THE OWL

One of the iconic images from the "Forever" video is Aiden with the owl on his arm. That owl is Jaz, a tawny owl (Strix aluco) owned by Ian McGuire of Wild Owl (the photos are from her FB page). Jaz was born in 2005. She was rescued as a chick and could not be returned to the wild, so she is used to educate people about owl conservation, and occasionally works in show biz. An account of her work with The Churned (with photos) can be found here, there's also a video [It says Jaz is the cute one with the big brown eyes, but isn't that Bradley?].

The tawny owl is a native British species. You can find out more at RSPB, and at Wild Owl.

THAT'S WHAT I CALL ACTING!

Look at that expression! Yeo Valley may be very good yogurt, but it is still yogurt.

Seriously, as I have said before, I think the 4 actors who play The Churned deserve a lot of credit for creating characters with real personalities, especially considering how short the ad is, and the fact that they have no lines. It's good to see that Jay Taylor made Aiden such a likable and sympathetic character, since he so often is cast in really nasty roles. For instance, in The Fixer [Clip here].

Currently, Jay can be seen in the movie Red Tails (Just don't blink!).

SOMETHING NEW

When the Yeo Valley ad (which wasn't really the Yeo Valley ad) aired during the Brit Awards, something struck me as not being right. On closer inspection I found that a scene had been added to show the new look of Yeo Valley milk. Yeo Valley has also given a new look to its website. It's nice, but I can't find much about The Churned on it! ("I'm not happy.")

INTERVIEWS

Here are some interviews that Gary Amers and Michael Luxton did to promote The Churned. If anyone knows of any others, please post a link in a comment.

 Spark FM:  

http://www.sparksunderland.com/featured/2011/10/107-spark-fm-catches-up-with-the-churned/

Skyliving:

http://skyliving.sky.com/news-gossip/we-bag-ourselves-fit-farmers

Glide FM :

http://glidefm.co.uk/content/celeb-interviews-churned
3am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uf1LQgMlSY

AND TWITTER GOES WILD!

When The Churned appeared during the Brit Awards, they caused quite a response on Twitter. But I think Yeo Valley may be just a little frustrated that fans of The Churned are not necessarily fans of yogurt.

I promise that next time I am in the UK (I have been there once, and do hope to return, so it is possible) I will try some Yeo Valley yogurt.

SURPRISE RETURN!

During the broadcast of the Brit Awards, the Yeo Valley ad with The Churned came on. (Good thing I had seen a tweet about it from Yeo Valley, or I wouldn't have watched). But it wasn't the Yeo Valley ad. It was the Yeo Valley ad being used in another ad. The important thing is that The Churned were back!

Here's a link to the ad.

IF LEE MEAD THINKS IT'S GENIUS. . .

. . .It has to be genius!

DOWNLOAD "FOREVER"

You can download "Forever" (from iTunes UK) here:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/forever-featuring-the-churned/id469252564?i=469252996

I'm in the USA, and downloaded it from Amazon.com.

THE CHURNED (FOREVER)

I can't watch many popular music videos. Generally, before they are half over, I am either bored or sick. So why can I watch "Forever" over and over, and like it more and more? Clearly, this is one of the great mysteries of the universe and can never be fully understood by a merely human brain, but I have to try. So here are some thoughts:

1. OK, let's state the obvious: these guys are hot! This is surely part of the appeal. But hot pop stars are pretty common, and physical attractiveness only goes so far.

2. It's fun. Too often in our popular culture fun is equated with brain-dead. This video is fun and intelligent.

3. It's serious. We are facing serious problems on this planet. Factory farming and genetically modified crops are not the solution. We have to work with nature. This is an important message.

4. A lot of people have contributed in the creation of The Churned, but the four actors who portray them deserve the credit for creating full characters out of what could easily have been cardboard cut-outs. These four fictional pop stars have more personality than most of the real ones. I think this is the main reason that the video stands up to repeated viewings.