Creative Tips That Work!
~ By Robert S. Reiff

Robert S. "Bobby" Reiff is a criminal defense lawyer in Miami, FL. He is
nationally recognized for his work in DUI cases. His book, Drunk Driving and
Related Vehicular Offenses was recently published by LEXIS Law Publishing.

I have put together a list of the best pieces of advice offered to me, or that I
have come up with, over the course of the many years I have toiled in the "Drunk
Driving" field. While these "tips" are far from exhaustive, I believe they
emphasize several important factors to remember: That hard work, creativity and
thorough preparation and information gathering go a long way toward resolving
your client's case successfully.


If You Think You're Going To Lose, You Probably Will
Strangely enough, having a positive attitude about your case and what you are
doing on behalf of your client will have a great effect upon your defense and
the outcome of the litigation. Do not get into a fight expecting to lose! In
other words, if you hope to achieve success, think positively. In all of my
cases, one thing I have learned is that if you work hard enough, and smart
enough, you have, at the very minimum, a good chance at success.


Abnormal Tests To Test Normal Faculties
Physical sobriety tests: have you ever really thought about them? These tests,
which DUI suspects are routinely asked to perform, are abnormal! After all, how
many people walk down the street in a heel-to-toe manner, or wait for the bus by
standing on one leg? You're not asked to do these things before the state gives
you a driver's license, are you? Nevertheless, the police use these tests to
attempt to determine whether a suspect possesses his/her normal faculties. What
you have, then, are "abnormal tests to test normal faculties." It seems awfully
strange that this is the way the police go about assessing whether to make a DUI
arrest based upon impairment (remember that the breath test is offered
post-arrest). This point is worth raising during cross-examination:


Q: Officer, you didn't just say to Mr. Jones, walk up the street about ten yards
and back so I can see how you walk, normally, did you?
A: No.

Q: Instead, you asked him to walk in an abnormal manner, didn't you?
A: Duh.

Q: And you were asking him to do these exercises to determine if he had his
normal faculties?
A: That's right.

Just as you and I believe that, on a common sense level, this is rather bizarre,
so too will your jury.


Zen and the Art of Physical Sobriety Exercises
It is curious that to make their arrest determination, police officers believe
that a drunk driving suspect can perform physical sobriety exercises under the
extremely stressful, and certainly non-clinical settings in which they are
usually performed. It is also interesting that these suspects are being asked to
perform these exercises often for the very first time. I use a baseball analogy
to show that the first time up at bat, chances are anyone is going to
strike out.

Q: Officer, have you ever played baseball?
A: Yes, of course.

Q: The very first time you swung that bat, did you hit a home run?
A: Probably not.

Q: Chances are, you missed the ball entirely because it was your first attempt
at that physical task.
A: That's probably correct.

Q: The exercises you offered are physical tasks, are they not?
A: That's true.

Q: To your knowledge, this was the first time Mrs. Jones was asked to do such
unusual physical tasks.
A: To my knowledge, yes.

Q: Therefore, you can't exclude the possibility that she would have done much
better if she had the opportunity to practice; in order for her to familiarize
herself with these tasks?
A: No, I cannot.


Plausible Denial
Jurors generally do not pass favorably upon a defendant who refuses to submit to
a breath test. To them, a refusal means that the defendant knew he/she was
guilty, and, therefore, hid the truth. It is important, then, to give the jury a
reasonable explanation why your client refused to submit to the test. The
"plausible denial" should be developed right from the beginning of trial, during
jury selection. A good example of this was a situation in which my client
refused to submit to the breath test because he had watched The Tonight Show and
heard Johnny Carson say that the breath machines "just don't work!" By the time
I inquired of each juror if any of them had heard Johnny's statement (indeed,
several of them had), they were all in agreement that if any one of them had
been arrested after hearing such assertions, they would not have submitted to
the test either!


Ex Party
We all know, of course, that it is improper and unethical to communicate ex
parte with a judge concerning a particular case. Nevertheless, it is perfectly
acceptable to provide the court with a courtesy copy of any memoranda or case
law you intend to rely upon. In fact, most judges appreciate it. Therefore, if
you prepare a substantial pleading, and you should if the issue is important,
make sure you get a courtesy copy of the motion along with relevant case law
into the hands of the judge who will hear the motion.


Know Your Enemy
We all display natural tendencies in law. Perhaps this comes out most clearly
under the pressures of a trial. It is important, then, for you to research the
witnesses who will be testifying against your client, the prosecutor who will be
arguing the case against you, and the judge who will be handling the matter from
the bench. I am confident that as you delve further into these cogs of the
system, certain patterns will emerge. For example, many prosecutors use the same
or similar opening and closing arguments; police officers have been known to
testify in an all-too consistent manner about the performance of sobriety
exercises; and judges often have distinct preferences or quirks too. In other
words, as best you can, know your enemy.


Cops in Closing
I enjoy it when a police officer who has testified in a contentious case decides
to attend closing argument. This is especially true where the case has lingered
for a long time and the officer's testimony has taken place hours, if not days,
earlier. A simple point should be made: "Why is the officer here? His or her
duty is to make the arrest, process the defendant and testify truthfully about
what occurred. Period." An officer's attendance, it should be argued, exposes a
personal stake or grudge. You should make great use of an officer's attendance
at the closing, especially when you have raised questions as to the officer's
integrity or impartiality.


Fair and Impartial Jurors
It is very interesting that the prosecutor will tell a panel of potential jurors
that he or she is looking only for a "fair and impartial jury." As we all know,
that is far from the truth. Use this statement against the prosecutor in two
ways: First, be candid and tell the jury that the prosecution has no intention
of selecting a fair and impartial jury; it wants a jury that is likely to
convict, just as you would love to get a jury that would merely look at your
client and find her not guilty.

Second, and more important, point out to the jury that what the prosecutor has
just told them is illegal — for as the jurors sit and adjudge the case, they
must be partial . . . toward the defendant. This is so because the defendant
enjoys the presumption of innocence, which remains with her until the
prosecution meets its burden of proving each material element of the charge
beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt.


Retro Extrapo
While the prosecution does not have to use retrograde extrapolation (the
relating back of a breath test result from a future time back to the time the
defendant was actually driving or in actual physical control of the vehicle) to
obtain a conviction in most jurisdictions,1 it is important nonetheless to put
the issue before the jury. The groundwork is easily laid if the breath
technician has been qualified by the prosecutor as an expert witness. Once this
has been done, you are then permitted to ask him or her hypothetical questions
based upon facts in evidence. A proper setup of your hypothetical scenario will
force the witness to testify that he or she does not know what your client's
blood alcohol content was at the time of the operation of the vehicle. Moreover,
the witness in all likelihood will not be able to testify whether the defendant
was above or below the legal limit at that time. The artful examiner might even
elicit testimony that the client was just as likely under the legal limit at
that time of the offense as over it, no matter the breath or blood test result
obtained by the prosecution.


Mental Case
A police officer's opinion that your client did not properly perform one or a
series of physical sobriety exercises is critical to the prosecution's
sustaining its burden of proof, especially in a case where there is no breath
test. However, most officers (and many attorneys) seem to forget that physical
sobriety exercises are intended to test not only the DUI suspect's physical
faculties, but his/her mental acuity as well. Use this dichotomy to your
advantage.

