Football's a Beach (ball)

So one of the most bizarre goals in history was scored at the Stadium of Light on Saturday 17th October in the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool.

A red Liverpool inflatable beach ball found it's way into the Liverpool goalmouth at the start of the match. Liverpool's goalkeeper Pepe Reina soon spotted it and safely placed it in the back of the net. Or so he thought!

As Sunderland attacked Liverpool's goal in the 5th minute, a gust of wind moved the beach ball out from the goal and into the field of play. Darren Bent made his way inside the area and a freak twist of fate sent his shot into the path of the ball, changing the direction of his shot and wrong footing the keeper to put Sunderland in the lead. It was an amazing series of events and of course hit the headlines as Sunderland held on for a 1-0 victory and debate raged whether the goal should have stood or not.

What impressed me however was that on Monday 19th October, at an English League One game between Leeds and Norwich, quick thinking sponsors NetFlights.com had some large inflatable beach balls of their own made up. They placed them in the goalmouths before the game to advertise their website.

Seeing as they are a flight company they may have had these balls made up for other various promotions but if they didn't then that is some pretty impressive quick-thinking marketing! Well done them. I'm sure that will help 'inflate' (sorry) the number of people visiting their website...

Curb your advertising

Whilst brainstorming possible advertising and promotional concepts for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I came across this London based media company, Curb.

www.mindthecurb.com

Curb promote themselves as the world's first natural media company. They offer a range of highly effective media solutions solely using natural earth elements. They now have a portfolio of unique eco-advertising services and team of creative experts, to provide clients with outstanding natural marketing which impacts on their target consumer without impacting on the environment.

I was initially interested in their 'snow tagging' which of course had possibilities for the Winter Olympics. They basically create a stencil/stamp, say of a company logo, and literally 'tag' the snow. A really simple but very effective idea that can target a range of unused advertising spaces that are eye catching and unusual. Of course once the snow melts, the 'tag' disappears and no cleaning up or removal is required.

They have a great range of solutions including 'clean advertising' where pavements are cleaned with a high pressure washer. A stencil is created so only certain areas are cleaned thus leaving a message etc marked on the pavement. It's a green version of graffiti. Again within time it wears away and nothing has been permanently marked or damaged.

Other solutions available are moss art, sand sculpture, beach tagging, information waterfalls, crop and mow ads all of which create unique, interesting and of course environmentally friendly advertising. And in a world where 'green issues' and the environment are getting increasingly more publicity and importance, Curb really have founded concepts for the next generation of branding and advertising.

Panor-campic

Following on from previous posts, about my first camping experience at Glastonbury and my proposed camping trip to the Monaco Grand Prix, I recently enjoyed a fantastic weekend camping trip to the Lake District.

I work next to Punk Publishing who produce books including the 'Cool Camping' series. So, not to spurn this opportunity for campsite research, I set about looking for prospective locations for a weekend away that me and a friend had planned. We eventually decided on Turner Hall Farm in Southwaite. It was an inspired choice as the surrounding area was stunning. Completely off the radar and totally uncommercialised it was a brilliant little site. The facilities were basic but totally adequate and the pitches (although not specific, you could pitch anywhere you liked) were awesome. Using three fields within the farm, the craggy landscape provided plenty of sheltered and interesting places to pitch.

With several Lakes a nice driving distance away and the area around the campsite amazingly beautiful, it really was a great place to visit. The walks were fantastic and the local pubs friendly and inviting. Managed to get some great photos, which leads me on to something I discovered in Photoshop...

Now I sort of knew that Photoshop was capable of some sort of 'photo-stitching' for panoramic style images but had never used it before. I took a series of about 6 pictures of the landscape around our campsite and wanted to 'stitch' them all together to make one long image. To my delight Photoshop has an excellent couple of tools for this. First roughly position the images on separate layers so they are in the right order and place. Then go to 'edit>auto-align layers'. This curves the images so that all the elements of the image line up. It's truly fantastic. But that's not it. Then go to 'edit>auto-blend layers' and it matches all the colours and hue's etc. You then have a seamless panoramic photograph which you only need crop to complete the process. It's genius and one tool I will be using a lot more in the future.

Let's dance to Joy Division

Now I'm not much of a music buff so excuse my ignorance. I have recently discovered the, errr, joys of 'Joy Division'. Now I knew nothing of front man Ian Curtis or anything about them (as I say please, please excuse my ignorance). I'd only heard the reference to the band ('Let's dance to Joy Division') in the lyrics of another band, The Wombats.

It was by chance in fact that I have 'discovered' them. I was looking for DVD titles to add to my rental list when I saw the cover to the film 'Control'. It looked edgy, looked cool, so I added it. After watching it I was hooked on the music. The film itself is beautifully shot and put together. Then the end title scene really does hit you like a brick... square in the face.

"Ian Curtis died, May 1980, age 23."

Shocking that after watching such a turbulent life that it only lasted a mere 23 years. Just really knocked me back. A very sad thing indeed but like most talented people, a troubled mind often comes hand in hand with extraordinary ability.

