pub-lic spaces

Are you sitting comfortably?

2006-08-31T11:58:00.000Z

Then I'll begin. This is going to be a short story about a long story

Yes, dear reader, if you want to keep up with the continuing adventures of Blogger Smith you'll have to re-tune your set (or RSS feed) for I have found a space of my very own at www.longstory.co.uk

I'm not going to take this blog down. Who knows, I may even pop by every now and again to dust and to clear the mat of junk mail but if you want to find me, you've got no excuses - you know where I am

That wasn't so long, was it?

Not on the rug, man

2006-08-23T09:19:00.000Z

My Belgian blog buddy Serge is back with a vengeance after his summer sabbatical. I have a theory about his lack of posting over the last few weeks being something to do with his sudden hair loss affecting his blogging output Sampson style but he may argue and say it was just because he was on holiday and enjoying the real world after a tough few weeks.

As a fellow Lebowski fan (I've just proudly hung my Lebowskifest poster in room of Castle Smith) his link to the edited version of that cult classic made me laugh. I'm offering my own link to an homage to the Dude with a nod to all those kids in my generation who ran around the playground shouting 'By the power of Grayskull!' and other He-Man related phrases.

The Dude abides

Long story

2006-08-18T14:23:00.000Z

Is it possible to be in two places at one time? Not according to the laws of physics, but I, the great Houdini, will attempt to make the impossible possible.

Almost 2 weeks since my last post, I've been busy moving the Monkey's stuff, doing more interviews for the BBC and working on moves of my own. The last year has seen me try, forget about, find inspiration again and get addicted to blogging but I think it's time to move on. Not that I'll be deserting you completely. Like I said, I'm going to attempt to be in 2 places at once, at least for a while.

What am I on about? Well, www.longstory.co.uk, the new home of blogger Smith is almost ready for it's official launch (almost - not yet. Patience!). I've been seduced by the simple yet powerful charms of wordpress. I am going to try to post in both places for a while but I don't know how long I'll keep that up. So here it is, the last days of pub-lic spaces and the birth of long story

Blogger, it's been emotional

BBC before Breakfast

2006-08-07T09:53:00.000Z

Sunday morning, picture the scene: too early for much activity on the street apart from the odd early riser walking to the shop to get the papers. A black cab waits outside Castle Smith, diesel engine thrumming. Yours truly, unshaven and casually attired, sneaks out of the house as quietly as possible; taking care to not bang the awkward front door and wake the Monkey slumbering upstairs.

No, I wasn't up to no good (shame on you for thinking that), I was heading off to the BBC's Birmingham base at the Mailbox to give an interview about blogs and bloggers; the third I've done for them in 2 weeks. You can listen to what I sound like early on a Sunday morning here, by choosing the 'listen again' (sunday) option. I think I was on about an hour into the show.

Keeping on the Asian theme, I called into the Desi Sweet centre on the way home and woke the Monkey up with mango kulfi for breakfast. Quick radio interview before an ice cream breakfast: who says the life of a blogger isn't rock and roll?

Boodhoo Voodhoo

2006-08-02T15:28:00.000Z

Click the image to enlarge (via flickr) or click here to see more pics from the inaugural Boodhoo Lounge session

The Boodhoo Lounge session pt1

2006-08-02T15:25:00.000Z

I love looking at old photographs of musicians and actors, taken on tour or backstage and capturing moments that you'd never get to see otherwise. Letting you into what is usually a very private space and somewhere where the artists can relax and be themselves. I'm always jealous of the photographer - the person who gets to be there, backstage, on the bus, where the real stuff happens. Not just a spectator looking at a stage from an enforced distance.

Last night I got to be that photographer – an insider. Thanks to my friend Kalpana, I got to sit in on the inaugural 'Boodhoo* Lounge**' session with number 1 selling artists Nizlopi (yes, they did the JCB song but for those of you who don't know anything more by them check out their website or myspace). I took some photos and chatted to John and Luke and the radio crew from the Asian Network who were there to record the session and they all made me feel like I was part of that inner circle.

Apart fromthe Nizlopi boys' incredible talent and quick sense of humour, what struck me most about them was the amount they smiled and laughed throughout the whole session and even in the pub afterwards.

The tour starts on the 3rd of September (my birthday) and the album's out the next day. Check them both out if you can, you won't be disappointed.

*Kal's last name
** well, Kitchen as it turns out – much better accoustically

It's good to talk

2006-07-27T15:34:00.000Z

Now that supermarkets are starting to offer IP phone packages (£15 from Tesco for a basic model – although it's not Mac compatible and according to my mate Nick doesn't work too well with wi-fi), can it be long before the VOIP revolution reaches the masses?

With Sky and Orange announcing free broadband offers for their customers and internet phone companies like Skype selling 'free' internet calls to other internet phone users all over the world, things are surely looking up. Evidence surely of web 2.0 (or even 2.1) coming into effect.

I have a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone (although I still haven't managed to set it up at Castle Smith due to lack of internet*) and I know a couple of others (Serge, Nick) who have them or are using VOIP via MSN or AIM. Not many though. I think it will be a while before we adopt the internet phone quite as readily as we have done with the mobile phone. Mind you, I did hear an interesting story about some enterprising folk who are using their web browsers on their mobiles to run their VOIP phones via wireless connections, letting them use their internet phones like a mobile. Clever.

This piece in the Guardian today is slightly worrying and could have a serious impact on the mass take up of internet phones. Security is all well and good but this has a distinct whiff of KGB/Big Brother about it. I wonder if it will be enough to distract people from the magic word of the VOIP revolution's USP – FREE calls.

*also responsible for sporadic posting – I've been leeching wi-fi from friends and my local coffee shop for outside work web use

om mane padme hum

2006-07-25T11:25:00.000Z

The last few days at work have been eventful, stressful and seemingly endless all at once. The hot weather (and our British inability to cope with anything above 22c) is making people uncomfortable and irritable. Add to that a pinch of uncertainty (changes are afoot) and a dash of insecurity (people feeling threatened by some of the changes) and you've got a pressure cooker waiting to boil over. All credit to the University (although I think the timing was fortuitous rather than planned), the workplace wellbeing event on Friday afternoon certainly seemed to diffuse a bit of that tension.

Most people shunned the makeshift volleyball court and headed straight for the free food and drink although I did see a few brave souls taking salsa lessons in Chancellor's Court. I headed for the shade of the trees and tried my hand at meditation with the University's buddhist chaplain. I think the goofy smile speaks for itself. Ommmmmmmmm

Blogging's a dangerous game

2006-07-20T14:02:00.000Z

Seems like not everyone is a fan of bloggers and blogging. I checked Paris-based Petite Anglaise's blog this morning to see if she'd come out of self-imposed blogging exile only to find some disturbing news. Petite has been Dooced (I'll admit, I didn't know what that meant until I followed the link either).

Apparently her employers in France have accused her of gross misconduct (faute grave) via her blogging activities. And not just for updating at work (although she does admit to doing that occasionally when she'd finished her work duties), for bringing the company into disrepute via her blog.

Petite's lawyers are bringing a landmark case against her employers. In the meantime, check out her (very entertaining) blog and send her some words of support.

Mad dogs and Englishmen

2006-07-19T11:41:00.000Z

I don't know about the mid-day sun but last night at 8pm it was still in the high 20's. Pub beer gardens were packed out, pink shoulders and faces were bared and remarkably not a sock/sandal combination in sight (could it be that the British middle-aged male has finally got the message?).

Today is forecast to be the hottest day of the year with temperatures in the Midlands hitting the mid 30's with the possibility of a record-breaking 37c (98f). Tonight is the first night of pre-season training at my rugby club. With last night's early evening temperature in mind I am not particularly looking forward to running drills for an hour and a half in the still hot sunshine and no shade. Predictably the camp is split. Those who want to build on last season's promotion (and plug some of the gaps we've got in the squad) want to go all out and train hard. And some of us fancy a bit of a run out to blow away the cobwebs and then a few drinks in the clubhouse afterwards.

The British and Irish Lions took a hammering in New Zealand last year. Maybe this rugby player should take his example from the Lions of the Serengetti. Hakuna Matata

Can I Digg it? Yes, you can!

2006-07-18T13:57:00.000Z

Here's a real testament to how communities are building up around web technologies like Flickr and Digg. One of the distinguishing elements of social media 'hubs' like these are the groups of users who spend time creating and making available little applications and hacks that enable other users to use these sites in new and original ways. Often these micro-evolutions shape the way a site is used in the mainstream and can open up user streams that the site designers may not ever have thought of.

For those of you who don't know about Digg you can read more about it here. In short, it's a site that lists the news stories that its user base vote for (or digg) in order of popularity. "[It] is all about user powered content. Every article on digg is submitted and voted on by the digg community". It's a great way of seeing what people are reading and what stories people think are important at that moment.

Digger Alex Bosworth has come up with a script that generates a 'digg this' button that bloggers etc can add to their posts to encourage people to submit their stories to digg [NB - it works but it needs a bit of tinkering with to get it looking right]. The guys behind dig have already mentioned that this is a facility they want to offer their members in the near future. I'll be interested to see whether they do and if/how they get around the potential for rigged votes. Rumour has it that an email campaign cost Christian Ronaldo the Young Player of the Tournament at the recent World Cup. I wonder whether a similar coordinated attack could promote a band/political viewpoint/corporate message?

Pic from jerseyimage via flickr

Boozy shmoozy

2006-07-13T15:07:00.000Z

While I don't yet have the butler (see previous post), I am working on the champagne lifestyle. Tonight is our annual boozy schmoozy media networking event at work. Take 1 marquee set in beautiful campus grounds, add in 200 'media types', 1 chocolate fountain and a free champagne bar and brace yourself …

(pic nicked from Dan Robinson via flickr)

What every dashing young blade needs...

2006-07-13T10:13:00.000Z

Castle Smith is mine again. Now that Anna has moved into her place (I'd been doing my good Samaritan act and offered her my spare room until her sale went through) I've got a whole new room that I've barely even been in. Just as well really as I sense several boxes of books and Pub paraphernalia winging their way up the motorway from my parents' house to make space for my sister's imminent return to the homestead before she goes off to the RCA. Mind you, my sister's already put her 'dibs' on the spare room so I'm going to get her to do some illustrations in the alcoves in lieu of B&B rates.

Anna came around to collect the last of her stuff last night and was telling me about her new 'lodger' – a 13-week old kitten called Izzy. I've never really been much of a one for pets; I'll take a slick new macbook or an SLR over a cute puppy or a parakeet anyday. But with the Monkey in London for a couple of days, I did briefly wonder if I was to have a pet, what kind I'd have. Any suggestions?

