A Cracker - My First Guest Post!!

With great thanks to Eleanor O'Rourke for this guest blog on my favourite subject! 

Why Christmas is for crack addicts

It happened every year. The first signs appeared on his commute to work. Shy reindeer and slightly embarrassed baubles edged their way into the shop windows. "Jesus Christ it's only the first of November" Joe Turner would rage as he stormed into the office of Fabulous Brands Inc.

Joe's staff were familiar with his contempt for 'the whole Christmas malarkey'. Some of them shared his disdain and watched with horror as the nation descended once again into a frenzy of present buying and binge drinking accompanied by the hypnotic mantra of dreadful Christmas music.

Joe's family teased him for being a Grinch. Then, without a trace of cynicism, he would argue the facts: Christmas was supposed to be a celebration for the Baby Jesus, not a ritual for the Retail Sector – who were only concerned by the announcement of their own year end Profit. It was over-hyped. It made no sense.

During the third week of December he usually cracked. It happened so quickly – a triple whammy of twinkling fairy lights, the smell of mulled wine and the the opening bars of "chestnuts roasting on an open fire." The assault on his senses, tugged on his heartstrings, rendering him senseless.

But what's really going on?!

We have inside us a blueprint for the next stage of evolution. Our future selves are calling us towards higher ground (remember time is just something we made up so this is not as wacky as it sounds). Some artists, mystics and visionaries have glimpses of this through a crack in the fabric of our current dimension. They can gain access to genius levels of consciousness - if only for brief moments.

Leonard Cohen famously wrote "There's a crack, a crack in everything, that's where the light gets in". Our senses lead us to this place – a fact that the Catholics used, to much effect. The smell of incense, the visual feast of stunning architecture, the haunting beauty of Gregorian chants. Guaranteed to produce a hyperlink to the edge… But instead of using these senses to scaffold to higher ground, many got seduced by the senses, becoming indulgent, manipulative and power crazy. (Have you seen the Vatican?)

Like many people of his generation, Joe Turner rejected religion in the sixties. He found other means to travel to the edge of consciousness – LSD, peyote, magic mushrooms. But when the music died, he ditched the patchouli oil, cut his hair and became a copywriter. That was all behind him now. Or was it just another indicator of his longing to glimpse through the veil?

Like curious children, we are drawn to the crack in the curtain – particularly at Christmas. But we get hijacked by our senses. The sight of gifts piled high, the taste of rich food, the smell of fir trees, the poignancy of carols, the anticipation of hugs on the exchange of presents (I'm so touched!). We become enchanted.

Then we wake in January with monumental hangovers, having maxed out our credit cards. Just like Joe we rail "it was that damned spell… it got me again!"  

We can't really blame the Magic of Christmas. Something inside us longs for a transcendental experience, we just forgot how to get there. Our senses were supposed to signal the way. But in our crazy wisdom, we made an altar out of the signpost, pitched tents and stayed put, making sacrifices to the Gods of Consumerism who bring us such lovely things that delight our senses.

We gather, transfixed around the crack of light, because we lack the discipline to go beyond our five sensory world.  

We need to come to our senses – all of them, including the sixth and possibly a seventh, eighth and ninth! This requires our spiritual expansion (not the literal expansion of our waistlines!). It requires the mental clarity that we are the saviour we've been waiting for.  And it requires the stretching of our childish heart, to gain access to the mystical heart - one that isn't indulgent, sentimental or manipulative.  In short, the heart that can love for no reason. 

Because we are now going beyond the Age of Reason.

It's a tough gig, and it will require our courage.

But anything less is just crack addiction.

See a bunch more at http://geometryofbehaviour.posterous.com/

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Predictive Sex - Loft In Transition

And that m'lord was when it all kicked off. 

The Plot -

Only as the myriad microbiotic dust settled on the dystopian tea bag of time did we get to properly stir the sea of knowledge – and in so doing sleep deservedly on the bare floor of the outlawed saloon of majesty. 

Not that I would write such a thing as a text message (or at all) but imagine the fun you could have tapping that into your smart slab of iMystery – just to see how it comes out! How many people would it confuse? Well almost everybody – apparently.

Losing The Plot - 

Sorry people but something inside me loved it when Jeremy Clarkson pumped obvious and much needed humour into the otherwise ludicrous Public Workers strike. These folk voting to strike to retain their gilt-edged pensions while we pay them and the fucking bankers? It utterly appalled me. 

JC (great initials by the way) said so profoundly - "The Public Workers should be taken out and shot in front of their families." - Irate media frenzy guaranteed. People! It was a joke. He didn't mean it literally!

(Here comes the serious bit) 

Gross and cynically deliberate misinterpretation is becoming the biggest barrier to civilised humanity. It seems that people are becoming extremists – either totally literal - they only give a damn because it suits the facts they want to hear (and the fact that they don't get out much) - or - completely illiterate - because they don't give a shit anyway (and also don't get out much).

Anyway! It all reminded me of this - 

There Is No Plot -

Mark Twain once wrote that Jane Austen’s books - “madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy. Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”

And no my loft isn't having any work done on it at the moment.

I love the fact that predictive text brightens up the day with the wrong words. I wonder how the great writers of the world would have fared with misinterpretation and fat fingers if they had had the smart/dumb phone. I will pause now and let the great writers vent about their interpretation of others.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Truman Capote on Jack Kerouac:

“That’s not writing, that’s typing.”

Oscar Wilde on Charles Dickens:

“One must have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing.”

Joseph Conrad on Herman Melville:

“He knows nothing of the sea. Fantastic — ridiculous.”

Henry James on Edgar Allan Poe:

“An enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive stage of reflection.”

H.G. Wells on George Bernard Shaw:

“An idiot child screaming in a hospital.”

Gustave Flaubert on George Sand:

“A great cow full of ink.”

Just off to plant a few vegetables down at The Plot - 

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Premature Projection - The 21st Century Plague That Kills.

I'm going to fall. Run!

Vertigo is one of the most powerful projections of the mind. Well it bloody well works. I am so bad that I get vertigo just by spelling the word – especially if the font is large. Projection can mean serious failure – vertigo proves it, but from great heights. 

