What is your business’ mermaids tail?

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Charlotte

I read a great article in the Herald this weekend, about a double amputee who can swim like a mermaid.

$Double amputee swims with mermaid\'s tail$ Though Nadya Vessey lost both legs as a result of a childhood illness, she remained a keen swimmer. Until now, she has done this by removing her prosthetic limbs and kicking without the benefit of calf strength. And she’s been good too.

Once at the beach, a young boy watching her ready for a swim, bombarded her with questions. Rather than confuse him with gritty medical details, she instead told him she was a mermaid. And so a dream was born.

Fast forward to 2007, and Nadya decides to make use of a charitable grant to commission a mermaid’s tail. She engages Weta Workshop New Zealand; the team responsible for the stunning costume effects in Peter Jackson’s epic, The Lord of the Rings; to design and build it for her.

While the tail was being made, stories circulated the globe’s news and media outlets. The tail was finally finished on Monday and its launch created another flurry of reporting.

In each story, Weta Workshop, who have donated all their time, creative vision and production skills to making this dream come true, have got a guernsey. Materials to the value of $2500 were paid by Nadya’s grant but given that the costume comes with such perfectionist details as hand-painted fish scales, one could imagine there were quite a few folk out of pocket on this project.

Regardless of the cost, Weta Workshop director, Richard Taylor, was delighted to make it happen. Weta costumer Lee Williams, who worked on the suit between film projects with seven other staff, said the aim was to make Nadya, ” beautiful and sexy”.

When they watched her test the tail in Auckland harbour, all were thrilled with the effect. And after two years of constant press exposure, I’m sure the effect on their business has been equally rewarding.

Generating free publicity is the dream of most, yet incredibly difficult to cultivate. Outrageous stunts and high budget antics are often entirely ignored by journalists tired of being told what to report by heavy-handed industry giants.

As no corporation wants to be associated with typical news fodder – blood, guts, gore and pain – the job becomes harder again. Unless there’s outrageous success or honest and heartfelt emotion, no story is newsworthy.

Without even trying, this one had them all.

What could your business align itself with, donate time to, or create, which would deliver on dreams and build notoriety, by simply doing what you love and are good at?

Put those Thinking Hats on. It is the subject of our next Thinking Club and I look forward to your suggestions.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

Photo by Steve Unwin, The Dominion Post
Quotes as reported by Matt Calman, The Dominion Post

Beware blogging, the insidious teme

Posted on September 11, 2008 by Charlotte

Today’s Thinking Club took a more philosophical stance, inspired by a TED Talk on ‘Genes, Memes and Temes’ by Susan Blackmore. We used her hypothesis as our jump-point: Technology is replicating itself and angling for world dominance.

Our attention focused on the blogosphere. In the course of today’s casual conversation we traversed the subject of technology-driven communication platforms.

Why do we blog?
I regularly trawl fellow bloggers for ideas. I also read books, magazines, chat to strangers, listen to the radio, watch TV. In fact I am an absolute information junkie. Except for the odd exceptional novel and outstanding post, its all grazing. But generally with a purpose. I choose a topic and read briefly but widely about it.

1. To explore themes

It’s the same when I blog. Before I ever put finger to keyboard, I thought for many years about what I would blog about. What I would write about, what focus I could bring, what conversations I could start. For myself and for my readers I needed a theme and a direction. So I blog to provoke thoughts about idea generation the written word: how they affect and drive both marketing communications and social development.

2. To share

Dan on the other hand casts a much wider net. His Shoebox Creative blog, is subtitled: Daily observations from dan day, a designer*. Whatever is running around Dan’s head is what he writes about. His subject matter varies from a scientific view of stress, to inspired design works, to a running commentary on our weekly hacky-sack sessions.

3. To connect

While it seems that we come from contradictory start points, the underlying reason we all blog is ultimately the same: we need to connect; feel heard and understood.

So whether its using Facebook, SMS, email, Twitter, IM, even good old phones, letters, or – God forbid – an old fashioned face-to-face catchup, ultimately we communicate to connect. To feel good. To feel wanted. To feel needed. To be heard.

