Jul 31, 2010
Jul 30, 2010
Worst. Video. Ever!
I think this poor kid is about to kill himself. Not for getting caught, just for having this weird as hell mom! Run Forrest, Run!
Jul 28, 2010
The Speed Limit Behavioral Theorem
Why do most people behave the way they drive?
If you don’t understand exactly what I’m getting at, think about this. When was the last time you saw a clearly visible transit authority police officer on the road? Ok. Focusing on the cop, how long did it take for people to obey the speed limit and drive a little more civilized. If you think time, it takes about half a minute before you reach the cop, if you think distance, 100-150 yds seems about right.
Once people see that patrol officer, they slam the breaks, buckle their seatbelts, remember to use their turn signals and probably hide a beer or doobie from sight.
Now think how long it takes for the same people that just behaved correctly to go back to their douche bag ways? Twenty seconds? A hundred yards? The exact figure doesn’t matter. What does matter however, is that most people do actually revert to being roadholes. The same applies to behavior.
Take your average person in a relationship and if they’re kind of lax, they chat with twenty hoes, promise some prodigious tea bagging and then sit straight once their lovey dovey strolls in. The same also goes for people who work in your company.
Don’t believe me? Then observe closely how people behave at a certain moment in time and then when evaluations are due in two weeks, you’ll see the changes. Three weeks before an evaluation and people are rude, bark commands, don’t bother with hellos and good mornings and don’t even think about please and then voilá… two weeks loom ahead and suddenly everyone is part of a team, everyone loves each other and everyone wants to go to each other’s birthday party because we’re such a close knit team…
Then two weeks after the evaluation pass. What do you think happens then?
Vrrmmm vrrmmm vrooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…….
Sometimes I just wish we sucked a bit less obviously.
Cheers
If you don’t understand exactly what I’m getting at, think about this. When was the last time you saw a clearly visible transit authority police officer on the road? Ok. Focusing on the cop, how long did it take for people to obey the speed limit and drive a little more civilized. If you think time, it takes about half a minute before you reach the cop, if you think distance, 100-150 yds seems about right.
Once people see that patrol officer, they slam the breaks, buckle their seatbelts, remember to use their turn signals and probably hide a beer or doobie from sight.
Now think how long it takes for the same people that just behaved correctly to go back to their douche bag ways? Twenty seconds? A hundred yards? The exact figure doesn’t matter. What does matter however, is that most people do actually revert to being roadholes. The same applies to behavior.
Take your average person in a relationship and if they’re kind of lax, they chat with twenty hoes, promise some prodigious tea bagging and then sit straight once their lovey dovey strolls in. The same also goes for people who work in your company.
Don’t believe me? Then observe closely how people behave at a certain moment in time and then when evaluations are due in two weeks, you’ll see the changes. Three weeks before an evaluation and people are rude, bark commands, don’t bother with hellos and good mornings and don’t even think about please and then voilá… two weeks loom ahead and suddenly everyone is part of a team, everyone loves each other and everyone wants to go to each other’s birthday party because we’re such a close knit team…
Then two weeks after the evaluation pass. What do you think happens then?
Vrrmmm vrrmmm vrooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…….
Sometimes I just wish we sucked a bit less obviously.
Cheers
The reality of open doors
You work at some company you tolerate simply because it pays you twice a month. In this company, dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people can work. It’s a complicated beehive layout because there are grunt worker bees, supposed worker bees, supervisor bees, and a handful of queen bees thrown in the mix. Oh and even though the concept of a queen bee states it should be a singular entity, we know better.
Thing is, from a grunt worker bee’s perspective, things are a little less rose colored as you’re led to believe if you’re just visiting. You get lectures on benefits, advantages, professional growth and a variety of proverbial carrots intended to make you feel as if you really shouldn’t mind carrying a load. People marvel at employee satisfaction levels and everyone is super duper happy.
The reality is that Kool-Aid drinking isn’t as widespread as higher up queen and king bees would like it to be. People resist because there’s only so much hypocritical saccharine we can tolerate before we start to gag. It’s not an adventure, it’s not an odyssey… it’s a job. True, it might sometimes feel like dreary torture, but a thrilling ride it isn’t. I just don’t think I’ll ever get people who are that enthused with most jobs because eventually, I think most people grow tired of their day to day jobs.
But corporate aristocracy is willful and cunning… it knows the sweet taste of control and doesn’t want to be overrun by unruly, intolerant peons with dreams of change and aspirations to make a difference. So that’s when they implemented the open door policy. This policy comes from war discussions and didn’t work much… especially between the US and Russia. In business it’s much sillier: you have a manager, a CEO, a president or even your supervisor reading off some hackneyed script that insists their doors are open to encourage communication among the peasants. The term implies that an employee can stop by President So N. So’s office whenever they feel the need to speak their mind.
This quirky morale booster might be good to run up the bullshit wagon, but in practice, it pretty much doesn’t work because it was never intended to work that way. It’s a figure of speech. It’s something nice to tell people so they shut the hell up. The actual way it plays out runs more on the lines of redirecting complaints, comments and even general conversation to lower echelons so they can sort things out themselves. Just in case, I’m not shunning said practice. I would also tell a subordinate to fuck off if they wanted to discuss some stupid problem that should be dealt with among the lower ranks. I get that. It’s cool. I just think it’s a bit cute to insist that things don’t operate that way, just for the sake of seeming more humane.
But let’s throw a curve ball in the mix. What happens if a person has a problem with another person. Supposedly they’re parallel in terms of responsibilities and whatnot, but the reality is much more imbalanced. Now let’s say the person that benefits from potential favoritism just happens to be an occasional bitch/asshole. This potential favoritism could be real or supposed but the lower bee has a swollen stinger because of this person, but it doesn’t say anything because it perceives that saying anything will be detrimental to his future within the hive. But then the bee decides to stop snorting pollen and say something about it… What response do you think it will receive?
Here are a few options:
A.) Have you spoken with this bee directly? I think you should speak to this bee directly because this is an exceptional bee and you need to give it the benefit of the doubt.
B.) I had perceived there was a problem amongst you bees, but I decided to step back and let you two figure things out.