Unfortunately there are far worse projections of the mind than vertigo. 

The world is dying because of it. Everywhere I go, every issue I hear on the news, I feel plagued by seemingly bright people suffering from premature projection. So embedded in their judgement, their inbuilt prejudice – they are incapable of actually listening. Projection has become so powerful that it has rendered its victim incapable of reason. 

Global wars and disasters involving us all. Immense wastelands of energy, time, resource and space – all brought about through incalculable stupidity borne out of unhelpful projection of their perspective onto everything they survey. These walking sick are lurking everywhere, just waiting for a moment to argue on behalf of their bloody projection - their corner until death. 

In my small corner of the world I try and avoid it because it is the kiss of death for creativity. I fail (all too often) to free myself completely from its grip but it has spread like the red weed in the War Of The Worlds. Creativity requires unconstrained freedom of thought. A place without fixed intention and demanding unconscious luck. I set out to deal with bastard child of creativity every day. I find myself flailing under the weight of concrete projections falling from great heights. 

It is a mischievous thing projection. You can't stop it. It messes with the head all dressed up as an alien transvestite from another galaxy (c'mon you know what that looks like) and calls itself 'informed opinion'. 

Premature Projection (PP) is officially an illness – ill formed, ill informed and ill judged – oh and it makes me ill. 

It jumps around in front of the mind's eye to avoid detection – the infected will defend their projection until put to the sword. Any attack on PP whistles past it – it is ungraspable and therefore incurable because the mind inflicted with it doesn't realise it is infected. It spreads into all the cells and rattles around inside the body - you can smell it on the diseased skin. 

It is always waiting to jump to new flesh. Thankfully you can avoid it if you can spot the symptoms. This is because you can see projection written in peoples faces – there's the tell-tale signs. A look of sprung steel  - of indignant self–righteous judgement set deep into the eyes. Once alarmed into action the mouth and lips form into a translucent ghastly trap door already half closed to opportunity - set to strike before the free thought or fresh idea is out of your mouth.  

Take a fucking day off!

I know it well because like vertigo I suffer from it myself. And like vertigo I don't know how to cure it. As with projection your idiot brain is convinced that something is certain (and most likely wrong) and you also know (from experiences - time after time) that it is likely to be busted by facts.

C'mon bacteria, get stuck into this one!!! Save us all from ourselves!

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Breakfast With Einstein.

I asked him what the is the equation for avoiding stupidity in business. He grabbed a chalk and walked to the wall. "Ah the theory of everything! Damn it!" He seemed animated. "Vell we need to use logic and quantum physics. It is zimply complex. You von't understand eet. Even I don't quite get it yet."

He scribbled madly as I tried to decipher the mans obsession with calculus and his disdain for meusli. He didn't stop for 35 minutes. I had 6 coffees - he was a blur with all that chalk and mumbling. He said - "The trouble eez we cannot accurately factor for all zis change at present."

And then suddenly there was this 'think' of beauty on the wall. The great man was done. He left muttering something about a black whole. I was trying to photograph the man grappling with the elevator in my apartment.

Improving your chances in business probably means change right? Everyone is searching for the right answer. Getting this right is tough. Right? And everyone around has their view and those are all different so it makes your head hurt! What are you going to do? 

Who are you going to trust? Three words of advice - 

Neutrality. Co-Creation. Rigor.

Now I would expect people to say WTF! What does that mean? Bullshit and jargon? I have never been able to find the right words for this so if it is bullshit then 'whatever'. If you care about how that all adds up to a tin of beans then read on.

Neutrality. In my head 'neutrality' is all about having no dog in the fight. How can we discuss anything about anything complex like transformation or strategy with a fixed opinion or a preset agenda! Being rigorously impartial is a great place to be! 

Co-Creation. And co-creation means working through stuff together. Emerging with fresh thoughts as a team. Surfacing insights as a collective. Sharing and then owning the outcomes. This is true alignment. And that adds up to Goal Congruency. 

Rigor. Rigor means putting the work in. Risk is not a bad thing - in fact it's an essential ingredient. But being lazy about the smart choices open to you by just not thinking it all through is unacceptable. Getting to a rigorous decision is imperative – we call this Decision Quality. Doh!

Thanks Albert – I hope you enjoyed breakfast.

Avoiding Stupidity. The Equation Principles:

1. Rigorous Impartiality. Having no vested interest in the outcome is a powerful place from which to ask the right questions. It means being interested in the correct solution to the puzzle. + 

2. Goal Congruency. Alignment on the vision, mission and strategy is essential. Shared and coherent definitions on everything is essential for a high performance strategy. Over.

3. Decision Quality. Making quality decisions means to reduce risk in the right outcome by knowing that all the data is as good as it can be and the correct choices are being made. =

4. The Right Answer. Every enterprise wants success. Whether its an overall strategy or vision, business plan or transformed business - having the correct, least risk strategy and plan is the challenge.

So, armed with a clear, agreed and compelling 'exam question' teams can 'work' this equation until the answers emerge logically through the right frameworks. http://www.grouppartnerswiki.net/index.php?title=4D

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

The Hand Obsessed.

I can't read your writing - I must kill you.

Remarkable to think that the quality of one's handwriting has so much to do with strategic progress and business performance. And then again quite understandable. If someone stood in front of you for 3 days and took down your thoughts on a wall like your doctor wrote his prescriptions, or a mad professor who would assault your brain in a chalkboard scrawl - what would you think? Could you think? Would it aid your development of ideas - your ability to process and be more creative?

Would it speed your recovery if you couldn't refer back to the work done a couple of hours earlier? Well maybe. Less than ideal though.  Indeed I have noticed that if the letters and spaces are not ideal - the idea is not as believable. Not honored. If I am slightly out with the spaces around the words and the boxes I put around them, again the point has less gravity, not so much meaning or purpose. I can feel the lack of power conveyed.

I've observed a strong correlation between quality thinking and precise handwriting.

I've known this for a while but it's really become a bit of a major study for me. I'm gonna do courses on it!

So here's an illustration of why good handwriting and clear thinking matters and are directly related.

