No Copy

The treasures of YouTube (5)

Have I ever told you about my childhood fright of/adolescence adoration for Nina Hagen? Yes, I did, didn't I?

Anyway: I recently stumbled across this fragment from the David Letterman show back in 1985. Isn't she sweet?

Rule Flandria

[photo]

Can you believe that? I leave the country for just one day (not even an entire day) and when I get back, I have to hear that Belgium no longer exists and the Flemish parliament has declared independence. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure you'll find plenty of info and comments here.

I'm not going to add to the discussion too much, apart from this: if anything, the RTBF have not brought about a discussion on the defederalisation of the Belgian state, but on the boundaries of serious journalism today. And as far as I am concerned: they crossed it big time.

Man Stroke Woman

Thank you Canvas, for bringing us yet another brilliant British sketch show. 'Man Stroke Woman' is slightly less absurd than some other shows from across the Channel, but the usually recognisable situations combined with the visual and verbal humor of the characters who are struggling through relationships, work, friendship, love, uncertainty and doubts certainly does it for me.

A small appetizer:

Strange folk, those Americans (6)

[photo via Kami's Flickr photostream]

I had promised to tell you more about meeting up with Kami Huyse the other week. Actually, I'm glad she has already done the bigger part of that job. Saves me some time to cut to the chase, the political chase, that is.

Like Kami also mentioned, we talked, amongst other things, about politics, both in the US and in Europe. And what struck me the most is the fact that there is apparently a huge gap between what we think we know about each other's situation and reality. Especially on my behalf - after all, Kami's husband is Belgian so I am sure she probably has the advantage of a "bicultural" family.

Anyway: my idea of the US being a relatively monolithic block (the Easy Rider feeling: you can ride/drive from the East to the West coast and still eat the same burgers, speak the same language, stay in the same kind of motels,...) has changed more than I had expected. I knew, of course, that the US is a bunch of States united into a larger union, but that the differences between the different units were that big, did come as a surprise. A comparison which touched base as far as I was concerned, was that Texas was a bit like France: since they are bigger than their neighbours, they tend to consider themselves as more important too. On the other hand: I have always suspected George Dubya to have Napoleon-like traits.

Anyway: our conversation was too long and interesting to sum up in a blog post, so I'll just be antisocial with this social medium and keep the rest of our conversation to ourselves. Which reminds me: we also had some interesting discussions about Second Life and about the potential reach of social media. As you might know, I am a bit of a sceptic. And the news that 1/5 of the Belgian population has never even been online, which also got picked up by Philippe Borremans, does not make me any less...

Fortunately, there are still Belgians (even when living in Finland), like Piet, who have discovered social media and who are using them really well. I couldn't resist borrowing this little piece of footage from his blog; after all, it is completely in the spirit of this post:

And while we're at it - just one for the road:

BB goes VR

The Dutch TV production company Endemol has opened an office in Second Life. I think I already told you I was kind of a sceptical SL visitor, well: this makes me even more :-). Especially when I found out they are going to launch Big Brother there too...

That is right: the first project of Endemol in SL is a virtual and international version of Big Brother, starting 1 December. As from today, candidates can apply for the first virtual reality show ever. The winner gets a tropical island... in Second Life. If you're interested, you have to be willing to be online in the house for 8 hours a day. Every week, SL residents will be able to vote which three contestants have to leave the house, which is situated in SL on big Brother island (where else).

Visitors will be able to look into five transparant units, in which the candidates will be living. SL residents will be able to vote for their favourite contestant, listen to DJs, dance and meet new people. In the meantime, the contestants will be dealing with assignments, such as copy-constructing  famous buildings which will then be auctioned. The profits are to go to a good cause. In the real world, thank goodness...

According to Endemol manager Paul Römer "online communities are becoming ever more important and this project is an exceptional chance to gather information about the virtual world, which is to make it possible to create such communities in the future."

I am curious to see how this turns out. But for the rest I am definitely not interested in being a candidate. I already have a life. A real one, that is... :-)

[via]

15 minutes minus 3 (the sequel)

If you really have nothing better to do tomorrow (11 June), if you happen to be in Belgium and provided you have access to cable TV (*), you might want to tune into Kanaal Z. If you can't guess why, allow me to refresh your memory...

(*) In other cases, you can still have a look afterwards here or here.

She hates soccer

"Men steal precious broadcast time.
Men ignore us, pay attention no more to our needs.
Men are unable to communicate.
Men pay attention only to the ball.
Men all of a sudden seem to think they know all about everything.
Men grow ugly watching football. "

How about that?  Yep, apparently, there are some women who are not exactly looking forward to the World Football Cup. Want some more? OK:

"Romantic getaways have been replaced by jeering and other loutish and boarish behaviour over 22 men who have nothing better to do than running around on a field, kicking a ball back and forth for no apparent reason. Is that what separates us from the animals?" [via Coolzûr]

Personally, I think they're right. A man of intelligence does not watch football. He watches cycling.

Did I tell you I went to see the first stage of the Giro d'Italia, which took place in Seraing (that's right, in Belgium) this year? I think it might have slipped my mind. Anyway, I was able to shoot some nice pictures, like this one from the guy who would eventually win the race and who - if you ask me - stands a good chance of winning this year's Tour de France as well:

If you want to see some  more photos, you can always have a look on my Flickr pages.

15 minutes minus 3

I had a very interesting chat this morning. With Marc Michils, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Belgium and one of the Master Marketeers within the Belgian Marketing Foundation to be precise. We talked about working in advertising, the love of the job, future trends, the importance of higher education,... Nothing special? True, if it weren't for the fact that our little chat was recorded for television.

Why on earth would anybody ask a nobody like myself for a television appearance? To be honest: I was equally surprised when I got a phonecall some weeks ago to tell me "I had been selected." Selected? At last year's Marketing Congress I had participated in a contest for 'young wolves in marketing' who could win an opportunity to talk with one of the leading marketeers in Belgium (one of the activities for the foundation's 25th birthday). The talks were to be recorded and broadcast (one conversation per month between 13 May and 5 December, every time there is a full moon - the 'wolves', get it?) on  the Belgian business channel Kanaal Z.

I never thought they would ask me (I am 35 - a young wolf?) but apparently they liked the topic I had suggested (about the relationship between higher education and the communications branch). Naturally, I did not hesitate to accept the invitation. A great experience, and like Andy Warhol said: "In the future, everybody will be famous for 15 minutes".

Mind you: Kanaal Z is only doing a 3 minutes' broadcast (albeit in a loop, so several times a day). But that's fine by me: that means I still have 12 minutes left!