ThoughtSpurs

The letter below was, supposedly, a reply one Scott Williams who lives in Vermont in America digs up junk from his back yard and sends it to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. He labels them with scientific names and claims they are genuine archaological finds. Not sure if any of it is true but I think that every business should have someone responsible for having a laugh with fruit loop customers.Perhaps the advertising standards authority could be the first to initiate the policy? Smithsonian Institute 207 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20078 Dear Mr. Williams: Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled "93211-D, layer seven, next to the clothesline post...Hominid skull." We have given this specimen a careful and detailed examination, and regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it represents conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in Charleston County two million years ago. Rather, it appears that what you have found i...

Have you ever noticed that there are rules and then there are 'rules of thumb'. A rule is a stricture, something you conform to that confirms the order of things. Rules have exceptions. Like 'i' before 'e'…except after 'c'. The great advertising man Bill Bernbach said 'Rules are prisons'. The great advertising man David Ogilvy had more rules than you could shake a stick at - or thumb your nose at. They say that the road rules in Italy are to be regarded as suggestions. I've never driven in Italy so, I wouldn't know. In France I'd suggest that would be the general rule too. But I am interested in this 'rule of thumb' business. what is that? A hitchhikers guide? Things are beginning to get a little weird. I have just looked up the etymology of the phrase 'rule of thumb' and I am not sure I like the answer. A case is made that suggests the rule of thumb refers to the width of a stick with which a husband might reasonably ...

The Painter Bill Hammond is psychoanalysed and then dissected on the arts show ArtVille which made a reappearance on the tele tonight. Ironically the Huia, a now extinct bird, has a featured role in the show. They are like the bird heads on the famous Penguin Cafe Orchestra album covers (my favourite of their albums is Preludes Airs And Yodels . The item was almost as interesting for its weird style. The presenter overlays his report about Hammond with the break-up of his marriage and family. Just plain weird. And ever so slightly unnecessary. As for Hammond's pictures…I like them. Footnote. Why 'ironically' the Huia featured? Blowed if I know. I suppose it was just interesting. I did not know that extinct birds get kept in drawers. Rows and rows of them of all kinds. Perhaps they'd have had more of a chance if they weren't being so vigorously filed away for future reference. Ok. Twittering over.

When I was learning to write ads there were certain copywriters I, …well…, copied. Not well, mind you. Amongst them were the likes of thingy Abbot, wotsisname Brignull, Neil French (unforgettable) and the Volkswagen ads of DDB - anthologised in a brilliant book I nicked from the agency I worked for that was bought by DDB. There were others too. But one stood out for me. Indra Sinha. His work always had a particular edge. It read like sharp journalism - especially compared to the smartypants poshness of David Abott's Sainsbury's ads. I remember an ad for the Imperial War Museum that appeared in the Design and Art Direction Annual - the red one ('87). I enlarged it from less than A5 to A3 so that I could study the text. It was written by Indra Sinha. The headline went something like this 'Somewhere in this picture 2nd Lt Heaton lies dying.' The main photograph is of no mans land, Somme, World War 1, the 16th Middlesex Regiment are retreating back to their own lines. A...

I read an interesting story in BusinessWeek magazine. In Japan Pepsi launched a line extension called Pepsi Ice Cucumber. Unlike the usual flavoured cola drinks the cucumber variant isn't brown. It is a pale green. While gaijin palates might find that a perfectly revolting concept but the Japanese chug-a-lugged 4.8 million bottles of the stuff in two weeks. Stock sold out. You'd think that with such a hit on their hands Pepsi would be shouting 'Banzai!' and going for broke… Nope. They killed it. According to a Suntory spokesperson "The value of Ice Cucumber is that it's gone already." The product was a marketing ploy to create buzz. The Japanese have a name for this: gentei (limited edition). For Pepsi the buzz around the variant helped to invigorate interest in the brand in a cluttered and hotly contested market. The Japanese are obviously very receptive to novelty but the obvious question is how the gentei phenomenon affects the core brand. What does Pe...