Maybe I should go back to my previous ambition and get myself a butler instead. According to 'hip hop mogul' Damon Dash he'd be a sartorial disaster without his. Your bling sir…

Social media in action

2006-07-11T15:59:00.000Z

As an Englishman I don't think I have an accent. Even most English people would probably be hard pushed to place my accent much closer than 'south', 'near London maybe'.

I had thought that over a decade of mixing closely with people from up and down the country and all over the world had managed to neutralise and mix up my accent all at the same time. Not so. 5 minutes spent catching up with an old friend (reunited via blogger – hence the title of this post) from the village I grew up in and both of us were laughing at how strongly our 'village' accents stood out. Well, at least to each other. We both spotted the flat vowels and elongated stresses on certain words that marked us out as sons of Toddington, even if the others didn't.

And we even won the quiz at the Sunflower Lounge so there's obviously no truth in the saying 'Befordshire born, Bedfordshire bred. Strong in the arm, thick in the 'ead.'

Two wheels or four?

2006-07-06T11:12:00.000Z

For the last four years or so I've been spoiled. Until recently I lived close enough to walk or cycle to work and did so every day (apart from 3 days) for four years. I walked/cycled in every type of weather imaginable and didn't once feel guilty about the smug feeling I got when I walked past all the commuters stuck in a jam on a sunny day while I was enjoying the stroll home.

My new house is probably not walking distance (even at my marching pace I reckon it would be 45-50 minutes) but the bike is still an option. I've been pretty slack recently though. My green sensibilities are fast fading each time I get in the car to drive to work. I have been car sharing and I've even ventured onto the bus a couple of times but I still feel like I should make more of an effort to take the bike option. I don't even have the battle that London cyclists face to dissuade me (although there are a couple of hairy points on the ride in). My main problem is clothes. It's not really feasible to wear my day-to-day office wear for the ride in. I don't have to wear a suit and tie (so I don't) but I still have to be smart/presentable and sweaty, oil-stained clothes just don't cut the mustard.

If I was organised enough I could probably use the showers at the sports centre before I went in to get cleaned up. I could probably even devise a 'take 4 clean shirts in on Monday and 4 dirty ones home on Friday' routine but I'm not sure where I'd keep them.

Any suggestions? I know there's at least one keen cyclist out there amongst you.

Riders on the storm

2006-07-05T12:50:00.000Z

First off, I'm not complaining about the weather. Far from it. There were times this year when I thought winter was never going to end. I love it when it's hot like this. As soon as I'm back from work I'm in shorts and flip flops; straight into the garden with all the windows open in my house.

The sunshine makes everyone look prettier, act happier and we all know that it's easier to get up for work when it's not pitch dark outside. But today I am suffering. Yesterday I suffered worse. The build up of pressure and muggy atmosphere are prime migraine conditions. 'My head hurts' does not describe it. I can't see properly, I feel sick and it really does hurt.

There's definitely a storm coming. As soon as the weather breaks I will start to feel better. What with my busted bones and old man's joints, I've become a finely tuned weather station. I can tell you when it's going to rain and snow and when there's a storm brewing. I just wish this one would hurry up and brew.

You know you're a geek when...

2006-06-29T08:45:00.000Z

... you notice that the toner cartridges for your photocopier look exactly like lightsabres

[cue vvvvwwwooooom vvvvwwwwooooomm lightsabre noise]

Monkey business

2006-06-28T07:57:00.000Z

Can you keep a secret? I can. Well sort of. I'm going somewhere on Sunday but I can't tell you where. Why can't I tell you? Well, I know the Monkey* reads this blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I've already had to leak a little bit of information but I think I've managed not to give it away completely. She knows we're going to see Tony Flow and the Miraculous Masters of Mayhem but I don't think she realises quite how exciting this is. Perhaps you don't either, but trust me, it is. It's been a while since I've seen Tony and the Masters but they're usually worth the wait and the perfect antidote to writing up a PhD thesis (hers not mine).

On a slight tangent, Moley and the Mad Woman went to see Fuerzabruta at the Camden Roundhouse last week. Apparently it was amazing. Not sure about taking the Monkey to the circus though. Do you think they'd let her out (just kidding Monkey!)

* not a real monkey, it's my girlfriend (long story)

Fish and chips a l'orange

2006-06-27T11:30:00.000Z

Seems like I've started a trend. Shortly after announcing my intention to leave the cosy, leafy Harborne suburban life in favour of the slightly edgier (but in my opinion far cooler) surrounds of Bearwood, my neighbours followed suit. Last night they took posession of the keys to their new palace and added another couple of names to the Bearwood exodus.

Following tradition, we christened the house with a meal of take-away fish and chips (eaten from the paper with fingers of course), sat on the floor. A couple of people had recommended the Lightwoods Fish Bar as the place to go to so, off Rob and I went and, 15 minutes later, returned with enough food to feed a small army - well, 4 normal people plus me and Harry, the dog. We were a little surprised, when we unwrapped the packages, to find that the chips were bright orange. Blogger orange if you will. They looked more like Cheesy Poofs than the chips I'm used to. Now, can anyone tell me, is this normal? They don't make chips like that in Harborne - or anywhere else in Brum I've had chips from. They tasted normal enough.

Perhaps it's a Bearwood thing? What next, purple pasta?

mobile phone menage a trois

2006-06-21T15:13:00.000Z

Sometimes I think the gadgets I own and use are more intelligent than they're letting on. Continuing the 'new' theme (new house, new job) I've been knocking off those little jobs that have been on my list for ages and at the weekend I finally got around to getting myself a new phone tariff.

My smugness at (theoretically) saving myself money and netting myself free wireless broadband and a shiny new phone into the bargain was short lived though when my 'old' phone decided demonstrate a hitherto unseen sulkiness that I'm pretty sure was not advertised in the spec. K750i caught sight of me unwrapping the shiny new W810i and charging her up and has decided to give me the cold shoulder.

She won't start up (barely a blip of recognition, despite loving attempts to turn her on) and she's withholding privileges. Well, numbers at least. I've got the pictures, mp3s and numbers that were saved to my SIM card but she's withholding the rest and nothing I can say or do will persuade her to give them back. What's worse, she's got all my task lists and reminders ferreted away somewhere too.

After a long day at work, God help us when AI means that our phones are more intelligent than us and have the personality to back it up.

An apple a day

2006-06-14T14:43:00.000Z

*drool*

Nostalgia's easier, as time goes by

2006-06-13T07:53:00.000Z

"I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair… In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air"

So sings Sandi Thom so-called internet sensation and last week's UK number one single spot holder. This BBC online magazine piece asks whether we're looking back on the 60's and 70's with 'Che-tinted glasses' and, a few days after publishing, the comments on the piece seem to support this argument. We love to remember the Dylans and Led Zeppelins, the sit-ins and the counter culture but we often forget the race riots, the 3-day week and the 60's 70's attitudes to things like racism and sexism. There seems to be a tendency to yearn for the styles and cultures of past generations rather than looking forward and innovating for ourselves. We've perfected the art of pillaging the past for our inspiration but as a result we just end up with polished 20th century versions; 60's/70's/80's lite.

There is hope. Today's techno savvy generation is using sites like youtube and myspace to showcase their own brand of creativity. They may be apathetic towards political revolution but the spark of creativity is still there. Keep an eye out for it amongst the 21st century hippies and punks.

(The evolution of a mohawk)

The rhythm is gonna get ya

2006-06-09T07:42:00.000Z

Fed up with football already? Need to put a bit of sparkle in your step? Oddjob play the kind of music that it's impossible not to find your groove to. If you're in London on Wednesday, head over to the Tabernacle (spitting distance from Old St tube) and show the world that it's not just the Brazilians who have dancing feet. Oh, and say hello to Tamar from me.

No such thing as a free lunch?

2006-06-08T08:29:00.000Z

One week into the new job and so far so good. I have a list of meetings as long as your arm (woohoo! more meetings) and a set of goals to achieve for the next 6 months that will hopefully drag the University into the 21st century, kicking and screaming.

I'm still getting email and phone calls for my last job though. Until my replacement starts on Monday I'm in a sort of limbo – doing quick fixes here and there and typing the same email about me not being the editor any more. Typically, my last couple of days in the (old) job and the perks start to kick in. I've been invited to more free dinners and events in the last couple of weeks than in the last couple of years put together. Tonight's dinner is courtesy of Strada, the new Italian restaurant in the Mailbox – "great Italian food and wine in a contemporary setting". I don't feel too bad about taking 'bungs' now that I'm not in a position to do anything about it. By the way, if any car dealerships out there are looking to offload some free wheels, the stinkwagen is sounding a bit ropey and might need to be retired soon.

Finally, and continuing on my jumping on bandwagon theme, the World Cup starts tomorrow. Men and women across the world are looking forward to a month of dazzling skills, endless punditry and half empty shopping centres on Saturday afternoons. For those of you who don't like football and would prefer something more refined, like say ballet, here's a man who's attempting to combine the two.

pic stolen from grannybuttons via flickr

It's not easy being green

2006-06-06T09:11:00.000Z

It's frightening the amount of stuff you accumulate. I moved to Birmingham just under 5 years ago and I brought all my possessions with me in a single car load. Even then I remember thinking after the third or fourth trip up the stairs, laden with boxes, that I had way too much stuff.

I've been spoiled, living in a big (shared, rented) house with lots of space. My conclusion: if you have space, you will fill it. I now have a whole house worth of space and I'm battling against that rule. I don't want to fill my house with stuff that I'll probably not look at/wear/use from one day to the next.

I've unpacked the majority of the boxes from the move and apart from clothes which are waiting to be put into a wardrobe (when I get one), most of what's left comes under the category of 'stuff'.

I'm going to try to be ruthless (although I think sentimentality will mean there will be a few boxes of momentos which go in the loft). Three and a half years of bills and bank statements were consigned to the bonfire at the moving out party and I'm taking a leaf out of Andrea's book and getting organised. Hopefully the 'It's not easy being green' book that the Monkey got me will help to inspire me to make Castle Smith a bit greener.

As the crew at Howies say: Own less – travel light

Bear (sic) faced cheek

2006-06-02T09:10:00.000Z

Just catching up on my blog reading and I read Anna's (little.red.boat) post about packing up and getting out of London for sunny Brighton:

Moving house. Not quite as fun as you remember, is it?

Amen to that. But once you're in...

Loved the tip about the bear nose in the next post. Perhaps it should be mandatory at all UN Peace summit negotiations?

Casa del Pub

2006-06-02T08:09:00.000Z

It's been a while. Thanks to Rachel for the poke in the ribs.

Part of the reason for the hiatus in posting has been the fact that I have no internet connection at the moment (I'm posting this from work – well, I am supposed to be a social media specialist. How do they expect me to learn about it without doing it?). The reason I have no internet? I've finally moved house. Yes, after months of wrangling with solicitors, mortgage companies and all the other fun stuff that is part of moving house, I finally moved in and stayed my first night at Castle Smith last night.

