Ex-pat NYer loving the Mutts from across the pond

For those of you who read the title of this blog and thought this would be a sappy posting about missing my dogs (or as I pronounce, daaawgs) from across the pond, you might want to stop reading. Truthfully, I don’t even have any dogs (daaawgs). No folks, this is about a hardcore NY Mets baseball fan who, after this past week’s sweep of the Subway Series (more on that later), couldn’t be missing the game of baseball and my lovable Mutts more.

So who are these lovable Mutts you ask? Well really, they’re the NY Mets. Why do we call them Mutts? Well, because they suck. At least we’re affectionate about it.

I liken my fan affiliation and self-inflicted suffering to being in the worst relationship I’ve ever had (and I’ve had quite a few bad ones). The Mets keep letting you down time and time again, and yet, you keep finding yourself going back for more because you just can’t help yourself. You tell yourself that this time, things will be different! You start each season full of so much hope. ‘This will be our year!’  It’s like a rallying cry. Yet, in the back of your mind you are constantly questioning whether it will be the Mets or the Mutts that will show up again this season. You dutifully keep cheering them on, buying up tickets to home games and proudly sporting your team baseball cap around the city. We might have even won the first game or two of the season and find ourselves at the top of the leader board, which, like any diehard fan, you never waste an opportunity to tout because you know you may not have a chance to do so for the remainder of the season. And then, inevitably, the epic collapse begins. It’s a vicious cycle that just never ends.

As a long suffering Mets fan (a measly 3 championships since the team came into existence in 1962, the last being in 1986), the past couple of seasons have been particularly mutt-like. A team roster riddled with injuries, players out on the DL (disabled list), young prospects who seemed so promising in Spring training have fallen flat only a few weeks in, and what always seems to be a thorn in the Mets side every season… our pitching.

We’re not even 2 full months into the 2013 season and already Mets fans are down and out. It would seem it’s the Mutts who have yet again shown up this season. In next to last place in the National League East standings and 12 games under .500 (50% win/loss), there wasn’t much to smile about. But, as we wrap up another chilly and rainy work week in London, something Amazin’ has happened (when they are doing well, their nickname is the Amazin’ Mets). The NY Mets completed a stunning 4 game sweep in the Subway Series against our crosstown rivals, the NY Yankees (and their 27 championship rings… sigh) FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY. For those of you who are not math savvy, that’s the first time in over 50 years. Not only that, but it’s the first time we’ve swept 4 games in a series from any team, not just the Yankees.

I’m busy busting out my broom here in London (get it, ‘sweep’). Let’s be honest, it might be the only time I get to do so until… well, who knows when. We’re still the mutts… still in next to last place but now just 7 games under .500 instead of 12. But dare I say we’re now mutts with a bit of swagger? I predict we’re still in for another season of misery, but the long suffering die hard Mets fans have earned their bragging rights this week.

The Mets own New York… at least for the last week in May.

So cheers to that.

- Heather Verra

Does my toddler have ‘disruptive mood dysregulation disorder’?

According to the new DSM-5 – considered the psychiatry bible, and the universal standard by which doctors classify, diagnose and ultimately treat mental disorders – my toddler may well be suffering from an, as yet, undiagnosed mental health disorder. In fact, it would seem that most of my family are suffering from a mental health disorder of one form or another; my parents, whom I previously thought had the odd senior moment, actually have ‘mild neurocognitive disorders’, and I can now consider myself a ‘binge eater’ – characterised by ‘overeating that occurs at least once a week for at least three months’ (that will be my Sundays then!).

I make light of it but, with the changes to the DSM-5, many worry that people with slight variations of normal behaviour may now be labelled ‘mentally ill’. As a result, the recent launch of these new guidelines has attracted no shortage of critics. Many believe that through a combination of the classification of new disorders and the lowering of the thresholds of existing disorders, the DSM-5 expands the boundaries to encompass the ‘worried well’. Critics are worried these new patients may be prescribed drugs that have the potential to cause harm.

While many people previously considered borderline could now be diagnosed with a mental health disorder, changes to the classification of other disorders such as Asperger’s syndrome, which is set to lose its separate diagnosis and fall under the umbrella term, ‘autism spectrum disorders’, has caused some to worry that many may lose their diagnosis – and as a result, their services.

Protagonists view the new update as a long awaited change that will help ensure people get accurate diagnoses and treatments based on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge. Critics have vowed to boycott it entirely. I’m just hoping that those who need help are able to get it, with or without the label of suffering from a mental health disorder.

Happy or crazy?

- Victoria Harvey

Light reading

In an attempt to source some Vitamin D after a long and cold winter, and always keen to absorb a few rays of culture, a handful of PLBR-ers recently attended the Light Show at London’s Hayward Gallery. To say it was an illuminating experience would be an understatement; I found myself wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the must-see, sold-out exhibition (apparently it’s Hayward’s most popular show yet), which successfully reminds us how light has the power to effect our state of mind just as much as how we perceive and respond to sights surrounding us.

