Climate Change.

Having a boyfriend who works in sustainability and a close friend who is an incredible skeptic of the Climate Change proposal; this rap reminded me of some of the debates I sit through on our little social 'put the world to right' occasions.

The cost of experimentation is approaching zero

And we've only just started...

Home.

Having lived in Sydney for 2 years now, I must admit, its easy to begin to detach yourself from the motherland. However, there are charms of English life that I appreciate more than ever.

So I'm dedicating this post to Englaland showing my appreciation and pride in my heritage (albeit with little inclination to go back - just yet).

One can't deny, the curse of the stiff upper lip has quite a role in the English culture. All this suppression of human emotion and we wonder why we have an alcohol problem!?
The proverbial corner store. Don't live anywhere without one. Note: they sell alcohol too. Sigh...[Australia has special bottle shops, candidly places out of strolls reach at 9pm on a Friday night]
England has the best festivals. Well perhaps. May be its the sheer determination to make good out of a bad situation that ensures there's an atmosphere to feed on. You share tea and biscuits with strangers, camp in horrific conditions and witness some of the best live acts in the world under English sky. Of course, there is the rain which tries relentlessly to put a dampener on things - we need something to complain about!
Cows. Oh how I love cows. They are cute, aren't they?! When I was younger my back garden was in fact next to a massive field so I got familiar with these animals, admittedly at times after a bottle of cheap cider, a stolen packet of mother's menthols and an ambition to tip a sleeping one over...Ridiculously good comedy. The Mighty Boosh, Shameless, Skins, Black Adder, Red Dwarf, The Office, Young Ones, Only Fools and Horses, Peep Show, Morcambe and Wise. Love.
Weather in England sucks big time. There's no denying it. You'll depend on an umbrella and will come to accept the fact that the weather lady lies to you. There are times though, when you can love English weather, especially when it snows (and you don't have to catch the tube). I remember the South African guy in my class nearly crying and sighing "fluuuff" in disbelief as he looked out the window and expressed sheer delight at the white stuff falling from the sky.
When I lived in London, Hoxton was the place to be. I loved living in East London where people wore ridiculous hair and would sing aloud to their ipods. Its got a charm about it that I can't put words to. Like when you walk down a cobbled street or look at an old building and realise that you're merely a speck in its life's story.Squirrels are awesome. I love them. In Hyde Park you can hand feed these little cute furry rats. I don't care what you say, they are not pests.I suppose this reminds me of where England is now. Corrupt banking system. Money troubles...

Well its been a while, might have to prepare for a 2010 visit next year for a proper cold and log fire Christmas.

Falling Polar Bears

Well as someone who loves loves loves Polar Bears - some girls collected Barbie Dolls, I collected Polar Bears - I must admit this new cinema ad from Plane Stupid (written and commissioned by creative agency Mother and made by production company Rattling Stick. Director Daniel Kleinman) made me shudder.

However, I understand 1. It sends a valuable message and 2. The bears aren't real. So with those two facts in mind, I must admit I admire the guys at Mother UK for their audacity and the message is very clear: Your flight has an impact.

Plane Stupid explain on their site: "Like you, we're worried about climate change. Like you, we don't think the Government can be trusted to do what needs to be done".

They're a network of grassroots groups that take non violent direct action against aviation expansion. Their three demands:

• End to short haul flights and airport expansion
• Stop aviation advertising
• A just transition to sustainable jobs and transport

Interesting. Whilst I know aviation isn't the sole cause of greenhouse gas emissions, I'd be interested to learn more about the impact. As you know, after watching The Final Choice documentary I certainly reevaluated my eating habits.

Clean water initiative on Mt Kilimanjaro

I love this idea. Props to Goodby Silverstein & Partners & Unit 6 who have built a website proportionately the size of Mt Kilimanjaro.
The sites in support of a charity-infused campaign that HP have brought to life by inviting celebrities and musicians to climb the mountain and in doing so post blogs, tweets, images and videos of their climb from their HP notepads - the contents tagged along the pix-elated climb of the website (at 16,709,709 pixels).

In addition to hearing the stories of the brave mountaineers, visitors can also 'sponsor a foot' of the journey by donating some dinero via UNHCR's clean water program. Every dollar donated provides 100 litres of safe clean water to people without.

I suppose what I like about this is its pushing the boundaries on and offline by thinking BIG - literally. It brings to life a cause through the adventures/stories shared online. No doubt some of these mountaineers having celebrity status will help push things on the PR front. I wonder what the impact would have been if the opportunity to climb Mt Kilimanjaro was open to everyone initially? Akin to what Coca Cola did recently through Expedition 206.

People can connect to the program and unlike a reality tv show where one can watch idiots rolling over one another saying controversial things and playing spin the bottle (Which reminds me, has anyone watched Dead Set - Absolutely hilarious, in a sick and twisted Zombie way, anyway I digress); here there's an opportunity to respect mountaineers and go on the journey with them virtually.

Its socially led integrating offline and online in a pretty slick way even down to the detail of pixel proportionality! Obviously a smart move for HP who get to facilitate the program, demonstrate their product whilst align themselves with a positive cause without overtly branding anything. I'd like to see how interaction between site visitors and the climb team works out which would be the natural expectation for conversation, whether we'll be able to have a webchat to a makeup-less Jessica Biel at 17,000 ft is questionable.