I'm amazed at the sheer amount of stuff I own. It's pretty disgusting. I'm going to try to take this opportunity to purge and hopefully not replace all the stuff I've given away/thrown out with more stuff I don't need. Hmmm well, I'll try.

For those of you who are interested, I'll post some pictures of the new place (and some 'end of an era' shots from last weekend's bonfire party) on my flickr stream. I'll probably make them for friends/contacts only so add me as a contact and I'll sort you out if you can't see them.

Posts may be sporadic while I unpack but no doubt I'll be back to my blogging best in a few days. Happy Friday folks.

pic tea leafed from jon crel

Big Bully

2006-05-25T11:51:00.000Z

After jumping on the 'blogging about Eurovision' bandwagon earlier this week, I've abandoned all sense of originality and am going to post my first and last post on the phenomenon that is Big Brother.

I'll make no comment on individuals (I don't know any of the contestant's names), Channel 4/Endemol's exploitation of mental illness for entertainment or the fact that due to a combination of the terrible weather and Big Brother/World Cup fever, I'm expecting the streets to be deserted for most of June and July.

I saw 20 minutes of this year's Big Brother this morning as I was getting ready for work and was appalled. 13 'adults' ganging up on 1 seemingly unstable man in a disgusting display of playground bullying in the name of entertainment. Any kind of bullying is unacceptable and the Big Brother execs/Channel 4/the viewers should be ashamed of themselves for encouraging and promoting it.

Tags: Big Brother, Bully, Shahbaz

Spam-u-like

2006-05-24T09:54:00.000Z

Everyone hates spam, right? If you're anything like me, despite your best efforts (using filters and blockers and not divulging email addresses unless necessary) your inbox is probably still bombarded with messages from Nigerian bankers, Viagra salesmen and phoney banks. But what about those messages from friends close and distant: the forwarded funnies, the 'lucky' chain letters, the 'reply to all' conversations?

I'm not sure of the etiquette here. Like little.red.boat's Anna, there are some people I'd like to send this link to but I'd hate to risk offending/alienating others. What do you think? Is it ungrateful to ask (politely) to be scratched from friends' forward lists? Would you be offended and not bother keeping in touch at all?

(Pic-nicked from dgray_xplane)

Gimme gimme gimme...

2006-05-22T15:13:00.000Z

Americans beware. Your brands, music, television and spelling may be infiltrating the rest of the world but you still have a weakness for the odd British/European import. We gave you the Office and you thanked us (and re-shot it with pretty people); we gave you Robbie Williams and you sent him back (I don't blame you); we gave you Pop Idol (and generously threw in Simon Cowell) and you sent us Kelly Clarkson in return (I think we did rather well out of that one). If you're not careful we might send you Eurovision...

Tags: Eurovision, Lordi, Americans

Tag! You're it!

2006-05-22T15:02:00.000Z

I've just finished re-reading this piece from the Guardian on inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee's vision of a 'semantic web' that will revolutionise the way that we search for data online. It's an interesting concept if you can get your head around how a ' mushy set of ontologies' could lead to 'really wonderful things'.

We're already making inroads into this idea of a semantic web. Sites like Del.icio.us, Flickr and technorati (to name but a few) are using tagging technology to allow their users to search for content that corresponds to particular themes. As always when you introduce the human element into a process there can be slight flaws. For example, a photo of a bridge taken from a train window could be tagged with any of the following: bridge, Newcastle, reflection. It could also arguably be tagged with Tyne, river, train, boats … you get the idea. The tags are set by the person who uploads the photo and are peculiar to their own interpretation of the piece. So someone searching for Newcastle might get this picture in their search but someone searching for Tyne might not, depending on the tags they search on.

Tagging intelligently is probably just a case of stating the obvious. But does it end there? What about those obscure tags that you put in there to catch the tangential reader?

I was also amused to note that the two pictures on my flickr photostream with the highest number of views were not what I would class as my best shots. I can only assume that the considerable number of viewers found the pictures in question through searches that used the tags I had added to the pictures. I can understand why 'boobs' got so many hits (although I'm sure the viewers were disappointed with the result) but 'wellingtons'?

Does anyone else find that people arrive at their blog/flickr photos/web stuff via obscure routes?

Tags: tags, boobs, web 2.0

Let's run it up the flagpole and see if it flys...

2006-05-16T15:04:00.000Z

I've got a new job. Well almost. I officially start 2 weeks today but I've been doing most of the new role unofficially for the last year, just without the pay or the authority (power hungry, moi?). Good news: I get to drag the University into the 21st century social media age by its bootstraps and (hopefully) do some cool stuff with blogs/podcasts/various new media along the way. Bad news: more meetings.

I thought that no-one liked meetings, they were just a necessary evil. So if no-one likes them, why do we have so many? In one of these meetings today I heard myself uttering a well-worn management cliché (I won't say this one). Needless to say I was disgusted with myself, apologised and hope never to repeat the phrase in polite company. It did remind me of a game my Dad taught me (I don't know where I get my mischievous streak from) – Bullshit Bingo:

Take a piece of paper
Draw a grid on it (5x5) - ready made version here
Photocopy it enough times to give a copy to each of your colleagues
Fill in the each of the squares with a management-speak phrase (the Company Bitch will get you started)
Distribute
Each time someone uses a phrase that appears from your card, cross off that box
When you have crossed off the last box on your 'card', leap up and shout 'Bullshit!' in the manner of a bingo winner
Pack up your desk

2006-05-15T13:13:00.000Z

Crash test dummy Smith, signing up for duty

Crash test dummy

2006-05-15T12:51:00.000Z

Ouch

Living in the city, it's nice to be able to escape the urban metropolis every now and again. Despite the many advantages and opportunities that living in a large city offers, I am still a country boy at heart so the open invitation to visit friends down in Devon for a weekend seemed like too good an opportunity to miss after the recent stint in Birmingham and London. Healthy living, clean air, good company.

Bring your bike, said Rich. If there's no surf, we can head up the woods and hack about on the trails for a bit. Rich likes bikes. Scratch that, Rich loves bikes. In fact I think he likes bikes even more than he likes boards. I like my bike too, but apart from riding to work and the odd foray into town, I don't get much off-road practice. Perhaps I should have remembered this before I found myself heading for a fast approaching 'drop-off', halfway down a tree-lined slope. Luckily, years of rugby, skateboarding and snowboarding have taught me how to take a fall and toughened me up a bit. Bloodied but unbowed I soldiered on and did it again. Note to self - learn from your mistakes/don't listen to Rich

To rub salt (or should that be sand?) into the wound, I came a cropper on the skimboard in spectacular fashion. Broken and bruised but still smiling. What does that say about my idea of fun?

Triple trouble

2006-05-10T09:48:00.000Z

Time is short/money/of the essence. Pick your own cliché. I'm not sure if this comes under lazy blogging, efficiency or madness but I'm going to attempt to combine 3 posts, that I would normally have written separately, into this one post. Are you ready for some tenuous links?

I posted a while back about 'Creatives branding creatively' – Birmingham's creatives' newly formed industry-led forum to drive promotion of the City's creative industries. Monday night I sat in on a presentation/discussion group on what progress has been made and an attempt to form an action plan. As always these things are a slow process, as anything done by committee inevitably is, but the thing that most stuck in my mind was the worryingly traditional approach that was being pushed by many of the attendees. I sometimes forget that not everyone is as au fait with social media and other developments in marketing and PR but the level of understanding of how we could/should be using new technologies and practices to our advantage in campaigns like this was extremely low. That's not to say that the quality of the creative work coming out of the city is poor, in fact far from it, but if this project is going to succeed, I think there needs to be a steep learning curve in communications terms.

These events always make me hungry so Karl and I headed into Selly Oak for a quick curry. I hadn't been to the Sundarbon in years (since I moved out of Selly Oak) but it was always one of my favourite of Selly's many curry houses. While we were waiting for our main courses, the owner of the restaurant came over proudly brandishing a newspaper. It seems pop band Liberty X were so impressed with the curry they had from the Sundarbon recently that they've paid for the chef to be flown in by helicopter to their gig later this month so he can cook them up a curry after the gig – at a cost of £4,500. I'd definitely recommend the naan bread, best I've had in ages.

And speaking of chefs – see I told you it would be tenuous – Naked Chef and school dinner crusader, Jamie_Oliver, is about to open a branch of his Fifteen restaurant in Cornwall. The concept behind the Fifteen franchise is that each guarantees to train and support 20 disadvantaged young people each year to become professional chefs. Jamie Oliver takes a lot of stick in the media for various things but not many people can claim to be doing as much as he does for the country's kids. His recipe for sweet roasted red onion and garlic bread is pretty good too.

Tags: Creative Birmingham, Sundarbon, Liberty X,
Jamie Oliver

Ceci n'est pas un mp3

2006-05-08T15:58:00.000Z

So, the geeks have triumphed over the hippes. The courts have ruled in favour of Apple computers over the Beatles' Apple Corps over the right to use the apple logo for the itunes digital music online store.

The case was a clash of 2 heavyweights of different eras – the Beatles had been split for 14 years before Jobbs and Wozniak released their first official Apple computer. Perhaps it is indicative that the power once wielded by music legends like the Beatles is giving way to the multi-millionaire geek; Steve Jobbs and Bill Gates have both given nods to their music idols at one time or another.

The ruling was made on the back of Apple's assertion that it wasn't straying into the music territory that would infringe their 1991 agreement with Apple Corps because, 'since it's all digital, the iTunes Music Store is just a data transmission service' (the Guardian's Bobbie Johnson).

So, the argument becomes what is music and what is not. All sounds a bit Magritte to me.

Tags: apple, iTunes, court ruling

Pass the Pimms...

2006-05-08T13:21:00.000Z

Or not. The Kiwi's 30th birthday party was a great success. Despite being teased by the British weather, the gathering clouds couldn't spoil the party. The house and garden on Sunday bore the marks of a good session and I'm told the last man standing threw in the towel at 7am. A day on the river in the sunshine, watching the University's boat club race Warwick was the perfect way to blow out the cobwebs. I'll admit it though, I did have to pass on the Pimms and settle for a cup of tea. How very English.

Not just a pretty typeface?

2006-05-05T09:46:00.000Z

I suppose it's fairly logical that writers should keep blogs. Neil Gaiman (if you haven't read any of his stuff I thoroughly recommend it) has been keeping his online journal/blog for longer than many bloggers I know. And not only does he write beautiful stories, he gets the whole blogging concept too.