The light show explores how 22 artists, ranging from the 1960s to the present day, use actual light as their medium, as well as the interplay of science, technology and industry using immersive environments, free-standing light sculptures and projections.

The Light Show explores the experiential and phenomenal aspects of light by bringing together atmospheric installations to intangible sculptures that you can move around. Each piece of art offers something different to the viewer, demonstrating different aspects of light such as colour, duration, intensity and projection, as well as perceptual phenomena to shape space in different ways.

Below are some of our favorite pieces:

Leo Villareal’s breath-taking ‘Cylinder II’ greets visitors to the Hayward Gallery. Simply a beautiful piece that anyone can appreciate purely on aesthetic levels, the bubbles of light travel up and down the cone, creating a mesmerising twinkle.

Stepping into series of rooms dedicated to Carlos Cruz Diez confuses and tricks the brain, to the point that you begin the wonder which colour you are really seeing. The Blue Room felt almost cold and clinical, whilst the Red Room left us feeling warm and relaxed.

One of my personal favourite pieces was by Anthony McCall, entitled ‘You and I, Horizontal’. This exhibit referred to a “solid light installation” and, using subtle smoke effects, teases the viewer into thinking the beam of the projection is in fact a three-dimensional shape. You truly feel immersed.

Another highlight was Conrad Shawcross’ ‘Slow Arc Inside a Cube IV’, ostensibly a giant mesh cage with a moving light inside that projects through its walls. This, in turn, distorts the space inside the room to an unnerving degree. It should come with a warning, “not designed for the claustrophobic”.

One of the last pieces you see is Olafur Eliasson’s transfixing ‘Model For A Timeless Garden’. Through the constant disruption of strobe lights you see water escape from a shelf in a series of shapes, arcs and fountains. Talk about saving the best until last!

- Kate Brown

Most pictures from the Telegraph, though photos don’t do justice to the experience.

Generate your way to bad ad utopia

We live in a world surrounded by advertising. Wherever we go, wherever we look and whatever we do, some cheeky scamp, somewhere, will be trying to influence us and our decision-making process. We’re not always susceptible to such shenanigans, but there can be no doubt that a strong, positive advertising campaign can mean the difference between brand loyalty and taking a chance.

But with advertising that is ground-breaking, clever and persuasive must come that which is equal and most definitely opposite;

there are plenty of examples of bad advertising in and out of our industry. You know the type – it could be it an infuriatingly irrelevant ditty (mentioning no names, naturally) on television or an unholy cluster of vaguely related images that make your eyes water for all the wrong reasons. Whether annoying, cloying, unamusing or any other adverse adjective that concludes with an –ing, bad advertising may be frequently unforgettable but it’s never aspirational.

Resigned to the knowledge that bad advertising is out there, and probably always will be, Publicis Life Brands Resolute decided to take all the hard work out of this process. The Bad Ad Generator – accessed by pointing your browser at http://www.badadgenerator.com – means that you too can play at being an advertising exec that really should know better, and experience the thrill of creating a campaign with all the panache and subtlety of a fuzzy-felt playset.

All the elements we’ve come to know and loathe from abysmal advertising are available on the Bad Ad Generator, leaving you just a point, click and drag away from puerile promotional paradise. Struggling for copy? Throw in one our banal boilerplate strap-lines, a sure-fire way of using countless words to say nothing of any consequence. Looking for the perfect setting? Never mind perfect, we have plenty of generic landscapes that make up for their irrelevance with aesthetic appeal. Can’t afford a model shot? You can these days – throw in one of our sanguine stock shots.

We know what you’re thinking – this all sounds great but there’s something missing and you can’t put your finger on what.

It’s a swoosh. The answer is always to add a swoosh. Thank us later.

The Bad Ad Generator includes a gallery on the site to browse some of the monsterpieces that visitors are especially proud of, giving any user the opportunity to share the truly optically offensive offerings with friends and colleagues. Have a play and see what you can come up with – bad advertising is an unfortunate affront that we’ve learned to accept, so we may as well have some fun with it in the meantime.

- Greg Porter

Joining the workforce in the age of austerity (or “I want a job damnit”)

I know a couple of kids graduating university in a few months, and they’re scared shirtless because they want a job. That simple, right?

Not really, because there are thousands of other kids just like them graduating, and they want a job too. Most of them are not fortunate enough to have a portfolio of work to showcase their talents. You know how most parents think their kids are the most amazing, interesting, talented beings in the world when they learn how to walk or talk or go potty? Well, they usually still think that way when they’re graduating; the rest of the world, not so much. So, if your Mother or Father is the head of Fortune 500, then you don’t need to read on.

This blog is for the rest of you.

Now, I’m assuming you all have a competently written CV – or “resume”, as we say in the States (probably written with the help of a consultant) – so I think I’ll skip talking about it. That consultant doesn’t keep food on his table or gas in her boat by writing one CV for one client. Everybody’s got one.

Start by realizing you already have a job. Your job is to get a job. To get a job you need to get an interview. To get an interview you need to make contact. To make contact, you need to know somebody, or know somebody who knows somebody, or know how to write a letter to somebody that will make you somebody to remember.

