The Benadryl edition
Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas. This belated edition is brought to you with the chemical assistance of Benadryl (night-time formula, of course).
In this week’s issue: lightning strikes and Rodney heals, a brief note regarding my shortage of gay and Maori friends, online Nun, a Scorsese-sized production, Red is in the red, new thinking, island time and the quote of the week.
Lightning strikes
It takes a brave person to leave a fulfilling career and embark on something new. Kudos then to Rodney, the air guitar champ with a style all his own who has reinvented himself as a faith healer for a new age.
Rodney is the inspired creation of Auckland’s Exile Films and is currently screening on MTV stations around the world (although we haven’t spotted him on telly in Enzed yet). MTV wanted an idea that would appeal to modern ‘mental trends’ and Rodney is just the man for the job. MTV liked the TV spots but they were really sold on rodneyheals.com, an interactive website where nirvana awaits. (Rodney’s on MySpace too, of course, with his backstory: “Sometimes people have greatness thrust upon them … for me it was more like an ooze.”)
So how did an Kiwi company get to pitch for the job and how did they pull it off? Find out on our website.
A brief note regarding my shortage of gay and Maori friends
This week I learned that I secretly wish I had more gay and Maori friends, feel guilty about discussing property values and deep down I’m uneasy about my passion for rugby. This was a surprise to me. I was even more astounded to learn that I’m a member of the highly-educated intelligentsia and that I intellectualise every moment of my life.
People who know me will be rolling on the floor over that last bit, but it’s the description of the Grey Lynn tribe which is my best match, according to 8tribes.co.nz. It’s the website of a new book called 8 Tribes: The Hidden Classes of New Zealand, written by Jill Caldwell and Christopher Brown. Now I don’t actually live in Grey Lynn (Morningside 4 Life!) but Caldwell and Brown have identified the suburb as one of eight that represent today’s Kiwi ‘classes’; the others are North Shore, Balclutha, Remuera, Otara, Raglan, Cuba Street and Papatoetoe.
The site includes a quiz to work out which tribe you belong to. Here are my results; I’m predominantly Grey Lynn with some Raglan mixed in and notes of Balclutha and Cuba Street. You won’t find any Remuera, Otara or Papatoetoe in me and somehow I’m in the negative for North Shore. 8 Tribes defines the North Shore as “achieving”, so clearly that’s a concern.
We’ll have a review of 8 Tribes in the next issue of Idealog.
Online nun
In the latest Idealog, Russell Brown lamented that the classic Flying Nun back catalogue wasn’t readily available online, despite an audience eager for the very type of indie gems that the Nun catalogue is stuffed with. This week on Public Address, Russell notes with delight that last year’s Flying Nun 25th anniversary box set is now available on iTunes and Digirama locally and soon on iTunes in Australia and Europe. Even better, the Mint Chicks are set for release on Emusic, an online store that releases indie tracks without digital rights restrictions. Excellent.
A Scorsese-sized production
Photography is all about the moment, right? So it’s no surprise that big-name photographers in the US go all out to make damn sure that moment arrives and that it’s not missed. Case in point: Michael Grecco shooting Martin Scorsese, who has probably made motion pictures with less kit.
Red is in the red
Do you know the difference between charity and consumerism? So, it appears, does everybody else, except maybe the celebrities and marketing hotshots behind the massive Red campaign. Red aimed to provide profits for both charity and commerce by branding products like the iPod and giving a share for good causes, all hyped with endorsements from Bono, Steven Spielberg and others. But the public isn’t buying it which means the campaign, despite costing as much as US$100 million, has raised just a fraction of that. Advertising Age surveys the wreckage.
 Blackbox M14 noise cancelling headphones represent the finest Kiwi innovation and ingenuity. Designed for the frequent traveller, the M14 boasts the latest advanced noise cancellation technology from Phitek Systems, blocking up to 92% of background noise. Imagine being able to perfectly hear the in-flight movie! The Blackbox M14 connects to your mp3 player, PC or handheld and is great value at $379. More…
New Thinking
Next week is the week of New Thinking, an expo about New Zealand’s biotechnology, creativity, technology and education at the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland. There’s no shortage of events on the programme and it looks set to be a big week. Idealog will be in attendance and we’ll have a special publication produced with expo organiser NZTE in our next issue.
Island time
This weekend appears devoted to Asia and the Islands. Aucklanders who enjoy crowds will be among the 100,000 or so flocking to the Pasifika Festival today at Western Springs—everything from contemporary arts and music to traditional food, handicraft and cultural performances. Wellingtonians will be captivated by the antics of the entrants in the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival and in Christchurch tonight the Chinese Lantern Festival will be lighting up Victoria Square.
Next week things get a bit more eclectic when writer, director and performer Duncan Sarkies teams up with sound designer and composer Nic McGowan to perform Instructions for Modern Living as part of the Auckland Festival. It’s described as “a modern update of Eleanor Rigby”, where “music and dialogue combine to create a tragicomic sound-montage of what goes on behind closed doors in urban and suburban New Zealand”.
What else is on? Find out on our Agenda events pages.
Quote of the week
“I am constantly amazed at the depth of creative talent in New Zealand. That and the two degrees of separation make it very enjoyable to do business here.”
—Ilya Rozhdestvensky of Exile Films
More at Idealog online
Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, Idealog IP, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.
Matt Cooney
Editor
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