Particularly where there is not a particular note in any police report as to
your client's inability to follow the instructions for the exercises, have the
officer repeat the litany of directions he or she ordered your client to
perform. Make note of each direction given, systematically going over each
instruction, and elicit how your client performed each instructive (mental) task
as instructed. Thereafter, have the officer agree that although the defendant
may have been unable to perform certain physical parts of the exercises, he/she
could follow every mental instruction in an attempt to do so nonetheless. Most
officers will concede that physical sobriety exercises are "divided attention"
tasks, and that the mental aspects are weighed as heavily as the physical.
Often, you can then get the officer to admit that, where the facts support it,
the defendant had his/her "mental faculties," (although their physical abilities
may have been lacking)!


Repeating the Performance
One of the strongest tactics to employ in cross-examination is to elicit
favorable testimony from an officer or other witness and then frame additional
questions thereupon. Building upon a witness' positive (for your case) answer
allows you to burn the concept into the jury's memory. The realization of this
goal may be as simple as having the officer admit, as discussed immediately
above, that the defendant possessed her "mental faculties." Follow-up questions
should be framed thusly: "Officer, isn't it true that having your mental
faculties is important in the operation of a motor vehicle?"


Pay As You Go
It is important to research and recognize that police officers often receive a
large amount of overtime, or, as it is sometimes called, "comp [compensation]
time" for their drunk driving cases. In many departments, each time an officer
appears in court, he or she receives several hours of overtime (usually at
time-and-a-half), even if the court appearance lasts but for a moment. In some
areas, the officer receives money though he or she was merely placed on
"standby." This financial incentive should be rigorously explored and presented
to the jury to reveal the officer's bias to create cases, if appropriate. For
instance, by doing this research, I discovered that the City of Miami Beach
Police Department overtime and court attendance form (at that time) depicted a
money bag and a person in a hammock on them. By enlarging this form for use in
cross-examination, I had the jury howling with laughter, and they responded by
acquitting my client.


Assume Nothing
The quickest way to your client's defeat is to assume that certain statements or
allegations made by the police are accurate or true. If we were to believe
everything that the police say, there would be no need for defense attorneys.
Therefore, be creative in the manner in which you check into the allegations
made by the police. For instance, officers sometimes testify that they always do
certain things in a DUI case in certain ways. In one case, by pulling old
videotapes, I could prove that such a statement was in fact not true, and the
state was forced to drop the case. In another instance, to determine whether an
officer had followed the "20-minute" observation requirement prior to
administering a breath test,2 I secured the department's "running log" for the
date of my client's arrest and and determined that the officer had in fact
processed three separate defendants for breath tests — back to back to back —
all within 15 minutes of each other.


Make That Record!
When trying a case or arguing a motion, always be mindful that you may very well
lose. Do not lose twice, then, by failing to perfect an appellate record. If a
judge denies the admission of certain evidence, or precludes an avenue of
cross-examination, take a moment to make a record of what the evidence or
cross-examination would have been and/or shown. If you believe the prosecutor is
improperly being allowed to admit certain documents or other evidence, make the
objection! Additionally, be aware of any special jury instructions given at the
request of the prosecutor. Many such instructions are improper and will warrant
reversal on appeal. If no objection is made, however, absent fundamental error,
your objection upon appeal will almost certainly be deemed to have been waived.


'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose'
The most effective manner in which to cross-examine a witness is to place him in
a position where no matter how he answers a particular question, you gain by it.
For example, you may ask an officer to admit that he has made mistakes before.
If the officer answers "no," he appears inflexible; if the answer is "yes," it
gives credence to the possibility that a mistake was made in your case.
Conversely, avoid asking a question that will likely harm your client no matter
how the witness answers it. Good cross-examination in a DUI case often requires
you to remove some pieces from the prosecution's jigsaw puzzle so that the final
picture is much different from the one that the prosecution presented in its
opening argument


'If They Don't Trust It, Why Should We?'
It seems odd that while the prosecution seeks the jury's blind faith as to the
accuracy of the breath test machine (never, never, ever call it an instrument),
the manufacturer itself often has less than full confidence in it, as evidenced
by it's one year limited parts and labor warranty against defect. Not only is
the Intoxilyzer 5000 warranted for only one year, it is not warranted for
fitness or purpose. A potentially devastating area of cross-examination thus
involves your presenting the warranty and, with copy in hand, argue that the
jury should not place full faith and confidence in a machine that is trusted
less than many household appliances.


The 2100-to-1 Ratio and the 'Average' Person
None of us like to be thought of as "average." However, the breath machine
predicates its blood-to-breath calculations on an average person's ratio of 2100
parts breath to one (1) part blood. The "2100-to-1" ratio has undergone much
criticism: There are those who believe, for example, that the true "average"
ratio is more in the neighborhood of 2400-to-1, thereby causing breath test
results to be under reported; the converse is often argued as well. Therefore,
ask the prosecution's breath test witness to point out who in the courtroom (as
opposed to who in the jury box, thereby hopefully avoiding a "golden rule"
objection) has an "average" breath-to-blood partition ratio? Who would the
machine be cheating — the prosecution or the defendant? Knowing that this
question cannot be answered beyond a reasonable doubt can only benefit your
client.


'Teach Your Children Well'
You must use the jury selection process not only to find the ideal juror, but
also to educate the jury itself. Therefore, teach the venire about DUI in
general, and how the law relates to your specific case. Most jurors do not
realize that it is not illegal to drink and drive. Few realize that an
individual may lawfully consume alcohol and then later get behind the wheel of a
motor vehicle, so long as he or she is not impaired. Many jurors mistakenly
believe in an E=MC2 theory — that one who consumes alcohol and then drives is
guilty. This myth must be exploded! Additionally, if your case involves an
unlawful blood or breath alcohol test result, the jury should be made aware in
advance of the fact that such a result is not conclusive evidence of impairment
and that it may be overcome by other evidence.


Your Client's Wealth . . . of Information
Client interview sheets can be a great starting point for obtaining information
useful in the defense of your client. I am hesitant to interview a potential
client until he/she first fills out a detailed questionnaire, making sure to
inquire about the circumstances of the arrest, health issues, especially those
that pertain to performance of the sobriety exercises or that may effect the
breath readings — such as whether the client had exposure to occupational
solvents prior to taking the wheel has dentures, or diabetes, etc. — or whether
there are any possible defense witnesses, and the like. No theory or defense is
too remote at this early stage of your representation.


