Verbatim

'The kids would sit on panels for free if we asked them to'.

Amanda Freeman, former director of research and trends for the teen data gathering company - Youth Intelligence. YI pays kids between $10 and $250 for their information.

'We have a thousand teens on file and then we, like, have to replenish them each year. We joke that we 'do them' after get information from them.'

It's clear enough why kids are willing to be pint-size pitchmen.
Kids do peer-to-peer for the same reason they volunteer as consultant and shoppers: They mistake brand names for identity'.
From - Branded, Quart, Alissa (Arrow, 2003)

'Ryan, a director on the Seven Network board since last year is now responsible for Sevens' magazine division, Pacific Publications, whose 14 titles include New Idea and That's Life. Like any aspiring media mogul worth his salt, Ryan has boyish good looks, a luxury home and high-profile girlfriend'.
Wendy Frew, In SMH 30/07/2003 - 'A Son Rises But It's Hardly A New Idea'.

'One of the things I learned through writing the column (Sex and The City) is that so much of what society tells us - about women and men, what our roles are, and what they're supposed to be - just isn't true.
We still tell women: Relationships are really important - you have to find a man. But there are certain things a relationship cannot give. It can't give you self esteem and won't necessarily bring you happiness'.

Candace Bushnells' Aha! Moment, Oprah Magazine July 2003. (Hearst Communications Inc, Hearst Corporation).

'And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything'.

Act II, Scene I, As You Like It, Shakespeare. (As seen in The Spirit of Wild Places: Ansell Adams - Eric Peter Nash, Todtri Productions Ltd).

'There is not a thread of beauty anywhere except the glory of the stars and I am not strong enough for them tonight - they are too distant, too immutable, too pitiless'.
Extracted from 'Miles Frankly'. An article of diary entries of Miles Franklin - Author of My Brilliant Career - 1906 - As seen in SMH Good Weekend - 28/02/2004.

'Being in love is like a window on your heart
Everybody sees you're blowin' apart'.
Graceland, Graceland, Paul Simon (Wea/Rhino - 198-?)

'We went to Alcatraz on our one stormy day, and we wandered round the tiny island, with headphones on listening to the misery of peoples lives like gossip'.

From Boyfriend In A Dress, Louise Kearn, Harper Collins 2003

'But passion needs no recruiting agent. It dominates the headlines making fools of the great and the good, breaking hearts, damaging lives'.
Godless Morality, Richard Holloway. (Little Brown 2003).

'You feel fat with content'.
The Bride Stripped Bare, Anonymous.

'Movies are a door to knowledge: Knowledge of society and its' prejudices, knowledge of history, knowledge of art. The story of movies opens the door by teaching students to think critically about film and providing them with a deeper understand of this uniquely exciting art form'.
Martin Scorcese on an educatoin project created by The Film Foundation and sponsored by IBM (I know!) to expose young people to classic cinema and the social and cultural significance of film as a storytelling vehicle. As seen in Vanity Fair, 02/2004.

'A vagueness whispers about him like fairyfloss'.
Barbara Biggs describes Lionel in In Moral Danger, her autobiography. (Slylink. April 2003.

'The difference between the right word, and the almost-right word is... the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning'.
Mark Twain, quoted in Kingdom of Fear, Hunter S Thompson (Penguin, Allen Lane, 2003).

'It took us about 5 hours to climb the 30 steep miles up to Thomasville. I was driving my trusty red shark, a rebuilt 1973 454 cherry-red Caprice with power windows and a top speed of 135 - although not on a winding hill two-lane blacktop that rises 6000 in 30 miles. That is serious climbing, from summer heat and peach trees to a chilly bleak timberline and then to the snowcapped peaks of the Continental Divide, where the wild beasts roam and humans live in pain. This is the road that leads up to the dreaded Hagerman Pass'.

and

'I am not a criminal, by trade, but over the years I have developed a distinctly criminal nervous system. Some people might call it paranoia, but I have lived long enough to know that there is no such thing as paranoia. Not in the 21st century. No. Paranoia is just another word for ignorance'.

and

'I am a confused musician who got sidetracked in to this goddamn word business for so long that I never got back to music - except maybe when I find myself oddly alone in a quiet room with only a type writer to strum and a yearn to write a song. Who knows why? Maybe I just feel like singing so I type'.

Thompson, Hunter S. Kingdom of Fear (Allen Lane Penguin 2003).

'I answer with as much filligree and insouciance as I can muster, trying to slightly cock my head like snow white listening to the animals'.

Nicole Firans. The Nanny Diaries. (Penguin Martins Press 2002).

'When you ask a question but don't get the answer you want, ask again with fewer words and hold your ground'.

Jennifer Lauck. Still Waters: A Memoir (Little Brown 2002).

'Infinity: Justin came home from school with the announcement that he had just learned what odd and even numbers were. Okay, I said. So tell me. What's infinity, even or odd? I certainly didn't have an answer in mind: I posed it only as a fun, unanswerable kind of question. He thought about it for a moment and then concluded: Mom, infinity is an eight on its side. So it's an even number'.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal. An Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life.