C.) There’s no favoritism here. Thanks for bringing this up. I’ll definitely bring it up in a meeting some time in the never foreseeable future. Good job, thanks for all your work and did you have that thing we talked about ready?
Just in case, I won’t humor you by writing some fictitious D option where you are asked to give all the information possible and are quizzed to try and see what solutions can be found. I’m also not going to think you gullible enough to believe the supervisor bee actually cares. I’m just going to look in a mirror, smile that wicked joker smile I have and tell myself… “You didn’t really think anything else was going to happen right? You foooool!!!” Then I’m going to laugh til it hurts every time I catch myself in a mirror with that look as if any of what I do matters.
Fun times. Most definitely fun times.
Cheers
Thing is, from a grunt worker bee’s perspective, things are a little less rose colored as you’re led to believe if you’re just visiting. You get lectures on benefits, advantages, professional growth and a variety of proverbial carrots intended to make you feel as if you really shouldn’t mind carrying a load. People marvel at employee satisfaction levels and everyone is super duper happy.
The reality is that Kool-Aid drinking isn’t as widespread as higher up queen and king bees would like it to be. People resist because there’s only so much hypocritical saccharine we can tolerate before we start to gag. It’s not an adventure, it’s not an odyssey… it’s a job. True, it might sometimes feel like dreary torture, but a thrilling ride it isn’t. I just don’t think I’ll ever get people who are that enthused with most jobs because eventually, I think most people grow tired of their day to day jobs.
But corporate aristocracy is willful and cunning… it knows the sweet taste of control and doesn’t want to be overrun by unruly, intolerant peons with dreams of change and aspirations to make a difference. So that’s when they implemented the open door policy. This policy comes from war discussions and didn’t work much… especially between the US and Russia. In business it’s much sillier: you have a manager, a CEO, a president or even your supervisor reading off some hackneyed script that insists their doors are open to encourage communication among the peasants. The term implies that an employee can stop by President So N. So’s office whenever they feel the need to speak their mind.
This quirky morale booster might be good to run up the bullshit wagon, but in practice, it pretty much doesn’t work because it was never intended to work that way. It’s a figure of speech. It’s something nice to tell people so they shut the hell up. The actual way it plays out runs more on the lines of redirecting complaints, comments and even general conversation to lower echelons so they can sort things out themselves. Just in case, I’m not shunning said practice. I would also tell a subordinate to fuck off if they wanted to discuss some stupid problem that should be dealt with among the lower ranks. I get that. It’s cool. I just think it’s a bit cute to insist that things don’t operate that way, just for the sake of seeming more humane.
But let’s throw a curve ball in the mix. What happens if a person has a problem with another person. Supposedly they’re parallel in terms of responsibilities and whatnot, but the reality is much more imbalanced. Now let’s say the person that benefits from potential favoritism just happens to be an occasional bitch/asshole. This potential favoritism could be real or supposed but the lower bee has a swollen stinger because of this person, but it doesn’t say anything because it perceives that saying anything will be detrimental to his future within the hive. But then the bee decides to stop snorting pollen and say something about it… What response do you think it will receive?
Here are a few options:
A.) Have you spoken with this bee directly? I think you should speak to this bee directly because this is an exceptional bee and you need to give it the benefit of the doubt.
B.) I had perceived there was a problem amongst you bees, but I decided to step back and let you two figure things out.
C.) There’s no favoritism here. Thanks for bringing this up. I’ll definitely bring it up in a meeting some time in the never foreseeable future. Good job, thanks for all your work and did you have that thing we talked about ready?
Just in case, I won’t humor you by writing some fictitious D option where you are asked to give all the information possible and are quizzed to try and see what solutions can be found. I’m also not going to think you gullible enough to believe the supervisor bee actually cares. I’m just going to look in a mirror, smile that wicked joker smile I have and tell myself… “You didn’t really think anything else was going to happen right? You foooool!!!” Then I’m going to laugh til it hurts every time I catch myself in a mirror with that look as if any of what I do matters.
Fun times. Most definitely fun times.
Cheers
Jul 26, 2010
Conversations with SPAM Chat
Every single day, spammers are coming up with new cute ways to get you to open up your account to them or sign on to some shady porn hub. Knowing this and being monumentally bored the other day... I decided to humor a SPAM CHATTER. Here's what was written and please note, the next time I'll go more in depth since this time I was obviously ill prepared.
clarisaestabrooks25: :-)
Joker: hi there, who's this?
clarisaestabrooks25: I love chatting with new people.. Would you like to chat today? Where are you from?
Joker: hello?
clarisaestabrooks25: Nice Im 24 years old i'm going to school in California.. Can i ask you a question?
Joker: no you cannot but since this is automated, go for it
clarisaestabrooks25: Do you like big booty girls with big tits? lol seriously cuz thats what i am/have..Is that too much for you to handle?
Joker: Well my hands are pretty small, they can barely grab a pencil, but I'm sure you'll find that super sexy anyways and insist on inviting me to see your webshow
clarisaestabrooks25: so yea i'm lonely would you like to have some kinky fun? Would you like to see me?
Joker: well if I thought this was remotely real, I might even say yes because obviously I want to see a preprogrammed computer offering to show its cyber tits so come on, let me know, what's the catch and how much do you want me to pay?
clarisaestabrooks25: ok but i have no pictures on my computer.. but i have a video camera connected :-)
Joker: sweeet.. which means no one is reading this message and I can call your bullshit that you even exist. I know you're some pathetic Powerbook with a green and black monitor, but sure, I think this is a live girl
clarisaestabrooks25: ok let me set up my camera for you baby i hope your ready for some booty shots..
Joker: awesome, booty shots from a computer. I can't wait... Let me try something. How about the owner of this automated computer comes and sucks my dimpled asshole until my lunch comes out.... come on, you know that's hot so offer to hook me up to your website, where I'll have to pay some stupid fee
clarisaestabrooks25: lol ok goto http://bubblegirl.notlong.com/ and we can go 1 on 1 chat. Just click join at the top of the webpage.
