It’s always fun looking at bad design choices. We had the chance  in class to bring in some examples. These were my highlights:

Pretty much all the multimedia designers (including myself) had a similar example, which was any website that decided to follow no hierarchy system whatsoever.

…thoughtless advertising placement…

Self explanatory…

Harley Davidson decided one day to expand their product range to include perfume!  Unsurprisingly, no one bought it, alienating their existing fan base while not acquiring any new fans either.

My personal favourite of the day was a campaign by PepsiMax to advertise that they only have 1 calorie in their drink.  So why not show the calorie as a suicidal figure that can’t live with himself.  Confused?  Check out the ad below. Funnily enough, it looks like a great piece of lowbrow art. No traditional Pepsi branding anywhere!

In preparation to increase viewership for Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV (44), which will be aired on CBS, Lara Spencer, host of “The Insider” co-hosted CBS’s interactive show, “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2010.”  Lara’s co-host was Jim Nantz, the 2008 National Sportscaster of the year, a veteran of the CBS network has covered virtually every sport since joining CBS in 1985.  The special show featured some of the best Super Bowl commercials of the decade.

Lara Spencer appeared this morning on the “Early Show” to provide a sneak peek for tonight’s hour long feature on CBS. Spencer and ”Early Show” co-anchors Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith discussed some of the top 10 Super Bowl commercials, including the Doritos “Power Crunch” (2009), E-Trade’s “Baby Burp Up” (2008), Tide “To Go Interview” (2008), Budweiser “Rock Paper Scissors” (2007) and Budweiser “Super Fan” (2006).

Super Bowl ads are among the most sought after slots in the corporate world, despite their increasing cost. The 30 second spots in the first Super Bowl back in 1967 between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers were a meager $37,500. Today, a 30 second spot requires a big brand budget to the tune of $3 million. Aside from the hilarious, surprising and shocking creative, what sets apart a Super Bowl ad from an ad aired any day of the year, is that Super Bowl ads are often targets of search engine results and viral videos for the remainder of the year that catapult a brand into stardom.

Click on the video below to see a clip from the new advertisements, including E-Trade.com’s first-class babies, Audi’s “Green Police,” and HomeAway.com’s National Lampoon experience. Exclusive Super Bowl 2010 Ad Sneak Peek AdWeek has also been revealing various snippets throughout the week and featuring various content about former Super Bowls. See their previews here: Sneak Peek from AdWeek

Here are some of the other favorites featured on CBS tonight that didn’t make the top 10 list and were deemed “The Best of the Rest.”

1980 Coca Cola 1980 Have a coke and smile with Mean Joe Green Remains at the top of “Best Superbowl Ads” lists. Fun and heartwarming. A Classic.

1995 Pepsi Super Bowl Classic The classic Super Bowl commercial from 1995, directed by Simon West. A young boy on the beach loves Pepsi so much that he sucks himself into the bottle after plenty of sucking and puckering.

2000 Mountain Dew Bad Cheetah Cyclist chases a cheetah in Africa and tackles him – reaches down his throat to get his can of Mountain Dew. Nice special effects…

2000 E Trade We Just Wasted $2 Million E*Trade Super Bowl ad of a monkey and two idiots – “Well, we just wasted two million bucks…”

2002 Pepsi Cindy Crawford Pepsi uses another celebrity to showcase their new look, Cindy Crawford, scantily clad in a white tank top and daisy dukes.

2002 Bud light Satin Sheets A combination of the lengths women go to in order to tear the men in their lives away from football and the reason why satin sheets are a bit of a cliché.

2003 Budweiser Instant Replay This ad spot features a new take on the game, the players, and those guys in stripes. A zebra fills in.

2004 Budweiser “Born a donkey” Clydesdale’s recruit a new type of teammate.  A donkey. This feels a little bit like the Rudolph story with the small donkey leading the pack.

2005 Careerbuilder Monkeys If it wasn’t a classic rule of advertising before, it should be now: you can’t go wrong with monkeys in business attire.

2006 Fed Ex Stick The spot opens with a caveman dressed in animal skins tying a stick to a Pterodactyl’s leg. As the Pterodactyl takes off into flight it is attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex and the stick falls to the ground. The caveman, saddened by the event, enters his boss’s cave to tell him the bad news. The boss responds by firing him for not using FedEx. The caveman pleads with the boss explaining, that “FedEx doesn’t exist yet,” but the boss does not seem to care. Frustrated, the caveman storms out of the cave and kicks a baby dinosaur that is crossing his path. As if his day is not bad enough, the spot ends with him being stepped on by a huge Brontosaurus foot. The moral of the story is then disclosed in the end frame, “Next time, use FedEx.”