'It (the State Theatre) is very much like the inside of a princes mind.'

Andrew Denton retelling an Alexis Sayle comment during the opening presentation of the premiere of God On MY Side during The 53rd Sydney Film Festival, June 2006.

'However, the chinese were now being tested on the other side of the world by this more physical force from the United States while being surrounded by a partisan crowd consisting of spectators cloaked in the Stars and Stripes , and by confetti-tossing teenagers with their faces painted red, white and blue, and by an energy-sapping sun and the 105-degree heat under a stadium sky jet-streamed with jingoism.'
Gay Talese in A Writers' Life - Knopf/Random House 2006.

'I'm living my life, one bottle of fine wine at a time'.

My dear and good friend Shaun - James Squire Brewhouse - 16/09/06 - catching up while his equally dear and good wife went to The Boy From Oz.

'Well it's too late/tonight/to drag the past/out in to the light'.
One. U2. (All That You Can't Leave Behind. 2000).

'Its a long day living in reseda/Theres a freeway runnin through the yard/And Im a bad boy cause I dont even miss her/Im a bad boy for breakin her heart'.
Free Fallin'. Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever - 1989

'I was a big fan of the Avalanches so I did some work placement at Modular. A couple of years later I got some paid temp work, and I think I bugged the shit out of the then label manager, and she hooked me up. I think they hired me because I had a wacky haircut'.
Glen Goetz - Designer Vibes (Creative - October 2006).

'It's an extremely tight little group of people. Like a dysfunctional family.'
Jon Gwyther - (in reference to advertising production) Plaza Film (Creative - October 2006).

'In Iceland we were literally in the middle of nowhere, living solely on cheese sandwiches. It took five days for the fog to clear, and when the sun finally came out, for the first three hours I had to wipe the rain off the lens after every shot. You do that 250 times and your shoulder starts to cramp up.'
Rey Carlson (Revolver Films) discussing 12 months travelling the globe shooting a time-lapsed campaign for Greenpeace that almost cost him his sanity.
Mother Earth - (words by Barbara Messer) (Creative October 2006).

'Those sorts of comments are made by people who don't wash their sheets'.
The Letter M. (During a lovely tea and excellent conversation that covered topics such as Alannah Hill, Appalling Shop Girl Behaviour, Laws of Physics, Relationship Formula's there aren't any and Alien Kidnappery).

'I didn't know there was gonna be a trans-whatever on stage'.
Chingy - You've Got She-Male. (George Palathingal - Metro SMH 17/11/06).

'It was a very gentle, wistful song, he says. I was spellbound by it. I said : "John, how do you want to treat it?" And he looked at me and said, "That's your job isn't it?".
(James Button - Sound Idea to Reinvent The Beatles - Sir George Marin discsussing producing the Beatles - SMH 11-12 Nov 06).

and

"In two months I shall be 81 - it's time to give up, don't you think? When you're into your 80's things start dropping off as you walk long the street... So this record is rather significant for me".
(Sir George Martin - words by James Button, SMH 11-12 Nov 06).

'With her wide face and compelling gaze, she attracted many suitors. But her father had a little trouble with this, referring to one fellow as a "simpleton with pimples in his voice"'.

(Obituary - Ernestine Carey - Co-Writer of Cheaper By The Dozen - 1908-2006 - Dulcie Leimbach, New York Times - SMH 11-12 Nove 06).

"There was premature adulation".
(The Letter M - 18/11/06 - post-Pearl Jam).

'Did I tell you how big the bank notes are here? They look like magicians big money. You would enjoy them. I don't know why in poor countries bank notes are always so big'.


and

'I love airplanes. I think, when you are at a high pitch of emotion, it is the only way of travelling which first with your own heart'.


and

'Yesterday evening, never-the-less, my heart melted a little as i was sitting at a terrace on the Boulevarde Saint-Germain; the leafy trees, the evening light were very beautiful and I thought I should be so happy to show you the streets of Paris. I felt Paris waiting for you and I began love it again with and for you'.

and

'I had some pleasant time (sic) in Paris. Yesterday Satre took me to the studio to the the projection of a feature whose script and dialogue which he has written and is shooting just now'.
(SdB is referring to Les Jeaux Sont Faits e= The Chips Are Down).

and

'I wandered the early morning streets of Paris with Satre, and could think of only you my dear man'.

(Simone de Beauvoir in My Beloved Chicago Man - Collected Letters to Nelson Algren - 1947-1964).

'I'm as hard as a diamond in an icestorm, mate.'
Overheard at Palace Most Fabulous - 03/10/06.

'Plus, your hair looks rooly nice'.
Different conversation overheard - same place, same day.

'Gonna go out and root myself stupid'

and

'Now, that's about as useful as a cock-flavoured lollipop'.
(Overheard - Ryde Hotel).

'I really do love sports and really do love management and if someone asked me to run a football team I'd be happy to do it'.(Condeleezza Rice - You're Wrong On Iraq - Peter Hartcher (Pol.Ed) SMH 18-19 Nov).

