23 Dec 2006

US Map game

The challenge is to drop the US state into the right place on a map. The real challenge is it has to be exact. A few times I was miles away.

I scored 88% with an average error of 20.3 miles

10 Dec 2006

This is Jasmine tea. Rather, it's a ball of jasmine tea, tied with a string, that unfurls when placed in hot water to float the white jasmine flower in the softly scented tea.

From Ping Pong, the dim sum chain of restaurants with the genius business model. Prepare the food out of London so that one isn't paying for back restaurant space in Central London. Then steam or fry it on the premises. The dim sum was reasonably priced and wonderful - especially the steamed cod.

29 Nov 2006

Experience planning - the first post

This weekend I'm going to set up a work-related blog for experience planning, but wanted to kick things off with my rebuttal to 'Transmedia planning, my arse.'

Your arse aside...

What I found interesting is not that the media is/isn't planned from single or coordinated idea(s) -- whether they are or are not channel-driven and defined -- but that the concept of a signifying idea is replaced by social activity at a consumer level that itself knits together meaning (the signified) from a range of media moments. It raises questions for our customer journey process in which we try to plan linear and non-linear 'connections' in the customer experience when what is potentially interesting is signfication that can happen in the 'lapses'. They may be the richest brand experiences but most elusive as they're not ones we plan, or even enable -- if we're lucky, we find them and build from them.

27 Nov 2006

Roller Derby lives...

And one of the coolest chicks I know has written this book. I'm so proud and excited for her and the Renaissance woman she's become: creative director, marketer, rolly derby girl, bandmember, author. And she's one of the few who can drink me under the table (Whisky shots with beer backs on Friday nights at the Eagle Drift Inn, shudder.)

23 Nov 2006

'The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.'

HL Mencken

Steven Johnson on one of the impacts of urbanisation

'The problem with all the talk about Americans living in a country divided
between red and blue states lies not in the idea of division itself. The
problem lies in framing the whole issue around states. We do in fact live in a divided nation, but states are not the organizing principle we should use in thinking about the split. We are divided between the blue city and the red country... '

There's more on his site, www.stevenberlinjohnson.com

21 Nov 2006

Nintendo's Wii

Getting great press, even after the ridicule it's name caused. I almost want one. Blame Loco Roco

19 Nov 2006

New photos - Carsten Holler installation.

Friday the management team at OgilvyOne had dinner at the Tate Modern which is now displaying Carsten Holler's Test Site 2006 - a series of slides which drop from all floors to the Turbine Hall below. People get into canvas sacks and slide through the tubes. It's an amazing site, especially at night when the tubes shine like metallic creatures in the darkness of the hall.

I didn't slide. I'm not good with heights and wanted an opportunity to visit the shop. I bought a hypotrochoid set (which I remember as a spyrograph) for 4 quid.

16 Nov 2006

Steven Johnson on the Ghost Map

One of my favourite authors talks about his new book, The Ghost Map about the story of Dr. John Snow and the biggest outbreak of cholera in Victoria London. I can't wait to read it.

15 Nov 2006

A few essays by my former university advisor, Irit Rogoff.

It used to make sense to me. I think about that time when my brain could cope with post-colonial theories now that I'm reading Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie.

9 Nov 2006

10 hottest trends in IT development

From InnovationLab

And this morning I couldn't remember my password

British man draws Rome from memory

But will it blend?

Great advertising microsite.

Austria.

Austria was fantastic. Relaxing to be in beautiful cities listening to Mozart in some of the places he would have played. I saw three live concerts in Baroque churches where the sound and the atmosphere really enveloped the audience. I decided to appreciate classical music more. I studied music for years (as a pianist and vocalist) and want to re-experience it.

Salzburg was cold, but that seemed right. (Well, except that every bar and restaurant had the heat hiked and it was incredibly warm indoors). There was a fantastic rainstorm the first night so I stood in the arches of the old city wall and watched the lightning flash over the valley. Then drank a bottle of Austrian wine in the bar trying to read literary theory in German. I studied German in school, and could read a bit of it, although most nouns were unknown to me making understanding the theory impossible. There were some wonderfully odd moments - the Bollywood film being filmed in the church square, the Brazilian boy and Chinese girl having a date in halting English in a sushi restaurant.

