On appreciating Skyrim

Well, less appreciation for Skyrim and more for Lemur Lady, who has so well encapsulated what it means to be widowed in reality by this world of total un-reality, that I’ve had to re-post it here.

For those (blessed) un-initiated few, Skyrim is the latest in immersive role play video gaming (think dragons, magic, castles, lots of aimless wandering through medieval landscapes etc. etc.). If your housemate/boyfriend/husband enters this realm, prepare to live alone. Oh and did I mention it NEVER ENDS?

At the time, I read Lemur Lady’s post and it thoroughly tickled me, to quite a disproportionate degree given that until that point I didn’t even know what Skyrim was, let alone had seen it in action.

Now that I have experienced it (well, second-hand as I watch my better half slowly plunge into its mysteriously addictive depths night after night), I find Lemur Lady’s words so pant-wettingly accurate, I have to re-post them here.

What not to say to someone who is playing Skyrim:

“Gosh. That is loud”

“How are you carrying all that stuff? That’s ridiculous.”

“Is that you on fire?”

“You’ve bought a house? I thought this was medieval warfare, not the Sims.”

“Awesome, a dragon! Wait…don’t…don’t hit it! LEAVE THE DRAGON ALONE!!! What’s it done to you? Have you any idea how endangered those things are?”

“She is so not appropriately dressed for that sort of weather”

“Haven’t you already done this bit? Twice? Oh. It was you on fire”

“Surely once you’ve wandered around one dungeon looking for an amulet, you’ve wandered round them all?”

“There’s an awful lot of walking in this, isn’t there?”

“Is something going to happen soon?”

“You’re going shopping now? This is like real life. Only with more walking.”

“Why does everyone have so many consonants in their names? It’s like they’ve been picked out of a Scrabble bag.”

“Can I unplug *this* one to plug my laptop in? What do you mean I’m in the way of the screen? Oh look, you’re on fire again.”

Source: Knitting My Own Yoghurt

I’m slowly working my way through the list.

Do check out the rest of Lady Lemur’s blog, and while you’re at it, browse her awesome collection of hand-made wares as well. Don’t mind the scary-looking lemur. I’m pretty sure he’s harmless.

Unlike Skyrim. Which will eat you alive.

 

*You can follow Lemur Lady’s antics on Twitter here. Be prepared to giggle.

* You can purchase Skyrim here. Be prepared to commit social suicide.

* Fellow Skyrim widows should also read this. Evidently, you are not alone.

 

Screw detox, eat cake: Gillian versus Nigella

As a lover of baking, baked goods and cheese, and a reluctant sporadic gym-user, I was delighted with this Facebook share today. Now I know the key is in the presentation and one is (supposedly) deserted in the jungle with no luxuries to her name, while the other appears to glammed up for some kind of red carpet do – and clearly the assets bestowed upon them by the divine differ hugely as well – but the juxtaposition is amusing nonetheless.

The moral of the story? Screw detox, eat cake.

I’ll have an R, an I and a P, please Bob

Very sad news today that beloved 80′s TV hero, Bob Holness, has died at the age of 83.

He was also an accomplished actor and broadcaster, but other children of the 80′s may remember best the soft toy mascots, the flashing hexagons and the infamous ‘Can I have a P please, Bob?’ which inexplicably was still hilarious, even on the seventeenth time of watching.

And what other TV show can claim a dance routine created solely for its theme tune?

R.I.P. Bob. Enjoy the memories:

p.s. who knew he was South African?

Geek vs Nerd: The ultimate test

Everybody loves a good infographic – none more so than the geeks and nerds of the world.

So imagine the joy circulating around the interwebz this afternoon, when this bad boy surfaced:

Courtesy of (presumably) the geeks AND nerds behind the Masters in IT website for that Friday giggle. And a rather cute marketing ploy for their cause – I mean, who is a likely target audience…?

 

My favourite Friday thought

…from my guiding light in most areas of life, LC:

Causes of cancer – what can you control?

A lot of buzz in the media this morning about the controllable causes of cancer, following information from a Cancer Research-funded review, led by Professor Max Parkin, that has found commonality between various cancer types: the causes of which primarily include smoking, obesity and a lack of fruit and veg. All of which we can, to some degree, control.

Handily, Cancer Research have produced this great info-graphic to drive home the point:

A spokesperson on BBC breakfast this morning made a salient point that struck me. We are, sadly, bombarded now with statistics and stories about various cancer experiences – largely because (and here is that big statistic), at least 1 in 4 of us will suffer from some kind of cancer at a point in our lives. His point was that possibly because of this, our instinct is to consider fate and chance as more significant factors than anything within our control. The conclusions of this research suggests how wrong we are.

Now I’m not for one moment suggesting that all cancer sufferers can jump on a treadmill and eat their way healthy – my own mother’s grueling (though successful) experiences of radiation treatment are testament to that. But these words rang true. Just because we might be that 1 in 4, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to do everything in our powers to give ourselves the best chance to be one of the other three. And by doing so, maybe we can carve out a whole new set of statistics for the next generation.