2007 Kevin Federline Nationwide Ad Nationwide’s parody of Kevin Federline’s Rollin’ VIP.  Starring Kevin Federline.

2007 T-Mobile Fave 5 Who’s in your 5? Charles Barkley Dwyane Wade. “T-Mobile stick together” Super Bowl Commercial 2007

2007 Budweiser King Crabs Invasion of the King Crabs. Apparently all life forms will travel to all ends of the earth for Budweiser.

2008 Budweiser Rocky Clydesdale This 2008 super bowl commercial is about a Budweiser horse who has to train in order to become one of the main Budweiser horses. In this 2008 super bowl ad you will see the horse get trained by a dalmatian dog.

2008 Bud Light Fire Breather The guy in this Super Bowl 42 commercial is trying to make a good impression on the lady and without knowing the great taste of and the on Fire effect that Bud Light has in this Super Bowl commercial, every time he opens his mouth fire shoots out and catches everything on fire. The date was a disaster and house almost burned down.

2008 Bridgestone For drivers who want to get the most out of their cars. In this 2008 Super Bowl Commercial you will find a quiet mountain top like atmosphere. A squirrel going out in the middle of the street to get a nut. In this commercial a car comes down the street, the squirrel screams as does every other animal in the woods that are in this super bowl ad. The lady, who looks like one of the animals screams in rythem with the animals. The point to this Super Bowl ad is the sweetness of the Bridgstone Tires. The Bridgstone tires where able to just miss the squirrel and he could go on his way.

2009 Snowglobe Doritos Free Doritos at the office today? 2008 Doritos Crash the Super Bowl submission Wrong way to get that promotion you’ve been looking for. Interesting way to get free Doritos.

2009 Castrol Grease Monkeys Introducing Castrol EDGE, the Ultimate in Wear Protection with 8x better wear protection than Mobil 1.

2009 Monster.com Need a new job? We can help Taking advantage of the economic situation, unemployment and a new perspective on the job search.

10 Tide to go 2008:  The Talking Stain http://ow.ly/13D0q

9 Careerbuilder 2009 Need a new Job? http://ow.ly/13D4n

8 Doritos 2009 Doritos 2009 … POWER OF THE CRUNCH http://ow.ly/13D86

7 Budlight 2007 5 of 8 (Monkey) #superbowlads  http://ow.ly/13DaQ

6 Pepsi Max 2009   http://ow.ly/13DaQ

5 Budweiser 2007 Rock, paper, scissors http://ow.ly/13Diw

4 Budwesier 2009 Horse Fetch http://ow.ly/13Dhd

3 Pedigree 2009 Get a Dog http://ow.ly/13DsY

2 E Trade 2008 Baby Burp Up http://ow.ly/13DAy #superbowlads

1 2006 Super Bowl: Budweiser “Super Fan”  http://ow.ly/13Dna

Other top 10 from 2010 … http://ow.ly/13Dqg

More about the feature on CBS: http://ow.ly/13DMl

Don’t care for CBS’s top picks? Here are some other lists we found!

AdWeek Super Bowl Ads 2009

Top 10 Super Bowl Ads on YouTube

Top 10 Super Bowl Ads of All Time – MSNBC

The location: Rosamond Road Plume Restaurant
The purpose: Brunch!

Me: Hey mate, could I get a Pepsi Max for the lady here?

Waiter: Pepsi?

Me: Pepsi Max.

Waiter: Okay.

*Waiter returns a minute later*

Me: That’s pepper. I wanted Pepsi Max. Pep-see. This is pepper.

Waiter: Oh.

Michele: Fail. *laughs*

Pepsi Max is releasing its Africa-and-football themed music track globally this Sunday (31 January 2010) as part of its plans to hijack the 2010 Fifa World Cup, sponsored by rival Coca-Cola.

The charity song, ‘Oh Africa’, performed by Akon, Keri Hilson and the Soweto Gospel Choir, features cameo appearances from Pepsi brand ambassadors Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres in the accompanying music video. In November Pepsi kicked off a competition, planned by Mindshare, to offer members of the public the chance to sing on the track.

Coca-Cola’s global campaign is using a specially commissioned song by Somali hip-hop artist called ‘Wavin’ Flag’. Pepsi muscled in on Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the 2006 World Cup in Germany with its ‘Pepsi Max World Challenge’ campaign. A spokeswoman for Pepsi said proceeds from the sale of the track will go towards charities, including Akon’s Konfidence Foundation, helping underprivileged African youths.

http://www.brandrepublic.com/BrandRepublicNews/News/980478/Pepsi-drafts-Drogba-Torres-World-Cup-spoiler-song/?DCMP=EMC-DailyNewsBulletin

This was a rough morning. I am functioning on about three hours sleep, which is at least four hours less than I need to be on top of the game. It was not a good night.