This is what traditional theories of communication and sociology espouse anyway. Susan Blackmore disagrees.

Her explanations of memetics proposes a third tier of replication: technology multiplication. The first tier of this paradigm is based on gene theory, as introduced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Evolution notes that genes replicate. However subsequent generations develop differences. Their evolution is driven by survival of the fittest.

Memes are the second tier of evolutionary development. While genes have a mandate to replicate and evolve, so too does society. Memes are the self-generating, evolutionary momentum of ideas. Evolving thoughts which drive the changing face of humanity.

Susan Blackmore now proposes that technology itself has become a third and independently motivated evolutionary force. It is driving exponential change in the way we interact and communicate.

Through this lens could we suppose that technology-based communication platforms are not being driven by human desires at all? That in fact they are propelled by technology itself?

In our arrogance we assume to be forcing the change in telecommunications. Our desire for faster, more instant, more on-call, ever-present communication is attributed to the constant improvements seen in devices.

Once we used to write letters. Then we emailed. Now we instant message. Back then we had ‘Schoolfriends Reunited’, then it was ‘My Space’ now it is Facebook (Mach 1). What will that evolve to? Surely the next step of one’s profile picture – now a photo self-portrait – will be a moving (video) image?

Will we really ’choose’ to put ourselves up for constant video surveillance? Probably. Though looked at this way, it seems like much more of a Big Brother exercise. At least, that is what the old conspiracy theories would have proposed.

Under Susan Blackmore’s tutelage though, our ‘choice’ to be ever-connected seems far more insidious. It is not us, nor even our governments (in the name of safety and security) but an inhuman, piece of machinery that is plotting our future.

Where will end up next? Dan’s final thought was that humans and technology will merge. In generations to come, the earth will be populated by futuristic Taureans: half man, half robot creatures.

You might think that sounds far-fetched. But think about this… Even before flesh and metal merge in the physical realm, our habits and practice are already being technologified. Where once we would pick up the phone to talk, today we send an SMS. Instead of meeting in the boardroom, we video conference. We watch separate TV shows in separate rooms at the time of our choosing. And rarely talk them over. What happened to the community aspect of ‘watching a show’?

Less human connection. More simple transmission. Will our grandchildren even know how to reach out and touch?

Perhaps we should instead ask our computers… Why do we blog?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this rather sci-fi Thinking Club exploration. Please post your comment.
Let’s get this conversation started,

Charlotte

Dirt Music a damned pity

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Charlotte

I was really liking Dirt Music there for a minute. You know, the Tim Winton novel that won him a glut of awards including a Miles Franklin.

It was thrust upon me by another Tim, the website designer I work with in Creative Suite. Winton is one of his favourite novelists and when I complained that I hadn’t enjoyed Cloudstreet, my Tim (Quinn), insisted that I give his Tim (Winton) another chance.

So I did. And for the most part, I really enjoyed it. The abruptness of the first chapter got me. His prose mirrored the shut-down emotions of his protaganist and her partner. The exploration of small country coastal town life rang true.

Dirt Music brilliantly portrays the deep-seated traditions of hatred between local clans. Where people know too much and too little about their closest neighbours. Bloody dirty fueds whose origins are long forgotten yet shape everyday behaviours. Rivalries between the physically tough townies and the artistic edge dwellers.

My teenage years were spent in Narooma. Though set in a fictional West Australian port, Winton could have been detailing the town of my youth.

Dirt Music began gritty and real. But it never fell into melancholy – which I what I so disliked about Cloudstreet. I know many people love Cloudstreet. There is no denying that Winton is a superb writer. I like reading his work simply for the phrasing. But in stories, middle-class melancholy just isn’t my thing. I was pleased that Dirt Music avoided it.

Obviously, that’s purely personal taste. I’m one of those that likes to sidestep the blues. I am intrinsically optimistic. I believe in happy endings and living life on the balance of the high side. Sure the downers are what make the uppers all the more exhilerating but when riding the everyday path, I bend towards the light. Which, although it explored disconnected families and relationships, Dirt Music achieved.

