…and immediately makes me a rugby fan.
They are doing this in support of mental health awareness. And maybe just generally showing off their well-toned bodies.
The calendar is selling for £10 if you’d like to order it.
But not one to take it lying down, the men’s team have now also pitched in, and are also doing a sexy naked calendar in support of Breast Cancer awareness.
Any excuse to strip off in public eh?
In the single most obvious cry for help the Prime Minister has given, since taking a 36% paycut in 2012 in order to try and experience the “poor but contented” lifestyle many tv serials have portrayed, he has almost all but thrown in the kitchen sink in an attempt to voice out his general unhappiness.
By slowly but surely increasing his online activities via his facebook page, and then slyly slipping in a statement during a forum on friday evening, he has finally revealed the vulnerable, unhappy side of him.
In his most honest and candid statement yet, he said simply, but with gravitas “Satisfied people don’t have time to go onto the internet. Unhappy people often go there.”
Top things to do when in the internet: Sulk, Be unhappy, Feel unsatisfied. – Tripadvisor
Dear PM, as your loyal and unwavering citizens, we are all deeply concerned about your wellbeing. We are only human, as can be shown with the recent unhappiness portrayed by Nicole Seah, also professed on the internet, thereby proving your theory right.
We implore you to seek treatment, or at least talk to someone. There is no shame in that. Please call 1800 – 221 – 4444. The Samaritans of Singapore is always open for you, or anyone seeking help.
look at the muscles on that unhappy face!
Another MP of concern is Mr. Baey Yam Keng. Although he hasn’t outrightly stated that unhappy people often go onto the internet, he is of the same party. And we know all about toeing party lines. So by the internet’s count, he has been unhappy at least 623 times on this thing called Instagram, which is conveniently located on the internet.
Governing Singapore is a tough, tough job. Please take it easy. Let us know if it’s too much for you. We’ll know what to do.
I have no doubt many of you would have seen an episode, or at least a snippet of the popular Japanese anime, Doraemon.
Typically, it involves Doraemon and his owner Nobita Nobi, getting into a spot of trouble with friends, bullies or going through a series of unfortunate circumstances, but almost always ends up resolving the issues while learning (implied or otherwise) about certain values like friendship, perseverance and honesty.
But how many of you really know the backstory behind Doraemon?
What exactly is he, and why is he here?
Well, it turns out that the story has a very interesting parallel with The Terminator. (Or should I say events behind The Terminator could be inspired by Doraemon, given the manga was first published in 1969!)
Doraemon is a robot cat manufactured in the year 2112, and came to be in the possession of a little boy named Sewashi Nobi. Sewashi sent Doraemon back in time to improve the life of his Great Grandfather, Nobita, so that in the future, his descendents may enjoy a better life.
In the original timeline, Nobita was frequently bullied, and led a sad, miserable life with poor grades. This resulted in a eventual burning down of the business Nobita had set up, thus throwing his descendents into a financial rut. Sewashi initially wanted to send a super robot to protect Nobita, but could only afford factory reject, Doraemon.
So despite the light hearted tone to the series, it actually underscores a very moving story of attempting to alter history to better one’s predicament.
Fun fact
Doraemon’s ears were eaten by robotic mice. Although he can still hear perfectly well, it has given him a series-long phobia of the creatures.
Is it just me, or does Evangeline Lilly look a little weird as elf Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?
Also, the trailer seems a little underwhelming. It looks like we’re back for more goblin and orc fighting whilst traversing harsh landscapes when a call to Eagle Cab Services would have made the entire journey to the entrance of the lonely mountain redundant.
An interesting point on the character of Tauriel. She’s a brand new character created for the film, and wasn’t in the book. Legolas, who’s back in this one, was not involved in the events in The Hobbit as well.
Will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
Also, didn’t know Smaug can actually speak (in a british accent, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch!).
Check out the trailer.
As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. 2012’s The Avengers is the aforementioned tide. There was probably never any doubt of Ironman 3’s box office clout, so Thor: The Dark World was the first real test of whether moviegoers would be keen to follow closely the individual adventures of the marvel superheroes.
The answer seems to be a resounding ‘Yes’. Well played Marvel. You now have a slate of upcoming and highly anticipated films in Phase 2, to be concluded with Avengers 2.
We last left Thor with a broken Rainbow Bridge, and a lot of wars to wage across the 9 realms in order to restore the peace that Loki had disrupted. We also learn that eons ago, Odin’s father, Bor, had fought a long and hard war with the dark elves, led my Malekith, who wanted to restore the universe to it’s original state; Darkness, by using a magical force known as the Aether.
Bor had managed to subdue and contain the Aether and vanquished the elves, but not before Malekith and a few more of his lieutenants escaped into suspended animation.