Tracking the Holy Grail
An extremely useful means of defending against cases involving breath-test
results is to maintain an updated checklist of the "health history" of the
particular machine used. In many cases, you will find that the intoxilyzer used
is a "sick" one that has been "condemned" — the state inspector's usual term,
bless them — many times over. You should use this history to demonstrate that
the often-condemned machine is unworthy of belief, that its reading is
inaccurate and unreliable and that your client should be acquitted.

~~~~~

Source: http://www.criminaljustice.org

Greetings Creativegarh,

When was the last time you really got dirty?

When you let the paint fall on your shirt over and over again while creating
that riverscape. When you had mountains of reports on your desk while you were
messing around with the corporate presentation. When you had grease and soot all
over your face and jeans while welding that new table. When you had Styrofoam
coffee cups strewn on your desk (a little coffee tricking onto your keyboard)
and cigarette ash all over the floor while writing that great campaign.

It's been my own experience that the dirtier-filthier-sweatier you get while
creating, the more intimate you get with your work and stronger an emotional
bond you build with your creation.

It's simple. Imagine yourself dressed in a three piece business suit, settled
for a late night at your desk in office, ready to write a corporate
presentation. How long will it be before the jacket comes off, then the tie, the
sleeves roll up, and then the shoes come off?

It's fun to get dirty. It could be called a creative ritual but ask creative
people how it feels when they get dirty and surrender themselves to the creative
process and they would tell you that the feeling is beyond compare. It's only
when you get dirty, are you in an overwhelming state of flow – of creating.

And when you are in a state of flow, it doesn't matter what you're creating as
long as you are. And this is the moment when strokes of creative brilliance pop
out of the blue, when typos don't matter, when new ideas hit you every second
minute, when you can expect the unexpected and create the uncreated.

When you become insensitive to your environment, it's like you're giving
yourself total permission to create. And when creative people give themselves
total permission, the results are astounding.

You however always have an option of not getting dirty while creating. You can
dirty with `before' you create.

Smear your hands, face and shirt with paint before you look the canvas in the
face. Now, without a worry of spoiling your new shirt, you can get real close to
the canvas – and your creation.

That's all from the Creativegarh desk.

Barb, Geetika, Sabih, Hemant, Kavi and Bhavana… welcome to Creativegarh.

Take care and have a creative day.

Cheers

Arun
Moderator, Creativegarh: Where creative minds meet, work and play!

"An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against
it."
~ Bill Bernbach

Hi Prerna
Re: your creative block it's not very clear whether you're talking about
architectural design or different. Here are a few suggestions...

1. (For architectural design) Pick up a few architectural design magazines and
go through them, but don't just look at the pictures. Take some paper and a
pencil and *draw* what you like in the pictures, paying attention to the forms
and detailing. I've found that for some reason this really stimulates the brain
and soon you will be getting new ideas for your project. Note: you're not
copying the ideas, you're putting yourself into a creative / designing frame of
mind.

2. General design creative blocks:

a. Take a break!! Do something else for a while. Go watch a movie with friends,
do some exercise or go for a jog, go somewhere you've never been.

b. Do some deep breathing and relaxation exercises.

c. Make a Mind Map of the problem. Lots of resources on the net if you're not
familiar with this.

d. Lie in bed, relax, breathe evenly for a while, let yourself drift into that
state between sleep and wakefulness. Assume a Higher Self is there with you, as
a real presence; an aspect of yourself who knows everything and is always on
hand to help you out. Ask her to show you your answer. Note down what you see
later, or record it into a tape recorder as you see it in your mind's eye.

e. Try to see the problem through another's eyes. How would a child see it?
Arnold Schwartznegger? A very rich person? A thief?

f. Look at the various aspects of the problem. What can you make change: make
bigger, stronger, more vivid? What can you tone down? What can you invert? What
can you remove? What can you add?

g. Close your eyes, relax, listen to some lovely music, music that carries you
far, far away, to a place where you get your answer...

h. Think about: what is the essence of the problem? Now take a book and know
that your question will be answered within. Open it at random and read the first
sentence you see. how can you fit it to a new understanding of the problem?

i. Involve someone else. Have a brainstorming session.

j. Work from the end backwards. What are you trying to say? If you said it
successfully, how would you have done it?

k. Finally, just make a start. Do something, even if you consider it basic, put
it aside for a while and come back to it later. Your designer's eye will
immediately tell you how to make it better.

Hope some of this helps!!
Best wishes
Manoj

Hi CG'ites!

I have uploaded one of my jingles into the files section of CG, check it out at
the direct link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/creativegarh/files/Digital%20probe.mp3

Send in some feedback if you warrant it plyable and well, try to enjoy it on a
good sound system.  Most of the sounds in my composition require a good digital
wave reproducing system to come out well.  Sound objects like reverberations and
recumberant echo and tone manipulation that have been used in the
composition are often eaten up by poor quality systems....  :(

On an average, a Speaker system that has an average ranging between 15 and 30
RMS gives pretty good sound. :o)

Arun, the size of the file is quite enormous and noting the same, I would expect
deletion of the file to accomodate newer uploads before any other files are cut
off of the file list.  :o)

With best regards and Kaydeeyoh!
Jim....
(Abhimanyu Siddhartha Angirasa Acharya)
   website:  - http://www.Guywise.org -
[ http://www.LiveJournal.com/~angiasaa ]

There are a countless number of phenomena that contribute to form the essence
that fuels my creativity.  That is assuming, that I create creatively.  :o)

For starters, it would do good to mention that I am deeply influenced by stints
at the coffee bars around me, time spent watching Television and listening to
Music.  But I must point out that these are just excuses.....

I am not really fueled by the Music I'm listening to, the Programs that I
blindly watch from time to time on the Tele, or the gallons of caffeine that I
ingest.  Indeed, I am slightly spurred onward by their content, but it most
certainly is not the real content of the fuel that my creativity seems to hinge
upon.  :)

And now, the moment of truth:  It's the time I (apparently) waste away in all
the various time pass activities that I wander through in my daily life.

When I'm in a coffee bar, sipping away at a quadruple-shot coffee, I elevate my
view to one that's higher than the physical.  I tend to relax and procrastinate.
I let go of my bindings to the world around me, and I think, I fly like a bird
through the thought tunnels of my mind....  It's what fuels me in truth.

It's not specific things that formulate my fuel, there's no source in a manner
of speaking.  It's just a state of mind.  And most often than not, I can tweak
my mind to create virtually on the fly.  My interests, my life, my world, we all
add up to create not for the outside but for expressing the inside.

Grrrr!  There goes I, at a tangent to the topic under consideration.  But coming
back for a final fly-by, what really fuels my creativity is the mental trips I
so dearly cherish.  :o)

Holy Thought processes and Kaydeeyoh!
Jim....
(Abhimanyu Siddhartha Angirasa Acharya)
   website:  - http://www.Guywise.org -
[ http://www.LiveJournal.com/~Angiasaa ]

Hi Aakshi,

A primitive but repeatedly successful way to avoid that inevitable tearing while
chopping onions is to actually submerge the onion that you're assaulting
under water.

If you do so, you (not so miraculously) end up shedding no tears.  The tearing
occurs due to the fine spray of irritants that the onion exudes upon being
mutilated.  This goop makes it's way to your eyes which in retaliation, decides
to wash the irritant out with tears.  :o)

When you surround the onion under consideration with water, the mist of onion
irritant dissolves into the water thereby halting its progress to your optical
sensory organs.

In the end, you have your sliced onions and happy smiling beautiful eyes to take
with you to that dinner you so mercilessly cooked.  :o)

Coming up:  "How to Kill the Bitterness in a Cucumber Without That Repetitive
Slow Muscling our Forefathers Used"

:o)

Regards and Kaydeeyoh!
Jim....
(Abhimanyu Siddhartha Angirasa Acharya)
   Website:  - http://www.Guywise.org -
[ http://www.LiveJournal.com/~Angiasaa ]

Re: High on creativity. Low on price.

this is some awesome wrk you do... but where do u keep disappearing??

~~~~~

Re: What fuels your creativity?

HOH FAIZAL!!

i've being waiting for ur 'witty' answer to this 'stupid' question and you 've
discouraged me in particular to the utmost extent!

this being very unfair...

~~~~~

Re: [Creativegarh Profiles] hi everyone.

hi abhi,

i'm Priyanka. i'm a student of NIFT NDelhi. i'm goin to pass out this year.

so what are you reading these days....who are your favorite authors? and are you
just inclined towards fiction? can you differentiate between reality and
fiction?

think it over....and get back if you come to a conclusion and even if not so,
you could let us know wht the young architect has being thinking all along.....
:))

ciao
peace on earth.

