My Local Town

 a.k.a. the land of the fallen soldier

 hadn't got the perfect focus so now kicking myself but oh well

The lack of imagination in the advertising business

These people, the people who make our TV adverts are hailed as some of the most creative people in the nation. Take the compare the market advert - don't! Don't! Don't sing compare the meerkat in your head.

Talk to anyone about that advert. "Oh it's so creative." Is it really? Oh, how clever, a pun. It did what it what it was supposed to do, it made us remember the brand. But did the original advert, not the meerkat toy, convince you to buy car insurance from them?

The brand that has sprung up, the meerkat toys are really clever, but the film lacks something. It lacks that spark that sets it apart. I find the advert on TV disappointing, endless voice overs over clips that are clinical and don't set themselves apart from other brands

The new OXO advert (though probably not my division being a vegetarian and all) is fantastic. It has simple clear branding. It has fantastic imagery. It has a good use of colour. I also love the fact they don't  need to use that typical, british voice over, it is simple and clear. We know what is selling to us. I think that people rely on that "voice" to make sure that people who aren't watching TV with all their attention are suddenly grabbed by the stunning, atypical woman putting her dirty laundry into a washing machine only for it to come out brilliant white.

There's just always a difference between what is noticed *cough dancing pony cough* and what is well made and the makes me sad. Why oh why will we be influenced by terrible film making? Why are we grabbed by terrible quality puns and bad graphics and persuaded to buy from these people?

There are so many talented people in the world trying to make it in film and these advertisers, the Gods of the retail universe, are getting more credit than they deserve. Marketing is more than a cheaply designed advert, it is a clear cut image. Apple are an example who have done this brilliantly, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't influenced by marketing as I write on my Macbook *cough* pro.

I don't agree with 1/3 of the superbowl being adverts because they're not well made. I know subliminal imaging is illegal, but the intelligence that the advertisers involved used has now been abandoned. We need a new realm (yes, like a kingdom, I pick my words carefully) of advertisers and I am looking at you.

I say you because you are probably still in school, according to my demographics, like me, and we have the power to change the mundane world that current adult life has left behind. Can we please change it? I see so much talent on the web, on youtube and why can't we change television?

Pick a career you will do well in. If you make films now and are really quite good at it, make films in the future. Please do. Our country depends on it. Save us from the Meerkat and bring the Golden Age of the advert.

The Casual Vacancy - Review

Warning. This review contains spoilers for the HP series.

Dear Past Reader of Harry Potter,

In the fifth book Sirius says “the world isn’t split into good people and death eaters.” In most books, there are good guys and bad guys. In Gatsby, Tom is so dislikable and Gatsby is so likable and their actions and the language used represents this. It’s the same with every book, there is always “good guy” and “bad guy” but, I guess, in most books, there’s a clear protagonist.
The Casual Vacancy was J K Rowling’s way of reminding me of this. I found myself caught up in my own head trying to work out who I liked and who I didn’t when it is written from different view points so everyone is a good guy and everyone is a bad guy. It is written in her classic 3rd person yet almost 1st person format and of course J K Rowling’s complexity and beauty in the raw emotions of the book. I find her forever enchanting.

I found Pagford, the setting for the horror, though very extreme, the backdrop was very British. The events were shocking, but in the same way that Harry’s bedroom was a cupboard (an extreme) the estate he lived on is very very accurate to British society, Pagford was beautifully British. The church, the river, the names of the roads, the delicatessen, the boy bands (sidenote, oh my fury over one direction, though this one seemed a little more liked the Wanted. Ms Rowling, if you ever do read I would love some clarification, which type of boy band are you basing this band off?) were oh so very British.

I also deeply approve in the BBC doing it as a drama. Could be a little more than a PG, if you know what I mean. They’re not kidding when they call it her first novel for adults.

Even though, if HRH Ms Rowling is reading this I’ve probably annoyed her with my constant comparison to Harry Potter because I do understand that she wants to escape this mindset of “children’s author,” Harry taught me a lot, and Pagford made that knowledge relevant.

However, the beginning is a little slower than the middle and end and sometimes I would have found it hard to track all the characters if I had not plotted all the characters and their relationships to each other.

Coverwise, I really like the simplicity and I love fonts used and the contrast between the two. I think the person in charge of font design was a genius. Really, I truly do but I don't love the colours of the cover particularly. I wouldn't have used primarily primary colours. Oh look at my atrocious alliteration.

