Blog the Barclays...
Welcome to the Barclays Blogging (or Weblogs) - where our thoughts on events and such can be published. If you want to know more about blogging, click here.
Friday, May 27, 2005
I've been thinking about this for a couple of days. International marketing giant,Interbrand, were charged with coming up with a new logo and tagline for Edinburgh a la "Glasgow Smiles Better", the rather quaint but fantastically effective marketing slogan for our west coast neighbours.
The clients - a steering group made up of The City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian and the now defunct Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board - decided to go with "Edinburgh - Inspiring Capital" at an estimated cost of £800,000.
Rather than a focus on the benefits and historic effects that Edinburgh has had on the globe, it sounds to me like a plea for money. Maybe to recoup the initial expense.
Money well spent? Well let's hope it turns out to be more inspiring in the long run than other Interbrandofferings:
Welcome to Estonia.
Unlimited London.
.: posted by Ali 9:52 AM
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
In a travesty of justice, the new Wembley footbridge will not be the Jim Baxter Bridge, but the White Horse Bridge. After being so close to pulling off the greatest Scottish victory since Bannockburn, the local development authority in London did not include big Jim in the final shortlist. Clearly officials thought that it more appropriate to name the bridge after a horse used to clamp down a pitch invasion in the 1920s rather than a football player. Way to go England, that should put paid to your reputation as a nation of sporting troublemakers.
Bets on the who is rumoured to die in the next Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, have been curtailed after geographical analysis of a pocket of betting on Professor Dumbledore revealed that they all came from one area - around Bungay and Norwich. OK, so what, thought a Ladbrokes representative - a case of a local rumour gone mad. But then again, where are the books printed in the UK? Oh yes, Bungay in Suffolk. Odds on the Professor getting the chop have dropped to 1/5.
.: posted by Ali 9:50 AM
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
"Dunfermline snap up Halliwell" the headline said. Fantastic!! Half-time entertainment from the ex-Spice Girl, I thought.
Wrong end of the footballing stick though. The mighty Pars have signed the talented Clyde goalkeeper in the latest in what might become an exodus from the west-coast club.
Still, add to that DAFC giving he manager's job back to Jim Leishman, we may be seeing big changes at East End - having all but avoided relegation to Division 1 (touch wood).
Nintendo launched their new game console to combat the threat of the PlayStation 3 and the new Xbox 360. Unfortunately the information on the console was sparse to day the least. Little was offered on the inner workings of the new generation machine, particularly annoying as so much has been made by the other 2 on their computing and graphics power. Just seemed to be a lot of superlatives about how Nintendo will break the mould and offer anew gaming experience - hmmm, not much to go on for the N-faithful or those looking to change systems. Looks like Sony set to keep their stranglehold.
New GameBoy Micro announced too - that was a surprise, particularly as the GameBoy Advance DS just came out a few months ago. Nintendo doing an Apple with their Mac mini?
And another thing - what is all this furore over Man U being bought out by Malcolm Glazer? What's up? Scared he might turn the Club into a heartless money making marketing machine?
.: posted by Ali 7:53 PM
Friday, May 13, 2005
Been trying Podcasting today.
Basically "subscribing" to a number of audio files produced from an increasing number of publishers - but Wikipedia puts it better than me.
These files are collated on your Computer using some Podcast software like iPodderX or iPodder, and can be listened to on your computer or transferred to an iPod.
BBC are trialling Podcasting with a number of their programmes, running alongside their Listen Again service. Although admitedly I have yet to find a way of accessing one of their casts - please let me know if you get any further!!
.: posted by Ali 4:17 PM
In a change of normal procedure, Microsoft have decided to steal a lead on their competitors and preview their new Xbox 360 on MTV, ahead of next week's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) event in LA.
"Film Star" Elijah Wooden (sic) is to host the MTV show, where all eyes will be on his precious :-o
And what do you know - it's white :-)) Maybe they originally thought of calling it the "iBOX" or something, but changed their minds.
Typical quotes from some of the early reviewers:
“This rocks! It kind of looks like a console from the future: all simple, but like the power’s under the hood.”
“This makes WAR! - Wife Acceptability Rating. I won’t have to fight my wife to get her to let me put it in my entertainment center. I’d pay double for that alone.” Hmmm, righty then!
Wonder what Nintendo and Sony will be doing now? OK, they may not be exactly caking their breeks as it were, but I for one will be interested to see what the future of gaming is going to look like - if you can pry the GameCube controller out of my hands...
.: posted by Ali 12:08 PM
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Blog-type "Pinch-punch, first of the month" to you. What does May have in store?
May 1 is National Bubba Day
May 3 is Doo Dah Day
May 8 is No Socks Day.
May 11 is Eat What You Want Day.
May 16 is Biographer's Day.
May 18 is Visit Your Relatives Day.
May 21 is I Need a Patch For That Day.
May 23 is Morning Radio Wise Guy Day.
May 24 is International Jazz Day.
May 30 is Hug Your Cat Day.
May 31 is What You Think Upon Grows Day.
.: posted by Ali 10:50 AM
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