buffont's blog

In your face!

You recently you may have been invited or should I say urged to join facebook, either in person by a friend or via an email update that you have been "tagged" in a picture. Eeek. Not another one to manage. However Facebook is a dream to deal with in comparison to the likes of Myspace.

It requires such little work to a) find friends b) read what they are up to c) personalise (largely because you can't - yet).

Myspace on the other hand asks a lot of it's users; a) html coding to personalise it (shockingly shoddy) b) filter out all the band invites c) advertising. Bebo is marginally better. Easy to customise, post, but curious to search.

Which is possibly how Facebook has come to be the NEW social networking site of the moment. There were 200K UK users in September last year, March the count was 1.3 million. The real question is how has this site that started out as a forum for Harvard students to chat, comment, share photos and link up different uni groups grew to have 21 million users with over 100K users joining each week? Well my housemate has just joined up, I have too, he did so because he is trying to get more friends on facebook than his mate - so a bet. Me, I was invited, wasn't convinced, heard it was for uni folk. I'm no student, plus the "friend" inviting, let's say, didn't really encourage me to get in touch. So inertia. Until now. Few more invitations later and i'm loving it. No really I am.

It has I suspect therefore grown through, PWM and that fact that the touch points are now so large that you can't escape someone asking you if you're on it. If you're not the response tends to be "everyone i know is"

But is that any reason to sign up when you've already spent time on the others? Well this is no Myspace, Bebo, Piczo, MSN Livespaces - the interface is easy to use. It informs you about virtual "friendships" that have just been formed, what's been posted on your friends "wall", which photos you and your mates have been tagged in...and so on. With great little functions, (thanks to the coding) so you can click and see all the aforementioned pics in one place. Genius. Uploading is easy too. An information sharing tool, keeping you update at a glance.

Thus allowing you to still feel engaged with your facebook community even if you can't be bothered.

Great for viral seeding. Plus we've already got a Viva voodoo appreciation society on there thanks to Lou M.

Of course, as my housemate has found out, if he wants to beat the 200 friends, you do need to invest some time, and be prepared to take on board some tenuious friends. But then again, if he doesn't feel like it, he can always read the chick's facebook page with the 200 friends to see what we've all been up to. 

I suspect that you're not really worried, unless of course you've got a Bebo skin or have just spent £100K on a ms profile going live next week, but they are both, amongst many others still there.

Materialism takes over. I've got phone envy

Just found out that you can now post to Vox straight from your mobile phone - how cool is that! Especially as i'm due a mobile upgrade in July, i'm already salivating over the Nokia Nseries  I WANT IN.

Post production ramblings

The other week popped into the LFS to work on my second production since the Channel 4 shoot in Bermondsey.

A much smaller project so straightford in terms of construction & dressing. It was just the logistics that proved to be taxing on the bank balance. So was constantly on the scrounge.

Couple of trips to Ascot carboot and 400sq foot of carpet secured we were looking good.

Next hurdle was to "break in" to the LFS on the weekend to drop off a sofa. Apparently no-one has managed this before, strange, made sense to me, less traffic, avoid the congestion charge. Anyway the staff pretended not to be impressed with the ingenuity, I think it was probably because they'd told me I wasn't allowed in.Red rag to a bull.

Managed to blag free parking for the next 3 days thanks to the lovely secruity guard at the back of our office. Despite this I did go slightly over my budget (£50 total) by £16 but when you're talking about such a small amount of dough....tough.

All in all (director, LFS) were v.pleased.Since then have been recommended for another two shorts by the LFS staff as PD but had to turn them down...oh and the AD on our set used to work on the Monty Python flicks, very cool guy.

Anyway pics from before and after below. It was for a halfway house/council flat used for drug deals. Classy.

 

Found them? In Costa? The coconut's tropical!

We did it! The new world record was set this evening for the largest coconut orchestra, trouncing the US 1,789 with over 4, 000 people bangin' two empty halves of a coconut together.

Terry Gillam and Terry Jones were there to lend some support, plus a giant floating foot completed the surreal backdrop.

Unfortunately they ran out of coconut shells so a hunt for a replacement ensued. We searched everywhere, thought about stealing from some kids (not real fans), thought again, were just about to give up when we found our holy grail - coffee.

With only one more rehearsal left we charged our way to the front proudly clutching our cups. A surprisingly good substitute. Then sang, whistled, "life's a bit of sh*t...", clip clopped our hearts out in the drizzle with a bunch of randos.

Brilliant.

Sadly we won't be counted in the Guinness Book of Records as "un-official coconuts" weren't allowed to register, but it was more about the spirit and giggle that we had with everyone.We did the Montys proud.

Back to dance class next Monday, as per usual, throwing unorthodox shapes, love it. Hmmmmm perhaps double dutch event in the sq?

Need my next fix. Off to investigate flash mobbing.

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

 

World record attempt in Trafalgar Square tomorrow (6.30pm) for the largest coconut orchestra EVER - clip cloping to the Python classic “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” ...get down to Tescos people.

 

here goes nothing (literally)

probably not the best idea to be posting whilst this hungover, but had to start somewhere.

wish my wisdom tooth would stop acting as if it's the one with the hangover

 

how do! you do? VOOdOo

Viva Voodoo - Dance (3 of 8)