The use of net-made stars in adverts and music videos is getting to be quite a common thing, one that I think won’t last too long (holding thumbs).

Weezer got in early with this music vid including quite a few of the vids we’ve all seen more than once.

South African internet star Vernon Koekemoer has been snatched up by Vodacom, Nando’s(including a fake Chuck), and more lately for the SA band Evolver music vid, Pretty thing.

Crazy how, for most of them, being an idiot makes you famous. Although, one certain idiot did make president of the US…

Hahaha.

Hahahahahaha.

SA Reunited just announced the following:

I got this tonight, seriously. Hahahahahahahahaha!

The gap’s been filled lads. The party’s over.

Welcome to two years ago…!

I love the Nintendo Wii. The fact that you can box without the blood, fish without the scaling or shoot ducks from the comfort of your living room chair is awesome. It’s all very lazy and keeps you indoors, for sure, but the Wii Fit takes it to a whole new level.

This parody vid, with added voiceover, accurately explains (IMAO) the Wii Fit.

Original full trailer here.

I just finished reading the graphic-novel, Shooting War, and what a read it was!

Shooting War: The New Graphic Novel (trailer) from SMITHmag on Vimeo

Set in 2011, this is a look at the near-future from the eyes of Jimmy Burns, video blogger turned war correspondent. The story itself is hard-hitting, funny, and at times unnerving; and the visual story-telling is nothing short of brilliant - an awesome blend of art and photography.

I love how they have portrayed Jimmy, a blogger out of his depth, and their take on where the war in the Middle East could go (and America’s role in it) is, to say the least, thought provoking. However, the bits I loved the most was the subtle satire that the team threw in, such as the PS4 being used by American remote forces to control robotic-killers.

There’s a web-comic available to whet your appetite, however I cannot recommend the book itself enough. If you’re one of the people that always say to me, “You read comics? Aren’t they just for kids?” let this click answer your question…!

I was walking to SAA’s business/premium queue at ORTI the other day, when I saw this site:

Two people at the economy class queue, with three desks open, and six people in the business queue with two desks open. Crazy? Not really, not when you understand the true motivation for business class travel (for short flights anyway). For that you need to look at the fourth step in Maslow’s hierarchy: esteem (self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others).

It’s abut ego. This is why Sun Air, the business class only airline that flew out of Lanseria went under. They claim it was the airport that people didn’t like, yet kulula.com is rocking the party from there. Why then would a business class only airline go under? It’s simple, there was no one there to feel superior to. Really.

What’s the learning from this? Well, one that I could think about would be for kulula to offer a business class type service with rows of two instead of three, and (yes) queue preference, possibly even a meal/drink voucher. Business class on a low-cost air line, could it work? I think so, just remember -

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king…!

This Avis ad at the back of Sawubona magazine made me giggle like a schoolgirl.

Hahaha…!

Title: Your Business Brickyard

Author: Howard Mann

Tagline: Getting back to basics to make your company more fun to run

Pages: 64

Dog ear score: 17:64 23%

So I just finished reading this book for the second time. I started it and finished it on a two hour flight to Cape Town (still having time to read the paper, eat terrible airline food, and generally rock the party).

This is a good business book. It’s the business book that the other business books wish they were. It’s the business book that gets all the hot chic-fic at the book parties. It’s well thought out, well written, and just about every page had a nugget of info that I scribbled down. Best of all, it respects the premium we place on our time - there’s hardly a wasted word in the 64 pages.

The basic premise is that we can make running our businesses fun again if we simply go back to the basics - and that’s why it works so well. It’s the diary of things that made a lot of sense back then that we’ve sadly grown out of. When you read it, you kick yourself, and if you’re anything like me, you change back.

That’s why it’s so handy that this is a one hour read, you’ll want to read it again in a year, and the “practice drills” the author provides will keep your grey matter busy long after you put the book down.

Here’s one of my favorite pull-quotes:

The ideas behind your purpose transcend your company. The truths of your idea exist whether or not a company is there to put them into practice. The ideas are universal.

Think about that for a second.

This is primarily a book for business owners of any size (your business, not your waist), however I believe senior management will get a lot out of it too.

Final word: Relevant

Okay, so I lied about the whole final word thing. Just an aside though, Howard Mann will be out speaking in South Africa in two week’s time at three invitation-only Standard Bank hosted events. So if you bank with ‘em, get a hold of your relationship manager okie-polokie and wrangle yourself a ticket.

So actually, the final word on the post is this…!

To the guy at Nissan in charge of picking colours for cars. What… the fuck… were you thinking?

(I’m upset, this pic does not do the colour justice, it’s greener than it looks here)

Gold, the rental agency told me it was. Gold! The bonnet in the foreground is gold, this abomination, my friends, is not gold - it’s an almost exact representation of metallic urine.

Seriously, colour guy, were you having a bad day? Y’know, I’m down with long tail threoy and all that, but shit, how fucking long is the tail that leads to people that want this colour?

I’m starting to understand what Henry Ford meant when he famously said that we can have any colour we want, “as long as it’s black.”…!