Still there's some amusing webisodes to keep people entertained which is meant to be behind the scenes footage of the mountaineers training footage.



Well, launch is January 7 2010 and includes the tallest banner ever created, a TV spot and web films. Watch this space or their space even.

Facebook Aps for charities

I thought I’d share with you a couple of interesting aps that charities are using on Facebook to amplify word of mouth harnessing peer to peer communications by pin-pointing, recruiting and rewarding an army of dedicated fans who openly represent their causes within their social network.

Causes Ap

Check out this interesting ap used to promote and recruit friends to join not-for-profits online via “Causes” http://apps.facebook.com/causes/ or www.causes.com

Its very clever.

First step, click on link, see the campaign’s progress and invite your friends.

Next, give them your email address to stay up to date. If you want.
Then check out their page, browse other members and see what impact they’re having.



The Hall of Fame shows profiles of those making the biggest impact (i.e. Spreading the word) and you can send them props/note/thank you etc.



You can also pledge your support whereby you commit to inviting 300 friends to the cause (not 100% sure of this commitment considering I don’t have that many friends!) and you can also donate.


Finally, show your friends what a good Samaritan you are by having your cause feature on your FB profile page and track your progress.


I’d say the one limitation to this is it acts independently from a fanpage/group so users need to accept the ap and go through the above process as opposed to a one-click conversion to becoming a fan. That said however, its still a fantastic integration with the platform.

Super Badger

Another innovative ap is the Super Badger
With Super Badger you can send prewritten emails straight from your profile to the people making the decisions - whether it is badgering politicians about climate change or badgering supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade products.

Here you are rewarded points for “Badgering”

You choose what you wish to “Badger” and you can send a prewritten email to politicians/decision makers, donate your status and sign up to receive Global Action emails.

Once the email gets sent, you get your points and your profile is updated for all your FB friends to see. Once again there’s an element of social kudos, especially when you start ranking up the leader board.


So what do you think?

Today. I like.

Harma Heikens makes disturbing, perverted mash-ups of children’s toys, dolls, and figurines — all life-sized for extra creepiness.

"The Bouquet" by Linn Olofsdotter. Stunning illustration.


Grzegorz Domaradzki aka Gabz

In the life of... a Community Manager

I don't usually discuss my real life "work" in my blog, however, seeing as I am getting consistently inconsistent in terms of my blogging genre... I figured; why change now? Besides, I realised there are some key learnings that I've found as a Campaign/Community Manager that are probably worth sharing...

1. Content is king.
   I probably don't need to dwell on this however, I think its important to appreciate that content leads when it comes to nourishing a community. Its easy to digest, offers entertainment and provides the audience with a piece of social currency for them to share to their friends. My colleague Zoe Scamen has written a great post on this here. So do develop a content schedule and maximise it!
   
2. Timing is everything.
   OK, I know that's not necessarily true but I think its easy to rush something to get a box ticked without putting timing in to consideration. I like to think upon it as "Contextual Marketing" i.e. think about what people are doing at that moment in time when your message is read and try to make it as relevant as possible. So for example; its lunchtime - don't start talking about night caps. Its obvious really. Also be opportunistic with the time of day; Tuesday and Wednesday circa 11am is the optimum time to email folks for example. I'm sure there are better insights out there but I think its always important to consider time as it won't always be on your side.
   
3. Use http://bit.ly/ to death.
   It provides great insights. So for example any media that I seed a community can be “bit.ly’d” before distributed. That way with anything shared is tracked: simple really but easily overlooked.
4. Analysis
   If you can, set up Google Analytics on any pages you create or sites you are sending people to. How are you going to measure engagement unless you track and measure the stats? There is a science to it, but at the end of the day, there's a big risk in running around blind - even if it is in the right general direction.
   
5. Video hosting - help spread
   In terms of video content suppliers, I feel if you want to spread a message: think Youtube. There's an audience that already exists, its aligned with google search (another audience to tap in to) and its the most popular platform for users to search for videos on. Plus it offers great insights as part of the package. Oh and I forgot to mention, its free! But don't forget your video channel may become a community in itself so its imperative that you manage this and respond to commentary on this forum also.
   
6. Video hosting - VIPs only
   There is an awful lot of benefit in giving a community exclusivity and an element of that might be first opportunities to view video content. In these instance, I feel Vimeo offers great affordable hosting software, I really recommend getting a Pro account for aprox $55 a year. You can manage it to a point where Vimeo branding is removed, its better quality, there's control as to which sites its viewed on, one can limit its shareability (even on Vimeo itself) and has all the nice to have’s like bespoke sizing/colours etc. Bonus: this will save a fortune in hosting.
7. Bloggers?
   Why not team up with bloggers as an outreach program? Invite relevant influential bloggers in to the community so they too have access to exclusive content and brand insights plus use it as an opportunity to share relevant content to that category by sharing blog posts via "status updates" for example. Its a win (the blogger) win (the community) win (you) situation.
   
