I ♥ LDN!

With these brilliant pictures from photographer Jason Hawkes it is really easy to understand why so many people LOVE LONDON TOWN!!!!!

See also the links below to see more great pics! Well done Jason!


You gotta love the Big Ben














Royal Albert Hall














Westfield - can you believe this is how it looks from the top












Even South African house is shown in this beautiful pic of Nelson's Column and Trafalgar Square













2008 Regent Street Christmas Lights














Check out:

http://www.jasonhawkes.com/

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/more_of_london_from_above_at_n.html

The Art of Li Wei

These are some of the photos produced by Chinese artist Li Wei.

His work is a mixture of performance art and photography - and as you can see, it's pretty mental stuff.

Li Wei states that these images are not computer generated montages but simply created with the help of props such as mirror, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics.

Still, it would take some convincing to get me to pose for one of these...

Visit Li Wei's homepage for more of the mind-boggling shots.

World Cinema Awards 2009

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the anuual BBC FOUR World Cinema Awards. Held at London's British Film Institute, and presented by none other than Jonathan Ross, it was a fantastic event celebrating the achievements of foreign language film over the past year.

The cermenoy is a great example of how an awards show should be organized - simply two awards (one for 'best film and one for 'achievement in film') clocking in at just over an hour long, leaving you satisfied but not bored stiff. Even Jonathan Ross limited himself to only a couple gags about his well-publicised recent misdemeanors.

The overall winner was a film called 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; a tense drama set in 1980s Communist Romania. While German director Werner Herzog was recognised for his achievement in international film-making.

Overall it was a brilliant night, topped off with the bonus of free drinks at the end!

Check out the awards website for details of when to catch all of the nominated films at the BFI.

My 2 must see talents for the month....

Tim Minchin
If you haven’t heard the work of this man then you haven’t enjoyed the full delights of comedic insanity & BRILLIANCE. After first discovering this man through my comedy boff sister a lazy Sunday afternoon turned into a marathon youtubing effort and a lot of laughter….

Tim Minchin is as talented a musician as he is a comedian. His act is more like one long hilarious ranting story told in song, interspersed with bursts of hysterically funny dialogue.

His humour is very dark, one of my favourites ‘inflatable you’ kicks off with an ode to his artificial girlfriend (of the doll variety)….that’s all I’m saying!

My favourite songs

‘Inflatable you’
‘If I didn’t have you’
'Rock and roll nerd’


Bridgette Amofah




Another talent I have had the pleasure of seeing recently is Bridgette Amofah. She is a quirky new kind of soul, pop act. I saw her perform in the intimate setting of someone’s front room as part of a curious generation gig and I had that feeling that I was seeing a real talent. She has a raspy, honey, soulful tone to her voice and a kind of star quality you don’t see every day, and aside from that she is seriously stunning!

Check her out…lets support new talent!

B x

Tim Minchin

You don't need to be a twit to twitter

...you are a twit if you don't...goddam it people you are so, like yesterday, if you are not among me, philip Schofield & Johnny Ross who are twittering like crazy...
I did have a very eloquent and informative blog prepared (as usual) but I thought I would engage you all in a very different way this week with an update of pleasures you should indulge in to add sunshine to your January...

Slumdog - loved it - beautifully shot, gorgeus child actors, lovely story & the best that has come from Danny Boyle for a long time

Return of 90210 - guilty pleasure but hope its better than the first time (it never is)

Powerplates - ok not pleasurable - a form of sadistic excercise which really hurts your ass

Obama's letter to his little girls - lets hope this man really is this thoughtful and revolutionary http://www.parade.com/export/sites/default/news/2009/01/barack-obama-let

Kindness - a gentleman gave me his seat on a stinking commuter train, it never fails to make my heart go twang when chivalry rules - wins every time

Resevoir Dogs soundtrack - forgot how brilliant it is

The Oscars - can't bloody wait


Finally I will leave you with a bit o Robbie Burns - have a good weekend x

Then catch the moments as they fly
And use them as ye ought, man;
Believe me happiness is shy
And comes not aye when sought, man
Enjoy the weekend

Pimp my tuk tuk!!

