no joke

I got in trouble from Antonia for not updating my blog and I'm sorry. There has been lots of parties, etc the last few weeks, and then I got a cold --just in time for the bank holiday weekend.
but here it goes.
First up: Eurovision
it's not a joke. I had a pound riding on Lithuania, but a death metal group from Finland, Lordi, got first place. But not with their seminal work 'The Devil is a Loser', instead it was 'Hard Rock Hallelujah that rocketed them to Eurovision glory (it really isn't a joke).

Next up: 'Snakes on a plane' have you all heard about this? It's not a joke either, apparently. Rumour has it that Samuel L Jackson kicked up a fuss when the title was almost changed to something less stupid.
Smart really. Pretending it is anything less than 'snakes on a plane' would be a marketing mistake.
oh, I'm going to Cannes in two weeks to work the advertising festival! very exciting. I'll have a few days off at the end to travel around a bit.

I've added a few pictures to my flicker account and am hoping to have some video uploaded soon to my new spangly new my space account (It's not working yet) of John playing guitar in his school talent show...awesome!

Rok on

blushing from lovely comments on last post. blush. blush.
thanks
(though I recall I was supposed to start my novel with the opening line 'i failed logic'. or maybe that was my autobiography).

Last night while I was interviewing a right on band in London, John was giving his friend Pierre a tattoo. We are (on a paper) a hard core rock'n' roll couple!!!! just don't tell anyone the truth--
that most nights find us sat on the couch watching EastEnders. yeah!

Love as hot as a blow torch, crime as vicious as the jungle.

London was a mad house last weekend. Cars broken and stitched to the asphalt with a giant needle and thread. A giant girl wandered through Hyde Park and a huge elephant marched through Piccadilly. The girl and the elephant were gigantic puppets. It really was very, very cool and completely bizarre. Basically, the giant elephant was made out of wood and metal and leather. All the joins and joints and mechanics were visible, but still, it was easy to forget it wasn’t a alive. It was carrying a wooden palace on its back, with actors pretending to be a sultan and his entourage complete, with dancing girls and explorers. The puppeteers were tucked in underneath the elephant; on it's head, suspended in metal chairs, but very visible. It was part of the guileless artistry of the whole event. Bringing enchantment back to basics. It must mean something that in a world of amazing special effects, people get so excited and were so moved by a performance with all the trickery in plain sight.

All of the elephant's feet were controlled by a different person all being conducted (literally conducted) by one guy walking along under the elephant. When it came into Hyde Park and wandered along the road, it was partially obscured by trees, making the whole scene seem like a different time. People (actual unflappable Londoners) were running along side it, cheering every time it sprayed water out of its wooden trunk or trumpeted and whole scene was completely surreal.

It was also John's birthday last weekend. I took him for breakfast in Regent's Park, complete with mimosas or bucks fizz if you want to be Britishy and ruin something that tastes quite good by calling it something that sounds quite bad. The rain held off for most of it. (It’s doing that thing that Toronto summers often pull. lovely during the week while everyone's at work and crap on the weekends).

It was also Rose and Adam’s wedding last weekend and by all accounts it was a good time. Though I was expecting more photos…

Thanks for trying to call. But blame the elephant!

one good thing about working for an Ad Festival is funny ads. check out this one