just talking about boys, my birthday, & other girl stuff, you know the deal by now

Technorati Tags: 21st, before, birthday, Night

Image taken on 2007-08-11 13:48:45 by RemixedDave.

Technorati Tags: #0607, 21st, birthday

My 21st birthday invitation

Technorati Tags: 21st, birthday, Invitation

My little sister is turning 21 in 2 weeks. I’d love to throw her a party or something but the problem is she is 2000 miles away on the other side of the country. I want to get her something more personal then a gift card but am stumped for ideas. She is currently going to college and likes horses and video games.
Image taken on 2007-10-16 23:27:52 by Zut Zut et Zut!!!.

Technorati Tags: Gift, good, sister, Turning

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I thought it would be kind of interesting to find out why people got tattoos. There are several reasons why one would want to get inked. For example, to mark a time in their life, to remember someone they have lost, to recognize a love you have for someone, to support some cause or just because. So what category do do fall into?

I personally fall into the to mark a time in my life category. I got my first tattoo on my 18th birthday to mark the occasion of me becoming an adult and being the legal age to get a tattoo. Then I got my second one on my 21st birthday to mark the occasion of being able to legally drink. I was planing on getting another one on my 25th birthday just because I think 25 is a milestone were you are really considered an adult. But that tattoo didn’t happen because of the way my hubby feels about them. However, I have been thinking about getting a certain tattoo to mark a milestone in my husband and I’s relationship, but I doubt that will ever happen because of the way he feels about it. I had jokingly said when I was 21 that I would get a new tattoo every 5 to 10 years to mark the different age milestones in my life. It’s funny how those plans can change.

So please feel free to share your reason’s why you have gotten your tattoos. I would love to hear people’s reasons.

Your Tattoo Friend

Ashley

Technorati Tags: Tattoos

Messer’s Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co, have a lot to answer for. Their leveraged buyouts in the 1980s created a long-lasting interest in the enormous value of ‘brands’. But even they could not have imagined just how much this business of brands would infiltrate the life of people in the years to come. It’s turned so bad now that not only is everything you use – from toes to topknot – a brand, everyone too is a brand! The word, like a malevolent air-borne virus, is everywhere. It permeates all conversation and all walks of life.

So it is not uncommon to hear of a certain cricketer’s ‘brand’ of cricket or a TV producer’s ‘brand’ of TV soaps (the TV shows produced by the reigning Queen of soaps having taken over the mantle of lather from Lux as the ‘Beauty soaps of the stars’).

The B-word is now also widely used by giggly, breathless girl-reporters, as they report from fashion shows and gasp at the unwearable offerings of ‘brands’ of gelled, pedicured and manicured designers. Serious-faced reporters on business TV channels use it as they discuss a businessman’s ‘brand’ of management. And of course the entertainment pages are full of interviews where effete directors talk about their ‘brand’ of films.

You got it: today, everyone is a brand. So perhaps it is time to consider the typology and myriad dimensions of this phenomenon.

Acquiring brand-hood

The first thing to remember is that while everyone is a brand, some are born brands, some acquire brand-hood and others have branding thrust upon them.

Abhishek Bachchan clearly is a case of a born brand; given his genetic configuration, it could not have been otherwise. So too are sundry other star-progeny. And the progenitors could be actors, businessmen, politicians; essentially anyone who himself/herself has a claim to being a brand. Baby Suri, manufactured by Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is even more so: she was a brand before she was even born! She could be the first case in recorded history to be what one could call a ‘branded foetus’.

Others acquire brand-hood. Dhoni acquired ‘branded’ status with his swashbuckling style. So did Sehwag. Both acquired it fairly soon after they were launched, so to say. Dravid took longer. He had to lay the foundation for a long time, before he could become the brand we know as ‘The Wall’.

And then of course there are the ones who have branding thrust upon them. Perhaps I should say that co-branding is thrust upon them. M. Night Shymalan has no particular desire to be co-branded with India, but journalists will insist on finding some way of describing him so that he becomes a co-branded entity: ‘Of Indian origin’ or ‘India-born’ are common mechanisms employed to do this. Others want to do the same to Bobby Jindal, though what he wants is to be co-branded ‘American’ in the ‘Senator’ product category. We want to do it to VS Naipaul too, even though in his case, the tenuous link for such co-branding became defunct several generations ago.

Me-too brands

If it happens in business, it will happen in life. A new ‘product category’ came into being with the invention of the term, ‘item song’. Barely (pun intended) had Shefali Jariwala and Meghna Naidu gyrated and bit their lips in music videos to achieve brand-hood, that an entire shipment of me-too brands arrived; the same pudgy midriff, the same lascivious look, the same absence of any sign of intelligence disturbing their expression.

Rakhi Sawant is only a more recent specimen of the me-too brands of exposed adipose tissue. In an earlier era these buxom brands were also associated with specific product categories such as textiles. Who can forget the entire batch of fabric softeners represented by Silk Smitha, Nylex Nalini and others? But the trend died out, before others like Rexine Rekha and Kevlar Kavitha could make their mark.

Relevant and irrelevant taglines

If Nike has ‘Just do it’ and Asian Paints has ‘Har ghar kuchh kehta hai’, person-brands too, want or are given different taglines and ‘product descriptors’.

