Back in black

To the 200-plus who joined us for our hump-day breakfast this week, thanks for braving the cold—and congrats to Anya Duffy for winning a weekend with a shiny new Audi A6. (Check out some photos from the event here). As for everyone who couldn’t make it, we’re sorry you missed out on hearing guest speaker Sam Morgan. Not many other business types would tolerate the cheeky cover treatment we’ve given him and then come deliver a rousing presentation for us!

Speaking of covers, the new-look magazine is on sale now, and our matching website due to go live Monday. Plus, all new subscribers will receive a copy of The Case for Creativity by adman and Idealog writer James Hurman. In the meantime, sign up for the free Daily Bacon newsletter and go in the draw to win a super-speedy, super-versatile Lumix DMC-LX5 digital camera with all the bells and whistles (talk about a deal-sealer!).

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Journey to the bottom of the earth

Put a bunch of scientists, filmmakers, photographers and writers on a boat, and what do you get? Our Far South, that’s what, a charter to Antarctica and surrounding islands to raise Kiwis’ awareness of the area’s importance. The project kicks off in February 2012, but there are less than 15 spots left. While it’s not cheap (berths start from US $16,000), host Gareth Morgan’s foundation will fully fund one applicant’s way. You’ll need to be willing and able to make some kind of contribution, either onboard or upon return—or ideally both.

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US-bound: Fulbright’s academic ambassadors

Fulbright New Zealand’s 22 Graduate Award recipients have just been announced, and they include students in fields as diverse as mechatronics engineering, infectious disease epidemiology, indigenous law, pharmaceutical policy and operatic directing. That means these worthy individuals will be off shortly to undertake research or post-grad study in the US, having met the benchmark for “academic excellence, leadership potential and ambassadorial qualities”. Also recognised at Wednesday’s awards ceremony were 39 recipients of various Scholar Awards for more advanced academics, artists and professionals, and five participants in NZ-US exchange fellowship programmes. Which in turn means application deadlines for the next round of grants close soon; see the website for more details.

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It's sculpture, naturally

Speaking of Fulbright alumni, former American recipient and sculpture artist Janet Echelman got a major dose of inspiration from fishermen in India. Using UV and weather-resistant fibres, Echelman builds sculpture environments that both live and breathe through their responses to wind, water and light. In this TED talk, Taking Imagination Seriously, she details the challenges and engineering techniques employed to make her massive creations a reality.

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Right brain, meet left brain

For too many creatives, “business” is a bit of a dirty word. But “she’ll be right” is just not going to cut it if you’re serious about making a go of it. Enter Survive & Thrive 2011, a programme of inspiring speakers, intensive workshops and networking this month to help artistic types connect with each other and learn to succeed in today’s environment. Get advice from a friendly sounding board, a business “health checkup” and learn how to ramp up your promotions, sales, and marketing, for a start. All this with MC Te Radar at the helm.

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Down to the letter

Does the Republic of Letters mean anything to you? Before the golden dawn of social networking—ie, pre-Myspace/Foursquare/LinkedIn—people still managed to communicate, without the aid of Web 2.0. The cultural greats of the Enlightenment, for example, got on just fine a couple of centuries ago. In this Stanford University project, a group of academics map the legendary correspondence between the network of scholars, writers and thinkers.

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An audience with the 'Pope of Trash'

Filmmaker, writer, pop culture icon and shock auteur John Waters is headed down under, performing his one-man show This Filthy World in Wellington and Auckland this October. Infamously dubbed the Pope of Trash, Waters is the director of Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry Baby and Polyester, to name a few. And what can audiences look forward to? According to organisers, a monologue packed with stories about true crime, exploitation films, fashion lunacy and extreme art in a “call to arms to filth followers everywhere”. Excellent.

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The lazyweb we weave

Odds are if you’ve spent any time on Twitter at all, you’ve seen—or used— the term “lazyweb” at some point (often hashtagged, but not always). Why bother with Google if you’ve got knowledgeable followers willing to tweet the answer straight to you? Here’s a look at some key stats about the things we’re too lazy to look up ourselves.

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How dirty is your data?

Just how green is the internet, really? We may be killing fewer trees these days, in theory, yet constant connectivity is a greedy beast. The wired world sucks up more energy than you might think.

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Quote of the week