Remarkable Remake: 21 Jump Street

 All I know about "21 Jump Street" the T.V show is that it is now aired on "111 Hits" on Foxtel, and that it starred a very young, classically shaven version of Johnny Depp. I've never really watched it or took interest in it at all so I have little to offer as to the original versus the modern day remake. However, today I stumbled upon a trailer for the remake of 21 Jump Street, coming out on the 16th of March this year and it looks awesome.

Starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as two police officers at the start of their career. Tatum is all Braun and no brains and recruits Hill as his partner, who plays a whizz kid struggling with the physicality of the police force. Police work turns out not to be anything like they'd imagined and they quickly screw up their chance in the excitement of their first bust. Sentenced to go undercover at a local high school to find the source of a student drug ring, hilarity ensues as they try to fit into their environment and convince the world that they are students and not cops.


I would've had doubts about the ability of Channing Tatum to play a solid role in a comedy movie a month ago, and even being able to feed well off Jonah Hill's comedic prowess. But I recently watched an episode of Saturday Night Live in which he was the host for the night and he absolutely killed it. So here is the trailer below. Be excited to see a new and exceedingly hilarious Channing, and an always powerful comedian in Jonah Hill this March when 21 Jump Street hits the big screen. Finally, good cop buddy movies seem to be coming back.

KarmaLoop

 I've noticed that when attempting to review things that interest me personally, less words make for a better reception. So here it is, Karmaloop.com. They added me on Instagram the other week and it actually turned out to be surprisingly impressive. It's an online clothing store offering wicked deals on some really cool stuff at U.S. prices with the added bonus of no shipping costs.

 

 

 There are some awesome stuff for both guys and girls. If you're worried about this week's pay cheque pulling a disappearing act then hit the "Sale" section for some of the best deals I've seen available to Australia. I guarantee it, you're bound to love this site!

Related Links:

• Follow Karmaloop on Twitter @karmaloop
• Visit the Website @ Karmaloop.com

Eye Candy: Will business see the big picture in Pinterest?

In the last year, and in the midst of the social (but highly un-social) revolution there have been a large number of social media startups to take the world by storm. Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr and LinkedIn to name a few, but none more than the growing social media giant, "Pinterest". Over the past three months Pinterest have grown their usership by as much as 155% per month and (naturally) presented massive growth opportunities for businesses  to visually promote their brands, their products and their company culture with the power of repins.
Although Pinterest has recieved much coverage in terms of the value of user engagement and brand exposure, there are still questions to the matter of how effective is Pinterest in generating ROI (return on investment) as users are not yet converting their (P)interest into actual sales. It is already proven that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can do the trick, and it is said that Pinterest generates two the three times the amount of coverage and interaction than Twitter; so why is the P.R world so skeptical?


In an article addressing this very topic, P.R journalist Geoff Livingston says that despite all the rage about the new social platform, it is really too early to go nuts. "Outside driving traffic and Pinterest follower counts, most businesses don't have any outcomes to offer," he says. "Pinterest is a huge experiment in marketing". So far most of the articles declaring statistics about its success are predominantly referring us towards fashion or food retail, a department which has always been visually appealing and therefore cuts straight into the core of Pinterest users. But what does it mean for the rest of us?

Livingstone says the reality just doesn't meet the hype, not yet at least. "Experts who tout Pinterest as the second coming of Facebook need to answer the ROI question or damper the enthusiasm. Otherwise, we’ll be pinning burst bubbles in six months." Personally, I think this outlet for visual communication is a fantastic and promising platform for a similar style of visual engagement proved successful by many companies via Instragram, and it's proven that people are waking up to the opportunities it presents (155% growth per month!!). It really just depends on how people use it strategically. There is a massive opportunity for even tech companies and not-for-profits to engage with innovate ideas and an already proven example of this is General Electric, who pinned "bad-ass machines", their events and the history of their company and invited users to view and re-pin their company culture on a personal level. As a consequence of this, their top 10 most used links to their website following were coming from Pinterest.

I think that livingstone is right to question the value of Pinterest, especially in light of how quick everybody in the marketing world seems to have jumped on the bandwagon. I think that until we see results in business than there is no way to declare it the new big thing. Despite this, I believe in the power of Pinterest. It may not be the "new" big thing, but it is definitely the "next" big thing, and social media marketers need to be brave in order to see results in the future.

Check out the article by Geoff Livingstone, "What is the ROI on Pinterest?"

sourced from P.R Daily Online

Strange Talk

I never thought it would ever come to this. But I'm starting to realise that as I get older I fall more and more out of touch with new (out of charts) music. As a youngen I always thought I was on the cutting edge and that I'd always be catching wind of the cool stuff that nobody else knew about, but an increasingly busy lifestyle and work schedule means less time sitting in my short shorts scouring the internet for that next big thing (that sounds a little bit nasty doesn't it). That being said, since I've been back in Australia I'm starting to catch on to some cool Aussie stuff whenever I get some free time.