On my recent trip to Indonesia I was pleasantly surprised to see that the tuk tuk drivers are not getting left behind in the capitals endless thirst for all things bling. Out with the old, in with the new! These new tuk tuks speed around Jakarta, weaving in & out of the traffic and in most cases are much quicker than the cars that get stuck in the crazy traffic jams. It is now my preferred mode of transport in Jakarta…

Surviving The Plague

It seems that as well as a serious guilty feeling about how much we ate and drank over the festive period, the New Year has also brought along a rather nasty version of THE PLAGUE. It’s not the usual set of sniffles which we are used to, this illness has us dropping like flies and contemplating having tissues and painkillers surgically attached. So here are a few helpful hints from The Lounge to get us through this year’s Black Death:

- Take a tip from sleeping beauty, knock yourself out with a few pain killers and hope that when you wake up the world will be a less flem filled place.

- Become the bed ridden Phone Jacker and phone the people in your office seeing how long you last without them hanging up on you.

- Learn to play a new instrument using objects around you to ‘entertain’ your visitors – a water cup orchestra, sick bowl band and duvet swishing serenade are some favourites.

- Finally, come up with an over-arching theory for everything that happens and then try and use the theory to answer all of life's unanswered questions.

Try these and you’ll be feeling right as rain in no time!

New for 2009

Hello peeps,

We at the Lounge are running a competition for the best art work of my face. So far we have had just one entry but we'd love more.

What's stopping you?

Everybody loves a list

Seeing as it's January here is a little list of bands that I think are going to make it big in 2009. Click on the links to check out each artist's MySpace and see what all the fuss is going to be about...


Empire of the Sun












Ra Ra Riot











Little Boots








White Lies









La Roux

Fresh Business Thinking Article

Our fist thought would be that the economic climate should not genuinely effect how well one medium performs at reaching the right audience versus another. The right medium should be the right medium. What I hope this new economic environment will do is to get marketers to reappraise their “traditional” marketing mix and genuinely question the value of a TV ad or print ad in connecting with their core consumer. The Lounge specialise in connecting with under 35’s and for this audience we are often surprised at just how much money is spend on traditional channels at the expense at more targeted ones.

We believe that out of home, brand experience and outdoor, is significantly more effective at engaging this audience than either print or TV. In absolute terms you may see a lower reach however you will get significantly more engagement and therefore effectiveness from these “non-traditional” routes. These routes when combined with other channels such as digital will get your clients much more bang for their buck.
The key element that is going to effect how well your brand engages with your audience is how well you understand them. Brands that actually invest in smart marketing, marketing that is targeted genuinely to the needs of their consumer, will see a big difference in this economic environment. Non-traditional routes enable more subtlety, and enable a much more tailored solution therefore, if you employing smart marketing then the non-traditional channels will perform better for you. If you are just grinding out the usual parp then best of luck to you.

Happy Birthday

Well it's a day over due but a biggie so not to go unmentioned.

Happy Birthday (for yesterday) to The Lounge, now in it's 4th year, good luck for the next year all, may it be as special as each that preceeded it.

Also not to forget that sharing his birthday with The Lounge, is the Lounge's co-founder James Layfield - Happy Birthday for yesterday James - looking forward to your bash tonight... go mental!

Banish the blues

Hi lovely people, how is everyone settling in now most have been back at work for a week. The Crimbo hols feel like a distant memory already and we're all hanging out for the end of the month to treat ourselves and bring about some cheer to cut through the sporadic Arctic weather and darkness. 

So, for when you do decide to treat yourself, either in celebration that you've done a whole month without falling off the wagon or because you didn't even get on the wagon in the first place and you've simply been waiting for the funds to lubricate your life......here's a few thought starters on how to: 

The budget option: Celebrate the 50 years of Motown Records and whack on one of the greats and have a boogie round your sitting room! So many to chose from....Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, Supremes, Jackson 5

The mid range option: Yes another gastro pub but this one is in the creme de la creme range. Brilliant pub grub, amazing decor and a great excuse to check out North London. The Stag comes highly recommended http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/pubsandbars/the-stag-info-13506.html

The premium option: If this gloomy weather is making you reach for your holiday form application then it's worth considering the new Wallpaper inspired trips in collaboration with Black Tomato. £800 for a unique trip to Bucharest including flights, accommodation, car hire...pretty much everything apart from the kitchen sink which I'm sure you'll happily leave at home http://www.blacktomato.co.uk/wallpapertravel/ 

ROLL ON 2009! A very happy new year to you all! CP x

Welome Back

Nice to have you back with us. I hope you've had a fantastic fun filled week and a bit. I've had a lovely time off, but I'm also very excited to be back. We are raring to go for 2009, a year which I'm sure will see some interesting challenges for all of our clients.

James