The first problem was my own darn fault. I had two cans of Pepsi Max during the evening. The caffeine had me awake and alert.  Our dog, “Casey the Lab,” is weather-phobic. Lightning and thunder drive him around the bend. Even heavy rain and winds cause him to have an anxiety attack.  Last night, it wasn’t a major storm, but about the time we went to bed it started raining and the wind picked up. The darn dog would not settle down.  He kept panting loudly and pacing around our bedroom, with his nails making scratching noises on the new floor. Occasionally, he would try to jump up into bed with me. Then the power went off and that made him even crazier. Finally, around 3:30 am,  Mrs. P had had enough of it and went out to the family room to sleep on the couch. She took the big doofus with her.

She is not working today. I hope she can catch up on her lost sleep.

Fifty nine days since my last infusion of Octagam (IVIG) and my platelets are 104 today.

Still had no Pepsi Max nor aspartame, am still on Dapsone and folic and prednisone and nexium and clexane and bactrim and slow k and panadol and digesic and mona vie and..?

Still have my spleen.

Still eating too much…far too much…

This is an ad for Pepsi Max and a mustache growing event to support research for prostate and testicular cancer and it was found in a men’s magazine.

This ad is interestingly designed.  It looks like a plastic sheet with plastic mustache shapes that could be popped off.  The shapes are supposed to represent different possible mustaches that the viewer might grow, but many are shapes that don’t really grow naturally, but require styling, which few people have bothered to do for a long time.  It does make for a striking, graphic image that grabs your attention.

I can’t say that this ad gets me excited about or even interested in any of the things it’s advertising, but since I can’t grow a mustache, it’s not for me.   Still, I like the visuals.

He sees you when you’re bleeding

He knows when you’ve put on weight

He knows if you’ve been sick or tired

And he knows… how to whip your platelets up into a frenzy of 100 plus numbers!!

My platelets were 108 yesterday – yes ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT, and to top things off with a card and a bow, they reached that level without an infusion of Octagam and it was 44 days since my last infusion.

Could it be the Mona Vie? Or maybe the fact that I have stopped drinking around 4 cans of Pepsi Max and all the aspartame that provides each day? Or maybe it’s the Dapsone or the Mabthera or maybe I’m just going into remission?

Who knows, who cares?

Happy Christmas to me.

Merry Christmas and a fabulous, fun-filled, happy and HEALTHY 2010 to everyone.

And now to do that last minute shopping.

love

Nic(ole)x

Ironically I remembered that I wanted to make a post about this particular subject whilst drinking some Pepsi Max…so not entirety surprising. Now when I saw this advert first the first time, it caused me to become a bit confused at the subject. I admit I have a problem of over analysing things to the point where I ruin the actual point of them. It’s a curse but it at the same time I get to ruin a lot of things for a lot of people so let them suffer to.

Anyway one to the subject at hand:

Where to begin? Well the start would be a good fucking place eh?
Now I understand the first guy going in is meant to be a set up, but as an interviewer I would have probably asked him to leave before he even sat down. Why? Because he has a fucking Pepsi Can with him! Who the fuck BRINGS A FUCKING CAN OF PEPSI to an interview? Fair enough, have a can BEFORE have 10 for all I care. Don’t bring the actual can with you, and certainly don’t put on the fucking desk of the interviewer for shits sake! This says more about the Interviewer then it does the guy. What kind of company is this?

Anyway so, the “set up guy” decides to go all Fight Club and beat himself up whilst screaming and shouting. Now unless he is able to fall without hurting himself this is all very pointless, I’m sure he could have thought of a better way to get everyone to piss off like, walk out of the interview and say something like “That man just tried to rape me” or something like that, but no. Instead he knocks himself around the office destroying things, possibly traumatizing a bunch of fucking fish. Whilst the interviewer looks on like a retarded chimp. If that was me, I would have battered him anyway. Then I’d call security and explain that the guy is a moron and needs to be sectioned.

At this point we see a guy get up and leave like a scared pussy and others leave like dumb sheep, the remaining candidates stay and don’t bother to call the police OR EVEN HELP! All these people are cunts as well, and don’t deserve to get a job they are so rightfully being scammed out of. After some more self harm that’ll make an emo look like a jolly cunt. The set up guy eventually throws himself out of the room and runs off, along with all the other job applicunts, bar one. Who looks on at the interviewer with a smile that makes him look like a simple dick. Cut to the end where it is revealed that the whole thing, surprise surprise was a scam. The grinning tard chimp leaves the building with a smile and we see the set up guy along with the pussy guy waiting for him to see if he got the job, which he does. Cue them celebrating with a can of Pepsi and dancing to some hip hop song that they can’t actually hear which makes them mental.

What does it say about this guy that he needs to scam a bunch of people to get this job? That company has employed a trickster and fraudster…of some sorts. What a prick.
However what sort of company allows their interviewer to let a moron beat himself up during an interview and do sweet fuck all about?
My theory? It’s all one big insurance scam. The company will claim on a bunch of shit from that office, probably make up some shit and get some fat cheque, in return they employ a group of guys to make it all seem “believable” and offer a job to that guy to make it all look legit….I didn’t say it was a good scam.