8. Get stuck in
   Get stuck in to the forum/message board and ask people to use it. I've worked on a project where people were invited to post their thoughts on the community page, guess what?! It worked!
   Remember that members of your community may be active on other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube... etc. Set up Google Alerts, search on your Tweetdeck and just keep your ears to the ground and eyes pealed for any commentary outside of the community. Social media is a fantastic opportunities for brands to gain insights as to consumer sentiment and also an opportunity for these brands to respond to these individuals.
9. Make them feel special
   This community is special, its a collective of individuals who deserve your love. They've invested their time, make sure its worth it for them. Be responsive. Listen to feedback whether its good or bad and make them feel an integral part of the community, because at the heart of it, they are.
   

Well that's me. Hope somebody finds this useful while I continue to learn more and more about the world of community managing :)

PS. Lastly, don't forget to consider an Exit Strategy...

Connected By the Pocket

Connected By the Pocket from sam reynard on Vimeo.

I like the sentiment of this short, its easy to find ourselves too caught in the present moment that we don't think of the journey a dollar, an opshop purchase, even a brand new pair of trainers has gone on before it arrives in to your possession. I used to wonder in London, where the "chip on the shoulder came" from. I remember a half empty bus driving straight pass me on a cold winters night leaving me to wait another 20 minutes in the chill, I was so annoyed that I got on the next bus and took out my frustration on another stranger on the bus, who I am sure; would've passed it on to another.

Anyway, the guy who directed this Sam Reynard is my best friend's brother and so I guess I can't help but support it but I'm genuine when I say, this guy is one to watch; I can see him doing more cool things in the future.

Quite simply - things I like

Found on Third Draw Down, go have a wonder.

Wiring a web for global good

Its amazing the opportunities we have right now, we really are in the day and age of true interconnectedness. Where we can instantly inform and amplify, share and respond to digital content.

I think this is something we're going to see more of. In countries where oppression is rife, where media is biased and where access is limited we're going to see more harnessing of social media as a tool to create awareness. Action Aid Australia have made a very forward thinking move with Project TOTO in recruiting a blogger to teach people from developing countries how to use these tools so that people can have insight into the realities they face day to day.

Gorgon Brown talks to this very enthusiastically at his talk at TED last month.

the final choice

Everyone should watch this documentary. It provides valuable insight on the state of our planet that we can all learn from. Sit down, crack open a bottle of red and get your noggin stuck in to this.



After watching this, I very much reconsidered a lot of decisions I had made about my lifestyle and what I consume. It also makes one realise what a small cog one really is without meaning that your choices, where you place your focus and what you choose to spend your money can make a difference, I'd be interested to hear how you found it.

How to find out the truth...

Baloney Detection from Richard Dawkins, writer of The God Delusion.



Its so difficult to know what piece of information is true or false. I find myself instilling so much faith in to the ideas of my friends and family because I trust them, but its always important to remember that not everyone finds the "truth" through science and we all know what happens when you play Chinese whispers.

I like this idea, I don't apply this massively to some of my ideas, admittedly, sometimes I feel driven by instinct. But I think that's a fundamental characteristic of human beings and I like learning from my own experience too.

The new short film by Blu

I love this.
The new short film by Blu; an ambiguous animation painted on public walls.

Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche)
www.blublu.org

Music by Andrea Martignoni
Produced by Mercurio Film
Assistant: Sibe

Swine Flu - What about the poor?

The first question I asked when Swine Flu came on to the agenda was: I wonder what support the developing world is going to get? This was my status on Facebook for a short while but no one had any answers. Not that I expected them.

I mean if its killing people; unhealthy and healthy people, then who are going to be in the most vulnerable position one wonders? Well those without access to medication obviously aren't in a good place, what about people who are malnourished, who are born with diseases such as tuberculosis or HIV and suffer from malaria and pneumonia? And those in densely populated areas, especially slums, where disease could spread quickly? Yup. Not looking great for those in developing countries right now. Especially those in the Southern Hemisphere.

According to the latest totals by the WHO; over 4oo people have died of swine flu and over 100,000 have been infected. Experts fear this figure is higher, the U.S believe many flu victims have gone unaccounted for due to mild symptoms.

Poor motherland (UK) has been flu ridden big time. To be honest, London is a hive for viruses, I was sick constantly when I lived there and seriously couldn't understand why there weren't dry soup dispensers at every tube station.

(Status 1 July) Image source: http://blogs.nature.com
For a better interactive map of the spread go to BBC website

Anyway it was announced earlier this week that The United Nations will need more than $1 billion this year to help poor countries fight the global swine flu epidemic, according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (earlier on Monday).

"The funding has not been flowing as we have been expecting," Ban told reporters. "We are now mobilizing all resources possible."

Apparently countries within the developing world have enough vaccine to cover the whole population, yet WHO have a small stockpile of Tamiflu donated by Roche (the company who create the anti-vaccine) for developing countries.

