Turn Yourself in to a Clever Cloud

I've just found this on Amelia's brilliant blog and had to link through to see it for myself... Just as she had problems trying to explain it, I fear I'm about to do the same... Basically, you type words in and the game builds up... Oh hell, just try it for yourself... If Amelia can't explain it, nobody bloody can... Well, it beats writing on Facebook walls anyway...

Wooden cars to make a comeback

When I heard that classic, or should I say vintage, wooden panelled cars were all the rage in Southern California, particularly amongst the surf set, I naively thought to myself "Sure, it's probably just a bunch of hippies who cant afford a new car", but I was wrong. Initially picked up because of their exremely low trade values, surfers would buy 'woodies' as the cheapest means of getting around town with their hefty surf gear. It wasn't long after that the love affair with woodies evolved. Afterall, anything made of wood that is continually exposed to the elements requires regular care and attention in order to sustain and maintain some level of reliable performance. Over the years these wood panelled wagons have become extremely desirable, some fectching ridiculously high trade values. Yet, for me, it's not about the 'cool trend' that it seems to be, but the potential application such a concept may have in a future context. As everything seems to be going 'green', including the facade of my local McDonalds, I expect that we will see a whole lot more goods, products and services carefully packaged in an aesthetic that says "eco-friendly" or "sustainable", largely because people want to take part, participate in the 'make our world a better place' project. With this in mind, would it not be 'eco-friendly' for car plants to harness the wood panel concept and reduce the extent to which they rely on metals, at the same time giving the people the opprtuinty to say "Hey! Look at me, my car is 50% sustainable sources. I'm greener than you are". Why not extend the idea to smart cars, instead of plastic intechangeable panels it's all about screwing on to a wooden framework. Totally sustainable urban friendly wheels? Radical no?

Krusty-Os & Kwik-E-Marts

Burbank, California is fostering a unique marketing partnership between the Fox Network and 7-Eleven. Selected 7-Elevens stores across the US are being transformed into Kwik-E-Marts, The Simpson’s favoured local convenience store. As part of a campaign to boost awareness of the new Simpons Movie the Kwik-E-Marts will be complete with life-sized replicas of Apu, Homer and other Simpsons characters, as well as limited edition food items such as Buzz Cola and Krusty-O’s cereal. E numbers anyone??

Brits Abroad: Banksy V Hopper

Love this. Funny. So what if it isn't FRESH, needs to be seen. Eveybody must recognise the original, and here you get it with some humorous additions... nice shorts fella!

Reality Bites

Bringing the images of airbrushed faux beauties into line with reality is the ambition of a fellow blogspotter. The blogsite in question is offering a downloadable sheet of photo real cold sores that can be printed on clear labels for stealthy and realistic results when applied to ads and marketing in the public domain. Setting out to make a statement against the unobtainable and unrealistic perceptions of beauty being instilled in the public, this sticker campaign seems to be gathering steam since kicking off in February. Keep your eyes peeled

Cornwall Up & Coming

Cornwall iz da shiz!
Went down to Cornwall the other week for a little break, Sennen Cove to be exact. It's absolutely stunning. Amazing beach framed by steep long grass sand dunes and very little development other than the very slight beach front parade (thats if one pub, one cafe, one fish and chip bar and an art gallery can be considered a parade!) Situated only a 20 minute cliff top walk from Lands End, it's a place to be seriously considered by all. The thing is, if what I saw and read while down there is anything to go by, the future potential is a whole lot bigger than Sennen Cove. With the prospect of a warmer climate creeping north and the growing taste for less commercialised, more wholesome short breaks, Cornwall is bound to see large benefits. The south-west English county has long suffered with economical issues largely sprung from the loss of mining as a key source of employment. Add to the scenario the fact that most of Cornwall does not received piped gas, that they are wholly reliant on fuel tanks in their sheds and gardens - an expensive and inefficient source of energy, and you have a Low Wage High Cost existence. However, this may soon cease to be the case as Cornwall has just received £20 million to develop and test a scheme of wave harnessing to produce electricity on a scale that could potentially spell out a future of self sufficiency for the County. This in turn should free the people to make a whole lot more of their limited disposable cash, a situation likely to boost the local economy. Healthy local prospects attract investors, considered investment in an area attracts business and lays a path for entreprenuerial activity... it's all eye's on Kernow. Watch this space.