"Note to advertising agencies. If you want to make sure that people like you, it's probably wisest not to sue bloggers for defamation. Otherwise people will come to the not unjustifiable conclusion that you really don't know what you're doing when it comes to public relations, and go to a different ad agency. (Currently, if you google Paino Advertising, its own website comes about 45 spots down, way beneath all the people commenting on how foolish they were to sue a blogger who was rude about them...)"

Wise words Mr Gaiman.

Tags: neil gaiman, PR, paino advertising

Today is ...

2006-05-04T11:52:00.000Z

Today is important for 3 reasons:

It is my Grandad's birthday (happy birthday Grandad)
It is the only time of year I get away with using my terrible 'May the 4th be with you' pun
It is local election day, with 4,000 English council seats up for grabs

After a particularly bad week last week and a gloomy forecast for today's polls Tony Blair and co can hardly be pleased about initiatives like this. Tactical voting has more and more been seen as an option in British elections where voters want to oust the current government but see little differences in their choices between the main 3 parties. To their credit, SVL are urging people to reconsider their strategic vote in areas where there is a possibility that it could let in right wing parties like the BNP but there is always a danger that by voting tactically rather than positively you end up with a candidate who is no better than the one you voted out.

After trying hard to listen to/decipher the policies of the main candidates for my area, I'm none the wiser. I hate not voting but they're not making it easy.

Missed me, again

2006-05-04T11:29:00.000Z

Last month I posted a little geeky fact for all my North American readers. Today it was our turn. I was fast asleep and missed it. That's twice I've missed this once in a lifetime opportunity now.

The need for speed?

2006-05-03T09:54:00.000Z

Isn't the internet great? I'm sat here in sunny Birmingham watching the BBC's live coverage of the We Media Conference this morning. I couldn't be in London for the conference and I certainly couldn't afford the $795 registration fee so the chance to see and hear what's being said and discussed is excellent. The only problem is when they all break 'for coffee pastries' and to play with the new technologies on display I have to go and make my own (coffee that is).

Actor Richard Dreyfuss was curtly put down by the compere for shamelessly plugging his forthcoming discussion on 'shaped news': "There is no room to pause, no room to think … such an instantaneous knowledge of a situation leads to an instantaneous reaction which creates demand for an instantaneuous, reflexive response."

In a world of 24-hour news and citizen journalists, is there a downside to being 'up to the minute'? Would we be better off with a slightly delayed, more considered response? Possibly. But surely that is where traditional media comes in, print media specifically. I'll be interested to see what's said later in the conference on the theme of 'trust' (with regard to online content) and how multimedia content will truly live up to its name.

Tags: social media, We media conference, Richard Dreyfuss

Shorts

2006-05-02T15:52:00.000Z

Interested to hear what the 'big hitters' are saying/thinking about the future of the web? Check out the BBC's live coverage of the debates and ideas coming out of the We Media global forum on technology editor of the BBC News website, Alfred Hermida's blog.

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Serge's post alerted me to the World Press Freedom Day event tomorrow. Take a closer look via Loesje's blog or www.1-day.org. See, the internet isn't just for p0rn.

-- -- -- ---- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Philip Young and his motley crew of bloggers, podcasts and social media pioneers are taking the Delivering the New PR conference to London. Having attended the first event at Sunderland I can well recommend the event to anyone with an interest in Communications, PR or social media. Philip will be joined by Elizabeth Albrycht, Neville Hobson, Shel Holtz, Tom Murphy and Stuart Bruce – if you can't make the conference, it's certainly worth checking their blogs and podcasts.

Cafe Kick

2006-04-27T13:56:00.000Z

With the World Cup fast approaching and Ronaldinho proving himself to be the best - certainly the most entertaining to watch - player in the world, you could do worse than heading down to Exmouth Market in London's Clerkenwell to Cafe Kick. With a fine selection of beers from around the world, hapy hour and an interesting looking Brazillian menu - not to mention table football and seats on 'the terrace' - get there early to reserve your place for an England v Brazil final.

D.I.Y?

2006-04-27T13:38:00.000Z

Word processing via home computers democratised printing. Amateur writers and desk top publishers were freed from the need to learn tricky layout, typography and paste-up skills by easy to learn packages that allowed them to produce newsletters and other printed material from their spare bedrooms. Designers and writers alike cringed as layout principles were ignored, the editorial process was abandoned and a million fonts were liberally sprinkled over the resulting products.

Easy to use web design packages like Dreamweaver, Frontpage and their forerunners left a second generation of designers – this time web designers – banging their heads against their monitors in frustration as animated GIF files competed for attention with bright purple comic sans text on a black background. Anyone who has trained for a significant amount of time to do a particular job will obviously be frustrated by the amateurs invading their territory and potentially taking away their livelihood.

The BBC, amongst others, is responsible for bringing the phrase 'citizen journalist' into common parlance. Referring to the group of bloggers, amateur photographers and people in the 'right place' at the right time who provided much of the footage and commentary around recent events such as the 7/7 London bombings, the boxing day Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, use of the term journalist has, understandably, got under the skin of some professional journalists. And you can understand why.

It was interesting to note that at the NUJ's writing for the web day this week, their approach to the web seems to be positive, at least in an if you can't beat 'em, join 'em way. The day was oversubscribed and all of the journalists I spoke to on the day agreed that writing for the web is a necessary skill in the modern journalist's repertoire. And, of course, all agreed that there's no substitute for good quality copy, whatever the medium.

The BBC's news front page today is calling for ideas for stories. The Independent is printing readers' contributions in its new section. Is this evidence of how the media is becoming democratised in the same way as print and the web before it? Is this social media in action?

Tags: social media, citizen journalist, NUJ

for England, Harry and St George

2006-04-24T21:20:00.000Z

What did you do this weekend? If you're English, chances are you didn't celebrate your national patron saint's day. Well, if English Heritage are to be believed 4 out of 5 of you didn't anyway.

Unlike the Irish, Welsh, Scots, even the Americans and Australians, the English shy away from patriotic celebrations. For many it is the fear of being branded nationalist rather than patriotic and lumped in with the infamous English football hooligans who have appropriated use of the English flag and other patriotic imagery.

Recent campaigns to revive St George's day celebrations have been dominated by those with commercial interests (Pubs, Clintons cards) hoping to recreate some of the revenue generating opportunities that other similar days like St Patrick's day offer. Out in the city yesterday I saw a few people wearing roses pinned to their jackets and the City Council had even organised a (fairly lame) set of St George-themed celebrations.

Campaigners have long quoted the fact that we have 5 less national holidays than our European neighbours and campaigns to get St George's day recognised as a holiday are going strong. Perhaps the promise of a day off work and special offers at the pub will be the right recipe to kick start the patriotism in people.

Post post modernism

2006-04-24T21:13:00.000Z

In the post post-modern world (I lose track of where we are now – new millennium? Turn of the century? Neo-modernist?) we're used to, almost saturated with, examples of self-awareness in our art. Clever nods to the reader/viewer are commonplace in film, television and literature and with the advent of reality TV we're used to seeing 'the man behind the curtain'.

Recent comments on Andrea's blog missed the point of the discussion and took a swipe at bloggers who blog about blogging (that's a lot of blog). Admittedly there are a significant number of bloggers, especially in the communications and PR industries, who dedicate a lot of time and effort to blogging and podcasting on and around the subject of the new social media but then that's hardly surprising really is it, given the direction those industries are heading.

Rarely do we get a chance to be part of the development of something that changes the way that entire industries go about their work. It's interesting to watch it develop, to watch successes and failures and to comment on them. Perhaps by writing this post alone I am proving 'Ms' Chapel right. I don't care.

However, outside the 'little sorority of aggregators' (of which I presume I'm included – again, I don't care), the blogosphere is heaving under the weight of 36.5 million blogs on the most enormous diversity of subjects, written by an equally diverse group of people, loosely banded as 'bloggers'.

Out of the masses a few unlikely voices have rung out over the babble. London call girls and wannabe cooks mingle with acclaimed authors for space on an equal footing and some even win themselves lucrative publishing deals as a result of their activities in the blogosphere.

This piece, featured on the BBC's site today tells the remarkable story of how circumstances left an educated, articulate woman in her early 30's has ended up homeless, living out of her car and washing in hospitals and public conveniences, and how her Wandering Scribe blog has become somewhat of a lifeline to her.

So, we may be guilty of a certain amount of navel gazing within the communications industry but stories like this remind me that the impact of social media is far reaching and for all our theorising and postulating around the subject, we've only just begun to scratch the surface.

Happy birthday Betty

2006-04-21T12:55:00.000Z

Loyalist or Republican (don't ask me which I am, I haven't made up my mind yet) it's hard not to admire the Queen on some levels. Decried by some as head of an outmoded institution, loved and reviled in the colonies, I certainly wouldn't want her job. The rise of the media certainly hasn't made her life any easier either (I wouldn't think there aren't many of us who's family's indiscretions could stand up to the same level of scrutiny).

Not that she's perfect. Far from it in fact. But just for today at least – Happy Birthday ma'am, and God bless all who sail in you.

Tags: Queen, birthday, 80, Loyalist, Republican

Nobody home in Birmingham, UK

2006-04-21T10:53:00.000Z

Here's a question: can a city be a nobody, or should that be nowhere? Having moved from working in the creative sector in London during the dotcom boom to jumping ship just before the bubble burst to make camp in the Midlands, I've certainly noticed a similarity between the 'London' attitude and the so-called somebodies, the A-listers in the blogosphere.

Like many provincial cities in the UK, Birmingham has a thriving creative scene that produces some of the country's top visual, musical and multimedia work. Initiatives like the Custard Factory and the Big Peg (supported by the Chamber of Commerce) foster up and coming talent and sit in the city alongside established arts and media players such as the BBC and Channel 4's Ideas Factory. So why do businesses still gravitate towards London when they are looking to commission creative work?

Reputation is the obvious answer, although much of the work being produced in Birmingham can lay claim to being as well-known and widely seen as work produced in many of London's Soho-based studios. Image, is the key. The Midlands and specifically Birmingham suffer from a public image problem that seems to be the polar opposite to that of London. Funny sounding accents aside (although the Birmingham/Black Country accent has been consistently voted as one of the least liked/respected accents in the UK), the city itself is still widely perceived as the concrete jungle that it was 40 years ago. As part of a major redevelopment scheme, the city has rebuilt itself and is now a vibrant, attractive place to live and work. But the majority of the country still perceives Birmingham through the stereotype of the concrete and the 'yam-yam' accent. Conversely, London is still seen as 'swinging London' of the sixties, a place of edgy cool and Michael Caine movie charm despite having turned into an expensive, inhospitable tourist trap.