Is it me? Or does it seem once again these poor countries are desperate for our help, and although our governments are happy to take their oil, for them to make our clothes, consume their natural resources; they're less willing to donate a medicine that if not received the consequences are fatal? I guess the irony being that the disease is being spread by the movement of people in developed countries. As Indian health secretary Naresh Dayal explained last month "We have so far 30 cases which have been laboratory confirmed. Out of these, 28 are those who came from infected countries in the West. I would like to say that the developed countries would do a great service to the developing countries if they could contain and check the spread of infection in their own countries. I would, therefore, urge them to take action to stop the spread of the infection."
In May, the U.N. asked vaccine producers to reserve a portion of their pandemic vaccine production for poor countries. Some companies have agreed to help. GlaxoSmithKline PLC offered to donate 50 million doses of pandemic vaccine to WHO for distribution to developing countries.

"We hope to mobilize some funds to procure commodities, including antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines to countries," WHO chief Margaret Chan said at a donor's conference in Geneva earlier this week.

"Many developing countries actually go into this pandemic what I call empty- handed," Chan said "They don't have antivirals. They don't have vaccines. They don't have antibiotics."

As much as I like to have faith in the W.H.O, when I went to see Dr Beat Richner (right) who is the founder of KANTHA BOPHA Children's Hospital in Cambodia (an absolute legend for the record) he explained that W.H.O apply the levels of standards in the context of the country: “The belief that poor medicine is good enough for poor people in poor countries is still alive and kicking, “ says Dr Richner.

Lets hope this isn't the case this time round.

By the way, I promise to lighten up soon. Two consecutive non-entertaining posts is always a worry. I think its because I have a bad cold - lets hope its not the flu.

Please forgive (and wash your hands after reading this)

Food for thought...

Every now and then I need to remind myself that my hunger, isn’t really hunger. In fact I’m starting to think that eating food in the western world is more a form of addiction.

It still amazes me the contrast between the developing and non-developing world when it comes to food. Here we are spoilt for choice, yet we waste and consume a huge amount annually; surely something’s not right? The UK throws away an estimated 6.7 million tonnes of food away annually and Australians are throwing out three million tonnes of food every year. Most of the food could have been eaten. Not only does throwing away food waste resource, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions but the food waste equates to annual cost of £10.2 billion in UK / $6 billion in Australia. Imagine what could be done with that money?

So we accept there’s a problem here. I mean, even if we’re talking exclusively about developed countries – this is not right. Further to this, look at the problems we face with obesity and diabetes. The World Health Organization predicts there will be 2.3 billion overweight adults in the world by 2015 and more than 700 million of them will be obese. So not only do we have a problem with wasting food, we are also overindulging, eating the wrong foods and I’m sure this is something preventable with an educated mindset.

Now forgive me for pointing out the obvious. But how is it we are all being so spoilt for choice, that we waste over 10% of food we PAY for; burdening precious resources, increasing demand, bad health and furthermore wasting money, yet there are people in the world who are literally starving? Where clean water is a commodity and where people don’t know where their next meal will come from. There are a billion people who live with chronic hunger everyday. This is well beyond a mere lunch craving after skipping breakfast. Furthermore, a new rapid response assessment report released by UNEP warns that up to 25% of the world’s food production may become lost due to environmental breakdown by 2050 unless action is taken and it won’t be you or me who suffers the brunt of this. "Land degradation, urban expansion and conversion of crops and cropland for non-food production, such as biofuels, may reduce the required cropland by 8–20% by 2050, if not compensated for in other ways" and we haven't even talked about the impact of climate change yet (watch this space)!

Arguably the G8 needs to recognise the impact rising prices and a growing population has on hunger. For example higher oil prices bring more crops like corn into biofuel production, putting fuel in cars rather than food in tummy's. These are governments making these decisions and seemingly treating their people as collateral damage. Lets see what the G8 concludes tomorrow at the summit, when the G8 will talk about food security, the premise that every person in the world should have access to affordable food (there is enough food in the world for everyone to be fed), there should be support for farmers and trade could be built from the ground up.

I still feel that there is a massive gap in terms of grassroots education though. There are things we, mere people, can do to help. I’m sure if we were aware of the facts, understood what it meant to go hungry and were taught meaningful nutrition facts about food – there would be a different attitude towards it. Revoking this silo attitude of “us” and “them” so we can perhaps make a tiny life adjustment that reflects a huge one for somebody else in the world. I remember when I was a child my mother would say "You're not going to eat that? Think about the children starving in Ethiopia" - now seriously, why don't we?

I suppose the next question is – what are we going to do about it?

For more stats see Leila's post: Open Your Eyes

This is great

I don't know about you but this little girl just made my day. Trust me, it gets better. A very innovative way to make music with true visuals. Nice work. It reminds me a bit of Aphex Twins' work.

Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment

An interesting and strangely addictive read…

Deepak Chopra has done a marvelous job at portraying the life of Buddha in his latest book.
Its an interesting, educating and actually quite easy read which reminds me much of The Alchemist in its descriptions, use of symbolism and confrontations with morality and humility throughout. There’s also the element of mystique about it that really sucked me in.

Did you know that Buddha was actually a mortal? A prince no less. I don't know about you, but to me, Buddha represented a fat laughing man in the lotus position so this book has certainly opened up my very narrow interpretations of the man.

Whether you believe in Buddhism or not, I would recommend the book as a great read. Having found myself in a few too many faux-pas discussions about religion and being that there are and have been plenty of wars founded upon the subject, I have decided to learn more about the teachings of various religions.

