Untukmu Para Pengunjung

I often put down the digital material that comes out of Melbourne but World Vision has helped to restore some faith. There latest clip for the 40 hour famine is a winner. I think this maybe the work of Sputnik Advertising Agency. With over 600,000 views it is kicking goals for a great cause. Check it out.

What do Peter Wagstaff and John Howard have in common?

They both use super cool web 2.0 application to talk to people.

In the latest episode of Marketing Today Podcast, I sit on the couch and talk to Peter about John Howard msierable attempt at Youtube and my new favourite topic of 'hijacking e-cultural icons'

Here is the John Howard clip



and the Consumer Generated Mash Up

One of my favourite bloggers going around at the moment is Faris Yakob, he writes Talent Imitates, Genuis Steals. This is a thought provoking blog, well worth reading. He sat down and talked about the web with Iain Tait at Ideas Forum in Romania.



Check it out here

I seem to have this habit of creating an image in my head of what radio presenters look like. It always shocks me when I actually see them in real life and they look nothing like what I had imagined. This happened with Faris, the ideas that he comes up with made me think he was some wise old man.

I'm the (un)official accompanist for the Air Force of Zimbabwe. All the guys in the Air Force band have to take exams up to a minimum of grade 5 in order to get their rank. Some of them are Salvationists, and so they found out about me, and now I play for all of their exams. It's an interesting break from the day-to-day and is actually bringing about some perspective on the terror and trauma I used to feel about my own music exams as a kid! I also get frequent calls from people in the police, military and air force wanting to know if I will teach them piano/theory, etc. There aren't that many piano players left in the country. One guy came for one theory lesson and decided that he wanted to study music at a university abroad. I suggested he do some research on the internet. He called me the other day, "I found a university in Germany that has a music programme, and on their website it says that they teach Mozart. That's good, right?" Right.

Friday I travelled to Chiweshe to conduct a seminar on coping with grief. It was sobering to pass so many hand-made signs that said "coffins for sale" on our way to this rural area. I don't know anyone here who hasn't experienced multiple grief. Life expectancy is still at about 34, and that is so young! Besides some slight translation difficulties, the seminar went well. Many of the women said that this was their first time to be able to talk openly about their grief. The next day I went to visit Amai Pamacheche and we just talked and cried together. Losing someone is painful, but love is beautiful.

For Internet start ups it is getting harder and harder to make an impact with the fickle computer savvy consumer. You really need something to make you stick out, you need a 'draw card'.

My best mates dad used to love a good garage sale. He said the key to a good garage sale was to make sure you had the 'draw card', then the punters would come in droves. One year it was the Bob Hawke Memorial Yard Glass, the next year it was fake Ivory Elephant Tusks.

Well Web2.0 start up Imcooked (a youtube for cooking enthusiasts to upload themselves cooking there favourite dish) got their 'draw card' with Christopher Walken cooking up a roast chicken. Check it out, this has definitely helped to drive traffic to the website. Check it out. Slow server speed is disappointing.

Check it out here

Here is another e-cultural jacking that I came across today for Advertising Agency West Wayne. Make sure you read the whole page.

http://www.westwayne.com/

It was my very best friend's birthday yesterday. Our phone is currently broken, and we can no longer get internet at home (even if the phone line worked!) so I couldn't call, but Sherri - you know I love you. It is wonderful to have a friend who sees all sides of me, and knows all of my "issues" but who still loves me and makes me laugh and is willing to have a whole 15 minute conversation with me where we both just cry because we miss each other. Thank God for good friends. Shout out too to my sister-in-law Jenn - happy birthday!

Two of our friends just got into university (one in the USA and one in Mutare), so last night we had a little send-off for them. We taught them Monopoly and ate chicken (freshly slaughtered - sorry, still working on uploading the photos!) and pasta and then we had a cake. Our neighbour makes cakes, and so I asked her to make one for us with the words "Congratulations Chris and Hope!" She decided to make it in the shape of a heart, so these two young guys were quite embarassed when Sam was like, "it's almost like a wedding cake!" John tried to explain the whole Pat-Saturday-night-live skit to them... It was really cute. They're good guys, and so even though we are very tired this morning ("we HAVE to finish the game!") it was a good celebration.

And we had a nice weekend in Chiweshe celebrating the re-dedication of a Salvation Army church - Nyachuru Citadel. We accompanied the Chief Secretary, who is an interesting character. We stayed with Paul and Pedrinah, and it was wonderful to chat with them. Despite hardships, it's always good to find time to celebrate.

They have just released the 150 most influential blogger in marketing and advertising. Unfortunately i did not make the list however there were a number of Australian bloggers who got in the top 150 and top 350. At 63 was Servant of Chaos written by Sydneysider Gavin Heaton, at 111 Better Communication Results written by Lee Hopkins freelance Communication Business Consultant, at 262 Media Hunter the blog for Sticky Advertising about Media in the Hunter Valley, at 290 PR Disasterswritten by Gerry McCusker author of the Public Relations Disaster, at 312 Young PR at 327 written by Paull Young an Account Exec at Converseon, The http://jasonrecliner.blogspot.com/ one of my favourite blogs written by Vando, at 346 The Marketer, at 350 Insight which is Jim Antonopoulos who runs a the startegy brand insights company Igloo.

Mr. Burns final sentence in this clip is one of those lines that stick out in the mind of every Simpsons fan.



From that moment on, I could never pronounce "tartar" properly; it became "TAR-TAR".

And when you mention Mr. Burns, you've gotta mention his assistant Waylon Smithers, who harbours a love for his boss far beyond friendly affection.

One of the things that makes the Simpsons so great is its pop culture references. This is one of my favourites.



Believe it or not, a sequel is in production.

We slaughtered our first chicken last night. Chickens take a while to die, even when their heads are cut off. We didn't let ours run around, though, despite my curiousity about seeing it run around with no head. We held it down while it kicked and squirmed for a few minutes.