Fed-up with being on the wrong side of this image problem, Birmingham's creatives have banded together to create an industry run and led forum with the aim of changing these perceptions and getting the work Birmingham's creative industries (and hopefully as a result, the city itself) recognised. Much like the I.A.N, they've produced a blog and are even looking into getting a wiki and a squidoo lens (although I don't think they have coffee cups and t-shirts printed yet).

So, I urge you, even if you have no plans to visit Birmingham or the UK, take a look at what this nobody/nowhere city is producing and if it doesn't change your mind, at least leave them a comment or some professional advice.

(Pic half-inched from srboisvert via flickr)
Tags: Birmingham, UK, Image, creative, industries

Don't panic

2006-04-20T10:56:00.000Z

A phrase much beloved of fans of Dad's Army and Douglas Adams alike and jolly good advice it is too.

Back to work today and, apart from having to go into the work system and make a couple of quick changes to the website, this is the first time I've touched a computer or been online in a week. And it feels good.

After the initial shock of being 'out of the loop' – no email, no RSS! I achieved the zen-like calm of knowing the blogosphere, the internet and all the other computer-related stuff I do won't collapse without me and enjoyed my couple of days offline.

While I was offline I visited Castor and Pollock - one of my favourite bookshops/gallerys in Brighton – where I picked up a reproduction of this WWII print. Good advice I think.

Birth was the death of him

2006-04-13T12:54:00.000Z

In the spirit of nobody and nowhere (see forthcoming post) special, I present to you an Irishman, a centurion and a genius: the inimitable Samuel Beckett – poet of nothingness.

I haven't written about Beckett since my heady University days but many are writing about the man, his works and the centenary celebrations that are going on across the UK and Ireland at the moment. The Guardian's Michael Hall asks:

"Why, indeed, would you bother [with Beckett], given his reputation … Will he depress you, drive you to drink or worse?

"Depending on your constitution, perhaps he will. But there's much more to this great writer than an impossibly bleak view of the universe. Honest. He's incredibly funny, for one. And he's fond, in a puerile way, of the word "arse", which, in my view, recommends him highly."

Mine too. Happy 100th Sam

(Photo half-inched from www.barbican.org.uk)

15 minutes of fame?

2006-04-13T11:06:00.000Z

Imagine you're on your way to work and you turn the corner to be faced with a giant black and white candid image of you pasted on a wall. That's what you might find if you're friends with street artist 'Caper' who's 'secret friends' project involves him pasting large versions of his striking images (adapted from photographs) on walls/surfaces of the streets his friends walk on their way to school or work.

Say, aren't you that guy who's picture's on the side of the bridge?

Tags: graffiti, street art, Caper

A pint of stardust landlord

2006-04-10T16:01:00.000Z

Talk about make it hard for yourselves. After a few, let's say lapses in concentration, the rugby season's success or failure came down to one match. The result of Sunday's match against Bloxwich would decide which of us was promoted in the league. We should have had our top 2 spot wrapped up weeks ago but nevertheless, the tension added a certain something to the atmosphere in the changing room before the game.

Expecting a repeat of the pre-christmas melee, we were surprised and very pleased to come off the pitch more or less in one piece and the right side of a 28-0 victory. Promotion sealed. The end of season dinner at the club afterwards was a suitably up beat and predictably boozy affair. However SORFC claim no responsibility for this. Although rumour has it that a couple of the forwards are attempting to blag their way onto NASA's next mission armed with extra long drinking straws.

Nobody's perfect

2006-04-07T09:44:00.000Z

So-called A-listers beware. We may be small but we are many. We are also, apparently 'nobody', but there are an awful lot of nobodies out there it would seem.

We even have our own association. An International Association no less. With coffee mugs and a logo.

So, self-appointed somebodies like David Murray. Look out.

I shan't post the background to this. Instead I shall point you to fellow Nobodies and IAN founders Andrea, Allan and Eric.

Join us and don't be someone, be no-one

Tags: nobody, I.A.N, PR

01:02:03 04/05/06

2006-04-05T09:36:00.000Z

For those of you in North America:

Early this morning (Wednesday), at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00am, the time and date was 01:02:03 04/05/06. This is the only time that this will happen in our lifetimes*

*For those of you who slept through it, you've got another chance to catch this 'momentous' event by visiting Europe/the UK next month where we write our dates the other way around (today is 05/04/06 for us)

(pic nicked from Parabens via flickr)

Blogolescent, Blogosphere, Blooker ...

2006-04-03T09:36:00.000Z

I've just added another phrase to my geekspeak dictionary project: the Blooker Prize - literary prize for bloggers turned authors.

American blogger Julie Powell's blog detailing her attempt to cook the recipes in the 1961 cookbook by Julie Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking scooped the top prize of £2,000 ($3,452) after the published version of her blog sold more than 100,000 copies.

The contest was set up for bloggers who have turned their blogs into books. Judge, writer and net activist Cory Doctorow commented:

"Those who dismiss blogging as 'mere' confessional writing and complaining about one's day job fail to appreciate just how engrossing those genres can be when handled by a talented writer like Julie Powell"

Without dismissing the importance of strategic promotion such as links, tags and the like it just goes to show, there's no substitute for interesting, well-written content.

Tags: blooker prize, Julie Powell, content, publishing, Cory Doctorow

It's enough to drive you Crazy

2006-03-30T15:41:00.000Z

There are a lot of worried faces in the 'old media' world at the moment. The decline in newspaper sales has been happening for a long time. Those journalists who are tied to publications that remain tied to the traditional media (particularly local/regional newspapers) are being forced to look for careers in press offices and PR departments where they can transfer their skills. National newspapers like the Guardian are trailblazing the shift towards new media and investing heavily in blogs/bloggers and podcasts. The 'old media' are faced with a stark choice; react and change or fade away.

The music industry is another faced with a similar situation. Music executives have long been bemoaning the MP3 (legally downloaded or otherwise) as the death knell for the industry as CD sales, like newspapers, have rapidly declined. Case in point, this week's UK no 1 is tipped to be Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, a track that became enormously popular after featuring in a promotion for Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe's show, and is likely to become the first single to go to number one on the strength of downloads alone (although the predicted 35,000 downloads are well below singles sales needed for a number one less than a decade ago).

And it's not just a Generation C thing. Although statistically less likely to buy music on the internet, the success of classical downloads is being pointed to as an indication that there we may have underestimated the number of 'silver surfers' downloading music. Production of CD singles has already been significantly scaled down and record companies are starting to make decisions about what formats are suitable for certain artists. I'm already fed up with hearing the Gnarls Barkley track and it hasn't been released yet but it does provide an interesting example of how the market is driving the change in the traditional media.

You know where the bandwagon is. Jump on board for the chance to win an ipod.

Spotted today in the skies over Birmingham

2006-03-30T14:46:00.000Z

The clocks have gone forward. I've offered up that hour in bed to the gods of Spring. Better late than never...

The first rule of Bash Bar is…

2006-03-29T14:52:00.000Z

Stuffed full of fine French food, courtesy of Chez Jules' Tuesday night special, and in search of a taxi I came across Birmingham's newest 'underground' drinking den. Tucked away up a side street off the main street through town and advertised in an understated way, the list of house rules on posted on the door caught my eye (left).

As I was reading them, a couple of nouveau beatnik looking types spilled out of the door, an intriguing atmosphere leaking out behind them for the split second the door was open. I couldn't resist. Despite it being a 'school night' I decided I had time in the bank for a quick look and maybe a nightcap.

Inside, the 4 piece Jazz improvisation group playing at the back of the room added to the decadent atmosphere created by the flock wallpaper, the impressive bar and the unselfconsciously hip crowd inside.

Forget your trendy cocktail bars and your binge drinking palaces – this is what we need more of in the city.

Made you look, made you stare ...

2006-03-28T09:54:00.000Z

I'm sure I've missed the boat on the whole blog about the Strumpette debacle. The blogosphere is ringing with posts and comments about how she's managed to create a lot of attention and hype over a blog that has generated almost 50 comments from its first post and how she may not even be a she.

For once I'm going to jump on the bandwagon/add my two penny's worth. I don't think I'm in danger of creating huge amounts of traffic to this blog by posting about a 'hot topic' because I think I've already missed the boat here and Amanda Chapel and her 'Ghoulish Office Pool Spreads' will soon be yesterday's news unless she follows up with content that continues to be controversial and entertaining enough to sustain a level of interest in her or she comes out as a male PR professional/blogger who has just pulled a very effective 'made you look' stunt.

'Amanda's' biography lists her as having "15 plus years experience in marketing communications" as well as a BA degree in Economics from Columbia and two semesters worth of a law degree at Dartmouth. 3 years college to get a BA + 2/3 of a year at Dartmouth + 15 plus years makes her (by my calculations) 36, at least. The black and white image atop her blog (above) shows a seductive, naked brunette wrapped in rumpled bed linen making come to bed eyes at her readers. Now if this is Ms Chapel (and no offence meant to any 35+ year olds out there but if it is she's in good nick), she's chosen this image carefully (I hesitate to say wisely) to compliment the blatant sexual references in her biography that are causing such a fuss.

Reading back through Andrea's post on bloggers' headshots perhaps I should rethink the image on my profile in favour of a semi-naked, traffic driving shot? Or perhaps not.

Tags: strumpette, Amanda Chapel, PR, sex sells, head shot

If Starbucks made Where's Wally*/Waldo

2006-03-27T11:01:00.000Z

This was on the internet so it must be true…

"Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds your right half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute your right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein. If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger."

* he's called Wally in the UK and Waldo in the US

Publish and be damned (2)

2006-03-27T09:57:00.000Z

I posted a while back about self-publishing options and how blogs are providing a voice for many who would not normally find a voice in print*. The current trend for combining the 2 media (web and print) with publishers scouring the blogosphere to find material for their next books of published posts is interesting not least because by transforming blogs to printed media, they lose their interactivity.

As the debate over the concept of blogs initiating dialogue rages on, perhaps it is worth noting that the type of blog that tends to get published isn't the kind of blog that elicits a dialogue within its comments. Are we seeing an early evolutionary split in the blogosphere between provocative and informative/entertaining blogs?

*interesting BBC piece on announcement that the Iraqi author of blog Baghdad Burning has been nominated for BBC Four's Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction

C is for...

2006-03-24T13:20:00.000Z

I went to an interesting lecture this week, delivered by Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC. Mark's lecture focused on changing user/viewer habits (BBC online and broadcast) and how the BBC are reacting to developments in technology to enable them to lead the market in new ways to acquire content in the home, 'on demand'.

The on demand concept is one that is beginning to creep into all media. The recent and enormous growth in popularity of Podcasts shows how web-savvy audiences are adopting the 'what I want, when I want it' attitude and the BBC are throwing a lot of resource at satisfying these audiences.

