Today I visited Borders book store. I've never seen it so busy just goes to show that the British love nothing like a bargain. Odd thing is that though it was packed not many people where buying. I picked up a book but decided against buying it, not sure why just didn't feel right.
And that's the problem with Borders, it doesn't feel right. Sure there's a Starbucks but the whole shop just feel wrong. It has a huge mish mash of stuff in there, books, CD's, stationery, household items, toys and loads of other stuff.
Borders' never knew if it was coming or going and neither did the buying public. Though it didn't buy the book in borders I walked around to Waterstones and I bought a book there, I paid full price when I'm sure if Borders had felt right I could have bought there for a lot less. But in Waterstones it felt right, because it is just a book shop that's what they do.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Choosing a company name
There are several trains of thought on this.
- Pick a name which describes the business
- Pick a name which uses a made-up word
- Use your own name
1. If you have a complex business, then giving a descriptive name which does it justice will be difficult
2. Made-up word can be a great way to create standout, it also makes finding you easier. Seth Godin started Squidoo for that very reason. If you heard of it you'd remember the name because it is so unusual.
3. Using your own name may sound a bit lazy, but think about it. People all ready know you you already have a reputation and therefore a story. If you give a 'brand' name to yourself, there's a dilution of the story as you have to start explaining your decision.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Why long is better than short
In a world of sound bites where everything needs to be in short easily remembered sound bites, there's a common thought that everything needs to be short. Weather that's copy on a website, a TV series, a song, book, film, take your pick.
But all this flies in the face of the facts. Long things when engaging, interesting, artistic, of merit and relevant are pretty much always more appreciated over time, where as sound bites are just that and are quickly forgotten, there are notable exceptions, but most of those actually re-enforce the rule of long because they are made to entice you into the main long element.
I'm listening to The Stone Roses re-mastered on Spotify at the moment and one of my favourite tracks is Fools Gold, it's also a firm favourite of most Stone Roses fans. At 9.52 minutes for some people it's over long, but for a fan who's head starts bobbing from the opening notes it's just not long enough! In a similar vein Stairway to Heaven and Bohemian Rhapsody are stupidly long but and untouchable to their fans. Can you say that about 3 minutes of Lady GaGa?
Same applies to loads of other things which delight and amaze people, you try telling a fan of Lord of the Rings the films and books are too long and difficult. Try saying that watching 24 takes too much time!
In sport even. The World Snooker Championships takes two weeks to complete with some sessions going on into the middle of the next morning. The Ashes and test cricket take 5 days to play one game which may then end in a draw. American Football takes forever to finish as does baseball.
In art, is the Sistine Chapel ceiling too big and detailed? Jackson Pollock paintings too long?
In advertising, why do you think some infomercials are a whole 3 minutes long? And that long engaging copy in direct mail letters works better than short copy? Because it tells a story which is interesting and captivating to the customers who are disposed to buy the products. It's not trying to convince every viewer to buy, how could it? No it works hard on the relevant people and converts them.
What all these have in common is a craftsmanship which takes a long time to perfect, it's then perfectly articulated which makes it enduring, relevant and in a way addictive.
So when some one says that things need to be short because people don't have the attention span then they're clearly looking at the population in general. Fine if you want a quick hit and disappear.
But if you want to stay around for a long time better make things well crafted, interesting, relevant and if its needed long.
But all this flies in the face of the facts. Long things when engaging, interesting, artistic, of merit and relevant are pretty much always more appreciated over time, where as sound bites are just that and are quickly forgotten, there are notable exceptions, but most of those actually re-enforce the rule of long because they are made to entice you into the main long element.
I'm listening to The Stone Roses re-mastered on Spotify at the moment and one of my favourite tracks is Fools Gold, it's also a firm favourite of most Stone Roses fans. At 9.52 minutes for some people it's over long, but for a fan who's head starts bobbing from the opening notes it's just not long enough! In a similar vein Stairway to Heaven and Bohemian Rhapsody are stupidly long but and untouchable to their fans. Can you say that about 3 minutes of Lady GaGa?
Same applies to loads of other things which delight and amaze people, you try telling a fan of Lord of the Rings the films and books are too long and difficult. Try saying that watching 24 takes too much time!