So why didn’t I like it? Ironically because it finished on such a high note. A perfectly Pollyanna romantic ending where people relinquished their negative life patterns and became better than humanly possible.

I didn’t buy it. For me there wasn’t enough catalyst for change in any but one of the their lives. I couldn’t believe the red neck would ever choose to deliver such apostolic confessions and such an abrupt about face. I certainly hadn’t seen anything in our anti-heroine which would indicate that she could ever make a relationship work, let alone one built on the value of a brief 48 hour interlude.

While each plot point worked, the interweaving that makes each one a relation of the others, seemed to miss some essential micro-stitching. Those little bits of fluff that actually make us humans not robots; that turn artificial characters l into people you whose pain and happiness become yours.

I felt nothing for the characters in Dirt Music and couldn’t care less that they rode off into the sunset. I wasn’t throwing confetti. I was just happy the book was finished.

So sorry Tim (Quinn) after two attempts I’m still not a Winton convert, though I certainly appreciate his skill. I enjoy reading parts of his books simply for their poetry but not for the story – which for me, ultimately, is why I read.

Perhaps things will change when I have more time. But at this life juncture, filled as it is with unwieldy preschoolers, the ebbs and flows of freelance copywriting and all too short reading opportunities, its the story that gets me in the end.

In the end, Dirt Music sang sweet words. Pared down, aching, beautiful words. And a story that rang hollow. Damned pity.

Telescopic text

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Charlotte

Wow. Occassionally you stumble across something that is so quirky that you have to stop and take a moment. Originally this page was forwarded to me by a friend who knows how much I love my word play.

http://www.telescopictext.com/

In this case the temptress worked her magic and word play became foreplay. This clever piece of programming led me to happily waste fifteen minutes exploring a stranger’s site filled with inspired scribblings, music riffs, short films and sketchy dreams.

While it sits within a fairytale landscape, Joe Davis’ website is as powerful a marketing tool as any I’ve reviewed recently. Probably more so. Why? Because it speaks from the heart and showcases original talent. Because it doesn’t try to be slick or smart or svelt. Because it proudly languishes in folly and sells by not selling at all.

Any sole trader or small business would be in a heavenly space if they set their sights on such lofty ideals. Joe Davis works because he can pull it off. Now, if a big blue chip was able to take their budgets and scrape them back to reveal a soulful rendition of their honest tune like this fly guy, well then… then we’d really have a break-through.

Save Manly’s Fairy Penguins

Posted on July 9, 2008 by Charlotte

My earlier question about whether loving your job and being fiscally free were mutually exclusive terms has unearthed some inspiring responses. So has my current Facebook obsession. There I caught up with a friend who tops the ‘loving my job list’. She heads up digital marketing for Oxfam International and is currently working on the G8 summit in Japan. She loves her job – and why wouldn’t she? She travels all over and saves the world… Literally. In the last year she’s visited Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh and New York. She is originally from Australia but lives in England.

For those of us living locally with nose to the daily grind, here’s another cause that desperately needs your help – one that’s in your backyard and which requires very little effort.

Most Manly-ites will know that we have a rare and protected fairy penguin colony living amongst our beautiful shoreline. Manly’s penguin colony is unique in that it is the last breeding colony on the mainland of NSW.

These oh-so-cute little creatures have done it tough over the years. What with encroaching human populations, a degrading foreshore and increased pollution they know all about the relentless struggle for survival. As one of few known colonies of penguins to inhabit a major city in the world and because the colony is small at only 60 breeding pairs, it is listed as an endangered population.

Despite their precarious status, the State Government is proposing a $21M redevelopment of their nearest neighbour, the local Police Training centre. Such building works and increased traffic would have a disastrous affect on the North Head area. The proposed conference facility would also mean losing 21 mature trees and drastically alter the site.

Now I am not the world’s biggest greenie and I certainly don’t oppose development. I have a healthy appetite for progress. It’s vital to economic prosperity and the enjoyment of my daily latte. I love my new house and I find genuine inspiration in light-filled centres for learning. However, there are other sites far better suited to such activities than right on the doorstep of our feathered residents.