Our friend Joyce gave us a lesson on how to pluck off all the feathers and clean it. Zimbabweans eat much more of a chicken than I would have ever thought possible. We cleaned the head, feet, organs and even the intestines. It was quite a messy process, but we now know how to prepare a live chicken for cooking. The process was made much more difficult due to the fact that we had to do this by candlelight, as we had no electricity in the evening. In case you're wondering, we gave away the head, feet and intestines. We've eaten cow intestines a few times, but the chicken intestines didn't really appeal to me and our friend seemed to be keen on them.

Rochelle's major role in the slaughter was taking photos, but I think she only managed to take two or three. For some reason she didn't feel like cutting up the chicken or pulling out feathers or squeezing out the contents of the chicken's stomach or intestines. But she didn't run away.

It's been interesting to live in Zimbabwe and gain a better perspective on where food comes from. We've grown our own vegetables and we've killed a cow and a chicken and some fish. In Canada, you just go to the supermarket and buy your vegetables (sometimes already washed, peeled and cut up) and prepared meat and poultry (cleaned and packaged). It's easy to forget what's involved in preparing food and you also don't think or wonder about where the food is coming from. We also bought some fresh eggs yesterday, which still had feathers and chicken poo stuck to them.

We are spending the next three days in Chiweshe, including two at a corps near Howard Hospital. Hopefully we'll be able to see Paul and Pedrinah Thistle while we are there. We also hope to get some cow manure for our garden. We live an interesting life.

On my way home yesterday I realized that my run across Zimbabwe plan may have a few snags. One significant concern would be the first portion of the journey where I would be running along a highway that passes through a large national park. In Canada, that wouldn't be a big deal. But this Zimbabwean national park has lions and elephants, both of which I've seen by the road as I've driven by. It may not be too wise to try running along that route...

After much hesitation and resistence, I finally broke down and joined Facebook this morning. By lunchtime, however, it had already caused me too much social chaos so I terminated my account. I have enough trouble responding to emails or writing blogs...

In preparation for the upcoming movie, I've decided to re-watch some of my favourite moments from the show.

The following clip, I think, embodies the silliness, brilliance, and grace of the show perfectly: when Homer ate chips in space, all to the tune of The Blue Danube Waltz.



If you remember this episode, this is the one where Homer does not win "Employee of the Week", even though he is the final employee to not have won (union rules mandating that all win at some point). He ends up losing to a more deserving contributor - an inanimate carbon rod.

The rod getting the respect it deserves.

Since when is carbon green??? It must be radioactive.

Rolling Rock have got some really good little ideas. Here is another funny viral.

I have found my new early Gold Cannes favourite. Hieneken Rugby World Cup Ad. It has hints of the Big Ad and a really shitty tie into the product. But boy do i get excited when i see a war-esque ad with a huge wad of cash thrown behind it.

On our morning run, Rochelle fell into a ditch and ended up flat on her face. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously hurt, which is a miracle considering the amount of broken glass along the ground and the depth of the hole. She's got a few bruises, but no broken bones or ligaments or even skin abrasions. She was quite angry for a few seconds, and then upset for a few more. She walked it off and then started running again. She's getting tougher!

It was very dark outside as the electricity was out, which meant no streetlights or lit houses. And the moon seemed to be hidden as well. I was sleep running, so woke up with a start when Rochelle fell on her face. That woke me up pretty quickly. We will be glad when winter is over so that we have more light in the mornings. Of course, electricity to operate street lights, traffic lights (they call them robots here) and houses would be nice as well. It gets more challenging when we are temporarily blinded by approaching vehicles and forced to stumble along blindly for a few moments.

I've just come up with a plan to escape my office for two weeks. I'm thinking about running from the northern border of Zimbabwe (I'd start at Chirundu at the Zimbabwe-Zambian border) to the southern border (I'd finish at Beitbridge at the Zimbabwe-South African border) over the course of two weeks (I think I would need to run about 60 K a day, which would be fairly easy considering that would be my only real task for the day and I could take an easy pace). I could stay with Salvationists each night of the trip and participate in some prayer meetings or other local Army events. I'm hoping that I would be able to raise money to support our hospitals and social institutions, as they are struggling to continue operating due to the economic hardships in Zimbabwe. Do you think a run across Zimbabwe to raise money and awareness would be a good idea? Let me know.

This is a nice steal of a e-cultural icon (yeah i just made that word up) of the youtube skin. Spansish Blood Band have done really well with attaching their message to an item that is looked at several times a day by me and now for at least the next couple of days I will think of the Spanish Give Blood Ad.

Click here to see that Ad

I found this widget on a the blog The Amber Theatre. Very interesting blog about audio branding. Back to the widget, this widget now makes it easier to leave a comment about my posts. All you have to do is choose one of the icons.

Watch this video for more info.

Well, I finally reached 100 posts. Thank you to everyone who has commented back to me about the blog. I really do enjoy writing this blog, I feel it helps me proactively stay on top of the latest trends. I hope it is enjoyable for you too and if there is any suggestion please feel free to email me.

So, our plan to beat the "no importing foods" statute before its implementation on August 1 worked. Saturday we flew to Lusaka and found some nice goodies - flour, rice, pasta, sugar, jam, dried fruit, the new Harry Potter book, etc. (John was ecstatic!) We also took advantage of the whole "being in a country with food" thing by going out for lunch and supper (seafood then Italian - yum!) and we also saw two movies - Harry Potter and Die Hard 4. I actually liked Die Hard 4 more than I thought I would. I admire people who are courageous without thinking about it first. We flew home yesterday afternoon. Over the weekend we marveled again on the fact that we live such a bizarre life. On the one hand, we make less than $5/month (combined salary) but on the other hand we live the life of the rich and famous - flying into another capital just for dinner and a movie (OK, and buying some basic food necessities...)

Happy Birthday to my brother Joel - who is living his dreams. He's been directing opera in Italy... my little brother! I'm so proud. May many more dreams come true... We love you, Joel! xo

One of the things that I've always wondered is how convicted felons pass time in prison. Now I know.