Moving on, to the second and thankfully final vid for me to pick apart:

*sigh* OK so this guy is chatting up this girl and she ain’t impressed. Cue a guy getting tentacle raped by an octopus and the guy runs off to save him, complete with a full arm cast. He grabs a massive umbrella that opens up and doesn’t at all hinder the speed at which he is travelling. He then jumps at the beast and stabs it IN THE HEAD with the umbrella. Pretty awesome stuff.

Then he carries the rape victim back to the beach where no one at all bothers to help and he walks past the girl from the start and has time to trick the girl into agreeing to a date later, then takes the guy away where once again it is revealed that the whole thing was a scam. Good fucking lord, these guys have no shame. So to get a date, they get a fucking massive octopus costume complete with movable tentacles that can OPEN CANS, how much did that fucking thing cost? All that just to get a girl? She must be the bestest girl ever.

The girl! There’s one thing I noticed about her in this advert. At first she seems like a bit of a bitch, at the start the guy seems genuine and she looks at him like he uses live puppies as shoes, the stuck up bitch. Then when he saves that dude from rape, she looks at him with a smiles and shit. Silly cow, so it takes someone to perform a random act of bravery by stabbing a creature in the head which to be fair, if it were real, we wouldn’t know of that guy was provoking it or something, I mean at the end of the day the ocean is its home, when someone trespasses that home, well their gonna get raped. In the end she deserves to be going out with a scam artist, I hope they scam her out of all her money (of which she probably have a lot of, working in a fucking drinks hut on a beach) and in return I hope she gives him an STD!

Right I’m off to finish the rest of the Pepsi Max we have. Man that shit is refreshingly good, Maximum Taste, No Sugar goodness in a bottle!

My platelets are 53 today – all on their own. With no IVIG / Octagam and it is 37 days since my last infusion.

Woo hoo!!!

My RA is playing up a bit but my ITP is improving!!

Still off the aspartame and on the Mona Vie

Last night, I decided to walk another 6km (on top of the 2km I usually do), 4 elevated push-ups and 30 sit-ups.  I have come to realize a few things:

• I have wet noodle girl arms.
• The only way I can run is if a pack of wild dogs are chasing me because someone has soaked my pants in meat.
• I have callouses in the shape of Florida and Italy respectively.  Odd.
• I am afraid to take off my boots/socks after the walk in to work.
• It is way easier to lay on the couch watching reruns of The Golden Girls than it is to get into shape.
• I don’t think it’s normal to turn purple and see spots.  Nor is it normal for my heart to match the beat of an American High School drum line.
• I get the distinct impression that Basic Training will require a lot of crying, swearing and praying to any deity that will listen.
• I am possibly the only person in existence that got tennis elbow from lifting weights.
• Office Mom is right…if I die, no one will notice for a week.  By the time they find me it’ll be like Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat”.  Depressing.
• Is this what Kirstie Alley goes through every time she lifts her own gigantic arm and feeds herself instead of letting the motorized fork do the work?

In all seriousness, this is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done.  If you’d asked me that 9 months ago, you would have most definitely received a different answer.

I have caved this morning and had a cup of coffee.  The teapot didn’t auto-shut off and boiled up my water.  As I was standing there with an air of disappointment, Smelly Man tempted me with a cup of mocha java.  I know I said I wasn’t going to drink coffee at work anymore, and that I was cutting way-way-way back…and I have.  But it was just to enticing.  I’m still riding the soda-pony as well.  Dutchess said to me a while back, “I thought you were giving up coffee and pop.” to which my reply was, “I can’t.  I just can’t do it.  I can give up coffee, but I can’t give up pop.  I haven’t had sex in forever, frankly I think the Pepsi Max is what is keeping me sane an anchored.”  I’m only human!  This morning I had this terrifying thought, “What if sex falls into that whole, ‘If you don’t use it you lose it’ category.”  Oh God.

On a semi-related note, the Cougar who’s been stalking me for months is insane.  She messaged me the other night while I was watching “Zombieland” (awesome!) and asked if I was busy.  I wasn’t.  She didn’t reply right away and I noticed the kitchen light flickering, so I went and changed the bulb.  I was gone 2 minutes, tops.  She freaks out.  “I guess you’re not interested have a nice life.  I hope you find what you’re looking for.”  Jesus H. Christ.  I was gone 2 minutes.  Then, she throws in there as some kind of a barb that she hates how I repeat the time.  That Aaron used do to that and when someone pointed out how annoying it was, he stopped.  First off, yes Aaron was a big market hot shot.  Aaron also got fired and no longer works in radio.  Second, why do women feel the need to be real See-You-Next-Tuesday’s when things don’t go their way with relationships (or in this case a potential one).  I mean, honestly, are we still in elementary school?  I was waiting for a follow up, “stupid head!” but alas never got it.