I picked up "Strange Talk" when an English mate of mine sent over their first single and hit "Climbing Walls" but only really payed attention about a year later when I somehow got their new single "Sexual Lifestyle" stuck in my head on Australia Day. I don't know how it happened but these guys will snowball into your life so quickly it's ridiculous. They only have an EP out at the moment but with their new single "Sexual Lifestyle" hitting radio's quite frequently, I'm sure there's an album on the way.

Here is "Sexual Lifestyle" as well as one of the unreleased songs from the EP that I just love, "Is It Real?" Enjoy, Strange Talk.

Lin-Sanity!

It took them a solid two weeks to catch on to the "Lin-Sanity" surrounding New York Knicks wonder child Jeremy Lin and the already out dated puns that came with him. But NBC's long running sketch show, Saturday Night Live this weekend produced a hilarious skit playing off ESPN's most recent journalistic muff up.

 I'll admitt when I heard about this being the opening sketch, paired with SNL's habit of producing incredibly sub-par, politically charged openers - I was worried it may just be another over use of the cringe worthy Jeremy Lin puns that had been splashed throughout the American sports media for the last two weeks. However, what I saw was a great spin, focusing on the recent racist remarks made by an ESPN jouralist (who was fired that day) and perhaps more importantly, the current state of American sports journalism in relation to the hypocrisy of racism in America. As they say in the short, American media has learned through such figures as Jackie Robinson to be "Tolerant". But of which race?

Stars Bill Hader as the host of New York Sports Now Dan Mardell, and Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah as two black commentators; and of course the white guy. Enjoy.

Sands on Sunday

Avoca Sands Cafe, Avoca Beach

 Lately I've been trying to think of something extravagant to bring to the blog, waiting for the next road trip far away from here, that crazy night out exploring new places, scouring the internet for something that tickled my fancy enough to write about. It turns out it was unnecessary, as today I stumbled upon a not so hidden, local gem that had (to my disappointment) eluded me for the entire time I have lived on the Central Coast.

 I hadn't been to Avoca since my teenage years when I'd hear about those classic under age drinking sesh's going down at the beach and quite frankly until now I had no reason to go there again; but today called for something new. I took my girlfriend (who is from Germany, so everywhere is new to her) down to the main beach access so we could scour the area for sweet spots to have lunch and right there opposite the surf club is the Avoca Sands Cafe. 

View from the Rocks at Avoca Beach

  As far as the venue goes, the outside terrace boasts the greatest of vibes. The bustling beach activity on a sunny day combined with the serene soundtrack of the ocean crashing against rocks and sand provides the perfect atmospheric backdrop for a summer lunch date. The inside of the place is fairly modern and the location makes you feel like you should be paying a little bit more than what the menu prescribes. Despite these being all massive positives, a cafe/restaurant is only really as good as the food it serves and this is what made Avoca Sands truly excellent.

  The inclusion of an all day breakfast menu is not something I've seen at a lot of places on the coast and as the type of person that loves a good brekky but tends to sleep through the appropriate time slot on the weekend, it was very exciting to see. I saw some other people with delicious looking plates and decided that lunch by the beach meant seafood, so I went with the "Fisherman's Plate". All I can say is amazing. A combination of perfectly seasoned and crispy salt and pepper squid; massive, freshly cooked prawns; super succulent after the crunch, deep friend Barramundi and last but not least the suspect 'soft shell crab', which actually looked like something from TLC's Bizarre Foods but ended up being really tasty after I came to terms with the texture and focused on the taste.

The Fisherman's Plate

 The food was undoubtedly the highlight. But the service, venue and overall experience of the place was wicked for a relaxing Sunday afternoon and I'll definitely be back again with friends to also check out the upstairs Glasshouse restaurant and bar. I noticed the place also has a Friday & Saturday dinner menu, Jazz from 6pm and a stunning selection of boutique beers on tap for just $6 (my favourite!). I kind of feel like I've been missing out all this time, and just when I thought the coast has nothing more to offer.

A Pod Where Everybody Knows Your Name

When I was doing a road trip throughout the United States late in 2010, the hours of driving mixed with an all too familiar iPod shuffle list drove me towards Australia's radio darlings, Hamish and Andy and their pod cast series. Although the new found passion for this particular series was short-lived, it opened my eyes to the magic of pod casts and made me curious as to what other comedy gems were out there when the music runs dry.

My search led me straight to Podfaces. Another chat-show style pod cast streamed straight from the couch in some guys living room. Led by the voices of the pod faces themselves, Anf, Josh and the Spice Rack, subscribers receive a weekly cast filled with the most obtuse humour guaranteed to ever hit open ears. Their unique brand of topical banter is worth hours of chuckling on the way to work or uni. When I say topical, I mean it in the most unorthodox way possible.

Whether it's engineering weird social experiments, baiting angry trick or treaters or even listening to my own sister's 'letter to the editor' get shot down hard live. Highly recommended and best to listen to in the car, on the train or any other setting that allows you to tune out, turn your brain off and just let the podfaces boys do all your pondering for you.

Recommended Links:

• Subscribe and listen to the weekly pod cast @ Podfaces on iTunes

• Check out their facebook @ PodFaces