Picture the scene -

 15 or 20 executives trying to solve a complex problem in a collaborative way. At least starting that incredible journey - to land on a single page with a vision, a strategy and a plan to go execute. Oh and attempt to do that in the 2 or 3 days together.

I'm working with a team - 'writing' the ideas we are discussing into the framework as we go. I have countless options. Write verbatim - a sentence that comes close, shorten the idea more smartly into a similar yet crisp idea. Capture the rough essence of it with the intention of cleaning it up later. 

None of the above comes close to what really needs to happen to avoid lazy generalisms, semantic bingo and certain death. (To me or the strategy).

In each day's creative thinking (for 15/20 executives) there are typically between 400 to 500 'expressions of note' - That is to say the number of correct answers distilled from the thousands of parts of the key conversations. Each valid one makes it to the framework. In each day there are 4/5 deep delves into aspects of the problem being worked. That adds up to 1500 'expressions of note' over 3 days. Each one deeply meaningful and needing clear definition.

So over the course of a program of work - leaving any doubt or disagreement of the word/phrase – then disaster is likely to strike. A desperate unravelling can occur. Answers need crafting within the context of the problem being solved.  

I have to translate the idea perfectly into the correct and agreed phrase and write the words in a sharp, legible and highly engineered handwritten form if i'm to survive . The writing must be legible from 30 feet and be as enjoyable to read and as perfectly formed as is humanly possible. And then some.

Anyway food for thought – drawing conclusions!

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

The End Of Advertising As We Know It!

A story is a thing that can get passed around. Everyone talks about story-telling as being what works and what's needed. The writer, the construction of a great story. That is what drives us to engage. We know when a great campaign gets to us. It morphs, it becomes a part of our lives. That is what a brand is. It remains with us even when the product isn't there. So why is it that the advertising industry is so slow at getting at it. Sure there are some remarkable exceptions and I am from the industry and I was once very proud of that. Once.

Lamentable was the word - the overriding opinion in the room. I was listening intently to a group (of various ages) talk about brands and advertising - what works (what doesn't) - but very interestingly talking about how stupid the marketers must think we are. Marketers still justify that their sales are directly because of their ads. Even in the face of strong arguments against that fact. A stupidly large proportion of the mush that I see passing off as marketing and communication has zero story, zero content, zero interest and zero value. Not bad huh?

The word lamentable struck me because it contains an acronym I've used a lot over the years – LMT - Lazy Media Thinking. That got me going and I scribbled away - Lazy And Mediocre Effort Nevertheless Translates As Bullshit Literally Everywhere. Sorry!

A bad idea is a bad idea. We've all experienced the derision. The rapid clicking past a pop-up - another dis-believable piece of marketing nonsense. It is still a bad idea. It succeeds in creating a groundswell of anti-attraction and eventually hate mail, even to the less sophisticated. Why are these blunt instruments getting bought by clients and who are the villains still peddling this crap! 

Actually I don't care really. I believe the advertising industry will either die or change beyond all recognition and that that will be the best thing. More opportunity as a result.

It will mean a return to smaller teams in their own niche or boutique businesses doing quality work. Much more creative work done with care and precision. Much good stuff is being done already. The fact is to get traction and work well in the current media world is to be far more smart. More creativity. The art of it all now needs to get matched by the science and physics of it all and sadly the advertising industry is at best 5% creative and 95% administrative and financial and accounting. The second part of that equation is most definitely and rapidly redefining the word overhead.

Clients now know this too.

“We’re very good at organising and collecting data now – one thing we’re not good at yet is re-presenting and humanising data, turning it into narratives and stories” - Tom Uglow, Creative Director - Google and YouTube – Europe.

I have written a bunch on this recently but when I find someone who has written what I feel better than me then why not give the guy the credit. I like what Tom says. He observes what's going down a lot like I do. I don't know him. He doesn't know me. Therefore what follows is at least a micro-zeitgeist.

Tom is the European Creative director not just of Google but also You Tube. I find it very hard to watch You Tube actually. I'm not an avid or habitual watcher of video on-line. Photographs definitely. Video's have to come highly recommended or I can skip easily. I think it's a speed of processing thing and perception of quality thing. Tom sums it neatly  -  

"Online is such a fragmented way of watching anything - infinitely more distracted - and more flighty - actively consuming but entirely fickle, not attentive to arcs, or detail or narrative. On Demand - where I carve out time and stop and actively watch. I'm looking for story, script and immersion, but not production quality. I actively want to watch a programme and I am committed to it."

100%! It certainly isn't true for everyone - but increasingly it's becoming true for many more people every day. I think as I get older I'm becoming less set in more things. I rarely watch TV but want the times I do to be very high quality and more of a special thing. A big movie, a match, a seriously high-production documentary. Mainstream entertainment on TV leaves me nauseous.

And my new mentor Tom's viewpoint? - 

"On TV - where I (rarely anymore) sit and let the TV wash over me. It's passive. Time passes really fast. I'm not engaged nor am I proactively changing the channel. I could comfortably consume QI til I die. On DVD - I am attentive to the narrative, atmosphere and nuance. But in my slippers and a hoodie. On the big screen - I am completely committed, I have physically visited a theatre and am attentive to intimate detail, I will follow complex story-lines, loops and twists and I will analyse and contrast."

Because he is a 'someone' from Google, Tom is all about the little ads that are like granular and seemingly disconnected parts. But they are so not disconnected. Again I agree with him that this is now the way all marketers should think. But many may be too lazy to put in the energy or creativity required to pull off what this means. This is why they will need to change or die.

This used to be hyped up (dressed up) as one-to-one marketing, back in the day. A perfect idea spoiled by hijackers and the usual and predictable bandwagon. Whatever. Nowadays we have a million channels and creative tools, platforms or ways to surround the 'one' and communicate with 'one'. Treat them like an idiot at your peril. Although that's how it will feel in the main and in the short-term. This new media is all about attention to detail.

Tom again - 

"I don't come from an advertising background, and the other day a prospective copywriter was patiently, (and somewhat patronisingly) explaining to me how a creative team is made of two, not three, and certainly not one, and how a copywriter and a creative should go off into a room and come up with a range of ideas backed up by visuals and copy, and then the artwork would be created from these concepts across a range of media.

