(Justin Bieber, the person with the highest Klout score in the world.)

Fine, if you are in the business where all that matters is how many people you know and how well your boots are licked by other people who know a lot of people (or how well you lick their boots), Klout is surely a nice little indication of your professionalism.

Not fine, if you are in a business where it’s even remotely important that you have some creativity, originality and a brave mind. I don’t believe that the most interesting people talk about what most of the world thinks is interesting. Most of the world is lazy. To inspire people is to challenge them, tell them something they didn’t expect to hear or even wanted to hear. Not to give them a pseudo-amusing cat meme to re-tweet on their lunch break.

Discuss.

Toys, toys, toys. This week’s most brilliant finding goes to one of our creatives, Dave M. The idea of this website, called Child’s Own, is simple and overwhelmingly endearing (even to someone who only likes kids when they are clean, calm and mute): take your child’s drawing, send it to these guys and they make a toy out of it. And not just a approximate replica but an exact copy of your child’s, erm, masterpiece. If this doesn’t make you smile, you should be worried. And of course, if you have kids, what would be a better encouragement for them to pursue their artistic traits than seeing their own work taken seriously and actually being made real?

Made by Damien Hirst, by me. I doubt anything will top those above-mentioned art pieces, but if you’d rather admire a diamond skull in your living room, check out IARTISTLONDON who provide kits for making your own copies of some world’s most famous art objects. A little bit camp, a little bit silly, a lot of fun. My personal favourite would be Tracy Emin’s tent.

Tate Modern+Roy Lichtenstein. Equals one hell of a bliss. We need to wait until February though, but I at least will start preparing already. Pop art is not always considered the most prestigious or sophisticated form of art (what, soup cans and comics and Mick Jagger in hand-cuffs are not high-brow?) but says something very clever about the values, culture and commercialism of today. Pop art, which reminds me often of advertising, isn’t always beautiful but it’s certainly perceptive, and it isn’t always deep but more clever than you think. No, I didn’t go to art school and have no idea what I’m talking about. Just go and see yourself. It’s cool.

I’m afraid of…spiders and that I’m going to die alone. Fears are an emotionally interesting subject. No matter how big or small, they always seem to reveal something extremely delicate about their holder. Something that you couldn’t articulate in any other way but answering the question: what are you afraid of? It’s also quite an intimate feeling reading about other people’s fears. There’s a blog (or apparently some sort of art project) dedicated to it. So, what are you afraid of?

Print is not dead. I repeat, print is not dead. Please, don’t let it be dead. If it is, here’s a wonderful trip down the memory lane by British Council (spotted on The Wall) about how The Times was produced during the Second World War. This would certainly make a beautiful tribute at the funeral.

This is the current cover of Time magazine that is causing some controversy at the moment.

I’m normally all for shock tactics but this just feels wrong. I understand that Time magazine has a remit to cover things that are of interest on an international level, which of course breast feeding is, but to raise it with such a provocative photo smacks of commercialism and feels like it misses the point. In countries where breast feeding is the only option because bad water or no water make formula trickier, it be interesting to know how old kids are when they move on from the breast. So with that thought perhaps the use of shock tactics is valid as I’m not only thinking about the debate but writing about it. Can’t help think of David Walliams asking for ‘Bitty’ when I look at the picture though.

So what do you think –  marketing gimmick or valid journalistic point?

The Official Chart Company today has recognised this shift in behavior of music consumption, due to 2.6bn streams being delivered last year, accounting for 4.5% of all music industry revenues. Now that is a small figure, but the increase year on year will likely mean that streaming will become the preferred choice of consumption in the future. No longer will we need storage space on the wall for CD’s or huge external hard drives for our back catalogue that gets lost or wiped. And no longer will we run out of space for our photos on our phones as we take advantage of mobile 4G and cheaper tariffs. That is sooo millennium.

Books will also disappear, they will. Probably not in my lifetime, but they will eventually. This will leave us all far more wall space where the CD shelves and bookshelves went, to put up more picture frames,  - with streamed art flowing into them.

When will you switch to streaming only from antiquated downloads? Or have you been there for some time already?

Sam Ball took to the stage first “We talk a lot of shit in this industry”, no-one disagreed. He then went on to categorise the bullshit into two piles, generic bullshit including predications about the future and stating the obvious. In pile two, specific bullshit like “a YouTube clip should be no longer than a minute to go viral”. It’s nonsense. The point is that not enough people within the Ad Industry are doing enough to overthrow the norm.

