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… but she’s not – she’s alive and well and about to appear at the Sydney Opera House.
Given her show is entitled ‘Surgically Enhanced’ I am assuming this means she’s had ‘surgery’ … but as she was about 826 years old when I saw her on the telly in the 70’s, I can only assume the surgery she’s referring to is full robotic transplantation!
Who’d of thought a poet could earn so much money to get such medical help eh!?
In all seriousness, whilst I used to absolute hate her poems when I was a kid, I am sort-of happy to know she’s still around and playing major venues all around the World. Maybe it’s because it proves the World still has a heart. Or bad taste.
Dear oh dear … Sydney has made me soft … thank god NYC is next.
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go on rob, admit it, you bought a ticket to her show didnt you.
hey, when youve stopped mind fucking around with your little friends, can you please give me a call me about some real work.
dont know who you are hari, but while a bunch of cds may be a bunch of idea stealing hacks, not all of them are and while you may have been joking, your we-are-not-all-in-it-together insinuation is hardly going to help endear you to creatives who really care about making something amazing happen.
Comment by andy @ cynic October 6, 2006 @ 10:51 pmHi Andy, I am not sure you want to know who I am, better ask Rob about that. But I did mean it as a joke, and as for not endearing me to creatives, well, I was a copywriter who turned planner in the same agency, so that’s pretty much already happened.
Officially: I mean no offence to all those (creative or not) who care about making something happen, after all I am one of them. I do applaud the work you guys at Cynic do and wish you all the best.
And quite frankly while ripping off is definitely bad, being inspired is actually a good thing, most of all that indicates the creative person keeps his eyes and ears open.
Comment by Hari October 6, 2006 @ 11:05 pmHari, you are a creep – but it’s a good idea to be because Andy’s a genuine [and it kills me to say it] legend, and has probably caused you to buy more products than you thought possible.
Comment by Rob October 6, 2006 @ 11:24 pmwell, well, well, so you finally acknowledge my genius robert. about time.
hari, i dont know you, but as you seem to know rob, you must be ok. cant work out why any creative would become a fulltime planner unless they realised they werent ever going to be truly great. i dont mean to be mean when i say that, its just the best creatives are always great planners so i am wondering what made you change roles.
saying that, i hope that doesnt mean you are one of those guys who believes you can write better ads than the actual creatives. that sort of thing really fucks me off though i have to admit both rob and george have been behind some of the best creative work ive ever produced, including when i was at hhcl and chiat.
no offence is taken with your comments, i guessed you were joking and i am glad you are a fan of cynics work. just remember this is about us all working together, its not planning versus creatives because when that happens we all lose.
Comment by andy @ cynic October 6, 2006 @ 11:40 pmHi Andy, well Rob does know me and since he still calls me occasionaly I assume I haven’t gone bad.
Interesting you should ask me about the switch, the answer partly lies in your comment “…the best creatives are always great planners…” I started in advertising in India more than 12 years ago. I was a pretty good creative, if I may say so myself, and when I started out there was no such thing as planning in India, hence I started with the next best thing, which is creative. Of course this is with the benefit of hindsight.
When I landed in Singapore about 6 years back I discovered planning and learning more about it I decided that’s what really excited me more. I look upon planning as allowing me to be creative on a larger scale. Now, again please don’t mistake me when I say that, the situation in Asia is that a creative is pretty much put into play at the fag end of the process and is mostly expected to produce just a TVC or a print ad, questioning objectives and real needs is something that has already been done excluding the creative people.
And yes, I am not one of those converts who thinks he can do better ads than the creative, precisely because I have been striving these past years to do my best to ensure that everyone is equally ‘creative’ in an agency and that it’s not the job of one department alone. I am fully aware and respect that the writer and art directors are masters of their craft and hence the final call is theirs. Though I must confess this hasn’t been easy and it’s something I have learned to do.
I believe testimony to the success of my efforts has been the fact that I have been chosen by the top creative directors to be on the committee of the Singapore Creative Circle Awards this year, the first and only planner in it’s 26-year history. I hope to continue this effort to turn all parts of the agency and clients into ‘creatives’ . Any advice is welcome.
Comment by Hari October 7, 2006 @ 1:17 amhello hari. you seem to be doing ok by the sound of it so keep it up but dont believe your own hype too much, its the first sign of failure. unless, of course, you are certifiably brilliant like me.
dont know how well you know rob, but you should get as close to him as you can while hes there. he is a fantastic guy and has the respect of many great creatives because he comes up with infectious ideas (even when a client mandates a direction) that even the truly great creatives might miss. hes been doing it for years and managed to get the work sold, which is a real talent.
i look forward to hearing about you and the singapore circle awards because –
1. singapore and creativity are generally mutually exclusive so hearing how the judging goes will be interesting.
Comment by andy @ cynic October 7, 2006 @ 5:08 am2. singapore advertising produces more fake output than china.
3. planners at creative awards are not generally a good thing (because the best creatives are, as i already said, great planners) so it will be interesting to hear how you are received.
4. i want to hear if you cause as much shit as rob did when he was on the NYFestivals.
What’s happened to the Andy I know????
You are NEVER nice to me and now you’re saying I am clever. Are you ill? Pregnant? An alien?
Talk to me man … I’m worried about you, ha!
Comment by Rob October 7, 2006 @ 9:19 amnow you come to mention it, i do feel a little feverish. thanks for noticing.
Comment by andy @ cynic October 7, 2006 @ 10:24 am