Once I came round I suggested that an advertisement is like a phone call. It's an interaction where you receive some information. A phone call is just little packets of data. So why can't an advertising campaign be broken into little packets of data.

In fact better yet why can't the information be broken down into little bits (like the internet) and then shared around by, well, the internet. Like an idea. And then the next part of that is that the bits should really be the information, not an association, or implication, or a complete abstraction (e.g. Coke = Happiness. Really? wtf? it's a brown fizzy drink.)"

Making an idea into something that is (and evokes) the brand when the product isn't there is the holy crucible! But think about that. This is not straightforward. It requires society, and all your peers, trusting and knowing the thing – your product - like we know what milk does.

Tom - 

"To me a good advertising campaign is one that *is* the product, and the message. The famous Word-of-Mouth does this, but rarely does it involve your colleague standing on the table and insisting (every 15 minutes) just how much you have to go see True Grit, starring thingy, by those guys, the ones who did Fargo. It's fucking awesome. Advertising should involve small, reasonable, undemanding, unthreatening and often very brief moments in which a small amount of directly relevant information is shared, preferably in a way that is useful, timely, personal, fun and contextually relevant."

I left the Advertising Industry 15 years ago because I felt that all those around, in the sales-cycle and in our creative process - at the agency and at the client just didn't get this or if they did, they lacked the power of orchestration to be able to execute it. With some notable exceptions many still don't. It involves real energy, detail, planning and courage and that all done within earshot of the majority of people who won't agree with the approach in the first place.

Did I say tough? This stuff requires thinking. It requires skill and it requires creativity by the real definition of the word. Final word goes to Tom!

"I suggested that all campaigns should start by breaking what they want down to those pieces of information, understanding them, and then working out what they would look like in a map, or a wiki, or in a game, or sponsored links, or a fortune cookie. or on twitter. And in a bigger way how the information would behave if you got to make a video, or a banner campaign, or a poster, or had to explain it to your mum, or to the woman next door, the one with the dogs. 

And then finally how would you let that information go, how would you open-source it so that the world could take the idea and make it their own and your campaign would live for the next five years despite no media spend or new creative because people actually used that idea to break up and share their own information, maybe about something completely different.

And I suggested that when you think like that digital feels innate and obvious and easy. And that's what I think copywriters should do. It's about ways of seeing, not physics.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Death, Me & Creativity - Hanging Out At The Border.

A familiar and murderous paradox of agony and ecstasy hangs heavily in the air. The tumbleweed of thoughts fly by and get stuck – but only for a second - on the petrified tree of the task at hand.

Last week my specific creative challenge changed for a third time in 24 hours. The brief was the same but the space and time available to do the work altered. It became uncertain, unknown and unspecified. That may sound simple but imagine designing the Louvre but getting told halfway through that it needed to fit in your back yard.   

How to solve? What to do? How will this work? Can I find that clever fix in my stupid head? Can I do the right thing? Something that nails the challenge facing me? An idea that will work with all this uncertainty? Well can I?

Trying to be a creative person involves balance alright. Living with that dull ache of potential failure and the thrill of firing that gun. Snipers forever sitting and waiting - watching me walking the tightrope of melancholy and orgasm. At the same time the evil twins - 'ho' and 'hum' - sitting on my shoulders twiddling their thumbs - argue a while and them sum it all up for me in two words. Useless Cretin.

If you have ever had a good idea have you tried to recall how it came about? Even writing about the process of creativity baffles me. I've tried but it's not really a topic that can be explained. Developing an idea is about making all the right choices. To get to the right thing – a brilliant idea. And I've realised I don't actually enjoy explaining what I am doing or how I got there. It just gets in the way and it's the wrong thing to discuss.

What are you doing?

As it is every day riding on the plains - no matter what gun-slinging town I'm in – people are always firing off irrelevant questions about the wrong thing. Why? What and How? demand answers. I am beginning to think I am not wired to answer questions like these sometimes. Questions about the wrong thing.

I do try hard to answer everybody politely but some things quickly tip me into a kind of defensive sarcasm and derision. It's unintentional but I can lose patience very quickly amid the need for explanations. It reminds me of my pet hates – the TSA, stupidity and neediness. They don't deserve the respect of an answer. They are all about the wrong thing.

My body language is probably deeply objectionable to many people when they talk about the wrong thing - but I'm simply not interested (capable) of explaining my reasons to people anymore. It just is what it is. Get over it. 

Anyway back to the point…

I have decided to share my principles instead. If you want to ask questions about being a creative, ask me something about these. They are my principles of creativity.

Principle 1. French Kissing The Artful Dodger.

Figure out how to lie, cheat and burn the evidence. I have long held that when it comes to creativity you have to be completely happy with the idea that you may actually be a complete fraud. I'm utterly convinced that luck and practice (mixed with serious theft) are the raw materials of 'being' creative. Don't ask me how you get to learn luck.

Principle 2. Eating The Twilight Trash.

If you're not a voracious 'rat' sniffing out brain food then it's going to be hard for you. Without the primal hunger for edgy stuff that others would question then consider quitting now. The more people frown at your habit the more likely you are that you are onto something. You have to snuffle, harvest, grab, snap, graze and glimpse with equal measure. Use whatever capture tool you have to hand – but make sure you store the stuff for immediate recall. 

Principle 3. Emptiness is Your Nature.

Your normal habitat is solitude on a Sunday. Your home terrain is sparce - a cold expanse of zero. An ice field in Winter. You wander around the streets early or late - but always on your own. Definitely on your own. As you crawl emotions are shooting through thick and fast through your veins. This is bad heroin but you are good with it. When your mind is that blank and running on empty it will work on its own. You will get that nudge. - "Psst. What about glass walls?"

Principle 4. '10 Easy Steps to Creativity!' - Get the Fuck Outa Here!

No. There are no steps and it's not easy! Creativity drives me crazy. It needs to drive YOU crazy too - or it isn't real. Creative things happen in the penumbra. You will never know where the idea really came from or why. You just have to try to get the majority of conditions right. For me that means (A) Quality of Input - Trusting the source and the context you are working in. (B) Splendid Isolation - Being left alone to 'be' but in good company. (C) Coordinated Chaos - Managing the time for distraction within messy dynamics. (D) Publicly Pressured - Knowing that I'm accountable - on point for a result. Pressure is the framework. Always.

