So the days march ever onwards. It's hard to believe that it's August already and there's not a sign yet of tinsel. The department stores must be a little slow off the mark this year. Not that I buy into the whole Christmas thing. It's just mass consumerism in kitsch wrapping. But enough of that. I've been thinking about the power of lateral thinking; of the sideways shift that a great idea can provoke. Edward De Bono is its most recognisable proponent and what an immense contribution he's made to creative endeavour. I particularly like the solution he offered to the owners of an Indian supermarket who were having problems with customers using the car spaces in their parking lot for longer than they should. De Bono pondered the dilemma, then put forward a simple suggestion: if the customers wanted to use the carpark, they had to leave their headlights on. And so they did. It's amazing what the fear of a flat battery can do to the speed with which one shops. We can only wonder what this genius of constructive thinking would make of David Brent's classic theory on getting the best out of his workers: 'They?re malleable, and you know that?s what I like really. I don?t like people who come here: ?Ooh, we did it this way, we did it that way?. I just wanna go do it this way. Team playing. I call it team individuality, it?s a new ... it?s like a management style. Again guilty. Unorthodox. Sue me'. Hmmm. Perhaps I will.

You may have already stumbled across it in your own web journeys, but if not, you should check out an amazing online photo magazine called Moon Cruise which features a handful of worldclass but largely unknown photographers presenting a series of editorial snaps from their online portfolios. It's up to issue 19 now and each one has been as interesting and diverse as the last. I like the work of Hungarian photographer, Akos Czigany, in particular. His photos are bold, superbly framed and imbued with the richest colours. Very dramatic. There's more at his website. Another great concept is the PostSecret site, 'an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard'. It's remarkable how open people can be when they know their hidden truths will be read only by strangers. There really are some brutally confronting ones up there. On a lighter note, the new Jon Burgerman website is packed with illustrative goodness, including excerpts from his recent 'sojourn to Doodledorf (Dusseldorf)'. Always good to see his quirky cartoon figures given a fresh shot of inspiration.     
    

San Diego based artist Scott Saw has an exhibition of works on at Santa Monica's Froden Gallery. The show features a new series of paintings that Saw created while he and his wife were expecting their first child: 'The work explores how this soul may have come into being and provides a subconscious glimpse of an ethereal existence where spirits roam freely through the warped fabric of space and time'. There's more information at his website and if you're in the area, be sure to check it out. Till next time ... Zolton