Thought for the week

“The current design has a real problem. It uses a lot of water, requires a very expensive system to bring in very clean water, then you make that water dirty.” Bill Gates on his plans to re-invent the toilet.

Worth the paper it’s printed on?

Light news success stories in the paper this week include… Lindsay Lohan having an argument with Clint Eastwood’s daughter, which appeared in 2 articles, only slightly less than Jared Loughner, the Gabrielle Giffords shooter, who was found guilty of the crime and made it into 4…
……Lady Gaga’s new album title and appearances at numerous events, as covered by 39 papers, far more than the 5 that looked into News Corporation’s $1.6billion loss…
…and, finally, Suri Cruise, Tom and Katie’s daughter, managed to steal 4 headlines for doing very little, in contrast a Chechnya bombing that killed Russian soldiers was only featured in 2.
(Source: Journalisted)

Weekly high

They’re all over the Tube in London, and have even been appearing on TV. Total Recall, the remake, arrives in cinemas next Wednesday, and in true movie-hype generating style the marketing team have developed this ad campaign to promote the idea of implanting memories in people’s brains. Shame the film itself is supposed to be so poor.

Weekly low

Wow. Not satisfied with putting on the ‘Greatest Olympic Opening Ceremony Ever’, London 2012 went one step further by putting on a spectacle of British pop music to round off the Games last Sunday. The only problem is most of it was dreadful, with George Michael’s attempt to resurrect his carcass of a career via the Godawful Europop single White Light topping the list of mistakes. Shocking, and embarrassing.

Three things that may happen next week…

Police could enter Ecuador’s London embassy under the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who is currently evading UK authorities inside the address, further protests are likely to be seen in major British train stations following the announcement of a 6% price hike on tickets, and a Chinese court will probably deliver its verdict over the killing of British businessman Neil Heywood, with the wife of a leading member of the Communist Party accused of his murder.

Dates for your diary

Thursday 23rd August 2012- Manchester; Note To Self Creative Consortium @ The Cornerhouse invited design professionals to descend on one of the North West’s most revered artistic institutions to hear speakers from some of the world’s top creative agencies.
If there is a success story, blunder, or tweeting town you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!