Principle 5. Be annoyingly connected to everything.

Making connections between (and amongst) weird - ostensibly unrelated stuff seems to me to be at the root of it all. That grape, those cars, this axiom, the idea of Giraffes, that political movement. That would make a great opera. If you are not making these connections then you are probably not made for the high wire. The air is a bit thinner too so make sure you fully understand the idea of Giraffe.

And…

In order to maximise the 5 Principles - stop the existing soundtrack of your life. Stop being the same person you were last week. Change yourself and your dopey habits, be different. Learn a different accent - use different words. Download new music. Change your bugbears - they define you. Get a life. Get a better camera. Write a protest song. Eat an eel. Don't remain that boring, sad unhappy idiot. Get out. Look at yourself and remember you are one day closer to death. I try. It's hard.

What did creativity do to deserve me?

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

The Instant Message Is The Media.

Scapegoat Alert!

No surprise that the media 'system' is feverishly reporting on how the leaderless Police Force (back in the UK) are failing to stay even one step ahead in the riots. 

1000's of teenage rebels without a cause but with a 'smart-phone'.

"The mad are happy, the sane ignorant; those of us stuck on the sane side of madness or the mad fringe of sanity are in a purgatorial cage." - Anonymous  

Telco's and Device manufacturers the world over are probably laughing all the way to the broken bank. They couldn't have paid for this amount of promotion. Priceless! 

You can hear the sound of countless 'groups', 'lists' and Sid Vicious (Google+) 'circles' being clicked - then split seconds later angry hordes of tech savvy, smart-phone wielding 'hoodies' hell-bent on tearing up their own 'hoods are mobilised. At the same time PC plods around with out-dated technology – 'systems' built for far quieter times wondering WTF.

Designed to cope with more sedate times, the police operate a system that teeters comfortably on the precipice. Nervously observing a low bandwidth - mostly obedient public living within a simmering, variously sick and certainly cynical system - that doesn't really give a damn.

Now everyone is blaming this on their favourite issue.

That we are now shocked to find that the young people are up fo it! - looting the shops - pretty pissed off with their lot - no services, quality of life, parents who care or futures - the shock is that it's a shock! What do we expect in such a stupid self serving system.

IM - A system of Instant Messaging.

Yep. - 'Get down here - set fire to the Town Hall and bag some cool MP3 players - right now please.' I'm able to report that I have no idea how they would actually phrase the command.

150 people on your list multiplied by 1000's, then 1000's more - all eager and bored recipients. All that energy in pursuit of a quick hit. This is a system that works. It knows its function. It's designed perfectly to do what it has done.

Where is the surprise in all this - this unrest within the system of society? That it didn't happen sooner? This has been coming for quite some time. Well before 2008 but that was certainly the big catalyst.

As George Friedman suggests - "After 2008 a sense emerged that the financial elite was either stupid or dishonest or both. The idea was that the financial elite had violated all principles of fiduciary, social and moral responsibility in seeking its own personal gain at the expense of society as a whole."

I doubt whether the people on the streets of London are complaining about the recent demise of their Sunday paper, nor the sovereign debt crisis - they are simply having a laff at the expense of a now underfunded Police Force. But systems are always subject to insidious shock. Always.

No question either that we ain't seen nothing yet. It's all very much a foretaste of things to come. All the intertwined and self-serving systems, for the benefit of the 'elites' of business, politics and other big systems now find themselves on very rocky territory indeed.

Do they get it though? And what are 'we' doing?

Where is the vital dialog taking place? Is the truth being drowned out by talk of Blackberry's Instant Fucking Messenger System? Just another way of diverting us from talking about the bloodsucking systems that we have to live within to the benefit of these 'elites'? A few days ago the Murdoch's were an elite, as was Gaddafi, Bashar al Assad, Laurent GBagbo - days ago.

Profit From Gloom or Prophet Of Doom?

Is anyone surprised by the riots and weekly diet of doom and gloom in the systems? - Really? I'm not and an I doubt those of you who are bothering to read this. Given the intense and cynical conditioning we've been subjected to for years within a (any) Nations system I am continually surprised this hasn't all kicked off earlier.

Unless you are lucky and are borne into money you are -

1. In a crap shoot that requires either courage and determination and a huge slice of luck or -
2. Have great parents who know how to keep you safe, courage and determination and a huge slice of luck.

The system isn't on your side unless you are buying into the systems money machine.

It's an economic machine designed to keep the Nation going and you are a cog. 

Unless you conform to playing nicely and living the lie. Unless you sign up to the tacky celebritized world machine. Unless you are prepared to turn a blind eye to the minority of scum bags laughing all the way to their own banks or the corrupt politicians and business people who are keeping it all in place anyway.

The issue has to be what takes the place of the system as we know it? We can see the alternatives in the extremists and terrorists. Not much fun going there right? So where is the caped crusader, the masked man - the new Robin(s) of the Hood.

This is probably the biggest question and fear for any thinking human. Because there is no WE - we are are not represented other than in our small communities - by ourselves. There is no grand system that represents a fair alternative the sewage and rat infested system we live amongst. The system we live within knows this and tries to defend itself but as we can see it is perilously close to tipping.

"The Police Are Outnumbered and are giving up." - Twitterer.

Just different rats prepared to become a new form of elite. Is that true? Well if it's worth putting all our collective brain power into one thing it would be hard to imagine anything more vital at this critical time.

A final Instant Message:

"The real problem is that, while the challenge to the elites goes on, the profound differences in the challengers make an alternative political elite difficult to imagine." - George Friedman  

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Pretty Awful!

Awarding a place the title of 'Nations Prettiest Village' is the kiss of death.

I'm sorry - here's a rant!

I recently drove through one of the most stunning villages on the planet. A lofty spectacle, a jewel in a beautiful land.

An impressive 14th Century castle breaks into view as I round yet another mountain hairpin. You begin to make out the scale of it and then marvel at how it could possibly hold onto its perch. Part miracle, part magnificent ostentation - all hard work.