I've been having a difficult personal time recently. Crisis and chaos have been my constant companions. (Them and Alliteration). They do nip out for a pint from time to time - if I am to be perfectly honest. I randomly found a link to my friend Mikael Aldridge's blog . Mikael is a planner and runs a division of Ogilvy in Auckland. I have known him since we were kids at high school. He is probably also the smartest guy I have ever met. He referred to this story in his blog and it resonated with me: A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!" "It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly. A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!" "It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly. Exactly. Somethi...

My friend Toni Church has bought a business called Serious Brownee. As the name suggests if you are serious about chocolate brownies then you're going to be in for a treat. Toni is seriously on top of the product. She is a total foodee. I visited her while she was trialling recipes. Wow. No…WOW! If you like chocolate you will be in love with this stuff. It all seemed good to me but Toni's mum Philipa is also a foodee - she owned the insane and insanely popular Caluzzi restaurant on Auckland's K' Road (probably the only theatre restaurant anybody really likes the food at - book months ahead. Bring an open mind.) Together they were working through the samples they had baked, making notes, discussing each one like wine connoisseurs reveling in a selection of kiwi Pinot Noir. This is going to be good. I am working with Toni to think through the marketing. When you check out the current site you'll see what I mean. But don't let the home-made look hold you back from...

He rants. He raves. He paints teapots. I spend so much time using the computer that it is nice to play in other ways. I've actually sold a couple to friends and given others away (If you'd like one they are $125 (NZD). Send me an email to discuss the kind of thing you'd like for yours. People seem to like them and making them lowers my monumental blood pressure. (I've decided every story should have a 'moral' - like Scrubs or Dougie Howser MD...Aesop's fables even). It's important to have an interest outside of the work you normally do. If you are engaged in creative work for a living going outside of your normal realm is a way of refreshing - recreation. Advertising people who flip through advertising award books run the risk of working in ever decreasing circles. The same goes for design.

This article first appeared in Idealog magazine, but there are loads of better reasons to buy the current edition - in good bookstores (and Whitcoulls) now. Hybrids are hot right now. Al Gore has probably done more for the sales of the awfully tedious Toyota Prius than any advertising campaign could have achieved. By creating an emotional and intellectual release valve for their sense of overwhelming hopelessness, middle-class polluters can point to their little petrol/electric hybrid and say in a breathless, lispy voice: “Look! I am doing my bit to reduce global warming.” Hybridisation is the human way of adapting to change by degrees. In other words, it is a compromise. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Compromises rarely result in ideals. Nature doesn’t compromise. If you don’t work out as a species … woomph … you’re outta here. The Prius compromises performance for a feel-good factor and a nominal reduction in fuel consumption and emissions (all at a premium price). Unfor...

Some years ago I went to an exhibition of Yves Klein's art at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. I loved it. He patented his own colour International Klein Blue (IKB). This is it: Klein tried to make his audience experience a state where an idea could simultaneously be "felt" as well as "understood" This concept interests me. I was talking with my Design Research class about Epistemology - especially the idea of different ways of knowing:distinguishing between theoretical reason (knowing that) and practical reason (knowing how) - epistemology is concentrates on theoretical knowledge. Here's an interesting thing: Apparently English is one of the few languages that doesn't have a way of distinguishing between these two ways of 'knowing' In French, for example, to know a person is ' connaître ', but if you know how to do something is ' savoir '. In Italian the verbs are ' conoscere ' and ' sapere ' and the noun...

At the risk of getting a little in-bred here is a clip of some good old fashioned 'in' jokes. Actually they border on old chestnuts but it funny all the same. Thanks to Stan Lee (again). I was thinking about the representation of advertising in media - How about these: Darren, the harried husband of Samantha in the classic American sitcom Bewitched. Derwood seemed to always be fretting over an account. It was hard to work out whether he was a creative or a suit. He spent a lot of time kissing up to his boss, the agency founder It's hard to go past Dudley Moore's performance in Crazy People. He goes a little nuts, makes ads that tell the truth and loads of laffs ensue... My favourite is the Richard E. Grant in How To Get Ahead in Advertising (I know I've featured this clip before but it is genuinely worth it. Others: Mel Gibson in What Women Want is hapless (nice apartment though). And finally check out the antiquated Putney Swope: Great quotes "Rockin' the...