Dove campaign for real elves: Not everyone looks like Orlando Bloom, and that’s OK.
As the nine realms move into a rare alignment, the borders around the realms start to bleed into each other, and Jane Foster gets sucked into a vortex, where the Aether enters her. The Aether awakens Malekith, who vows to finish the job once and for all, plunging the universe back into a dark dark world.
This time, Thor doesn’t have the help of the Avengers, and is instead dependent on Loki for assistance. This is the first time we actually see Thor and Loki working together, as Loki had mainly played the antagonist role in Thor and The Avengers.
We get to see a lot more of Asgard this time round, not just the palace, and it was great fun to see Thor and Loki working through their differences and mistrust for each other to accomplish their mission. As they say “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Loki really steals the limelight this time around, and the film is much better for it.
In the end, you get good laughs, decent action, and one more scene of topless Thor before the next Avengers.
As with Marvel superhero films, watch for a quick cameo of one of the other characters from the series, and do stay back for end of film credits (there are 2 of them).
Rating: 7/10
When it comes to flying, watching the airline safety video is similar to taking a poop mid-flight; we try not to.
Because it’s boring, it tells you the same thing every time in that same monotone, and doesn’t tell us anything new that we don’t already know.
Still, it’s airline regulation, and so, it has to be shown to us on every flight before take-off.
This one though, is different. Watch.
If you think the production value is extremely high, well, it is directed by Jon M Chu, the director behind Step Up 2, Step Up 3, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Plus, there’s that robot dance guy Madd Chadd as well, complete with a mid-song rap.
Virgin America fans like me choose this airline because it has a really unique and fun flying experience, so I wanted to make sure this video lived up to that promise and pushed the envelope.- Jon M. Chu
Wait a second, is that Jon Chu himself on the extreme left in the robot segment?
Two guys were wondering out loud what noises a fox makes.
They put pen to paper, and wrote a song, and even a video out of it. Sure, it was mostly made in jest, but it sure piqued a hell of a lot of curiosity. Evidently, many other people were wondering about the noises a fox makes as well. To the tune of 100,000,000 video views in just over a month!
That’s crazy yo!
And if you think this song is going to be even more popular than Gangnam Style, you’re probably right. It took this song fewer days to get to 100 million views than Gangnam Style did.
So forget prancing around riding an imaginary horse, and instead listen to the possible sounds a fox might make.
Wait, does an elephant really toot?
Oh wait, again, it seems like the main question has just been answered:
Don’t be frightened by the title of this post.
Everyday, we inherently drop bits of information about ourselves, whether we want to or not. Things we buy at supermarkets informs them of our consumption choices. Each time we pay by credit card, the financial industry knows how often we dine out, or go for fine dining. Every site we surf, our cookie dutifully records and watches. Wherever we go, our mobile phone submits that information in real time to the telcos. Every TV channel we watch informs the service provider of our lifestyle leanings.
OK, now you should be frightened.
So what, you think. These are all disparate silos of information. But put together, they can work to piece a very intricate profile of you. We’re mostly creatures of habits, and so our consumption patterns are just that. A pattern. Patterns can be deciphered, and insights drawn from it.
As of today, it is already possible, and entire industries are coming alive, with the sole purpose of bringing in all that disparate data, making sense of it, building profiles, with the ultimate aim of giving marketers a better view of who their consumers really are, what they’re like, and when they’re likely to buy from you.
Target on target
Target, for example, has figured out a way to work their data, and find out when a lady is likely to be pregnant, and start sending them coupons for baby items when they were only in their second trimester. In fact, they got so good at it, they sent a 16 year old girl their pregnancy coupons, and got her father all riled up.
Turned out she really was pregnant, and they probably ended up using the coupons anyway.
This could be a scary prospect, when you think about it. So today, Target disguises their coupons with other random stuff thrown in, so the unsuspecting mother-to-be will not feel like Target knows.
Break through the clutter
Throughout the course of a day, adding up online ads, billboards, bus ads, posters, TVCs, radio and outdoor ads, we’re inundated by between 3,000 to 20,000 marketing mesages per day. Yeap, try counting the next time. You’ll give up before lunch.
What ads need to do, is to add in that missing layer of data, that allows you to know, in real time, what this person needs, or is in the market for. You can then craft messages or visuals that appeal to them and provide them with the right message, or at least something they can consider.
Lotame
I’m currently working with Lotame, a Data Management Platform with the ability to collect data from multiple different sources, organise and interpret those data, and give you detailed insights into who your customers are, what they like, and how you can tailor your messages to your different groups of customers.
I’m @vinyarb on twitter, if you’d like to connect and find out more.
You’re not going to be doing anyone any good showing me a banner on your latest, super fragrant, deep cleansing fabric softener.
My wife makes the decisions on that front.