They remake classic music videos. At least that's what the Filipino ones do.



I've never been so proud of my country. I love how they use a man in place of an actual woman (for obvious reasons).

This is a great viral, capitalising on the success of the viral coke and mentos youtube videos of last year.

So, my mom's a tad worried about us these days - what with Zim in the news all the time. So, she's been praying, and we're thankful. I asked her to pray for our electricity, and we've had more power in the last 2 days than we've had in weeks - 2 full evenings in a row! Last night we had 3 families over for dinner. It was a full house, and we feasted on John's famous cooking, and the whole thing was made MUCH easier because of power. Have I mentioned that I love sharing food with people? There's something holy about it (especially when you know it's truly only by grace that you have that much food!) My mom also sent us $200 so that we can fly to Lusaka tomorrow and buy some groceries (AirZim had to slash all their prices too - because of government controls). It seems pretty crazy to fly to another country for one night, but if it means you can stock up on some basics... So, thanks, Mom!

The latest edition of Digital B&T features an article that I was quoted in for Online Social Networks. 'Social Networks' Page 12 Katie Cincotta

Things just keep getting more and more interesting in Zimbabwe! Yesterday we got a copy of a new Statuatory Instrument on Control of Goods (Import and Export) issued by the President's office. As of August 1, 2007 no food will be allowed in or out of the country. That means that individuals (like us!) can't bring food over the border, but neither can companies. And since local production is coming to a standstill because of price controls.... I keep wondering "what's the plan?" and no one seems to know. When no food is being produced and no food is being imported, how do people survive? There must be SOME sort of plan, right??

The headlines today were that within 2 weeks no fuel coupons will be accepted at service stations. Right now there are HUGE fuel queues. When petrol/fuel is available, people spend hours in their car hoping to get some - using coupons. But in 2 weeks' time... I guess people will always find a way, and there will still be a blackmarket, but I cannot imagine the prices! Good thing we don't have a car, and that we enjoy walking!

I do have good news though. Last night our electricity came on at 5:30pm and was STILL ON this morning when we left for work. I can't tell you how excited I was to be able to have TOAST while listening to music for breakfast!

We met a new friend last night. He is a Zimbabwean who married a Canadian and is now living in Canada, but came back for a visit and hopes to move back here soon with his family. He was a real blessing and encouragement to us. Every day we meet people who are trying to get out of Zimbabwe. It was refreshing to meet someone who is wanting to move back. He spoke about wanting to be here, to make a difference, and be part of a hopeful future. It made me realize two things: 1 - that I really easily fall into pessimism/discouragement and 2 - we really get into survival mode here - thinking about day-to-day worries (will there be bread? will there be electricity? etc.) rather than focusing on hope for the future and a belief that things can change and improve. It's really easy to find things to complain about and grumble about, and it's really easy to get overwhelmed with discouragement. I just pray for a clean heart for myself; for a positive attitude; for a spirit of gratitude rather than complaining. Yes, businesses are closing (like our favourite pizza restaurant - shame!) Yes, people are struggling. But we need to keep hope. In a lot of ways, this is exactly what I wanted - to be in a really tough place, sharing love and hope and life with people. There is always hope. So, if you pray for us, please pray for that - that we would be an encouragement rather than becoming discouraged.

Remember when Coca-Cola came out with Coke Zero? Given today's health-conscious consumers, Coca-Cola thought it'd be a good idea to create a beverage that tasted sweeter than Diet Coke without adding calories. Using a mix of artificial sweeteners, the beverage was supposed to have a taste unique to itself.

It turns out there is a possibility of "taste confusion" (i.e. the drinker is unsure whether or not he/she is drinking Coke or Coke Zero), and yes - there has been a campaign spearheaded to sue Coca-Cola over such confusion. Unbelievable, eh? Well believe it, baby.

Here's Coca-Cola's response.

Just so there's zero confusion, don't worry; it's all just a viral campaign by Coca-Cola.

This from MIT Adverlab "Police officers in the UK are to be given head-mouted video cameras to film incidents and arrests, the footage of which can then be used in evidence. The 'head-cams' can store up to 400 hours of footage with soundtrack on their hard drive." Looks like something marketing ethnographers and planners could use, no?

Couldn't agree more!

Update
Blendtec have been able to climb up the Youtube ratings again with their latest stunt of blending a iPhone. I commented on Blendtec in a post last year here

Another interesting Video on the changing consumer, highlighting the rate of technology adoption and the effect this has.

Well, our marathon mourning weekend is over. There were all-night vigils Thursday and Friday night at the Pamacheches' house, and then Saturday was the official funeral and burial. We feel physically and emotionally exhausted, and we didn't even stay for the all-nights - I can't imagine for the family. But they're looking ok. John skipped work this morning to take the kids on a horseback tour of Mukuvisi woodlands to see giraffes, etc. I feel much more at peace now. I'm still sad, but it's not so painful. Maybe I'm learning something about the Zimbabwean way of mourning...

Someone was just telling me that there are a lot of rumours going around the territory about the THQ (territorial headquarters - the place where we work) Murder Mystery. Lt. Col. Mhasvi died less than a year ago, and he died of liver cancer too. So that makes 2 people in the same workplace of the same disease. So, people are speculating that we are trying to poison each other here. There is such a strong belief in malevolent forces! Most people believe that no one, and I mean NO ONE dies of natural or scientific causes - it's always because of SOMEONE who put a curse on the deceased or who poisoned them or something. It wasn't me - I swear.

The shops are still empty, but we found a "connection" who can often find bread in the morning. Yum - have I mentioned that we love bread? There are still lots of police officers everywhere, making sure that people charge the government-directed prices - t.v.s were going for really cheap last week, but we were too late - stores were sold out within hours. We paid a friend $2million to contribute to the purchase of a beast (if they can get it into the city from the rural areas - there are a lot of police road blocks). I hope we don't get the head...

