No fear
Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas
In this week’s issue: never fear, Wade is here, hello Asia, here comes the sun, nothing ventured, nothing gained, Unidentified French Objects, listen with your eyes, cheap and cheerful and the quote of the week.
Never fear, Wade is here
As a two-time World Improvisation Champion, Wade Jackson is pretty good at not thinking before he speaks. His advice for people who want to untangle their tongues? Remember, it’s not all about you and it is all about your audience; then feel the fear and do it with an AK47. Read Wade’s advice on our website.
Hello Asia
If you only speak English, you’re likely to choose the US or the UK to do business, saving your Hong Kong stopover for a bit of briefcase shopping. But you may change your itinerary after the weekend: according to Radio New Zealand, there are more English speakers in Asia than in the US, Britain and Canada combined. Catch your almost missed opportunities at 11:05am this Sunday, or listen online next week on Radio NZ’s website.
Here comes the sun
Here’s something to knock the wind out of Meridian: Europe’s first commercial concentrating solar power plant has opened near Seville, Spain. Using more mirrors than a house owned by Jennifer Lopez—624 reflectors, each one measuring 120 square feet—it’s the first stage of a solar power cluster that will light up the city’s entire 180,000-strong population in five years. When complete, the Sanlucar la Mayor Solar Platform will prevent the emission of more than 600,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Maybe the future’s not so dim after all.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Every venture capitalist company proudly displays its portfolio online, but not many are adventurous enough to list the ones that got away—or the ones they told to bugger off. Like Google, for instance. David Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners answered his friend’s offer to introduce him to “two really smart Stanford students” in her garage writing a search engine with this seize-the-moment question: “How can I get out of this house without going anywhere near your garage?” BVP’s Anti Portfolio also exposes Cowan for turning down investments in Ebay (a “no-brainer pass”) and Paypal (“a regulatory nightmare”), while his partners sagely turned away the business of a little courier company called Fedex—the one worth a lot more than Brittany Spear’s ex-husband. Have a laugh, then stuff your dollars under your mattress.
Unidentified French objects
Forget The Twilight Zone, France has become the first country in the world to release its official archives on unidentified flying objects. Four hundred files have been published on a website set up by NASA’s French equivalent, CNES, with a further 1,200 to be uploaded by the end of the year. CNES isn’t interested in having any little-green-men debates with UFOlogists, however: “Our only role is to provide the general public and the scientific community with data,” says spokesman Pierre Trefouret. Make your own sightings on the CNES website.
 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 …
Listen with your eyes
This Belgian ad, shot in Auckland by The Sweet Shop, was created to encourage people to listen—why, we can’t quite figure out. Maybe there’s an as-yet-undetected voiceover quietly explaining why the man is demonstrating his love for his lady friend by tearing off his ’stache and plastering it adoringly on her upper lip. It may not make you want to listen, but it does make you want to watch it again and again—a classic ‘WTF? ad’ by local visual genius Steve Ayson.
There’s a higher-res version, along with more of Ayson’s work, at The Sweet Shop’s website.
Cheap and cheerful
Soulwax is a pretty smart band. Besides figuring out how to seamlessly mix the Beach Boys, AC/DC and Kylie Minogue into a frenetic swaying, headbanging and sneering 30 seconds, they’ve slashed their touring costs by supporting themselves. Yes, 2ManyDJs is the brothers David and Stephen Dewaele without guitar and microphone and with decks and intense ‘don’t disturb, I’m twiddling knobs for your pleasure’ expressions. They have, however, splashed out on bringing Stefaan Van Leuven and drummer Steve Slingeneyer to Auckland to complete the Soulwax part of their act. Confused? Get clarification at the St James this Saturday night.
Check out Idealog’s events guide, Agenda, online and in print. Anyone can add an event to Agenda—just fill out the form on our website.
Quote of the week
“Fear serves its purpose; it stops us being harmed. But when it’s blown out of proportion, it kills”
—Improv champ Wade Jackson in ‘Beating fear’
More at Idealog online
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Gena Tuffery
Senior Writer
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