When I was a kid and into art I wanted to design record covers.I used to drool over the Hipgnosis book and spent far too long mucking about with a Rotring pen copying the style of George Hardie (Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here etc). I think now, if I was 16 I'd want to design T-Shirts. Check out this vid for the graphics. There's Threadless too.

Residents of Roswell, New Mexico were feted to a lucky prize draw by their local Honda Dealer. A very lucky prize draw. An error by the promotions company meant that every ticket was a winner. Instead of a chance to win a $1000 every punter won. Oops. As you know, errors are not alien to me; Ben Kepes regularly chastises me for my sloppy spelling. I see the value in it now. Lots of value. Thanks to Brand DNA for the heads up. Read the full story here.

I was idling away some time in the excellent public library at Albany Village. Small but perfectly formed. Picked up an interesting looking book called: Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit? by Steve Lowe & Alan McArthur. Very, very funny. I laughed out loud. A Cynical, laddish, opinionated A-Z…perfect. If you like the likes of Jeremy Clarkson or Charlie Booker. I read pretty much the lot (except the obscure British topics - because, let's face it, who cares about their provincial little concerns and minor celebrities). Here's what they say about Prince Andrew: In 2003, the fourth in line to the throne decided to travel from London to a lunch engagement in Oxford by chartered helicopter at a cost to the taxpayer of £2,939. When faced with complaints about squandering the public purse, a palace spokeswoman explained that reliability was paramount as the Oxford date was a state banquet in honour of Vladimir Putin. Sadly, 'setting out earlier' was, she continued, simpl...

You have to wonder why Family Health Diary is as successful as it is. The infomercial brand I created in 1997 is currently the biggest individual spender on New Zealand Television (over $17 million YTD). How does a simple - dull even - format achieve considerable results for the tenant clients? The answer might be a phenomenon called the exposure effect: Repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feeling will increase the likeablity of the Stimuli . How does it work? When Stimuli are repeatedly presented they become increasingly well liked and accepted. For example the more a song or slogan is repeated the more popular it is likely to become. The effect doesn't occur in every case - only in situations that are perceived as neutral or positive. Negative stimulus repeated often can amplify active dislike or negative preconceptions. FHD is quite neutral in its presentation. It defies the convention of advertising formats that rely on made up narratives or humour to for...

Have you seen the latest publishing venture from Wallpaper magazine founder Tyler Brule? Monocle bills itself as a ' briefing on global affairs, business, culture & design'. I like it. Monocle defies the conventions of mainstream magazine design. Think Harvard Business review meets, well…Wallpaper. The layout is curiously formal. I like the typography - it is classic and restrained - speaking of which the designer has resisted the urge to go nuts with Illustrator and Photoshop. The current issue is themed around 'Pedal Politics - a global survey of bicycle culture and commerce. Sounds dry? It is and it isn't. Hard to explain. Pick up a copy and form an opinion for yourself. Odds on it will be a more informed opinion by the time you're done. New Zealand wobbles onto the pages - and not in a good way.

This from an email newsletter I enjoy called the Monday Morning Memo: David Freeman asked the question. It seemed to emerge from nowhere. Tuscan Hall was filled with executives from the largest food companies in the world. He was in the midst of unveiling 2 new methods for accelerated branding when he stopped in mid-sentence and asked, “When did Macaroni become ‘Pasta?’” Then, without waiting for an answer, he continued what he’d been saying. The audience, absorbed in what David was teaching, forgot his non sequitur within the span of 3 adrenaline-fueled heartbeats. For me, it was just another glimpse into the inner dialogue of a strange and wonderful friend. I answered David in my mind. “Macaroni became ‘pasta’ on the same day the hobo became ‘the homeless,’ the trailer house became the ‘mobile home’ and stock-car racing became ‘NASCAR.’” It would appear we’ve chosen to celebrate the mundane, elevate the ordinary and idolize the average. I guess struggling for excellence was just too ...

