…grayblog…

Month: September 2002

  • Incidentally, if anyone else wants

    Incidentally, if anyone else wants to join in on this weight loss/get fit idea, and is brave enough to have their weight known by all the world (or at least the few people that read this site), then step up to the microphone now.

  • You may recall (it’s in

    You may recall (it’s in the sidebar, so it’d be hard to forget) that I made a resolution to take more exercise this year. Well it’s high time I acted on that, particularly as everyone keeps making jibes about me being a bit soft around the middle these days.
    So I’ve decided that I’m going to diet and exercise, and you guys are going to help me. In the sidebar, you’ll see a new section entitled “Diet with Graybo”. In it you will see my current weight (13st 13lb – that’s 195lb or 88.5kg) and my target weight (12st 13lb – that’s 181lb or 82kg). I aim to reach my target weight by 20 December – that’s 14 weeks to lose 14lb.
    At 6ft1in (185cm), I have a current body mass index (BMI) of 25.7. A BMI of more than 25 is deemed to be overweight, so I need to get my weight down to 13st 7lb to no longer fall into that category. My target weight will give a BMI of 23.9. (Incidentally, to be classed as underweight, I’d have to drop to less than ten stone – that’s ridiculous, as when I dropped to eleven and a half stone, I looked like a concentration camp victim).
    So, how am I going to achieve this? Well, I’m not going back to the Corn Flake diet because losing a stone in three weeks can not be healthy. Instead I’m going to:

    • cut out all snacks between meals
    • go for a walk or cycle ride every evening after work, even if only a short one (must fix the bike!), because you’re not likely to see me in a gym
    • cut out some of the fattier stuff at meal times
    • eat more fresh fruit and vegetables
    • cut down on beer (suggestions for alternative drinks welcome – is vodka and tonic fattening?)

    How are you going to help? By being my conscience – watching those weight reports in the sidebar. And also by offering any practical advice that you may have. And if anyone from around Chichester wants to join me on the walking or cycling, I’d like that too (what’s the old Garfield gag? “Misery loves company” or “Diet is DIE with a T”) – I’m not talking about scary walking or cycling, with lycra shorts or anything – jeans and a sweater will do.
    Wish me luck!

  • Interesting: an aircraft that seems

    Interesting: an aircraft that seems to be a combination of ekranoplan and conventional aircraft. How would that work?
    UPDATE: Boeing webpage.

  • Beer tonight with Arron, Aris,

    Beer tonight with Arron, Aris, DA and Kearn. And it seems that I’m still fat. oh good.

  • Hmm – no joy on

    Hmm – no joy on the cable front. Dad has a spare cable that is the right length, but has the wrong connection at one end. guh. Anyway, hopefully between us we will be able to cobble something together.

  • ADSL update: well, I now

    ADSL update: well, I now have my box of goodies (kindly taken in by my neighbour – why don’t BT give you the option to have it delivered to your work address?) and I’ve attempted the installation – and hit two problems. Firstly, it definitely will not run on Win95. Secondly, the cable supplied doesn’t reach my phone socket. Not a good start.
    Thankfully, Arron has offered to help me out in the PC department (subject to a visit to the bar, of course). And hopefully, I’ll be able to pick up a longer cable from the DIY store – in fact, I think I’ll head there now.

  • New header graphic now in

    New header graphic now in place. As usual, the photo was taken somewhere within Chichester, and the first person to correctly identify the location will win a firm handshake.
    I think this one is pretty easy, but here is a larger image to save you squinting at your monitor.
    where?

  • You lot are being very

    You lot are being very quiet today.
    Anyway, to keep you all entertained, I’m working on a new header graphic for this site, which should be launched sometime tomorrow.

  • TFF: 2 points (only one

    TFF: 2 points (only one match this week), taking my score to 62.

  • For the past few days,

    For the past few days, I’ve been trying to come up with an appropriate way to mark the first anniversary of the events of September 11th 2001. It is a subject that is being well-covered, perhaps to excess, on other websites and in every other medium. Earlier this week, Laura Bush, the First Lady, pleaded with broadcasters to show restraint in their programming for this week – I can see her motives, but I doubt that the broadcasters will be swayed.
    It’s a time to reflect not only on the deaths that occurred that day, and the thousands more that have occurred since as a direct result, but also to look at our own attitudes that have been changed and modified and formed by the events and the events since then.
    I think the biggest single lesson that has come from this is that there is never a simple or straightforward solution for anything. We live in a world of unbelievably complex networks, links and associations, such that any action in one place can have repercussions in a place far, far away, or on a group or individual that apparently seems far, far removed from the instigator or recipient of the original action. If a butterfly moving its wings in the Amazon rain forest can cause a storm in England, what impact does launching a battery of missiles in the Middle East have?

    It almost seems trite to draw a literary comparison, but the best book I have read that attempts to look at nature of these connections is Ghostwritten by David Mitchell – I’ve just read it, and it is one of the best novels I have ever read.
    But I digress.

