The Original Nightmare Comes To Cineworld This Hallowe'en

I was sitting in +Cineworld Cinemas today watching the trailers, when I saw the iconic words New Line Cinemas in a bold red font.  It couldn't be, could it?  There's a note, then another, so soft yet so sinister...  It is!  Freddy's back in all his original glory!  This Hallowe'en in Cineworld Cinemas there is a beautiful re-release of the original horror classic A Nightmare On Elm Street.  Can't wait to never sleep, again.

Announcing The Official Technical Sales Blog at NUM6.co.uk

So this is a weird situation, where my personal world and professional world start to mix.  The technical sales, training and consultancy I set up, NUM 6, is now starting to push out useful (and free!) technical and sales training tips and advice via our new Technical Sales Blog.  It's strange having two different audiences with two different messages, but I hope it provides some value.  It's relevant if you sell anything - such as your ideas to your peers or customers or family.  Yep, almost everyone "sells" something, and here are some regular useful tips on how to excel at doing it in a sincere and honest way.  Sell well!

A Rosé In Any Other Colour Would Still Taste As Sweet

Beringer make an amazing sparkling rosé.  It may very well be one of the best summer drinks there is.  Not all supermarkets sell it, but if you see their Sparking Zinfandel Rosé you really should grab a bottle to try.  Of course, the correct name is White Zinfandel, but as with many other producers they drop the "White" to avoid confusion as it is actually a rosé wine (and has often confused many bar tenders when ordering a white zinfandel).  So that's fine then.  Well, seems that Beringer are wanting to go a step further and make their soft strawberry coloured wine look more hot pink!  The photo here is exactly the same wine but in the new bottle and branding (left) compared to the classic version.  Are they now pushing this harder to the female market and wanting to be see as "pink fizz"?  The answer is probably yes, but when you have such a delightful strawberry and raspberry bubbly wine you can do what you want to get as many people as possible to try it.

Being A Sell Out Beats Awards At Edinburgh Fringe?

Okay, this is a weird marketing decision. Tony Law had a great show last year and was rightly nominated for the top award (née Perrier, née If.com, now Fosters). So returning this year, you would assume his agent(s) would make a big deal about that, right? Well, it's strangely absent from his poster for this year's show, yet it does have space to mention his run was sold out in 2012 and 2011. Is this a sign that the top award in Edinburgh no longer has the marketing cache it once did? It's not mentioned on Brendon Burns' poster or advert, nor David O'Doherty's advert, and they both won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in previous years. Yet both Bo Burnham and The Boy With Tape On His Face (both truly stunning) highlight that they won the Panel Prize (open to almost any show). So does this mean the panel prize is more valuable than the ECA? Interesting to think about...

Martian Road Signs In Glasgow Are Alien To Me

Is this a Martian turning his head to the
side when looking at me, or is it instead the weirdest road sign in the world? Curvy lines, looping back and extra bends make navigating at the West End in Glasgow is very strange...

Guess Who's Back Beautiful? Gorgeous Edinburgh!

On the day Edinburgh is named happiest city in the UK, guess who's back to make our city life full of more genuine smiles...? It's the subversive graffiti artist / art student project with more complimentary chalking! Either that or I'm imagining messages just addressed to me at St James Centre...

Paint The Whole World With A Rainbow . Every Little Helps...

A lot of big downpours lately and some nice Spring sunshine means a plethora of rainbows popping up all over Edinburgh. They are almost as common as Tesco stores, but certainly far prettier to look at and feed my soul rather than my body.

Ireland Has Some Strange Traffic Rules, Perhaps From The Dark Side

Ireland has some strange rules… For example, during peak travel no more than 5 Imperial Tie Fighters allowed at one time. It seems they do as much damage as schoolchildren in corner shops!

A Sign People Are Ho-pin-g To Leave Dublin?

Oh dear… In central Dublin this sign is great to drum up business for attracting tourists in. Shame the socket and pins are the wrong way round for Ireland!  And for those who dispute that they could be advertising that for people about to travel from Ireland to Europe, nice idea but I saw the adaptors they were selling and they are the usual tourist sockets to Irish 3 pin plugs...

Best Gents Toilets sign ever! Or rather, best “Used Beer Dept.”...

Best Gents Toilets sign ever! Or rather, best “Used Beer Dept.” sign… Hugely impressed with The Porterhouse in Bray, and very grateful the sign is outside the gents and meant I didn't have to try and snap another photo inside the gents! Again!