensic evidence, surveillance equipment, and police procedure. Mike is also well-trained and calm in all types of combat situations, once using science and long strategy to take down a large number of hostiles with ease.

Born between 1940-1944, Mike served in the Marines during the Vietnam War. While in Philadelphia, he married and had a son, Matt, who later had his own family, wife Stacey and daughter Kaylee. Mike got caught up in crooked activities within the Philadelphia police, and after Matt joined the force, he hesitated when two crooked cops approached him, so they killed him. After Matt's funeral, Mike murdered the two cops, then fled to Albuquerque to be near Stacey and Kaylee. He took a job as a parking lot attendant at the Bernalillo County Courthouse and also performed for-hire criminal jobs on the side.

Mike becomes Saul (then known as Jimmy McGill)'s associate after Jimmy helps cover for him when Philadelphia officers investigating the deaths of the two cops Mike killed learn of Mike's whereabouts. Through one of his side-jobs, Mike also becomes involved with Nacho Varga, who asks Mike to help eliminate an increasingly-unstable Tuco Salamanca from the Salamanca organization, but Mike instead engineers Tuco's long-term arrest by faking a confrontation in front of police. Tuco's uncle Hector suspects Mike, so Mike attempts to bring police attention to the Salamanca drug trade. When this effort fails, Mike plans to assassinate Hector but is stopped by Gus, who wants to be the one to decide when Hector dies, and offers Mike a position within his drug organization, which Mike accepts, later becoming the head of security at Los Pollos Hermanos, and one of Gus' closest enforcers alongside Victor and Tyrus Kitt.

Following the deaths of both Nacho and Lalo, Mike remained as one of Gus' most trusted associates by the time Walter White and Jesse Pinkman entered the drug business in 2008. When he tracked down information about Walt and Jesse and relayed the information to Saul, Mike had warned Saul not to do business with them, but Saul ignored his advice, seeing a potential with Walt and Jesse's product. Mike helped Jesse to clean up his apartment after the death of his girlfriend Jane Margolis, keep Jesse and Walt in line after Jesse kills Gale, and later coming up with a plan to drive a rift between Walt and Jesse. Eventually, Gus trusts Jesse enough to bring him and Mike to Mexico as part of Gus' plan to kill Don Eladio and other cartel members. Mike is critically wounded and forced to stay in Mexico to heal. During this time, Walter convinces Jesse to help Walt get revenge on Gus, and Jesse's information enables Walt to lure Gus into a fatal trap. Mike hears of Gus's death and races back to Albuquerque to furiously confront Walter and Jesse. Mike reminds them that to maintain secrecy, Gus had been discreetly paying off several members of his drug organization.

Mike Ehrmantraut was born sometime between 1940-1944. He remembers his father as leaving him a "cold-water flat and a stack of bills," implying he didn't have a very good childhood and was neglected. ("Coushatta") It's implied that Mike served as a marine scout sniper in the Vietnam War ("Gloves Off"). It is possible he has a history in special operations or intelligence agencies, as he has extensive knowledge of surveillance equipment and is well trained in stealth tactics. He also mentions that he specializes in tracking individuals down, no matter where they are in the world. Mike had previously been married for 22 years. ("Wiedersehen")

For thirty years, Mike was employed at the Philadelphia Police Department as a beat cop, frequently having to deal with situations such as break-ins and domestic disputes. His career was mired in corruption, with his fellow officers pressuring him into accepting bribes and participate in protection rackets. When his son Matt joined the force, and faced similar peer pressure, Mike was forced to persuade his son to go along with the corruption. Unfortunately, Matt's partner Troy Hoffman and their sergeant, Jack Fensky, distrusted Matt and murdered him by staging a gangland shooting.

Devastated by the loss of his son, Mike fell into alcoholism and depression until he decided to take action. He announced his retirement from the PPD, and staged another bout of binge drinking, during which he tricked Hoffman and Fensky into believing he had evidence on them. When the duo came after Mike, he allowed them to drive him to a deserted alleyway with the intent of staging his suicide. Brandishing a hidden pistol and throwing off the illusion of his drunken stupor, Mike gunned down Hoffman and Fensky, suffering a shoulder wound in the process. He departed for Albuquerque, New Mexico, the following day, where he reestablished ties with his daughter-in-law Stacey, who had moved there several months earlier. ("Five-O")

When officers from Philadelphia arrive in Albuquerque to interview Mike, he hires Jimmy as his lawyer, primarily because he believes that Jimmy is dishonest enough to agree to help him steal evidence. Mike discovers that his location had been tipped off to the PPD by Stacey. He confronts her and comes clean to her with the entire story, short of actually confessing to the murder of the Hoffman and Fensky, merely saying to her, "You know what happened, the question is: Can you live with it?" ("Five-O") Mike later repays Jimmy by breaking into the home of the Craig and Betsy Kettleman to retrieve stolen money. ("Bingo")

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