Otters holding hands: Happiness Guaranteed™

Because it’s Friday.

Because we all like seeing things guaranteed to make us smile.

And because everyone can use a helping hand every now and again.

Catvertising: why more ad agencies need to learn to laugh at themselves

Catvertising is the latest YouTube sensation to ‘go viral’, with creators, Canadian advertising agency John St., undoubtedly now reaping the rewards of global awareness.

How did this little 150 second clip gain nearly 1 million views? And what other agency can claim that from what is essentially a promotional video?

Quite simply because there is something for everyone: People love the cats, brand-side marketers enjoy the mockery of typical agency showreel videos and every other marketing consultancy around the world is wishing they thought of the idea themselves.

In terms of a strategy for new business, this ticks every box:

1. At the centre of their pipeline ‘bulls eye’ will be the brands – potential clients – to whom they need to prove their creativity and ability to deliver against a brief.
2. In order to attract the best people to work in their team, they need to make sure everyone in the industry knows who they are so that if you don’t currently work there you kind of wish you did – or at least that your team was more like them.
3. And finally non-industry folk - who, directly, are of little benefit to John St. in terms of revenue, but they will be the ones their clients look to reach, so proving they can market themselves to this audience is a pretty convincing way to show they can market their clients with the same creative success. Not everyone will get the knowing references to AdLand’s bullsh*t bingo, but that doesn’t matter, because what everyone does know is that cat videos rock.

Having worked in a marketing consultancy for five years (and loved it), creative and innovative though it was, the trappings of the agency showreel are fairly universal. Catvertising is full of these and I love John St. for being so openly willing to poke fun, laughing at themselves and their industry nuances in the process.  As cutting-edge as they may be, too many agencies can take themselves so seriously, that by blinding prospective clients with zingy quotes, mind-boggling stats and mind map flowcharts, they alienate more than they do attract.

What John St. seem to be saying is ‘we know our stuff, but we’re not afraid to have fun. We don’t need whizz-bang strategy documents, Venn diagrams uncovering the ‘sweet spot’ or graphical displays of consumer behaviour to get our message across. We create content that sticks, and by doing so attract the very audience we set out to reach. We entertain, and we deliver. And we love cats.’

Who wouldn’t hire them?

Happy Halloween: the cutest ever costume

Struggling for inspiration this Halloween? Tired of all the fake blood staining your clothes and/or having to dress like a ghoulish hooker to secure costume cred? Well worry not – inspiration this year comes from a two year old.

Possibly the cutest costume I have ever seen, posted on Facebook this week by Harper’s Bazaar Arabia:

Happy Halloween Fashionistas!

x

The Macarons Diaries: humble beginnings

Macarons, the colourful French delicacy, beloved of Marie-Antoinette (well, according to Sophia Coppola anyway), have replaced the cupcake in recent times as the trendy baked good of choice. So, naturally, I want to master their creation.

I’ve started this series of blogs (at least, for reasons that will become clear, I have a feeling it will become a series) after a disasterous first attempt a few weeks ago. The intention is two-fold: firstly, in order to retain the motivation to keep trying until I perfect them, by publishing my failures for all to see, I’m rather hoping the pressure to improve will prevent me from giving up altogether. And, secondly, to give heart to fellow novice bakers who, like me, ignorantly assumed them to be a piece of cake to make. (FYI, there is a reason that phrase is cake and not macaron-related).

As a birthday gift this year I received good instruction in the form of Bérengère Abraham’s Macarons, which is a delightful collection of 28 combinations of macarons crust and fillings, beginning with a very basic, handy ‘how-to’ guide for all macarons types.

Well safe to say, it wasn’t quite basic enough for me. The moment of failure, I think, came upon adding the baked almond/flour combination to my under-whipped egg-whites, when the whole mixture sort of went ‘pleugh’. Undeterred, I somehow thought that adding liquid (in the form of pink food colouring, as per the recipe), would improve the situation – but instead, predictably, the mixture deflated further.

At this stage, I was pretty certain defeat was on the cards, but never one to give up until the game is well and truly over, I remained resiliant and moved to the next step: piping onto a baking sheet. Not having a baking sheet, I felt that a suitable replacement would be baking paper, lined unevenly into a shallow baking tray. Yes, quite.

Well, I don’t know if you have ever tried piping mulch onto an uneven surface (hasn’t everyone?), but safe to say you end up with small, uneven pools of liquid – far removed from the nice, perfectly round, piped macaron halves, worthy of Lorraine Pascale:

These were not mine.

To complete my humiliation – photo evidence of my attempt:

You may think I would have stopped there, but by then this exercise had morphed from a culinary induction into a full-on science experiement, so I decided to bake them/it regardless, just to see if the heat had any impact on crisping up the shells:

It appears not.

So, on to Round Two. My egg whites are chilling in the fridge, ready for the next battle tomorrow, where they will be well and truly whipped.

Appropriately for the macaron’s heritage, much like France will be in the Rugby World Cup final next weekend.

Stay tuned for the results.