Back to work...thrown into a pitch...got through but also got the flu at the same time and am still feeling mightily out of sorts. More pictures soon. And will write something other than a travelogue soon.

Recommendation: Raddison SAS Style Hotel, Herrengasse, Vienna. Stunning boutique hotel.

27 Oct 2006

Currently..

In...Vienna, soon Salzburg
Reading...Shalimar the Clown, Salman Rushdie
Listening to...Golijov's the Dreams of Issac the Blind and Enigma
Watching...a selection of the DVDs I bought and never watched, mostly French
Gadget...new Canon Ixus 800 camera. I just figured out how to change the camera menus from Japanese to English and am now very happy with it.

In brief:
Taking a few days off work to explore Austria. Work fine. Lost pitch. That sucks, but still proud of the work we did. Love staying in hotels. Cold in Vienna. Bummed to clocks are changing...

8 Oct 2006

Life in Canary Wharf

The new pictures are of Canary Wharf and the Ogilvy offices. Canary Wharf is in East London. It's a business area rejuvenated about 20 years ago by the Thatcher government with beautiful parks, fantastic restaurants, a subterranean mall and huge business towers. We occupy offices in a faux neo-classical building on the water with stunning views of London. It's all a bit surreal, like working on a movie set from Bonfire of the Vanities or something.

The area is full of bankers in suits. We're a bit of a anomaly in the area, but there's a certain smug satisfaction in arriving in jeans and comfortable shoes amidst the sea of blue, black and grey. Ogilvy's offices are impressive. The lobby is marble and vast. The offices trendy and fun (although crammed with people, paper, advertising and whatnot.) There's a bar which in the day is a subsidised Starbucks and at night a subsidised bar. There are conference rooms the size of small countries. Reprographics, editing suites, an enormous production studio, basically everything one could need to make advertising. I've been there six months and it still overwhelms me. And through it all is the ethos of David Ogilvy writ large.

5 Oct 2006

Today I am old....

Today I turn 38. I feel 70...

Still knackered from the pitch we had earlier this week which went well but was painful and exhausting along the way. My brain is porridge this week, but it's to be expected. And I've nothing more complicated than enjoying the wellwishers, free lunches and champagne and that's not a bad day at all.

18 Sept 2006

More and more of my circle of friends are celebrating 40th birthdays which seems entirely impossible. I think of us all as green behind the ears students finding our way through the world, full of life (and energy), plotting our futures. There is so much we've all done with our lives, marriages, children, careers...and still so much more to come. So sorry, we may be trying to age gracefully, but in my mind we're still 20, drunk and roaring with laughter and probably always will be.

10 Sept 2006

Books again.

I got bored last weekend and organised my books by colour. You can see the evidence of the DULLNESS of my life to the right.

Last week a Trond, Ben and I went to the Robert Mappelthorpe exhibition at the Alison Jacques Gallery. Fantastic show, but I'm afraid the art was eclipsed by meeting Patti Smith and seeing Jude Law and Sadie Frost (and her first ex, Gary Kemp).

This week I start my tenure as board member of D & AD, an educational charity championing creativity in business.

14 Aug 2006

This weekend I bought a new pair of Sennheiser MX70 earphones for my iPod. If you haven't ditched the earbuds that come with the iPod I strongly recommend it; the sound quality of these relatively cheap earphones is amazing. I'm hearing new things in songs I've listened to hundreds of times.

5 Aug 2006

Food and books

Tim and I had dinner last week at Patara, which was lovely, but we were sat next to a large family noisily celebrating someone's birthday and had to shout at each other to be heard above the din.

The new pictures are of Tim and Tim's recent place of employment, Colnaghi. The office includes beautiful shelves of art history books and I'd long wanted to take pictures. Unfortunately, I'm a dunce with my new camera and most came out blurry - with the exception of those you see here. Tim's off to Italy on holiday (I'm green...) then off to work at the Alison Jacques Gallery in the exciting world of modern art. I hope the bookshelves will be as nice...