Joker: See I knew I could count on you to scoop out all the creamy filling. Lick that poop hatch… While I don't click the broken link, the link to a trojan horse, or some shitty website that charges 4.95 for a free membership
PICTURE FOUND AT: http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/photos/spam_1.jpg A blog you might find interesting.
Labels:
bullshit offers,
fake shit,
malware,
spam,
spamalicious
Jul 24, 2010
Real men drink Squirrel
"This is to beer what democracy is to history."
That's a quote from BrewDog, the company responsible for this 55% beer that goes $765 a bottle. I can't come up with anything better at the moment so click the title, read the article and like a good beer, share with friends.
Cheers
Labels:
$765 beer,
dead animals,
fucked up brew,
taxidermy,
weird beer
The developmental benefits of Saturday Morning Cartoons
When I try and objectively compare kids nowadays and kids form my era a bit later and a lot before, I see that in comparison kids from today may be cute, but they’re wanting. They have less drive, aren’t as creative and although they’re smarter, they’re not so adept at having fun as children from past generations.
Baseline, if you look at what makes a kid a kid, then you can put up a list like this one:
THINGS THAT MAKE A KID A KID
1. Toys that went with you everywhere
2. A body made of 23% sugar
3. Playing outside
4. Imagining a jungle gym was a spaceship
5. A moldy granny you were forced to kiss on the cheek even if she smelled like cabbage and moth balls
6. A relative that gave you awesome toys every Christmas that would annoy your parents to no end
7. Velcro sneakers
8. An inability to color coordinate your clothing, what we insisted was our style
9. A squeaky voice we swore was a lot deeper than what we heard on video
10. Saturday Morning Cartoons
If you analyze each point you see that they simply can’t compete with us. Sure they’re cute and probably smarter in a bunch of things, but the toys that annoy parents nowadays can’t even begin to compete with what I grew up with. A post on my toys is forthcoming, but suffice to compare GI JOEs from today and the ones I grew up with. As for bodies made of sugar, sure kids have sugary cereals but the nuclear levels at which I consumed sugar HAVE to scare even the most lenient parent. But kids still eat shitloads of sugar.
But now the list gets dicey… playing outside. Seriously, it seems we’re just breeding mall children Gollum hybrids that shun away from the sun. I remember crashing into a huge bush and creating what became the neighborhood Bat Cave. I look at my hand and remember that time I was playing on a felled fence which was the cause of that one inch scar after I fell and stabbed my hand on the top of the fence. I remember crawling in mud and hiding against trees during cops and robbers and hide and seek.
In also remember my imagination taking me to places unknown to man. That wasn’t a jungle gym. It was a fucking spaceship and a sweet one at that. That wasn’t a slide; it was the unstairway to the underworld. It wasn’t a stick, it was a samurai sword. Now all kids do is suction cup their eyes onto their Nintento DS and whatnot.
As for the mandatory granny that was a bit funky, well that’s not a bad change because now a bevy of GILFs are definitely not a pain to kiss and your older brother’s friends can’t stop looking at their necklace… even if they’re not wearing one.
Velcro sneakers have been replaced by Crocs which makes them look more Mickey Mouse like, but that’s about it. As for the inability to color coordinate, I still see some cute cases, but nothing that can stand toe to toe with my purple shorts-grey sneakers – blue shirt combo. Luckily though, genetics still keep the cartoon voices in place… but the cartoons?
I grew up with MASK, GI Joe, Silverhawks, Thunder Cats, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Shirt Tales, Hong Kong Phooey, Amazing Race, Beetlejuice, Pirates of Dark Water, Starzinger/El Galactico, Mazinger Z, Voltron, Sky Commanders, Tiger Sharks, Darkwing Duck, Gummy Bears, Duck Tales, and the list of cartoons go on and on. And I watched everything. I mean every single cartoon I could get my eyes on, I watched. Care Bears? Shit yeah I watched Care Bears, and Popples, and Unico (Unico kicks ass!!). I also watched the original Dragon Ball, and even the shitty cartoons based on videogames like Super Mario, Sonic, Legend of Zelda and Mega Man. You look at cartoons nowadays and most blow so bad you feel the urge to fill your Netflix queue with real titles for kids nowadays to enjoy. But that takes away the benefits from Saturday morning cartoons.
It took discipline to watch your cartoons. You had to get up early, multitask your brain by switching from channel to channel and the ability to program a VCR to capture the cartoons you weren’t able to watch. There weren’t any reruns. There was no TIVO. Fuck, I shit on TIVO for making TV so easy to watch. There’s not commitment in kids nowadays and it’s to do with their lack of wanting to stop playing video games and their lax behavior in regards to cartoons, because after all, they can watch it later or whenever they want. VCR’s were designed for kids because if they watch a movie too many times, the fucking tape snaps. Take care of a DVD and you’ll see Cars about 1,600 times in one year.
I appreciated all I had and trust me, I had a lot. But I played with my toys. I played with my videogames. I played outside. I played with my friends. And I watched my cartoons.
The toys made me appreciate the material possessions I was fortunate enough to have and I dedicated fair time to all of them. I tried not having favorites and I tried to be understanding with the toys that kind of sucked. It wasn’t their fault they weren’t as cool, but damnit, they wanted to play with me so that’s what was going down. I played with my videogames and I had to give thanks the electricity didn’t go, because there were no save points. I had to jot down 38 character passwords in Metroid or deal with the frustration of not beating the original Ninja Gaiden… a reality that still haunts me and that I will remedy before I die. I played outside and I was lucky enough to have the second floor of my mom’s store all to myself. You’d be amazed the crazy adventures I had with cannonballs made of plastic wrap, coat hanger boomerangs and the dark corner I never went to because of a spider that once jumped out. I played with my friends. And when I say play with my friends, I don’t mean I played videogames with my friends. I mean I played with them. Hide and Seek, Cops and Robbers, tag, and Chico Paralizado (Frozen kid is the best translation I can come up with, without saying Paralyzed kid, which is kind of creepy). I also had cartoons. And I mean badass cartoons. From COPS, to Binky and the Brain, Animaniacs and the Gobots. He-Man, She-ra, Jem (so I could talk with the ladies), Josie and the Pussy Cats, Space Ghost and everything in between. I woke up at 7 on Saturdays and didn’t bitch. I was glued to the TV until the programming started to suck… then it was time to play.