In sport even. The World Snooker Championships takes two weeks to complete with some sessions going on into the middle of the next morning. The Ashes and test cricket take 5 days to play one game which may then end in a draw. American Football takes forever to finish as does baseball.
In art, is the Sistine Chapel ceiling too big and detailed? Jackson Pollock paintings too long?
In advertising, why do you think some infomercials are a whole 3 minutes long? And that long engaging copy in direct mail letters works better than short copy? Because it tells a story which is interesting and captivating to the customers who are disposed to buy the products. It's not trying to convince every viewer to buy, how could it? No it works hard on the relevant people and converts them.
What all these have in common is a craftsmanship which takes a long time to perfect, it's then perfectly articulated which makes it enduring, relevant and in a way addictive.
So when some one says that things need to be short because people don't have the attention span then they're clearly looking at the population in general. Fine if you want a quick hit and disappear.
But if you want to stay around for a long time better make things well crafted, interesting, relevant and if its needed long.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Using relevant targeted TV ads
It's Friday and I'm watching crap TV, that's why the ads seem a little more interesting. Lately they haven't been.
I spotted an ad just now that will never win any awards, the direction is functional, the script direct. It has no superstars in it and no whispering back and white film noir camera work. But this is a great TV ad, why is is great. Well because it speaks directly to the audience its targeted at. The ad is for Match.com the biggest dating website.
Don't click away
The ad for was so great because it was timely and relevant. The script is along the lines of "Last month we said we didn't have enough men on Match.com. Well we now have loads more new men". It then signed off with it's 6 month guarantee.
There was no need to fill in the blanks of "So ladies that means there are loads of new men to date" because the ad had achieved that easily and the interested single ladies knew exactly what to do.
The best bit for Match.com is that they will be able to measure success. The equation is simple Cost of Ad/Number of new signups and returning users equals ROI. Simples! (as another measurable clever ad keeps saying)
I spotted an ad just now that will never win any awards, the direction is functional, the script direct. It has no superstars in it and no whispering back and white film noir camera work. But this is a great TV ad, why is is great. Well because it speaks directly to the audience its targeted at. The ad is for Match.com the biggest dating website.
Don't click away
The ad for was so great because it was timely and relevant. The script is along the lines of "Last month we said we didn't have enough men on Match.com. Well we now have loads more new men". It then signed off with it's 6 month guarantee.
There was no need to fill in the blanks of "So ladies that means there are loads of new men to date" because the ad had achieved that easily and the interested single ladies knew exactly what to do.
The best bit for Match.com is that they will be able to measure success. The equation is simple Cost of Ad/Number of new signups and returning users equals ROI. Simples! (as another measurable clever ad keeps saying)
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Get rich quick schemes on Twitter
The web is like any other medium it soon gets filled by spammers and get rich quick artists who sell on thier idea to poor unsuspecting suckers in the hope of creaming off a few quid.
Twitter has been caught up in that in the only way it could - incredibly fast!
The number of tweets promising ways of getting 1000's of followers is incredible, even twitterers who have good long standing reputation get caught up in the volume game (I question on such and didn't get an answer). The question is why? What the point of having millions of followers if:
Twitter has been caught up in that in the only way it could - incredibly fast!
The number of tweets promising ways of getting 1000's of followers is incredible, even twitterers who have good long standing reputation get caught up in the volume game (I question on such and didn't get an answer). The question is why? What the point of having millions of followers if:
- They don't know who you are
- They have no relationship with you or your knowledge
If there two things at least aren't met then there is no connect with your message and therefore no point having millions of followers because you can't influence their behaviour. It all comes down to permission to speak to people. Twiterers are far better off having and handful of followers who will listen act and respond than millions who don't care.
Quality over Quantity every time
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
The Internet as a social history or people sticking old pictures on FaceBook
The Internet now makes saving peoples personal history easier than ever. That's a pretty obvious statement to people who's been using the web for a long time, but for some it's nothing short of a miracle.
Recently my sister died, very suddenly and unexpected. She'd just joined FaceBook and hadn't added must stuff but what she did add is still there and it's nice to look back and see her writing and pictures, I can hear her reading them as I read them. When she died I created a group for people to leave their memories of her and also as a way to let people who she knew but had lost touch with what had happened. The response was amazing with over 100 people joining and many leaving memories of her as well as their own pictures with her in.
