Press Release: Mandy Watson Becomes Mandy J Watson

In case you are wondering, yes - I did have to send this to a PR Peep today; one with whom I have conversed for years. I have made it public so that I can just point other PR Peeps to it in future and so that I may kick off what is likely to be a lot of new posts regarding my ongoing PR nightmare. I cannot remain silent anymore. I only have so much fortitude and can only endure so much silent pain. [ Case in point ]

Dear: [insert your name here if you are a PR Peep]

Mandy Watson (1987) becomes Mandy J Watson (to infinity and beyond).

Please find enclosed a release further expanding on the name change.

For further information or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Mandy

---

For Immediate Release

Mandy Watson Becomes Mandy J Watson

2 February 2010, Cape Town -- Mandy Watson, the world's second-hottest[1] tech-culture journalist, underwent a personal-brand reinvention in 1987 during a music-theory exam, and from thenceforth wished only to be known as "Mandy J Watson".

According to Mandy J Watson, CEO of the Mandy J Watson brand, the name change signified Mandy J Watson's transition from a nondescript entity to a future Google-search-dominating brand, which continues to operate the same way as before, with the same structure in place, bar many more grey hairs.

"The name reflects my continuing personal-brand strategy, begun at an early age when I realised I was cool, but could be cooler, and what better way to differentiate myself from other Mandy Watsons yet to be discovered but subsequently discovered than by inserting a J in the middle of my branding for more differentiating branding effect," says Mandy J Watson.

"I will continue to offer the same level of ultra-weird-awesome-nifty-cool journalism as I was likely to be offering before I even knew I was going to be offering it, because that is the way of The Force. And futurism," says Mandy J Watson.

Mandy J Watson is the world's second-hottest[1] tech-culture journalist, with regular contributions being contributed to COSMO SA[2] and book.co.za[2]. She is also the founder and co-editor of brainwavez.org, a culture and technology site with reviews of related products that are of interest to geeks and other discerning members of the digital-culture generation.


ENDS


[1] Certain press releases may contain forward-looking statements and should not be taken as fact until we are forwards.

[2] Mention of these entities does not necessarily endorse these brands endorsing the "Mandy J Watson" brand, except they do as it is in print[3]. Or pixels in the case of book.co.za, but that is technically beyond the scope of this press release.

[3] And has been for years, in at least one case.


Issued By:
Mandy J Watson

On Behalf Of:
Mandy J Watson


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Mandy J Watson
Writer | Copy Editor | Founder Of brainwavez.org
http://www.brainwavez.org/about/people/watson_mandy_j.html
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mandyjwatson

@kerry_anne For Sale: A Late-Night Twitter Conversation

What do geeks do late at night on a Friday? A little bit of human trafficking, barter, and banter, of course. Here's a snippet from last month to kick off 2010 with a dose of humour. Happy new year!

(I think he still is, actually.)

Happy Holidays!

The worst thing you can do when you're on holiday is check your email. Ignorance is bliss.

That's what I learnt today when I stopped by the office to upload a few files, file my last story for the year for Book SA, and check my work email in case there were any disasters (there were).

Anyway, in a few minutes I'm going to shut everything down again and do my best, for a week or two, to pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. I hope you are considering doing the same, although judging by the fact that I'm still receiving press releases, some people just don't seem to want to go on holiday.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday before the avalanches start again in 2010. I have lots to look forward to, though, as we have many exciting articles and reviews planned for brainwavez.org (I hope you'll stop by to have a look; follow us on Twitter for instant updates: @brainwavez), as well as my usual articles for Book SA and the COSMO gadgets page, and work for Research Africa.

All the best for 2010!

Mandy J Watson

The 2009 FNB Whisky Live Festival

I wrote a monster article about the 2009 FNB Whisky Live Festival over at brainwavez.org so I won't say much here, but the whisky festival was fun, unexpectedly unpretentious, and educational. Its last day is tonight and then next week it moves to Johannesburg for four days. If you can attend, I highly recommend it. It's the biggest whisky festival in the world and there's a lot to see and do.

