Telling us where to go

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

Telling us where to go

It’s almost as hard to be an objective patriot as it is to be a conscientious objector. But Steve Carden has fought the battle for us in his book New Zealand Unleashed, courageously suggesting we put our money where our frontal lobe is and back the creativity we congratulate ourselves for.

Mark Weldon agrees with him. Speaking last night at the latest episode of the Idealog Innovation Series, the NZX CEO said that while the economy may be looking a bit grey, he has faith that just 100 of our best thinkers can turn the rain into a windfall. It’s an inspiring message, and we’ll put a video of his presentation online in the next few weeks.

Read David MacGregor’s interview with Carden and an exclusive extract from the book at our website.

Today person

Memorize the Tomorrow People in the latest issue of Idealog—we know how to pick ’em. Our very first emerging talent in Idealog #1, Sharon Paris, has well and truly emerged, having just released her fourth range of wallets called Johnny Rotten. Emblazoned with lines like The Born Rocker, each wallet comes with a promise to enable you to be someone, somewhere or someplace else. But having a hefty wad of cash to stuff into it will probably enable you a whole lot more.

Peter Jackson should

Here’s one for all you underpaid hobbit extras. Peter Jackson should do this dot com lets you get your own back by telling the lord of the directors what to do. Or if you have no words of advice for him, you can leave some harsh ones for the guy you pay rent to at my-landlord.shoulddothis.com—or for anyone else at host site, shoulddothis.com. So, if you have a similar suggestion for us, you know what to do with it: call your mum.

Bob Blanchett

Finding someone to play one of the greatest musical poets of our time is hard. You need to think outside the box. You might even need to think outside the gender. That’s why while Cate Blanchett is not the obvious choice to play Bob Dylan, she is, nonetheless, the choice that was made—or one of them. Six other actors will also play Dylan, including more conservative choices like Heath Ledger and Richard Gere, in what is bound to be one of the year’s most memorable films. Whether it’s any good or not.

What the …?

Okay so being brilliantly original is the aim of the game, but for those times when you fall shamelessly short of the mark, here’s something to help you rip off right: What the font? will have you typographing just like Len Cheeseman in less than the time it takes to press apple C.

Dirty money

Gotta love those filthy Irish dirtbags. The Americans certainly do—they’re snapping up bags of the soil for $15 bucks a pop. We realise the reasons why may not be immediately apparent, so here’s two of the 100-and-one ways to utilise an expensive handful of dirt: build a house on it, like the man who’s become the only Massachusetts resident to reside on Irish soil in the US, or toss it on your casket—a New York lawyer posthumously discovered it only costs a hundred grand to get a good covering.

Burgers ’n’ bands

BurgerFuel is paying bands back for all the late-night custom they send their way, by putting up a $17,000 cash prize for the best. Or maybe not the best, but the one the most customers vote for. Depending how many of those customers are the late-night kind, the winning band could just be the one with the most sing-a-long-ability.

Fight club

If you’re up for a good fight on a Saturday night, come along to the last Karajoz Great Blend address for the year. Singapore’s ‘blogfather’ Lee Kin Mun and former BBC head of interactive, Dr William Cooper, will verbally slog it out with TVNZ’s Jason Paris and Eric Kearley and O’Reilly Media’s Nat Torkington. RSVP for the September 1 event by emailing kelly@peadpr.co.nz

Here’s a reason to head to the library, even if you’re illiterate. Graham Reid will be there on Monday night, talking about what he knows best: rock ’n’ roll. No word on if there will be any sex and drugs involved, but it should be a good night anyway.

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

“It helps being a New Zealander overseas because people give you the benefit of the doubt, the accent makes you sound smarter—at least the Americans think so.”

—Steve Carden, the man from M.c.K.I.N.S.E.Y.

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.

 Gena  Tuffery
  Senior writer

Idealog Weekly is sent to friends, subscribers and registered website users of Idealog magazine.