Tuesday 27 January 2009

Teeny weeny update

So me and Sarah went to see Simon at Pravda this afternoon to show him our book. Busy as ever, we didn't spend all that much time there, and though all's much quieter on the Western front for many agencies at the moment, he did say we'd be more than welcome to return for another couple of weeks placement if we so wished. But we figure there's not a whole lot of expendable cash hanging around at the moment to bring in any new blood permanently.

For now we'll be honouring our placement arrangement with TBWA, but more than likely heading back to the world of paid (but not quite so interesting) work after that, and attempting to crack this crazy biz when we're a little more settled financially. Though if the right offer came up, you never know how that might change!

Musing aside, we discovered today that our good friends Neale & Parisa are no longer at Pravda, but will also be treading the church grounds at TBWA come April. We think a long overdue catch-up with them is well in order... : )

Monday 26 January 2009

A Glass and a Half Full of...

...I'm not quite sure yet. Admittedly I've yet to see Cadbury's latest installment on TV and have unashamedly ripped it from everyone else who currently features it on their blog, but having watched it many times in reasonably quick succession, I still don't know what I make of it. Besides wanting to keep watching it for a reason which I can't fathom at this precise moment in time.

It kinda gives me the same feeling that too much Cadbury chocolate does - you know that "Oh my tummy feels pretty freakin' weird, maybe I shouldn't have eaten the other half of that 500g bar". The feeling that kind of rises up from your gut like you're gonna vom a bit. Except that when I open my mouth, I find that I'm laughing out loud instead. There's something about this ad that will no doubt grow on me the more I see it (probably after the 20-something times I'll more than likely view it in the next hour or so), but there's definitely something "gorilla" about it. Let's face it, Trucks was pretty shite in comparison, but this feels like it's heading back to Gorilla territory in that it makes you feel good for reasons that you can't quite explain.

The funky 80's tune. These freakish kids' freaky eyebrows (particularly how freaky the little girl's solo is!) The strain in the girl's face as she tries to eyebrow dance and balloon squeak at the same time. And that the boy looks like he's sucking a lemon as she does this. I'm not saying it's perfect in the slightest, but it sure as hell is funny! As the kids these days would say: LOL!



PS- Does anyone else think the tune sounds like the Beverley Hills Cop theme tune (the one that Crazy Frog killed)? A little reminder for you all (and because I just love this tune!) Turn the sound down on the ad and set this to play just before the boy presses the button on his watch. Some remixes will be hitting YouTube very soon I bet...

Flashback

Onto more serious matters now!

Today me and Sarah finally sent out notification of our new joint email account (see sidebar) to our contacts in Adland. At the moment we're not really sure what this year holds in store for us after our time at TBWA in February, but we'll hopefully still be getting our ugly mugs out there and meeting some new people as well as catching up with some of our old favourites, of which we will be doing tomorrow when we return to Pravda for the first time since September to see Simon Sinclair again.

At the moment we're just heading in to show our book once more and to see what's been happening with Pravda since we were there, but we'll have to wait and see what our other meetings over the coming weeks and months may become. And having been quite some time since we last saw each other, me and Sarah have some catching up to do too before we set about a whole new batch of work. New year, new book!

Nasal abuse

Why do people fart on crowded commuter trains? Never do you smell a whiff of trump during off-peak journeys (unless you're sat near kids, and I suppose they can't help it). But OH they all come crawling out the woodwork when you're on the train to or from work, no doubt scrunched into a tiny ball against the wall or with your face in someone else's armpit, feeling utterly fed-up as it is. So why must these flatulent people choose to travel on these trains every single day? And try to squirm away or wrap your face firmly in your scarf, and they look at you as though you're the dirty heathen! Well pardon me for not wanting to ingest your faeces molecules! Have a good dump before you set off for work, or better still, bloody well drive instead of subjecting us all to the inescapable pong!


...Phew, that's today's rant over [exhales].

Sunday 25 January 2009

Wednesday 14 January 2009

Design Faux Pas #2


"Hmm, this braille feels a bit wet.... URGHHHHHHHH!!"

Sanitary bin + braille = wrongness!

Monday 12 January 2009

Design Faux Pas #1


The answer to the crippling pain of RSI in your hands and wrists - cause it in your feet instead! D'oh!

Thursday 8 January 2009

Smile, it might never happen!

People say this to me. A lot. I sometimes wonder if I should be concerned that said people tend to be ageing males, usually spouting this nonsense at me when I'm walking in the pitch black to or from my house. Perhaps it's a come-on (though none have been holding bags of sweets), or perhaps I'm just a grumpy looking cow when I'm haring down the street. Whatever the answer to any of these questions, I've decided that this phrase should be my mantra from now on.

My hair looks shit. The train's been cancelled. Everything's so expensive I may need to sell my liver on the black market. Does it really bloody matter? Hell, I'm the biggest whinging woman you'll probably ever meet. I love a good venting session, generally scheduled for once every, oooh, 10 minutes? But besides making me feel less like exploding, it just makes me feel blah about everything I see, do, feel, etc.

Today for example, I received an email from another placement possibility me & Sarah had lined up for the new year. Unfortunately I discovered that having been hit by the recession, we will not just be walking into that agency and merrily going about our creative work, but will have to wait until there's money available for us to be brought in. This could have made me very sad, but the point is that we're still wanted at the agency when the future is a little bit brighter, so what's not to be happy about?

So it may be a tad late, but my New Year's resolution is to think positive. Namby-pamby, wishy-washy, whatever you want to call it - it might not save the world but it might help me & Sarah to be in the right place at the right time for something to happen. And it might stop strange men from talking to me in the street.

Monday 5 January 2009

Happy New Year!!

A tad belated though it may be! Sorry to have been away for so long - me and Sarah spent the run up to Christmas working our little temp asses off to have enough money to drink ourselves silly on the 31st, which I know I most certainly achieved!

(I blame the skates, not the alcohol. No siree!)

Just a little visual delight to warm up there! Anywho, as I say, me and Sarah have been busy in our "day jobs", of which I'm currently still in mine and haven't had much time on my hands to blog inbetween the commuting and festive jovialities. But fear not, for we have returned! Today we received word from Paul Burns at TBWA\Manchester regarding the placement he offered us way back in October, and we now have a start date for the 9th of February - tres excited!

More than anything we're looking forward to getting back into agency life and being hands-on again, especially heading to a much larger agency like TBWA after our first two placements - will be great to see how they operate and how much different (or possibly not) it is to life at the smaller agencies. All-in-all we just can't wait to get back on it and see what else we learn along the way and what odd characters we're sure to meet (besides Bex, who we already know!)

So tomorrow it's time to sort out when I'll be finishing my temp job, and whether there's time to possibly fit a little something else in before TBWA... but we'll keep quiet on that one for now : ) And hopefully I'll now be finding some time to update the blog more often. In fact, I make it my New Year's Resolution to do so!