There it is high above its very own village - built impossibly by hand straight from the rock. As we all like to say (and sadly most likely true) - 'We just couldn't make one of those these days!'

The indescribable impressiveness of it all stays - but thankfully us humans come and go.

And so it remains 700 years later looking down on its precious, ornate houses where servants and merchants once lived. In its glory days this place was the focal point of trade for miles around.

As if to underline its impeccable positioning there is a mighty teeming, steaming river bending around its base.

The massive rocky edifice with its impeccable testimony to bygone times is a powerful picture. Dark green trees and the baking hot sun filling in the rest.

Inglorious Basterds.

As I drew closer I began to recoil with horror. I can't recall being as sickened by a sight quite so much as this. The disparity of the place and the cynical stupid commercialisation of it. Just plain wrong.

The village and humanity have both paid a high price in my mind. Who is responsible for this?

I'm sure I had been here years before so maybe that's what bought on the nausea. I couldn't get away fast enough. Boiling oil, a storm of arrows and cannon shot would not have made my retreat any speedier.

Apart from there being no place to damn well park, without paying large sums, (that turned out to be a plus) there seemed to have congregated a type of humanity, so incongruous to the idea and tradition of the place, that I'm still shocked as I write about it days later.

Even the 700 year old castle seemed to be shrugging its ramparts at what was going on down here.

The expensive shops and tacky (and expensive) restaurants that lined the river all competed to sell the same junk. Plastic beach-balls, cheap postcards, every gaudy colored children's fishing net you could envision, over-priced pots and figurines of donkeys with breasts - made in China. Souvenir shop upon bloody souvenir shop! Queues outside every one. I cannot do justice to putting into language the disgraceful tack on display. I was able to observe this diabolical spectacle as I was forced to crawl through the village in what was now a 30 minute tailback.

This is so not progress.

This jam was caused by thousands of super-sized tattoo bearing '7 Children Families' presumably up for a wander from their despicable trailer park. A trailer park that had hijacked (officially it would appear) a sleepy farmers meadow by the side of the river. Redefining the word blight.

These lager bearing hordes were now making their way to a bizarre fun-fair! In the midst of all this medieval beauty a violently loud-musicked, neon-lighted series of horror 'attractions' was dragging them in. All of this vile pointlessness in what used to be a reasonably useful car park under shady trees.  

The smell was all too memorable. A deeply unpleasant mixture of fake-tan, Chanel V0.5, turd-burgers and cheap cigarettes.

The river itself hasn't got away with it either. Hourly trips on fake pirate ships. The jostling of hundreds of canoes painted bright lemon yellow and angry red - everyone fighting to ram each other - to capsize and drown an unsuspecting enemy - each canoe kitted out with three or four screaming, oar-flailing obnoxious sun-burned fat kids with headphones - their ugly fat faces badly grease-painted.

It truly was a Lord Of The Flies moment!

I just can't imagine where 'civilisation' goes from here but I am either too old or still not ready for dealing with what we are becoming as a society.

Sorry Castle. Sorry Village.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Don't!

Francisco Perez : Acido Lisergico

Don't you think we should be in better shape by now - with all our so called civilisation?

• Don't we deserve more honesty from those in power? Honesty about the system that controls us? The dirty (no-longer) secrets of how the system works to the advantage of a few?
• Don't you think the mountains of plastic in the ocean are big enough now?
• Don't you think it's time we told the trash TV channels that we don't want to turn our kids minds to mush anymore?
• Don't you think it's time we asked the really tough questions - encouraged the real debate? EG: Too many people on the planet? Who actually cares whether products are killing us - the food that causes obesity - the entertainment that causes school shootings? Don't we get it yet? - it's only about the economics? Why do we keep the sick - who should have died - from dying?
• Don't you worry that all the things that individually frustrate you has literally no recourse - nobody's listening?
• Don't you think the politicians would be braver now - and actually talk the truth - since they are mostly outed as liars?
• Don't you think it's a shame we can't speak about the massive disasters that the last 2000 years following religion has caused and continues to cause?

Don't you think? Or Don't you care!

From the League of 'Democratization Of Next Thinking!' (Don't Ever Abbreviate Dialogue)

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iCloudius - Entering an Arena near you very soon!

Imagine The Power. 

You get to kill millions of 'Subjects' with a single decision. You choose to 'Save' only those who serve your immediate need. 'Delete' or 'Trash' those that displease you at a whim. No Attachment. The joy of slashing burdensome systems at the downturn of your stubby thumb! No-one dare stop you, indeed you will be encouraged! It is blood-curdlingly good.

Like all distant nieces, cousins and nephews of Caligula you can now jive with equivalent power. 

Emperor of all you curate! iClaudius we praise thee. You bring awesome freedom to each of our crusades. 

It will be a great feeling (and one I thought impossible to repeat) some 2000 all bar 30 years on! Crazy revolutions on top of crazy revolutions further along and nothing short of Epoch making. Every bit as meaningful for the citizens of today as the sinew extracting excitement of the earlier Emperor!

As well as conquering much of England - with only 40,000 troops – the Big 'C' did his bit for the world by building Roads, Canals and Highways (taking a few souls with him as he went) as is Cupertino Steve. With the same number of people he has put Roads, Canals and Highways in the sky just so that we can move all our shizzle around.

So alright, I can't wait, my thumb is up. (Yes I know it used to be down! - you crazee history buffs.) Whatevs!!

Just imagine our new found 'Power' and domination! 

The whole back catalog of The Beatles, Neil Young or The Stones just waiting on your prompt. Ready to enter the amphitheatre and perform whenever the mood takes you! AND on all your devices. John Mayer, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Mozart or Massive Attack's bootlegs - no problem - unrestricted playlists. 

DJ Konka, Seasick Steve - mixed with Neko and all your Album Art - wherever! Check! 

And that’s cool because typically these are not on your 'iThing' because you are too cool and currently packing Ed Sheerin, Mount Kimbie and the Fi-Tones - 'Cos you can right? - Well in 'Cloud Future Land' you can juggle all this like Anthony Gatto!

Just think! All those images you've got - that you know one day (yeah right) you would sort into 'Drunk', 'Not So Drunk', 'Odd', 'Whacky' and 'NSFW" - well now an App will automatically take the whole lot and give you them in beautiful arrangements that are designed - in various degrees of - 'breathtakingawayness'.