The characters are infuriating and accurate and beautifully developed at the same time and I did pick a side (I picked Barry’s side) because OH SOCIETY WHY HAVE YOU MADE ME PICK SIDES IN BOOKS? I found the teenage plot line most interesting because that is my year at school and that is most relevant to me (mind you, I don’t do most of the stuff in the book, actually, all I do is um, go to school, am I sheltered or is J K shocking her audience?)

If you are old enough then I would recommend this with every ounce of my grief stricken heart because J K Rowling did it again.

Beautiful and brilliant.

Yours faithfully,

Sophie

A Working Theory of Love - The AI vs Humans

I decided to talk to some humans and a computer about pride and prejudice because LIZZIE BENNET OH MY GOD.




One of the main plots in AWTOL was the whole "is it AI is it human" and if computers can feel emotions. By asking both the same question I realised that one) people who have read pride and prejudice don't spend their time on omegle



The computer:
What is a truth universally acknowledged?
OMG.
What?
I'm 15.
What is a truth universally acknowledged?
All men are created equal.

Omegle:
You: What is a truth universally acknowledged?
Stranger: men likes s**

You: What is a truth universally acknowledged?
Stranger: Hi, 19 m India
Stranger: death
You: Thank you.
Stranger: welcome

You: What is a truth universally acknowledged?
Stranger: :) hi. i'm 22/F/usa :) you?
You: What is a truth universally acknowledged?
Stranger: great. wann webcam?

I lost faith in people around this point.

One of the main plots in AWTOL was the whole "is it AI is it human" and if computers can feel emotions. By asking both the same question I realised that one) people who have read pride and prejudice don't spend their time on omegle two) cleverbot doesn't follow a particularly clear train of thought because it spends most of it's time talking to humans and I KNOW I KNOW it will recite the whole of Getting Back to Hogwarts from AVPM but that isn't the point.

Computers will never talk like humans because we're so complicated and ever evolving and dependant on emotions and nature and nurture.

Sophie, you've been on omegle for 10 minutes, stop making sweeping generalisations about the human race.

A Working Theory of Love - Review

A Working Theory of Love was published in 2012 by The Penguin Press and was written by Scott Hutchins. (n.b. there shall be two fonts in this review, spoiler font (this bad boy)and non spoiler font (the one the rest of the review is in)). This is not a book for teens, it is an adult book, but it is also not a book for older adults, I think so NICHE MARKET.

A Working Theory of Love is about a man named Neill who is divorced, living with his cat and trying to create an AI (artificial intelligence) of his own dead (to see spoiler see note one) father. If you don't understand what an AI is I suggest you talk to one here: http://cleverbot.com/

There are two main plots through this book, the artificial intelligence computer one which I find much more entertaining and the oh my god I'm falling in love with a woman (see note two). Also, there is huge volumes about this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPpeC_GW0cg

It got a little boring to be honest with you. Especially the clicking plot line (THAT IS NOT A SPOILER YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS). I didn't understand why it was necessary to go on and on about it when it excludes some of the demographic

I found the beginning a little slow moving and thinking of it as a love story made it pretty demotivating as it isn't a great one. However, after that it becomes much more AI oriented and I found it much more interesting as a novel as it was different as the two leads weren't particularly attractive characters (I mean their personalities, this isn't Twilight).

I would recommend this to the young as it is heavily based around computers and without that background knowledge I think the knowledge may be more difficult to access. (See Spoiler 3. Warning. It's a biggie)

Overall I gave it 4 stars because the computer plot line was fantastic and made up most of the book but the love plot line lacked a lot.

I mainly bought it because it was orange.

Oh the beauty of consumerism.

Au revoir mes petits pois

Note one: -by-suicide

Note two: 16 years younger than me

Note three: One of the characters wants to create an AI that is basically chats you up and other things that adults do alone together (don't judge me I don't know how old you are). I didn't really understand why that subplot was necessary.

The Daunting White Page

Here it is.










I love writing.

I really do. But when I sit down to blog I just... panic. I don't know. Is it fear? Probably. I'm not scared of creating terrible content, I'm scared of people seeing it. People judging me for something I did when I was tired and cold and had writers block. All I want to do is have that beautiful flow of conscience onto the page but writing is scary.

So I'm sorry for the fact I don't blog that much.

And I'm sorry it's not hilarious or gives you the gift of knowledge (but did you know that 110 million people are on the loo right now. I hope you're not one of them) but I'm trying.


I want to write a novel. It's on my bucket list. So in the next 80 years, watch out for the plotline I can't yet think of.

(quick minor announcement, don't mind me, I'm recording my first EP. I also seem to be a poet, apparently. Anyway, I've started with the first song and hopefully it will be free on bandcamp soon!)

Until then

Au revoir mes petits pois