Art & Life for April 2006

Photo of the Month

April is …the month I am reacquainting myself with Nick Cave, (Thanks Len for the CDs again!) and as you will see in "Stuff I Love" I've totally grooving on Bring It On from the album Nocturama. About 17 years ago I had the opportunity to photograph Nick - as the yellowing on this photo will attest. More fix, acr, more fix! Spring is finally here...get out everyone, go see a concert!

Oh the humanity of it all…

This month's featured humanity is Language…

If talk is cheap it means that advertising just got a whole lot less expensive. For the past few years word-of-mouth-advertising has been the buzz in the marketing world. Why? We're all sick of interruptive marketing: spam filters get rid of unwanted email campaigns, TiVo zaps those pesky commercials, online commercial-free radio stations are springing up in record amounts and on and on and on.

When the ClueTrain Manifesto came along in 2000, it was an epiphany. It was the start of something - the public reclaiming their place in the message. Not to be talked at, but to join the conversation. Amazon is a brilliant example - a truly interactive site where the public can write reviews of the products, create Top 10 lists, and explore other people's top 10 lists. When you click on a book or CD, Amazon cunningly shows you suggestions for other products bought by customers who also bought the book or CD you are considering. Clever, clever.

This is indicative of the shift from interruptive advertising to participative advertising, with consumers actively involved in the marketing conversation. Savvy companies and marketers are adding blogs to their sites that invite feedback --and links by the way…-- and incorporating tell-a-friend tools on everything from e-newsletters to online products. (Speaking of blogs… check out Michael Bungay Stanier's Out Of His Mind - an always fascinating read! But, I also may be biased as I played a role in the naming of the blog…)

To share an honest message, in these times of dishonest advertising, you must persuade through engagement. You must get people talking about your service or product. Not only do you increase credibility and trust, you start your own low-cost, high-impact marketing campaign.

Need help with your message? Consider A.C. Riley's marketing copywriting services. (End of shameless self-promotion!)

Wine of the Month

2005 Bodega Lurton Pinot Gris

This month I had quite a few good wines, but in the interests of science I also had my fair share of really horrid ones too - you know the ones...the ones you stick back in the fridge and think "Maybe it will taste better by my third glass..." However, the Lurton Brothers have a lovely Pinot Gris that tastes quite lovely from start to finish - medium bodied, complex with flavours of smoke, pears and apricots. 

$15.50 - 3.5 stars out of 5

2004 Vitiano Falesco

So it's a Tuesday night, and you don't want to dip into anything chi-chi...consider this delightful, ever-so-affordable Italian red. The tasting notes from the SAQ are just way too precious to omit. Chez nous, we came up with burnt cherry....

Green pepper, rubber, chocolate, mint, and black plum flavor this nose. Notes of hydrocarbon, cherries with pits and a woody finish are found in the mouth. Full-bodied, this wine is astringent, tannic and tastes of old leather.

Give it a spin, it's much better than it sounds!

$15.90  - 4 stars out of 5

Cool Sites for Wasting Time

This month's superlative sites come compliments of Marcella, Kate & Sean - thanks all!!

UglyDress.com - Hours of entertainment

You Knit What?!  - More hours of Entertainment

The Surrealist - Advertising Slogan Generator - Now it is easier than ever to churn out a slogan!

Stuff That Disturbs Me

What the hey?? Is Google for real? - Google Romance 

Stuff I Love

This month? This month I am grooving on music, music, music:

• Nick Cave's Bring It On
• Jah Wobble's Visions of You
• The Propellerhead's (with the fabulous Shirley Bassey) History Repeating
• Lush's Ladykiller

As well as:

• Cafe Santropol's Femenina Coffee - made by a women's co-op in Peru
• Olive & Gourmando's "crack brownies" (80% pure chocolate!)

If you happen to be in Montreal April 5th to 9th...check out the Blue Metropolis festival...

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