Next up, The Koran. Urm… wish me luck.

Oh and if you wish to know more, forgive me if this is a bit too "deep" but here is Deepak Chopra's take on Buddhism.

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity...

I've been reading a beautiful book called Eat. Love. Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert (courtesy of @nikkistammers)

Sometimes I read it and aside from the writers slight neurotic episodes, I feel like its my own thoughts I am reading. May be this is why its a best seller (no I didn't mean my thoughts are best sellers more the writers ability to engage deeply with readers). Either way, I love the fact that I am taking something back from it. More than entertaining my moments.

Unlike me however, Elizabeth Gilbert manages to put many of my random thoughts in to a coherent sentence, chapter and novel which is an incredible skill. Props to her.

Talking about inspiration, creativity and the genius, she spoke at TED. Just like her novel, she articulates such a sensitive and fascinating subject so well, that I cannot deny, has very much inspired me to approach creativity from a different stand point and I hope it does you too.

Sydney vs London

Is there a comparison? Should there be one made? Probably not. But I can't sit on the fence with this one. People need to know, know the truth about why I am still here when all my beautiful family and friends sit on the other side of the globe.

How do I keep this brief?

Lets go back to basics.

London is BIG, Sydney is small.
Whats does this mean? In London, it means that travel can be a real mission. Although I have/had plenty of friends who lived in London, it still meant that I had to spend an hour on the tube getting to them (and obviously an hour back) hence never on a school night. It also makes work travel a bit of a ball ache which I'll explain in more detail later. What I love about Sydney is you can navigate yourself around on foot if need be and you learn fast, the city is tiny in comparison and if you get lost, you can hail a cab and pay a fraction of the price it would cost in London. The downside of this though is its easy to bump in to people, I don't know about you, but there's something romantic about an anonymous make-upless daggy stroll in the city and when the likelihood of seeing someone you know bumps, so does the effort in your outfit. In fact classic example, I just had a phone call from a work associate saying he spotted me in the gym the other day and saw my trainer pound the life out of my at 7.30am. Not a good look especially given the compromising positions she puts me in!

London is expensiveThis is true, but not massively in comparison. Much to my disappointment upon arrival here.
Things that are significantly cheaper in Sydney:

• Rent
• Restaurants
• Taxis
• Transport

Things that are about the same:

• Groceries. The market in Sydney is completely bossed by two pretty lame supermarkets; Woolworths and Coles. Both can dictate prices. You don't find the 241 deals that you see gracing the Tesco shelves and nor can you buy alcohol in these stores. Personally I prefer to pay more and get organic, local store food than fund these market bullies.

More expensive in Sydney?

• Alcohol - You'd think that being next to Hunter Valley you would be able to grab those bargain wines (akin to the road trip you'd do to France) but no, you'll find a good five pound bottle of Aussie wine in the UK but over here, you pay twice the amount for the same decent bottle (unless you purchase a wine box aka 'goon' - a major social no-no in Sydney)

• Clothing. Retail is very different here. I miss and long for a good Topshop for the basics. Here it seems there's no middle ground, you either buy cheap mass-produced poor quality pieces or you buy boutique/upmarket and pay for it through your teeth. Production for boutique fashion houses is expensive. I love the fact that highfashion is more accessible here though and you can get designer pieces on sale for reasonable prices but don't expect to be able to get a decent dress for less that $150. Unless you do what I do and get the never aging vintage classics from the op shops!

The weather is better in Sydney.
This is a big win for Sydney over London. Massive. Huge. Its not just the fact that the city livens up, you can dress appropriately and don't need to hide under an umbrella to avoid the elements, it is also a lifestyle perk.

London is admittedly built for its climates; lovely old wood fire pubs, fancy bars, restaurants, museums, theatre etc. Sydney however, when the sun shines, all you need is a beach and that is exactly what you have on your doorstep. Not only does this mean you save on money it also means that you can get a healthy glow for 9 months of the year and experience the outdoors much more than you would when rained in in England. My waistline will back me on this one.

What about culture?!
My Dad, being the Englishman he is, claims that Australia has no culture. Heaven forbid any Australians read this but I can see where he's coming from. I feel like Australia isn't exclusively one culture, yes there's sport, beer and surfing but there is also a massive mix pot of cultures. Although known for their strict immigration policy there are still generations who can claim their heritage here from around the globe. And I like this. There is also a sad past that doesn't get spoken about in Sydney which is starting to get addressed but Australia is still young and to be honest, when it comes to culture, London wins hands down. It has the best arts, theatre, fashion, museums from across the globe and history and architecture to back it. Culture is breathed in the city and is the epicenter of British culture in my opinion.