[ Flickr images: 1 | 2 | 3 ]

UCT, Cape Town, At Night

[ Flickr ]

The University of Cape Town is one of four universities in (or within a 40 minute drive of) Cape Town. The upper campus sits in the suburb of Rondebosch, up on the mountain overlooking the Southern Suburbs. I didn't study there but when I was in high school I did occasionally spend time at the upper campus to utilise the libraries or to visit a friend in the engineering department who would let me use the Internet connection to do research for school projects.

It's rare for me to have an opportunity to go to the university but I always look forward to it. Last week a friend's birthday party was hosted at the tennis club (that - in itself - was an adventure to find!). As I left I drove along the windy, eerily deserted road that runs around the campus and, because I wasn't distracted by the usual rush of traffic and hordes of students, I noticed this view for the first time. It took a few attempts to get it right but I'm quite fond of this shot and the interplay of the light and colours. Have a look at the larger version on Flickr if you'd like to see more detail.

Sleight Of Mind, At The Intimate Theatre, Cape Town

Above: Stuart Lightbody (facing the audience on the right) uses various techniques to demonstrate the power of suggestion to the audience while Bryan Miles (facing away from the audience) addresses a group of volunteers to assess those that might be most open to suggestion and most willing to participate in the next psychological experiment.

Combine Stuart Lightbody's abilities at misdirection and sleight-of-hand manipulations (best utilised with a deck of cards) with mentalist Bryan Miles' penchant for suggestion, psychology, deception, and illusion and the result is the new show Sleight of Mind, which is in Cape Town on a limited run after a highly successful debut at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown earlier this year.

Mentalism and sleight of hand are categories of magic that are not usually well matched or easily combined but the two performers have managed to do so in a manner that flows effortlessly from one style to the other, then back again, engaging the audience in the process as they are let in on a few secrets, but not too many.

There's not much I can say about the actual contents of the show as I would spoil the experience for those who still have to see it but the venue allows for close contact with the performers leading to a warm, jovial setting and some interesting results as the audience is utilised masterfully to demonstrate the surprising malleability of the mind. Audience members were required as assistants a number of times but were never put on the spot or made to feel uncomfortable and many were fun, engaging participants. For one of the bigger experiments, pictured above, a group of volunteers was necessary so that Bryan Miles could determine who would be most suitable as subjects to demonstrate the power of suggestion (without the use of hypnosis) and I think the results were as surprising to the participants (you could see it in the expressions on their faces) as they were to the audience.

I spoke to the performers after the show I attended and Stuart said to me that the audience had been more skeptical (and therefore in some ways, I would presume, more difficult) than most. In contrast, what I saw was a group of highly intelligent people being won over by a friendly atmosphere, brain-twisting effects - both big and small - and unexpected moments, with lots of discussion after the show as audience members who had participated in some of the experiments were quizzed by others as everyone tried to determine, without much success, how the impossible had played out.

Sleight Of Mind runs for three more evenings (8, 9, and 10 October 2009) at 8pm at the Intimate Theatre and I highly recommend it. To book, email info -[at]- bryanmiles -[dot]- com. Tickets are also available at the door.

Previously in Cape Town > South Africa > Africa > Earth:
* "52" With Stuart Lightbody

Shameless Self-Promotion: Twitter Wit

I'm featured in Twitter Wit: Brilliance In 140 Characters Or Less. Read this jaded post on Gawker about the marketing campaign* and then buy it anyway. It's my first published piece of fiction!

Amazon.com: Twitter Wit
Amazon.co.uk: Twitter Wit
Kalahari.net: Twitter Wit

(The book will actually make a great Christmas gift for almost anyone. Problematic friends? No ideas for presents? Problem solved!)


*You'll note how long it's taken me to post about this, for entirely the same reason.