This afternoon I was on my way home. On the right lane, I noticed that, about 50 metres away, a van was stopped with its hazard lights on. After merging into the next lane over, I looked over. What was wrong? Flat tire? Woman in labour? Then I saw the answer.

The van had pulled right beside a light post, to which a child was standing uncomfortably close to. As the kid pulled up his pants and turned around, a big wet mark was visible.

Really, sir/madam - could you not find some place a little more discrete than a major road? I understand kids don't have as much control with their bladders, but c'mon. There's some secluded bushes and a donut shop nearby. The following sentence is going to age me, but who cares; when I was a kid, and I was on road trips, my dad wouldn't let me go over the side of the road. Instead he'd make me find an empty can/bottle and go in there while the van was moving.

Maybe that's why I have such exceptional balance these days...

Did I think that the movie lived up to its hype, or that it had transformed into a shell of its former self?

Before I begin, I'd like to say that I started this post talking about how I planned on seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix tonight. In that post, I made a brief, insignificant reference to Transformers. Suddenly, the thoughts kept on coming, and I decided that it would be wrong to deprive the loyal readership.

So, did I think the movie lived up to its hype, or was I sorely disappointed? Now that I've burned a paragraph, I'll cut to the chase; the latter. Go out and find Optimus (Michael Bay's version), because I'm about to flame the movie. BEWARE - spoilers abound for the five of you who haven't seen it yet.


Optimus arrives to help me set fire to the movie.

For the first hour or so, we see the Transformers disguise themselves amongst everyday forms. Bumblebee is an old car, Scorponok is your everyday run-of-the-mill giant scorpion, and Frenzy is a boombox just like in the cartoon. Oh wait, Frenzy is supposed to be a cassette tape that pounded the floor with battering rams, and Soundwave is a boombox. Whatever.


Just your everyday giant scorpion. No wonder it went undetected.

The first encounter is with a Decepticon helicopter, whose name I don't know. The Americans warn the chopper to leave as it is entering restricted airspace, but the defiant chopper lands at their base anyway. It then transforms into robot form - WHOA! The beautiful sequence takes about 5 seconds, which is dumb for a number of reasons. 1) It's not practical. Had the humans learned, they would've just dropped napalm on an unsuspecting Decepticon while it was going through the rigours of transforming. 2) In the middle of the 5 second sequence is 1 second of the famous transforming sound. Uhhh Michael....the sound is what transforming sounds like, idiot. It's not just some random sound byte you stick in the middle of the sequence. In other words, the length of the sound equals the amount of time required to transform.

Meanwhile, a boy back in the US meets up with the Autobots and is bestowed the task of saving the world; by finding his grandfather's glasses. How did the Autobots know that he had the coveted glasses? eBay, natch. How does a pair of a dead man's glasses have implications on the fate of our world? In a nutshell, there is this cube from Cybertron, the Transformers home planet, that can create robot life. If in the wrong hands, an evil-doer, such as Megatron, can create an endless army and do God knows what. In this case, wipe out human life as we know it. Once Optimus finds the cube, he vows to take it into his chest, destroying the instrument and himself in the process. As Optimus explains the history its history, we're treated to some visions of Cybertron when war raged over that damn cube. Amidst mountains, lava, and hellfire and brimstone, Autobots and Decepticons battle it out. Since when did Cybertron become Middle Earth? Why does it look so organic? Whatever.

While the boy and his crush search his room for the glasses, his parents become suspicious of loud noises coming from outside. However, they never see the Autobots (who are as big as their house) because they are remarkably good at hiding. Ummm, does anyone recall the Transformers tagline from the 80's? "Robots in disguise": i.e. they hide by turning into a form familiar to humans, remaining undetected. They don't hide by finding cover behind a bush.

After being apprehended by government officials, it's revealed that a black ops division of the US government is in possession of the cube and Megatron (under constant supervision and cyrostasis). Eventually Starscream (I think) cuts power off from the facility, disabling the cyrostasis and allowing Megatron to escape. The humans escape too, with the cube in tow. The question is, how does Megatron, a handgun, escape a deep underground facility? Simple, he's actually an X-Wing ship (of Star Wars fame). Huh? Apparently the explanation is that he's a Cybertronian ship. OK, so why didn't the other recently-landed Transformers come with their own vehicle-form already?


Run, it's an army of Megatrons!

In the end, after a long battle in the city, in which, miraculously, there were no human fatalities after billions of dollars in damage, Spike kills Megatron and the cube by inserting it into his chest. What? How the hell did he know that would kill Megatron and not make him uber-powerful? More importantly, how did Optimus Prime not think to do that? Why was he so adamant about offing himself when he could've killed off that nuisance whilst taking care of the cube dilemma?

The answer lies in Optimus' first line after Megatron dies, "I'm sorry, brother." I see; you wanted to sacrifice yourself out of love for your brother. And then what would happen to the humans you've fought so hard to protect over the past 48 hours? Do you really think that Megatron would be so touched that he would strive to continue your work? And really; BROTHERS? Please. I think that end-of-the-movie swerve induced the least amount of emotion since I discovered that solyent green was made out of people (PEOPLE!).

In the end, Bumblebee somehow gets his voice back. The kid starts making out with the girl on top of Bumbleebee while the other Autobots watch. Optimus talks about the glory of humans, and calls upon other Autobots to join them on earth. During all this sunshine happiness, Starscream escapes. SEQUEL!

In the end, I'm glad I saw it. Yes I hated it - hate is a strong word, and that's why I use it - but it's kind of like my disdain for the Simpsons; I hate it for what it has become, but watch it for what it used to be.

Love hurts. I know a lot of people who choose to keep themselves distant from others, because when you’re close to people, it can be painful. They can choose to leave. They can say hurtful things. They can die. But as for me, I will never stop loving. Right now I am emotionally exhausted. I cried for about 6 hours yesterday (and we’re only just entering the marathon mourning process) – because I am missing Captain Pamacheche. But along with the pain of love – the pain of losing someone; the pain of watching someone you love suffer.... there is also great joy and great depth of spirit in love. I was created to love, and I will never stop loving no matter how much it hurts.

