22/02/10Mes que un partidoI’m lucky enough to be heading to Cape Town in June to catch some of the World Cup. And courtesy of the FIFA lottery, one of the games I’ll be seeing is Portugal vs North Korea. Now when the unarguably football crazy Charlize Theron informed me that this fixture was to be my fate, my initial anticipation was for a novelty game - headline-friendly Euro giants against unknowns who are unknown, etc. But I’ve now come to see it as no less than the ultimate symbolic clash of ideals. In the right corner we have mercurial Portugal, the leading proponents of individual flair and self-expression over collective discipline, and spiritually led by the man allegedly once described by Narcissus himself as ‘alarmingly egocentric’, Cristiano Ronaldo…  And in the left corner we have the kings of the collective, North Korea, ready to unveil their concept of totalitarian football. (This, I’m told, is like the similarly named 70s Dutch one in its conviction that every player can put in a solid shift in each other’s position, but without any of the flashy bits from Johan Cruyff.)  Yes, it’s the all stars against the no names, the cult of the individual against the power of the collective. This is a tension of particular fascination to account planners. For close to 50 years now the trend has only been one way, and numbering among the first to call the turn back towards the collective grips the planning/futurist community in the same way that being the first to announce the next ice age probably does climatologists. This ambition, allied with the tendency of the left-leaning plannersphere towards wish-fulfilment, has resulted in many a premature call over the last decade or so. For instance, I remember sitting on a panel of planning directors in Boston pontificating on the impact of 9/11 upon cultural attitudes. (Sounds embarrassingly pretentious now. Felt embarrassingly pretentious then.) To a man we were certain that it would spell the end of the ‘just me’ culture. (Yeah right.) And we witnessed a similar thing over here when, post-Lehmann, the planning commentariat lined up to headily anoint the inevitable new post-consumption economy. So we’ve all been blinded by this false dawn before. But if Kim Il-Jung’s red and red army strike a hammer blow for the collective this midsummer, I might yet be tempted to again call that turn from the post-match party. If there is a post-match party… Back to top | Permalink | Leave a comment23/10/09Now that's what I call micro-targetingAh, finally an execution for that most underserved of target segments - Dostoevsky reading fast food meal deal fans…  What took so long? Back to top | Permalink | Leave a comment15/10/09Winner by way of KnockoutsA shock result in the Newburgh street arena. With 4 KO’s The Journeyman Andy “Woodcut” Dymock stole the show with his conker “Ginger".  His blistering combinations were blurrred at times! Dymock and Ginger mercilessly knocked opponent after opponent to the cobbled canvas quickly gathering the support of the crowd. At one point someone actually shouted “Go Andy, Go". In second place, with a total score of a 9er, all the way from the shop over the road, give it up for “Dangerous” Dan.  And taking third it’s the “Sweet Swotter” (we didnt catch her name).  Originating all the way from Sweden, via the vans shop around the corner. A courageous display she gave everything she had, giving us conker fans an extremely fashionable fight! Our very own Fran eschewing the physical approach in favour of trying to psyche out her opponent’s conker through the power of thought…  Dave displaying his competitive side…  Justin “The Planner Prince” Holloway lands one. Never in conker history has a shot been studied so much.  A close up of the brutality of this sport.  Well, we’re off to get Andy’s nut “Ginger” forensically tested. See you all in 2010, same time, same place. Back to top | Permalink | Leave a commentWinner by way of KnockoutsA shock result in the Newburgh street arena. With 4 KO’s The Journeyman Andy “Woodcut” Dymock stole the show with his conker “Ginger". His blistering combinations were blurrred at times! Dymock and Ginger mercilessly knocked opponent after opponent to the cobbled canvas quickly gathering the support of the crowd. At one point someone actually shouted “Go Andy, Go". In second place, with a total score of a 9er, all the way from the shop over the road, give it up for “Dangerous” Dan. And taking third it’s the “Sweet Swotter” (we didnt catch her name). Originating all the way from Sweden, via the vans shop around the corner. A courageous display she gave everything she had, giving us conker fans an extremely fashionable fight! Our very own Fran eschewing the physical approach in favour of trying to psyche out her opponent’s conker through the power of thought… Dave displaying his competitive side… Justin “The Planner Prince” Holloway lands one. Never in conker history has a shot been studied so much. A close up of the brutality of this sport. Well, we’re off to get Andy’s nut “Ginger” forensically tested. See you all in 2010, same time, same place. Back to top | Permalink | Leave a comment14/10/09Winner by way of KnockoutsA shock result in the Newburgh street arena. With 4 KO’s The Journeyman Andy “Woodcut” Dymock stole the show with his conker “Ginger". His blistering combinations were blurrred at times! Dymock and Ginger mercilessly knocked opponent after opponent to the cobbled canvas quickly gathering the support of the crowd. At one point someone actually shouted “Go Andy, Go". In second place, with a total score of a 9er, all the way from the shop over the road, give it up for “Dangerous” Dan. And taking third it’s the “Sweet Swotter” (we didnt catch her name). Originating all the way from Sweden, via the vans shop around the corner. A courageous display she gave everything she had, giving us conker fans an extremely fashionable fight! Our very own Fran eschewing the physical approach in favour of trying to psyche out her opponent’s conker through the power of thought… Dave displaying his competitive side… Justin “The Planner Prince” Holloway lands one. Never in conker history has a shot been studied so much. A close up of the brutality of this sport. Well, we’re off to get Andy’s nut “Ginger” forensically tested. See you all in 2010, same time, same place. Back to top | Permalink | Leave a comment:: Next Page >> |