Somehow we’ve lost this nowadays… I hope I can bring it back when I have little jokers running around and to be honest… I hope you feel the same.
Cheers friends, and long live good Saturday cartoons.
Labels:
80's,
cartoons,
kids,
Saturday morning cartoons,
supah awesomeness
Jul 18, 2010
A sunday playlist
When I think about it, I think few days are more ideal for listening to music than Sunday. Call it my church but it just seems to make sense to just put music and lounge about at home.
So in keeping with that, here's a list of 40 tracks to keep yourself entertained for part of the day. If you think there's something else I should listen to, if you think any of these songs rock, or if you think the selectin sucks, by all means, comment away.
Cheers
1. Thom yorke - The clock Acoustic Awesome acoustic version of a song from his solo album.
2. Beck - Paper Tiger - That album is simply amazing.
3. Blind melon - Vernie - Possibly my favorite song from the sophmore effort.
4. Indigo - Hard Sun -
Original version of a song from the Into the Wild Soundtrack.
5. David Gilmour - Smile - A song that makes me think of my soon to be wife.
6. Colin Hay - I just don't think I'll get over you - Same as above.
7. Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus - I'm an extremely late blooming Tom fan... how the hell did it take so long?
8. Black Crowes - Thorn in my Pride - Excellent song from the Crowes
9. Spacehog - in the meantime - Wow, what a great one hit wonder. :D
10. Björk - It's oh so quiet - Now if this isn't a Sunday song, I don't know what is. High on the WTF factor and showtuny.
11. The Police - Walking on the Moon - One of my favorite Police songs.
12. Jon Redfern - I love the Sun - you don't know Jon Redfern... but you should.
13. Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song - Proof that beauty is timeless.
14. Comsat Angels - Falling - Yup, that's one of the songs from the 80's classic Real Genius.
15. David Bowie - Thursdays Child - Out of the vast epic catalogue of Father Bowie, I felt the mood to pick something more recent. By the way, can that man look cooler?
16. Pearl Jam - Hawaii 78 - A song that just gives me goosebumps. A cover of a song by big Hawaiian Bruddah Iz. Original version here.
17. Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I am - Ingrid Michaelson is the type of girl that isn't a bombshell, but you can't help but triple take. Her breakout song is super nice too.
18. Brandon Boyd - Runaway Train - Finally a song that reminds me of why I loved Incubus.
19. Tenacious D - Jesus Ranch - This song is rigagood
20. The Who - Baba O'Reilly - Now if you need a song to wake you up, here you go.
21. Thom yorke - Cymbal Rush - Another good song from Thom
22. Minus the Bear - Out of my time - The first single off their super solid last album
23. Pantera (Black Sabbath Cover) - Planet Caravan - Who needs drugs when you have music?
24. Circa Survive - Imaginary Enemy - Fairy boy Anthony Green drives the indie rock loving girls wild. Here's a bit of why.
25. Silverchair - Emotion Sickness - Off their possibly best album, Neon Ballroom.
26. Chris Cornell - Can't change me - a song from his first solo album. The one that DIDN'T SUCK. :D
27. Longwave - Wake me when it's over - A kind of old song I always loved.
28. Filter - The inevitable relapse - Song off their upcoming album.
29. Grandaddy - The Crystal Lake - Great road song.
30. The Breeders - Cannonball - Classic 90's track.
31. Flaming Lips - Vaseline - Another classic one from los noventas. :D
32. Primitive Radio Gods - Phonebooth - Long ass title I refuse to write in its entirety. Great song though.
33. Flight of the Conchords - Too many dicks on the Dancefloor - Hillarious and catchy. Fucking brilliant. Bacardi anyone?
34. Stone Temple Pilots - Between the Lines - Off their new album. Catchy music, good singing, dumb lyrics. STP at their best.
35. My morning Jacket - Librarian - Off their last album, which was one of my fav albums of 2008.
36. Genesis - Carpet Crawlers (Remix) - I'm always debating which one I like more. This time around I wanted to put the remix up.
37. Joe Strummer - johnny appleseed - This song makes me smile and want to surf. You can't get much better than that.
38. Pearl Jam - Glorified G - One of my fav PJ tracks of the moment.
39. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook -
40. Elbow - Switching Off - One of my favorite bands of the moment.
So in keeping with that, here's a list of 40 tracks to keep yourself entertained for part of the day. If you think there's something else I should listen to, if you think any of these songs rock, or if you think the selectin sucks, by all means, comment away.
Cheers
1. Thom yorke - The clock Acoustic Awesome acoustic version of a song from his solo album.
2. Beck - Paper Tiger - That album is simply amazing.
3. Blind melon - Vernie - Possibly my favorite song from the sophmore effort.
4. Indigo - Hard Sun -
Original version of a song from the Into the Wild Soundtrack.
5. David Gilmour - Smile - A song that makes me think of my soon to be wife.
6. Colin Hay - I just don't think I'll get over you - Same as above.
7. Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus - I'm an extremely late blooming Tom fan... how the hell did it take so long?
8. Black Crowes - Thorn in my Pride - Excellent song from the Crowes
9. Spacehog - in the meantime - Wow, what a great one hit wonder. :D
10. Björk - It's oh so quiet - Now if this isn't a Sunday song, I don't know what is. High on the WTF factor and showtuny.
11. The Police - Walking on the Moon - One of my favorite Police songs.
12. Jon Redfern - I love the Sun - you don't know Jon Redfern... but you should.
13. Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song - Proof that beauty is timeless.
14. Comsat Angels - Falling - Yup, that's one of the songs from the 80's classic Real Genius.
15. David Bowie - Thursdays Child - Out of the vast epic catalogue of Father Bowie, I felt the mood to pick something more recent. By the way, can that man look cooler?
16. Pearl Jam - Hawaii 78 - A song that just gives me goosebumps. A cover of a song by big Hawaiian Bruddah Iz. Original version here.
17. Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I am - Ingrid Michaelson is the type of girl that isn't a bombshell, but you can't help but triple take. Her breakout song is super nice too.
18. Brandon Boyd - Runaway Train - Finally a song that reminds me of why I loved Incubus.
19. Tenacious D - Jesus Ranch - This song is rigagood
20. The Who - Baba O'Reilly - Now if you need a song to wake you up, here you go.
21. Thom yorke - Cymbal Rush - Another good song from Thom
22. Minus the Bear - Out of my time - The first single off their super solid last album
23. Pantera (Black Sabbath Cover) - Planet Caravan - Who needs drugs when you have music?
24. Circa Survive - Imaginary Enemy - Fairy boy Anthony Green drives the indie rock loving girls wild. Here's a bit of why.
25. Silverchair - Emotion Sickness - Off their possibly best album, Neon Ballroom.
26. Chris Cornell - Can't change me - a song from his first solo album. The one that DIDN'T SUCK. :D
27. Longwave - Wake me when it's over - A kind of old song I always loved.
28. Filter - The inevitable relapse - Song off their upcoming album.
29. Grandaddy - The Crystal Lake - Great road song.
30. The Breeders - Cannonball - Classic 90's track.
31. Flaming Lips - Vaseline - Another classic one from los noventas. :D
32. Primitive Radio Gods - Phonebooth - Long ass title I refuse to write in its entirety. Great song though.
33. Flight of the Conchords - Too many dicks on the Dancefloor - Hillarious and catchy. Fucking brilliant. Bacardi anyone?
34. Stone Temple Pilots - Between the Lines - Off their new album. Catchy music, good singing, dumb lyrics. STP at their best.
35. My morning Jacket - Librarian - Off their last album, which was one of my fav albums of 2008.
36. Genesis - Carpet Crawlers (Remix) - I'm always debating which one I like more. This time around I wanted to put the remix up.
37. Joe Strummer - johnny appleseed - This song makes me smile and want to surf. You can't get much better than that.
38. Pearl Jam - Glorified G - One of my fav PJ tracks of the moment.
39. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook -
40. Elbow - Switching Off - One of my favorite bands of the moment.
Labels:
2009 in music,
classic,
live music,
mix,
music to listen to,
Playlists,
track list,
videos
Jul 15, 2010
Dear Client: Five little things you can do to not annoy Me.
If there is one thing that goes out the window when you have been doing this for a very long time is this: patience. Yep. The more years you work at advertising, the less tolerance you have for idiotic stuff that clients do in a daily - and I mean daily basis. It is unbelievable to me the simple fact that no matter how much you try to teach clients not to do stuff, they always find a way to repeat and repeat the same errors that... well, make your life, my life and amazingly even the client's life, miserable.
So this is kind of a love letter to all those clients that cannot for the life of them, learn the right way to save time and money. Enjoy, in no particular order, the five little things that your clients - and mine - have to learn to NOT DO in order to achieve the goal of a decent ad in little or no time.
1) Please, for the love of God. Send me all the information at once.
They say that time is money, but in client's case, my time is their money. I'm all for wasting time and making your bill even bigger, but come on. If you get organized and gather all the information at once, you will save hours of me calling and calling to ask you minute details and trying to decipher what you are thinking. Besides, any decent copy or designer knows that when we design/write, we need all the info at once because the artwork gets directly affected by all the crap you want to jam in there.
2) I will gladly give an ovary if, for the very first time, a client sends in all the photographs of a project in high res.
How difficult is asking for other suppliers for a photoshop document, 300 dpi and larger than a 5" x 7" image? Really? Oh but they sent it 3 x 2" at 72 dpi. Does that work? NO! ALWAYS ASK FOR HIGH RESOLUTION! Period!
3) I'm not psychic. Please tell me in advance all the different adaptations that you will want.
For some strange reason, I think clients think we're scratching our asses waiting for them to call. Even worse, they forget that we have other clients who need us to write that winning and ever selling piece of crap, full page full color. So at 5:50 pm they call, asking us to adapt the campaign to 5 or 6 additional pieces, and of course, they want it for tomorrow...
4) I made an effort to make your design shine. Please don't send it to the worst printer of all times.
It feels like if I've been cooking for hours and someone comes and just takes a huge dump all over my nice dinner. I've seen artwork of mine which I was very proud of suddenly become a turd in a second by washed colors, bad materials... just nasty. Sometimes cheap is not good, clients. Want to save money? Read above.
5) Send in all the delivery specs at once. If you don't know how, give me the telephone of the supplier you insist on using.
That saves me time on writing CD after CD with the artwork in all the different formats you are thinking of, instead of just letting me do my job and talking it over with the supplier in one single call. Trust me, 80% of the time you will end up not understanding ONE thing and giving me a call to try to figure it out. Save us time. Just give me the number.
There you go. My five beefs. Any that I forgot that you would like to add or comment... that isn't porn spam with little dots?
So this is kind of a love letter to all those clients that cannot for the life of them, learn the right way to save time and money. Enjoy, in no particular order, the five little things that your clients - and mine - have to learn to NOT DO in order to achieve the goal of a decent ad in little or no time.
1) Please, for the love of God. Send me all the information at once.
They say that time is money, but in client's case, my time is their money. I'm all for wasting time and making your bill even bigger, but come on. If you get organized and gather all the information at once, you will save hours of me calling and calling to ask you minute details and trying to decipher what you are thinking. Besides, any decent copy or designer knows that when we design/write, we need all the info at once because the artwork gets directly affected by all the crap you want to jam in there.
2) I will gladly give an ovary if, for the very first time, a client sends in all the photographs of a project in high res.
How difficult is asking for other suppliers for a photoshop document, 300 dpi and larger than a 5" x 7" image? Really? Oh but they sent it 3 x 2" at 72 dpi. Does that work? NO! ALWAYS ASK FOR HIGH RESOLUTION! Period!
3) I'm not psychic. Please tell me in advance all the different adaptations that you will want.
For some strange reason, I think clients think we're scratching our asses waiting for them to call. Even worse, they forget that we have other clients who need us to write that winning and ever selling piece of crap, full page full color. So at 5:50 pm they call, asking us to adapt the campaign to 5 or 6 additional pieces, and of course, they want it for tomorrow...
