IDLE RAMBLINGS OF THE JAY...

As always it's been a while... Ola...

The creative juices has been doing rounds in the blender.... And the blender is been working nonstop for the past month... Supply shortage lead to a hang up on the blogging scene... If I could visually imagine my blog, it would look like an old shack with cobwebs, spiders and enough dust to choke a man with an asthma, a hundred times over... Achooo!!!

That apart, I'm fine... I'm living happy, the god of wealth smiled down at me last month... Got a side job and a Diwali bonus... Never had a bonus before, it was cool... It helped me meet short ends and the long ones... Lol...

On the literary front, I'm pretty much reading zilch... I'm waiting for a book though... A sequel to the Patrick Rothfuss's "Name of the Wind".... I've seen a cartload of movies... Been buried in a lot of Japanese comics (manga)... One Piece, Naruto, Bleach and the likes... They're interesting, different for a change...

On the advertising front, my stars say it's a time for a change soon... So I'm watching for those winds of change... It's easier to drift in the right winds rather than fight the currents all the time...

Signing off for now...

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It's been a while isn't it ??? Since, I had a go at my blog... But then again, finding the time to do so has run pretty scarce... Working and traveling keeps me engaged most of the time... Not to mention the lack of a laptop, but that's a problem with a solution in the works...

On the agency front, work's been piling up... Working through it one stack at a time... Been entrusted with more responsibility at the agency... I'm now an Associate Creative Director... Woohoo... Even got a business card printed from the office... Id card to follow soon...

It's tougher now, knowing you've got solid responsibility to shoulder... Now, if the ship heads off course, you know it's because you didn't pull your weight... In the early copywriter days, you just did what you were told and that was that... Now you have higher ups to answer to, budgets to worry about, deadlines and media plans to put in place, media choices to worry about... It's definitely not easier at the top!!!

Maybe I should ask for a downgrade ???

Funny thing is 'Innovation' use to be such a great word... Now I'm getting to know first hand what innovation is all about... In advertising it actually means "Sonny, we don't have much money... So work your magic with what little we can give you"... Ain't that a reality check!!!

It's a covert name for below the line advertising like direct marketing, road shows etc, etc... Bleak as it may seem it too is fun, but it is harder work... It actually involves getting up from your desk and moving about... Whew!!!

Sure there's a lot of interesting terms in advertising that I still have to explore and rediscover... But 'innovation' was a decent start...

Anyways, toodles for now... I'm seriously running out of good thoughts to put down...

On a lighter note, I haven't seen a good movie in months... Need to remedy that soon... Any suggestions ???

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It's nearly the end of July... I know posts have been sparse in arrival... Apologies... But that's why I put that little twitter feed by the side, so you can peer into the trivial, mundane and stoic forecasts of my brain...

My brains been pretty much in overdrive these days... You know that point in a copywriters life when he's got very few works to show for and searching for the light... When, all that the portfolio would contain is but remnants of mediocre works from the college days... Those couple of start up ads that you did in your first workplaces and internships... The stage where he's frantically trying to get his act together... That's where I am right now... Trudging through the boundaries of the ordinary, picking my brains to come up with the extraordinary...

Yeeesh... I hate using the 'ordinary to extraordinary' type cliches... But sometimes, you just can't invent phrases at thought speed... Rather the speed at which a thought gives wings to an idea... Like fireworks they shine in all there glory, but only for a moment and then dissolve into a memory... Great ideas are molded from the moment, not the memories... Both are leagues apart... No matter how experienced you are in the business of writing never ever give up on the flow, because phrases can be invented like whenever... A tweak here or a synonym later your done... After all, you are in the business of dabbling in drivel... But your mojo muse, she either works in flashes, flashes that need fleshing out... Or she works long hours... And then all of a sudden, Poof !!! She's gone... It's either the 'muse is in' or 'the muse is out'...

So as far as my blogging muse goes she's been out of town for a while... Maybe cheating with her ex, who knows... But for now, she's back... And that's all that matters...

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As of this past week, I've developed this habit of following the newspaper and news, daily (amazingly)... Occasionally cross-referencing contents online to get clarity and perspective... When we are small, seeing all the grownups read their newspaper early in the morning branded them as such... But then when you actually move into the habit, you realize all of sudden you've got an opinion on everything under the sun...

Oh, of course we all had an opinion on everything even before reading the news... But now you are backed by solid intel... And while on that subject, me being of the media; we are aware that media tends to colour information a little (the technical terminology I believe is ‘Agenda Setting Theory’), but how much??? Well it’s evident when you switch between the nation’s foremost news channels... Yes, I’m talking of NDTV, CNN-IBN, Times Now and the likes... One is pro this, the other is pro that, another is stuck in between and I don’t mean respectively...

Neutrality is a tall order and an expensive one it would seem... But between the lot, it’s an adventure of sorts to sort fact, fiction and lucrative hearsay bundled with a very subtly crafted element of propaganda... I guess it’s time to rewrite an age old adage and make it...

“A little media is a dangerous thing”

So I’ve thought of sticking to the news-tracking habit for now... Although, I plan to keep that habit away from the prying eyes of my fellow cousins and relative (younger ones of course)... Coz I don’t want to be branded a grownup ever... Well as long as I can... I suppose they’ll catch on eventually when my hair shows streaks of white when it catches the light... Maybe 30 years down the line....

