The weekend links

How's Reading/Study week going? Back tomorrow to school and exams. Honestly the BBAs are making a big deal out of exams, huh? Are exams really that anxiety-causing? I know I don't sound that empathetic, but consider the optics of the situation: three months off, and now five short days of exams. A maximum five exams. THREE MONTHS OFF, FIVE EXAM DAYS. I'm just saying that things could be worse. The B!G kids on exchange seem to be having fun though. The FB pics are quite nice. Hi Amanda, Arsenia, Rebecca, Doug, Olga, Andreea (and anyone I've missed)!

In other news, the job hunt is going well. I'm pleased with how things are progressing and hope that things will continue moving forward.

Not having done weekend links in a while, I wanted to make this one special and chock it full of shout-outs to loyal readers of the blog. So I've categorized these links by your names:

ANA

Pajiba has a page where users are posting their picks for the top five movies of 2000-2009, 'the Aughts'. it's really great actually and gave me many ideas about my own favourite movies and some I should download. My short list (in no order)?

- Sideways
- The Descent
- The Departed
- Milk
- Lost in Translation
- The Dark Knight

Check out the comments that are being made. There are hundreds.

Also, food marketers are taking the conservative route during tough times. I'll be interested to know if this also means more promotion on comfort food and classic products.

ROBYN

Top ten freaky ways to terrorize your roommate. I know she's your friend, but some of these are really quite funny. I like number 6: Collect hundreds of pens and pile them on one side of the room. Keep one pencil on the other side of the room. Laugh at the pencil.

NICK


A blogger collected some of the grosssest print ads ever. I especially like these ones, but I'm kinda thinking that they detract from the message and intimidate the target audience. Thoughts?

JEFF

Lyle Lanley and Hank Scorpio are my favourites of the best one-off Simpsons characters.

LUCY


Delicious monstrosity cakes. They're weird shapes cause basically you can make anything by cutting cake and covering it in fondant. I like Yankee Stadi-cake.

GEORGE



Please graduate to better electronica. Underworld is legend, as per Born Slippy (below)



CHERIE

Refer to these during interviews! Six hot media trends of 2009. Although a lot of these are really consumer/marketing/communication rather than 'media', they're spot on. I like the one about the 'Zen Tech Warrior'

OLGA I


I just thought that picture was funny and you'd get a laugh!

Also, knowing the the truth of what Europeans really think of each other might help you navigate those tricky cultural waters and get through unscathed while on exchange. Who knew that the Dutch were so esteemed?

DAVE M

The most popular songs Led Zeppelin ripped off. They're an awesome band and probably the best cover band of all time. It hurts me too, learning that my world is crumbling down around me. See this video too for further evidence.



DAVE P

The latest gadget, it bypasses iTunes and allows you to share files from one iPod to another. I really want this for when my iPod inevitably dies or I want a new one. You currently aren't able to swap files between iPods through iTunes unless you have everything saved on the computer already.

LISA


Barf. Hello Kitty Rice Seasoning Mix with cat faced seaweed particles looks disgusting, but strangely cute. It's make from real cats apparently.

DANA and TONY CHAPMAN

Strategies for small agencies to survive during tough economic times. I think we're pretty clear on big ideas, creativity, and good client relations though, right? Aren't those your core comps? (BTW, phew!)

CHRIS

Can you do this through your iPhone yet? Booking hotel rooms with a mobile device seems really smart to me. It's a great platform for fast and remote content delivery, but unless you're booking a fairly standard hotel (like Marriott) when you can expect reasonable assurances of quality and location, do people really not need the interactivity and graphic functionality of a computer?

SYLVIE


Are any of these photographs of consumer goods en masse an example of Dadaism? BTW, Seurat is pointillism!

KEVIN

I believe in Jamie Lee Curtis's need for a "radical transmutation of character" - and no, I'm not judging!

KEANU REEVES

I get so angry reading about the life-changing inventions they never said would work. They thought computers would never work? Or how about what Time Magazine said about online shopping back in 1966: "Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop - because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds." Whoa...

Alright folks, enjoy the week!