Visited the Auckland Museum today. BMW has brought four of their 'Art Cars' to New Zealand. As an unsuccessfully recovering petrol head, former owner of a lovely BMW 3.0csi (1975 - manual - will scrounge around for a picture to upload) and recently revived fan of Andy Warhol I had to go and have a look. The fact that it is a free exhibit pushed the attraction over the line from should-do to no-brainer and some thing to bring as many guests as I could persuade. The second benefit of the attending the display is that it permits Aucklanders to experience the top level of the renovations recently completed at the Museum. Mostly it is closed to the public but the top floor affords a unique, panoramic view of the city and surrounds. Drag your children along for that. Other than the summit of Mt Eden or the top of the Sky Tower I doubt there is a better vantage point. I like the idea of the Art Cars. It says a great deal about BMW as a brand that they are also patrons of the arts and,...

Ben Kepes has an interesting blog that I have just added to my list of recommendations on the right (He replaces Malcolm Gladwell whose blogging hasn't been regular). Ben is passionate about supporting New Zealand business. He wrote an entry about the float of Burger Fuel on which I left the following comment: Disclosure: I haven’t had a look at Burger Fuel’s financial info (never got that far). Could be interesting/instructive. I will venture some thoughts that are entirely speculative: a) The pitch was wrong. Though the brand may be constructed to be ‘hip’ the bottom line is what investors want to know about. It is easy to get swept away with enthusiasm for your own brand story. After all you created it. Burger Fuel are an OK product. I am not sure that it is outstanding. I took my son for a burger in their Parnell. 15 he may be but he can chow down on chili like a full on resident of the Baja peninsular. The BF menu promised it was a ‘Ring Burner’. I tried some. My tolerance is...

While I was driving my daughter to her netball game she was goofing around - talking through her clenched teeth. I asked her what she was doing. 'Ing mwacktshing alking i'ough ouing uy ee....". Translation: ""I am practicing talking without moving my lips." The obvious question was then 'Why?'. She proudly announced that she intends to become a ventriloquist when she grows up. You have to admire the certainty of a seven year old. Standing in the rain watching the team getting slaughtered by their midget opponents I couldn't help muse on Zoe's career choice. Are there any universities offering courses? Is it such a bad ambition. In reality ventriloquism isn't so different from my own career path. For years I spoke on behalf of clients on television and in print - advertising is the talking dummy of business. It was just one of those funny little moments but it does raise a serious question in my mind. How do we deal with the choices our ki...

This clip features one of my favourite songs. I hate being called baby and I guess I just… resonate… …with … … it. This music video by the curiously named Madison Avenue (where are they now) was the first time I saw that funny little technique of cutting where the action slows, picks up then radically cuts. Name? Anyone.... Found it on You Tube. Thought I'd share. Namaste...

Have you noticed the empty car parking spaces in Auckland city car parking buildings - the ones that are designated to be for 'hybrid' vehicles. If you own one of these ridiculous vehicles you get priority parking. No one uses them because there are so few hybrids in use. The empty spaces (paradoxically) increase the city's carbon footprint because more vehicles have to continue the ascent to a higher level. The logic of rewarding owners of hybrid powered cars with prius-ority parking is discriminatory and denies the reality that all cars congest the city, causing wasted fuel consumption for all and the emission of tons of toxic exhausts into the atmosphere. Recent research has suggested that air pollution kills over a thousand people in New Zealand each year. So, while in 'silent running' mode (ala a U Boat), your Prius may be emitting little more than an unpleasant smugness into the atmos but it is holding up the guy in the smoky diesel Citroen that you sold to bu...

