Add An S To A Plural To Get A Single?

This headline probably makes no sense. Allow me to elaborate. A word that is plural usually ends in an S. What if you added another S to that plural? Would you loop around to get a singular word again? Absurd I know. Until I thought of the word Princes and the extra S version Princess. Plural + S = Singular. My mind is blown. Are there any other words like this is wonder..? Answers on the back of a postcardss please.

Exclusive: Toy Story 4's European Premiere Will Be Sat 17th June 2017!

Yes, I am crazy enough to state the date almost 3 years out...!  Why?  Well it will be 7 years since Toy Story 3 which I correctly predicted would be premiering at EIFF 2010 (4 months before it was announced).  With a summer Edinburgh International Film Festival, it fits in nicely with Disney / Pixar's summer release in the States, and is earlier than a lot of the English school holidays (which child-friendly films are reserved for).  So assuming EIFF2016 is still in June, and EIFF2017 too, as well as assuming Cineworld is still trading and a sponsor of the EIFF, and they manage to secure the rights like they did for Wall.E and Toy Story 3, (phew!) then the European Premiere of Toy Story 4 will be in Cineworld Edinburgh (Fountainpark) on Saturday 17th June 2017 at 6pm.  Let's see if I'm correct, just 2.5 years until the programme is announced... ;)

Heart-breaker: Pram, Never Used, *Not* For Sale.

As a surprising twist on one of the shortest stories out there ("For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn") we have this heart-breaking story.  Pram, never used, *not* for sale.  I would pay a silly amount of money for this pram.  Well, if I had somewhere amazing to display it...

Truly Of Biblical Proportions - It's Coming In Only 7 Weeks!

I know the headline reads like linkbait, but oh dear God, this has caused tears to start running down my face.  It has to happen in the UK, it has to...  Don't make me beg.  Please....!!

Tesco Find A New Pathway To Failing At Basic Maths

The strange thing is, this didn't shock me that much. Not being able to spot that £1.50 is not 25% of £8, despite such a simple check. If dividing by 4 is too hard for you, just half it and have it again - even a child can do that!

Unintentional Institutional Racism In Advertising

UKIP have had a bit of attention this week for alleged 'racist' adverts ahead of the European elections. I've only seen this one advert complaining about excessive EU salaries. That's a relatively safe opinion to voice. Just so long as they don't put the advert up next to something that can be misconstrued....! It would seem that in advertising, positioning is everything - in both senses of the word.

Update: It seems someone has posted this *after* me on Twitter and then had it picked up by Edinburgh Evening News. 

http://m.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/ukip-poster-next-to-no-poles-required-tent-ad-1-3392092

The Only Flight From Edinburgh To Edinburgh Has Been Cancelled!

Oh no! Arried at Edinburgh airport early morning to find that the 08:55 FlyBe flight from Edinburgh airport to "Edinburgh" has been cancelled! I was looking forward to the shortest flight ever! 

Princes Mall Possesses Party Season - Or Can't Punctuate!

Ah, Princes Mall... That weird "shopping centre" attached to Edinburgh Waverley railway station. It seems in your quest for attention you've grabbed mine but fot the wrong reasons! So you have your own party season and you refer to yourself in the 3rd person now...? What else could you mean in this photo when you write "its party season"...? Unless your marketing team and printers don't understand basic English structures like apostrophe for contractions, such as it is becoming it's. Here's an example for you: It's a shame Princes Mall doesn't use a proof reader.

Co-op Against Independence And - Or Basic Geography Knowledge

Wow, never expected The Co-operative supermarket to come out with such an early pro-union message! Near the West End of Edinburgh, the Friday before the Scotland vs England 6 Nations game, in their supermarket closest to Murrayfield (depending on travel direction), the Co-op proudly promote a special offer on Coca Cola when you buy the Coventry Telegraph - a paper for a city a mere 300 miles away and in another country! I can't see what else this could be other than an anti-independence statement - surely no one could be that oblivious to put that out by mistake?

Taylor Walker's Classic Pub Food? Classic Mistake!

Sigh. Big companies are still making the same basic mistakes. How can you seriously not employ a proof reader with marketing / quality assurance that has a decent grade at GCSE English?

So Taylor Walker pubs have "classic pub food" do they? Well, as the possessive apostrophe doesn't exist in the third person generic, their follow up line must mean "at it is best!". Unsurprisingly that doesn't get my taste buds tingling, instead it gets my grammar goat up!

Tesco Ireland Have So Much Better Worse Deals Than The UK

Ahh, Tesco.  You never fail to entertain me.  So here I am in Ireland towards the end of last year, looking at coffee.  Whilst there are no multibuys to tempt me, there is always economies of scale.  For example, one 227g bag of 3 strength / flavour ground coffee is €3.05, but you can get twice that amount for err €6.49.  But if you increase the intensity of the coffee then the negative savings get even better!  4 flavour coffee is a steal at €2.39 a bag, but you'd have to be insane not (not) to buy twice that amount almost 3 times as much, just €6.99.  Good to see Tesco enforcing standards across their global stores...

(Glasgow) Evening Times - Haunting Sponsor of Celtic Connections

Have I been watching to many J-Horror films?  Because sitting in a lovely venue for the opening Saturday of the Celtic Connections music festival I naturally scanned around the room.  Unsurprisingly I saw a sponsor, the (Glasgow) Evening Times.  What is frightening is that the image they use has trailing blood from a haunting female ghostly face.  Start at her little finger coming off the end of her bow.  Just above, can you see two chilling eye sockets?  And leading down from her little finger, the definite structure of a nose, and below that a blood red mouth open - trying to communicate her warning from the other side...?  Apt choice of a violin to play the scary music...

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!