Transport
When I was in London, I felt like writing a guide to "Living in London for graduates". One of the items I remarked on as I would draft these guidelines in my mind was transport. There is no worse way to start your day than spending 1.5hours stood up in somebody else's armpit and being pushed around relentlessly during the city rush. It breeds bad moods and germs. That's before we get on to discussing Tube strikes, delays and inability to function at the slight extreme of cold weather. One of my guidelines was to learn how to run in heals. London is always on the go and you have a natural growing resentment towards tourists who dawdle on the wrong side of the escalator. You're always running to get that next connection and hence running in heals was a skill yet to be honed. Sydney however? Massively laid back in comparison. You don't get the herds of black suits storming through the major train stations. Although the transport and stations are more modern in London (which is strange considering they are dated back from the time when they ran on steam), cost wise, Sydney is cheaper. Systems in London are much more modern (think: Oyster Cards) and complex in London. Given the car parking, taxis and transport passes are much cheaper in Sydney and you can travel across the harbour via ferry so that's my winner.

CrimeThis is a no-brainer, I see pregnant women daily in Sydney but not as often as I'd hear police sirens in London. I know where I feel safer walking home at night.

NightlifeHow do I put this? London gets the best DJ's and musicians from around the world. It also has the best clubs. Sydney - not so much, if at all. Also gigs over here are much more expensive, think 70pounds ($140) to go to a Coldplay concert. Ah I miss dancing to good music in a club where you befriend like minded people and an atmosphere which takes the roof off.

My experience of nightlife in Sydney has been either: Surrounded by children (16 - 21yo), prententious people and this kind of same same atmosphere where you look around and everyone has the same hair, style and attitude (yawn). That said, the best party I had over here was at a beach - now you don't get that at home. Good nights are much rarer but compensated with house parties, dinner gatherings and a not-so-bad-after-a-beer bar scene.
In summary.
So many more things need to be considered if you're going to compare these beautiful cities against each other but here are my main considerations.

I love Sydney, it may be slightly behind, smaller, have a terrible internet connection and lack in comparison when it comes to culture, but it has beaches, beautiful weather and a much more wallet friendly cost of lifestyle not to mention being safer.

I cannot deny a part of me misses London massively, the pace, the arts, the decent music and the classic English buildings, countryside which ensures that one day I will be going home to enjoy it again (albeit in the rain).

Update: I cannot believe I forgot to mention the relentless paper pushing in LDN, The Metro, The London Lite, The London Paper, City AM...etc Now that is absolutely ridiculous. Aside from the constant face thrust of papers while you navigate your way between tubes and busy streets; the litter caused by these free papers is an absolute disgrace.

Further Update (2013): Check out my post on London after returning for Summer 5 years later.

The worst monsters you know are often yourself.

This video reminds me of a dream I had as a child.

Anyway the video is great, I love it and the song is equally brilliant.

MGMT Remarked on this video (Myspace)
"MGMT is pleased to announce (finally), from an undisclosed tropical paradise, the bona fide release of the O-fficial video for the authoritative song known succinctly as: "Kids."

This is the first song we ever wrote, on a cold day in February way back in 2003. Yes, "Kids" is an Aquarius, but shows many traits of an Aries. The idea for the video was born about a year ago, at a mock-Italian cafe on Ninth Avenue in bustling Manhattan. We are both animated and stoked to reveal at this time that we once again worked with director Ray Tintori, someone who's known this song since it's inception.

"Kids" has proven to be some kind of monster with a life of its own, both an albatross and a plate of mac and cheese with fake bacon (Annie's), and the process of creating this video was nearly as convoluted and veiny as the general style of this here letter of introduction. As Jerry Garcia once rudely remarked about the eventual and unavoidable filling in (with sand) of the historic United States Grand Canyon, "What a long strange rip it's been."

* Thanks to Thesaurus.com for words of alikeness and interchangeability.
† yes, we are aware that Mark Twain was a satirist
ƒ yes, that is Joanna Newsom
√ no children were harmed in the making of this video"

Client: MGMT
Director: Ray Tintori
Lead Animator: Christy Karacas
Animator: Lizzi Akana, Henry Thurlow

Enjoy

Creative Sydney - Finding Your Followers

Here are some take outs from last nights panel discussion at Creative Sydney “Finding your Followers”...

"There’s a world of fans waiting to discover you – so how do you reach them? Discover global and local marketing, publicity and distribution strategies for artists and makers. Presented in association with Pages Digital."

- Creative Sydney

Virginia Hyam (The Studio), Sydney Opera House

• Digitally enabled word of mouth (WOM) is seen as a move from the traditional WOM to new media – the fundamentals don’t change.
• Massive support from press helped change perceptions of expense, exclusive to Opera performances and open up opportunities in the music industry eight years ago.

Jean-Claude Abouchar (The Grand Social)

• In order to keep their Twitter account exciting, they invite friends/colleagues going on Fashionistic trips abroad etc. to have account access and report on their experiences on Twitter. I think this would be a great idea for film companies i.e “Guest tweets” from actors, producers, directors etc.
• They create parallels online and offline, e.g. For launch they had a “pop up” store in Paddington and created the same online to increase WOM, accessibility and distribution which got a lot of press coverage too.
• Initially they targeted their communication to designers and encouraged networking between them by hosting events and with that grew a larger market place online as more and more designers got on board via WOM.
• A strong selling point for The Grand Social is that it encourages consumers to discover other similar brands, hence a good opportunity for designers and consumers.

