Memes Like Buses

Image courtesy

No memes for a month and then I get tagged on two on the same day. Just like buses. So I thought I'd aggregate my response here in one post for the sake of interest and brevity.

First up, Asi tagged me (thanks Asi) on the current meme sweeping the sphere - 'My Media Week' - the meme that gets you thinking about your own media consumption rather than everyone else's :o). So here goes:

What I've Read
As well as my FeedDemon reader, I also like to read direct from blogs. Somehow you get more of a personal context by doing that and I like that. And I guess I fit this in when I can. I don't really read the trade press anymore. I look at the news stories on the alerts but find that I get far more information, opinion, insight and inspiration from people's blogs. Apart from that, I subscribe to the consistently brilliant Word Magazine and, true to form, I'm currently reading four books at once:

Wikinomics (How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything) which I'm just finishing having finally got round to reading it
The World Without Us - which I've just started. I was fascinated by the whole idea behind this book - a thought experiment on what would happen to the world if tommorrow, all humans disappeared.
No-one Belongs Here More Than You - debut collection of short stories by Miranda July. Very idiosyncratic, very good.
The Steep Appraoch to Garbadale by Iain Banks. I'm a Banks fan and this is nearly as good as The Crow Road.

What I've Watched

Like Asi, I don't watch a great deal of telly (apart from regular doses of Dora the Explorer and Wonderpets with my daughters). If I do it'll be Sky plussed mostly. But I did catch "Paradise or Bust" the other night about TribeWanted, the "birth of a new tribe through the power of the internet".  An experiment, in other words, by two social entrepreneurs to combine a web community with the establishment of a new eco-community on a remote Fijian island.

What I've Listened to
My radio listening is pretty patchy. Radio 4/5 and occasionally 2 (note, all Beeb and no commercial - I really do find the repetitiveness of radio ads annoying. On my local station they've had Paul Simon Curtain Superstores on a loop for the past 2 years). My commute means I do a lot of iPod listening. Right now I'm absolutely loving Fireproof from Dawn Landes. Mellow, and in places quite hypnotic. This mixed in with some Ed Harcourt, Gogol Bordello, Beth Orton and random 80's throwbacks.

For "My Media Week", I'm tagging Graeme (if only to get you posting again mate ;o)), Laurence-Helene, and  Katie

Next up, Gil kindly tagged me on the thinking blogger meme (thanks Gil). Participation rules are...

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog)

On this one, I'd like to thoughtfully tag:

Gavin at Servant of Chaos - who surely must have been tagged already on this one but if not...his blog is always full of thought provoking and well written brain food.
Katy at KitschBitch. Only recently back in the sphere but already posting some great stuff.
Asi at No Man's Blog - right back at yer!
Charlie at tantramar
...and Kris at Crossthebreeze

Comments

[Katie Chatfield]

Thanks for the tag Neil- I'll see what I can do

[Charlie Gower]

Hi Neil, thanks for the link, perhaps we shall meet at some point and talk of chickens.

I talked a lot about chickens today while working for a large brand. The free range emotional hook idea was really quite useful for me, it being oh so fashionable this month!

[neilperkin]

Cheers Katie.

Aahh, chickens. Yes, I have a lot to say on the subject. Free range is certainly fashionable right now post Hugh FW. Apparently sales of free range chooks have gone up quite a lot since he did his stuff...

[doug]

ah yes, something to get me posting again - good idea. cheers Neil, will do

[Kris Hoet]

Thanks Neil for including me. I wrote about my 'thinking bloggers' a while ago: http://crossthebreeze.com/2007/06/22/thinking-blogger

Today, that list of bloggers has slightly changed, as you can see in a more recent post: http://crossthebreeze.com/2008/01/09/like-who/

- Kris

[neilperkin]

No worries Kris. Thanks for sharing your thoughts though.

[lolly]

Thanks for the tag - will post as soon as neil.

PS: Also just finished reading wikinomics! Wicked book!

[neilperkin]

Hi Lol. Good stuff. Look forward to reading your post :o)