Marketing, as I am sure you’re well aware, is the holy-grail of business practice. You’re more likely to get the blood out of a stone than get a company to spill all the details on their views on marketing and advertising. Yes, they’ll tell you a version of the truth, but it will have been edited to the extent that it’s more a distant cousin of the source material than a direct representation. Which begs the question–why should they have to tell the consumer the most intimate details of the practice? It’s a fair point. It’s a personal thing and something which is unique to each and every business.

But hang on a second–maybe we deserve to know something. The Enigin people get this and their way of handling this tricky issue is to frequently release details of their thoughts on marketing the future of their company, and how you can improve your own techniques. Best of all, this information is tied into their ethos of marketing without burning our planet even more.

Marketing doesn’t have to be top-secret, if you ask me. I don’t want to know how a company runs every single aspect of their business, but it is nice to know the fundamental ideas—what steers the company and controls their decision-making process. By telling us this I am willing to believe more, and isn’t that the thing? Belief breeds a little more trust, and that means we are moving forward, not standing still.

Morrissey is a funny one. (Both peculiar and ha-ha). Many regard him as a poet, but even as a huge fan of his, I do not. That’s not to say that he doesn’t show lyrical dexterity and he possesses a very writerly way with words; but writing poetry and writing lyrics are two entirely separate things. Put simply, one has an internal rhythm of its own; the other is written to fit music. Morrissey’s naming of other poets, Keats, Yeats etc. may well associate him with literary heavy weights, but it doesn’t automatically make him one.

It must be said though that the Mozfather doesn’t go in for lightweight very often, his lyrics are clever, deep and meaningful on the whole, cutting across genres, genders and turning gaucheness into an art form.

He is not a racist and anyone who accuses him of such is clearly not listening to him very carefully, taking his words at (sometimes) face value, which no doubt leaves him with a wry smirk on his face for he often accuses the public of being stupid.

Morrissey never really sets himself against the mainstream, against supposed normality because he never really says what constitutes normal in the first place. He wants his audience to think for themselves, to question things and not to have everything handed to them on a plate.

That said, he’s certainly written some of the finest songs ever to have graced the charts and has doubtless converted many a meat-eater into being vegetarian. Not bad. No wonder Faber and Faber want him. We all know that when his book does eventually surface it will be unputdownable and will no doubt set the book world on fire. Morrissey, I for one, salute you.

I also have great news, Court House have just opened a Botox Cheshire clinic! I know you all remember how much I love this company!

Morrissey is a funny one. (Both peculiar and ha-ha). Many regard him as a poet, but even as a huge fan of his, I do not. That’s not to say that he doesn’t show lyrical dexterity and he possesses a very writerly way with words; but writing poetry and writing lyrics are two entirely separate things. Put simply, one has an internal rhythm of its own; the other is written to fit music. Morrissey’s naming of other poets, Keats, Yeats etc. may well associate him with literary heavy weights, but it doesn’t automatically make him one.

It must be said though that the Mozfather doesn’t go in for lightweight very often, his lyrics are clever, deep and meaningful on the whole, cutting across genres, genders and turning gaucheness into an art form.

He is not a racist and anyone who accuses him of such is clearly not listening to him very carefully, taking his words at (sometimes) face value, which no doubt leaves him with a wry smirk on his face for he often accuses the public of being stupid.

Morrissey never really sets himself against the mainstream, against supposed normality because he never really says what constitutes normal in the first place. He wants his audience to think for themselves, to question things and not to have everything handed to them on a plate.

That said, he’s certainly written some of the finest songs ever to have graced the charts and has doubtless converted many a meat-eater into being vegetarian. Not bad. No wonder Faber and Faber want him. We all know that when his book does eventually surface it will be unputdownable and will no doubt set the book world on fire. Morrissey, I for one, salute you.

I also have great news, Court House have just opened a Botox Cheshire clinic! I know you all remember how much I love this company!

I was about 14 when I first heard a song by ’Japan’ and I’ve been hooked ever since. There was something different about the band back then, that didn’t quite fit into anything else around it. My friends didn’t get my instant obsession until they saw ’Japan’ singing ’Ghosts’ on Top of the Pops, then suddenly they all wanted in.