4) I made an effort to make your design shine. Please don't send it to the worst printer of all times.
It feels like if I've been cooking for hours and someone comes and just takes a huge dump all over my nice dinner. I've seen artwork of mine which I was very proud of suddenly become a turd in a second by washed colors, bad materials... just nasty. Sometimes cheap is not good, clients. Want to save money? Read above.
5) Send in all the delivery specs at once. If you don't know how, give me the telephone of the supplier you insist on using.
That saves me time on writing CD after CD with the artwork in all the different formats you are thinking of, instead of just letting me do my job and talking it over with the supplier in one single call. Trust me, 80% of the time you will end up not understanding ONE thing and giving me a call to try to figure it out. Save us time. Just give me the number.
There you go. My five beefs. Any that I forgot that you would like to add or comment... that isn't porn spam with little dots?
Jul 13, 2010
Practical Solutions: Volume 3 – Apathy Square Dance
Have you ever woken up just wondering how you’re going to put one foot in front of the other just to stand another day at a job you pretty much hate? Do you look yourself in the mirror and wonder if you’ll ever do something more for yourself apart from settling? Are you swimming in a simmering pool of apathy?
Then count yourself among more than a hundred million people that hate what they do for a living. Simply put, jobs are quite often unadventurous, uninspiring, stupid, lame, and just a fancy way of convincing people to let you do remedial tasks so they allocate acquisitive points in your bank account. It’s simple either we’re designed to hate jobs or jobs are designed to be hated. The reality doesn’t change though, you are putting up and you’re asking yourself if there’s something you can do so you don’t go ballistic.
Luckily, there are quite a few things you can do. Actually, here are ten things you can do just to help you cope:
1. First off. Update your résumé. I’m all for people feeling in control of their destinies and the first step is to take your résumé and have it up-to-date. When you’re writing it, be honest but remember, you’re selling yourself on an 8 by 11 piece of paper. If you don’t like what you read, imagine an HR person (but that’s another post altogether).
2. After you have your résumé updated. Analyze yourself. Are you going through a personal funk? Do you feel professionally stunted? What’s up with you and be real honest when you answer. If you need a piece of paper to write it down, do so. You’d be amazed at the stuff you write when you give yourself the opportunity to write about what you’re feeling. Remember, there’s no right or wrong answer. You just want to know what the hell you’re feeling to see if you can find solutions… and if they’re practical, then better.
3. Change your daily route, change up how your home is decorated and just embed some real change in your typical day to day. Often times, people land in a funk on all levels and when you break the monotony in your routine, other changes may be soon to follow.
4. Look at your company and see if there’s another department you can work for. Even in advertising, there’s the opportunity to switch departments, although it’s not as common as in other companies. The point is to look around your immediate vicinity and see if there’s anything you’re interested in. If there is, talk to people. In case you’re wondering, it’s more important to be likeable and show drive than it is to be smart or skilled.
5. Look at classified ads and send out that résumé you updated in point #1. Getting job offers even if you don’t go to an interview immediately makes you feel like you’re in control and you are, you just don’t know it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even go to one and get a new job. What’s there to lose except time and a little paper? Small price to pay for your peace of mind.
6. What are you eating? Often times, depression is a direct result of our crappy eating habits. Drink more water, throw some veggies in the mix and treat your body with a little more respect. It’s not to say you’ll eat only tofu, but seriously, Mac Attacks 3 times a week is an express lane to physical depression.
7. Are you getting enough sunlight? Another thing that pushes people down is the fact that they don’t breathe air that isn’t conditioned and don’t absorb light unless it’s fluorescent. Fun Fact, office lights do not contain the entire spectrum of light and the greens and blues found in natural light are not being absorbed by your mind. These are also the spectrums that help you feel more energized and put less strain on your eyesight. More strain = more fatigue = greater sense of apathy.
8. Is boredom a key thing eating away at you? Bring a book to work. Copy interesting information in word docs at home and read at work. Save the files with typical job days. Odds are you will be monitored in relation to the programs you use and not always being monitored in regards to EXACTLY what you’re doing in each program.
9. Are you young and single? Then there’s no reason to not go abroad. Look for exchange programs that offer to pay for your stay at some other place. Get a new experience in your life. After all, if your only ties are material ones, then you have no ties. Fly free.
10. Study something that does inspire you. It could be a minor degree, an associate’s degree, a masters etc. Whatever it is, just make sure you like it. And after you’ve been at it in a while, see in what way you can adapt what you’ve learned to your company. It will show drive and will allow you to possibly pursue something else in your company or give you something to look forward to every day instead of your computer screen.
Then count yourself among more than a hundred million people that hate what they do for a living. Simply put, jobs are quite often unadventurous, uninspiring, stupid, lame, and just a fancy way of convincing people to let you do remedial tasks so they allocate acquisitive points in your bank account. It’s simple either we’re designed to hate jobs or jobs are designed to be hated. The reality doesn’t change though, you are putting up and you’re asking yourself if there’s something you can do so you don’t go ballistic.
Luckily, there are quite a few things you can do. Actually, here are ten things you can do just to help you cope:
1. First off. Update your résumé. I’m all for people feeling in control of their destinies and the first step is to take your résumé and have it up-to-date. When you’re writing it, be honest but remember, you’re selling yourself on an 8 by 11 piece of paper. If you don’t like what you read, imagine an HR person (but that’s another post altogether).
2. After you have your résumé updated. Analyze yourself. Are you going through a personal funk? Do you feel professionally stunted? What’s up with you and be real honest when you answer. If you need a piece of paper to write it down, do so. You’d be amazed at the stuff you write when you give yourself the opportunity to write about what you’re feeling. Remember, there’s no right or wrong answer. You just want to know what the hell you’re feeling to see if you can find solutions… and if they’re practical, then better.
3. Change your daily route, change up how your home is decorated and just embed some real change in your typical day to day. Often times, people land in a funk on all levels and when you break the monotony in your routine, other changes may be soon to follow.