I found a new blog this morning we are going to make mention of on the show.  I’ve added it to my blogroll, it’s called “The Problem with Young People Is…” and I gotta say, I agree with this crotchety old man.  Maybe I am an old soul.  I love his Wish List the most…I’d love to see young people wearing uniforms.  An end to things like exposed tramp stamps, thongs/boxers, anything that says “Thug Life” and hats with the unbent brims/stickers on em (cause apparently the cool thing is to look like you stole the hat).

Sometimes the best part of my workday is that my chair swivels.

Might be in the City today.  Leh is looking for a reason to take a trip up to the city.  I think I’ll go along for the ride.  Maybe I can do some shopping while she’s in her meeting.

My platelets were 40 today, again, still, just like they were on Monday!

Gotta love that!

I know 40 seems low as we all now know the norm is 150 – 400, but for me staying at the same rate and being 40 thirty-one days after my last infusion, it’s bloody amazing.

Something seems to be working  and it could be the lack of aspartame in the form of Pepsi Max or it could be the dapsone or the Mabthera or the Mona Vie or it could just be my bloody body saying “enough is enough is enough”!

Don’t know, don’t care but am pleased it is happening so close to Christmas.

I go back next week – on Wednesday.

Now, what to do with all my spare time today? I was planning on a day of infusions… An assignment perhaps – doesn’t seem to be the right way to celebrate great news but alas with all my trips to and from the hospital since the beginning of July my course work has suffered but am still aiming to finish by 22 March 2010 and then I will have my real estate licence (not that I would EVER work as an agent – not after watching Mum do it for the last 30 years, it’s dog eat dog and there’s never enough dog to go around!). Mum is, of course, a fabulous, skilled, honest agent with integrity and amazing negotiating skills. They are rare!

But I am going to be an Auctioneer – that is the plan. Then I can work hours that suit my body – bloody RA.

Might also go and buy some more Christmas lights – the competition is fierce here this year. Went out the front to view our apartment block and some of the neighbours homes resemble the Griswalds – we almost wet ourselves laughing when we saw our lights – we could see one light, not one string of lights, not one large light , no, just one globe. That was it. One globe glowing in the hedge. Everyone congratulated me on a fine effort and assured me I was a shoe in to win the prize this year.

Bye for now

Nic(ole)

Nicole Bradshaw BA RA (1st Class Hons) ITP (Hons) DVT (Hons)

Da jeg og broren min satt og så på en film i helga, var det en scene på en slik stereotypisk amerikansk veikro. Jeg sa til ham at det hadde vært gøy å bygge en sånn i Lofoten, med et veldig gjennomført amerikansk tema, men kanskje inkludere et snev Lofotsk i det hele. Han var enig i at det var en god idé. Nå ikveld satt jeg sammen med deler av bekjentskapskretsen min på en café vi kaller Brygga, fordi det er en gammel brygge, og da begynte jeg å tenke på denne ideen igjen. Jeg jobber selv på min tantes café og liker det svært godt. Jeg kunne faktisk tenkt meg å drive en selv, og denne ideen ble bare mer og mer attraktiv. Nå er det blitt en drøm. Min amerikanske drøm.

Flere delikate detaljer kommer under. Men først noen stemningsbilder:

Cafeen min, eller dineren som det kalles på amerikansk, skal bygges på stedet der min tantes café ligger i dag (hvilket er et meget populært sted selv om det ligger milevis unna de nærmeste tettstedene, og som hun har sagt at jeg kan ta over om jeg vil). Den skal enten hete Naitzel’s Inn, The Pepsi Max Inn eller Husk at du skal dø/Memento Mori Inn. Eller noe kulere om jeg kommer på det en dag jeg ikke er så trett eller ukreativsk som ikveld. Jeg skal servere slike amerikanske retter, som hamburger, kirsebærpai og milkshake med krem og kirsebær i høye glass.  Men jeg må jo også ta vare på lokalbefolkningen, og for å ikke skremme dem helt bort skal jeg lage vanlig mat også, sånn som vi serverer der jeg jobber. Jeg skal hele tiden stå bak disken med et hvitt forkle, skriveblokk og blyant bak øret. Jeg skal kjenne alle mine stamgjester og vite hva de foretrekker og hvordan de foretrekker det (virkelige stamgjester er like sære som stamgjester på film). På bordene skal det stå en meny, en boks med servietter, salt- og pepperbøsje og en flaske ketsjup av merket Heinz. Gulvet er sjakkrutete. Pepsi Max skal selvsagt være husets spesialitet, og den kan man få servert på ulike vis. Min personlige favoritt vil være for familien, eventuelt vennegjengen, eventuelt en veldig tørst livsnyter – en balje full av Pepsi Max med flytende sitronbåter og små isfjell. Også bare auser man ut av den og oppi whiskeyglass. På veggene skal det henge kule bilder av berømte amerikanske dinere. Jeg skal også ha en juke box som spiller musikk av The Kinks, Edith Piaf og Buddy Holly (Hør på Everyday, hvis du vil ha et godt eksempel (den er med i en LOST-episode)). De ansatte skal ha faste uniformer, og jeg kommer til å foretrekke unge jenter (for gjestenes skyld selvsagt). Men det skal også være en ansatt ryddegutt av det tynne slaget og en litt eldre dame som bare røyker og ser sur ut.

