A picture paints a thousand words. Or in this case about 100.

Our Monday morning Woodreed workout set us the task of writing 100 words about Manet’s "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere". 1 minute to think then just simply write for 5 minutes or so.

There was such a range of responses, from description to dialogue to humour. Particularly amusing was Patrick’s version where he wove in the previous week’s workshop where we’d been dissecting the best and worst of the SuperBowl’s commercials.  What was impressive was the speed in which we all managed to organise our thoughts at 9am on a post clocks going forward Monday morning. Well done Woodies!

Here’s a selection…

What is she thinking? She us gazing distractedly and concerned as she talks to the moustached man in the tall black hat.

Who is he? Is he controlling her or is he perhaps bringing her news ? His face, like hers, impassive.

Neither smiles, neither speaks

In the hubbub of the Parisian night – two silent people. All around life goes on, colourful,  noisy and brash. Prostitutes sit at the bar waiting for their next few Francs.

Is he her love, lost, or something more sinister? Or perhaps something more benign – her brother or an uncle.

It can be whatever you want it to be.

______________________________________________________________________

“It’s over”

“Why?”

“I’ve met someone else. Someone who appreciates me for who I am, doesn’t judge me for what I am or where I’ve come from. Someone who doesn’t want me to be anyone but who I am”

“It’s the drink talking”

“It isn’t that, I haven’t had a drink all night, I’ve given it up, and you know that. I know it’s hard but you can’t change me, I won’t change and you won’t change my mind”

“But I love you”

“No you don’t, you don’t love anyone really….except yourself”

“Think of all the times we’ve spent together. The walks along the Seine, last summer on Ile de Re?

“Just memories. Pack them up, put them away, move on”

“Au revior Cheri/e”

___________________________________________________________________

After Scarlett Johansson appeared in her career-ending Sodastream advert she found herself in the Ragged Trousers bar serving Newcastle Ale on her left and Lambrini on her right feeling as if she were in a painting from the 1880s…

Why oh why had she ditched Oxfam she thought as she looked down at the locals in the bar. Sodastream had gone out of business soon after the ad ran and Oxfam had put an end to poverty using all the support from outraged viewers of Scarlett’s ad. The bar was owned by Oxfam and all their profits going to a good cause and she had to wear this flower uniform as punishment.

Passionate and competent - not incompatible

An interesting blog at Harvard Business Review.  Scott Anthony talking about the need to avoid confusing passion with competence. In the context of innovation and entrepreneurs he wrote:

"I look for "innovation bipolarity"...the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. Entrepreneurs should be able to argue passionately that their idea will change the world, and then, without skipping a beat, honestly assess the risks standing in the way of its success and describe what they are doing to mitigate them." 

Made me think that's not a bad maxim to apply to the creative process and idea generation.  Yes, a client wants us to argue passionately the rationale for our ideas, but we, account men and creatives alike, need to be able to look at what we're proposing and pre-empt the risks and the negatives and be ready to counter them.  And that means some pretty ferocious argument and debate with and amongst ourselves before our ideas even get out of the agency so we can be both passionate AND competent.

http://blogs.hbr.org/anthony/2012/02/dont_confuse_passion_with_comp.html

Google with love....

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5
Type this into Google search last Tuesday and you'd be in for a little Valentine's day surprise.
It's hardly a formula I'd have stumbled across by accident, so thanks to mashable.com for bringing it to my attention and reminding me of some other classics at the same time. Like 'Let it snow' which ended up immersing my entire screen in snow and ice. 
Or try typing 'askew' and see what happens.
Or search for Chuck Norris and hit I'm feeling lucky.
That last one puts me in mind of Siri, the jolly polite manservant who lives inside my phone.  If you've a G4S try asking him a knock knock joke and see where it gets you.
Which brings me to the point of all this - which is what is the point?  Whilst a lot of the time these little 'Easter eggs' or tricks are put there to engage Google's audience, very often these are snuck in by individual coders with no obvious end benefit for anyone other than to give us all a little chuckle and a sense of being 'in the know'.  
I love it that people beaver away, spending time doing this just because they can. You know, that's absolutely alright by me.