I read every interview going with David Sylvian and I wrote my English exam based on one of the band’s songs, which earnt me a very decent grade.

I was upset when they split up, but knew that Sylvian was going solo, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I remember watching some review programme where they talked about ’Brilliant Trees’ his first solo album in reverential terms, and I rushed out and bought it the moment it was released.

There’s a spirituality about Sylvian’s songs, a way in which he sonorically reaches the deepest emotions that we feel and manages to turn these feelings into a song. He connects on a level that other artists often miss and to this day I buy everything he releases, knowing it will be great. He has never disappointed me yet.

I’ve seen him live, numerous times, and I haven’t been the only one in the audience crying. His gigs are not fast moving, they are not all about excitement and great backdrops, they are just about gorgeous songs and his rich, resonant voice.

More recently, I wrote my thesis for my M.A. about poetry and pop lyrics, two worlds that Sylvian seems to straddle, so there he was again, my hero, informing my intellectual work, and once again, I passed.

He’s inspired me to look into other artists, to discover people I might never otherwise have heard of and all the time his beautiful music accompanies me on my own personal journey.

Before I log off I have some vaguely interesting news, I have finally decided to go and book the appointment to get that tattoo that I had gotten on that very drunken night removed. It has been infuriating me for far too long, apparently I have grown out of that whole rebellious stage now. However, I was looking on the page for laser tattoo removal stockport and I am uncertain if it will look better afterwards, some of the photos are a little bit unconvincing!

If I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell anyone. I do, after all, consider myself a fairly intelligent and well-educated person. My shelves are lined with literature, and I enjoy going to the theatre. Really, it’s true.

So it may come as somewhat of a shock if I tell you that I have a secret fascination with Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. I know, the two have never been in the limelight for the good that they’ve done the world—they’re certainly not good Samaritans, and nor have they really contributed, well, much of anything to our society and culture. But there’s something so endearingly sweet about the two of them (if you ignore all the nasty tabloid stories, that is).

Though it’s shameful, I admit to watching The Simple Life. Several seasons of it in fact. The whole time, I was rooting for Nicole Richie as she dealt with her inner demons and struggled with her weight. I laughed at Paris’s sweet innocence and her ability to wear thoroughly impractical outfits at every opportunity. I loved the way that they had no idea to cash a paycheck. I even bought trashy magazines just because their names and pictures where on the front covers. Don’t ask me why, or even how, but I found something absolutely endearing about the two of them.

I still secretly wish that Nicole and Paris would patch up their friendship so that they can go gallivanting about America in a pink Winnebago, carting their huge purses and tiny dogs, and smiling sweetly at the camera. Ah, Paris and Nicole—you’re like the princesses that we never got to have in this country. Perhaps the reason I secretly love you is that you got to live the fairytale we all dream about.

I think I have a solution for what we should do for Elayne’s engagement party. Who would be up for a bombshell trip and putting up a bit of income on some of those brand new chalets that we keep talking about. Although, maybe we better save it for the hen weekend!

Since I was a child, I have been crazily obsessed with Madonna. I wouldn’t call myself a stalker, because I live too far. But my actions are quite those of a stalker. Not a day goes by, that doesn’t see me Googling her or trying to find the latest news article about her. It is as if I want to know each and everything about her.

Why am I so obsessed? Well, I often wonder about this. Perhaps it is her charisma, persona, image…I really can’t pinpoint but I just love her. It is not easy to survive in the entertainment industry. The fact that she has constantly reinvented herself, held on to her position for ever and is probably one of the most famous celebrities alive, does have an impact on me. All this make me say that, Madonna is God.

No I am not crazy. Love her or hate her, you can’t ignore her. Whatever her methods are, she is always in the spotlight. That is her grit and determination. She never rests on her laurels. At an age when most people retire, she is more energetic and entertaining than ever. That is why she is a Superstar, bigger than all the stars out there.

These are perhaps some of the reasons that have had a deep impact on me. Since I was a baby, I have been her fan. From collecting all her photos from different magazines and making collages (this was before the advent of the internet), to following her every move now (thanks to the internet), I am a total fan. I simply love her. Whenever I see her on the screen, I just freeze. That is her effect on me. My only wish is that I hope and pray one day I get to see her, because that will be the day I ll say “Yes, I have seen everything in life and want nothing else”…Madonna, I love you!