~~~~~

Re: giselle in stuff magazine!!!!!!

wow great going...


Priyanka

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Product Design, Commercial Production, and Internet Technology Veterans seek
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To share resources, a portfolio, knowledge and experience. We want those who
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but we think it's more challenging and fun building the next Nike. What do you
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We are looking for people willing to stand behind their work. Are you willing to
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Send us a mail with your resume(rft,doc,pdf) , portfolio (online) & why you want
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Mobile: +65 94571576

Yahoo messenger id: rmk_02
email: muthu@...
http://www.thedfactor.com

10 Ways To Feel Good About Your Life
~ By Kathy Gates, Professional Life Coach

Feeling good about your life involves just 2 parts. Really! One is to learn to
think about yourself in healthy ways. Please continue reading below...

This is a learned skill, ladies and gentlemen, not something that a lucky few
were born with. The second involves "making things happen". Seeing yourself
being successful - at anything! - builds the blocks of contentment.

Use these 10 ideas to help you feel good about your life, starting today.

1. Never stop questioning. Every time you feel frustrated with a task, ask
yourself, "How does this task fit in with my ultimate goals?" "How can I do this
better, faster, easier, simpler, and even more fun?"

2. Don't give up on life. Be interested and curious about yourself and about
others. Don't assume that's "just the way it is". Look for the choices behind
your results.

3. Accept your weakness. Don't deceive yourself by thinking you're the only one
with difficulties in their life. Everybody has them (yes, everybody!). Instead
of spending your time and energy trying to "overcome" your weakness, make
friends with it and make it work for you. Where would NYPost Columnist Liz Smith
be without her "weakness" for gossip?

4. Don't stop learning. The brain is a muscle just like any other, and it will
stagnate if you let it. Make it your rule to learn something new every day. Then
USE what you learn to make your life better.

5. Expect nothing; expect the best. Paradox? No. It just means that you don't
want to miss out on what's wonderful in your life right now, while you spend all
your time peeking around the next corner.

6. Don't lie to yourself.. Telling lies to yourself is the most harmful form of
disrespect. Write out ways in which you are untruthful to yourself, and how to
correct it. "I will no longer pretend that overspending my budget is ok".

7. Nurture what you want to grow. Many many people are (figuratively) wondering
where the roses are in their life, yet they spend all their time planting and
nourishing weeds. You reap what you sow. That's just the way it is.

8. Don't live in the past. Let go of things that are draining you. There's
nothing in the past that you can change or correct -- that can only be done in
the present. Use Today. Today, change what you need to change, and move on to
feeling good about your life.

9. Swim with the current. Don't waste your time complaining about what you can't
control (weather, other people, economy). Concentrate on what you CAN control,
like who you hug, what you read, how much you laugh, where you go, what you do,
what you think about.

10. Stand like a Rock. You know what's right for you -- be willing to stand up
for what's right for you.

Hi Matthew,

I've tried that... lighting a candle when chopping onions.. but I just can't get
myself to hild the candle and chop the onions with the other hand :-P

Haha!

Jokes aside, I've tried it but somehow, it just doesn't work. My mom used to do
it that way and it used to work for her thought...so probably it's something
with my technique that needs a change.


Hi rahul,

Good to hear from you. Get out of the shell soon

Love
Aakshi

Tangerine Tree
~ By Ruth Hilton Hatfield

When Tommy, our youngest son, was a little boy, he loved tangerines. At
Christmas, when they came on the market, I always kept a plentiful supply
especially for him. He ate them for breakfast and supper, and there were always
lots of them in his lunch box. As well, he loved to snack on them while he read
or watched television.

One day I caught him flipping the seeds on the carpet. I scolded him, telling
him to put them in an ashtray or a flowerpot. The result was that come spring,
four little orange trees sprang up in a pot of geraniums in the kitchen window.
I selected the tallest and sturdiest and replanted it in its own little pot.
Tommy was intrigued.

"Do you think I can have my own tangerines?" he asked. I told him that it might
take a very long time.

Time passed. Tommy grew up and became a petroleum geologist on the east coast,
searching for oil and gas off Newfoundland. He loved the Atlantic Ocean with a
fervor which I attributed to the fact that he had seagoing ancestors on both
sides of the family. He married and built a house in Nova Scotia in sight of the
Atlantic.

But he always came to visit us on his birthday, which was on New Year's Eve, and
each time he would ask to see his tangerine tree.

In the twenty years that had passed since the little tree sprang up, it had
grown amazingly. Each year I would put it into a bigger pot and place it in a
warm, sunny spot in the garden, then bring it inside for the winter. But by the
fall of 1981, I had no receptacle large enough to hold it, as it was now six
feet tall.

Our daughter, who lived near us, offered to look after it as she had a very
large urn, which she placed in a sunny window. When Tom came that New Year's
Eve, he wanted to see his tangerine tree in his sister's home.

"Do you think it will ever bear fruit?" he asked.

I told him not to hold his breath - that although it would bear both male and
female flowers if it ever bloomed, it was a Japanese tree and probably our
climate was too cold for the flowers to set. He decided that he would take it
down to his home in Nova Scotia the following summer. The foliage was beautiful
anyway, he thought.

At that time he was working as a geologist on the Ocean Ranger oil rig off the
coast of Newfoundland, and he was very proud to be doing exploration on what was
probably the largest and most modern oil rig in the world. It was like a huge
man-made island - indeed, the crew called it "Fantasy Island." They had to go
out to it by helicopter, the only time, Tom said, that he was actually nervous.
"It's a long, long way down there, Mum!"

I said, "I do wish you didn't have to go out in this bitter winter weather."

"I'm safer than you are, driving out of your driveway between ten-foot
snowbanks," he assured me. "Besides, the rig's unsinkable!"

"So was the Titanic!" I said.

"You're mixing apples and oranges," he replied.

So when he telephoned us after he had returned to Nova Scotia and said he would
be going out on the next shift change in a few days' time, I said, as I always
did, "Be careful!"

Early on the morning of February 15, my husband turned on the radio and woke me.

"Tommy's in trouble," he said. "The Ocean Ranger is listing!" We did not know it
then, but it had already gone under the waves around one o'clock that morning.

There followed grief mixed with desperate fear, until we finally realized the
unthinkable had occurred. Our dear, kindhearted, life-loving son had been taken
from us. Amidst the wild despair and unbearable sorrow, we were borne by the
belief that a spirit such as our beloved son's could not possibly disappear
completely - that he was still with us and loving us.

But I longed for some kind of assurance. And how I dreaded the coming of Easter
that year! How could I join in the celebration of eternal life when I was not
sure of it myself?

Then, on Good Friday, I got an answer. When our daughter telephoned, she said
excitedly, "Mum, you won't believe this, but Tom's tangerine tree is full of
blossoms!"

It was true. On Easter Sunday they opened fully, and their fragrance filled the
house. Surely no flowers had ever been so beautiful! Someone had responded to my
doubt and hopelessness with this little miracle.