If such development was proposed next door to your house, I’m sure you would be up in arms. You would do everything to protect your family and avoid living adjacent such a vast overhaul. But our penguins can’t fly let alone speak, so we have to do it for them.

How would they respond to the insults levelled by the State Police Minister? He accuses Manly of putting ‘Penguins before Police’ yet he hasn’t even visited the site proposed for his 3 storey centre development. I won’t go into detail here but the above links to an insightful news story (13 May 2008) on the subject.

It’s up to us to help save our fairy penguins from disaster. The resounding support of Manly residents and friends has helped them this far. You might not feel your inidividual voice makes any difference but when combined with the appeals of thousands of others, it becomes a tune the legislators can’t ignore.

Please do your bit to keep this endangered family safe. Send a copy of this letter to the Ministers listed within. Now tell as many people as you know to get onboard – use Facebook, MySpace, email, your blog, your phone. The more of us there are, the harder we are to ignore. Thank you for your help.

The Australian Federal Police is currently preparing a Preferred Project Report to submit to the NSW Department of Planning so now is the time to voice your concerns!

The joy of double entendre

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Charlotte

Reading a fellow writer’s blog, I was inspired by his musings on a recently observed road sign. As word lovers I suppose it’s not surprising that we linger longer over such things.

He pondered “Prohibited Traffic” and wondered if anyone could get away with venturing down roads so marked. A commenter added that the “Heavy Plants Crossing” sign always made her giggle with its visual pun.

This reminded me of our family habit reenacted each annual coast-road drive. One of us would read out the sign, “Koalas Cross Here at Night,” and another would reply, “Let’s hope they’re feeling happier in the morning.”

It made me laugh all the more, once my favourite English teacher told this story about the same sign. His first posting was out the back of Bourke. That Koala sign was the inspiration for the creative writing component of the Year 10 General English exam. During the year’s practice sessions, one student had managed to make every story about drinking beer, his mates and their ute; whether the jump-point was “My day at the beach,” “Looking after our elderly” or “My worst nightmare.”

For his exam, this student wrote about drinking beer, in the ute, with his mates, as they headed out for a camping weekend. That night they went roo shooting but accidentally killed a koala instead. Driving home they passed a sign that read, “Koalas cross here at night.” The others laughed as they shot three holes in the sign and replied, “Not anymore they don’t!”

Footnote: The teacher would have given him full marks except that it was supposed to be creative fiction and he believed it to be a genuine news report.

Right-o. Any good Australian will have spent hours traversing this fine country of ours and many the world over. What’s the funniest sign you’ve seen?

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

Love your work?

Posted on June 29, 2008 by Charlotte

The Secret to Finding a Job you Love while Paying the Bills.

It’s a long and meandering road for some us to find our career passion.

My younger sister decided at eleven that she was going be a doctor. On the pretext of a ‘better education’ she pressured our parents to send her to boarding school. She focused and worked hard. The ambition of medicine drove her to excel.

On the other hand, I searched long and hard for a career foothold. As I bounced across myriad artistic expressions I was always envious of my sister’s early determination.

Still, even she digressed. While the original plan was to be a human doctor, she’s actually an animal doctor. A vet. Who now works in the marketing department of a global pharmaceutical company that develops animal medicine.

It’s comforting to know that even those of us who start with a direction, usually meander. Recently I updated my work history and I realised that no matter where I’ve gone, I always seem to end up swimming in words. Though it may seem frustrating at times, as a writer I’ve found the journey mandatory. It’s improved my skill and ideas.

At the other end of my family spectrum sits ‘older brother.’ In every way he’s the opposite of ‘younger sister.’ He starts early, ends late and works weird shifts to accrue flexi-time. This he takes in 6-month chunks, escaping to France every few years. He works to live, not the other way ‘round.

Finally there’s my older sister. Perhaps she has it the hardest? She doesn’t have a ‘job’ at all. Her time is spent raising 3 busy girls and supporting an incredibly successful, hard-working husband. She doesn’t get any official ‘adult’ time off, like those of us who escape to the office. Though she has plenty of dreams, they wait in the wings for this hectic life stage to pass.

