The Gospel according to Josie

The country’s a-twitter with the buzz from the Singapore General Elections – and rightly so, this year’s opposition parties have been the strongest we’ve seen since 1991. This election also marks the first time my peers and I will be able to vote – the first time we’re given an opportunity to voice our opinions where it matters, the first time we’ll be able to participate in deciding the government who control our nation’s tomorrow. Apathetic youth? I’ll hear none of that, thanks.

This election is particularly important for me largely because I am registered to vote in Aljunied GRC. George Yeo has done a great job in the estate but the holy trinity of politics: Hougang’s Go-to Guy for the past 20 years, Low Thia Khiang, ridiculously capable Sylvia Lim, and the Chuck Norris of the Worker’s Party, Chen Show Mao,  is fiercely contesting the area.

This is was the swarm of people who attended the Workers' Party Rally in Hougang this evening. Photo credit: @Mayblekoh

In short, GE’2011 is some next level shit.

It’s not surprising that social media is pretty much on fire right now with topics like Aljunied GRC, #papsmear (lol), NSP and Workers’ Party trending on Twitter and I’m using my social stream on Facebook to be kept up to date with what’s happening on-ground and engaged with the different political parties. But what exactly are people saying?

A+ for my agency, Tribal DDB Singapore who collaborated with Brandtology in coming up with a very awesome aerial view on all the buzz online.

Overall sentiments of conversations happening on the interwebs

You can also go slightly further into detail with each political party and also sort the sentiments into GRCs and SMCs – very nifty. I’ve got a small pickle to pick, the same briney issue I have with unmonitored analysis, that computers are unable to detect sarcasm…which could account for the more-positive-than-expected sentiments of the PAP. I’ve monitored some of the conversations manually myself and I’m pretty sure tweets like “PAP guys are knocking on my door. Great #sgelections” don’t really fall into the + category. But I guess until we’ve perfected A.I (aka skynet/the plot line to the Terminator series), we’ll just have to deal with it in the mean time. Beyond that, amazing stuff churned out in the nick of time!

Check out the awesomesauce website here: http://sgpartyti.me.

I have never been prouder to be a Singaporean. Regardless of the results come this May 7, I am positive that the political climate in Singapore will never be the same again. Head over to http://www.elections.gov.sg to find out which GRC/SMC you’re voting in or more details about how to go about voting.

Modern Family Season 2 Episode 18: The Musical Man

Kiwi and I were watching this week’s episode of Modern Family (US schedule because I am a huge TV nerd who requires instant gratification when it comes to weekly supplements of television) and…

Is that a Singapore Airlines sarong kebaya on the little girl on the left with a painted face? And why is she made to look like an indigenous native?

Oh America, y u no give Singapore a break?

While we’re on the subject of ‘subversive’ TV, be sure to check out the cold opening of this week’s episode of Parks & Recreation. Absolutely hilarious. With a talented cast consisting of Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari and Rob Lowe (!!!), the gorgeous Rashida Jones sadly comes off looking like the weakest link. Also, my mid-season comedy pick: Happy Ending. Unrequited love, snappy dialogue, easy-on-the-eye actors + fag hag/fag relationship dynamics = winning formula. Watch it now!

I start my new job tomorrow. Give me grace and dancing feet.

the xx,
Josie

Short of holding me at gun point, you wouldn’t find me caught dead using a mac but I’ve broken my own rule because…desperate times have called for desperation measures.

I’ve caved. Curse you Steve Jobs.

I’m typing this on my sister’s old apple laptop, having taken ownership of it because I’ve to return my company laptop also known as the best Windows laptop in the world – Dell’s Vostro V13. It weighs a third of the MacBook G4 and runs on my favorite platform after Windows XP…Windows Vista. Yes, I am pretty much the only person in the world who doesn’t think it’s shit. The Dell V13 also doesn’t burn the skin off my thighs when I’m using it. The heat radiating from the bottom of this machine could dry out Japan. Oh, too soon?

Further evidence that the Dell Vostro 13 is amazing - Dan Humphrey uses it on Gossip Girl

I’ve been pretty adamant about not buying into the soul sucking technological black hole that is apple products largely because of blasted mac-evangelists and…also because I’ve been dissing it for too long now. On that note, I also concede defeat on my BlackBerry cellphone. There, I’ve said it, BRB swallowing my pride.

But I don’t want to sound too much like an ungrateful brat. I’m actually pretty excited about using a new operating system. I’m not a stranger to the Mac OS because the Kiwi uses an iMac so I’m looking forward to being able to use Keynote and have my powerpoint slides not suck for a change.

So far I’ve got Adium and Firefox set up and I’m waiting to get Adobe Photoshop…are there any other applications you kiddos think I should get? I’m really hoping Flipboard comes to the Mac OS quick. I can’t seem to find an RSS Reader that doesn’t make my favorite bookmarked links look like a boring clusterfuck of words on a screen

The only reason why I want need an iPad:

Recommend me some apps/widgets/programs for the Mac OS, I’m on a leopard. Holler in the comments below!

Dame Elizabeth Taylor joins her BFF Michael Jackson in the Afterlife. Her many claims to fame include marrying Paris Hilton’s Grand Uncle (and a whole buncha other dudes x8), starring in Lassie Come Home and sparking sales in Rough Collies as family pets and abandoned strays, and stuff like Cleopatra. Oh, and also for being fierce, flawless, talented, perfect and a man eater.

Why Martha! Your Sunday chapel dress!