Since the tree was inside, with no honeybees to pollinate it, we did not expect
the blossoms to set. But again a miracle happened! Four tiny tangerines
appeared. A short time later, two of them dropped off. Over the next few months,
however, two more beautiful tangerines grew and eventually ripened. On the
following Christmas Day we ceremoniously divided and ate Tom's tangerines. We
felt that he knew it, and we were comforted.

A horticulturist has said that perhaps people had spread the pollen when they
smelled the fragrant blooms. But I believe "someone" sent those blossoms to
comfort us when we most needed a miracle - the miracle of Tom's tangerine tree.

Now, five years later, another little tangerine tree, a child of Tommy's tree,
is growing on my windowsill. We had planted the seeds of the tangerines we ate
on Christmas Day, 1982. I shall not live to see it blossom, but I shall nurture
it as a symbol of life everlasting.

Tangerine Tree
By Ruth Hilton Hatfield
When Tommy, our youngest son, was a little boy, he loved tangerines. At
Christmas, when they came on the market, I always kept a plentiful supply
especially for him. He ate them for breakfast and supper, and there were
always lots of them in his lunch box. As well, he loved to snack on them
while he read or watched television.

One day I caught him flipping the seeds on the carpet. I scolded him,
telling him to put them in an ashtray or a flowerpot. The result was that
come spring, four little orange trees sprang up in a pot of geraniums in the
kitchen window. I selected the tallest and sturdiest and replanted it in its
own little pot. Tommy was intrigued.

"Do you think I can have my own tangerines?" he asked. I told him that it
might take a very long time.

Time passed. Tommy grew up and became a petroleum geologist on the east
coast, searching for oil and gas off Newfoundland. He loved the Atlantic
Ocean with a fervor which I attributed to the fact that he had seagoing
ancestors on both sides of the family. He married and built a house in Nova
Scotia in sight of the Atlantic.

But he always came to visit us on his birthday, which was on New Year's Eve,
and each time he would ask to see his tangerine tree.

In the twenty years that had passed since the little tree sprang up, it had
grown amazingly. Each year I would put it into a bigger pot and place it in
a warm, sunny spot in the garden, then bring it inside for the winter. But
by the fall of 1981, I had no receptacle large enough to hold it, as it was
now six feet tall.

Our daughter, who lived near us, offered to look after it as she had a very
large urn, which she placed in a sunny window. When Tom came that New Year's
Eve, he wanted to see his tangerine tree in his sister's home.

"Do you think it will ever bear fruit?" he asked.

I told him not to hold his breath - that although it would bear both male
and female flowers if it ever bloomed, it was a Japanese tree and probably
our climate was too cold for the flowers to set. He decided that he would
take it down to his home in Nova Scotia the following summer. The foliage
was beautiful anyway, he thought.

At that time he was working as a geologist on the Ocean Ranger oil rig off
the coast of Newfoundland, and he was very proud to be doing exploration on
what was probably the largest and most modern oil rig in the world. It was
like a huge man-made island - indeed, the crew called it "Fantasy Island."
They had to go out to it by helicopter, the only time, Tom said, that he was
actually nervous. "It's a long, long way down there, Mum!"

I said, "I do wish you didn't have to go out in this bitter winter weather."

"I'm safer than you are, driving out of your driveway between ten-foot
snowbanks," he assured me. "Besides, the rig's unsinkable!"

"So was the Titanic!" I said.

"You're mixing apples and oranges," he replied.

So when he telephoned us after he had returned to Nova Scotia and said he
would be going out on the next shift change in a few days' time, I said, as
I always did, "Be careful!"

Early on the morning of February 15, my husband turned on the radio and woke
me.

"Tommy's in trouble," he said. "The Ocean Ranger is listing!" We did not
know it then, but it had already gone under the waves around one o'clock
that morning.

There followed grief mixed with desperate fear, until we finally realized
the unthinkable had occurred. Our dear, kindhearted, life-loving son had
been taken from us. Amidst the wild despair and unbearable sorrow, we were
borne by the belief that a spirit such as our beloved son's could not
possibly disappear completely - that he was still with us and loving us.

But I longed for some kind of assurance. And how I dreaded the coming of
Easter that year! How could I join in the celebration of eternal life when I
was not sure of it myself?

Then, on Good Friday, I got an answer. When our daughter telephoned, she
said excitedly, "Mum, you won't believe this, but Tom's tangerine tree is
full of blossoms!"

It was true. On Easter Sunday they opened fully, and their fragrance filled
the house. Surely no flowers had ever been so beautiful! Someone had
responded to my doubt and hopelessness with this little miracle.

Since the tree was inside, with no honeybees to pollinate it, we did not
expect the blossoms to set. But again a miracle happened! Four tiny
tangerines appeared. A short time later, two of them dropped off. Over the
next few months, however, two more beautiful tangerines grew and eventually
ripened. On the following Christmas Day we ceremoniously divided and ate
Tom's tangerines. We felt that he knew it, and we were comforted.

A horticulturist has said that perhaps people had spread the pollen when
they smelled the fragrant blooms. But I believe "someone" sent those
blossoms to comfort us when we most needed a miracle - the miracle of Tom's
tangerine tree.

Now, five years later, another little tangerine tree, a child of Tommy's
tree, is growing on my windowsill. We had planted the seeds of the
tangerines we ate on Christmas Day, 1982. I shall not live to see it
blossom, but I shall nurture it as a symbol of life everlasting.
________________________________________________
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Hi Creativegarh,

To avoid forgetting to the things that you need to take with yourself when you
leave the house, throw them next the front door.

This way, you'll always notice them on your way out and won't forget to carry
them out.

Cheers

Arun

Hi,

Dont you think Buddha has propounded the theory that suffering is the nature of
life and there is a way to end suffering...

Regards,
Kavi

Hi Arun,

Apologies for not replying earlier.

I was busy shooting for a project.

As for your query regarding the difference between VHS, Beta and DigiBeta.

Here goes.....

All three are Electronic Image recording formats. The basic difference between
them is the quality of the recorded images and sound.

In terms of quality, VHS is the lowest (this the tape one usually plays on the
VCRs at home). then comes Beta and finally there is DigiBeta (most serials and
some ad films are shot in this format).

The difference in quality is a result of how the data is recorded in these three
formats.

Firstly, it is important to know that any video image is made up of luminance
(the light intensity) and chrominance (the colour saturation).

In VHS format the input is composite- i.e.; the information on the luminance and
the chrominance is combined and then recorded.

Whereas in Beta and DigiBeta formats the input is in component format - i.e.;
luminance and chrominance are recorded separately. Hence the information
recorded is more detailed.

Also the bandwidth of VHS is far lower than in Beta and DigiBeta. The bandwidth
in VHS is 2.5 MHz whereas the Bandwidth in Beta and DigiBeta is 5 Mhz. Hence the
volume of information recorded about any particular image is much more. (Think
of it as an Internet connection... the greater the bandwidth the more the
information that flows per unit time).

Now the difference between BEta and DigiBeta is, as the name suggests, the way
the information is processed and recorded. In DigiBeta the information is
recorded digitally whereas in BEta it is recorded in Analog. So, in DigiBeta,
the data is more accurate and there are less dropouts - resulting in sharper
images with greater clarity and detail.

In terms of price…… a VHS camera (a high quality one) costs upto 3-4 lakh. And a
VHS tape of 180 min duration costs about RS.150. VHS can be used to make scratch
films, or for taking Vox Pops, or generally when going on a recce to a location,
It also can be used as a reference while shooting on film (Video Assist). But
these days, Mini DV and DV CAM are widely replacing VHS because of their
portability and affordability.