One last thing, I have just had a look at the web design for this human resource software webpage and I feel I should say in my personal opinion it is really good-looking!

Of course you will find yourself watching some awful stuff but you have the power to push the eject button or switch channel. You will however come across some that you like, be it in the story, cinimatography, writing or acting. This brings me to the point I wish to make today - Actors.

An actor in a role has to convince you that you are watching a character not the actor himself and this is where I establish whether the actor is indeed an actor or a star. There are those that you see on the silver screen that automatically draw you to them, you love watching them, you generally like the type of films that they are in or, and let’s be honest, you just fancy them - I will watch anything with Nicole Kidman in for example, though she is just "Nicole" to me, she just doesn’t know we’re on first name terms!

So, for example, any films made by Tom Cruise over the last 15 years or so have, generally, been extremely similar. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, but since his early work - Rainman, Born on The Fourth of July for example - he has rarely stretched his acting ability, which is a shame, because I actually think he has got some. However if you’re going to watch almost any Tom Cruise movie made in the last 15 years you can be sure of one thing - he’s going to do some running in it - see Collateral, Minority Report - both good films. It is my opinion that Cruise has become a film Star when he started off as an actor.

There are few that can claim to be actor as well as star but the currently leader of this rare bread has to be Johnny Depp who, apart from when doing sequels, manages to take on a different role, and I might say brilliantly, with almost everything he does! How different can Willy Wonka be from Captain Jack Sparrow or Sweeney Todd.

Al Pacino and Robert De Nero are regularly placed at the top of the "best Actors of All Time" lists and I won’t dissagree that they have both done some excellent work playing a wide variety of characters. All I would say to those people who write these lists is to remember Johnny Depp - look at his whole body of work - if he keeps going as long as Pacino and De Nero, then he will certainly depose them at some time!

I have just updated the illustrations on the homepage for bio diesel fuel, I know that it may surprise you that I am doing some stuff for an oil company; but I don’t think they are as un-green as I once surmised. Plus, I’ve sold out, I need the dinero (ha)!

Rod Serling was a very talented man and when he created, ‘The Twilight Zone’ it had been hugely successful all around the world. Five seasons of the show were made, comprising of an impressive 156 episodes and 92 of these were actually written by Serling himself. When ‘The Twilight Zone’ was finally cancelled in 1964 it had being going for a period of 5 years.

In 1970, Rod Serling announced his plans to make a new show in a similar style. It was very welcome news for a lot of television fans. Since ‘The Twilight Zone’ had been axed 6 years before there had been nothing else to take its place; it had left a void in programme schedules that had never been successfully filled.

It seemed, however, that ‘The Night Gallery’ was doomed pretty much from the start. Serling decided to play a far smaller part in the creative control of the show and it began to wander in directions he did not like… There were a lot of unfair remarks made by critics and after a run of only 43 shows the series ground to a halt. It had only lasted for 3 years.

So what exactly was it that went so wrong with the show? Rod Serling certainly had the necessary skill and imagination to carry it all off and the stories were always very good. Perhaps it just did not work out the way that he had planned. After the massive success of ‘The Twilight Zone’ it had been very difficult to follow it up with anything else of the same calibre. Maybe Serling had simply set himself too high a goal to achieve.

I am completely nuts about music. I cannot imagine what it would be like not being able to listen to my CDs. If I have got a ‘greatest fear’ then it would be of going deaf. Obviously I would not choose to be blind, but I think that it would be easier for me to deal with than not being able to hear my music.

My record collection is the result of me being crazy on music for twenty-five years. I have got very eclectic taste which is great because it means that I have something to suit whatever type of mood it is I am in. My records vary from Baroque classical right the way through to Grunge, Dance, Goth and Trip-Hop.

A lot of my friends and family think that I am a bit over the top with my love of music. They do not understand how it can be that important to me. I have tried to explain to them but they just think I am a bit odd.

If someone asks me who my favourite bands are then it always depends on the type of stuff that I am listening to at that particular time.

Well I’m going to be eating economy food for another week, I just brought a pair of Brooks running shoes in preperation for the run. Rock on, eat my dust.