Do you think the “bullshit merchant” who is currently telling you what will, and won’t work, would’ve stopped Einstein or Newton? No. Exactly. “Any revolutionary in every walk of life has been a young experimenter”. He left the stage to a quote from Greek Philosopher Xenopanes who said: “The gods did not reveal, from the beginning, all things to us, but in the course of time through seeking we may learn and know things better. But as for certain truth, no man has known it, nor shall he know it, neither of the gods nor yet of all the things of which I speak. For even if by chance he were to utter the final truth, he would himself not know it: for all is but a woven web of guesses”

Here’s Laura Jordan-Bambach with a real insight into the state of todays society. On a serious note she talked about not questioning yourself when you’re brave enough to say NO! Just make your decision and do so with integrity. Steve Price then took to the stage with a statement: “If you were to say NO! a little more often, you’d have time to do better shit.” I agree in the most part but on the flipside what about potential opportunities you may miss by not being open enough?

During the most memorable eight minutes of the night Flo Heiss simply said NO! to over sharing. These days we’re all digital to the core and the point he was making was that sometimes we simply don’t have to be.”Put your phones, laptops and iPads in the air. Ok now put them on the floor and do nothing”. What followed was a very uncomfortable five minutes of shuffling and silence as Flo simply stared on. Very weird, very memorable, very refreshing.

Last up was Andy Sandoz, always far-out and scientifically motivated I didn’t really know what to expect from him. And not to disappoint his subject the #NoFilter. “We all need one, importantly it’s not a switch, it’s more of a dial”. When it comes to a decision always set your dial. Obviously your dial can never be 100% YES or 100% NO! – your passion and belief in a project should help you set your dial appropriately. Check out Andy’s thirteen slides for more, including his list of eleven things to say NO! to. Point six is especially hilarious as Andy highlights never witnessing rain in Google Street View. “We should all say NO! to rain and move into Street View instead. Street View or not it always rains in Manchester, or at least gets wet anyway (great spot Palmer).

Given that it comes from one of his agencies in New York, I imagine there will be a slightly longer unemployment line there by the end of the week.

So why do I like it? It is certainly controversial. It is certainly cheeky. It has been noticed worldwide, and depending on whom you ask, it has been noticed for all the wrong reasons, or indeed, all the right reasons. And that is why I like it. Because it has been noticed.

The people who commissioned the film knew exactly what they were doing, and they believe passionately in the issue they have raised by making it.

So all in all, job done. Well done to the people who commissioned it, well done for approving an idea, that had ‘shit storm’ written all over it, and then standing by that idea.

If the world did more advertising that got noticed, then the world would be a more interesting place.

Am I out of order? Then tell me so below.

Watch in this order:

John Peel revealed. This week is a happy week for music geeks: Tuesday saw the revelation of the first batch of John Peel’s record collection. To fill the non-geeks in, John Peel was an iconic DJ and radio presenter for BBC 1 from 1967 until his death in 2004, and famous for his unbelievable knowledge of and enthusiasm for interesting music (skewed slightly to alternative rock but covering everything from reggae to dance to punk and hip hop), and the ability to find the next big thing. In short, he was, and still is, a god-like character in indie music. And now, his personal record collection (of over 26,000 albums and 40,000 singles), whose content has intrigued music fans around the world for decades, is being published as an interactive online archive. Happy days, indeed.

Coffee nostalgia. Everything was better back in the day. At least London’s cafe culture. I came across this wonderful article on The Telegraph about the coffee shops in London in the 18^th century, when cafes were full of “poets, playwrights, journalists and members of the public gathered around long wooden tables drinking, thinking, writing and discussing literature into the night” and drinking coffee was “an antidote to drunkenness, violence and lust; providing a catalyst for pure thought, sophistication and wit”. Next time you are about to grab your laptop and hermit in the corner of High Street Starbucks with a watery skinny latte, try time travelling a bit and head to allegedly London’s only properly old-fashioned cafe, The Idler Academy of Philosophy, Husbandry and Merriment, in Westbourne Park. With a name like that, how could you resist? They also sell books, educate (ukulele, calligraphy, English grammar…you name it) and host gigs (The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments are playing next Sunday). Brilliant.

Love (in) the 60’s. If you can’t be bothered to time travel for centuries, then try at least a few decades: what’s a better place to be than London in the 60’s? Rhetorical question. This odd little short film, Reflections On Love, has everything you need to put the swing in your step: a famous groupie bride Jenny Boyd, some heavy eye-make up, jangly guitars, lush and romance (except one moody groom), The Beatles and 60’s fashions. Not entirely sure what’s going on here, but might watch it again. And again.

