Rocking and rolling on

Good news for rock and roll fans – you no longer have to make the trek to Cleveland, Ohio, to commune with the musical greats of this genre.

The Rock and Rock Hall of Fame has spent US$9 million converting a Manhattan warehouse into its New York Annex. And this is only the first step to its expansion; its owners say they are eyeing London and Tokyo.

The New York space is one-fourth smaller than the Ohio-based museum although it costs more to enter – US$26 to Cleveland’s US$22.

Amid the hundreds of artifacts, recordings and symbols of rock’s past, one highlight is the famously befouled urinal of CBGB, the club that’s known as “Home of Underground Rock”

According to the New York Daily, “Upon arriving, visitors receive high-end headsets, designed by Sennheiser, which blast songs keyed to wherever you stand. Position yourself in front of a Bob Gruen photo of Freddie Mercury, and a Queen song pours forth. Stand by Bruce Springsteen’s 1957 Chevy, and you hear car songs by the Boss.”

Yes, if we can’t go to the music, the music will come to us, eventually.

What Americans searched for in 2008

Despite his historic win and his dominance of headlines, President-elect Barack Obama still lost out to Britney Spears and World Wrestling when it came to US Internet searches this year.

According to search engine figures released by Yahoo, the widespread interest in the US election was not enough to overtake the setbacks and comebacks of Britney.

US top search engine terms:

1. Britney Spears
2. World Wrestling Entertainment
3. Barack Obama
4. Miley Cyrus
5. RuneScape
6. Jessica Alba
7. Naruto
8. Lindsay Lohan
9. Angelina Jolie
10. American Idol

Source: Yahoo.com

Rise of Asia in advertising

So it’s the first time in history that a global advertising agency has appointed a person of Chinese descent to be its global creative director.

Singapore-based Tham Kar Meng, who’s been co-chairman and regional executive creative director for Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific since 1999, has been picked to be the right man for the right time.

This appointment, as well as two recent moves in the advertising world, reflect “the rising profile of Asia” in the industry, said the International Herald Tribune.

The same week, Publicis Groupe bought W&K Communications in China while South Korean agency Cheil went westwards and bought a stake in a London agency, Beattie McGuiness Bungay.

And now for the good news

One: China Airlines is predicting that the number of mainland travellers will jump 20-fold by 2013 following the relaxation of a 59-year-old ban on direct flights. That means, by 2013, the number of mainland travelers to Taiwan will rise to six million from 300,000 last year.

Two: Queen Elizabeth 2, the luxury liner, is now moored off an artificial island in Dubai. Following its sale by Cunard to Dubai World for US$100 million, the ship will be turned into a hotel over the next two to three years. Yet another way to experience the desert.