Adam Ferrier (Naked Communications)
Four rules to a successful product:

1. Be different, what’s your point of difference? Create your own sector. Get it right!
2. Have purpose – what’s the consumer need / motivation?
3. Be believable – prove your credibility.
4. Visionary – think big, think forwards, think differently

Another point touched upon was distribution... No point having a great product if you can’t distribute it.

Almira Pizovic (Picaholic)
Some rules for a good website:

1. Be compelling
2. Be easy to use and navigate
3. Search engine friendly
4. Browser / screen compatible
5. Mobile enabled
6. Live feeds / social media integration

Innovative new art sites and products which I really like that were presented by the following:

Tim Brady (Freshly Baked Gallery)
A virtual art gallery where geography isn’t an issue for accessing art. You can purchase art online and envisage this art on your own wall... Original idea, another winner in my books and I like Tim’s story that he went from being a construction manager making the pay check but not feeling satisfied with his life decided to take the risk, quit his job and start up Freshly Baked (example art below).

Madeleine Boyd (Stupid Krap)
This site is dedicated to the community of artists, underground and street creating an artist-run portal and on-line store, featuring limited-edition high-quality art prints and collectibles. I can see myself making a few purchases on here.

All in all, it was a good night I enjoyed the discussion although the crying baby started to tickle my clearly un-maternal nerves somewhat. I recommend anyone interested in learning more as a creative, marketeer or curios to attend some of these free seminars at Creative Sydney at the MCA... besides its a great opportunity to see the beautifully lit up MCA and Opera House.

let the right one in

I watched this movie a few weeks ago. It just blew my mind away. If you get chance to see this at the movies, I really recommend it. It is a vampire movie but it is a massive leap away from the typical action packed vampire movies that we see these days.

The director Tomas Alfredson filmed it beautifully so that each delicate moment is captured and felt. I think what I love most about it is the way it uses special effects in a dated looking movie. It's actually quite refreshing and makes the movie all the more realistic and dependable.

Be prepared for a scare (but a big romantic sigh at the same time)

Meditation

Now before thoughts of tree hugging, smelly dreads and any general hippie stereotype come to mind, I would like to assure you, I am not a hippie. Or may be I am. Like a modern day urban hippie who enjoys living in the chaos, the city rush, coffees and cocktails, fashion and good food.

I suppose the fact that I have to defend myself in my first sentence addresses the premise that meditating isn't seen as a mainstream past time or at least one spoken of (in Sydney at least). It brings about thoughts of Buddhism and well, the relinquishment of worldly pursuits for the sake of spiritual/psychological gain is alien to the prevailing values of capitalism today, I mean, you can't make money with your eyes closed and legs crossed all day!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, on a wee whim, I escaped the city and spent the weekend at a meditation retreat in order to learn techniques and practice a touch of yoga.

Since my dabble in the "quieting of the mind" I have tried to keep up my practice by having some down time at the end of each day. Trust me, its a difficult thing to start. Be it intimidation, boredom, restlessness or just lack of time. For me the concept of staying still is incredibly alien to me. Hell I even fidget in my sleep. Still I have noticed quite a remarkable change and empowerment following these "sessions" each night.

I am a pretty chilled bean anyway but there is no denying, the noise, the chaotic rush of peoples, the relentless propagation and information that we absorb in to our everyday lives is arguably unnatural. For ants perhaps not but definitely for people. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that switching off for a while was like pouring water on to parched land, I felt refreshed. The things that annoyed me to a point where self expression had elevated to foot stomping and huffing became seemingly minor. I know I am a long way off from tapping in to the serious benefits of meditation, what I've managed to get from these few invested hours, Buddha gets in a sneeze. So I've only had a taster, but I'll still advocate that its very good exercise, even if you do run the risk of social ridicule amongst friends... (you'll be too chilled to care anyway)

So whether it be a little 'out there' to admit this, I am going to try to keep it up... or at least for those moments of foot stomping and recommend any curios to do the same.

Peace & ommmms
Jecta x

Surrealist Naoto Hattori

I stumbled across this beautiful print by Naoto Hattori Japanese surrealist at my friend's store, DISRUPT in Surry Hills today. The image blew me away. Something about it, enchanting, beautiful yet horrific at the same time which stirred up weird emotions prompting a series of impulse purchases...

Hattori was born in Japan and moved to NY to study Illustration. His style can be quite dark and mystical and yet each piece has a sense of realism with the degree of accuracy he paints which makes me feel like he's seen these images before, just on another universe. He captures skin tone perfectly.

I found this quote from him (Portsort.com) which I really like:

"Why was the surreal painter so important back in his day? Why did the royal residence hire those artists? Not because of their love for surreal paintings, just because the camera had not been invented yet. Now we have a computer, a video.. and numerous other things, so that contemporary art became abstract and people rely on a computer and tend to forget to about the traditional art. I'm young but I just want to show them that surreal style of painting is still not dead. I keep making fresh pieces and amaze people through my vision," says Naoto.

See why I like this guy? Hence I bought all these prints ;)
Check out his website here

How hard it is being good...

I tell you what, cutting out certain food groups (albeit unhealthy) along with alcohol and caffeine does suddenly dawn upon the realisation that without them you are practically a social outcast.

Obviously this statement is exaggerated, however let me put this in to perspective.