Yes, even in our small family of four we’re very different. Though I have moments of life envy, I like my ‘work/life’ balance. What is the secret? My vote goes to: admitting your passion and having the courage to follow through. And… being prepared for things to change.

When I was single I could afford to be more creative with my job status. Now that I have a mortgage and two kids, it’s a much tougher balancing act. Often I’m exhausted, incredibly challenged yet somehow, infinitely more rewarded.

What about you? Do you love what you do but struggle to pay the bills, or do you sit through the drudgery of work to pay for your lifestyle outside it? Have you put your dreams on hold or are they costing you the earth?

Tell me – Is it possible to have both? Love to hear your thoughts… Let’s get this conversation started.

Italy anyone?

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Charlotte

It’s the weekend, time to lighten the mood. Anyone for a spot of travelling? You can enjoy the sights and sounds of wonderful Italy without leaving your armchair. I personally love this country because it was there, while enjoying my last great international sojourn, that we conceived our first born. Now with two young ones it’s a bit harder to jump on a plane! So join me for a journey from the living room through this delightful little timepiece…

Through the Looking Glass

This fascinating little art-as-life study is driven purely by images and sound. It captures 24 hours in 5 key Italian locations. As a static observer you can zoom through the day, or take it more slowly.

I love how this simple execution perfectly illustrates life’s complexity. If you stop once in a while, the sounds and activities offer real gems.

As I write this, midnight water is lapping in Venice. Jumping back into the scene, I slowly move the dial. The roar of a boat overpowers everything. I reverse and move at snail’s pace. A lone man’s greeting breaks the silence, moments before the boat arrives. Stopping to listen more closely I realise he’s talking to another man on the edge of the dock.

Even if I were in Venice, I probably wouldn’t catch this exchange. It happens at about 4am. Well, I’ve enjoyed my little break out of the every-day. Feel like escaping anyone?

http://www.theircircularlife.it/frameset.htm

Art or Exploitation?

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Charlotte

When does artistic freedom become exploitation? A discussion of modern media and the Bill Henson debacle.

Yesterday’s post on Hrant Dink provoked an interesting co mment from Tim, likening Turkey’s Article 301 to the suppression of Australian photographer, Bill Henson. I began responding with a simple comment but my thoughts on this are too long for the short reply, so here is another post.Art

For those living internationally, a Bill Henson exhibition was shut down earlier this year, following claims of child exploitation. Some photographs featured a naked thirteen-year old girl. For those wanting details, this Wikepedia entry nicely summarises the media chain reaction. Here I thought we could explore Tim’s suggestion that suppressing Henson’s art is similar to suppressing freedom of speech around the world.

On the surface of it, I have to agree. But then again, Henson’s subject matter is quite different from Dink’s. Without having seen all the photos of the 2008 exhibition, I find the Henson debacle a tough one. Yes I support freedom of expression and the exploration of life through art. But is it really necessary to photograph naked 13 year olds?

Henson has said in an earlier interview with egothemag.com,

“The reason I like working with teenagers is because they represent a kind of breach between the dimensions that people cross through. The classical root of the word “adolescence” means to grow towards something. I am fascinated with that interval, that sort of highly ambiguous and uncertain period where you have an exponential growth of experience and knowledge, but also a kind of tenuous grasp on the certainties of adult life.”

Yes, travelling through and surviving adolescence is tricky. As teenagers we often have a very tenuous grasp on what is safe especially when exploring our sexuality. Doing so within the security of friends, family and those with our best interests as heart is exciting. But should complete strangers ogle this journey? If my naked thirteen-year old daughter was the subject of exploration by men well past their prime, I would be disgusted. That is exactly what happens when such images are presented as ‘art’ and hung in public galleries.

For argument’s sake – let’s broaden our view and look at where else such imagery is displayed. What is the difference between Bill Henson’s exhibition and the upcoming film, ‘Twilight’ – a love story between a teenage mortal and a teenage vampire. The two-minute trailer I watched recently was as dark, brooding and sexually charged as any Henson photo I have seen. I saw it before enjoying Sex and the City, a film I was going to see with my fourteen-year old niece until her Mum thought twice about its content. Interestingly, my niece and her Mum both love the book, Twilight, and I imagine they will see the movie as soon as it comes out.