A Beta Cam costs about 12-15 lakh rupees and a twenty min tape costs about
RS.750/- This one can use if the requirement is for high quality images.

A Digi Beta camera costs about Rs.25 lakhs and a DigiBeta tape of half hour
durationcomes for around RS. 1500. This is the cheaper alternative to film
(though nowhere near it!!)

Hope that answers your query.

Ciao,
Vikram

Dear Parul,

Hi!

Good to know that there are people out there who want to make films other than
the trash turned out by the Bollywood Factory. What's more heartening is that
you wish to make films for kids.

Anyways, I know a former member of the CFSI. And he divulged these ten easy
steps to make a Childern's film.....

Enjoy.........

1. GO over to the Children's Film society of India (CFSI) office in the Films
Division building on PEddar Road in Mumbai and procure a form for applying to
the board.

2. Submit a one page synopsis to CFSI along with a draft for a thousand rupees
(approximately).

3. A story/concept committee shall decide and let you know within a month
whether they approve of your concept or not.

4. Once the concept is approved you have to submit a detailed screenplay with a
budget breakdown and the crew you wish to work with. (Remember, the budget has
to be within 50 lakhs (maximum) and the shooting has to be done in 35mm colour
film. Also since Dolby Sound is in Vogue these days,you may prepare a budget
specially for sound.)

5. The committe shall then take anywhere between three to six months to approve
the screenplay.

6. Once the screenplay is approved there shall be a Budget meeting.

7. After the budget meeting, the CFSI shall advance you 40% of the total
approved budget against a Bank guarantee (it si important to remember that 40%
is not enough to make the film, so you shall have to take a loan anyways to get
the film made)

8. The CFSI shall pay 40% of the sum after the rough cut is made.

9. And the balance 20% once the censors give it a release certificate.

10. the rights of the film shall remail with CFSI (they shalchoose to exhibit it
when and where they wish), you shall remain an executive producer only.

There, you have it. Easy isn't it? Now all you have to do is get cracking on
that concept of yours. Also the current Chairperson of the CFSI is Sai
Paranjape, so if you know her... great, else try and catch her at the IFFI at
Delhi in October!!

Ciao,

Best of Luck,

Vikram

Dear friends I've tried  to write down something may  be its worth ...plez  
help overcome the loopholes........................

"DARK CONFESSIONS"

where do one confide, such emotions which are hard to press  and unexpressable
to the people around y'u. I've a ugre to  outburst my emotions. I would like
demonstrate my emotions, the emotions of my heart, but  where  are the ears  to
listen to my urge when the tiny droplets beats on the earth sudden  bubles of
emotions rush to my blood  what do I  do with these emotions , where do I
confide these emotions    In the hour of silences when the world around seems to
drop dead, the eyes break this  deadness of silence, but for whom are the
couplets lit..............where shud I confide such emotions..........?

when the stygian gloom and the blus hit me , I get caught in the web of dark
emotions ......what should I do with these emotions ....   ...................

Regards Monica

I am looking for immediate inputs for developing an intranet as well as
extranet, if any one on this group would be interested to take up this project,
please email me the estimated cost, time and a rough feature set of the
application... along with ne extras that u provide as an organization.

The organization looking for this solution is a medium size enterprise, with a
huge network of franchise outlets in and across india. Its based in delhi.

Prabhvir

*ARTS AND CULTURE*

Plagiarism row hits 'invisible art':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2984655.stm

He made gardening an art form:
http://www.nationalpost.com/national/story.html?id=6FC7C2EA-ED4B-4A02-9064-232BE\
571E33A

Graphically Speaking
~ by Lisa Buchanan

Solve designer-client communication problems with the help of concepts and
examples both parties can understand. Common design keywords are accompanied by
commentary and visual references, including color combos, fonts and final
designs. Together you and your client can choose a style you both agree on. More
at http://www.howdesign.com/store/display.asp?id=2025

Vacancy: Assistant Directors

Employer: Amit Mehra Productions

Location: Mumbai

Duration: 5 months, starts May end -june 1st week 2003

Looking for assistant directors for under production Hindi feature film to be
shot in India. Only email your word document resumes first along with your
contact info. personal contact would disqualify you. Previous experience in
Feature films/advertising commercials would be preffered. Only those people need
apply who are ready for a grueling schedules and deadlines.

Apply to: Amit Mehra
Email: moviecrew@...

Vacancy: TVC Directors

Employer: Famous Storytellers

Location: Mumbai

Duration: Freelance, starts Immediate

We require freelance TVC directors with experience in Cosmetics, Jewellery and
Haute Couture. By the way, you could be from anywhere in the world with a valid
passport. Please rush your show reel on VHS, PAL format to the below mentioned
address along with your CV.

Apply to: Joji Job, Famous Storytellers, 119, Famous Cine Building, Dr. E. Moses
Road, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai 11. Tel: 91-22-24964870

Hello wonderful people !

Here's another exciting issue of the Creativity Jog that you will exercise yr
mind. As most of us would agree, the most Craetive people are, well, children !
More the innocence, and lesser the prejudices, higher the creativity..

So you'll find some delightful stuff connected with children, most of it, real
life. Do read it all...dont miss the Creative E-mail below !

Enjoy and send in your comments and suggestions,

R K

~~~~~

CREATIVE QUOTES

"The significant problems in life cannot be solved from the same mode of
thinking that created them."
~ Albert Einstein

"Today's challenges are vision-driven, not just problem-driven."
~ Peter Drucker

"What is now proved was once only imagin'd."
~ Anon

"Man's mind stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original
dimensions."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

"My interest is in the future, because I'm going to spend the rest of my life
there".
~ Charles Kettering

~~~~~

CREATIVE CHILDREN HUMOUR

1. The minister was talking to the Sunday School class about kindness to animals
and cited the Biblical references to substantiate his case.

"Now let's suppose," he said, "that you saw a bad person cutting off the tail of
a cat. What Biblical quotation would you use to tell him of the terrible wrong
he was doing?"

"I would point out to him," one of the class said, "what God hath joined
together, let no man put asunder."

~~~~~

CHILDREN'S LETTERS TO GOD:

Dear God,

Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't You just
keep the ones You have now?

Jane


Dear God,

Did you really mean "Do unto others as they do unto you"? Because if you did,
then I'm going to fix my brother!

Darla

~~~~~

CREATIVE ANECDOTE:

Children always seem to be one step ahead.

One evening, a father was playing hide and seek with his five kids. They had
turned off all the lights in the house, the kids scattered to hide, and dad was
"it." After a few minutes, all the kids were found.

When it was dad's turn to hide, they looked everywhere  but couldn't find him.

Finally one of the kids had a really cool idea and totally outsmarted his
parent. He went to the phone and dialed...

