NORTHERN PLANNER

I’ve shied away from reviewing creative work, why bother when you’ve got Famous Rob. I can’t resist commenting on Vodkat though, shamed as I am that it’s from a Leeds agency. I’ve already banged on about the need for regional agencies to pull their socks up, enjoy Exhibit A.

They had it all- semiotic proposition with legs,"22% drink, with a kick and attitude, you know where you stand with it", co-creation (casting normal people ‘with attitude’), even user generated stuff. What went wrong? They forgot to get the execution right.

Maybe the idea was bigger than the budget, I hope that’s the reason, but they’ve taken every opportunity to sap all the meat and romance from the brand (you have no idea they are not just bad actors for example) and left you with, well, you decide. There’s a lot of talk about the need for execution to be part of the strategy – here’s why.

My post festive waistline proves I’m a lover of good food. I love cooking and playing in the kitchen, but not like the stuff in this article on nano technology from the Observer.

I loved Charlie and the Chocolate factory, but I never dreamed that chewing gum as a meal would be possible, but this stuff is here right now. While it’s all very exciting, as a lover of real food, with all it’s sensual brilliance, it’s traditions and rituals, I’d still want food to enjoy and take time over. Just because you can, it doesn’t always mean you should. Heston Blumenthal take note.

This is a brilliant article about the reasons for that wierd, uncomfortable time when fathers and sons are coming to terms with junior’s first forays into manhood. It focuses the reasons for that stange, unconscious  competitiveness that creeps in, sometimes even the elder’s envy of his son’s youth.

It’s a funny time when a strange, palpable silence fills the room and any meaningful conversation becomes a daily challenge. What do you talk about? It’s gone past kids stuff what grown up things do they have in common? I remember talking about football. A lot.

Gemma has quietly started blogging, and about time too. This post gets to the heart of what most non-planners think we do all day, and they’re probably right. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing where Gemma takes us.

Went to Mum and Dad’s and ate them out of house and home.

The lights at Mousehole on the 23rd:

9am Christmas morning.

So, back to work. Grumpilly got out of bed after sleeping in too late, thought about rushing in, had a long bath instead in some sort of last act of defiance.

Then I thought back to the New Year when I didn’t have a job to to go back to. That useless, helpless feeling, while the rest of the world starts moving again is a whole lot worse believe me. Then I went back into the depths of time, when I wasa temping graduate –  selling plumbing and drainage insurance over the phone wasn’t much fun either. So despite wishing I was back in bed, I’ll be grateful with my lot. At least until lunchtime.

Like Rob, I’ve got too much to do before Friday, so this is the last post, Happy Christmas.

Since I’m off to Mum’s I’ll be stuffing myself silly, which won’t be hard since she always does too much, like Mum’s should.

Gemma has given me a spiffing pressie already. Along with a fiver’s sponsorship for doing my swimming thing, she’s given me a planning ruler, with special templates to create flowcharts on the move. Thanks Gemma.

One New Years resolution will be to write on Lets see what happens more now the swimming challenge is done, but I’m doing a mile swim in Newlyn Bay this summer and my nephew must not beat me. We’ll see.

One Woman Running has tagged me. As a result, I have to post five things you probably don’t know about me – so that precludes drivel about tea, coffee, science and Star Wars.

1. I’m right handed but I play pool left handed, although I’m okay using the right too. This means I never have to use the rest for those tricky shots you usually can’t reach

2. When I’m alone and no one else is around I enjoy playing Manic Monday by the Bangles (I also sing Britney Spears when drunk, but Marcus and Famous Rob already know that)

3. When I eat fish and chips I must have three slices of buttered bread with it. I’ll make a sandwich out chips, then another out of fish and chips. Finally, I’ll make a bigger sandwich out of fish. No one in the world will use more ketchup than me

4. I got by at university doing the bare minimum. When it came to my finals, I realised I hadn’t done enough work and revised day and night. This was going okay until it I realised that I had got the time wrong for the South African Politics sitting. Since it was the next morning –  not next week as I thought –  I stayed up all night and just about had enough in my head to get through. When I got to the exam, my nose exploded, literally jetting blood. The doctor said I had got so stressed my blood pressure just went haywire.

5. When I was young I used to be a good swimmer, but I wanted to good at tennis. I was one of those kids that bought the ridiculous Andre Agassi denim shorts/cycle shorts combo – in pink. I wanted to be like him so much I ended up bald as well.

I now have to tag five more people to let you into 5 of their secrets:

First up in Rob Campbell, he’s fiercely clever and firecely opionated, so it should be entertaining. He’s having Christmas off blogging, but it should be worth the wait.

Famous Rob Mortimer can give us some scoops before he sells them to Hello magazine – if he cab drag himself away from his new Wii that is.

Scamp needs no introduction, but from  my point of view, it’s great to hear from the creative side, and takes the time to share stuff that’s useful for us all, from aspiring creatives to cynical planners. If only more suits read stuff like this..

Scott’s views the world in an odd way. For a PR luvvie, he’s surprisingly interesting.

Finally, I’m tagging Helen, who makes me think about all sorts of things, and manages to write beautifully while she does it.

If I get tagged again I’ll tell you about how many slices I can eat at the Pizza Hut all you can eat buffet.

Q. What do Ikea and Volvo have in common?

A. The Swedish trust both more than the Church

Saw this in the office.