4. Look at your company and see if there’s another department you can work for. Even in advertising, there’s the opportunity to switch departments, although it’s not as common as in other companies. The point is to look around your immediate vicinity and see if there’s anything you’re interested in. If there is, talk to people. In case you’re wondering, it’s more important to be likeable and show drive than it is to be smart or skilled.
5. Look at classified ads and send out that résumé you updated in point #1. Getting job offers even if you don’t go to an interview immediately makes you feel like you’re in control and you are, you just don’t know it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even go to one and get a new job. What’s there to lose except time and a little paper? Small price to pay for your peace of mind.
6. What are you eating? Often times, depression is a direct result of our crappy eating habits. Drink more water, throw some veggies in the mix and treat your body with a little more respect. It’s not to say you’ll eat only tofu, but seriously, Mac Attacks 3 times a week is an express lane to physical depression.
7. Are you getting enough sunlight? Another thing that pushes people down is the fact that they don’t breathe air that isn’t conditioned and don’t absorb light unless it’s fluorescent. Fun Fact, office lights do not contain the entire spectrum of light and the greens and blues found in natural light are not being absorbed by your mind. These are also the spectrums that help you feel more energized and put less strain on your eyesight. More strain = more fatigue = greater sense of apathy.
8. Is boredom a key thing eating away at you? Bring a book to work. Copy interesting information in word docs at home and read at work. Save the files with typical job days. Odds are you will be monitored in relation to the programs you use and not always being monitored in regards to EXACTLY what you’re doing in each program.
9. Are you young and single? Then there’s no reason to not go abroad. Look for exchange programs that offer to pay for your stay at some other place. Get a new experience in your life. After all, if your only ties are material ones, then you have no ties. Fly free.
10. Study something that does inspire you. It could be a minor degree, an associate’s degree, a masters etc. Whatever it is, just make sure you like it. And after you’ve been at it in a while, see in what way you can adapt what you’ve learned to your company. It will show drive and will allow you to possibly pursue something else in your company or give you something to look forward to every day instead of your computer screen.
Labels:
advice,
Practical solutions,
what to do
How to destroy your career in 8 minutes and 9 seconds: The Mel Gibson Call from hell.
Ladies and gentlemen; allegedly, Mel Gibson.
Oh. And in comes the dessert! Two juicy minutes of being a total dick and racist asshole. Allegedly.
Calling all Men! Get your ASS to the theaters, dammit!
As a woman who hates Twilight and all other forms of stupid chick flicks, I beg you, penis owners. Go back to the movies and let's get this movie to number one!
Jul 12, 2010
Practical Solutions: Volume 2 – Getting a job
In this depressing job market, some people have been jobless for some time. If you work in advertising, you have seen cuts all around and if the economic signs are anything to consider, realize that more cuts are quite possibly on the way. To make a long story short, every time financial crises occur, the first area to feel the unforgiving edge of a budget cut is advertising followed quite closely by marketing. Actually, you don’t need a recession or depression to have this happen, all you need is a drop in sales. Taking into account that what we’re living is a far cry from that, seeing close to 100,000 advertising professionals be left without a job during the last two years makes you realize that this is pretty bad.
Ok so what can any of us do about it? Well on my front, my reaction was to jump ship to another industry that is faring better and adapting my skills to the needs of this industry. The key word in that last sentence is obviously adapt. Which is actually the first step to getting a job if you have one or hate the one you have. So below are ten tips that may work for you.
1. Adapt. This sounds simple but it is not. For my part I’ve left the jeans and cargo pants for dress pants, dress shoes, button shirts and a company pin. With that dress change came an attitude change. No more cuss filled rants, no more youtubing, no more 2 hour lunches. Apart from this, I had to adapt my skills and gear them towards the company’s needs. Again, something that reads like something easy but it isn’t. I’ve been lucky to perform well. Another fellow copywriter I actually considered pretty good on the job had a three week tenure before me and if he weren’t a temp he would have been fired in three more weeks. That’s because although he’s a pretty good ad copywriter, he hadn’t adapted to the new job. So look at your skill set and see how you can adapt. Be realistic with yourself and see what you can stand and where you can grow and go the extra mile to see if there isn’t some professional growth in there.
2. Keep your résumé updated. You never know when you may need it and it’s always good to feel in control of your fate.
3. More than ever, you need that résumé to stand out. No more using times new roman, no more copy pasting an objective and for Christ’s sake, delete that part that says referrals available upon request. Think you have 15 seconds to convince someone to not toss your résumé in the recycle bin, because that’s pretty close to the time you have available. Put only your three most recent experiences, include extracurricular activities, mention awards, and please, make it fit on one page.
4. Design your résumé to entice the company you are interviewing for. Treat it like an ad. If you make it too general and try to appeal to all audiences, it won’t work right? The same goes for a résumé. Adapt, wording, skills, and different details to try and convince them that you’re worth 40-50K.
5. Your portfolio needs to be updated. I don’t even need to ask if it’s updated. I know it isn’t. It probably even has the layouts from when you last interviewed for a job. So look it over, trim the fat, include something eye catching and team up with someone else to put two new executions that show you can adapt to budgets and can present new and innovative concepts. Nontraditional is a must by the way. So pick your best TV spot, your best two or three prints and present something new.
6. Talk to people. We often get so completely engrossed in our jobs and put out so many fires that we do not mingle. Never forget that being likeable is just as effective or more effective than being highly skilled.
7. Look in the want ads and see what you’re willing to check out. I know a lot of people in different agencies. I know people who own their businesses. I am lucky enough to be in the good graces of people who have actually found me a job when I most needed it. My current job came as a result of answering a want ad and going through the typical interview process. No contacts, no connections, no favoritism. Just plain ole interview bullshit.
8. Keep a stash of money to travel for a job interview. Lots of companies around are looking for people to work… but they aren’t exactly around the corner. See what you can do and get an interview. If you have to travel, try to get more than one so you don’t go bankrupt.
9. When you do get an interview, please read up on the company you’re going to visit. They will ask you why you want to work and so and so and they will ask you what you think about what they do. The last thing you want is to sound desperate, ignorant, stupid or all of the above.
