From the West Wing to the campaign trail. His brilliant portrayal of the president’s loyal lieutenant Toby Ziegler electrified ‘The West Wing’. But this year, as the Democratic primaries got under way, Richard Schiff wasn’t just playing a role – he was working behind the scenes to get his guy a shot at the White House. — The Independent

Wow, it’s that guy from PBS! There’s a certain absurdity to flipping out over Jim Lehrer. He’s made his entire career out of never demonstrating any emotion whatsoever, yet when he walked down the street the other night near the Colorado Convention Centre in Denver, he left a wake of slack-jaws and excited cell phone calls. This is what happens at political conventions. The least likely heroes emerge and particularly on the Democratic side, the great unwashed activist base gets to stand on the very same street corner as Jim Lehrer. — The Guardian

Copywriting Lessons From ‘Beowulf’ and Mother Goose. Coca-Cola is a name bubbling over with mnemonic devices: alliteration and rhyme. The two devices don’t have a lot of today’s ad folk behind them. “There’s a lot of stigma attached to alliteration,” says Chris Bettin, associate creative director at Moroch Partners in Dallas. “From the creative standpoint, it’s not a real accomplishment to come up with something like that, to be proud of.” — Advertising Age

Life in Burma & in refugee camps – there and here. The latest figures show that in 2007-08, Burma became the single greatest source country of refugees brought into Australia under our humanitarian program – 2 961 out of a total of 10 799… In an interesting effort at awareness raising, Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) Australia is running the first Australian tour of ‘Refugee Camp In Your City’. It is a re-creation of a refugee camp and its facilities, which aims to give people a better understanding what life is like for displaced people and refugees who have had to flee their homes. — Andrew Bartlett