My parents aren't on the Internet and probably never will be so they'll never get to see the group. I printed out everything which had been posted and gave it to them and her husband. They were overwhelmed with the response and amazed that this could have happened. The great thing is that that group, which is still active is a social history of my sister in a way that could never have happened before the Internet and FaceBook in particular.
I was just browsing FaceBook again a few minutes ago and found a group all about memories and pictures of Sheffield, my home city. Normally the images here, well over 500, would have been in dusty boxes in a back room or in a museum collection. But know they're there for people to look through, comment and add your own to whenever you want.
If I needed to find out about my past I needed to talk to the older generation who would take their stories and images with them when they died. My children will have an amazing record of nearly everything I ever did and everything everyone else ever did too. I still find that truly amazing.
Recently my sister died, very suddenly and unexpected. She'd just joined FaceBook and hadn't added must stuff but what she did add is still there and it's nice to look back and see her writing and pictures, I can hear her reading them as I read them. When she died I created a group for people to leave their memories of her and also as a way to let people who she knew but had lost touch with what had happened. The response was amazing with over 100 people joining and many leaving memories of her as well as their own pictures with her in.
My parents aren't on the Internet and probably never will be so they'll never get to see the group. I printed out everything which had been posted and gave it to them and her husband. They were overwhelmed with the response and amazed that this could have happened. The great thing is that that group, which is still active is a social history of my sister in a way that could never have happened before the Internet and FaceBook in particular.
I was just browsing FaceBook again a few minutes ago and found a group all about memories and pictures of Sheffield, my home city. Normally the images here, well over 500, would have been in dusty boxes in a back room or in a museum collection. But know they're there for people to look through, comment and add your own to whenever you want.
If I needed to find out about my past I needed to talk to the older generation who would take their stories and images with them when they died. My children will have an amazing record of nearly everything I ever did and everything everyone else ever did too. I still find that truly amazing.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Banksy vs Bristol Museum and why it's important
On Tuesday I visited Banksy vs Bristol Museum. It was my first time in Bristol and firstly I've got to day that Bristol while obviously spending loads of money on the city centre couldn't organises a piss up in a brewery. There were loads of signs for parking but then the signs disappeared, there were no signs for the city centre, I asked a man cleaning a lamp post. And there were absolutely no signs for the Banksy exhibition.
I gave me the feeling that Bristol is ashamed of itself and a bit embarrassed by Banksy and what he's achieved. I'm sure lots of Bristol people love what he does and how he does it, but you get the feeling that whoever is running Bristol Council can't get their heads around promoting someone who they see as essentially a criminal.
Having said all that all this just plays into Banksy's hands. He loves the fact that he's so underground no one knows who he is or what he'll do next. Guess that why I love the work so much too. No fanfare, no marketing (at least overtly) just turn up and see his work for free. He's the ultimate Guerrilla Marketer.
The two hour wait in the rain was well worth it though. Three rooms full of Banksy paintings, sculptures, animatronics and audio. For me the best bits were off-piste. He'd been give free reign around the museum, so lots of time was spent hunting through dusty cabinets no one had looked at in years in search of hidden dildos in Stalagmite displays and for sale signs on the back of ancient pottery. Most of the exhibits can't ever have been looked at quite as much as while this exhibition is on.
The great thing was that photography was allowed, here's my Bansky Photo collection.
If you get a chance must must go, it's free to get in there's just the small issue of a two hour queue.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Social Networking, Twitter, Linkedin, FaceBook and all that
When is it too soon to begin a social networking marketing campaign? Twitter, Linkedin, FaceBook et all are all the rage at the moment and lots and lots of companies are using them to great effect. But there are a lot of companies who fail to understand the strength of the opportunity and are waiting for the best time to add it to their armoury.
What they aren't grasping is that there is never a right time to enter this now. The time to enter was about 2 years ago. Yes Twitter may not last very much longer, but there'll be something else around the corner and when that comes on you should move over to it.
Social Networking is just the same as word of mouth which is proven to be the strongest form of marketing, what scares people is the technology and time involved.
Yes it can be a time vampire but it means that you're spending time speak to your customers, asking them about your products and services and listening when they tell you something is crap, taking it on the chin and fixing it. When you get down to brass tacks and speak to customers fixing their real problems that's when magical things start to happen.
