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