"On demand changes all of this. It means you can potentially consume BBC content at a time and on a device which suits you… For our licence-payers it means greater convenience and greater value, not because we expect them to consume more content in absolute terms but because we would expect more of the content they do consume to be more directly relevant and attractive to them."

Mark described (in some detail) the Beeb's trial of its MyBBCplayer technology that uses peer-to-peer technology to enable users to catch up on TV and radio programmes from the previous seven days. For me, one of the most interesting results of the trial was what Mark described as the 'long tail effect'. Briefly, rather than download activity clustering around a handful of well-known titles, users go exploring. Niche programmes, which often struggle to reach a substantial audience on linear channels, were both downloaded and viewed.

I've maintained for a long time that content is king and if you can crack delivering the right content to the right audience (and at the right time – 'on demand') you're on course for a winning solution. This BBC technology piece highlights a behavioural study published by analysts Future Laboratory on how increasing use of 3G mobile phones can change the way people communicate and create new social trends and tribes. The study dubs the new generation of mobile phone users Generation C, with C meaning content.

The mantra of Generation C: I know what I want and I want it 'on demand'

Tags: content, Mark Thompson, BBC, on demand

Amateur bloggers 'R' us

2006-03-23T10:59:00.000Z

If you're reading this blog then the chances are that you're 'on-board' with the whole blogging phenomenon. One of the main criticisms of blogs by non-bloggers is that blogs are just the online journals of people with too much time on their hands, suffering under the misapprehension that people will want to read about the mundane details of their day-to-day lives (I'm paraphrasing here of course).

Those in the know acknowledge that a large proportion of the 31 million plus blogs listed by Technorati are 'personal' blogs and many of them don't run to more than a couple of posts before the blogger's enthusiasm seemingly runs out. Even more so, the number of profiles and 'about me' sections that use words like 'slightly insane', 'ramblings' and 'random thoughts' to describe the author or content of the blog suggests (hopefully wrongly) that a significant number of bloggers have slight mental health issues and that the content of a lot of blogs does conform to the non-bloggers' pre-conceptions.

It's been argued all over the blogosphere (although there does seem to be a certain element of preaching to the choir here) by those much more clued in and intelligent than me that blogs are fast becoming an extremely useful communications tool and part of daily life for many. PR and marketing executives particularly and news media are jumping aboard the 'blogwagon' fast. Blogger communities are sharing tips and tricks and trends in blogging are developing and dying out almost as fast as you can keep up with them.

Having said all that, and as an advocate of the blog as more than just a communications tool, I'd like to share this post from blogger 'the Company Bitch' with you.* CB as she calls herself writes about her battles at work, her re/ex-boyfriend and her friends' encounter with what may or may not have been a Eunuch in a way that quickly gets you hooked in the way that millions followed the 'slightly insane ramblings' of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones. She's developing quite a loyal readership too.

*For those of you unfamiliar with the Guns and Roses track mentioned by CB, it's definitely worth downloading to truly appreciate the post

Blog flu

2006-03-22T10:24:00.000Z

Before he went to Stuttgart, Serge posted another of his 'Strange folk, those Americans' posts in reaction to Andrea's post on opportunistic marketers playing on the fear surrounding the much talked about (128,528 blog entries on the subject listed on Technorati at the time of typing) impending 'bird flu' pandemic.

With so many bloggers posting on the subject (some more helpfully than others) I have limited my contribution this far to commenting and joining in the conversations on blogs like Serge's NoCopy. It is interesting to compare and contrast the 2 distinct attitudes towards the situation (American v.s. European), especially froma place that sits (and swings) between the 2, financially, politically and culturally (Britain).

On the one hand, the drip drip coverage in the media over here hasn't reached or induced panic levels (we're with the European laissez faire camp on this one) but there is part of me that does think 'is this like the build up to a horror movie where there are loads of hints to the horror to come in the first half an hour for the audience to pick up on but the characters plough on regardless?'.

In contrast to the 'fear' industry that is being created in the States, the BBC quotes reassuring expert Prof. Hugh Pennington (Aberdeen University):

"No need to panic. The virus is still a bird virus, it is not yet a human virus, and it may never be a human virus. As long as we manage to keep it reasonably under control in the birds I think we can breathe relatively easily for at least a year or two."

Maybe we should be more worried about the rumoured spread of 'blog flu'...

(via Steffen)

Tags: bird flu, fear, blog flu, panic

The nuclear sub

2006-03-20T13:00:00.000Z

The White Horse, Harborne

Hurry up 'arry, we're goin' down the pub

2006-03-20T12:46:00.000Z

I posted a while back on the subject of what it is to be English (prompted mainly by the rash of stereotyping of Americans I came across in various media and also by the BBC's report on the making of English icons ). I was a little surprised at the time that the English pub didn't make the BBC's list of icons, especially considering how much of English (I hesitate to say British only because I couldn't comment on the Welsh, Scottish and Irish POV's) culture is pub-centric. This may be a bold claim, especially considering that there is a significant slice of the population who do not regularly drink in pubs for one reason or another, but in its defence I make a couple of arguments.

For an insight into how important the pub is in English culture, simply look at the role it plays as a location in English television and film. British spoof zombie flick Sean of the Dead (a zom-rom-com?) parodied the characters' dependence on the pub as the centre of their social lives (not to mention safe-haven when the zombies attack) and what would Eastenders or Coronation Street be without the Queen Vic or the Rover's Return.

Find a decent pub (not chain pub [Mc Pub], a proper traditional boozer) and you'll find inside a cross section of English life and society. A typical night at The White Horse (my local) might see you trying to decipher the mumblings of Bacon (the pub's resident mohican sporting, ageing punk), entertained by the elderly drinker who yodels as he gets drunker and closing time gets nearer, or chatting to any number of characters of all ages, sexes and social classes.

One of the big draws of the house I've just bought is that it's on the bus route to work but also to the pub. Although this wasn't a deciding factor, I was talking last night with my neighbours who are also moving (to the same place as me) about their dilemma at leaving the White Horse behind. We even went on a reconnaissance mission to audition potential new 'locals' - unsuccessfully. Part of the appeal of the White Horse for them (aside from the decent beer and 'interesting' mix of punters) is the fact that they can take their dog in with them. In fact Harry is probably as popular in the pub as they are, if not more.

When I/we move it will be about 2 miles to the pub. A nice walk, a cheap taxi ride or even an entertaining ride on the night bus. They say an Englishman's home is his castle. Well that is true but his pub is the next best thing.

Castle Smith - update

2006-03-16T12:28:00.000Z

Mortgage approved, survey back ok, solicitors instructed. Things are finally starting to move. Hopefully so will I soon.

Modern day heroes (3)

2006-03-16T12:08:00.000Z

What would you do if you were sent a cheque for a serious amount of money that you knew didn't belong to you but the company who sent it to you insisted was yours and that you cash the cheque?

When Carlos (G) Rojas received a cheque for $200,000 (£114,000) that was intended as a life insurance payout for Carlos (M) Rojas, following the death of his son in Iraq he didn't take the money and run, despite assurances from the insurance company who wrote the cheque that he should do exactly that.

Nine weeks of sleuthing later and Carlos M finally tracked down Carlos G who coincidentally worked in the same building, although for a different company. The pair arranged to meet and the younger Carlos G handed over the cheques to their rightful recipient:

Asked why he didn't take the money and run, Carlos G said: "Somebody's life was connected with that money. I couldn't just spend it and go on like nothing happened."

"It feels good, I think other people in the world would have done the same thing. And look, I just got a new friend. You can't put a price tag on that these days."

Honesty and friendship, qualities of a modern day hero

[full story on BBC online via the Miami Herald]

Anyone know a good Norwegian plumber?

2006-03-14T12:54:00.000Z

With pints at over £5 a go in Norway, this is almost as good as growing money on trees. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'beer on tap'

Bread head

2006-03-13T12:49:00.000Z

You've heard of stealth taxes (well if you live in the UK you have anyway). Well now we have stealth fat.

The team at Howies are on a mission to 'take the fat out of bread' (apparently 3 slices of some mass produced breads contain as much fat as a well known chocolate bar). Their mascot in this mission is Doh Boy (and his 500 strong army – I want one!). Doh Boy has his own blog and even comes packaged in a baking tin with recipes to encourage us to start baking our own (bread, not Doh Boy).

Let's see if I can add baker to my list of skills

Blogging the thin blue line

2006-03-13T12:46:00.000Z

The number of blogs emerging from countries around the world with oppressive, government controlled press restrictions has only served to bring the blog and the blogger into the eyes of the mainstream. Brave bloggers have gone against the controllers and blogged about the real situation 'from the ground', giving us what we assume to be a much truer picture of life in these locations, often putting themselves at risk by doing so.

What happens when the impact of blogging does not pose a direct risk to the blogger's safety but does impact on their financial security and consequently that of their family? The BBC reports today on new guidelines issued by the Metropolitan Police relating to their workforce's blogging activity (a spokesperson for the Met stressed that it has not banned blogging) which have raised angry reactions in the blogging community.

The guidelines highlight 'a series of web-logs or blogs where authors - claiming to be police officers - have offered their views on a number of issues in a highly personalised, often controversial manner'. The conditions listed include a ban on 'expressing views and opinions that are damaging to the organisation or bring the organisation into disrepute'.

Steven Silvers' post on the 'you are what you post' effect raises some interesting issues. The Met's guidelines ban the expression of certain views and opinions by its staff or those 'claiming to be police officers'. Presumably that ban doesn't extend to bloggers who are unaffiliated with the police (and make no claim to be representing the police). But should we be careful what we post in case at some point in the future we/or a member of our family were to want to join the force?

Freedom of speech is an invaluable right and those bloggers who post their versions of events in defiance of those who seek to control the media are incredibly brave. When it comes to a choice between protecting and providing for your family or blogging the truth, I think the majority would sympathise with blogger World Weary Detective:

"I cannot challenge New Scotland Yard. I am weary indeed and cowardice is my bed-mate. The protection of my family must take precedence…It is therefore with deep regret and great sadness that I must announce that I will no longer be submitting posts to this blog."

Tags: censorship, Metropolitan Police, Met, blogging guidelines

Introducing Guru Smith

2006-03-13T12:42:00.000Z

Saturday night's Bollywood themed birthday party highlights:

The best samosas I've had in a long time
Blasting bhangra music mixed with cheesy chart classics
Realising (with some relief) that I wasn't the only one who had dressed for the occasion
Bollywood dancing
The best samosas I've had in a long time

Modern day heroes (2)

2006-03-07T15:56:00.000Z

Taking a tip from Serge's recent spate of musically aware postings and more than a pinch of inspiration from Andrea, I am taking up the challenge of creating a semi-regular 'modern day heroes' post, beginning with a man who I will admit to appreciating more and more with the benefit of hindsight.