I find the Yellow Pages website unbelievably complex. it is horrible to use. Worse. Impossable. Telecom recently sold its directories business. The new owner is spending up large online and on television (with the creepiest ads I have seen for a long time - disembodied scorched black hands scampering around and geting stuff done - "Let your fingers do the walking" taken to the revolting extreme) - weird to see it in an episode of Nip Tuck centred on an airliner that had crashed and burned(double whammy a Brazilian plane went down in Sao Paolo today burning alive all aboard). All round not a good scenario. Though the blog is inactive (long story) you should read back through the archives of Creating Passionate Users . Might also be worth listening to Sam Morgan of Trade Me talking about design isues for his very successful business. Better still - watch it. Here .

Philippe Starcke designed this bike. Aprilia made it. Ages ago. You have to love cross pollination. If you come across one for sale. Let me know. What other things were designed by outsiders? Didn't Marc Newson, designer of the Lockheed Lounge just design the front bit of a spaceship?

It's 1 am and I am suffering from performance anxiety. No, not that kind…I resume teaching classes at Massey University in the morning after a six week break. For some reason the thought has me in a panic of sorts. Odd really because I normally enjoy it. The papers I'm teaching are Design Research Methods - which sounds dull (and can be) but is actually the one I like most. It is probably the most important topic that the students will approach and I will be able to predict with some confidence how good a designer they will become based on the enthusiasm with which they embrace the topic. It separates the designers from the decorators and aesthetic re-arrangers. The other paper is marketing communications. I haven't guite the same enthusiasm for this topic (mostly because it seems all too familiar) but it allows me to explore ideas about contemporary brands with the students. This is an interesting time to be facing a career in this area. Disciplines are overlapping, the da...

I can't remember the last time that I saw an interesting ad in a newspaper. Truthfully this one escaped me but I saw it on the creative circle blog. Funny. Sure to lock up some gongs. Why is the image of a visitor in jail emerging as one of those advertising scenarios that pop up with a certain frequency. Ah the joys of good talent and deft direction - even after seeing the dénouement numerous times I still laugh. Now that's the kind of advertising I like - something with a a reward for my attention. There is a commercial for Steinlager 'Pure' beer on TV at the moment that I feel a little ambivalent towards. Initially I was interested - Harvey Kietel is the talent he delivers a soliloquy about New Zealand - Anti nuclear…first to give vote to women…taking a stand against genetic modification…clumsy direction with randomised surreal backdrops. Reminded me of the commercial for a credit card featuring the actor Lance Henriksen in a reprise of his role in the TV show Millen...

This movie is kind of strange. Where do I get me one of them blenders - I have a VW Beetle I'd like to eat. Funky video link courtesy of BrandDNA

I was reading Rod Dury's Blog this morning and found a lively discussion about Research & Development in the world of software. I left this note (I am too lazy to write anything new at the moment - I have been trying to think of an idea for a TV show and the best I can come up with is in the vein of Ghost Whisperer , Haunted (quite rightly buried in the crypt of midnight TV), The Medium and Six Feet Under - It is about a cranky old lady who dies and is annoyed by her children's indifference to her while she was alive. If they wouldn't pay attention in life then she will darned well make them realise the consequences of their choices from the other side. The working title is "I can still hear you!".) Where was I? Ah, research and development....(spelling adjusted) I wonder whether one of the problems with R&D in New Zealand is that we place a great deal of emphasis on ‘D’ and very little on the ‘R’. Ideas arrive via serendipity and are forced into the pi...

"And please utilise that spell check feature while you're at it!" I posted an unfinished diatribe by mistake...oops...Just some arbitrary ideas about New Zealand's arty community's propensity to disappear up its own rectum and expect to be lauded for the act. The post was unfinished and, rather than using the 'save now' button I used 'publish post'. Honest error. As it happened I was thinking aloud about ' Eagle vs Shark ' - which I have no opinion about other than wanting to see it because I liked Flight of the Conchords' act. I had seen an interview on television with the director Taika Waititi for an American channel. In response to the slating the film has had from American critics he claims not to care because he really only 'made it for himself and a few of his mates'. That's fine but let's be sure that he doesn't expect public funding in the future if he doesn't respect the audience. There are plenty of cr...