All Twitter, Linkedin and FaceBook do is make the process so much quicker and direct.
So if your company or organisation hasn't started using Social Networking yet then don't hang around start it now!
What they aren't grasping is that there is never a right time to enter this now. The time to enter was about 2 years ago. Yes Twitter may not last very much longer, but there'll be something else around the corner and when that comes on you should move over to it.
Social Networking is just the same as word of mouth which is proven to be the strongest form of marketing, what scares people is the technology and time involved.
Yes it can be a time vampire but it means that you're spending time speak to your customers, asking them about your products and services and listening when they tell you something is crap, taking it on the chin and fixing it. When you get down to brass tacks and speak to customers fixing their real problems that's when magical things start to happen.
All Twitter, Linkedin and FaceBook do is make the process so much quicker and direct.
So if your company or organisation hasn't started using Social Networking yet then don't hang around start it now!
Friday, July 03, 2009
Jarvis did win over Bruce at Glastonbury
This is my first post, post Glastonbury. It was a great festival this year, despite a lot of people being very apprehensive about the line up. I must admit I was one of them.
To my mind there were too many old acts who were past it by quite a way. Most of them were a lot better than I expected except Crosby, Stills and Nash who were dull and droning and went on far too long.
When it came to the big headline act on Saturday I did just as I thought I might and ducked out of seeing Bruce Springsteen on the Pyramid stage and popped over to see Jarvis Cocker on John Peel.
Sounds like this was a great move, the John Peel stage is really good because you can get pretty close to the stage plus it's covered so no chance of getting wet. The added bonus was that I got there early enough to see White Lies before Jarvis came on. Had no idea what they were like before but I'm quite a fan now.
Jarvis was his usual erudite self with quite long periods of chatting to the audience. The expected Michael Jackson mentions never appeared though and neither did the covers of Pulp tracks which I'm sure some people would have liked. He started the set with Pilchard which is defiantly one of the best tracks on the new album and then rattled through most of his solo tracks. Some nutter came on half way through and gave him a bottle of Champagne and called him a "great working class hero" he seemed really surprised at this especially as he's never really worked!
The people who did see Bruce Springsteen said that it was pretty dull and even people who were fans were pretty disappointed.
All in all an amazing festival, can't wait for next year.
To my mind there were too many old acts who were past it by quite a way. Most of them were a lot better than I expected except Crosby, Stills and Nash who were dull and droning and went on far too long.
When it came to the big headline act on Saturday I did just as I thought I might and ducked out of seeing Bruce Springsteen on the Pyramid stage and popped over to see Jarvis Cocker on John Peel.
Sounds like this was a great move, the John Peel stage is really good because you can get pretty close to the stage plus it's covered so no chance of getting wet. The added bonus was that I got there early enough to see White Lies before Jarvis came on. Had no idea what they were like before but I'm quite a fan now.
Jarvis was his usual erudite self with quite long periods of chatting to the audience. The expected Michael Jackson mentions never appeared though and neither did the covers of Pulp tracks which I'm sure some people would have liked. He started the set with Pilchard which is defiantly one of the best tracks on the new album and then rattled through most of his solo tracks. Some nutter came on half way through and gave him a bottle of Champagne and called him a "great working class hero" he seemed really surprised at this especially as he's never really worked!
The people who did see Bruce Springsteen said that it was pretty dull and even people who were fans were pretty disappointed.
All in all an amazing festival, can't wait for next year.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Great Straight Forward Advice for all Marketers
I've just read the best post all year. It's on Psychotactics.com basically it gives straight forward advice which most marketers will run a mile from but for those who take it will be worth its weight in gold.
Here's the secret marketing 'trick' that'll guarantee to make you a fortune.
Speak to your customers
Let them tell you what works on your site, ask them abut new products and promotions. Do they think you're offering the best customer service. If they see problems do you react quickly to fix them or do you just brush it off as another annoying customer.
Reacting quickly and asking takes time and god forbid you have to speak to customers but in the end they are the ones spending cash, ignore them at your peril. Quite a few already have and they aren't around anymore (Woolworths anyone?)
Anyway Psychotactics put it in actual things to do, check out thier post.
Here's the secret marketing 'trick' that'll guarantee to make you a fortune.