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Everybody loves good food... And that's why Kailash Kitchen is a must for any non-veg lover... Kailash Kitchen serves the most delightful Tibetan food you can have at the most comfortable price you can get ever, in Chennai... Yes, Kailash Kitchen is quite a small restaurant... Four tables that seat four people at a time... But the dim lighting, the compactness and the ambiance of this little restaurant coupled with the genuine warmth of the hosts of this delightful haven leaves you wanting to return here more often...

Now on to the method... It's simple really... All you need is a good hard solid chocolate... Leave it in the house for a day, when you first check it out... Next day, check whether your chocolate has turned all gooey... If it has turned gooey to the point it goes 'splsshh' as in more to the liquidish state... The heat is a tad bit too much, however if it happens to be squishy but not sticky and all softish, it's just about the best kinds of house you can get in Chennai...

For me, I pulled it off with a 'Galaxy' Bar... But I'm guessing any decent chocolate would suffice... Kinds of puts a whole new spin on the phrase 'Home sweet home', doesn't it...

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So how do you go about doing that? That's what's been eating at me since I got started with my break... People are constant food for thought in my line of work, observation being the grand daddy of all arts... Train stations, parks, cafes are all great places to pick up a thing or two about people... People watching is fascinating, but that's a thought for another day... Not to forget a heavy dose of books and ads (all types and all genres)... It's a great prescription, but it takes time... Impatience can be such a killjoy... You have this urge to move forward really fast until you realize you were born with legs, not wheels...

And there is of course the fact that any work you submit, you know you can outdo; given you had the time... We all have deadlines... Boohoo! But it's part of the game... However, as long as you remain dedicated and committed, you'll be seeing a lot more deadlines and a lot less dead ends... Time does make copywriting better, faster and easier... So for now, it's nothing but to lean on that age old adage "practise makes perfect"...

Jay, over and out...

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So my course is over, my exams are over... Woohoo... Not quiet, I had this French paper I missed out on one of the previous semesters... I'm not so confident about my confrontation with this particular 'monstieur' from my past... A year is all it took to forget an entire language whole... Damn me and Damn the language... The exam was pretty much touch and go... I'm hoping its 'touch' and not 'go'...

Tough call, to figure out whether its 'touch' or 'go'... But I'm moving on, either way I'll deal with it... Sadly, the sad part would be if it's 'go', my parents will be disappointed... I can't bear that... My degree will have to wait until I get past the French debacle... Be that as it may, while I'm indeed slightly worried about the 'go' part, it doesn't throw a wrench in my plans for the future... I've got a job, I plan to work a year... The degree is not going to increase my pay... I'll still get my experience... And hopefully within a year I'll be a pro in French and ace the exam...

But that is if its 'go'.... If its 'touch' my parents will be happy, most probably my french would suck for all eternity... And I will be constantly doubting the fact whether or not I should do a PG immediately... The tipping point of course would be my parents happiness...

And you don't need to be a genius to figure out which matters in our country... Now all I need are the 'gods' and some 'luck' !!!

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Occasionally, when I take a second look at my blog, I find myself laughing away into the silence... And laughing hard at that... Often when we have a string of thought to follow, words just seem to flow... Funny though, I often forget that my typing cannot keep up with my mind... And my words can't keep up with the oxford dictionary standards...

Anyways, readers if you do happen to find such hilarious mistakes; please... For the love of god let me know... Maybe, I can start up a blog stream called blogger bloopers, if it's hilarious enough...

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Not that I have anything against the Nano... I did, a long time ago when I heard Tata's plan... Because of the traffic woes it may or may not create... But then again, its hard to be angry with a small car that carries more than 2 people, comes at roughly 1 lakh, gives you a great milage and guarantees a safer environment with it around... So salute to the Nano...

So coming back to my little portion of motion... I think the time is right to invest in a cycle... It beats traffic, beats petrol prices, gives a great mileage and gets you to the your destination... Of course, I see a future where a lot of drivers will curse my existence... With all the weaving in and out of traffic, it's bound to happen... But I'll be happy, I think....

Deadlines are a dirty word... Between banging your head against the wall and staring into space trying to coming up with great ideas... People might tell you your ideas and concepts are nice just to be polite... But at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, if you can't deliver it on page, you are heading nowhere fast... The greatest ads in the world has been delivered in partnership...

Yes, I'm talking about art and copy... It's a kind of marriage, all the drama included... It's a union made in advertising heaven... But between the two, one thing's guaranteed... They'll make the worst parents ever... Obviously the ads are the kids... That being said, babies are born on the spur of the moment and aborted the next... Of course their are the tantrums and the arguments... But there is brutal honesty too and sharp criticism, and no politeness... And that's a big help despite the drama...

For me most of the best works have come out when I worked in partnership with a friend... His name is... Well, I don't want to swell his head... Amazingly he reads thoughts and executes sparks... Most of the time I trail behind trying to catch up with his sheer volume of ideas... I build on his more often than most... Don't get me wrong I'm pretty damn good at what I do too... But it takes a bigger man to be a team player...

And at the end of the day... That counts...

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