Friday we had a team breakfast in the Grand Divan room at Simpson's on the Strand. The 19th century room had once been a private gentleman's club (in the cigars and brandy way, not in the lap dance and vd way. It's probably what everyone imagines when they think of Britishness - historical, beautifully crafted and proud of its traditions. But the breakfast was huge and stodgy and whilst the others went back to work, I took the afternoon and slept it off.

28 Jul 2006

New photos



...Are from the Verge day we had for our Unilever client. Verge is Ogilvy's digital immersion conference and it was a brilliant day. James Murdoch from B Sky B and Esther Dyson spoke. I was asked to host a women and gaming room (which was a shock, being nothing of a gamer and less of a women.) Still, Jospeh Jaffe says that we can't pretend to be digital if we don't use the devices so I bought a PlayStation Portable and have become addicted. The audience for gaming are truly surprising. Older and more female-orientated than many assume. I have all the facts and figures now, if anyone's interested!

Recently ...

...Melting.

...Had a brilliant dinner at Village East in Bermondsey with Shailen, Trond and Alice. Who knew mopping up foie gras sauce with chips would be so satisfying?

...Enjoying music sourced from our music researcher. Jim Noir and Camera Obscura are lovely in this summer heat.

...Reading Anna Karenina for a book group. Very slowly.

...Became enchanted by Loco Roco.

...Re-discovered Jean Renoir's La Regle de Jeu and Ella Fitzgerald.

Terribly worried about the war in Lebanon and deeply disenchanted by our government's response to the suffering going on.

Seriously also very worried about people at the moment. There seems to be a lot of anxiety in the lives of people I love who are faraway and I think (and dream) about them constantly. I do wish peace of mind for everyone.

Oh, and melting.

11 Jul 2006

Who are those handsome people?

I finally figured out how to get pictures off my mobile (and I was an Internet pioneer!). They're from an April day when Trond and his bf Ben, Tim, Jess and I went to see Alison Moyet in Smaller. It was the first sunny day in ages, so we sat outside and after several bottles of wine I snapped these photos.

The other photo is my name outside Old Billingsgate for a D+AD event where I was a speaker at Congress. I was stuck on a train, late, without the right notes, spritzing like a pig in a sauna and none of the media files worked, but I did the best I could. They've asked me back, so it can't have been too much of a disaster...

The legacy of post-modern cultural theory

'I wrote more than a few papers that sounded as though they had been translated, poorly, from the original French.'

Don't worry, I did as well.

11 Jun 2006

Summer in the city

It's the first real warm weekend we've had. So, of course I have a cold. It just wouldn't be the start of summer if I wasn't hacking and snotty. And trying to impress my new work colleagues at the same time.

So it's official. I've been hired as the head of experience planning at Ogilvy One in London. I was freelancing for them and told Louise I'd be interested in something longer-term. I hadn't realised she was going to create a new role - don't tell, I would've been happy as a planner. So what do I do? I oversee the team who look at online user experience, develop the methodology for putting online at the heart of their 360 degree communications and work with clients to strategise the role of digital in their marketing mix. That's all! I'm terrified, but excited. The sheer size of the agency is overwhelming. It's very different from the digital start ups I've worked for in hte past -- My contract has a retirement clause in it!

So that's the news here. I've had my teeth whitened, bought new clothes, joined a gym, read several books on marketing and am digging in to the new phase of my career.

And now, I'm going for a walk in the park.

19 May 2006

Adieu Agency.com

Yesterday was my last day consulting for Agency.com. I resigned to work full-time at Ogilvy One. It was bittersweet to leave after four years - to say goodbye to some truly remarkable people, and to leave the BT Vision project which consumed the last 18 months (off and on) a few months before it launches. But I'm excited about the challenge ahead - more on that soon.

14 May 2006

Americans in Paris

Ah Paris in Spring. The flowers, the sunshine, the beautiful people out in the parks, the skeletons...

Jess and I spent a long weekend in Paris. She had never been. I've been many times, but still feel like it's my first time whenever I go. We discussed what to see on the train and the only thing that really piqued Jessica's interest was the Catacombs. I'd never been - it's truly morbid. In the 1780s the overflowing cemeteries were causing disease, so the city dug up the old cemeteries and deposited the skeletal remains in old quarries in the north of the Paris. They were wheel the skeletons by night, build barriers from skulls, limbs and mortar and dump the rest of the skeletons behind. They did this for about 90 years, then had the morbid idea of opening the catacombs for tours, added a few plagues with cheery quotations about death and voila! The catacombs of Paris.

