Last Hurrah

This post is going to be a flagrant violation of my adversity to self-praise but here we go. I will try to keep this short and sweet but since when was that possible when self-adulation and grades were concerned? This will nevertheless be an attempt at braving the odds.

1) Typically, my proudest moment of blogging isn't my soundest. It happened when I taught myself how to embed swf videos into a blog post- which isn't exactly rocket science but still an accomplishment for my usual 'only Youtube' style. Also I should think there is no greater pride than finding out something for oneself, is there?

2) I've also discovered the wonders of StumbleUpon which has dismayed many a prof who have found me stifling giggles during classes. Very naughty of me but oh, how it has fed my unexplained predilection for funny cat videos, pandas and strange sex stories. On a less inappropriate note it has hopefully contributed to my readership here as I have audaciously StumbleUpon-ed myself on my main page and on several individual posts. I consider that another of my finest moments as a blogger.

3) Twitter has been another outlet for this newly embraced exhibitionist side of me. I am one of those who for no rhyme or reason, records insignificant nuggets of information about my life every other hour. To be honest, while Twitter may be a great tool for sharing information, it's also extremely functional for casual bloggers who have contracted Facebook's 'what are you thinking' bug. Moreover I believe my friends would be more interested in tweets on last night's shenanigans than practical newscasts. But to each his own! Twitter serves the masses. Despite my fandom, I must point out that the most recent anti-Twitter viral video is brilliant. Watch this mockumentary by SlateV: Flutter.



Sorry to interrupt my flowing prose, but I couldn't resist posting that.

4) Readership is over 600 after less than 3 months of blogging, averaging 12 per day. Well, according to Blogcounter at least. Here's some evidence for the unbelieving reader. I didn't fake the numbers - I don't know how to!

5) Finally, I think I've managed to complete this requirement by fulfilling my penchant for less traditional talking-points, stimulating some conversation, doing some creative writing that isn't for once, confined to a Word document or an online forum and airing my views while at it. I've always been techy to some extent- learning the ins and outs of html was tedious but fed my OCD when it came to centralizing a webpage, so this was fun. I'm glad I learned along the way, whether the lessons had to do with my topic of choice or with social media in general. It has been an interesting ride, from weird food/animals to hyper breast implants and getting publicity from my World Wide Rave post. Hopefully I haven't offended anyone too seriously with the occasional raunchy and snarky undertones in my posts but even if I have, thanks for contributing to the numbers anyway. For those who found this entertaining, good on you for your sense of humour and passion for e-curios.

NHS wins coolest health care system award.

I've been writing or rather, trying to write a paper on the politics of health care provision. In so doing I've come across this great video by the NHS on the 'essential use of condom wear'. Titled 'beer goggles', the message I'm getting is that too much alcohol blurs your vision, thus leading to casual sex with unattractive women... thus one should use condoms just in case this leads to undesirable genetics? You know, the more I blog, the more I realize how viral ads might not actually be the best form of conveying a message as I anticipated it to be, in terms of message richness and 'readability' in corp comms talkspeak. Here's the fun ad! I'm not sure why it struck me as bizarre but it might have been the facial acrobatics the fat lady is attempting.



Admittedly this ad does add value to NHS nonetheless! Apart from disparaging its distribution system (my money=bum on the bench's medical benefits), it makes me think of it more fondly. Naturally this is no comparison at all to the MOH's advertising methods... wait, are there any?

By the way ripping off the Youtube embed link for an SWF video upload into blogger is way more efficient- and I must say, smarter, than copying it into Photobucket or Google pages (that by the way is pretty much defunct) that I'm-all-that techies have been writing about all over the Internet. Yes, I am shamelessly showcasing my indubitable talent for amateur blogging, so sue me.

Doctor, doctor.

Wow this is weird. An ad by Treximet which is the equivalent of our Panadol:


I don't think 'holding my head in my hands' has ever been so literally illustrated before. Don't think this ad would soothe any headache I had.

The following is kind of irrelevant but I should think, interesting, for those into branding, semiotics, social networks etc.- which was what really got me interested in advertising and subsequently my internship last summer, in the first place. Anyway for those who want to , check it out.

Culture Networks (Lecture)

View more presentations from Tim Stock.

All the above is from Brandnoise.