Amai Pamacheche was wailing yesterday. Weeping and wailing, and it was so painful to listen to that all the ladies who came to visit tried to sing louder and louder to cover up the sobbing. But it hurts. She and Captain were so in love – so close. For the past couple of months as he’s been sick, she was at his side every minute, talking with him, tending to his needs, praying through the night. And now he’s gone. I cannot imagine the loss. You share a bed with someone; you share a life with someone; you share joys and jokes and dreams and sorrows with your life partner, and then… he’s gone. I don’t know what I would do without John… True love. It hurts, but it is a beautiful sort of pain.

It was Alice’s birthday the other day, and she wanted me to pray a blessing over her. She also wanted her husband Mac to pray for her. Mac is very depressed these days – about the state of our nation, about the economy, and about the fact that he was run over by a bicycle and could not afford any treatment (he had to walk to the nearest clinic, and then got turned away, because his pensioner’s medical coverage is worth nothing). So, he didn’t want to pray. But then he agreed – because of true love. “God, thank you for my wife Alice. Thank you for her courage, and thanks that we get to be together. God, you need to help us, because we don’t know what to do. I love her. Thank you.” True love.

Before I re-post my tribute to my school-friend Johnny Lo, I should explain something.

Many of you will remember last week, I wrote an entry in honour of an old friend who had died suddenly. You may also remember that the post was, within a few hours, inexplicably removed.

That's because he was still alive.

When I went to visit him, his mother had made frequent references to the donation of his organs, and him being with Jesus now; it felt pointless, and frankly, insensitive to request confirmation: "So, he's really dead?"

I felt that it was best that his family broke the news rather than some guy the deceased hadn't seen in years. Thus, I didn't tell anybody. Later in the day, I looked at his Facebook profile to see what people were writing, and within hours, heartfelt tribute messages and RIP's appeared. "People know now, time to blog a tribute." I thought.

Imagine my shock when, hours later, I received word that Johnny was still alive. Critical, but alive. Hence the removal of the tribute post.

He hung tough for a little while longer, until a few days ago when he passed on quietly. So I'm putting the tribute back up. I've also added in a couple more stories that I recall from high school. Upon further reminiscing, he was also in my grade 12 physics class where we caused a bit of trouble.

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Last night I logged onto Facebook to receive a disturbing message. Someone unknown to me sent a message saying that a high school buddy of mine, Johnny Lo, had been in a serious accident and was in critical care. I had an early morning interview the next morning and work in the afternoon, so I decided that I should drop by and say hello. Even though I hadn't spoken to Johnny in over five years, I thought it'd be nice to offer my support in person and see him.

Imagine how stunned I was when I got there and was informed by his mother that his organs were being donated. I was completely blindsided. On my way to the hospital I had imagined us talking briefly, reminiscing, and possibly making plans to meet up sometime after he was released.

I first met Johnny when I was in grade 6. I was new to the school, and he arrived about a couple of months later. He was an extremely friendly guy, but was often teased by the punk kids for his relatively thick Chinese accent. Despite that, he didn't let it bother him much and maintained his friendly nature. And in time, he won those punk kids over with his talents. 1) Johnny was an amazing artist. When he got bored in class, he doodled, and I remember looking over one day in curiosity and saying "Whoa! Look at that!" If I remember correctly, he had drawn his left hand with exceptional detail. 2) He was an AWESOME goalie. In grades 6 and 7, our recess games consisted of ball hockey and red-ass. After a few games, the guys started to pick up on Johnny as an exceptional goalie, and he soon became one of the first to be picked when choosing teams.

And though he didn't exactly excel at red-ass, I guess you could say his humility and characteristic of fair play shone through in a humourous way: remember how the losers of red-ass would have to stand by the wall and get thrown at? Most losers would try and argue their way out of taking shots to the butt. But Johnny would simply offer up an "Awww shit!", walk to the wall and take his shots to the butt with no complaints. Afterwards, he'd laugh and would be ready for the next round. Seriously, nothing seemed to phase him and he was always enjoying himself.

During grade 7, the movie "Ricochet", starring Ice-T, received heavy TV promotion. Everyday for lunch, my drink was a can of iced tea. I guess Johnny saw that commercial far too often, because whenever I opened the can, he'd go "WHAAAT!!! ICED TEA! RICOCHET!!! WHAAAAATT!!"

I have a few good high school memories of him. Outside of school I did play ball-hockey with him occasionally on weekends, but for the most part, him and I went our separate ways after elementary school in terms of crowd and didn't hang out much anymore. We still said hello to one another in the halls and asked how things were going. We did have grade 10 gym together, in a class full of the bad kids. He actually got along with them really well, much better than I did. I don't know how it happened, but somehow they coined this phrase that caught on - for no apparent reason, they started proclaiming, in Mortal Kombat-announcer style, "Johnny Lo...WINS!!!". Eventually it caught on with everyone and the entire class would say it at random. He loved it.

Grade 12 physics was the last class I believe I had with him. Our teacher was Mr. Tung, renowned in school for having no control over his classes whatsoever. Johnny and I took full advantage of that. At the beginning of the semester, I thought I would take the class seriously, trying to give Mr. Tung a chance to prove the naysayers wrong. But no, his class was a total joke. Once we came to that realization, Johnny and I would sometimes do stupidness at the back of the class. I have this one memory where we reenacted the latest episode of RAW (WWE wrestling) and we traded punches and clotheslines for a good five minutes. Eventually I got fed up; I pointed to something behind him to make him look, and when he turned back around, I "knocked him out" with a foreign object: my class notes.

Just before I started graduate studies, I ran into him on the U of Toronto campus. We spoke for about five minutes, and said that we'd talk again sometime. Never did I imagine that the next time would be in this form.

Goodbye Johnny. When it's my time, I hope to see you again.