My breasts are full of love and life. My hips are round and well apart. Such women, they say, have sons.

With the smolderingly sex Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Elizabeth's version of a Tin Foil Hat.

Taylor and Montgomery Clift

Taylor and puppy

The orginal Brangelina - Taylor with ex husband no. 37459802 Eddie Fisher

Without her this place is dead. She's like catnip to every cat in town.

Elizabeth Taylor has been through it all. She is Mother Courage. RIP.

Photo from my recent visit to the Singapore Discovery Center, while mildly amusing came dangerously close to a 'soft-sell' propaganda museum

Just a quick update so everyone knows I’m not yet dead. Bullet-pointing it for easy reading:

• Things have been quiet on the SoMe marketing front – no racist ad campaigns to bring down. Kiwi created a Charlie Sheen presentation 2 weeks ago (wow internet memes get stale quick don’t they?) and got featured on Slideshare front page and some other techy news blogs. Meanwhile, the internets have been bullying a 13 year old girl. Stay classy, netizens. (Head over to my tumblr for silly Rebecca Black gifs)
• I’ve made some interesting decisions and progress on the professional front. It’s not quite ready to be revealed yet but I’m quite excited at the upcoming prospects. Will spill more later.
• Kiwi bought me dinner at Dozo last week. It’s a  fine-dining Japanese restaurant with a degustation menu. It’ll set you back by about 80SGD a person but it’s for a delicious 7 course meal. Unfortunately, the restaurant is also filled with couples celebrating their birthdays and over-friendly waiters. Awkward.
• I’ve also added a pair of gold booties to my collection of shoes-which-will-eventually-cripple-me. Hurray!
  

  Great fit for my self-loathing feet and no, those are not my feet );

That’s all for now – I’ll leave you with an article about capitalism in a digitally incestuous world replacing sex. Bleak shit.

Woohoo, I got to the front page of Slideshare.net and I’m also on the Hot on Facebook feature! #InternetFame

I'm on the front page of Slideshare, woop!

Inspired by JesseDee and the Kiwi, I started on my visual resume / CV 2 weeks ago and after fussing around it for too long, my presentation is complete! I used both Microsoft Powerpoint & Keynote for it and the color palette is from ColourLovers. Enjoy & send some love/feedback via my comments!

There’s a new black bear in town and he wants to hear about your marketing strategy proposal and how your agency can help facilitate audience conversations and drive Bear brand engagement with social currency. Chekkit!

Not quite Clients from Hell but I sympathize so here are some of my own to share:

‘Like’ the post if you’re a fellow marketing comrade and check out Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising after you’re done.

Have you seen the latest video of a chick going apeshit because she spotted her boyfriend with another chick on Valentine’s Day at Somerset MRT? The Kiwi shared it with me this evening:

Not exactly Emmy-winning acting but it’ll do. As of 2am – 20 hours after upload, it’s gotten over 93,000 views. The audio and timing is too perfect for it to not be guerilla marketing. I hate the term but that’s how you make a video go viral. By being unrelated, controversial, provocative and by featuring chicks fighting preferably in a mud bath or jelly. Not trying to choke your marketing message down our throats in an unoriginal, uninspired commercial, because people only share videos that are shocking (IE 8 Puke Girl), awesome (Levi’s Jeans) or hilarious (Old Spice).

Comments on the Youtube link point to it being an Earth Day propaganda message (see: Green Washing) or Eco brand largely because the girl goes nutters about the boy using plastic bottles. Which is fine by me on any account because whether you believe in climate change or not, plastic bottles account for 1.5million tonnes of waste a year. And where do the wastes go? Short of shooting them into space, have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

The pacific dump is the size of North America and if you think it looks bad, I imagine it must smell like exposed raw sewage on a sunny day, moldy feet and a sweaty jockstrap hybrid

This bird died because it ate plastic which you used. NICE GOING BIRD KILLER.

Anyway, I am going to roll my eyes overdramatically if it’s a brand trying to hawk their latest line of re-usable, non-carcinogenic bullshit tupperware water tumbler.

What do you guys think? Which brand shot the “Chick going insane on V-Day” video?

Share your thoughts with me in the Comments!

And I’m back again after a short hiatus!

First things, updates on the Nando’s Malaysia racist campaign:

I’ve returned to find that the Nando’s General Kenako/Idi Amin marketing campaign has been pulled (thanks to my awesome reader Jake who left a comment alerting me). Nando’s has unpublished the General Kenako fan page (but Google has cached it so you can still view a snap of it here) In place of the fat dictator’s profile picture lies an updated Nando’s logo with a crown, laurels and their Peri-volution tag line.

Nando's Malaysia's updated page

I’ve been unable to search for any formal statement or response made by the Nando’s Malaysia team or their representative agencies with regards to their campaign pull (at least online) and it has yet to be covered by any sort of formal media, which is surprising and at the same time, I guess fortunate for the company.

My comments on the wall, along with a couple of other discerning and disgruntled fans have been deleted (Mashable disapproves) but since the page and most traces of Idi Amin has been removed, they’ve appeased the angry lynching mob for now.

Nice job to everyone who shared or liked my post or even wrote angry letters to Nandos, social media 1 – The Man – 0.

To all my asian friends & readers, Xin Nian Kuai Le to everyone from Charlie Sheen, the Kiwi and me! And to everyone who doesn’t celebrate it really, hope you’re enjoying your holiday at the expense of your kind chinese buddies!

"Another Day. Another porn star party. Another hospitalization for Charlie Sheen"

Be good kiddies!