Grist for the mill

This morning I had a meeting with Steven Carden, author of New Zealand Unleashed - the country, its future and the people who will get it there. Interesting chap. Works as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Recently returned from the US. I am preparing a review of the book for Idealog and a short piece based on our discussions (so I won't preempt it here).

I was reminded how important it is to get out and talk to people with no other agenda than to exchange ideas.

Ideas are the raw material of ideas.

By the way - get a copy of the book. It is worth reading and filled with interesting and thought provoking material. The conversation is a crucial one for New Zealanders to have. I can't link you to it because it doesn't seem to be available through Fishpond yet.

Comments

Go figure

Took my daughter shopping tonight. We had dinner out. Got back home late. She laid her new clothes out in neat rows so she could choose what to wear for tomorrow. She's 5. I see her just every second weekend. How can such incredible errors of judgement (marrying my daughter's mother) result in such a wonderful little human being? Go figure

Mac Air Music

I love the idea of the Mac Air but, call me old fashioned, …no disk drive? How will I watch Ratatouille, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars and A Bug's Life on DVD? The music on the MacAir launch commercial is terrific. I tracked the artiste Yael Naim's video for you. What is the name for this genre (Regina Spectre et al)? Apparently Steve Jobs chose the track personally for the TVC. Order from Amazon: Splash out:

Sexist Advertising and stereotypes

Advertising lives in the short-form world. Because mass media is so expensive the 30 second commercial is conventional and because there is so much clutter simplified signals are essential to 'cut through'. One form of communication short-hand used as a default is the stereotype - "A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image, based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the "other group" have in common. Stereotypes are sometimes formed by a previous illusory correlation, a false association between two variables that are loosely correlated if correlated at all. Though generally viewed as negative perceptions, stereotypes may be either positive or negative in tone." In the 1950's and 60's when men dominated advertising stereotypical impressions of women as inferior or subservient were not only commonplace but usual. It was normal to show women as housekeepers, largely because most wer...

ThoughtSpurs

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