Captain Pamacheche died a few minutes ago. After months of deliberating about funds and doctors and protocol, he finally started chemotherapy last week. I can't believe it. I will never see my Zimbabwean father smile again... well, not for a long time. I feel heart-broken. We had so much hope - he had so much hope...

I went to Island Hospice (the place where I volunteer) and the receptionist - Emeldah - was gone. I learned that she got sick suddenly, and then the medication she needed was not available in Zim, so she died. She was in her early 30s. I remember her telling me about becoming an orphan at a young age, and then several of her siblings dying. Death is part of life, but it's still jarring to me. She just sort of disappeared. Just like Sarah - a girl who was staying with some friends of mine because her mom was ashamed of her. One minute she's there, and the next she's dead. She was 20, and she's just gone - HIV/AIDS. It's like a whole generation is just disappearing.

Then there's the food. I guess Zimbabwe's on the news a lot these days. So, you know we have crazy inflation here - like about 5000%. A woman was saying in the news that a banana costs what she paid for her 4 bedroom house in the year 2000. What happened is that the government legislated price freezes, saying that people had to stop the ever increasing price increases. This sounds great, and when it happened, there was a mad rush to the shops (people were literally running around buying whatever they could afford). I must admit that it was strange to see "sale" signs and to actually see a decrease in prices. But now, there's not much in the shops because people bought everything within a few hours (although we went at lunch today, and there are shelves and shelves of mustard - not a popular item, I guess!) No one can actually afford to produce something when they can't break even, so there are rumours of mass closures of business. And over 1300 people have been arrested for trying to charge "too much" (a.k.a. the real value) for goods. Sometimes it feels like we're in this big experiment. Like, hey - let's try controlling the economy - but you can't. Or let's try going it alone without the rest of the world - but you can't. Thankfully there are still lots of fruits and vegetables around. I hear bananas go well with mustard...

Our hot water has also, unfortunately, disappeared. It's a shame since it's so FREEZING! And there's no electricity in the morning, so it's a huge chore to boil water to bucket-bathe. Someone did sell us a little bbq, and we experimented with a little campfire in our living room last night. There's some potential there...

On a cheerier note, I just made some photos appear on our site - of John finishing Comrades and our week at Masiye Camp, and we're watching some hilarious DVDs someone sent us - "Arrested Development" (thank God for battery life on our laptops!) Don't worry, Mom - we're fine! But please, everyone, do keep Zimbabwe in your prayers.

I’d like to recommend some excellent books that I read recently:

* The Inheritance of Loss (Kiran Desai) – winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize – an AWESOME book. It’s all about what it means to fit in, to be in a new culture, and it examines what home looks like, and what love looks like. It’s so well written, and real and honest.

* The Moonlit Cage (Linda Holeman) – my mom sent me this book. It’s a Canadian authour, but it’s set in Afghanistan/Pakistan in the 1800s. This book made me think a lot about the difference between being happy, having joy and being content. It made me realize that even though I always seek to have joy, it’s difficult for me to be content – because I’m always seeking out new adventures and new thoughts and new ways. It also made me think about my identity as a woman.

*Beginning to Pray (Anthony Bloom) – this is an easy read, but wow – it has some really good and profound ideas – some of which I was initially angry about, but then realized are true - like, the fact that God can absent himself from us (a reminder that there is no way we can control God – God is God!)

*Status Anxiety (Alain de Boton) – he’s a philosopher, but his writing is very readable. This book talks about the history of envy, jealousy, relations between the rich and poor, etc. I read this in Mozambique, and John made fun of me for taking notes on vacation, but I couldn’t help it – there were too many good ideas.

Marketing Today Podcast; Issue Consumer Involvement

You can hear me on the Peter Wagstaff Marketing Today Podcast, In this Podcast I chat with Wags about the new trend of Consumer Involvement, which links quite nicely with what I have been talking about with the Myfootballclub.co.uk and also the Durex Sexecutive Position.

Prayer means a lot to me, as it is my communication with God. John took me out to lunch, and before I started eating my wrap, I said a usual grace "Thank you God for this food." But it really meant something today. I was really thankful - and it really did feel like grace. There's no bread or meat in the shops, and yet I ate a chicken wrap with bacon in it. A miracle. Grace.

Speaking of prayer, there is a big prayer controversy in The Salvation Army here. See, a lot of Zimbabwean Salvationists like mass prayer (when everyone prays at the same time - often very loudly!) This was deemed to be "not The Salvation Army way" and so a prayer team is being sent all over the country to stop this type of praying. There was even some talk about establishing a prayer constitution and asking people to sign up and have joining fees. Thankfully that idea was scrapped. Personally I feel that with no food in the shops (it's so eerie to go into a grocery store and see no food!) there are bigger battles to fight than forms of prayer - but who I am to say?

Prayer is good. It's deep and meaningful and simple and profound. Try it out.

Team Buying - 2007 version of the Horse Syndicate!

Myfootballclub.co.uk, is an online community that's gathering 50,000 football fans to buy an English football team. Each member must commit to putting away 35 pounds if they get 50,000 members. Then the members get to make all the decisions from what team to buy, to who to trade and at what price.

This has also been happening in the Music Industry with Sellaband.com which lets people buy shares in upcoming musicians. If they get enough shares they create an album of which you get to see the profit from.


Another one to just launch is VIPBandmanager which allows people to be the Music Manager.

This would create a great brand community and the WOM from your new found brand loyalist would be massive. I think it is only a matter of time before a Corporate Brand open up their processes and let their consumers take hold of a brand extension.

Sexecutive Position

In need of a job? Durex has just launched their search for Condom Testers 'Sexecutive Positions'. There is 200 unpaid positions here.

I like this alot and think it has got alot of good elements. It is getting a core group to trial the product and then a clear Word of Mouth idea to carry the message. It is also taking advantage of the new trend of consumer wanting to 'get involved'.

However it does not seem to offer much in terms of embracing social media. Pretty standard 'enter your friends email address here' launched off a Microsite. '

I would of suggested hitting seek.com.au, mycareer.com.au and hippo.com.au with these positions advertised. I would also of liked to of seen some embrace of Myspace and Facebook networks. The website is pretty boring and does allow the consumer to engage on a deeper level with the product either.

