4 Fuks Saké

Cyrus, Jacklin, Higgs & Dignity

There are three stories from the past couple of weeks that are worthy of pulling together.

Cyrus / O’Connor

It’s been seven hours and fifteen days (approximately) since Miley Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor exchanged open letters on the subject of mental disintegration. Within a couple of weeks, Cyrus has transformed herself into a breathing version of Razzle, and reached the global Premier League of celebrity. Hard work? Music? Forget it. The 'tits out and trend' strategy pays an instant dividend, even if she’ll end up in rehab on Sinead O’Connor’s old ward in a year or two. 

Jacklin

Tony Jacklin – a man who would feature prominently in a review of the 20^th Century of European golf – wore purple glitter and was humiliated in front of nine million people watching Strictly Come Dancing. Richard Gillis, who in his own words "likes to take a          (pause)                 (arch eyebrow)                ‘sideways look’ at the sports industry”; picked up on a Tony Jacklin Q&A in Golf International magazine. “I’m told that these days you need to keep on reinventing yourself, to let people know you’re still alive and kicking.”

Higgs

Peter Higgs of Higgs-Boson has won the Nobel Prize in Physics. His response? To go on holiday, leave his mobile on the kitchen table and tell no-one where he’s gone. We won’t be seeing him in the Jungle this winter.

Questions. What has happened to the concept of dignity in the entertainment business? Is it possible for people who crave attention to still do so, and retain a sense of self-worth?

If your output is shit, perhaps it’s a struggle. A listen to the incidental part of Cyrus’s career – her music – would explain why she’s got them out.

Jacklin however, has stories no-one should tire of listening to or learning from (ref: Birkdale, Lytham, the Belfry, Seve). These carry value. The last thing that man, or any of us need, is reinvention. My advice Tony – take a look at the example being set to you by Peter. Less is (commercially) more.

Racism: 140 Characters Probably Not Enough

It's not easy being a politician in 2012 for five reasons.

1. You are born with an in-built lack of humility based on your assumption you are qualified to govern. 

2. You're surrounded by people who are exactly the same.

3. You've done nothing with your life other than train to, or be, a politician. 

4. You cannot see the wood for the trees. 

5. That's it.

Reason 4 is the only explanation I can find for Diane Abbott choosing to use Twitter to pile into a complex debate around race, the day Stephen Lawrence's murderers are banged up. I - like many others - like her. She strikes me as someone who has three virtues you rarely see in a politician. She's honest, passionate and brave. (On bravery, how else to explain her Labour leadership bid?)

Politicians and Twitter are going to end up eating each other. Watch Question Time or listen to Any Questions, and it's not enough to listen to the views of 5 guests and an audience of 100 people. You have to have a Dimbleby stumbling over the term 'hashtag' before they start.

In its purest form, politics is about shaping a debate and influencing people within a larger narrative called society. Ideas and arguments need oxygen. They need room to breathe. They generally need more than 140 characters. Speeches, articles, print, blogs, podcasts. They're all there. And we do have time to think about these things.

Just use 130 characters and a bit.ly next time Diane. Save yourself a world of shit. 

(Pic: Flickr/Amnesty International UK)

Fat Mitchell/Webb/Abbott

Diane Abbott tweets before she thinks. Which reminded me of this.

 

World Cup Fever: Symptom #3

Guardian World Cup TV from Wieden + Kennedy London on Vimeo.

This is lovely. From W + K who look like worthy winners of the World Cup before it's even kicked off. 

Just really need one of those wallcharts. (For my son obviously). 

Big Night Tonight

 

 Three gentlemen look across the Channel from the white cliffs of Dover as they prepare to discuss international affairs in tonight's live debate. 

Watch the debate, chaired by Adam Boulton, in High Definition on Sky News HD, channel 517. 

Big Business

Big Brother "axed" says The Sun. Before you take the piss, was it your idea to knock up a portakabin and then make £25million a year? The format deserves to go down as one of the great business achievements in television history.

Channel 4 and Endemol deserve nothing but respect for devising a format that is commercially stupendous, and still looks ahead of its time, (even if the content it produces has become just a little predictable). Its simplicity is everything. Stick some people in a box, peer at them via your TV, mobile, computer or tabloid newspaper and then persuade people to spend more money sending texts, making calls, buying the sponsor's products. People do.

Endemol CEO Tim Hincks says Big Brother "is the only really convincing multiplatform idea and format in the UK". He could add the world - the format has been exported to over 70 countries. In reality, there are shit loads of them - but Hincks' people showed them the path to gold.