    Perhaps the best way for us to mark the anniversary is to carry on with life: to remember, certainly, but also to build, learning the lessons that have been or should have been learnt from the events that day, and the attitudes and mindsets that led up to them. And not just learning the lessons, but implementing them, allowing those ideas to form our new ideas and actions in the future. If we don’t do this, with the aim of creating a better world for ourselves, the people around us, and the generations to come, then the deaths of everyone in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Phillipines and elsewhere will have all been for nothing.

    I hope and believe that this should apply to everyone, no matter what your race, faith, background, language, gender, nationality, colour, politics or belief.
    If only I had the sufficient faith in human nature to believe that it could happen.

    I’m not going to write anything more on the subject. I don’t think I can express my ideas sufficiently clearly – and those ideas are not fully formed and are always in flux, changing as new information becomes available to me. What I will do though is to encourage you to read widely – check out other people’s blogs and see what ideas they have; look at news sites around the world (see here for a list of sites that I visit from time to time); read newspapers and magazines, and not just the usual ones. Get opinion and “fact” from as many viewpoints and sources as you can.

    I’m going to leave you with an article. It hasn’t been published online as far as I can tell. It is from the September 2002 issue of Marketing Business, which is the magazine of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. It is by Jaimie Seaton. She is a journalist based in Connecticut, and has written for many titles including the Sunday Times and Newsweek. I present this article without any further comment.

    A TALE THAT NEEDS TELLING

    The premise is simple. Various people sitting around in front of a boring pea-green background, describing their harrowing escapes from the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11. The stories are riveting. No matter how many times we hear them, survival stories from that day never lose their capacity to touch the listener.
    But these stories aren’t being told to a documentary filmmaker or journalist. They are being told as part of an advertising campaign for the brokerage firm, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.

    Designed by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York, the campaign of TV spots and print ads feature Cantor Fitzgerald employees who survived a trip to hell and back. Cantor Fitzgerald and its subsidiary, eSpeed, have the dubious distinction of having lost the most people on that September day – 658 of 1050 WTC-based employees died in the attack. In the days that followed, Cantor CEO Howard Lutnick was a constant presence on American television, where he wept as he talked about the incalculable loss. Lutnick’s brother was among those killed in the attacks.
    “It’s not so much a campaign as an opportunity for the employees to tell their story to the world,” says Amy Nauiokas, director of global marketing for Cantor Fitzgerald and eSpeed. “We wanted to let the world know we are here and we survived,” added Nauiokas, whose own story is featured in the campaign.
    Reaction in the US has been mixed. While some viewers find the stories inspirational, others question its appropriateness. Brian Bernstein, a financial analyst at one of the major Wall Street firms that occupied the WTC, was sitting at his desk on the 38th floor of Tower One when the first plane hit. He describes the building swaying so violently that his first thought was that the tower might tip over completely. He was making his way down the stairs when the second plane hit.
    “I do think it’s a nice service of the company to put the stories online and make them available to the public,” says Bernstein. “I’m just wondering if this is an appropriate angle to use in the firm’s marketing strategy. One can’t help wondering if Cantor is trying to profit from the tragedy, but one hopes that isn’t the case.”
    Nauiokas bristles at the suggestion that anyone might find fault with the campaign. “September 11 is part of who we are now,” she says. “We want the world to know what drives us. The reason these companies exist today is because we are all here to honour the people we lost and we are going to take care of their families.” Cantor Fitzgerald has pledged 25% of profits to the families of the dead for the next five years.
    Additionally, the firm is paying the health insurance for families for the next ten years.
    “We’ve always been a unique organisation in that we know each other and see each other outside of the office. I’m proud to be part of a team that has kept the companies going and that is taking care of those families,” says Nauiokas.

    In response, Bernstein says, “It’s very noble for them to live up to their promises to the victims’ families, and of course their responsibilities to the investors. However, the television spot digs a little too much into the tragedy by presenting the stories. I think it would be more effective if the company were straightforward about their goals. As it is, the spot leaves a blurred perception and makes one question if the sympathy card is being used. As a survivor, I can’t really say if the campaign is disrespectful, but it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.”
    In Advertising Age, Bob Garfield wrote: “If any company has the right to invoke 9/11 – even exploit it for sympathy – it is Cantor. And it is beyond our reach to pass judgement. We can only muse. Why? Why run this campaign? Is it marketing or catharsis? Inspiration or pathos?”
    In the end, the question of why the campaign was initiated may overshadow the campaign itself. Perhaps, as Garfield suggests, catharsis is the answer. Perhaps the survivors at Cantor Fitzgerald just need to tell their story.

    Related:
    eSpeed/Cantor Fitzgerald website – you can view the ads here.
    Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund
    BrandEra article on the same subject
    Advertising Age article
    One Year Later: A Triumph of the Ordinary – also from Advertising Age
    BBC – Flashback to 10 September 2001