Good idea, standard execution

Not too far away from the Toohey New Beer Testers idea either.

Mentos Intern

Mentos Intern,

Mentos have got an intern and they want you to set him work. You can get the intern to do anything for you from making restaurant bookings to proof reading your assignment. I love this idea

However

This seems to be very close to Gold Winning Cyber Lion idea of the Diesel Girls. I am struggling to see the link with the brand. Mentos does not seem to be the best brand to execute this. This seems perfect for a product targeting busy mothers or businessmen. Just cant see the strong message hitting home for Mentos.

From cosmedia.co.za/;

'According to Google Operating System, last year Google sponsored a social networking project, called Socialstream, at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

One of the project’s main goals was to investigate how social networking could be improved to bring more value to users. What came of this - and what I like about SocialStream - was a “unified social network (USN)”, which translates in simple English to an aggregation and consolidation of various social network data in a single place (see video below). As Mashable states, this is a more user-centric rather than network-centric approach to social networking.

From the project’s site, “Socialstream emphasizes improving social connections by making it more efficient to communicate with, share with, and view the social content of all the people in a user’s online social network. Socialstream provides a compelling user experience because it aggregates content across many different networks so a user has a single location to discover new content and communicate. The goal of Socialstream is to present social information in a way that ties it to the person who posted the information, and not the site from which it came.”



While time will tell if this will be launched as a separate or Orkut-integrated service, what is clear is that Socialstream presents a focus on benefit-orientated social networking mashups, which when coupled with Google’s large user bases and extensive application set could become very popular.'

Yesterday all the kids at our church were very excited. The Samaritan’s Purse boxes came. Are you familiar with these boxes? For years I filled up Samaritan’s Purse boxes with choir and church groups – you get a shoebox and fill it up with little toys and school supplies to send to a child overseas to brighten up their Christmas. Well, it’s July, but I can tell you for sure that they do get here. I was at a friend’s house yesterday, and her sister was telling me about the corruption involved. Supposedly 10 big boxes (full of shoeboxes) came, and whoever picked them up from the postoffice took one – to give to his kids. Then whoever stored the boxes also took two for himself – to give to his kids. Then some had to be given to leaders, etc. Anyway, our church ended up with 3 boxes. There were too many children to give each of them a carefully packed shoebox, and so the Sunday School teachers opened up all of the boxes. They picked a few things for themselves, and then divided the rest of the goods between the kids. My friend’s sister was quite excited about her items – a diary, a photo magnet that said “Brian” and a pack of bubble gum – all the way from Canada. As she was complaining about corruption, and then as I was judging her for obviously being involved in the corruption, she offered me a piece of Bubble-icious. Without thinking, I accepted, and as soon as I started chewing, I realized that I had become implicated – that I was chewing on corruption…

It's winter in Zimbabwe, which means you see women wearing white (or green or yellow) socks with their high heeled black shoes and uniform and people putting a bowl of water in front of their electric heater (so that their blood doesn't boil). We're Canadian, so we're not supposed to feel the cold, but we feel very Zimbabwean this winter. Trust me, it makes a big difference when none of the buildings are heated. You're just cold all the time. But I learned a great trick - wearing a sweater under your uniform tunic. Even with the bulkiness, I think it looks classier than the white socks!

I've spent the last two days at a lieutenants' seminar. This territory has 14 lieutenants, who have signed a 3 year term with The Salvation Army. They all want to become officers (full time pastors) but there is a new regulation saying that people need to have 5 O levels to enter training college. This basically means finishing high school. I'm torn on the issue. In spending time with these lieutenants, I was blessed by their passion, their faith, and their desire to serve God. I actually cried during their vocal item last night thinking, "why do you need education to praise God?" but then I also really see the benefits of having some education. I'm actually a HUGE fan of education, and though high levels of education are not for everyone, I definitely see the benefits of having an open mind and some awareness of the outside world - especially in a religious set-up. Sometimes if you only have grade 7 and you're put in a position of power, you tend to be jealous/insecure of those under you, and that can make their life really difficult...

Three days ago people cheered because the government instituted prize freezes and ordered businesses to lower their prices. People rushed to the shops to buy whatever they could. Some businesses, recognizing that they were going to lose money, pulled items off their shelves. Many of them have since been arrested. Yesterday, people began to see the ramifications of the price freezes as most commodities were nowhere to be found. Today, shelves are empty, and it is nearly impossible to find meat, poultry, eggs, flour or oil. I’m told that things will get worse.

I was in one of the largest grocery stores in the country today and it was eerie to walk around and see the empty areas of the shop and to see that they had taken off the price indicators on most shelves. You have to wait until you get to the register to find out the price of some items. But still, people were lined up at the registers to purchase what they could (vaseline, soap, porridge) but many found that they were limited in how much they could buy as the government had ordered businesses to stop selling in bulk. I’m sure that by tomorrow, the shops will be nearly empty of any price-controlled items.

I picked up three 500ml bags of full-cream, and three bags of detergent. I couldn’t find milk yesterday, so was pleased with the cream purchase (not sure when I’ll find more), and the three bags of detergent were the last ones in the store. I waited around for 30 minutes in the hope of finding bread, but I was out of luck. I still have some flour at home so I will try to make some bread this evening if there is any electricity. Last night we had no power until nearly bedtime.

I’m not sure what life will be like here in the next couple of months. Inflation and the economy are spiraling out of control and many areas of the country are expected to face serious food shortages in the coming months. This has been a drought year, which means that many people have run out their locally grown food. We brought back rice and pasta from South Africa last month, so we are in good shape for the next while.

The big concern, however, is how I'm going to get a copy of the new Harry Potter book.

Living in Zimbabwe is teaching me many things. Like....

