30 minutes on the Tube

I had the unpleasant experience of having to travel on the Tube the other day minus music, as I left my iPod at home.

The results: not good. I thought my music blocked out merely the rattling of the Tube, however it turns out it blocks out a multitude of other sins. Namely – the interference of other people’s music on the tube. I’d never realised how irritating it is!

Therefore I believe some form of music etiquette should be followed at all times:

1. Have your volume at a reasonable level – i.e. so no one else can hear the not-so-faint strains of some hideous happy hardcore tune blasting out by your left ear. There have been studies done in the past where MP3 manufacturers have had to set limits on the volume at which music can be played – clearly some MP3 players managed to avoid imposing this legislation.
2. Do not hum, sing, or worst of all, whistle along with the tune.
3. Don’t drum your fingers in an annoying ‘I want to be the drummer’ style tapping rhythm.

I obviously abide by my own rules at all times – although I have noticed I tend to attempt to do some form of mini-dance moves occasionally when on the train. Ultra embarrassing!

On similarly hilarious theme –  this made me laugh a LOT this morning. I think every seasoned Tube user has seen something similar to this:

Election 2.0

If New Labour’s landslide election win in 1997 marked the year parties woke up and recognised the importance of the media, will 2008 be looked back on as the year of new media? – If the flood of buzzwords emanating from both camps in the US presidential race is anything to go by then, yes.

 

Obama’s iPhone application, which turns the device into a political recruiting tool, is the latest example. But putting my initial cynicism aside, it does appear as though the application may actually serve a purpose other than having Apple’s uber-cool brand rub off on the would-be president.

 

 

2008 has demonstrated that YouTube and other video-casting sites have the potential to become the soap boxes of the digital era. Both US parties have been extremely proactive in uploading content to either endorse their candidate or cast doubts over the opponent, even throughout the primaries. Several clips suggesting McCain has more in common with George Dubya than just being a Republican have perhaps been the most influential.

 

I’m sure those of you who regularly check out viral video charts will have noticed how they’ve been dominated by US presidential videos. The sheer volume of these videos has hampered my personal crusade to find the next Star Wars Kid or fat guy falling off a diving board but it is evident that, crucially, these videos are reaching a wide audience, particularly notoriously apathetic younger voters.

Wii Fit viral: An exercise in the fake fake

 

 

Today Nintendo vehemently denied posting a YouTube viral of a girl in her underwear doing/playing/exercising to (what’s the verb I’m looking for here?) Wii Fit.  The accusation of the fake viral came as the girl starring in it works at an advertising agency and so does her boyfriend, ergo, Nintendo must have paid for the viral to be made.   But we creatives are more devious than that.   I put it to you that this viral is a fake fake devised in the boardroom of the boyfriend’s agency, piggy-backing on the back of Wii Fit’s popularity to boost their own. Marvellous.