marilyn and flowers

From a trip to Antwerp last week. Just because it's a nice picture.

we think

Makes you think.

growing on

The indoor growing didn't go to well so I've moved onto mushrooms now.

Outdoor growing in going better.

Other goings on include the roof being blown off the shed in the recent gales.

Blue tit eggs in the bird box.

The cherry blossom getting a bit closer to bloom.

And a brand new pair of bright yellow welly boots from the good Swedish folk at Tretorn.

wolff's rooms

The great Michael Wolff formerly of Wolff Olins came along to innocent yesterday to talk us through his rooms of creativity (above) amongst many other things.

There's a quick overview.

The room of great work. All the stuff your inspired by. Not a good place to create new stuff in though.

The room of reason. Nothing great is ever achieved by a reasonable person. This is where stuff gets watered down.

The room of precedent. This is the 'by the numbers' room that makes sure you're solutions look the same as everyone elses. Just like this.

The room of not knowing. This is where you let go of the hand rails, have some fun, and create great stuff, hopefully.

Good stuff.

bad egg

I think the trend of fake is very interesting at the minute and is only set to get bigger. Everything from peer to peer music sharing, pirate DVD's, hand bags to FaceBook profiles have their roots in fake. It's kind of like a virtual reality but real if you see what I mean.

China seems to be leading the way with innovation in fakery as the clip above shows. It's quite scarey when it starts to manifest itself in something as menial as an egg though don't you think? When I was out there I heard stories of fake dumplings made of cardboard filling and even fake aeroplane engines that are subject to stopping mid-flight.

Also reminds me of this and this.

marlon brando, jimmy dean

Salma's just made a Richard James car cover for intersection magazine. A real life thing. Beats the hellout of websites.

Vogue.

five things

Adil (who used to work at Amnesty and still kind of does) came into innocent this week to talk us through "How to create a BAFTA nominated TV show, a top 100 Alexa listed website, a campaigning hub of 200,000 people, a viral film broadcast on local news and record numbers of new supporters, on a paltry brand spend of £100K / year, and having fun and saving the world at the same time. Phew."

Very inspiring. Here's his top five tips.

a remark

skip to 4 minutes for it to get going

I'm reading 'small is the new big' at the minute. There's a great line on page 85 about how blogs are a great home for the remarkable. So here's something remarkable.

I've just found the take-away shows. Which basically consists of some very talented musicians doing some very special things. Like Arcade Fire playing in a lift and then entering their own concert through a side door to play in the middle of the audience.

Have a look to see if there's anyone you like in there. I'm pretty sure it will be remarkable.

I recomend Gravenhurst, Vampire Weekend and Animal Collective.

I want to grow stuff this year. Properly. From seeds.

Like this. (The basil's off to a flying start on the left).

And this.

Here's a vegtable patch. I've forgotten what I've already put it so it could get interesting later in the year.

To grow stuff you need a shed full of growing stuff. Like this one.

And here's a cherry blossom tree. Not grown from seed granted but I'll be trying to keep it alive and hopefully it will come into bloom. Then I can have a Hanami in the back garden.

Expect updates.

Has someone made this joke already?

As a blogger I am contractually obliged to accept this offer. The internet would break otherwise and that wouldn't be good.

four Jobs I've Had
Kitchen Gofer. This is how it was advertised in the Tenby Observer. My mum told me it ment 'go for this, go for that'. I lasted about 48 hours. It was my first ever experience of paid employment at a handsome £1.25 an hour.

Kitchen Gofer part 2. I lasted a whole summer this time peeling spuds for the chip shop and inventing new slush puppie recipes in the ice cream booth. I had semi-permanent green/blue lips by the end of that summer. And spots.

Newsagent Shop Assistant. This one (and all of the above) was based at Kiln Park caravan park. It was a holiday camp, quite literally. I held this one down for about 6 years as a summer job due to mastering the fine art of doing as little as you possibly can without getting sacked.

Website stuff Ever since I gave up ringing in the Daily Mirror (and checking there wasn't a porno mag hidden inside it, suprisingly common on a holiday camp I have to tell you) I've been doing things with websites at object 1, then Lateral and now innocent. A rich and varied CV I'm sure you'll agree.

four Shows I DVR
I don't really do TV that much and definetly don't DVR stuff. I'd be glad to get a decent TV reception without having to get Salma to hold the booster up in the air to be honest. But here's some stuff I watch anyway.
Channel Four News with John Snow. Our TV seems to be set to C4 by default (other than for Jools Holland on a Friday night). Hence John Snow's on every night when I get back. He's an arrogant shit at times, I love it.

3 minute wonders on Channel Four. Just after John Snow's clocked off. Sometimes the best 3 minutes of TV in a week.

Grand Designs on Channel Four. A triumph over adversity each and everytime. They've got to fuck it up one week, I'm watching and waiting.