Let’s concentrate on your introduction letter.

Here are a few rules of thumb. Write to a specific person if possible. Try to know as much about that person as possible. Google them. Find them on LinkedIn or Facebook. It’s not really stalking (it’s not like they’re your old flame or anything), but the more you know about them the easier it is to write to them like you know them. And remember, turnabout is fair play. They can Google you too, so keep those beer pong photos on your FB page to a minimum. Better yet, don’t have them at all. Just because it happened to you doesn’t make it interesting.

Always be specific.

Now you know who you are writing to, be clear about what you’re writing for. In other words, what do you want out of it? Do you want to speak to them on the phone? Do you want an interview?

Your CV outlines your experience, but your letter needs to somehow convey who you are and what makes you tick. These people are getting a lot of letters from a lot of people so it’s important to reveal a fact, phrase, attitude or attribute that makes you stand out from the rest. Be disarming. Okay, so you don’t have a lot of face-to-face client experience. Write (briefly) about your experience one summer taking the Census in the back hill of the Appalachian Mountains.

“I don’t get flustered in front of people, and can relate to almost anybody. In my summer job as a Census Taker, I’ve walked past and ignored “No Trespassing” and “Beware of the Dog” signs, to be greeted on the front porch by a bare-footed man wielding a shotgun—only be invited in for a cup coffee once we had a little time to chat. Needless to say, I think I can face virtually anything undaunted.”

That’s a tidbit almost anyone should remember. Think about it. In a couple of sentences you’ve conveyed you have people skills, you’re not afraid of hard, unglamorous work, and you can adapt to the most unusual of situations.

At the end of the day, all you want is someone to put down your letter and say, “This is the kind of kid I want on my team. I should meet them or at least take their call.”

Hopefully, you’ll get a response, but don’t ask them to call you. You’re the one looking for the job, not them. Tell them if you don’t hear from them this week, you’ll follow up with them the next. In other words, be persistent without being annoying. Timing is always important, and it shows you really want a job.

Don’t worry. Something will turn up. Be patient. Have fun now. You have the rest of your life to hold down a job.

- Neill Rogers

Netball is not just for girls!

I am sure the very mention of the word netball conjures up memories of cold, rainy PE lessons for some girls, but netball is so much more than that; it is also a fantastic way to exercise whilst making friends. There is a real sense of camaraderie in a netball team; there needs to be a connection as you rely on each other so much. It is a sport which requires strength, stamina, patience and teamwork – valuable skills in many situations.

Netball is having a revival moment, following incredible whitewash wins against Australia and Jamaica in the test series earlier this year. These 3-0 wins were history in the making as, before the tests, England had only beaten world champions Australia twice before, in 1981 and 2010.

This amazing performance by the England Netball girls has led to an increase in media attention for the sport. The tests were shown on Sky Sports, an achievement in itself as it was a first for the test series, and this has led to an increase in participation. It’s not just women donning the GA bib again though; now, men are starting to realise what they’ve been missing out on.

There are a number of mixed leagues across London – the best of which is the social sports company, Go Mammoth (gomammoth.co.uk) in my opinion. OK, I might be a little biased as I umpire for the Go Mammoth mixed league in Clapham (definitely the best, come and join us!). The men can be surprised at how fast and skilful a game can be, but they are often more competitive than the women. Having men as part of the team brings a new element to the game – it definitely puts my skills to the test and keeps me on my toes.

Here at PLBR Advertising we have bandied around the idea of putting a team together a few times. We are an office which enjoys sports. We regularly compete in fun runs (up next, Beat the Banana!), and we like an opportunity to show off our sporting prowess (or lack of, but it’s fun either way!). We would love to get enough people together to hold an inter-agency competition.

Can’t get the image of shivering on a gravel court wearing a pleated skirt out of your head? Still not convinced that netball isn’t just for girls? Watch this video of England Netball beating Australia in the final test to see how netball should be played (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv7p87e3zcc).

Hopefully the video will inspire you to put on your netball skirt and PE knickers again and join me. If you are interested, send me an email: harriet.cheshire@publicislifebrands.co.uk

Up Pompeii (down Great Russell Street)

The must-see event this Easter has got to be the British Museum’s “Life and death Pompeii and Herculaneum” exhibition.

If, like me, you have a bent towards all things historical, then hotfoot it to Great Russell Street this weekend.

It’s an amazing experience to come face-to-face – literally – with the people of Pompeii, frozen in time on the morning of August the 24^th – 79 A.D.

What really shocks you is how they weren’t any different from us. They were modern urbanites, and they had the same problems with vandals, politicians and just getting by.

It got me thinking about just how advanced they were almost two thousand years ago and how, as humans, we think that we’re so much more advanced now. But are we really? Is the human thought process always on a non-stop linear progression….?

I don’t think so. And if it’s true that we go through periods of great mental leaps and juddering halts – which period are we in now?

Food for thought… which, by the way, you can also see at the exhibition. Two thousand year old loaves… a bit like my local supermarket now I come to think of it! See? The connections between past and present are truly endless…