Speak to your customers
Let them tell you what works on your site, ask them abut new products and promotions. Do they think you're offering the best customer service. If they see problems do you react quickly to fix them or do you just brush it off as another annoying customer.
Reacting quickly and asking takes time and god forbid you have to speak to customers but in the end they are the ones spending cash, ignore them at your peril. Quite a few already have and they aren't around anymore (Woolworths anyone?)
Anyway Psychotactics put it in actual things to do, check out thier post.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Jack White and The Dead Weather to play Glastonbury 2009
I was just listening to Spotify and as I'm tight I had it set to free. One of the ads mentioned Jack White's new band, The Dead Weather. I like Jack so I checked out their website on the tour page it seems they have a date at The Forum in London on 24th June.
It just seems quite a coincidence that that is only 2 days before Glastonbury Festival begins and there are several TBC slots on the line up. For me 2+2=4 so I recon that Jack White and The Dead Weather will be making and appearance.
It just seems quite a coincidence that that is only 2 days before Glastonbury Festival begins and there are several TBC slots on the line up. For me 2+2=4 so I recon that Jack White and The Dead Weather will be making and appearance.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Back to analogue photography
If you've read my blog before you'll know that I love my Lomo Cameras. The cool thing about them is that they are analogue i.e. they aren't digital cameras they use good old fashioned 35mm film. This means that I have to get them processed in the old way with chemicals and everything.
This way of processing photographs has been around for nearly 100 years. But very quickly its become a niche service. Companies who until recently only charged a few pounds for processing and capturing on CD suddenly doubled their prices.
I used to take my films to ASDA nice and cheap and decent quality processing too but then the price shot up from £2.50 per film to £4.00 shocked and skint I decided to look else where.
So I tried Max Speilman, they seemed to know what they were doing, they've been around for years. Unfortunately they don't have a clue, my film was badly processed, so much so that you can see their finger prints allover the scans. Then the prints where scanned badly so that the images ended up on the wrong prints. Never, ever using them again.
Then I tried Snappy Snaps, cool name (they even sell Lomo Cameras). The processing is great but the price is a bit steep too. £5.99 per film! When I went to collect my pictures today instead of £11.98 they tried to charge me over £17 as they said that the person who'd taken my order had forgotten to charge me for the CD's. £17 for 48 pictures is just crazy so I complained and they dropped the CD charge.
What I'm getting at is that I understand that film processing is dying out due to digital cameras but there is a massive surge towards people still wanting analogue photography. The number of people who are members of Lomography measures several million on it's own. This means that there's still a massive demand for film processing.
I just need to find somewhere that will do my processing for a decent cost at a decent standard. If you know anywhere please let me know. And if they're any good I'll tell all my friends and they use it too. This good service will make a lot of money because the niche who need it are on the look-out for it.
This way of processing photographs has been around for nearly 100 years. But very quickly its become a niche service. Companies who until recently only charged a few pounds for processing and capturing on CD suddenly doubled their prices.
I used to take my films to ASDA nice and cheap and decent quality processing too but then the price shot up from £2.50 per film to £4.00 shocked and skint I decided to look else where.
So I tried Max Speilman, they seemed to know what they were doing, they've been around for years. Unfortunately they don't have a clue, my film was badly processed, so much so that you can see their finger prints allover the scans. Then the prints where scanned badly so that the images ended up on the wrong prints. Never, ever using them again.
Then I tried Snappy Snaps, cool name (they even sell Lomo Cameras). The processing is great but the price is a bit steep too. £5.99 per film! When I went to collect my pictures today instead of £11.98 they tried to charge me over £17 as they said that the person who'd taken my order had forgotten to charge me for the CD's. £17 for 48 pictures is just crazy so I complained and they dropped the CD charge.
What I'm getting at is that I understand that film processing is dying out due to digital cameras but there is a massive surge towards people still wanting analogue photography. The number of people who are members of Lomography measures several million on it's own. This means that there's still a massive demand for film processing.
I just need to find somewhere that will do my processing for a decent cost at a decent standard. If you know anywhere please let me know. And if they're any good I'll tell all my friends and they use it too. This good service will make a lot of money because the niche who need it are on the look-out for it.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Do I need a website anymore?
Once upon a time if you had a business you had to have your own website.
