To anyone who would like some help getting a book published, an author friend is holding a writing workshop in central london on 19th May.
Maria McCarthy is an inspirational author/journalist/PR guru and regularly lectures on getting published at Bristol University. The event is on 19th May from 7 til 9 somewhere in Coptic St. For more info see her site…
Not a lot of people realise how much fun there is to be had with the humble out of office auto-reply. I (lol) was startingly reminded of what an unsung media space it is the other day when I wrote an email to my friend, copywriter and poet of adland, Rishi Dastidar. This bounced back into my inbox telling me he was away. I was about to delete it unread when the first line caught my eye, and I realised there was a lovely little poem inside, in place of the robotic missive you’re normally confronted with.
It was so charming I decided to share it. It’s not quite the same just repeated here, but try and imagine it ‘in situ’ if you will, in an email.
The paperclip told me
In a menacing way,
“You can’t just flee
Because it’s your birthday.
I solemnly propose
That you compose
A short, pithy note
Allowing you to gloat;
Then inform friends, colleagues
And those pesky bots
Who cannot stop,
That your absence will end
On Friday the 5th.
Do it now. Forthwith!”
In
the first in a series exploring an advertising creative’s occupational
hazards, Lol fesses up to a recent plunder (is that a pun within a
pun?)…
So, as we know, punning is universally outlawed when writing copy. However, my problem is that, because I’ve taught myself to repress even the slightest whiff of a pun when thinking of ideas, the side effect is that now, as soon as I’m out the door my pun-reflexes go into overdrive. I’m suddenly propelled into thinking of the most awful pun-jokes all the time; in bars, restaurants, parties, wherever. Like a more sinister kind of tourettes, they just pop into my head and I feel compelled to release them. Even though friends are accommodating and do laugh at some of them, it’s still a terrible affliction and one I’m forever apologizing
for. It’s half due to my Romanian father and his uniquely cheesy (and often inappropriate) sense of humour. But it’s mainly to do with how my brain feels the need to do a kind of ‘pun-run’, to get them out my system before Monday morning comes around again.
There are many examples I could confess to but the most recent occurred when Nat and I were at last month’s Hospital Club Creative Awards, (we were there for the ‘Breakthrough
creatives’ award or something – unsurprisingly we were pipped to
the post by Duncan Jones). Anyway, my victim was an
unsuspecting Alex James of Blur, stood next to me at the bar. As he was one of my childhood heroes, I decided to brave a hello, after which a friendly conversation ensued.
Everything was going fine until, ten minutes into the chat, the catastrophic nerve-induced pun reared its ugly head.
Lol: So, are you doing much music these days?
Alex James: No, just cheese.
Lol: So, you’re doing cheesy music?
Awful. just awful. He was very nice about it although I’m still shuddering at the memory now. To make matters worse, I then tried to account for my pun, by blaming it on the fact I worked in advertising and that punning was outlawed. But he didn’t believe me. You see that’s the thing; as much as we all try and maintain that advertising ought not to be polluted with puns, the reality is that the general public (like some clients) still think a good ad must involve a nice juicy pun.
LORELEI MATHIAS 