Went to my first film festival show today - Andy Warhol (a documentary). It was a really interesting film. Long though. Two parts. Many of the audience left halfway through because the credits rolled before a brief intermission. I can't remember the last time I saw a film with a half time. Warhol was an interesting character. Like Hockney - with whom he was friends- and Picasso he was a prolific worker even after the failed attempt to murder him. I think my favourite parts of the film were comments from Warhol himself. For example the idea that to succeed one must 'ignore the centre - go to the edge, then make it the new centre...' The interview that ended the first half was hilarious. A serious arty chap was trying to ask Warhol serious, arty questions. Warhol thinks about the convoluted question then says "I don't know what to say. Tell me the answer and I'll say it for you..." The other precious moment was an interview with Andy after he had completed ...

It just occurred to me that I have made two references to Miss May 1969 on this blog. Don't you just love ambiguity's limitless opportunities to confuse at worst and, at best, make you laugh. I am not, as it happens, referring to the Playboy centrefold of May 1969. She would have been wasted on me at seven anyway Read the column I wrote for the Herald about ambiguity (Sept 04)

There's chatter on the wires about the possibility of Apple launching a Yellow Submarine edition of the iPod - supposedly pre-loaded with the Bealtes' albums. I wonder if this is a strange distraction for the Apple brand? The iPhone is cool though my ardour has cooled since I first heard about it (pointless giving it headspace in New Zealand anyway). A Yellow Sub iPod is just sad and irrelevant - sort of like Paul McCartney really. I realise that Steve Jobs likes the Beatles a lot and I agree some of their songs were ok, but they are over and out...let it be. Nasty cash-in line extensions are not - repeat not cool. Where would it all end? A Barbie iPod/iMac/iPhone? Hello Kitty…? I think you get my point. Part of Apple's coolness is that they do their own thing - their own way (putting aside the aberration of the U2 iPod). Put an end to this nonsense now. Have you run out of ideas? I'd be a starter for an Apple video camera or other consumer electronics - integrate some ...

Did you watch Star Trek when you were a kid? Did it have significance for you? It did for me. Curiously enough it was kind of an antidote for the Flintstones in more ways than being at the opposite end of the timeline. In 1969 I was seven - in Miss May's class at Mt Eden Normal Primary School. I remember ordering my first Scholastic book (remember ordering books from a catalog then they would arrive at school and be distributed to everyone like it was Christmas and the teacher was Santa Claus?) - it was about travelling to the moon. Why the travellers were portrayed as children I don't know. Maybe they embodied the spirit of the era - everything was possible with the addition of some science, technology and imagination. Star Trek was important because it promised to tell stories of where no (man) has gone before. There may well have been all sorts of sub-texts that grown ups got but I just like the space monsters, Spock's ears and the idea of setting one's 'phaser t...

It was a wet day. We spent the morning in the old city art gallery. Across the road is the Gow Langsford Gallery. They have a show on called KATHARINA GROSSE / THIS IS NOT MY CAT Zoe had her works of art with her from the freebie Terabithia craft thingy (I think I talked about it before). I am pretty sure she wondered why this exhibit was called art. That's a good thing. She wanted to pop one of the balloons. That's a bad thing - pretty sure they have a 'you break it you bought it policy'. Took a quick snap. Reminded me of Banksy. This is not my cat reminded me of a time when Oscar, my Bouvier Des Flandres relieved himself on the dunes at Piha. A poop nazi ran over to insist that I clean it up. "This is not my dog" I replied. The wind carried away her shrill invective. I didn't see anyone rushing to move the dead penguin that had washed ashore. Just a random thought. S'funny how art can get you thinking. If you haven't read it yet check out The P...

Ok, so the title of this post is misleading. This presentation is interesting if you are engaged in trying to get your money out of the consumers pockets (marketing - according to Guy Kawasaki) you need to get your head around these things. Rhetorical question of the day is: My word aren't they earnest young men?