The game was immediately over when dad's pager began to beep!

~~~~~

CREATIVE THOUGHTS TO PONDER ON:

A Really Important Stuff Kids Have Taught Me...

1. It's more fun to color outside the lines.

2. If you're going draw on the wall, do it behind the couch.

3. Ask why until you understand.

4. Hang on tight.

5. Even if you've been fishing for 3 hours and haven't gotten anything except
poison ivy and a sunburn, you're still better off than the worm.

6. Make up the rules as you go along.

7. It doesn't matter who started it.

8. If the horse you're drawing looks more like a dog, make it a dog.

9. If you want a kitten, start out asking for a horse.

~ Source unknown.


B. 95% of children tested between ages 2-4 are highly creative. The same group
tested at age 7 found only 4% still highly creative. Further studies found that
between ages 4-7 children were told to "Stop asking so many questions!" or,
"Never mind, just do what I say!"
~ "All Power" Television Seminar WITandWISDOM(tm), February 26, 2002

~~~~~

CREATIVITY ARTICLE : DEVELOPING CREATIVITY

Travel (From Creativity Cave)

There's no better way to broaden and refresh your outlook than travel. It gets
you out of an environmental rut and exposes you to new people, customs, ideas
and ways of living. One key to creative living is to view life from a fresh
perspective, and travel can give you this new outlook - if you will allow it.
Every culture provides a unique way of looking at common situations and solving
common problems. Take photographs, keep a diary as you travel.

Charles Cave writes:
I'm an arm-chair traveller and particularly enjoy television programs about
travel. Michael Palin's From Pole to Pole was the story of a wonderful trip
starting at the North Pole. I was very inspired seeing such places as Finland,
Russia, Estonia, Egypt, Africa and Antarctica.

Last week I watched a program about an Englishman who walked from the west coast
of France to Istanbul... in eighteen months!

Sorrel Wilby's book Across the Top describes a trek across the Himalayas. I have
two books about the Ascent of Mt Everest. There's something very motivating
about reading books on mountaineering.

A good place for arm-chair travelling and planning your next holiday is the
Lonely Planet web-site (as well as reading the books!).

~~~~~

CREATIVE INVENTIONS : EARMUFFS

Earmuffs

"Baby, Its Cold Outside" may have been the song running through 13 year old
Chester Greenwood's head one cold December day in 1873. To protect his ears
while ice skating, he found a piece of wire, and with his grandmother's help,
padded the ends. In the beginning, his friends laughed at him. However, when
they realized that he was able to stay outside skating long after they had gone
inside freezing, they stopped laughing. Instead, they began to ask Chester to
make ear covers for them, too. At age 17 Chester applied for a patent. For the
next 60 years, Chester's factory made earmuffs, and earmuffs made Chester rich!

A little mouse living on a farm was looking through a crack in the wall one day
and saw  the  farmer  and  his  wife opening a  package. The mouse was intrigued
by  what food the package may contain. He was aghast to discover that it was a
mouse trap.

The  mouse  ran  to the farmyard warning everyone "there is a mouse trap in the
house, there is a mouse trap in the house."

The  chicken  raised his head and said "Mr.  Mouse, I can tell you this trap is 
a grave  concern to you, but it has no consequence to me and I cannot be
bothered  with  it."  The  mouse  turned to the pig "I am so very  sorry Mr.
Mouse, but the trap is no concern  of mine either."

The  mouse  then  turned  to  the bull,  "sounds like you have a problem Mr.
Mouse,  but not one that concerns me."

The  mouse  returned to the house, head  down and dejected that no one would
help him  or  was  concerned about his dilemma.  He knew he had to face the trap
on his own.

That  night  the sound of a trap catching  its prey was heard throughout the
house. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was  caught. In the darkness she
could not see that it was a venomous snake who's tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmers wife.  The  wife  caught  a  bad fever and the farmer
knew the best way to treat a fever  was  with chicken soup.  The farmer took his
hatchet to the farmyard to get the soups main ingredient.

The wife got sicker and friends and neighbors came by to take turns sitting with
her  round  the  clock.  The  farmer  knew he had to feed them, so he butchered
the pig. The farmer wife did not get better, in fact she died and so  many
friends  and  family  came  to her funeral that the farmer had to slaughter the
bull to feed all of them.

Moral of the Story: "So  the next time we hear that one of our teammates is
facing a problem and think it does not concern or effect us, let us remember
that when anyone of us is in trouble, we are all at risk. "

Tackling TiVo
~ by Tom Barnes
April 22, 2003

Personal video recorders, PVRs, are hot. So hot in fact, they are making a
significant contribution in the frying of consumers’ attention spans.

What's an advertiser to do when the most affluent customers aren't compelled to
watch TV commercials and are, in fact, actively avoiding them?

The problem is so acute former Turner exec Jamie Kellner was recently quoted:

“[Skipping commercials is] theft. Your contract with the network when you get
the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show
on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial . . . you're actually
stealing the programming."

Wow! And I thought Hillary Rosen at the RIAA was peeved.

Of course, skipping commercials isn't stealing--or we wouldn't have VCRs. So
despite Mr. Keller’s understandable shoe pounding, marketers are still stuck.

How do we get our messages out to someone who wants to avoid them? Here are some
ways we think you can avoid the TiVo (ad-skipping) problem, whether you are
advertising on TV now, or plan to in the future.

Banners at Sporting Events

There is a reason sport banners are becoming increasingly more expensive. You
can't miss them.

Old-fashioned? Sure. Effective? Without question. The best money spent at this
year's Final Four will be the dough dropped on courtside banners. But, you don't
have to spend a fortune. Banners at extreme sports events can do just as well
with the right target.

With the innovation provided by pixel manipulation and green screens (look
behind many home plates this year with Major League Baseball), real-time
messaging can be developed in context with the content of the event for maximum
impact.

For example, in auto racing a sponsored driver’s leadership position combined
with the immediacy of a relevant on-track message heightens awareness and
leverages the power of the brand. Plus, it won’t be missed if the race is
watched at a later time.

Owning the letterbox. Cable channels like Oxygen and American Movie Classics are
using the letterbox aspect ratio 24/7. This is a win for advertisers fearing
TiVo. In the very near future branding opportunities will exist "in the
margins." Margins themselves will become more common as HDTV and Digital TV
adoption drive more acceptance of the letterbox aspect ratio.

Programming scrawls. Once the war ends, the scrawls populating the bottom of all
the news channels may be a remnant that lasts awhile. Scrolls have been quite
effective for smart marketers on the Weather Channel in local markets as an
adjunct to regular advertising.

Product placements. Much-maligned for its expense, product placement still makes
a tremendous amount of sense to us--particularly for big brands. Apple computer
is ubiquitous in Hollywood content, and despite massive efforts to the contrary,
Apple continues to have one of the most respected brands in modern business.

Long form advertising. Sure “infomercial” is an anathema to many marketers--but
not for long. Who hasn’t sat in the haze of a few too many martinis and watched
far too much “Girls Gone Wild” hype. Hey, I wish I were flying around in my Lear
jet (pun intended) shooting cheap footage and making a mint off it. Truth is,
long form works. The stigma is gone because sometimes 30 seconds is not enough.

Paid viewing. Paying people to watch your ad? Sound crazy? It’s not. If you are
testing messaging you’re going to pay respondents to help you tune it, why not
extend the model? Financial service companies are experimenting with this
concept for products that require a high lift of education to build demand.
Education is expensive.

Brand-inspired programming. BMW films are probably the best-known example of
this kind of programming. We’re looking for more of it in the future.
Particularly from youth oriented brands. In fact, very soon TiVo will be
downloading brand-inspired programming at the request of the customer. Will you
be ready?

Lead-in and wholly owned sponsorships. Recently Bravo ran "The Big Kahuna"
commercial-free, sponsored by Starbucks. Starbucks ran an announcement at the
introduction of the film, binding the brand not only with the film and the
enriched experience of a commercial-free viewing, but also with the network
itself. That was a very savvy move in our mind--even though the marketing
initiative, standing on its own, is exceptionally hard to measure.

Fundamentally, any idea that provides impression delivery around the constraints
of PVR’s works in today's shortened attention span environment. These are but a
few of the ways your message can thrive in a “time–shifted” environment.

Of course, the ferocity around the adoption of ad-blocking technology suggests
that marketers find a new way of fostering demand, just as media needs new
revenue models to support programming. It is obvious that the effectiveness of
the old models are waning, but bridge tactics are required in the near term.

Finally, what‘s been said repeatedly--but still deserves reiteration--is the
heightened value commercial skipping puts on creativity. Announcers yelling
annoying taglines repeatedly behind dubious graphics for 30 seconds may have
worked fine in the past, but is less likely to be noticed in a world where your
favorite show is only seconds away. Creative focus must strip the binds of
messaging alone and move to the medium itself.