First Tupac, now Dita. The hologram craze continues. If you fancy seeing the queen of burlesque and mother of all MILFs (second only to Stifler’s mom), Dita Von Teese, almost in real life, check out the just-opened Christian Louboutin exhibition at design museum, where she is stealing the limelight and performing every half hour as the exhibition’s centrepiece – almost in real life. And while you’re there, you might as well gawk at the legendary shoes that are more like theatrical jewellery than footwear – and sometimes impossible to wear because they make your feet scream of pain. But according to Mr Louboutin that’s ok. Maybe not in real life. (spotted by Manny, cheers!)

Ivy rules. I’ve found my new favourite online shop: Ivy’s Rule. It opened on Monday, has a quirky range of amazingly cool products from jewellery to soaps, smooth design and a wicked, beautiful copy, was founded by a lady called Nikki, named after her daughter Ivy, and tipped to me by our managing director (thanks, Andy!).  Finally a place, from where I can buy a skull ring and not feel like a 14-year old pseudo-goth.  

“Tecnobrega, a regional music style born amongst the poor classes of Pará (a northern Brazilian state) and exclusive strictly inside suburban borders for many years, is now starting to go mainstream across the whole country. Why? Despite the unexpected and exciting mix of electronic beats (Techno) and cheesy melody (Brega), this suburban rhythm is very social.

Easy to produce, hard to let go.

Tecnobrega has reinvented the entertainment industry, for its own survival. Basically, anyone can make Tecnobrega hit music. It is produced in 15-20 minutes with free software containing patterns for electronic beats and characteristic melodies. The lyrics are quite simple, cheesy and hard to get out of your head.

The Social Effect

Hundreds, sometimes thousands of CD’s are recorded and distributed to the public on the streets of Belém (capital of Pará) either for free or costing less than a dollar. The songs that are well liked and accepted are then shared and promoted online, especially on social media networks. Only after this P2P sharing, Tecnobrega reaches the traditional media. Radio stations will then play it, famous Tecnobrega DJ’s at busy and popular parties, will play it too.

Gaby Amarantos, keep this name in mind

Are we talking about the next Michel Teló? Maybe. Tecnobrega’s most famous artist, ‘Beyonce from Pará’, is about to become the next Brazilian superstar. She has been the inspiration for a famous soap opera’s main character. And just for the record, soap operas are quite popular and mainstream in every single part of Brazil.

Thanks, Bruna, for this piece! Stay tuned (literally) for some more quirky happenings from around globe.

Beastie Benz. This week’s controversial brand stunt comes from the posh car manufacturer Mercedez Benz. The brand have given an iconic punk-rapper Mike D, of Beastie Boys, the power to curate an art show, Transmission LA: AV Club, for them at the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art. Hmm, this is either the right kind of brave and creative behaviour from a slightly dusty brand, or a tacky attempt to be young and cool and punk when your brand really isn’t. After reading Fast Company’s interview with both sides, I’m inclined to like this unlikely collaboration. What say you? Good, bad, or sabotage?

Robots, they are coming – again. Last week we were pondering over The Second Economy, where computers will replace a massive amount of jobs. Thank God the service industry is safe. Oh, wait, no it is not. We’ve seen cute little robots pole dancing and running backwards at a world record pace, but looks like the second level of this revolution is around the corner and the robots are currently taking over restaurants, especially in Japan, China, Thailand, Korea, and Vietnam. What I also found out from the Creators Project recap is that there are already robots who guard prisoners and robots who perform some sort of sexual favours. And that the RoboCop remake is a work in progress.

Crazy, beautiful. Indoor fireworks, a Coke bottle and a chain saw, mowing a carpet…Sometimes stupidity becomes art.

Curzon curates. Renting movies online is a piece of cake – watch pretty much any film you want, anytime, anywhere. But is that complete freedom purely a bliss? What I find myself missing is the cinema feeling; the feeling that this particular film has been picked up by a theatre and that other people are watching it as well. (This is probably why the traditional TV is still alive; people still long common, simultaneous entertainment experiences). Curzon Cinema, the independent London theatre chain is now offering something in between: a curated, on-demand service. You can buy and stream  the movies at anytime, anywhere, and the selection is curated by Curzon, consisting of the latest releases and a few interesting classics. Better than having all the crappy films in the world to choose from – and ending up watching Hangover for the 5^th time. (Thanks, Manny, for the tip!)

Dr Dee. The frontman of iconic Britpop acts Blur and Gorillaz, the magnificent Damon Albarn, has made an opera. Yes, an opera. His status in the music world has reached a level where he can do anything, and people will find it amazing. Or at least interesting. I think. Maybe. Or not. I did give it a try. Now it’s your turn.