1. If you love something or someone - fight for it. We love bread. Yesterday John was in the grocery store at lunch, and there was no bread (there have been shortages ever since the government announced the new fixed prices). Then he started hearing murmurings, and they brought out a rack of half-loaves. He elbowed, and used his height advantage and scored 2 half loaves for us (sometimes it's really useful to have an athletic husband!) There were 2 security guards there in case violence broke out between customers trying to get some loaves. 2 half loaves cost him his monthly salary - but man, we're going to enjoy our peanut butter sandwiches today!

2. If you have a Chinatown in your city, eat durian! It's my favourite fruit - and there isn't a Chinatown in Harare. It looks like a weapon, and it smells terrible, but it's delicious.

3. Go with the flow. I had hoped Africa would teach me patience, and I think it's slowly working. We had our friend Kathy visiting us for a week, and it was wonderful to have our first visitor from Canada. I didn't want her to go! But having her here made me realize that I have become more patient and more "go with the flow." The logistics of the Zimbabwe School of Youth Leadership gatherings are always stressful, with many challenges. The day before it started we never have any food, our train ride to Bulawayo took 12 hours rather than 6 hours, etc. But I've learned to just accept all new information, stay calm and think of how we're going to go from there. It's a huge lesson!

4. Matches are valuable. Our power went off at 5:30pm and we still don't have it back on. So, initially we used candles and then moved to our lantern. It's such a tough debate. Obviously we don't want to use up our batteries, but it's almost impossible to find matches anywhere here anymore - too valuable (note: please do NOT send us matches in the mail!)

5. Sometimes you have to watch for ostriches. I saw one randomly at the side of the road when we were travelling back from Masiye camp. Of course we got out to get a better look. I stood beside it, and it's a big bird! We also saw rhinos as we were going into the camp.

6. God is good. The Z.S.Y.L. met last week at Masiye Camp. All but one of the students managed to find transport money, we ended up eating every day, and had some amazing training in psycho-social support. I'm SO proud of the students - they are writing very well for their assignments and just growing in their leadership. What a difference it would make to this country to have good, unselfish, un-corrupt, Godly leaders in every sector of society! Masiye Camp is run by The Salvation Army and is set in the beautiful Matopos, where it looks like God placed huge rocks on top of each other. What a peaceful setting - it was good for the soul.

I'm back!!! For some reason we can't access the internet at home anymore, and I haven't been at work for 2 weeks. I hope none of our faithful readers worried that we'd perished. In fact, we've been having a great time. There are some AWESOME places to visit in Africa - consider it.

John did SO well in the (insane) 89km Comrades marathon. There were 11,000 runners, and two died. Hundreds had to be hospitalized and hooked up to i.v.s. Most people were crossing the finish line and then collapsing. John (of course) finished looking incredibly relaxed, and wanting to walk back to the beach for a swim! In the evening we went to a restaurant, and a fellow Comrade runner and diner had to be hooked up to an i.v. (at the dinner table!) and wheeled out by paramedics! John ran the race in just under 9 and a half hours, and I was so proud. He said the first 82kms went really well and then his quads gave out (there aren't many hills in Harare, and there are a LOT of hills on the Comrades marathon!) and so he walked the last 7kms. We watched the finish on television. At the 12 hour mark, they fire a gun, and anyone that comes in after that shot does not officially qualify nor get a medal. It was horrible to watch. Imagine - after running all day!

Comrades took place in Durban, South Africa. Let me just say that the Indian ocean is GORGEOUS!!!!!! Every morning I would watch the sunrise and read the Psalms and just enjoy God's creation. The ocean reminds of God - so vast and infinite. We also spent a few days by the ocean in Maputo, Mozambique. The town of Maputo isn't that fantastic (for a tourist, that is), but the ocean is still the ocean, and it was wonderful to spend a few days at the beach (and we ate prawns... every day, sometime twice a day!) We didn't do anything too wild in Mozambique, but it was good to rest and eat and watch t.v. We don't have a t.v., so it was quite something to wake up and watch a movie and then watch another one before we went to bed. More later...

The telecommunications industry is one of the fastest moving competitive industries in the globe today.

Mobile phones, internet, landline, VOIP are the main components of the current industry as we see it. However, the focus on landline has long been forgotten. It's all about the mobile.

Why?

Cheaper (cap plans), accessibility to information and friends and the ability to organise your entire life in a handheld device.

With the introduction of the iPhone people are questioning whether it will change the landscape of the industry, with much of its technology already on the market it offers very little different other than the apple name.

Then again, why do all the techno professionals love the idea?

It's all customizable, you can make you do what you want it to do. With PDAs such as the i-mate, options that could not be achieved on normal phones (such as sms forwarding) can be achieved if you have the know-how. With the iPhone, these features are much easily enabled with little technical expertise.

Where did the idea start?

Nokia were the first to fully integrate the concept into their market strategy throughout the use of chanegable covers and wallpapers. This was even taken further with the introduction of the camera phone, whereby you could place your own pictures as the wallpaper. Uniqueness to other brands is an essential KSF (Key Success Factor) for cell phone companies.

It allows individuals to express thenselves, phone organisations such as Sony, Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry, O2 and Motorola all emphasise individuality. Even though mass production is the main production method, the software allows individuals to express themselves through the ability to match their phone, to their personality.

So express yourself, it's all custom.

So the iPhone has just been released in the US. Since following trends I haven't seen this much hype for one product. Apple must be laughing all the way to the bank with this amount of online publicity. However looking at the videos the most blogged about video is of a gentleman dropping his new iPhone and then picking it up and it still working. This has been blogged about over 60 blogs and viewed more than 200,000 times.

In the most blogged about videos, iPhone related videos accounts for 6 of the top 20 blogged videos.

These are the most blogged about iPhone videos of now.

Shawn drops iPhone in Houston


Conan iPhone Commercial


My iPhone Diary


A closer look at the iPhone


iPhone smash


iPhone scratch test

As picked up on the MIT Advertising Lab. Fog Screen is a screen which allows images to be projected onto a wall of dry fog.

You got to love the music track they have chosen for this demo video.