Anyway brightening the mood back up again... I'm loving the music! So much so in fact that I went out and brought the album, something I haven't done for ages. I also bought a 'best of' New Order album. New Order being the rest of the guys from Joy Division (they felt they couldn't keep the same name after Ian committed suicide). I have then ordered a book, yes a book, written by his widow Deborah Curtis, called 'Touching from a Distance'.

Joy Division is on constant loop in my head and on my music player at the moment and I can't wait to read the book and listen to some of the New Order stuff.

'Love Will Tear Us Apart', now I know why and where it came from, really does give me goose pimples. Amazing track. So happy I found them. Joy indeed.

In pursuit of the latest thing

Good site recommendation now. I found out about this site through none other than Ashton Kutcher! I follow him on Twitter and he posted the link. I checked it out and started following the site and it's a really cool mix of all sorts of stuff from the world of fashion, technology, art, pop culture and design (amongst others).

www.trendhunter.com

They regularly post links to featured articles which always come with a series of photos. It's a really nice way of getting some creative stimuli and the subject matter is always original and sometimes bizarre. As an example some of the items on the list currently are; creative police cars, celebrity barbies, controversial couture, faceless bodysuits, $10,000 jet bikes, boardwalk strut shoots, geek fashion lines and hydrating with brewskies. So yes, a varied host of stuff there!

Just a cool site to get some inspration and ideas and if you are a twitterer, then I would recommend you follow them and go hunt some trends yourself.

My First Glastonbury

I'm not a big follower of music, don't get me wrong I like the stuff but I have never been a person to go to gigs and the likes. When a friend of mine asked if I was interested in going I thought it would be a great opportunity to tick another item off the 'to do list of life', so jumped at the chance.

My younger sister had been a couple of times before in recent years and had said how much fun it was. For me though I'd never even been camping before so this was going to be a challenge. My big concerns were of what to pack, I'm a person who likes to be prepared, and also what I should wear so I looked like a veteran festival goer rather than a festival virgin. So with wellies, wet wipes and straw hat packed, the adventure begun.

My one big regret of the whole 6 days (we went from Wednesday-Monday) was getting a little bit too drunk on the strawberry cider on day one! The sun was shining, everybody was in high spirits so it was hard to contain oneself. Cue memory loss and the inevitable long search for my tent come the early hours of the morning. The hangover that followed was not pleasant. A baking hot tent first thing in the morning didn't help. Add that to a toilet trip to the long drops and you had yourself a very nasty experience. Lesson learned for the rest of the festival, I tried to limit my drinking and I have to say I did well. When the weather is hot (like it was) a hangover in a tent coupled with walking long distances, is just not worth it.

After that hangover though the festival really took off and I had an amazing time. When you are with friends having a few beers in the sun, laying on the grass/mud and listening to live music, it just doesn't get much better. In all I saw 21 bands (well one was Rolf Harris) but over a weekend you really do get your money's worth. The list in full is as follows: Gariella Cilmi, Golden Silvers, N.E.R.D, Fleet Foxes, Lily Allen, The Specials, The Ting Tings, Bloc Party, Rolf Harris, Dizzee Rascal, Passion Pit, Kasabian, Bruce Springstein, Franz Ferdinand, Status Quo, Madness, Bon Iver, Jason Mraz, Glasvegas and the Prodigy. Not bad I'd say.

Ok so some items are expensive at the festival, like any event really but overall I didn't really think anything was too overpriced. And yes the toilets are vile but there are better ones dotted about and you soon learn to plan your toilet visits. It did rain as well but I actually wanted it to, I mean what's Glastonbury without a bit of mud? We were very lucky with the weather though and I can imagine this has a great deal to do with your Glastonbury experience. I even got quite a nice tan!

Overall the atmosphere and friendliness are the things that stick in my mind. Everybody is your friend and you can literally talk to anyone. I saw no negativity or anything untoward at all. The staff were truly amazing as well. Always happy to help, they strive to solve your problem and go that little bit further to help you out. The operation as a whole is quite incredible and it blows my mind to think how an event like that is organised and run so efficiently. It definitely isn't for everyone (and I am of the opinion it isn't for children either), it is hard work at times but it has definitely won me over. I have the bug. Roll on next year!

Giveitarestival

If you have never listened to BBC 6music before, I suggest you put that right. In particular the George Lamb show weekdays from 10am-1pm. It's pure genius. Loved by the country's Graphic Designers & Dancehall enthusiasts, the Sony award winning show is a fusion of mayhem and complete and utter randomness.

Anyway, I have previously had a poster up on the site for a random story from the co-host Mark. Now, due to popular demand 'Giveitarestival' is back for another year and I have had my suggested logo put up on the site. View it on the site here.

Giveitarestival is a concept festival where bands book to NOT play there, people try their best NOT to make it, Camping fields are NOT made available etc etc. It's random yes, you need to listen to the show to understand. Give it a listen, you won't regret it, certain sure. Shaba!