Making you feel ever so clever. It's all sorted out for you!

But wait! Surely the iCloud has more to offer! You bet.

Although not immediately - we can expect a whole new array of lighter-weight devices - devoid of defunct storage devices. Apps that bring complete archives of everything and anything from any source right into your Ray Bans.

But the really big thing has to be this - the seamless juxtaposition of 'ALL YOUR STUFF' and all your 'platforms' that manage 'ALL YOUR CONNECTIONS'. 

If you like me are totally ridiculous when it comes to collections of things that 'will-come-in-handy-one-day' then that day is surely near. Don't expect it immediately but the perfect 'App' that arranges things you already own and know in a brilliant display. Alongside whoever you want to connect with. The world if you like. Things that are no longer strewn all over sprawling folders, devices, hard drives and 'other' computers! Arriving at an App Store near you very soon!

Fancy That Emperor? Persecution of the PC's anyone? Lugula. Lugula. Thumbs UP!!!

You can hear the roars of approval from the Clouds already!

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Drawn To Wild. Part THREE

Graphic Riffing.

OK my final ode to Andrzej Klimowski. Promise! 

A short riff with him via selected paragraphs from his book 'On Illustration'. http://oberonbooks.com/on-illustration.html I set out to find 47 pieces of brilliance from his writings. Not difficult but I've run out of time - you will understand why 47 pieces in a second.

AK - "Drawing is perhaps the most immediate medium through which an idea can be articulated. Illustration takes drawing into the narrative realm."

JC - Graffiti is societies release from social absurdity and a chance at personal expression. The numbing persecution of society and the corresponding frustration - perfectly orchestrated by the minds eye - leads to an unleashing of the natural forces of representation. 

AK - "The time within which an illustrator is given to respond to a message or subject is short. It's dramatically referred to as a deadline. Yet the speedy response to interpreting a subject is part of the quality and value of a good illustration. It should look spontaneous, fresh and vital. This is where its vibrancy and intelligence lies. And this, perhaps, is what the audience does not see nor fully appreciate. 

JC - One big buzz for the creative mind is time pressure. Like a sign saying 'Do Not Cross' - that you have to cross, time is a Ninja Warrior with one of those unbreakable swords that you know will break. It is an enemy as long as it stops you thinking and then it is your buddy that flies you through space to hero-dom. Only as long as the work is pure genius.

AK - "They may think that the illustrators dexterity is a pre-ordained talent. This is a misunderstanding. Spontaneity, dexterity and intelligence come with practice, just like the musician continually playing and practicing on his instrument. The musician also needs a good composer and an illustrator's art can only flourish when there is an intelligent and visionary client."

JC - Any audience is a part of the act. The two cannot function apart. Drawing for my own benefit has never been my thing. I've always done it because it's how I figure stuff but working with the audience puts it on fire. There is no feeling to match the creation of peoples inner thoughts - in front of them - within the gift of their own eyes.

My Very Own AK-47 in a safety case in my office.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Drawn To Be Wild. Part TWO

Where do your ideas come from Andrzej?

AK - "Well I was walking down Queens Gate in Kensington when I noticed an unusually tall and slender young woman walking a few yards ahead of me. Her sprightly bobbing ponytails could be mistaken for antennae and I could imagine translucent wings unfolding from her rucksack. I quickened my step but before I could draw level to her, she turned and climbed a few steps entering a building. There was a sign on the door. It read: 'The London Institute of Entymology.' Sometimes life comes up with a ready made scenario; the imagination fills in the rest.'"

JC - Always looking around - and often feeling really clumsy by not seeing - I hate to admit to myself that I just missed the thing. I have always loved photography but know I miss the best shots by a few seconds. I don't see the shot until I have re-calculated a split second late - having just seen the shot when it has gone. Drawing can be like that. A big mark suggests a yet better mark but you would not have known it before.

AK - "Illustration lies somewhere between graphic design and painting. Its context is graphic design. An illustrators work will find its way onto a newspapers page, into a magazine, a book, a poster, on a webpage or a television screen. It will accompany text, illuminate it, comment on it, punctuate or counterpoint it. Its function can be reflective, provocative or decorative. It enlivens visual communication."

JC - I can't read long web pages. I just can't. I need the joy of a graphic to spice it up. To add piquancy to the mood or the idea. Maybe it's a Twitter generation thing (apparently everything is…) but most texts are so turgid and repeating (and repeating) that it's given birth to the need for images again. Everywhere. PowerPoint, Newspapers. Video. Anything but long texts without pictures. And now Infographics. And now I'm beginning to seriously loathe them too! (Well, bad ones)

AK - "What Illustration shares with painting is the desire for self-expression. It expands the imagination. Illustration is a pictorial lexicon, a new grammar. It has its own formal values, its own language, its own voice."

JC - So many people I meet say they think in pictures. They do but why do so many people feel they can't draw. This often means that they can't speak in pictures so conversations seem to lack the element of story. In fact people just need to be encouraged to draw more and that way they will construct better stories. Dinner Parties would start to be enjoyable. (Well maybe)

AK - "Learning from Tomaszewski - he looked to aphorisms for his subject matter. Imagine this - depict the idea of "In unity there is strength", or the idea of a "Big Nothing" or a "Small Nothing" in a poster form."

JC - Wow! My kinda teacher! Just off to draw a piece of mind.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Drawn To Be Wild. Part ONE

Illustrating. My Point.

"It was nightfall. I had 300k's still to go. Stretched over the blazing hot fuel tank of time whilst grabbing the handlebar of thought by the scruff of its neck. I'm sucking oxygen through my eyes to complete the picture. The storm clouds roll along over to my right keeping me in a petulant company. I know i'm flirting with a certain death if I get caught sleeping on this highway of creativity. I could now see the enemy on the hill ahead."

Nope that's not going to work. 

I like some of the images it conjurs and you are definitely still reading. It needs another picture though right?

Whether for business or pleasure most people scratch out a scribble or two to make a point. Usually it's quite an important point. A point so important that it could only be described by being drawn. Communicating what we think or want by clever words is capable of much applause. Verbal dexterity impresses me enormously but it's usually the visual that steals the show.