Jarvis Cocker, the lanky, eccentric, northern front-man for the band Pulp, will be remembered by many for a couple of great songs in the 90s and a bottom-waving protest at Michael Jackson's self-proclaimed messiah of pop performance at the Brit Awards. For me, Jarvis (as he was known throughout the late 90s – there was no need for a surname, everyone knew which Jarvis you meant), provided a much-needed antidote to the machismo of the emerging lads' culture that sprang up in late 90s Britain. The foul-mouthed posturing of Oasis providing a soundtrack to the Euro 96 football hooliganism, the booze sodden trips to Ibiza and Magaluf for a seedy mix of sun, sea and STD's, even the art-school, indie crowd with their blur and elastica inspired uniforms were pogo-ing to a stereotype. Out of the floppy hair, cords and Paul Weller wannabe's came a man who's dress sense veered between Oscar Wilde and a charity shop and who sang with a slightly foppish northern accent that bore no relation whatsoever to Liam Gallagher's abrasive Mancunian scowl.

Pulp released some great music (and some fairly average offerings) before and after 1995s Different Class brought them into the mainstream's attention. Not for the music but for being a true British eccentric; a dandy amongst football shirted hordes and, above all else, for knowing how to retire gracefully (although Jarvis, on the unlikely chance that you ever read this, please don't encourage them and do any more of those 100 best… shows), I think Jarvis Branson Cocker is a modern day hero.

I'm a real boy!

2006-03-07T15:42:00.000Z

Live action Simpsons intro (via Deetour). Click on the image or this link to view

Modern day heroes

2006-03-03T14:07:00.000Z

Having read Serge's post on Serge Gainsbourg and the 15th anniversary of his death (2nd March) I started thinking about how we need larger than life characters to create modern heroes.

Obituaries are unusual pieces of reportage in that they can be seen as both depressing and inspiring. Any death is a sad occasion but the nature of an obit is to celebrate the life and achievements of its subject. The BBC run an infrequent column 'covering the passing of significant - but lesser-reported – characters' and this one in today's magazine section of BBC online caught my eye:

Kapitein Luitenant Francis Steinmetz was a Dutch naval officer who made a remarkable escape from the infamous Colditz Castle. He made his escape by descending from a British rugby scrum into a manhole beneath the pitch which was situated outside the castle walls. He and a fellow escapee replaced the manhole cover with a replica glass one that they could smash from below, and remained in the hole for several hours until darkness fell. They then emerged, replaced the original cover, and made off, escaping to Switzerland and then to Britain.

Amazing.

Tags: Heroes, obituary, escape, Colditz

Cabbages, Cabs and Condoms

2006-03-01T12:02:00.000Z

Checking out today's Guardian story about Brighton Cab drivers giving away free condoms in a bid to tackle high levels of sexually transmitted infections got me thinking. While I was thinking of headlines/angles for a post I remembered a restaurant I visited in Thailand that had come up with a similar inititative. Cabbages and Condoms (as opposed to Brighton's Cabs and Condoms) is run by the Thai Family planning association (PDA). The food is excellent and the Bangkok central restaurant is nicely tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the night markets on the Sukhumvit Rd.

Often, the best way to get a message accross isn't directly or using traditional methods and blogs are quite a useful way of spreading that information. Howies have chosen to highlight a number of companies' ethical approaches over the last few days to help raise awareness. PR blogging isn't just about the commercial aspect and making money, blogs can be a great way of raising awareness of important issues through the blogosphere. So, if you do happen to be in Brighton or Bangkok you know what to do...

Tags: condom, ethical, brighton, cab, safe sex

p-p-p-pick up a pancake

2006-02-28T10:06:00.000Z

Crêpes, blinis or a plain ol' pancake: whatever your preference, happy Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day/Mardi Gras (anyone in the Birmingham area, I recommend the Selly Sausage for the best pancakes around)

You've been Scooped!

2006-02-27T22:30:00.000Z

After catching on to the '4 things' meme fairly late (I think I was standing in the kitchen at that particular blog party), I have been tagged by Philip Young's Scoop meme (via Serge 'No Copy' Cornelus) while I was on my way from the kitchen to the bar.

A well known and respected PR blogger and lecturer at Sunderland University, Philip has now turned his hand to memetics in a bid to widen the audience of his Scoop blog. His musings on the "Amazon problem" reminded me of an earlier post on this blog. Perhaps memetics is, if not the answer, at least an answer.

So, Philip, to the task in hand: After scouring my mental list of literary material (it needs a good tidy up, it had all got a bit messy and confused) and discounting the many non-European/UK sources, I am going to proffer parliamentary buffoon Boris Johnson's portrayal of Barry White, literary hack and plot device/catalyst (72 Virgins). I think it probably says a lot more about the honourable Mr Johnson's experience as a subject of the media, although as an editor/sometime journalist himself I am sure there is plenty of material in there that draws from his first-hand experiences at the sharp end of a pen.

My three tags:

Elizabeth CorporatePR Albrycht
Mack beyond Madison Avenue Collier
Karl 529 Binder

Brummywood

2006-02-24T10:55:00.000Z

I braved the snow and rush hour traffic last night to go to the launch of the Birmingham Film Office at St Martin's Church. For those of you who don't know Birmingham, a church may seem like an unusual venue for a PR launch, especially one not associated with religion, but hats off to the organisers, it worked very well.

It might be a long way from Hollywood but Birmingham has got a history and, through the new Film Office a future, in the film business. Office Director Suzie Ralph's objectives are to 'facilitate production, promote the city as a prime location and support film festivals.' With a strong BBC presence, Screen West Midlands and companies like Maverick television firmly established in the city, there is a real buzz around Birmingham's creative industries.

With cities like Manchester trading off the back of their music scene and a burgeoning visual arts scene in Newcastle, perhaps Birmingham has finally found a niche that can help it shake off the outmoded view of the city as a sprawling 70's concrete jungle.

Technorati tags: Birmingham Film Office, Film, Birmingham, Creative

One small step for Sam...

2006-02-22T08:56:00.000Z

Apologies for the lack of posting/commenting activity recently. I've been busy getting my foot on the property ladder. Yes, I've bought (well, had an offer accepted on) a house. I am now (nearly) a proud homeowner. No more shared rented accommodation, ambivalent landlords and magnolia woodchip. Hooray!

For a (relatively) small island, Britain is extremely densely populated. It lacks the space of North America and even parts of Europe and unlike many of it's European counterparts, the British are still clinging on to a home owning culture rather than the rented accommodation model that is popular in countries like France and Germany.

Despite government initiatives (part ownership, planned affordable new housing initiatives), many first time buyers are struggling to get a foot on the property ladder. Prices that soared between 2000 and 2003 and then plateau'd left the market deadlocked and many buyers frustrated. With average prices outside London (don't even think about buying in London unless you have some serious cash) hitting the £200,000+ mark for the first time will the ideal of owning your own house soon become out of reach for the under 30 generation?

[note - I didn't spend anywhere near £200,000]

PRoud

2006-02-19T02:00:00.000Z

I won a CIPR Silver award. Look how smiley I am.

364 days old (not all of them blogging)

2006-02-17T14:19:00.000Z

Tomorrow, this blog will technically be a year old. I say technically because there was a bit of a hiatus between March and November 2005 where I went offline for a while. So, officially one year old but I'll celebrate properly on reincarnation day (21 November) when I can really say with conviction that I've been blogging for a year.

Take PRide in your work

2006-02-17T10:29:00.000Z

Part of my work for the University is producing a fortnightly magazine/newsletter that covers both internal and external communications (never an easy task). Last year it was nominated for, and won, the CIPR PRide award for the Best In-House Magazine/Newsletter (Midlands). This year, we have been nominated again so tonight I will be donning the tuxedo and heading off to the National Motorcycle Museum for the awards ceremony.

I've been working on the Communications team at the University to try to get them to develop a better e-version of the magazine than we have at the moment (downloadable PDFs – ick!) and fingers crossed things seem to be moving at last. The new version will be HTML based so will be searchable, RSS compatible (subscribe to the whole thing or just the sections that you want), include links to further information/blogs on the University's site and will hopefully include sound and movie clips. It's all part of a drive to use the University's website and portals to improve internal comms. It also eases my guilt about the enormous amount of paper used/wasted by the University (hopefully we'll be able to dramatically reduce the number of printed copies we produce).

Check out the Howies site for an interesting approach to reducing paper waste

Technorati tags: CIPR, PR, PRide award, sustainability

Publish and be damned

2006-02-16T13:56:00.000Z

Ever dreamed of being a published writer? Not satisfied with publishing via the web? Want something physical to put on your bookshelves that impresses those who haven't a clue what a blog is? This article, investigating self-publishing options, could be a warning shot across the bows of the big publishing companies.

Polishing our souls

2006-02-16T11:43:00.000Z

Last week I sat on a train opposite a kid eating a packet of Walkers' Salt and Vinegar crisps (or chips for those of you on the other side of the Atlantic). When he'd finished enthusiastically eating the contents of the bag, he then tore the bag open and used his finger to mop up every last scrap of Salt and Vinegar flavouring from the bag, making sure that he got right into the corners of the bag so as not to miss any. Andrea Weckerle's post, What's Next ... Chicken Soup for the Blogger's Soul?, on the proliferation of the Chicken Soup series of books reminded me of this kid.

Andrea lists 9 Chicken Soup titles (as well as the asthma variation that prompted the post) from Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul to Chicken Soup for the Country Soul (comes with its own CD). It seems that the authors of the series (messrs Victor Hansen and Canfield) have metaphorically torn open the bag and are delving into the corners to extract every last scrap of Chicken Soup flavour they can.

As we develop more sophisticated approaches to content delivery we are demanding relevant and personalised approaches from the information streams that we consume. As Andrea says: 'At a time when personalization and "all about me" don't show any sign of abating... pretty soon we'll all have our own Chicken Soup book.'

The Chicken Soup for the Blogger's Soul that Andrea is holding out for may be a way off but this got me thinking about what the differences are between souls. How does a sports fan's soul differ from the mother of a pre-schooler's soul, and what differences in approach and delivery of content is there in the Chicken Soup books? Mark Victor Hansen has hit upon a successful template and a way in which to deliver the kind of personalised content that we so desire.

The ultimate test, I suppose, would be to see if a Dentist who is also a golfer and mother of a pre-school child bought 3 different Chicken Soup books to care for each aspect of her soul.