It took ages to write copy, mainly because you'd never done it before and when you read it back it sounded really dumb. You had to find a designer, who always looked about 12 and baffled you with tech jargon and produced an expensive flash website no one could find, but hey it looked amazing!
Well I was just thinking,why on earth do you need a website any more? The Internet is full to bursting of free tools for websites and blogs, social networking, photography hosting sites, e-commerce sites. Loads and loads and loads of stuff just laying around for free.
All this stuck together must be able to make your presence on the Internet, easy and fulfilling plus making it blindingly easy to find. I'm not techie, but I've heard of using the 'Cloud' i.e. having everything floating on the web and I honestly can't see why it shouldn't be able to work it's just a bunch of links at the end of the day.
I'm sure I'm re-inventing the wheel because this is so blindingly obvious that someone far cleverer than me must be already doing this. Regardless I'm going to try and see if I can get this off the ground if only for my own amusement.
Anyone willing to help, drop me an email. Even if it just to laugh at me for not already knowing all about it.
It took ages to write copy, mainly because you'd never done it before and when you read it back it sounded really dumb. You had to find a designer, who always looked about 12 and baffled you with tech jargon and produced an expensive flash website no one could find, but hey it looked amazing!
Well I was just thinking,why on earth do you need a website any more? The Internet is full to bursting of free tools for websites and blogs, social networking, photography hosting sites, e-commerce sites. Loads and loads and loads of stuff just laying around for free.
All this stuck together must be able to make your presence on the Internet, easy and fulfilling plus making it blindingly easy to find. I'm not techie, but I've heard of using the 'Cloud' i.e. having everything floating on the web and I honestly can't see why it shouldn't be able to work it's just a bunch of links at the end of the day.
I'm sure I'm re-inventing the wheel because this is so blindingly obvious that someone far cleverer than me must be already doing this. Regardless I'm going to try and see if I can get this off the ground if only for my own amusement.
Anyone willing to help, drop me an email. Even if it just to laugh at me for not already knowing all about it.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Shuttleworth and Yorkshire Tea match made in heaven
I love John Shuttleworth so I'm really pleased that he's back on TV all be it in a TV ad from Yorkshire Tea. His comedy is just perfect for it and the really great thing is that there's been no compromise in his style or act, Ken and Mary are there as is the Jacket, roll neck and glasses.
Jarvis wins over Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury 2009
I'm going to Glastonbury at the end of the month, did I mention it?
Anyway recently I posted about which acts to see at this year's Glastonbury Festival.
I was torn on Saturday night the big headliner is Bruce Springsteen, now I'm not a fan of the Boss never have been, nothing against the man just not my cup of tea. But Springsteen at Glastonbury would be quite an event one probably never to be repeated. So I was going to go.
But then over on the John Peel stage, I think, Jarvis Cocker is headlining up against Bruce. I'm from Sheffield, like Jarvis so my loyalty was tested. Any way I just got Jarvis' CD 'Further Complications' which is great I've listed to it five times already. It's so varied and interesting, pure Jarvis.
So that's it Bruce I'm sure you'll put on a great show but I'm sticking with Sheffield, I'm sticking with Jarvis.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Amazing 2012 Olympic posters which will never be used
Just found these amazing posters over on Creative Review. It's such a shame they'll never see the light of day at the 2012 Olympics. The diving one above is my favourite.
Further job losses at Grattan
I posted a while back about job loses at Grattan in Bradford, and today they have announced another 160 losses with clothing sourcing moving to Germany. It's a sad day but not that much of a surprise.
On a good note ASDA have announced the possibility of 375 new jobs if planning permission goes through for a new store in Leeds.
The figures on the news will only tell you about the job losses, but keep looking at you'll see glimmers of a recovery. It's small and very slow at the moment but it's coming.
On a good note ASDA have announced the possibility of 375 new jobs if planning permission goes through for a new store in Leeds.
The figures on the news will only tell you about the job losses, but keep looking at you'll see glimmers of a recovery. It's small and very slow at the moment but it's coming.
Who and what to see at Glastonbury 2009
I'm really excited about the Glastonbury Festival 2009. This year will be my 4th time. The line up looked a bit ropey at first but if you look a little further there are some gems hidden in there.