How 'BIG' is your 'TUNNEL'?!!!

I think I just had my first 'WTF' moment. Seriously.

Perusing the masses of 'plastic persona' profiles on MySpace, as one does, I thought I'd check in on a few of the peeps I've stylesniped out and about recently. So I drops in on this kid, see what's up, casual fashion like. I comment on his new pics, as one does, read a few of the other comments, as one does, and I couldnt help noticing, as one does, that all the other comments were made by 'young' ladies all trying so hard to radiate a suggestively sexually persona and all very forward in their overtly sexed text speak. Funny thing is, this chaps tag line is as blatant as you can get, "I LOVE *****" (protecting the innocent!), so why do they still persist to try so hard??. Competition? Not sure.

Anyway, having absorbed all the hormonally tense exchanges I thought it time to move on, as one does, clicking on the profile link of one of his more 'forward' fans, as one does. I arrive, have a quick skim, a few mental notes, then off to the 'pics' link for a better look. BLAM! First comment, first picture, there he is. The little guy himself. Simply asking in true layman's terms "HOW BIG IS YOUR TUNNEL?"

Ok, excuse me for being a little 'old school' but hey, when was it consider ok to fire so low below the line? What happened to sparking up a conversation? WTF exactly!

"This cannot be" I thought to myself, "such a nice sounding chap (according to his MySpace profile of course!) wouldn't really be so crude as this, would he?". I skipped back to his profile to find a clue. Hoping for the missing link. Maybe she replied?? But really! Would such a detail really be disclosed so willingly in the public domain?? Sure enough, top of the pile, fresh in at number 1. in the comments chart was the swift and sweetly executed response "14mm".
"Errr, one minute, 14mm??" I wondered to myself "I've missed something here havn't I?".

Dashing back as fast as my connection would transport me, I clicked back into her profile, back into her 'pics' and in one glimpse there it was staring right back at me.... the ear ring! Wearing it well, the young lady in question has a dark mettalic looking, pipe like insertion in her ear lobe, the kind I used to affiliate with dredlocked Italian gabba ravers. tribal yet futuristic. Bloody hell! And there was me thinking that... well... need I spell it out ;-)

Get with the lingo... that's all I'll say.

"Daddy, what's a Blook?"

The landscape for consumption of literary content is morphing at speed. People are reading more online than ever before. But as the popularity of The Blog places further strain on the market for printed matter, the actions of key players, including the likes of Borders (who will be launching the final Harry Potter at ‘half price’), suggests that something rather significant must happen with the delivery of literary works. ‘The Bloog’ (or should I say ‘Blook’?), following in the footsteps of The Blog, is a concept to which authors are warming, many of whom are publishing their works chapter by chapter in the popular and widely accepted online framework made popular through blogging. This year saw the first annual ‘Blooker prize’ giving credit to this new media format, I imagine the guys upstairs of the big bookshops and publishing houses might well be a little shakey of late. Surely, as with the music industry, the publishing world is likely to take further damaging blows from the effect of unfaltering uptake and embrace of digital media by the masses. First aid at the ready.

McMakeover To Go!

“What’s red and yellow, and green all over?” If you were to be asked this, whether it be in a serious line of questioning, or in the more likely suited scenario of a ‘joke’, it is rather unlikely that McDonalds would spring to mind. However, judging by the ever so rapidly executed facelift of the McDonalds restaurant on High Holborn in London, this could be the tag line to surpass ‘I’m lovin’ it’. Risky re-brand? Or playing clever with the sub-concious?

FlickrVision

The widely renowned photo sharing platform Flickr has been cross bred quite cleverly with the Google Earth mapping device in order to create a ‘photo-a-second’ streamed show of freshly uploaded photos and their geographical origins. Sound interesting? Probably will be for the first few minutes until the display wears the eye tired. The quality of photos displayed, both questionable and varied, are of such diverse subject matter that you are likely to be looking at a beautifully depicted ‘Chilean landscape’ one second, then crap mobile snap of ‘Dave’s shag from Saturday night out side the chippie’ the next. Random indeed.