Every morning quite ceremoniously, my colleague and I would head out to our local favourite cafe where the baristas know our names and always make us smile (Single Origin) to get our super strong coffees to wake our minds and start our day. This is no more.

Friday night, a friends birthday. I paid a visit, stayed sober although surrounded by chocolate cake and cheese plates the experience was incredibly tortuous. That said, I still enjoyed the company and being the only sober person there - had the privilege of driving my friends new BMW home at the end of the night.

Saturday night. This was harder, much harder. A group of us, mostly from the UK (which tends to = Trouble) went for dinner at Dragons Den in Darlinghurst for a delectable meal, well at least it would've been delectable if I didn't have to resist certain elements of the banquet i.e. red meat. Then comes tip toeing the alcohol issue when the bottles get passed round and I have to hide my wine glass. As a consequence, I had numerous people coming up to me saying "So you're not drinking" which translates to "What the hell is wrong with you?" and "Well done" which translates to "Ha, you're missing out!" Not that anyone had issues with me not drinking but it certainly did mean that nearly every conversation I had with people circled around that decision and although I was happy, I did start to realise that my state of mind was getting further and further away from everybody else's.

Anyway, so far physical changes I've noticed following the first week:

1. I no longer crave caffeine: my addiction may have been curbed(!)
2. Using the bathroom more regularly
3. More spots: apparently this is the toxins leaving the body
4. More energy: this could be part of the lifestyle
5. Slimmer around the hips!
   

I guess as a distraction for me, I am managing to focus my energies in an old rekindled hobby, painting. I'm currently working on my first conceptual piece using acrylics on canvas. Its quite exciting for me and I am enjoying it much more than I expected.

Anyway, watch this space. More more exciting news to follow.

Time to be good...

Whilst I like to think myself as a balance person. I tend not to drink too much, eat healthily, adhere to a routine which incorporates fitness and fun, there's little doubt that the last three years have probably had an affect on body and mind.

According to Diana Ketchen Natural Health Consultant, 'modern day life has resulted in an exponential increase in our exposure to chemicals, drugs and pollutants. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics, over dependence on alcohol and a fast lifestyle have all contributed to making out bodies unhealthy. The modern generation seems to have forgotten that to get to the top of the rat race we need a healthy mind coupled with a healthy body.

Our body’s detoxification system comprises of the digestive and urinary systems, skin, lungs and liver. It is a perfect system in which the organs supplement and complement each other. There is, however, a limit to how much it can be stretched.

What happens is this. The frontline defense of the intestines is broken due to the large quantities of toxins that enter our body. This intake can happen through food, exposure to the environment, drinking water and other points of contact. The breakdown of the function of the intestines leads to a condition where the liver needs to work more than its capacity.

Over time, if we have not had a natural body detox, the toxins start to leak out of the intestinal walls into the blood stream. And a situation like this causes diseases like bowel toxaemia (blood poisoning caused by bacterial toxic substances in the blood) and candidiasis (an infection caused by fungi). These diseases are characterized by symptoms like diabetes, chronic constipation, vaginal thrush, loss of libido and increase in blood cholesterol'.

In my final year of University I quit alcohol for 3 months, walked everywhere, did yoga and cut down on my carbs. The results were incredible, I lost weight, I felt great and my mind was tuned in. I was also very happy and more confident than I'd felt in a long time.

Then, well I fell in love, moved to the big smoke, got a full-time job in the city and commuted a good hour or so a day in London.

This was the start of my naughty period. Oblivious at the time (until obviously too late!) I indulged in mars bars from the work vending machine, drank half a bottle of wine a night and always ended up eating late after work which usually contained man portions of potatoes! That along with being unhappy in my job and taking up voluntary work for Oxfam coordinating events in whatever spare time I had certainly added to the stress.

So the waistline broadened and brain cells depleted... The thing is although I will openly admit to being somewhat lazy in London along with eating irresponsibly, it is a lifestyle suited to the big smoke. Time is tight - it is the London mentality, people moving in and out of the city tend to commute long distances (house prices, family etc.) and the weather is predominantly terrible, or at least it was for the duration I was there. Which if you're anything like me, means one will scoff on comfort food further escalating the unhealthy lifestyle already accustomed to.

Now I am in no way slating London. I love that place. But I can't deny it triggered a downward spiral in terms of my health. I was constantly ill, managed my time badly and ate/drank as much as my boyfriend (who is much bigger than I am)!

So now I have decided it is time to face the music and work off that too easily accrued load. It is time for the D.E.T.O.X.

My aim is to get healthy and feel firstly and foremost confident in my skin.

So the plan?

• Gym at least twice a week (cardio & weights)
  
• No meat aside from fish & chicken
• No alcohol
• No caffeine
  
• No wheat
• No dairy
• Only organic/gluten free food where possible

In addition to doing the bod some good, I am also going to attend meditation and yoga classes to get some peace and loving in to my mind. That and some clarity.

I'm going to stick to this for 3 weeks, starting from today. Time to lose the London load, time to be good...

Will keep you updated. Wish me luck!

P.S. Don't expect too much - I'm already bored.

P.P.S. Typical, my work mate's announced she's bringing in chocolate cake tomorrow.