Can't wait to see the back of it myself. And that's nothing but pure jealousy.

My Talented Colleagues: ref Sky+HD

Last night's screening of Titanic in high definition for Sky+HD, by my work mates. The Oscars are broadcast in HD for the first time this Sunday, on Sky Movies Premiere and Premiere HD.

Time To Delete 'Digital'

I started to write this blog 2/3 years ago as an outlet for aggression, after listening to anodyne powerpoints about the future of media. It's -1 outside in London, and I'm not hungover 22 floors up in Hong Kong - other than that, the status quo remains.

Still plenty of people who enjoy confusing clients and/or their bosses by using as many digital terms and phrases as possible. It's even more helpful if new apps launch regularly with stupid names. Knowledge/confusion = power and paranoia = hopefully a few quid.

I've been working in essentially PR since '95 and my job's not changed. I persuade people to buy products by getting someone they respect to tell them they should. For those of us who have always been in PR we're not doing anything new - it's just our skills and techniques have had to be radically reinvented.

In 95 I wrote a press release, faxed it and tried to carve a story via a chat with a journalist. If I want to do my job properly in 2009, I have to master the fact that the customer now starts at Google, or heads into their community of mates. I need to press buttons on a keypad and persuade someonethey respect to post, write, share a link, re-tweet my 140 characters or whatever it takes, to get them to say exactly the same thing..."Have you seen this?"

Competitive advantage comes from ideas first and foremost, not which buttons to press. If you have something exciting, exhilarating, moving, engaging - then naturally, people will want to share your ideas with others. Good ideas precipitate conversations that start with the phrase "have you seen this?" Everything underneath (the old skool press release, the Facebook group, the widget, the Twitter feed), is just simple professionalism to share that idea.

Using the term 'digital' as if that in itself is creative, is holding us back. Take it as a given. Shove it in the bin, move on, and move people with ideas 2009 style.

Drinking

We've known for years in this country that the most effective way to relax and unwind is a prolonged bout of drinking topped off with some light violence. It's a proven recipe for success - no debate. Interesting to read this morning though, that the ingredients of our national pastimes are changing.

According to Vinexpo, Britain has become the world's largest importer of wine. In 2007 we shipped in £3.3bn worth of the stuff which takes us past the Germans - not known for their shyness around a drink - and the Americans. On average, 2 bottles of wine make it into the average shopping trolley, of which the pusher is a mother with two kids.

Arguably, our drinking tastes across the demographic board are getting more sophisticated. Perhaps the aspirational ideal promised by Kerry Katona serving up a glass of three quid chardonnay alongside her Iceland prawn ring is permeating some skulls. Perhaps there's a bank of plumbers, electricians and builders turning into Keith Floyds when they're off duty.

Alternatively - not. There are plenty of reasons but one of micro economics is worth considering. In 2008, we drank 1 million less pints than we did in 2007. Pubs are shutting at a rate of 5 a day. This year, more beer will be sold in supermarkets than in pubs. Mum is pushing the trolley, loading the car up and carrying it home. It's tempting for her to 'forget' Keith's shopping request for a crate of lager, and replace it for roughly the same price, with a couple of bottles of wine that he can drink with her instead.

When it comes to drinking we're an adaptable bunch. We'll drink anything. Perhaps we'll see a rise in domestic violence as the 'at home' recessionary trends continue.

Darts. Important.

Tradition in the 4 Fuks Saké household at New Year means two sporting events. Late night watching of Channel 9's Test cricket from Australia, and Alexandra Palace for the PDC World Darts Championship.

Stephen Fry recently suggested that darts was perhaps the most exciting, almost perfect of sports. From the moment the MC yells "Game On," every dart is crucial. Not a single second is wasted. There is no ebb and flow, no break for a throw in, a substitution, or a quiet passage of play. There's lights, sweat, tension and a roar. Skill, mental strength, anguish and ecstacy every 2 minutes or so. It's fat blokes throwing tungsten at a mat some argue. Simon Barnes in The Times does greater justice to the players.

"The art of darts is in perfect stillness of everything save the forearm of the throwing arm: the big frame, anchored to the ground by adipose tissue, makes this possible on a consistent, endlessly repeatable basis. Watch Phil Taylor. When he throws a dart, nothing moves but his right forearm and an eyebrow....It is the pursuit of excellence."

It's all of course set against a soundtrack of Sid Waddell, calling the game and dropping references to Wittgenstein, Alexander of Macedonia and Galileo.

The PDC World Darts Championship, Sunday, 7pm on Sky Sports. You won't be disappointed.