Correlation does not imply causation is a phrase used in the sciences and statistics to emphasize that correlation between two variables does not imply there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the two. Its converse, correlation implies causation, is a logical fallacy by which two events that occur together are claimed to have a cause-and-effect relationship. It is also known as cum hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin for "with this, therefore because of this") and false cause. It is subtly different to the fallacy post hoc ergo propter hoc, which in requiring a chronological component may be considered a subtype of cum hoc. From the Wikipedia - which is much more comprehensive than the New Standard Encyclopedia I had as a kid (still have). Can't wait to casually lob that into a conversation.

I have to wonder about the application of theories about IQ (which has its detractors) in unrelated disciplines. The discussion of eugenics is quite disturbing but it is thought provoking. I made a couple of comments on David Farrar's Kiwiblog on the subject. The thread was very interesting - putting aside the overt racism of some of the comments - some interesting material was added by an economics professor at Canterbury University Eric Crampton . I think the discussion went into the obscure-isphere. I added that I think the rise of Artificial Intelligence will make individual human intelligence as we understand it today less important (no, I'm not talking about the dumbing down of pop culture). I wonder if the significance of personal intelligence won't matter quite so much in the future - regardless of how clever they might be. While groupthink is a derogatory term its application through networks will make a difference to outcomes. In Steven Carden's recently publ...

IQ measurement seems to me to be a complete waste of time and, although I teach at Massey University , I wouldn't regard a degree as any indication of ability - based on my observations in the real world. Having talent is situational. Billy Connelly is a talented man - witty, intelligent and at the top of his game. If owning mansions or castles is your measure of success then successful he is. But read his biography (written by his Kiwi wife Pamela Stephenson - a psychologist) and you find he was born in poverty. He had minimal education (though I am sure he was granted an honorary doctorate from somewhere) and was abused terribly as a child. He became an alcoholic - though now he's clean and sober. So, there you go - the entire eugenics discussion is bollocks. There is no genuine indicator for leading a successful or productive life (though racism and bigotry have a funny way of getting in the way regardless - often deployed by the children of the wealthy and well educated)....

Quotes are a fascinating tool. On one hand you might be 'standing on the shoulders of giants'. On the other you might simply be parroting material mindlessly or out of context. Memes are the new quotes (you can quote me on that). How many people are running about quoting Chicken Little...I mean Al Gore. The sky is falling..the sky is falling! I know, because I saw the movie (and it won an Academy Award). Other than the title there are no real quotable quotes. I recently came across a website with great intentions. B Corporation who claim: "Higher purpose. Higher standards of accountability, transparency, and performance. Meet the Founding B Corporations who are setting the new corporate standard for social and environmental performance. These leaders have created profitable, competitive businesses while taking care of their employees, community, and environment." All good. But they kind of bug me my appropriating a quote that - in a curious way - belongs to us all; y...

...but that's not holding Helen Medlyn back. Talented and entrepreneurial Auckland singer/entertainer (cabaret, opera,...you name it) is performing her one man show Hell Man at the Aotea Centre's Herald Theatre. Helen always puts on terrific performance. In this one she plays as Jack the Lad. Book some tickets here . Should be a great night out. From the blurb: One man on a one-night stand. Loving, losing, hot touches, cold kisses, mystery, mistakes, leavings, takings, dreams, desires, laughter, lechery. Restraining her ‘outstanding attributes’, the curvy diva is “he”. With songs by Bob Dylan, Stephen Sondheim, James Taylor, John Ritchie, Billy Joel, Tom Lehrer, George Frideric Handel, Irving Berlin, Mac Davis and Frank Loesser.

Plausible? Yes. Interesting? Yes. Worth thinking about? Yes. (Didn't Prometheus steal fire from the gods and give it to mankind? - For which the petulant Gods took their revenge by leaving a box with Pandora, Prometheus' wife and the strict instruction not to open it. She does and unleashes misery on humanity where none had existed before. Is there a warning embedded in the message? - maybe?)