~~~~~

Tom Barnes <tom@...>is CEO of Mediathink, an Atlanta-based media
consultancy specializing in marketing strategy and implementation.

Company

Fifth Quadrant Design (P) Ltd. - A leading design company (www.5qdesign.com
professionally managed by IIT alumni,dealing in Graphic design, Product Design,
Environment Design, Ecodesign, Digital publications etc. Fifth Quadrant is
dealing with more than 50 clients including MNCs, NGOs, Government
establishments and reputed corporate houses.

Designation  Copy Writer

Job Description  Creative and commercial copy writing. Copywriter needs to
demonstrate 'edgy' persuasion-ability, while being straightforward in conveying
message, and being respectful to audience. Ability to write business copy in a
style that makes it sound sophisticated, engaging and means business.

Work involves developing advertising copy for mediums including Print
(Brochures, Magazine & Newspaper Ads, and Direct Mailers etc), Scripts (Ad films
and Corporate Films), and Technical/Marketing copy for Products and Services.

Desired Profile  Graduate with good written & spoken English and hands on
experience on computers and in similar field. Qualification is nor a criterion
neither a hurdle. Candidates should be highly creative person, trained,
disciplined thinkers who has a good understanding of advertising communication
in print and moving mediums like animation. Advertising agency copy writing
experience, most welcome.

Minimum experience  1 year

Maximum experience  3 years

Remuneration  As per industry standards for good talent.

Location  New Delhi

Reference  5Q/170403/ copy_hr

Contact  Shailesh
Director

Fifth Quadrant Design (P) Ltd.
6, Jaipur Estate
Nizamudin East
New Delhi 110013
Telephone  24354251/24354192
Email  copy_hr@...
Website  http://www.5qdesign.com

Greetings Creativegarh,

For all those of you, who want shorter Creativegarh newsletters, but more
frequently… here it is - the second Creativegarh Times issue of this week.

Many of us creative people think that we don’t have as much talent in one chosen
field as required to hit it big. Many of us are 30% writers and 70% marketing
people. Or 50% painters and 50% sculptors. Or, 20% web designers and 80%
musicians. One way is to work towards being the best in your chosen field. But
if you don’t have the stomach or the patience to become 100%, try mixing and
matching your talents. I would call this ‘self-networking’.

Self networking happens when you network your own talents. Assuming you are a
web-designer cum musician, you could start by developing only music based
websites or creating music only for websites. Believe me, there is a market for
such specialized professionals.

You could be a writer and business executive in a corporate. Network your
talents and become indispensable by writing absolutely wonderful proposals and
presentations. Or write a great book on business.

Many companies have also started following this approach. Where humans are not
workers but talent resources. A journalist interested in art is given the arts
and culture portfolio or a designer interested in architecture is asked to
design the properties and real estate page in the newspaper. I know of a banker
with Citibank who loves painting and has been asked to handle the investment
portfolio of a well known artist.

I know of someone who was equally drawn to women and photography. Today, he is
one India’s finest fashion photographers. Then there’s this young lady - a wine
taster and connoisseur - who also loved interior designing. Instead of denying
the absurd connection that wine and interior designing made, she used it. Today,
she specializes in doing up interiors of night clubs, bars and pubs. I’ve always
wanted to make lamps and then I wanted to sculpt. I’ve have somehow managed to
‘self-network’ my talents to create metal scrapture lamps. Sure, it’s taken me
years and I still haven’t achieved much yet, but it’s been an encouraging and
satisfying start.

The idea is to start with a talent that sparks your passion and then follow it
up with something that excites you. Being inspired by two different forms of
creativity is natural. Also natural is having a talent in more than one form.
How we can leverage it to the max is where the challenge lies. And in meeting
the challenge lie the many doors waiting to be opened for you.

That’s all from the Creativegarh desk.

Mayank… welcome to Creativegarh.

Take care and have a creative day.

Yours in creation,

Arun
Moderator, Creativegarh: Where creative minds meet, work and play!

"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand
things that won't work!"
~ Thomas Edison

hey Priyanka,

I like reading the stuff that i can believe in. philosophical stuff bores me and
so its a complete no no. i love reading mysteries. then there are also works by
some authors that don't come under any particular category. i also like to read
the 007 series by Ian Fleming and John Gardener. more interesting than the
movies because the book also covers the authors' & leads's thoughts that can't
be in a movie. (comics are an exception here but i love Archies and also the
X-Men funda).

currently i am reading 'The Fifth Profession' by David Morrell. my first book by
this author. and also there is 'Morning, Noon and Night' by Sidney Sheldon. Its
a fantastic story. am reading the end again.

my fav. authors - Sidney Sheldon, Jackie Collins, J. Gardener. the fiction i
read is closely linked with reality. there is the cologne in which the author
says facts abt the topic he has choosen. but yeah there are instances where the
difference is apparent.

regards,
abhi

Hey! Arun and CG buddies:)!!

I got some experience to share with you on "getting dirty" coming off a computer
surrounded by paper,colour pens and cards and macaroni and stuff.

It must be fun and satisfying working in an orderly manner with all stuff and
things put around in an organised manner but what can challenge the fun and joy
of doing what your heart says just the way you are at it oblivious to how you
'should ' work and how your 'work table / shop should' look!

Your write-up reminded me of something I did with my class one students a few
months back. And did we love what we did! We were planning a Project work class
for 6 yr olds in Class 1. I suggested we let them draw and colour huge pictures
on charts. The catch was, we would resist telling them to "concentrate on taking
care of their clothes and faces and hands" and let them just do whatever they
would like.

The outcome - delighted children with sparkling eyes and  shining faces (if you
could figure that from behind colourful patches and blotches, hands smeared with
paint and clothes splashed with colour and water). The joy on their faces at the
end of it all was undescribable. Most of it surely came from the relief of not
being monitored and yelled at for "getting dirty" and the creativity it sparked
off in all of them at an unbridled attempt to express themselves the way they
thought fit.

The predicted side effect - some horrified mothers who couldn't believe their
well groomed kids could turn up at home in such riots of colour! And of course
the fear of what would happen if the colour didn't get washed off!!!

The solution - We literally recommended Surf Exel and allowed kids to wear
shirts with stubborn colour stains (There weren't many anyways) and sensitised
parents to look at the happy faces and the energy flowing through happy children
not afraid of 'getting dirty' anymore rather than just look at the 'dirty side
of getting dirty" - there was none!!

"And I don't think there ever is - in the creative context. Remember Ogden
Nash's "Ode to People"?

Cheers

Shruti