Russell Davies

what to think?

I just noticed that the splendid people at psfk have linked to one of my posts on their IF thingy. So I clicked on the trackback doodah to go and see what they'd written about it and found that I couldn't do it without a subscription.

Which made me feel kinda hmmm.

I'm not sure why exactly. I guess it's that I can't see what they've written about something I wrote without paying them some money. Is that very petty? Of course, I based my thing on a Guardian article (though I did a bit of extra research and thinking) and I used a picture from there so maybe I'm doing exactly the same thing, but then I'm not making any money out of this, and they can see what I've done for free.

I was thinking of subscribing to IF, but now I'm slightly less inclined.

Am I just being an arse?

for all you arthur fans

Clearing out my Homestead site, which is soon to be abandoned in favour of Flickr. I found this picture of Arthur from about three years ago. Sorry, but it made me go aah. It's probably all the being away from home. I'm getting soppy.

There'll be some actual planning thoughts tomorrow. Promise.

not entirely new phone

Bought a new phone recently. Very nice too. But when I looked in the memory of this supposedly new phone there were all these pictures. Many of them in the Orange Shop, including this bloke. I've no idea who he is, and he looks very charming, but I can't believe he comes preloaded by Sony Ericsson as a 'theme'.

stranded

I saw this sign in the corner at a railway museum. I found it really quite affecting. Is there any more comforting and fundamentally human offer than 'a welcome and a bed'. If hotels remembered that and didn't get obsessed by how cool their lobbies were I think they'd do much better.

down the allotment

I'm back in the country for a week so it's time to catch up with blogging. And here's some pictures from a few weekends ago when we went down my Mum's allotment with Arthur. He had a whale of a time digging up vegetables. Not something most kids at his school get to do much probably. Only a 5-year old can bend over quite like that.

heathrow ramble

It's Sunday evening. I'm sitting in the Giraffe cafe in Heathrow. It's not bad, but not really where I want to be. At the end of this week I'll have spent four out of five weeks away from home. That's not good. It also explains why my blogging has been a little sparse recently. Sorry about that.

On the upside I've just heard I'm being moved to the big room at the AAAA Account Planning Conference. Which in Glastonbury terms is like moving from the Comedy Tent to the Main Stage. It's more than a little nerve-wracking to be honest. I think I've decided what to talk about though.

(I'm also sneakily delighted that when you google "AAAA account planning conference" I'm higher up the list than they are. It's not right, but it's pleasing.)

tiffin genius

There's so much to love about this story in The Guardian.

The One Stop Thali Cafe in Bristol has been selling these Mumbai tiffin carriers to their regulars - so they can get takeaways from the restaurant using them. They're £20 each (inc your first meal) and they've sold about 1,500 in the last 18 months.

This is genius. In one fell swoop they've:

1. created genuine differentation for the business
2. done something environmentally responsible
3. made a little bit of extra money
4. tied their customers a little closer to their business
5. won themselves some interesting PR
6. actually improved their service (tiffin carriers keep the food hotter for longer)

And they've done it in a way that's:

1. entirely authentic to their business and its heritage
2. incredibly simple and charming (not some fiddly promotional thing with forms and vouchers)
3. generous and open - you can use your tiffin carrier at any restaurant

Brilliant.

roll on the velodrome

I found myself very excited by London winning the Olympics. First by the announcement on the radio and then as I was walking down for lunch at the New Piccadilly I saw a splendid flypast down The Mall of which the above is the smokey remnant.

It's going to be brilliant. Arthur'll be 13; just the right age to take to see all sorts of odd and exciting sports - and I've always wanted to visit a velodrome. And it's a minor triumph for New Labour and we're still fans of them in our house.

It's also a victory for pitching. And I've always thought that pitching is the core skill of Britain's creative industries. We're fantastic at ideas and pitches; we can really make that stuff sing. We're slightly less good at following through but let's hope that's not so true in this instance.

moleskine, powerpoint and pen

Like these people. Seems like you can only buy it in the US at the moment.

a little driving movie

From portland to seattle and back again.