The rest of the weekend we spent eating, drinking, shopping and walking. I hope Jess enjoyed it. I did.

12 May 2006

Ouch

Painful word of the day: Blauthor

A blogger turned author.

Please, just say no.

2 May 2006

Bandwagonjumping

Everyone at Agency seems to have gotten a Nabaztag rabbit. It's a Wi-fi communications device that can tell you the weather, announce the time, play MP3s, receive messages from friends, etc. It's terribly cute, but the customer experience is a bit off. First, the rabbit comes from France and although the site does an enviable job of being bilingual, it ceased to be on the help pages when I was trying to get the thing added to my wi-fi network.

Secondly, it tells time, but it tells the time in France - one hour ahead of us. And it doesn't tell time on the hour, but about 5-6 minutes after the hour. So really, it announces the hour about 54 minutes early.

It does have really sexy voices. From the Frenchgirl who purrs, 'jai mal à la tête.' to my favourite voice, Ryan speaking slowly who last night said, 'time for bed sexy...' Pathetic, I know, but it entertains me. He also does t'ai chi.

So, if you want to send me sexy little messages my rabbit is brianj777.

But now I have to go to the dentist. Ugh.

1 May 2006

And we're back

Sorry about that. I had gone over the file size limit on my previous host and had to move everything to a new server, but it appears to be sorted and all two of you who read this site can now be caught up on all the news.

Went last weekend to see Smaller starring Dawn French and Alison Moyet. It was Jessica's first West End play. The play itself was nothing remarkable, and had a few truly mawkish moments. But Alison Moyet was wonderful and the sight of her in a chicken suit singing a Robbie Williams medley will live in the mind... The sun was out so we left the matinee for a sidewalk table at a European bistro and drank wine. I have pictures, but can't get the bloody things off my phone.

Work is going well. Business cards have been ordered, the portfolio is finally almost done and I'm working through June at Agency.com and Ogilvy. I like the gig at Ogilvy. It's an impressive organisation and there's something surreal about Canary Wharf.

Currently...Listening to Sufjan Steven's Illinoise and Patti LuPone's the Lady with the Torch... Reading Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety... Enjoying the BBC's The Lost World of Friese-Greene about a filmmaker who travelled from Land's End to John O'Groats filming 1920's Britain with a primitive colour process....Getting used to my new glasses...meditating...planning a trip to Paris with Jess next weekend.

11 Apr 2006

2 Apr 2006

About Bath

I spent a cold, but lovely, afternoon in Bath, Somerset. The stunning 18th century Georgian town is home to beautiful architecture, a first century AD Roman bath, and a 19th century abbey cathedral. It's a lovely walking city (and the university boys were lovely to look at as well.) But sadly, the town is beset with the same bloody shops one finds on every high street in the UK. 18 years ago Kate and I spent a weekend in Bath, and I remember it full of interesting book, curio and antique shops, but no more, it seems. Photos can be found here.

20 Mar 2006

Bath, Avon

Today I'm off to Bath for an afternoon of sightseeing and a stay in a nice hotel before a daylong workshop tomorrow for Agency. I've not been in 18 years and can't wait to try my new camera in a glorious place. Pictures soon.

1 Mar 2006

But they're crepes...

Yesterday, Shrove Tuesday, was Pancake Day in the UK. They're not really pancakes (as Americans would know them). They're actually crèpes, but the English don't like to admit it. As a matter of fact, they get rather upset when one says 'Those ain't pancakes'. All day long they eat these crèpes, err, pancakes. It's a big thing here.

This pancake day custom goes back hundreds of years. 'Shriving' means being given penance - which everyone sought before Lent started. And, as it was the day before Lent, it was also the day they ate up any foods they weren't going to eat during Lent. Like meat and fat. Hence the French call it 'Fat Tuesday' or Mardi gras.

A few have observed that the rest of the world celebrates Mardi gras with carnival but we in the UK eat pancakes. They're an exciting lot, the English.

And now you know...

20 Feb 2006

About meditation...

