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30.4
Christ. Another month gone by.
To console yourself that you are not only another month closer to dying, but also that everything is life is deprived of any ultimate value by the inescapable fact of death, why not invest in a lovely portable Roberts DAB radio - crystal clear comedy on the move - sure to relieve that anxious sweaty despair. In the shops at £160ish, available on Ebay for £90ish. It almost makes life worth living.29.4
Bubbly night brainstorming a new brand concept with an eclectic group of friends in Primrose Hill - a psychotherapist, an author, a garage owner and a journalist. The bubbly took over so we ended up spilling lots of drinks, talking about old cars and campervans and perhaps not getting as far as we could have. We had a great night and I think I may have placed an order for a "Triumph Stag" - whatever that is.We've now all gone off to do some incubating (no small chicks involved) before meeting up in a big country house near Brighton in a few weeks to talk about how we take things forward. Interesting project with an even more interesting bunch of people.
A quick hats off to non-profit-making lomo.com - just imagine the amount of programming that they must have to put in.
Damn - I missed out on this great Ebay purchase.
28.4
It was marvellous to meet up with Andy yesterday, followed by a great night out with friends Indy and Ben. We seemed to more or less agree that homebrew, dutch barges, good friends and honest people are the way forward. Imagine that...23.4
Just got back from a great lecture by Wally Olins organised by D&AD. I am in awe. Someone working in marketing who not only avoids spouting claptrap, but actually rips the piss out of all the bullshit that lazy marketing people get away with on a daily basis.Let's integrate some leveraging solutions here.
My theory is that people who rely on jargon are either trying to obfuscate clients by sprinkling in big words that they think will make them look clever or simply that they're too lazy to use proper English. I find it baffling that our industry is allowed to get away with spouting so much twaddle.
Audience member:"what's the difference between brand experience, experiential marketing and environmental modelling?" Wally: "You read too many books..."
The lecture was essentially a potted version of his book sprinkled with anecdotes spanning his career (which included inventing brands such as Orange, Diageo and Q8). He also shattered my illusion that Norwegian fishermen have been relying on Neutrogena hand cream for decades. Apparently it was invented in a product development house in San Diego in the 90s.
And Wally's theory on the immediate future: brands are going to steer from away from minimalist design and become more "crude, baroque and fairground". One example being Hutchison Telecom's 3.
If you ever get the opportunity to see Wally speak, do it. Talk about a breath of fresh air.
20.4
Two amusing pieces of coverage about lovely Sally and I joining Maiow: Brandrepublic and Advertising UK. Don't ask about the picture.There are some people who simply make you laugh until you wee yourself. My friend Steve is one of them. He was was my fellow holidaymaker at Butlins last week.
Observe: fourteen year old sportswear-clad chav approaching similar aged herd of female chavs; gesturing as if to kick their heads in. YMCA (Young Male Chav Aggressor) was heard saying: "FUCK FUCK, yeah, fuck", flailing arms wildly before calming down to curl baseball cap peak, adjust genitalia and scowl at passers-by. Perturbed Female herd a little calmer realising they weren't about to be done over by YMCA following in father's footsteps.
We laughed so much we nearly choked on our triple mexican bacon cheeseburger combos and large double chips, thinking as we threw chunks: His mother Denise / Sharon / Jesse / Bonjella must be sooo proud.....
Leaving chavs to one side, which sadly, we all have to at some point, check out Steve's marvellous website and buy his book here.
19.4
Interesting article about the perils of blogging in the Guardian today.I've just finished working on an updated version of our company website. It's been fun.
18.4
I've bought a clunky old lomo camera off ebay. Like my van it only works when it feels like it, but some of the double / triple exposures are great. See some here. For the uninitiated, Lomos are old style cameras made in St Petersburg with the original 1950ish design which gives the prints a distinctive ouuuldy wouuuldy style. Some westerners have cottoned on and become hardcore lomos. Once you've tried it you'll be lomoing all over the place. Read more here.The church in the lomo pictures is St Mary's at Ingestre in Staffordshire, right next to my home town. Check out the gold skulls - mad. Apparently it's the only church outside of London designed by Sir Christopher Wren. He persuaded his fellow Royal Society member Dr Robert Plot to write a book called The Natural History of Staffordshire in 1686 which rants about the church. My mother is lucky enough to own an original copy and there's nothing she likes more than getting it out after a glass of wine or two. She shows people the book occasionally too.
17.4
I celebrated my birthday with my friend Sam at Jongleurs last night. We guffawed at five great comedians and drank until we couldn't walk. I have absolutely no recollection of buying a copy of '40 Plus' from a pornography merchant, losing my coat or getting home.
My friend Steve introduced me to the music of Adam Green (formerly of the Moldy Peaches). I've spent five days in my campervan enjoying his album 'Friends of Mine'. Great voice, nice harmonies, lots of strings and superb lyrics: "There's no wrong way to fuck a girl with no legs, just tell her you love her as she's crawling away".
I woke up last week with Hi-di-hi ringing in my brain and an overwhelming urge to experience holiday camps. So I booked myself into Pontins in Camber Sands followed by Butlins in Bognor Regis. Visiting Pontins was like travelling back in time to 1975. The accomodation reminded me of my army days, the staff were all obnoxious spotty teenagers and the place smelt of wee.
Butlins was a complete contrast, quirky environment, great activities and friendly staff. I haven't laughed so much in ages.
14.4
Happy Easter.
8.4
Having had a complete nightmare with my PC for a month - knackered motherboard followed by a corrupted hard drive followed by trojan horses and viruses galore followed by accusations of PC Munchausen by Proxy, I'm glad to say I'm finally back online. I've spent the week emptying cupboards and calling friends to try and gather replacement software - cheers Brian. A short service will be held tonight to mourn the loss of my porn collection which alas, is gone for good. I'll miss the long nights we spent together.