And there are some people brands whose taglines are as memorable as these examples. On the other hand, ‘sexy new starlet’ or ‘volcano of talent’ are completely ineffective in clearly identifying a specific person.

Here then, is today’s quiz on People-Brand lines and descriptors:

Q1: Who is known as ‘India’s liquor baron’?
Q2: Which actor was called the ‘Thespian’?
Q3: Who is called ‘The world’s richest man’?
Q4: Who is called the ‘Sarod Maestro’?

If you got Vijay Mallya, Dilip Kumar, Bill Gates and Amjad Ali Khan right, it just goes to show that these brands have come to own certain specific properties or descriptors.

But not everyone can have such exclusive right to entire product categories.

Nevertheless there are other ways to gain differentiation. So while Sunil Gavaskar was ‘The Little Master’, Sachin Tendulkar became the ‘Master Blaster’.

However, these epithets get used equally often in valid and invalid situations. For example, it may be appropriate to say that, “Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored a quick-fire 45 off just 23 balls,” but it is a bit much to caption a picture from his birthday celebrations with the words, “Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar about to cut his birthday cake,” suggesting that he is shortly going to bludgeon the baked item with his weighty willow.

This irrelevant use of a descriptor has broken new ground in the case of a certain tennis player. It is not uncommon to read that, “The Hyderabadi lass fought well in the second set.” What does her play have to do with where she is from? Do we want reports saying, “And the Ichalkaranji boy announced that he would be launching a new banking software package”? Or that “The 24-Parganas danseuse performed the Mohiniattam with grace”?

Of course mere irrelevance pales in comparison to the positively bizarre, as in “The teen sensation was thrashed 2-6, 3-6 in the first round of the…”

Borrowed branding

And then there is ‘borrowed-branding’. This was invented to make memorable, perfectly forgettable ladies in their launch stage in films. Kiera Knightly was an unknown and had to be propped up as the ‘Bend it like Beckham beauty’. After she got a role in a more successful film she became, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean beauty’. And you have ‘Lara Croft beauty Angelina Jolie’ and ‘Spiderman beauty Kirsten Dunst’ and so on. You will note that the word ‘beauty’ is used quite liberally and indiscriminately.

But there are times when even reporters know it would be going too far to call someone a beauty; and so the words ‘hotel heiress’ are employed as a substitute, to provide some borrowed branding to a vacuous bimbo, although her name itself borrows from geography and the hospitality industry.

The most extreme cases of borrowed – or what might be called ‘attributed’ – branding are to be found in Page 3 coverage. Consider for example the number of people who are branded ‘Socialite’. The term is used as if it represents a philosophic orientation, like ‘Luddite’ or ‘Trotskyite’; or a species of animal life like ‘Troglodyte’. In fact, one suspects it only means, “We know this person is rich, but we really don’t know if the person actually does anything other than attend parties.”

And thus it is in the fitness of things that the term ‘poster boy’ has come to be employed as a part of the strategy to launch various citizens as brands. And if some of the posters look a bit frayed fairly quickly, well, you know what they say about the short life cycle of brands in the 21st century.

Technorati Tags: brand, Everyone, wants

Hiring a marquee is usually associated with weddings and wedding receptions, but there are many other occasions that are perfect for a marquee hire. The great thing about marquee hire is that there really is no end to their use, due to the range of marquees available today there is a marquee for all events no matter how big or small or professional or friendly the party may be.

Here is a look at some of the different events for a marquee hire:

Marquee Hire for Birthdays and Anniversaries – marquee hire is very popular for birthday parties and anniversary events, especially if they are big land marks such as a 21st birthday, or a gold wedding anniversary for example. Hiring a marquee for these events is a great way of celebrating because you can fit in a good number of people and you can decorate the marquee perfectly in alignment with your party and theme. Many people host the party in the luxury of their own home and using a marquee to give extra space is a great idea for you can have the main party in the house and the food and dining area in the marquee, or maybe have the dance floor in the marquee, the possibility are endless.

Charity Events – hiring a marquee for a charity event is another favourite. This charity event may be a party, or a fund raiser, or a celebrity may be making a guest appearance, either way a marquee hire for the event is perfect as it is cost effective and they look stunning to wow the guests as well.

Business Events / Product Launches / Corporate Events – many businesses host a number of events throughout the year such as Christmas parties, product launches, training events, public speakers and so on. Marquees are great for business events because they look professional and visually impressive but they are friendly and personal as well so you get a great balance.

Exhibitions / Art Shows – one of the key requirements for exhibitions and art shows is space, you don’t want to cram in your guests pushed up against the art or work and so space is a big thing. Hiring a marquee gives you the option of space for you can choose how big you will need the marquee based on the amount of people attending and where the tables / art will be placed.

 

  

Technorati Tags: Hire, Marquee, Occasions

Celebrating my 21st birthday

Technorati Tags: 21st, birthday, Karen

My bf turning 21 on Tuesday , and i need to plan out a badass party for that night! but i’m so clueless right now!
Image taken on 2007-10-16 16:30:24 by Zut Zut et Zut!!!.

Technorati Tags: Friend, host, kind, party, should, Turning