"It's a really tough and shitty road to be obsessive about anything. It's a huge deal. Then again, if you talk to anyone at the leading edge of modern psychiatry or just philosophy, anyone who really understands human behaviour, they say, well, it's perfectly normal for people to have fixated obsessive relations with something for a period of time".

And

'Accountability is good. But I think the most important ingrediant is humility, which is just an honest assessment of what is really happening'.
(Robert Downey Jnr in 'After The Fall - A Clean Break' Spectrum 18-19 Nov - Stephanie Bunbury).

'It's just another twist and turn in the complexity of the world of media and marketing. It's something different and we'll see how it pans out.'
(Scott Grant - Director of Marketing - Lexus)

And

'Satisfying the appetite is the challenge for all of us.'
(Peter Wiltshire - Sales Director - Channel 9 in: - in Cross Media Deals Expected To Double to $600m Per Annum - Paul McIntyre - SMH 23/11/06).

'From Sony's perspective it has been great in getting people from the magazines or TV to then finally go to the webiste where they can read other people are saying'.
(Matt Costello - Communications Director - 5th Finger in: PBL Draws Everyone Into the 007 Mission. Julian Lee. SMH 23/11/06.

'We are actively becoming communications specialists and talking to clients about business versus being TV sales people. Most importantly, it's not just about having a great creative idea.'
(James Warburton - Sales Director - 7 Network in Paul McIntyre - The Pitch - SMH 23/11/06).

'Gen-Y* is (sic) a motivated bunch. We know what we want and how to go and get. I think Gen-Y is also a lot about individual choice and being able to change our minds as we want to whereas other generations seem to be more stuck in their ways of thinking and stay that way. I would suggest that Gen-Y is a lot more open-minded than Gen-X'.
(Peter Harrison (22) Advertising Account Manager, $42k Peugot Convertible Owner in: Y's Guys - Katherine Fleming - The Bulletin 28/11/06). *= Gen-Y spans 1980-1994.

'As far as the media and the powerbrokers go in this business, it's not very inclusive. If you're in, you're in. If you're out, you're fucking out'.

And

'You have to remember that you're not Superman. You can't think that because you're successful you can take twice as much of this, or drink four times as much of that and everythings' going to be all right'.
(John Paul Young in: Forever Young - Jospeh Cantanzaro - The Bulletin. 28/11/06).

'You guys.... I'm gonna have to put vaseline on my head just to get out the door'.
(Overheard - bloke - PMF. 24/11/06).

'Could be trouble, these things usually are - two blokes and all'.
(Overheard - female - PMF. 24/11/06).

'I would rather roll over and die than quit cigarettes'.
(James (20). PMF. 24/11/06).

‘This isn’t San Francisco. This is Baltimore.’(Former Democrat Leadership Aide in: Did Nancy Pelosi Get The Message. Karen Tumulty and Perry Bacon Jr. Time – 27/11/06).

‘I’m a slut from way back. Don’t flatter yourself’.
(Well-dressed brat @PMF explaining to two blokes why she went out for dinner with a guy who liked her, let him pay for the meal and left without saying goodbye. 27/11/06).

‘Hmm. That’s a scone-dive’.
(Me after knocking one of my flatmates freshly baked scones on to the floor. 25/11/06).

Eight gears is a whole different ball game’.
(Overheard. PMF. 06/12/06).

‘She’s a cross between Audrey Hepburn in her 60’s and a naval sailor.'
(The Letter M. 07/12/06. VC).

‘We would like to thank everyone who has helped us out in life’.
(Fishbone. Best of CD Insert – Columbia/Sony 2003).

'Everyones' a load of crap. They are trying to be somebody else and they aint being themselves. Libertines? Arctic Monkeys? Bloc Party? Load of crap, load of crap, posers, rubbish'.
(Keith Richards drops the anchor on the state of current music. As seen in Stay In Touch - SMH 04.05.07).

'They gave my sisters and me names they would have liked for themselves, and trusted us to make of them whatever we wanted.'

(Shaugnessy Bishop-Stall refers to his parents in 'Down To This' the book he wrote hilst living as a homeless person for a year). (University of Queensland Press - 2004).

'If I lay here/If I just lay here/Would you lie with me and just forget the world'.
(Snow Patrols' Chasing Cars)

'Kenny, get out of the fucken freezer'
Katrina (played by Emily Barclay) in Suburban Mayhem (Directed by Paul Goldman, AFFC 2006).

'Love is a stranger in an open car/to tempt you in/and drive you far away'.
(Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams/1983).

Brief elevator discussion: (said to me, not BY me) 'I just don't get cricket, wouldn't it just be easier to give all the boys on the field their own bat and ball?'

'You can never trust a man to fill a cupcake case to three-quarters full, they always have to overfill them'.
(Lou. Centennial Park, 01/05/09).

'I'm like the bahama triangle for men' (Casey)
'How many times do I have to tell you? It's the BERMUDA triangle' (Loretta)
'It's my fucking triangle, I can call it whatever I want' (Casey)
Case and Loretta discussing romantic turbulence in What Did You Enact? (3rd Season Episode 3) Outrageous Fortune.

'You're not going to get any votes if you don't put your helmet on'
One Batman to another during the lead up to judging at a work fundraising dress up day'.