So where do we draw the line? At what point does artistic exploration become perversion?

Perhaps Henson has done us a favour? By using a different medium has Henson simply made us view the sexualisation of minors with fresh eyes? Or is it that society is becoming more conscious of the issue? Comparing Henson’s 2008 photographs with those of his 2003 exhibition, one would argue that these recent shots are far less shocking than his earlier work. They attracted far less scrutiny. If you’d like to make your own comparisons, visit the Ros Oxley online gallery.

Because we are bombarded daily with these images in film and teen magazines have we become blind? By using a new channel has Henson simply reduced the static and inflamed a healthy debate?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please add your comment s.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

Words that kill

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Charlotte

Last post I asked whether you saw words as playthings or tools. If written well, I believe they can be both. Poetry and meaning. Lyricism and results. Something that activates, excites and changes behaviour. In some countries, words can still get you thrown in jail; even executed.

Hrant Dink shot dead When prominent Turkish journalist, Hrant Dink, was assassinated in January last year he was about to go to trial for the sixth time on charges of speaking against his country. Dink was not afraid of making the bold statement that the Turks committed genocide against neighbouring Armenians during 1915 – 1917. His was not a new statement. Armenia has a Genocide Museum… they believe him.

But many of his nationalistic countrymen don’t. Whilst the Turkish government denounced the assassination, it was their endorsed public prosecutor who pursued Dink on charges under Article 301, which allows the punishment of a person who “insults Turkishness.”

The prosecutor’s relentless attacks on Dink surely contributed to his early demise. I find it particularly absurd and bizarre that, after his death, the Turkish government continued to pursue Dink’s family in court, over his words.

Hrant Dink was killed on January 17, 2007. His son Arat was sentenced to a one year suspended prison term on 11 October 2007. This pursuit to the death and beyond the grave, is suppressing any opposing voice in Turkey. It is denying basic human rights to free speech and suppressing any fostering of alternative opinions.

Advocating the removal of Article 301 altogether is a big ask. It is hotly debated locally and internationally. Those pushing to keep it argue that there are at least five other European countries, which have and use a similar law in order to maintain national pride and support local culture: France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Austria have all been referenced.

However, many of those work within countries less extreme than Turkey. As with anything, Article 301 becomes about interpretation. When that interpretation denies the fundamental principles of humanity: the right to be an individual, to support freedom of expression and to cherish life, then we need stand against it.

ABC’s Foreign Correspondant recently interviewed Asli Erdogan, a leading novelist and friend of Hrant Dink. When asked if she thought writers could afford to stay silent she replied, “I think on the contrary that we have never had that luxury to be silent… these kind of threats are just the number one reason that the writers should speak up.” Whilst looking down the barrel, her final statement inspired me, “Who is going to defend freedom of talk more than the writers and journalists. It is our job.”

When I read their stories I realise my words and actions pale into insignificance when compared with the hardships Dink and his colleagues endure. I love to write and do so from the safety of Australian shores, behind the protection of my laptop. I write on vagaries and for companies selling their wares. My job won’t kill me but for some like Dink, writing for a living becomes writing to the death.

If you would like to protest against such inhumanities, please follow these prompts to call for action against Article 301. This movement is led by International PEN – a fellowship of writers is working together to promote literature and defend the freedom to write. On their website you will find hundreds of stories, many less publicised than Dink’s crimes against freedom in countries as diverse as China, Thailand, Peru and Zimbabwe. Fellow Aussies can join my local, Sydney PEN or any of five Australian PEN centres listed here.

Have you read or heard anything recently that has inspired you to act beyond the commercial interests of your everyday? Let us know, by posting your comment on this blog. Please forward this post to anyone who may be interested.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

Words Made Easy

let's get this conversation started

Category Archives: humanity

What is your business’ mermaids tail?

Dirt Music a damned pity

Telescopic text

Save Manly’s Fairy Penguins

The joy of double entendre

Love your work?

Italy anyone?

Art or Exploitation?

Words that kill