Såder. Nå tror jeg at jeg har fått med alt. Jeg må medgi at dette er an gasnke crazy idé, og det ville vært enda crazyere å gjennomføre den, men som sagt: Husk at du skal dø.

My blood pressure was down today – 138/87 – low for me when I arrive at HACU. Not as low as it used to be or as low as I’d like it but lower. So that was a good start.

Cannula Queen got my blood first time. Excellent.

Then my platelet count came back = 205.

No one believed it could be true so they tested it again (why do they not ever test it when it’s low!?!?!). So I sat and waited and it was true.

My platelets today are 205. They have not been that high through this whole ITP thing. And they have never gone up at this point post infusion. (Day 7).

There could be a number of reasons for this:

1. I’ve given up aspartame (particularly Pepsi Max)
2. I have started drinking Mona Vie – a juice / tonic which has Acai berry and load of other fruits in it – I think I might become a distributor if it is the reason, so if you want to buy it send me an email.
3. Dapsone may be working
4. Mabthera may be working
5. My Haematolgist sent a letter to the surgeon (and saw his secretary) who is supposed to be removing my spleen – this caused me to stop attention seeking and get those platelets up up up!

It’s exciting to be that high, I go back again on friday for another test. Hopefully I will still be up.

EVERYTHING CROSSED!!

Prednisone is now down to 17.5mgs

Clexane 80mgs once a day

Bactrim – Breakfast and dinner on Mondays and Thursdays

Slow K – two breakfast and dinner

Nexium – one 40mgs at night

Dapsone – 100mgs daily

Folic Acid – 5mgs daily

Paracetamol – PRN (per required need)

C’est tout!

Nic(ole)x

I’ve given up Pepsi Max – cold turkey.

I read of 4 (yes just 4 but I could be number 5, if it’s true) of people who had low platelets and stopped having aspartame. Their platelets went back to normal. When they tested it by having gum or diet drinks they went down again.

I have been known to drink up to 4 cans of Pepsi Max a day (with freshly squeezed lime juice in it). So it is worth a try. and at this point I’ll try anything.

If the Dapsone or Mabthera haven’t kicked in fully in a couple of weeks I am having a spleenectomy. I believe that prior to that they will do a bone marrow biopsy (through the sternum if I can’t get into a good position for the biopsy from my lumbar area.) Nice.

I had a cold last week but still went to the Hunter but only for one night. It was great fun and I am pleased that I made the effort. Wyndham Estate winery is beautiful and Bjorn Again were their usual fABBAuolos selves. The only negative was that you couldn’t BYO and the wine selection was from the lower end of the market and if I am going to drink I do like to have something fabulous. $25 for Trilogy and other Wyndham Estate bins was a bit steep. However I would’ve paid through the nose for something better.

Bjorn Again in the Hunter Valley

Ben and Soph LOVE ABBA

We tasted Tintilla’s range of wines and bought a few cases. I was really impressed with the vineyard – it is beautiful. The area where you can taste the wines – sitting at a table either inside or out on the verandah – was delightful and some of their oils and olives were divine.

The wines were really impressive. I would recommend you all go next time you are in the Hunter.

www.tintilla.com.au

Scarborough was also its usual impressive self, serving cheese while you taste the wines. Everyone went along to try them out but I had a nap at the house instead.

www.scarboroughwine.com.au

Vous vous souvenez certainement de la vidéo de Clément et de Gaëtan pour le concours Air France pour le vol inaugural de l‘A-380?!

Ici, nous avons le même effet en stop motion pour une campagne Pepsi Max. Parcourez l’appli Facebook de la campagne Mo-Mento Maker. Et admirez ce film!

Pepsi Max pour le retour de la Moustache…

So “Brigade du Tigres!”.

Une véritable tendance du Dandy Style qui possède même son club très privé sur Paris : le Paris Moustache Club!

via

Countdown:  7 Days til Gaynip turns 25!  Holy guacamole, I’m going to be a quarter of a century old.  Shew.

Let’s take a trip in the Wayback Machine:

Gaynip's 1st Christmas

I would have been a month old, maybe a month and a half here.  God, I was so cute.  I wonder what the hell happened?  I’m still cute, but in a goofy kind of way.  Alas, I did not grow up to be a sex kitten.  I guess I can scratch that off my list of goals.

* * * * *

Another Moan-day morning.