People have been asking about meditation. I'm a novice, having only been meditating for a few months. I started before I left Agency. I wasn't sleeping well and wasn't coping with the stress of the unknown. It's been when stress (and fear) threaten to overwhelm and I'm grateful now that I started. I sleep much more soundly, and the thought of not knowing what's next isn't paralysing me. Ialso think it's one of the reasons I've been able to stay off the alcohol during February. But there's still so much more to learn. I have difficulty maintaining 'focus' during meditation. My mind is prone to wandering. And I'm still learning to maintain posture - I tend to slump after 15 minutes...

I found Wildmind online. The Real Media lessons are free and is a great way to 'try out' meditation to see if one is really interested. I've focused so far on the Mindfulness and Lovingkindness lessons.

7 Feb 2006

Lately

Watching Balderdash and Piffle. The BBC challenges the Oxford English Dictionary's commentary on a whole list of interesting (albeit British) words.

Letting Paul McKenna change my life.

Reading Memories of my melancholy whores

Laughing and cringing at The thick of it.

Listening to Patti Lupone kick ass in the new recording of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

Not drinking during the month of February. Wish me luck.

30 Jan 2006

I won

Last Friday the Euromillions Lottery had an estimated jackpot of 105 million pounds.

I won. £7.40, but I still won. Ok, I spent £16 on tickets, but anyway ...

To be blunt

Hell yes, I'm rolling my eyes. It's not that I dislike James Blunt, it's just that I find the song irksome, and all of the tales about this posh upbringing (and his shagging his way around Sloane Square) make him seem as authentic as a white boy in dreadlocks.

23 Jan 2006

It's today

According to Cardiff University, today is the most depressing day of the year. Here's the formula:
1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA
Where:
W: Weather
D: Debt
d: Money due in January pay
T: Time since Christmas
Q: Time since failed quit attempt
M: General motivational levels
NA: The need to take action

Of course, tomorrow night is Burns' Night so you've a reason for hitting the whiskey now.

16 Jan 2006

2005 in cities

Inspired by John, my 2005 in cities:

Paris, France*
Prague, Czech Rep.
Berlin, Germany
Geneva, Switzerland
Bath, England
Strasbourg, France
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA

Hmm. Didn't travel much, did I?

This year: Reykjavik, Stockholm, Salzburg, St. Petersburg (I hope)

15 Jan 2006

On Tuesday 03 January my grandmother, Anne Jodozi, passed away at the age of 92.

We will all miss her physical presence, but my family are celebrating the life of a woman who saw many hardships in her life, but who never lost her boisterous sense of humour, compassion for others and dedication to family. A woman whose robust strength and heart were as expansive as the Dakota plains that were her home. A woman who is no doubt up in heaven watching over us all (especially any of us foolish enough to fly over the ocean, which bothered her a great deal.) My mum likes to think of her dancing through the stars with my grandpa, gossiping over coffee with my Aunt Velda.

She was the last of my grandparents to go. Two grandfathers passed away before my childhood memories formed. My other grandma was already quite elderly when I was young and inspired an air of reverence and distance. My grandma Anne, on the other hand, was full of life and boisterous play. I remember when she worked nights at a nursing home (to which she sometimes drove through snow and ice), then appeared in the morning ready to take us fishing, drive us all over the county or play cards (which we could do for hours, stopping only for food and the endless stream of company that 'visited' daily.)

She was both the matriarch of the family and a truly wonderful woman. It's from her that I learned to feel a pride in family and in my heritage. She told us stories about her childhood on the farm that made me feel I came from heroic people. And when I was older, we would share a small drink before dinner (one of the few with a preference for vodka) and she would tell stories my grandpa, so that just for a moment I felt I knew him.

Her life had its bitter hardships. Her mother died when she was a young child and she grew up taking care of a house full of men. 36 years ago my grandfather died. Then, in the 80s, cancer took my aunt, leaving behind three young children and a devastated family. My grandmother helped raised my cousins, never complaining about the responsibility and making each of them feel loved and cared for. But through it all she kept her spirit, her respect for life, and her compassion for others.

I remember her most laughing. She had a great, proud, ringing laugh. A laugh (and strength) my mother inherited from her.

I'll miss her greatly. I'm glad she's no longer suffering, but I'll miss her.