The Original Nightmare Comes To Cineworld This Hallowe'en

I was sitting in +Cineworld Cinemas today watching the trailers, when I saw the iconic words New Line Cinemas in a bold red font.  It couldn't be, could it?  There's a note, then another, so soft yet so sinister...  It is!  Freddy's back in all his original glory!  This Hallowe'en in Cineworld Cinemas there is a beautiful re-release of the original horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street.  Can't wait to never sleep, again.

Announcing The Official Technical Sales Blog at NUM6.co.uk

So this is a weird situation, where my personal world and professional world start to mix.  The technical sales, training and consultancy I set up, NUM 6, is now starting to push out useful (and free!) technical and sales training tips and advice via our new Technical Sales Blog.  It's strange having two different audiences with two different messages, but I hope it provides some value.  It's relevant if you sell anything - such as your ideas to your peers or customers or family.  Yep, almost everyone "sells" something, and here are some regular useful tips on how to excel at doing it in a sincere and honest way.  Sell well!

A Rosé In Any Other Colour Would Still Taste As Sweet

Beringer make an amazing sparkling rosé.  It may very well be one of the best summer drinks there is.  Not all supermarkets sell it, but if you see their Sparking Zinfandel Rosé you really should grab a bottle to try.  Of course, the correct name is White Zinfandel, but as with many other producers they drop the "White" to avoid confusion as it is actually a rosé wine (and has often confused many bar tenders when ordering a white zinfandel).  So that's fine then.  Well, seems that Beringer are wanting to go a step further and make their soft strawberry coloured wine look more hot pink!  The photo here is exactly the same wine but in the new bottle and branding (left) compared to the classic version.  Are they now pushing this harder to the female market and wanting to be see as "pink fizz"?  The answer is probably yes, but when you have such a delightful strawberry and raspberry bubbly wine you can do what you want to get as many people as possible to try it.

Being A Sell Out Beats Awards At Edinburgh Fringe?

Okay, this is a weird marketing decision. Tony Law had a great show last year and was rightly nominated for the top award (née Perrier, née If.com, now Fosters). So returning this year, you would assume his agent(s) would make a big deal about that, right? Well, it's strangely absent from his poster for this year's show, yet it does have space to mention his run was sold out in 2012 and 2011. Is this a sign that the top award in Edinburgh no longer has the marketing cache it once did? It's not mentioned on Brendon Burns' poster or advert, nor David O'Doherty's advert, and they both won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in previous years. Yet both Bo Burnham and The Boy With Tape On His Face (both truly stunning) highlight that they won the Panel Prize (open to almost any show). So does this mean the panel prize is more valuable than the ECA? Interesting to think about...

Martian Road Signs In Glasgow Are Alien To Me

Is this a Martian turning his head to the
side when looking at me, or is it instead the weirdest road sign in the world? Curvy lines, looping back and extra bends make navigating at the West End in Glasgow is very strange...

Guess Who's Back Beautiful? Gorgeous Edinburgh!

On the day Edinburgh is named happiest city in the UK, guess who's back to make our city life full of more genuine smiles...? It's the subversive graffiti artist / art student project with more complimentary chalking! Either that or I'm imagining messages just addressed to me at St James Centre...

Paint The Whole World With A Rainbow . Every Little Helps...

A lot of big downpours lately and some nice Spring sunshine means a plethora of rainbows popping up all over Edinburgh. They are almost as common as Tesco stores, but certainly far prettier to look at and feed my soul rather than my body.

Ireland Has Some Strange Traffic Rules, Perhaps From The Dark Side

Ireland has some strange rules… For example, during peak travel no more than 5 Imperial Tie Fighters allowed at one time. It seems they do as much damage as schoolchildren in corner shops!

A Sign People Are Ho-pin-g To Leave Dublin?

Oh dear… In central Dublin this sign is great to drum up business for attracting tourists in. Shame the socket and pins are the wrong way round for Ireland!  And for those who dispute that they could be advertising that for people about to travel from Ireland to Europe, nice idea but I saw the adaptors they were selling and they are the usual tourist sockets to Irish 3 pin plugs...

Best Gents Toilets sign ever! Or rather, best “Used Beer Dept.”...

Best Gents Toilets sign ever! Or rather, best “Used Beer Dept.” sign… Hugely impressed with The Porterhouse in Bray, and very grateful the sign is outside the gents and meant I didn't have to try and snap another photo inside the gents! Again!

Molson launches in Ireland today - Get it in The Bailey, Dublin

Molson launches in Ireland today, in The Bailey, central Dublin. Great Canadian lager with a crisp clean taste.  Just been in there having a few pints of it whilst they go through the press launch and have a few cool photos taken (the bar is kitted out with a moose's head and gorgeous white wolf).  Here's my entry for the competition they were running to snap a pic to celebrate their launch.  I even managed to get the compulsory bicycle in the shot (as every Irish-themed pub would have me believe).

Which Came First, The Chocolate Chicken Or The Egg?