Smelly Man is already upset with me, because I’ve decided to switch out coffee for green tea (with mint!).  It’s not like he won’t drink the coffee, he already drinks 90% of it himself.  By the time I get to work its 2 hours old and luke warm.  I don’t mind pitching in for the coffee, but I want it hot and fresh.  Not to mention, the man has seriously lacking hygiene skills.  This way I won’t get sick from touching stuff he’s handled after not washing his hands.  Seriously, dude.  Wash your freakin’ hands.

I’m also off the Pepsi Max, too.   Collective gasp, I know.  I love it, I really do.  It’s diet, it’s extra-caffeinated and it’s delicious.  …Why am I giving it up again?  Oh yes.  Bad for my health.  Right.

* * * * *

So.  I told The Baroness I would be a Lady-in-Waiting for her at Feast of the Hare.  I’m not sure what came over me to do it.  Okay, that’s a lie.  I know why I said yes.

24 has been a huge year for me in terms of personal growth.  Being myself, coming out, realizing I’m not a nun at all (eff you Branco!) and being a little less shy.  The SCA, for whatever reason, gets me out of my safe space.  I don’t know much about it, it’s a Dutchess hobby, really.  I went to Summer Siege because I wanted to see Dutchess that weekend (Maverick was overseas) and ended up having a lot of fun.  The ‘yes’ to being a L-i-W/Server was to force myself to be less shy.  I need to learn.

Plus, I’m serving at Feast.  I hope I don’t spill anything on anyone.

* * * * *

Watched 2 movies last night.  Kissing Jessica Stein and Love Actually.  The first one kind of reminded me of my life, except I don’t have a crazy Jewish family (mine is French Canadian, equally crazy) and I didn’t date a girl and then go back to men.  I am very, very gay.

Dutchess:  Did you ever think, maybe, you’re not as gay as you think?

Maverick:  Oh no, she’s queer as a bottle of chips.

Me:  Thank you!

* * * * *

Also this:

This is Why You’re Fat

Not why I’m fat, actually.  Although, yay me for not eating the entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s.  I told myself, “Self, you aren’t going to eat this whole container of ice cream, do you hear me?” but I was already too busy eating it.  I’m surprised at myself.  Normally, I have selective hearing when it comes to ice cream portion control.  Huzzah!

* * * * *

Today:

• Work
• Blog
• NARL
• Nap (short nap)
• Writing
• Possible walk (depends on how sore I am from the NARL)
• Clean the bathroom (ugh)

La meg fortelle om noen ting jeg liker ved Kabelvåg, på en måte som for meg er annerledes, men som her i bloggverdenen er kjent som “bildeblogging”.

Kabelvåg er et lite tettsted i Lofoten, som er et vakkert øyrike. Jeg tror det er noe av det vakreste i verden. (Akkurat her er jeg ingen pålitelig kilde ettersom jeg er svært lite bereist.) Men dere kan jo se selv:

I Kabelvåg nyter jeg det gode liv. Det hender jeg legger meg i parken for å slappe av litt sammen med gode venner.

Jeg liker også å drive slaraffenlivet på vårt lokale vertshus, Præstengbrygga. Helst i… godt lag. Se, noen ganger koser vi oss så mye at jeg bare må gni meg litt i øyet.

Andre ganger driver vi og aksjonerer mot oljeboring. På ulike vis.

Når våren kommer og sola skinner, da dukker Bjørnar opp som valgte å utvandre til Bosnia. Jeg liker å sitte på med seilbåten hans.

Da blir jeg så glad

Når jeg riktig skal kose meg, drikker jeg Pepsi Max. Men som vi vet, noen ganger blir det rett og slett for mye av det gode.

And, I like you. Synnøve, my friend. My friend. (Hun elsker kyr.)

Boken min er ferdig. Det vil si, jeg klarer ikke å se for meg flere runder med endringer. Jeg har lyst til å skrive de resterende fire i Allene-serien snart. Derfor vil jeg med stor sannsynlighet ikke ta frem denne igjen når den neste refusjonen kommer. Men, det sa jeg sist også.

Jeg håper jeg får en ny konsulentuttalelse, for den forrige jeg fikk hos Askehaugen var svært nyttig. Den gledet meg og inspirerte meg til å skrive den versjonen som ligger foran meg nå.

Så da er det bare å lime igjen konvolutten og lempe den i postkassen. I mellomtiden sitter vi og venter, mens vi nipper til en Pepsi Max i ny og ne.

Det er spennende å være Forfatterspire folkens!

(Jeg ville gjerne vise dere et bilde av den ferdige boken som jeg hadde fotografert og alt, men av en eller annen grunn så virker ikke wordpress som det skal denne skjebnesvangre natten.)

De siste ukene har vært en sann pine. Jeg har aldri vært vant til å gjøre lekser. Mitt livsnyterinstinkt forteller meg hele tiden når det er nok leksegjøring, og det er omtrent like før alt det jeg absolutt må gjøre er gjort. Etter det skriker kroppen min etter rekreasjon, og jeg tar meg gjerne en Pepsi Max før jeg går igang med å kose meg. Det kan være alt fra lesning til en tur på Præstengbrygga, og ofte skriving. Jeg liker også å spise mat eller godteri.