[note - sorry, I couldn't resist the title]

Technorati tags: soul, chicken soup, content, template

A breath of fresh air

2006-02-15T10:23:00.000Z

384 votes to 184 (a majority of 200) in favour of a ban on smoking in all pubs, clubs and restaurants in England from the summer of 2007

Roll on 2007

[Edit - Of course there are 2 sides to every story. Check out Serge's Holy smoke (2) post on No-copy for the opposing view]

Technorati tags: smoking, ban, vote

Creatives branding creatively

2006-02-14T15:58:00.000Z

I recently sat through a couple of hours of talks by 'the great and the good' at Birmingham's Chamber of Commerce on the subject of how the city was planning to promote its creative output. The evening's discussions were prompted by work already undertaken by the city (via Urban Communications), looking at how the sector could market itself more effectively. Stefan Lewandowski of 3Form's post about it sums the evening up nicely.

I'm not sure if/how it is related but Channel 4's ideas factory magazine Ten4 has a feature on Branding Creative Birmingham to which Stefan and his 3Form colleagues contributed. As someone working within creative industry in Birmingham it's great to see the discussion started in the sector and by the people that it directly affects rather than committees of the usual suspects.

I just wonder who this whole branding exercise is being aimed at. The creative industry within the City is close knit, and will become more so as the developments in the East Side and Jewellery Quarter take root. Even within the City itself there is a certain amount of awareness of (through exposure to) the creative output of the City and certainly a degree of pride in what is coming out of Birmingham.

We are in danger of talking to ourselves and changing nothing. Any campaign we were to adopt should take into account the fact that it is an mainly audience outside the City that needs to be confronted with something that is appealing but that challenges their perceptions in a way that obviously ties into the City itself.

I can't make it to tonight's meeting of the discussion group but I have posted comments on a number of blogs and forums with my views and offered to (through 529) coordinate a blog network for the city's creatives to share their views. Watch this space.

Technorati tags: creative industries, Birmingham, branding

Smoke 'em if you got em…

2006-02-14T10:00:00.000Z

… because you might not be able to for much longer. Following the UK Government's success in staving off a backbench rebellion to reverse changes imposed on the controversial ID Cards Bill by peers, MPs will vote today on an equally emotive subject – smoking.

Today's free vote will decide whether or not to implement a ban on smoking in all England's pubs and clubs (as well as a proposal to raise the legal age of buying cigarettes from 16 to 18).

While other countries such as Ireland have successfully implemented a ban without affecting revenue as its opponents predicted, the English have dithered and procrastinated. In typical nanny state mode, some Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs oppose a total ban for fear it could undermine civil liberties. Cynics have suggested that the amount of smokers in the commons and the fear of losing the massive amounts of revenue generated by a drop tobacco sales, if a ban has such an impact, holds more sway than the rights of non-smokers and workers in pubs and clubs to not be exposed to passive smoking.

Vote wisely. Ban it.

Technorati tags: smoking, ban, vote

Happy Valentine's Day blogosphere

2006-02-14T09:29:00.000Z

Check out Jason Sho Green

Howard... Howard... Howard... Howard?

2006-02-13T10:25:00.000Z

I don't know whether it was the bang on the head but I spent an extremely enjoyable if not a little surreal evening last night in the company of the Mighty Boosh.

'Who on Earth are the Mighty Boosh?' I hear you cry. I'm not sure I could actually explain. For those of you who like your comedy British, bizarre and slightly disturbing check out the Boosh. For those of you who don't, try a bang on the head and see if that helps.

I got tagged

2006-02-12T23:58:00.000Z

While I was out on the rugby pitch getting my nose splattered across my face I got tagged by the Four Things gang ...

Four jobs I've had
▪ Barman
▪ Builder’s labourer
▪ Chef in a Tex-Mex restaurant
(I may have told a few fibs to get this one)
▪ Editor

Four movies I can watch over and over
▪ Tombstone
▪ Chasing Amy
▪ True Romance
▪ Y Tu Mama Tambien

Four places I have lived
• Toddington, Bedfordshire, England
• Wolfsven (nr Eindhoven) Holland
• Sydney, Australia
• Birmingham, England

Four TV shows I love (when I have time to watch them)
• Lost (suckered in)
• Dark Angel
• Father Ted
• Green Wing

Four places I've been on vacation
• The Yasawa Islands, Fiji
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Red Mountain, Canada
• Singapore City, Singapore

Four of my favorite dishes
• Apple Strudel
• Steak-frites with Bernaise sauce
• Spit-roasted chicken
• Pan-seared Tuna steak

Four sites I visit daily
• Flickr
• BBC online
• Guardian Unlimited
• Wooster collective

Four places I would rather be right now
• Red Mountain, Canada (powder baby!)
• India
• The Sow and Pigs in Toddington with my Dad
• Eating chicken in the little tin shack on the beach in Noja

Four bloggers I am tagging
• Gwendolin
• Brianna
• Joel (that’ll teach you to spam my blog - I'm not linking to this one out of principle)
• Steve Sloan

BTW - we won the rugby 72-5

Butler for hire

2006-02-10T11:50:00.000Z

How great would it be to have a butler? Considering the struggle I had this morning to get up, get clean, get fed and dress smart enough for work and still get out of the house in something approaching enough time to make it to my desk at a respectable clocking-in time, the buttling skills of my very own Jeeves would come in very handy.

I might be in luck, rumour has it (via this link on the Guardian site) that search engine Ask Jeeves' American owners are to hand the distinctive face of the site his P45 (unemployment papers for all international readers) and send him off to the dole queue.

"We're expanding internationally, and a butler is very British. What the character did give us was a sense of humanity: that humanity will continue to be there, but it won't be in the form of Jeeves." said Rachel Johnson, the company's vice president of marketing for Europe.

Perhaps I could offer the virtual butler a home on this site?

'May I take your coat sir...'

Millennium PR reaches milestone

2006-02-09T09:33:00.000Z

Andrea Weckerle's Millennium PR blog is a stone's throw from joining the illustrious century club. Amongst my scribbled notes from the Making the News conference in Sunderland last year I found a reference to the fact that, at the time, Technorati was listing 20 million blogs (at the time of writing it's now 27.4 million). A surf trough the 'next blog' option on blogger (see top right of this blog) or even in Technorati itself quickly reveals that a good number of this 27.4 million are either signpost pages used to boost search engine rankings or traffic to dodgy sales sites or blogs that don't get past the first 2 posts. [I suppose that's the downside of using a free service like blogger rather than something like typepad. I really should upgrade.]

Taking this into account, Millennium PR's 99 posts (and more to come) is quite an achievement. Even more so when you take into account the 'Content rules' approach Andrea takes to her posts. So, take a minute to check out Andrea's blog, read her 'lessons learned' (wise words) and congratulate her on her graduation from 'bloddler-hood' [sic] to fully-fledged blogolescent.

[edit - following Andrea's link to Kami Huyse's blog I found a post that estimates of 27.2 million blogs listed, 13.7 are 'active' - interesting stuff. You know the drill. Here's the link.)

Technorati tags: PR, content,

(belated) Happy Nude Year

2006-02-08T17:14:00.000Z

Vanity Fair's latest 'Hollywood' issue hit the newsstands to mixed opinion. Opinion seems to be as much divided over the issue of guest artistic director Tom Ford's appearance in his own concept (shot by Annie Liebowitz) as the relative merits of the shot and the age-old art v.s. porn debate.

Culture Vulture blogger Xan Brooks claims Ford's work is "neither arousing enough to sate the masturbators, nor artistic enough to appeal to the aesthetes" hitting neither the nude or the naked celebrity shot buttons, instead "falling between the (butt) crack"

Ford defended his appearance in the shot after Wedding Crashers star Rachel McAdams backed out: “Three girls in a bed is a bedful of girls, but two girls in a bed are lesbians…"

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter commented: “A lot of women actually, a couple of men, too, wanted to [step in and] take their clothes off”

Really? I bet that was a long queue

529 global inc

2006-02-07T16:49:00.000Z

SCONUL tender finished last night and sent off this morning. Another invitation came in to pitch for work for a [edited] 6th consortium (web design, content, strategy and print). New 529 content and design site templates up (content needs a pull through - I get bored of my own stuff so quickly). VOIP phone network nearly up and running.

World domination here we come

cough I can't come in today because...

2006-02-07T16:34:00.000Z

According to Tim Dowling (via the Back Page of today's Guardian G2 section), the results of 'a survey' have concluded that yesterday/the first Monday in February, is 'the most popular day of the year ... for being off sick when there isn't anything wrong with you'.

Walking into work yesterday it definitely seemed quieter than usual on the roads and on campus. Perhaps the school traffic had been affected by the influenza B outbreak (the monkey was affected/infected and we are still running on a skeleton staff at work). I'd say next year's survey results might be a bit skewed with plenty of people off for genuine reasons.

Get well soon. I don't want your germs.

Hur hur, you said boobs

2006-02-06T10:37:00.000Z

"[the web] is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"

Possibly an overused (and often misquoted) piece of Shakespeare but I'm sure you'll forgive me that and me making the tenuous link to the web. But I'm sure you'll agree, that whether it's the blogosphere or the web as a whole, there exists a vast amount of content of varying degrees of quality, presented in a myriad of forms (some good, some great, some awful). And it's getting bigger every day.

Sites like Flikr, Technorati and Del.icio.us that have adopted (and developed) tagging are making the web a lot friendlier and easier to use. There are a million different ways tags can be used to search for content. And the more we use them, the better it's going to get. But there will always be someone searching for 'boobs'.

Pictures on my flickr site usually get a few views and comments. Some of them get more than others but come on, 447 views in 2 days just from a single tag?

Happy burfdy the monkey!

2006-02-03T12:07:00.000Z

Will podcast for cash/food...(part 2)

2006-02-01T11:55:00.000Z

Writing in the Guardian's Business section, Cosima Marriner adds to the publisher's already considerable bank of reporting on the podcasting phenomenon. Following on from colleague Tim Dowling's earlier piece for the Guardian in which he coined the term 'podcost', Cosima sums up a lot of the attention podcasting is getting from the commercial world: 'What remains to be seen is if there is any money to be made.'

There will always be a bottom line with any product, even one as cheap as Emap's £150 a month Kerrang! Podcast. There may be cases where a podcast's content may be useful or desirable enough for a user to stump up for it - but have those who are looking to sell podcasts really understood the full potential of the medium?

For the smaller podcaster who may not have the capability or resource to sell his/her content, the podcast can still be an effective marketing/PR tool. Intelligent podcast content can be engineered to drive users to your site/business – a sprat to catch a mackerel in effect. And as Emap and Cosima have shown, podcasting can be a cheap way of spreading your message.

And that's before I've even got started on the viral marketing effect. Check out this cool podcast (made you look)

Walk towards the light

2006-02-01T11:17:00.000Z

It was nearly light when I walked home from work last night. January and February are miserable months. Everyone's skint, it's cold, dark and there's still another few months of winter to go yet. But it's getting a little bit lighter each day and cold I can deal with (will definitely be adding one of these to my wishlist).

53 days till the clocks go forward. And counting.