Surely the chocolate Easter Egg has hatched and we know have chocolate Easter Chickens... But inside this chocolate chicken is a chocolate egg...! Either way, this is a great reason to eat your Easter Eggs as soon as possible else they may hatch and you'll have to feed the chicken and give it space to roam around.

Stocks & Shots - The Press Loved It Too!

Student, The Edinburgh Evening News and The Herald all picked the story up and ran some nice pieces on it, unfortunately the only high quality scan I have access to is from Student.  We also made a video too!

Scotland's First Stock Market Bar - 13 Years Ago Today

Stocks and Shots was an evening at The Caledonian Brewery, organised between EUTIC and SiS, which brought the first stock market bar to Scotland.  The principle is just like the real stock market - when a drink is in demand, the price rises; when it's not, the price falls.  It's that simple.  And the night was awesome - enjoy!

Google Is Spreading The Love Of Me Underwater

A treat for everyone of Valentine's Day, for any woman, man or other.  After a brief hiatus I'm back in the top four images for "person underwater".  This sexy / questionable *(delete as appropriate) pose, which is very hard to maintain underwater with your eyes wide open, is back in the top four images when searching for person underwater, which means when you enter a normal web search through Google, it offers you me as an image you may want to see!  And who wouldn't...?  Other than those people with functioning eyes...?
#egotist or #ironic or #bitofboth

The Naked Truth: Everyone Dies In The Night Garden, Or Kitchen

It's very rare that I get moved to hear about the death of someone I've never met, let alone only recently heard about.  Sadly on May 8th 2012, the incredible Maurice Sendak passed away.  He was the brilliant mind behind Where The Wild Things Are, but also some more important books and also the inspiration to the most popular young children's TV show, "Crack for Babies", aka "In The Night Garden".  Hmm, that's a rather bold claim with no other results on Google.  Let me explain.

One of the most controversial (picture) books is Maurice Sendak's "In The Night Kitchen" about a young boy who dreams and is naked throughout his dream.  In the extended interview (shown on the day of his passing) with Stephen Colbert, Maurice says his favourite book is the one he wrote about his Sealyham Terrier before her death, entitled "Higglety Pigglety Pop!".  Now let's compare the similarities:  In The Night Garden's (interesting title!) lead character is male and is the only one that is completely naked (spooky!), and his name is Igglepiggle (seriously?!).  You tell me if that isn't a huge homage to the great Maurice Sendak.  So while your children are watching their Grade A TV Narcotics, or while you don't have any children, go get a copy of Maurice's greatest book (in his eyes), and I guarantee you'll cry your eyes out reading it.

Saying White Rabbits Three Times Summons The Dark Side

On the first of the month people have a tradition of saying "white rabbits" three times.  However, just like Beetlejuice, saying "white rabbits" on any other day (like the 2nd!) summons are far darker rabbit that doesn't care that he's late.  I was going for dark, creepy, and sexy, in a Japanese-remake kind of way. Did I pull it off?  Would you follow me down a rabbit hole...?

Princess Square In Glasgow Shows Off It's (Pea-) Cocky Front

Edinburgh - I love you.  But there is something about the architecture in Glasgow that is refreshing and bold - very similar in many ways to Liverpool.  And without doubt Princess Square in Glasgow wins the award for 'Best Building Decorations Ever'!  That said (as NM pointed out), c'mon Glasgow City Council - you still have what looks like a Christmas tree up!

Getting Inspiration From The Heavens On A Crisp Morn

Pictures often say a thousand words.  In these three shots, all one thousand words are synonyms for beautiful.  I'll let you enjoy them in peace...

 

Ever Get The Feeling Buildings Are Watching You…?

They are watching us all...  And this seems to be the Queen of the Watchers, else why is 'she' wearing a tiara?  Let's hope they are watching out for us, just like the Liver Birds do in Liverpool.  On the plus side, this building can't fly away!

Is This The Birth Of A New Universe Visible To The Naked Eye?

Probably not, but "oil" let you decide... (what a awful pun next to a pretty / enigmatic picture...)

Through The Square Window Today, We Have A Crescent Moon...

What a lovely sight to wake up to.  A soft velvet sky with greens and blue, a twinkling crescent moon hanging gently to the left of an extinct volcano.  Good morning stars!  Good morning moon!  Good morning Scotland!

Scotland Has Stunning Scenery And Stunning Chillies!

These Scotch Bonnet chillies sure look pretty... And I. sure they will be pretty mind blowing later on! Thanks to Jamie Oliver I get to use them in a variation of his Christmas Jerk Pork!

It’s Like 10,000 peppers When All You Need Is A Salt...

Whilst Ed Byrne has famously asked Alanis "how big is your sink", it seems I have to ask a certain pub "how popular do you think pepper is"?  This is the 'salt and pepper' bowl.  Maybe they think all their customers are slugs, I suppose some of them are a bit slimey...

Can You Have The “January Blues” In A City As Enchanting As Edinburgh...?

Can you have the “January Blues” in a city as enchanting as Edinburgh..? Let me go for a walk and ponder that possibility...

Happy New Year! First Fireworks From Freezing Edinburgh

Taken in Holyrood Park, 2013!