Drawing then is a serious responsibility.

It means making a mark. That's a choice. That carries serious risk. There are side effects - a health risk. But most of all it is a privilege - one of the most decisive acts in business. To 'draw a line' is to declare a decision. To bound a direction for a business by saying what's in and what's out of scope - it's a big step.

The skill of the person drawing becomes far more about thinking, judgement and expertise than art, flair or craft. To get both ends of that to work together though - is a real bonus because that adds to the overall idea. It is the real value of the whole calculation at a critical point in time.

I'm mad on Andrzej Klimowski at present. He is Professor of Illustration at the Royal College of Art. He's a dude. He's written much of what I think so I'm paraphrasing his stuff and then dancing with his rhythm. To jazz with the points.

AK - "Every work is a new beginning. It is a magical moment when a germ of an idea is formed. Often it is not a 'grand idea' - it can start with an anecdote, a small incident or feeling. A work can sometimes start without an idea, it can emerge when running through random images or words and making connections between them. Patterns emerge - the artist or designer gives the patterns form, creates structures that invite the spectator or reader to interpret them and give them meaning.

JC - I like to draw deliberate things. Things that evoke a reaction. I want a response. Agreement or derision - I can be happy with either. At least it makes people think. A great drawing is not about recreating a photograph. While that requires skill it can be very one dimensional and superficial. You will be depressed by the reaction it gets. Stretching peoples imagination and busting paradigms for a living is amazing.

The simple act of pen to paper is truly a mighty thing.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!

Illustrating Irony

Brevity is such a wonderful idea. Irony - a close cousin. 

I suffered 45 minutes of being presented at last week. Unable to break the damned flow of the presenters schtick. Although I'm supposed to be good at it I couldn't  create a dialog with the 'presenter'. It nearly killed me. It was unpleasant. A relentless, rehearsed tirade and worse - done through a broad smile. Meanwhile I sat fuming - incapable of altering the persistent thrust of the attack. Ironic when the topic was an approach to creating powerful engagement with ones audience. Empathy. It was genuinely an assault on my senses. Maybe I was caught on a bad year. I thought I should draw how I felt.

The news is incredible right now. That’s how I felt.

The dirty little secrets of power and politics - the unravelling of media control on our lives. The diabolical (and extreme) statement in Norway. The death of the Euro. FIFA! The depravity and waste of Amy Winehouse. For me it is a visual cacophony. I have images of Lisbet Salander and dragon tattoos in my head. The work and writing of Andrzej Klimowski the only thing capable of lifting me out of my mood. My mind was on fire after reading him - making me want to shout out loud with inspired representations.

How can I put it? I want to be brief.

What should our response be? Well, on the media story "Don't write crap!". That would seem to sum it all up. Along with "Surprised about Murdoch? Really? Was it really news that our politicians are so corrupted?" On Norway. "Is there a more wicked problem than competing religious ideologies? On FIFA - "Smoking Gun?" On the collapse of Europe? - look at what actually goes on in Bruxelles in our name! And on Amy - well "RIP" Amy - we will all miss you.

Powerful engagement with one's audience or cynical exploitation of the senses? I guess I am overly sensitive to having my senses abused. There is no subtlety to that and it pains me because I draw for a living. I need empathy and brevity to get it done.

What would Andrzej draw to sum this all up?

AK - "Visualisation of intangible ideas or thoughts is a collage of notions. Clashed together from memories, suggestions and fragments of the mind. Found, archival material, springing a visual surprise on the viewer and encouraging him or her to intellectually or emotionally process the effect and arrive at a possible interpretation."

JC - I think he would find optimism and agony in some kind of embrace. The bittersweet affair of paradox. It may have a dash of eroticism - a doorway to oblivion but as the ultimate illustrator he could not fail to catch your breath with sadness woven into graphic truth.

AK - "The immediacy of drawing is what characterises good designs and illustrations. They give the impression that something is being acted out before your eyes - the energy of the drawing process still evident. I see the illustrator as a transmitter, one that receives messages and transforms them into images." 

JC - As an illustrator I am reeling from the last few weeks. All my senses have been assaulted and i'm awash with adrenaline. I have long loathed the plain truth of societies sickness and tried to put thoughts down just in my own vain attempt at reasoning it all. I want to draw my own personal Guernica for the 21st Century but I know I won't have the time. Nor would they give me the facade of the Houses Of Parliament as my ideal canvas. Facade is a funny word.

"Drawing is perhaps the most immediate medium through which an idea can be articulated. Illustration takes drawing into the narrative realm."

JC – I found out that I cannot draw without telling some truth or other. Some story. It is not possible for me to put pen to paper without a journey or conclusion of some sort. This drawing below took me 8 months. It was not a creation of brevity. It is 4 feet by 3 feet and done in a 0.4mm Rotring pen. Remember them?

AK - "The time within which an illustrator is given to respond to a message or subject is short. It's dramatically referred to as a deadline. Yet the speedy response to interpreting a subject is part of the quality and value of a good illustration. It should look spontaneous, fresh and vital. This is where its vibrancy and intelligence lies. And this, perhaps, is what the audience does not see nor fully appreciate. 

JC – It works when there is pressure. To be told I couldn't draw people was a day I will never forget. I actually don't go in for drawing 'people' that much. I prefer surreality. That didn't mean I could forget the day I put pen to paper to prove them wrong though either. That keeps me looking for things that I can't do.

AK - "They may think that the illustrators dexterity is a pre-ordained talent. This is a misunderstanding. Spontaneity, dexterity and intelligence come with practice, just like the musician continually playing and practicing on his instrument. The musician also needs a good composer and an illustrator's art can only flourish when there is an inbtelligent and visionary client."

JC – Now I do what I do. I like the tune it plays. I enjoy the sound of pen on paper. When the paper works. I create drawings a hundred times bigger than the one above in a day. That's a fresh kind of brevity. But only when the pens work! http://johncaswell.posterous.com/apple-please-make-pens I wouldn't be able to do it at all if people didn't listen and watch what was going on. That’s empathy.

Posted via email from Just Thinking!