Fresh meat delivery

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

Fresh meat delivery

What’s that pain in your heel? Probably one of our Tomorrow People taking a nip. We reckon the ten creative creatures in Idealog Issue 11 are the ones to watch, but don’t take our word for it—I mean, we didn’t. The country’s creative leaders pointed us to the bright lights in their industries, and we’re passing on directions.

The scary side of clay

Animation has got pretty flash these days—a simple innards etching can provoke a decent retching. But if you want true terror, get out the plasticine—and turn back the clock. The Adventures of Mark Twain is the criminally misleading title of this 1985 clay animation. A comment by one of the blog’s members says it all: “Saw this as a small child on the Disney channel of all places; shat bricks.” (Via JWZ)

You’re kinda sorta late

If you’re a laid-back person looking for more time to lay back, here’s the perfect time device for you. The ‘It’s about time’ clock reports the time in written words—but not the most concise ones. Phrases like ‘it’s nearly nine’ will let you know it’s time to think about leaving the house, without stressing you out with details like 8:59am.

Groomed for success

If you are struggling to get up in the mornings, here’s one thing that will tear you out of your warm bed: cold cash. The Herald is reporting on a US study today, which discovered every ten minutes of grooming could net you another six percent of income. The outtake is obvious: start getting ready at 1am and before long you won’t have to go to work at all.

Be brutal and win some sweet sounds

We want your opinion. We want it so badly that we have some shiny new Apple hi-fi kit to give away to our opinionated readers. Fill out the readers’ survey on our website and you’re in the draw to win an awesome iPod Hi-Fi worth $599 and an AirPort Express to stream music around your home. The survey will take about 10 minutes, is mainly multi-choice and we do pay attention to what people tell us! So get clicking.

iPod Hi-Fi

Fill your home with sound, not stereo components. Keep your music collection at your fingertips, not in countless CD cases. Change the way you experience digital music. For $599, iPod Hi-Fi delivers crystal-clear, high-quality sound in a clean, compact design. Hear, hear.

AirPort Express

Enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually any room of your house or several rooms at once. Share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without inconvenient and obtrusive cables. Create an instant wireless network on the go. Extend the range of your current wireless network. How many devices do you need to do all this? Just one: the Airport Express. Featuring AirTunes for playing your iTunes music wirelessly on your home stereo or powered speakers, AirPort Express (retail value $169) brings not only the Internet but your music to wherever in your home you like to enjoy them most, whether you use a Mac or PC.

Gutter talk

If you’re bored with your guttering—and who isn’t, I’m twiddling my other thumb writing this—don’t despair, a whole new way of draining is here. We’re not sure who owns this house with its trumpet-inspired drainage system, but our money is on the artificially generated offspring of Louis Armstrong and Dr Seuss.

Watch out for us

Dove’s new spot, Onslaught, has a subtle variation on the familiar Dove message: ‘Talk to your daughters before the beauty industry does’, it says. (Oh, but don’t worry if Unilever gets to her first—evidently anything Dove’s manufacturer has to say can only be good for a little girl’s self-image). (Via Monoscope)

Sitting inside their heads

We can’t help you give one of New Zealand’s top photographers a piece of your mind, but if you’re hankering for a piece of theirs, you’re in luck. Your chance to bid on personal work from over 50 photographers, The Headspace 07 Online Auction is a complete no-brainer.

The Money Conversation is described as “a high stakes theatre experiment that will have you questioning your conscience”—but don’t worry, the stakes aren’t yours. New York performer Sara Juli draws down $5,000 from her bank account before each performance this week and offers it to you. There must be some catch we haven’t read about or this performance will go down as the country’s most unprofitable—a standout achievement indeed. Auckland, 3 to 7 October 2007

Quote of the week

“My highest expectation would have been to work on video games. That was the most fun I could see on my horizon”

—DJ software developer Steve West’s horizons have broadened a lot since then.

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.