Anything with Louis Theroux. Because he's funny.

four Places I've Been
Delhi, India. The first place I'd been outside of Europe. It was like doing acid. I had to escape on a bus to Dharamsala within about two hours of arriving.

Pokhara in Nepal. Same trip. I hired a canoe and rowed to the middle of the lake trying not to think about having to go back to Delhi again in a few days.

Cuba. I smoked cigars, took lots of pictures and went snuba diving. Castro really knew how to do a dictatorship back then.

Beijing. Did I tell you I went to Beijing?

four Music Artists I'm Listening To Now
Juno Soundtrack. One of those soundtracks that makes you wonder how to get a job as a soundtrack curator.

Liars. Mainly because listening to the first track really loud gets your heart going.

Miracle Fortress. Arcade Fire vs The Fairport Convention. Kind of.

Mr Hudson & The Library. I got this from Gav at work. I like it because I've no idea what Mr Hudson must look like or if he's already very cool with the kids or not or anything else about them other than what the music sounds like. That's the thing with mp3's though eh.

I'm ment to do this to four other people now but to be perfectly honest with you I don't know 4 other bloggers let alone 4 other bloggers that come by here on a regular basis. If you do want to join in though send me an email. Just think you could be 3 degrees of separation from Russell.

grow stuff

I want to grow stuff this year. Properly. From seeds.

Like this. (The basil's off to a flying start on the left).

And this.

Here's a vegtable patch. I've forgotten what I've already put it so it could get interesting later in the year.

To grow stuff you need a shed full of growing stuff. Like this one.

And here's a cherry blossom tree. Not grown from seed granted but I'll be trying to keep it alive and hopefully it will come into bloom. Then I can have a Hanami in the back garden.

Expect updates.

4x4

Has someone made this joke already?

As a blogger I am contractually obliged to accept this offer. The internet would break otherwise and that wouldn't be good.

four Jobs I've Had
Kitchen Gofer. This is how it was advertised in the Tenby Observer. My mum told me it ment 'go for this, go for that'. I lasted about 48 hours. It was my first ever experience of paid employment at a handsome £1.25 an hour.

Kitchen Gofer part 2. I lasted a whole summer this time peeling spuds for the chip shop and inventing new slush puppie recipes in the ice cream booth. I had semi-permanent green/blue lips by the end of that summer. And spots.

Newsagent Shop Assistant. This one (and all of the above) was based at Kiln Park caravan park. It was a holiday camp, quite literally. I held this one down for about 6 years as a summer job due to mastering the fine art of doing as little as you possibly can without getting sacked.

Website stuff Ever since I gave up ringing in the Daily Mirror (and checking there wasn't a porno mag hidden inside it, suprisingly common on a holiday camp I have to tell you) I've been doing things with websites at object 1, then Lateral and now innocent. A rich and varied CV I'm sure you'll agree.

four Shows I DVR
I don't really do TV that much and definetly don't DVR stuff. I'd be glad to get a decent TV reception without having to get Salma to hold the booster up in the air to be honest. But here's some stuff I watch anyway.
Channel Four News with John Snow. Our TV seems to be set to C4 by default (other than for Jools Holland on a Friday night). Hence John Snow's on every night when I get back. He's an arrogant shit at times, I love it.

3 minute wonders on Channel Four. Just after John Snow's clocked off. Sometimes the best 3 minutes of TV in a week.

Grand Designs on Channel Four. A triumph over adversity each and everytime. They've got to fuck it up one week, I'm watching and waiting.

Anything with Louis Theroux. Because he's funny.

four Places I've Been
Delhi, India. The first place I'd been outside of Europe. It was like doing acid. I had to escape on a bus to Dharamsala within about two hours of arriving.

Pokhara in Nepal. Same trip. I hired a canoe and rowed to the middle of the lake trying not to think about having to go back to Delhi again in a few days.

Cuba. I smoked cigars, took lots of pictures and went snuba diving. Castro really knew how to do a dictatorship back then.

Beijing. Did I tell you I went to Beijing?

four Music Artists I'm Listening To Now
Juno Soundtrack. One of those soundtracks that makes you wonder how to get a job as a soundtrack curator.

Liars. Mainly because listening to the first track really loud gets your heart going.

Miracle Fortress. Arcade Fire vs The Fairport Convention. Kind of.

Mr Hudson & The Library. I got this from Gav at work. I like it because I've no idea what Mr Hudson must look like or if he's already very cool with the kids or not or anything else about them other than what the music sounds like. That's the thing with mp3's though eh.

I'm ment to do this to four other people now but to be perfectly honest with you I don't know 4 other bloggers let alone 4 other bloggers that come by here on a regular basis. If you do want to join in though send me an email. Just think you could be 3 degrees of separation from Russell.