Men da vi begynte på vårt tredje år på videregående, fikk vi sjokk. Lærerne gav oss lekser. Og det var ikke lite. Ja, de aller fleste som leser her vet hva jeg snakker om. Det ble til slutt ikke tid til annet enn lekser. Til og med i helga må man gjøre lekser. Og etter min mening er dette umenneskelig. Det er greit at det er siste året og mye som skal inn, men når sant skal sies så er ikke alt det lærerne ber oss gjøre uhyre nyttig. For eksempel eksisterer det ingen form for læring i at en elev blir tvunget til å skrive et essay om språket i forandring på nynorsk, når eleven ikke aner hvordan et essay skal skrives og ikke har skrevet nynorsk siden ungdomsskolen.

Jeg er rett og slett utslitt. Nå i helga måtte jeg lese til naturfagprøve og begynne så smått å lese til historeiprøve. Jeg måtte skrive en rapport i naturfag og et treatment (eller manus) til en dokumentarfilm som jeg ikke aner når vi skal få filmet, fordi lærerne har funnet ut at det er mye læring i å dra på båltur i to dager. «Fornuftige ting kan dere drive med hjemme. Dere har jo ikke noen annen form for liv uansett.»

Et annet bekymringsmoment er livsfilosofien min, som jeg er veldig nøye med å dyrke. Jeg husker at jeg skal dø, at livet er kort, og derfor nyter jeg det til det fulle. Men jeg nyter ikke livet når jeg gjør lekser. Da kjeder jeg med så grusomt at det er til å besvime av. Og når hele dager går med til å kjede seg grusomt, faller hele livsfilosofien min i grus, noe som er meget urovekkende. Og jeg fikk virkelig kjenne hva som skjer da den siste uka.

Jeg ble deprimert. Hele forrige uke var jeg trist og tiltaksløs. I helga var jeg enda mer trist, og natt til søndag toppet det seg og jeg ble redd. Jeg fikk ikke sove og dette gikk utover arbeidet mitt på søndag. I dag, mandag, da jeg gikk til skolen, var jeg ødelagt innvendig. Det var bare så vidt at jeg ikke unngikk å stå opp. På skolen ble favorittscenen min i dokumentarfilmen vi skal lage voldsomt kritisert av læreren og gruppa vet ikke om den skal være med, hvilket gjør at jeg ikke ser lyst på filmlagingen. Deretter ødela lærer Turid, som er hatet av alle i klassen, hele dagen min. Jeg gikk hjem, drakk Pepsi Max og la meg for å sove.

Da jeg våknet følte jeg meg derimot veldig bra. Jeg tror jeg må ha drømt noe spesielt…

Jeg ser frem til at denne uka er over. Da er det nemlig høstferie. Jeg reiser sydover, folkens. Til Skoger utenfor Drammen. Der er det ikke internett og bare mobildekning under kommoden i entreen.

I Pepsi Maxens navn, nyt livet!

Buccs defenders young and old are Wembley ticket stars in 2009

With a month to go until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the New England Patriots it was with a great sense of relief that I was able to go to my local sorting office this morning to pick up my tickets.

As the game is being treated as a Buccs home game the tickets were always going to have Tampa players on them.

The decision to go with wily veteran five-time Pro Bowl and Superbowl winning cornerback Ronde Barber (who maybe playing his final season this year) and rising star inside linebacker Barrett Ruud is a wise one.

Barber has been there for the entire Buccs revolution, from the Orange days of woe to the Pewter Power champions of the NFL.

Ruud in my humble opinion should have made the 2008 Pro Bowl, yes he is that good. The former Nebraska star already has 18 tackles in just two games.

As you can see above I was also lucky to get Tailgate tickets for the Wembley game. The NFL are supposedly bringing some items from NFL legends for all of us fans to gawp at. I will be bringing my camera for sure.

The catalogue is also a nice move. I will not be buying any Buccs or Patriots gear but I think this catalogue is a genuinely good marketing tool. On the front is wide receiver Antonio Bryant (centre) defensive end Gaines Adams (left) and Ruud again (right). Unfortunately Bryant has been injured but I hope he is going to be fit for October 25.

Interesting to also see Pepsi Max as the sponsor of this International Series game. Pepsi Max are also sponsoring the Channel 5 NFL magazine show. It is a very encouraging sign to see one of the fizzy drinks giants putting money behind promoting the NFL.

The game ticket has some very smart silver embossing on the NFL logo, and where the teams are named on the top right hand side.

The tailgate ticket has all 32 team helmets on it which is a nice touch. The NFL marketing people have done a lot more thinking this year.

Lets just hope that there is no rain before or during the game this time, the rest seems pretty much in hand.

What are your thoughts on the tickets?