Whose View & The Best Pizza in Dublin

Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with the guys behind the site whoseview.ie. Myself and a small group of bloggers and Tweeters were invited over to The Casting Couch to answer the question, what is the best pizza in Dublin?. The task was to blind taste test 6 different pizzas (each in plain cheese or peperoni), comment on all aspects on the pizza, and score them out of ten.

It was a tough job but I felt up to the challenge.

I should probably stop here and fully explain what any of this had to do with the internet.

WhoseView.ie is a review site based entirely on user generated review. You review whatever you want to review and you review it exactly as you want to. An excellent way to understand this is to look at one of WhoseView's most popular reviews todate: Luke's review of The Winding Stair. What you'll gather from this is that the site prides itself on the honesty and openness of its members. Unlike other Irish review sites, there is no moderation in relation to positivity or negativity of a review.

This makes WhoseView a real gem. For once you can be assured that someone's review hasn't been edited or curtailed to reflect more favourably then the member intended. The functionality of the site itself is also a real winner. The site is driven by a principle of user facilitation and user functionality. Members can use the site more like a social network. Add friends, comment on reviews and engage with people who have similar tastes/likes. In my mind this makes perfect sense. You actually get to communicate with other members and get can share your opinion - essential for a review service, and yet this is the first time someone has really done it.

Right, so back to the pizza issue.

I don't eat huge amounts if pizza but I know what I like and there's a big difference between good pizza and bad pizza. In this instant it became immediately clear that there is a kaleidoscope of areas a pizza can fall down, or excel. We considered the base, the sauce, the cheese, the peperoni, the cooking (ranging from burnt to undercooked) and how it all came together.

The results may surprise you... (in reverse order)
6. Godfather’s Leeson Street
5. Apache Pearse Street
4. Hell Wexford Street
3. Four Star Ranelagh
2. Domino’s Rathmines

and in first place: Bianconi’s in Ranelagh

All in all, it was a brilliant night and a lot of fun. The most important thing is that these guys have realised exactly what is needed on a review site. Real, honest, genuine reviews that come straight from people you can see and talk to. Hat tips to you guys, a job very well done.

Seariously Hot Ad

Following on from my post on Monday evening I thought I'd have a look around to see what really hot ads are out at the moment for a weekly post. So every Wednesday will now feature a post on my favourite ad of the week. Let me know what you think, or if there are any ads that are better then the ones I choose. So for week one, I picked this...

Need For Speed: Shift
The important part here is 'actual gameplay footage'! WOW! I remember playing racing games on my 8bit Master System and boy has gaming come a very, very long way. This ad may be based on 95%-99% gameplay footage but I don't care. It's simply stunning.

Augmented Google Earth

Two of my favourite Google services are Google Earth and Google Maps. Of course I've always thought how cool it would be if you could actually walk out of your house and give a wave to someone watching your house somewhere else in the world (I'm being romantic here and disregarding the potentially horrible invasion of privacy issues). Well something similar to that may not be all that far away!

Some clever boffins at the Georgia Institute of Technology have put down the building blocks for taking real-time streaming video augmenting Google Earth to dynamically create real-time movement within the 3D mapping system. Their new 'as live' version of Google Earth shows cars driving on motorways, people walking in the park, others doing their shopping, and even a football game in progress.

The technology is still in a very early stage of development (it's the subject of a thesis) but it shows the potential for what could be done with the hundreds of live feeds available around the world.

Surf 'Twilight Sensations'

Every now and then I see a TV ad that really captures my attention. The last ad to do it was from An Post, and in the same way this ad does it brilliantly.

The always excellent folk at BBH have created this new spot for Surf, promoting their new Twilight Sensations range. The ad sees a young girl getting swept way into a mysterious 'twilight' world while hanging out her washing. The ad is essentially all done by shadow puppetry with real-life action only coming in at the beginning and end. This is classic fairly tale stuff and is stunningly impactful, visually. I just love. The ad was directed by Guy Manwaring.



Copywriter: Marc Hatfield
Art director: Marc Hatfield
Media agency: Mindshare
Production company: Sonny London
Post-production company: Glassworks
Editor: Mark Edinoff
Audio post-production company: Factory Sound Studios

Michael Jackson: This Is It

June 25th 2009 will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the saddest days in music and pop history. Aged just 51 years old, Michael Jackson passed away. Forever known as the 'King of Pop', Michael lead a life of mystery and public attention. From his début with The Jackson 5 in 1964 through to the days and weeks preceding his untimely death, Michael was always a figure of wonder.

At the beginning of the year it was announced that Michael would return to the stage in a 10 date concert series at London's O2 arena. This would be Michael's first public performance since the HIStory World Tour in 1997, and was cited numerous times as one of the decade's most important musical events. Following record breaking ticket sales the initial 10 date concert was increased to 50 dates. Over one million people would be attending. Much of this may have been driven by Michael's own suggestions that it could retire after the shows; in his own words it would be his "final curtain call".

Although the concert dates have been cancelled, there is something seriously special on the horizon. A new film, This Is It, will "offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show."

The film is directed by Kenny Ortega, who was also Michael's creative partner, and is being produced by Randy Phillips, Kenny Ortega and Paul Gongaware. The film will only run for two weeks, with tickets going on sale on 27th September.

This is the trailer:



More information on Michael Jackson and the 'This Is It' film are available here:
www.michaeljackson.com/
www.thisisit-movie.com/


- - - Update - - -

Fans may also be interested to know that there is an opportunity to have your photo added to a Michael Jackson 'This Is It' mosaic as part of the film's promotion. By visiting the 'This Is Is' site, users can upload their image for consideration.