But even if the line-up's not what you wanted don't worry Glastonbury is less about the acts and more about the experience. I really don't care if it rains or it's baking hot weather conditions all add to the weekend and enhance your memories when you leave.
For my ten pence worth these are the bands you should try and see. If none take your fancy there's so much more to do in the fringe areas like Shangrila.
Here's my list of the acts to see at this year's Glastonbury
But even if the line-up's not what you wanted don't worry Glastonbury is less about the acts and more about the experience. I really don't care if it rains or it's baking hot weather conditions all add to the weekend and enhance your memories when you leave.
For my ten pence worth these are the bands you should try and see. If none take your fancy there's so much more to do in the fringe areas like Shangrila.
Here's my list of the acts to see at this year's Glastonbury
- The Specials
- Fleet Foxes
- Bjorn Again
- Doves
- Jamie T
- The Streets
- Rolf Harris
- Noah and the Whale
- Kasbian
- Spinal Tap
- Jarvis Cocker
- Rolf Harris (again)
- Tindersticks
- The Wonderstuff
- Badly Drawn Boy
- Blur
- Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
- Madness
- Tom Jones
- Tony Christie
- The Prodigy
- Glasvegas
- Bat For Lashes
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Georgie Fame
- Magic Numbers
- Gong
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Just what is it that you want to do?
We wanna a be free, free to do what we wanna do. We wanna get loaded!
I don't want to get loaded what ever that is (I'm sure everyone has their own way). But what I want to do, I don't know. Like most people I stumble through life lurching from one thing to another. Sure making some great and terrible decisions which take moment's of clarity and out of those I've done well, chosen the right career, a great place to work. I've got a very loving family and three amazing children who I love more than the world. My girlfriend is clever and very beautiful and I'm a very lucky person.
This week I had a tragedy in my family, I won't go into it here. What this has made me do is stand back and ask myself just what's important. Life's too short to have regrets or miss opportunities or not create opportunities. Its possible that you wake up one morning and do all the normal things you do every day and then life just stops.
There's no second chance, one last phone call, just one more email, 10 more minutes with the kids. Life is so precious you really, really must make the most of it because one day you'll blink and it's gone.
I've just read a very inspiring post on Chris Garrett's blog. Chris asks you what do you do that's just like breathing? What comes naturally to you for work or pleasure. Take some time to read it, its inspired me I hope it does you too.
I don't want to get loaded what ever that is (I'm sure everyone has their own way). But what I want to do, I don't know. Like most people I stumble through life lurching from one thing to another. Sure making some great and terrible decisions which take moment's of clarity and out of those I've done well, chosen the right career, a great place to work. I've got a very loving family and three amazing children who I love more than the world. My girlfriend is clever and very beautiful and I'm a very lucky person.
This week I had a tragedy in my family, I won't go into it here. What this has made me do is stand back and ask myself just what's important. Life's too short to have regrets or miss opportunities or not create opportunities. Its possible that you wake up one morning and do all the normal things you do every day and then life just stops.
There's no second chance, one last phone call, just one more email, 10 more minutes with the kids. Life is so precious you really, really must make the most of it because one day you'll blink and it's gone.
I've just read a very inspiring post on Chris Garrett's blog. Chris asks you what do you do that's just like breathing? What comes naturally to you for work or pleasure. Take some time to read it, its inspired me I hope it does you too.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Clear out therapy
I admit it I'm a hoarder. I keep loads of stuff I should get rid of it clutters my house and so clutters my life. Well last night I decided to de-clutter!
I went through all my clothes including my socks, any which didn't have a pair have gone in the bin, not more odd socks for me or mornings of frustration just lumping for an odd pair. out also went the odd cufflinks you know the ones I'd been holding on to for years in the vain hope the other on would turn up, it never did.
I moved around the furniture too, made loads more space - why did I not do it sooner!
Today's advice de-clutter and take your spare stuff to the skip, or if its good enough to the charity shop.
I went through all my clothes including my socks, any which didn't have a pair have gone in the bin, not more odd socks for me or mornings of frustration just lumping for an odd pair. out also went the odd cufflinks you know the ones I'd been holding on to for years in the vain hope the other on would turn up, it never did.
I moved around the furniture too, made loads more space - why did I not do it sooner!
Today's advice de-clutter and take your spare stuff to the skip, or if its good enough to the charity shop.
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