10. Call in favors if you have any. Desperate times call for desperate measures and if you were looking for that situation when you need to call in a favor, now is the time. I’m not saying cry or beg, but if you don’t ever use your get out of jail free card, what’s the use of having it?
Ok so what can any of us do about it? Well on my front, my reaction was to jump ship to another industry that is faring better and adapting my skills to the needs of this industry. The key word in that last sentence is obviously adapt. Which is actually the first step to getting a job if you have one or hate the one you have. So below are ten tips that may work for you.
1. Adapt. This sounds simple but it is not. For my part I’ve left the jeans and cargo pants for dress pants, dress shoes, button shirts and a company pin. With that dress change came an attitude change. No more cuss filled rants, no more youtubing, no more 2 hour lunches. Apart from this, I had to adapt my skills and gear them towards the company’s needs. Again, something that reads like something easy but it isn’t. I’ve been lucky to perform well. Another fellow copywriter I actually considered pretty good on the job had a three week tenure before me and if he weren’t a temp he would have been fired in three more weeks. That’s because although he’s a pretty good ad copywriter, he hadn’t adapted to the new job. So look at your skill set and see how you can adapt. Be realistic with yourself and see what you can stand and where you can grow and go the extra mile to see if there isn’t some professional growth in there.
2. Keep your résumé updated. You never know when you may need it and it’s always good to feel in control of your fate.
3. More than ever, you need that résumé to stand out. No more using times new roman, no more copy pasting an objective and for Christ’s sake, delete that part that says referrals available upon request. Think you have 15 seconds to convince someone to not toss your résumé in the recycle bin, because that’s pretty close to the time you have available. Put only your three most recent experiences, include extracurricular activities, mention awards, and please, make it fit on one page.
4. Design your résumé to entice the company you are interviewing for. Treat it like an ad. If you make it too general and try to appeal to all audiences, it won’t work right? The same goes for a résumé. Adapt, wording, skills, and different details to try and convince them that you’re worth 40-50K.
5. Your portfolio needs to be updated. I don’t even need to ask if it’s updated. I know it isn’t. It probably even has the layouts from when you last interviewed for a job. So look it over, trim the fat, include something eye catching and team up with someone else to put two new executions that show you can adapt to budgets and can present new and innovative concepts. Nontraditional is a must by the way. So pick your best TV spot, your best two or three prints and present something new.
6. Talk to people. We often get so completely engrossed in our jobs and put out so many fires that we do not mingle. Never forget that being likeable is just as effective or more effective than being highly skilled.
7. Look in the want ads and see what you’re willing to check out. I know a lot of people in different agencies. I know people who own their businesses. I am lucky enough to be in the good graces of people who have actually found me a job when I most needed it. My current job came as a result of answering a want ad and going through the typical interview process. No contacts, no connections, no favoritism. Just plain ole interview bullshit.
8. Keep a stash of money to travel for a job interview. Lots of companies around are looking for people to work… but they aren’t exactly around the corner. See what you can do and get an interview. If you have to travel, try to get more than one so you don’t go bankrupt.
9. When you do get an interview, please read up on the company you’re going to visit. They will ask you why you want to work and so and so and they will ask you what you think about what they do. The last thing you want is to sound desperate, ignorant, stupid or all of the above.
10. Call in favors if you have any. Desperate times call for desperate measures and if you were looking for that situation when you need to call in a favor, now is the time. I’m not saying cry or beg, but if you don’t ever use your get out of jail free card, what’s the use of having it?
Labels:
advice,
Practical solutions,
what to do
Jul 9, 2010
Saving space
Since I’m apparently feeling a little on the green side of life, here’s something I do to try and help the planet. It’s not a cure all, but at least it kind of makes sense.
If you take your daily consuming habits, and think about them, you probably notice that you produce a lot of waste. Space consuming waste, if you need a first and last name. Basically we produce crap and that crap has to go somewhere. Amazingly, some people still leave their trays at tables with their garbage after eating, but for those of us who actually have manners, some places even offer recycling bins for plastics and aluminums. So you already have a choice to put cans and bottles into those bins and save some space before we sit atop Mount Trashmore. Something I do when I go to a fastfood is that I take all my waste and put it in the cup when I finish my soda or the same carton where my food came served in. So I went from consuming a decent area with garbage to a much smaller one. Consider this a pre-compacting process to trash compacting where you are maximizing the resources you are given.
How do you do this? Simple. Let’s say you have a Big Mac Meal. This includes a soda, your poor excuse for a sandwich and a soda. You eat and drink all you bought and you bundle the fry carton inside the burger carton and either toss, or try and take it up a notch and put it all in a cup. Is this more effort? Yes. But seriously, is it THAT much more effort.
Cheers
If you take your daily consuming habits, and think about them, you probably notice that you produce a lot of waste. Space consuming waste, if you need a first and last name. Basically we produce crap and that crap has to go somewhere. Amazingly, some people still leave their trays at tables with their garbage after eating, but for those of us who actually have manners, some places even offer recycling bins for plastics and aluminums. So you already have a choice to put cans and bottles into those bins and save some space before we sit atop Mount Trashmore. Something I do when I go to a fastfood is that I take all my waste and put it in the cup when I finish my soda or the same carton where my food came served in. So I went from consuming a decent area with garbage to a much smaller one. Consider this a pre-compacting process to trash compacting where you are maximizing the resources you are given.
How do you do this? Simple. Let’s say you have a Big Mac Meal. This includes a soda, your poor excuse for a sandwich and a soda. You eat and drink all you bought and you bundle the fry carton inside the burger carton and either toss, or try and take it up a notch and put it all in a cup. Is this more effort? Yes. But seriously, is it THAT much more effort.
Cheers
Labels:
captain planet,
doing my part,
extra effort,
going green,
tree hugging
Some people seriously need a brain
In case you haven’t been covered in oil or tripped over a tar ball, there’s kind of a leak going on in the Gulf of Mexico. By leak, I mean a friggin petrol geyser is spewing forth more oil than papa Exxon could have ever dreamed of. As you know there have been various news reports about what’s being done, who’s to blame, what went wrong, why BP is 66% satanic, 33% greedy and 100% stupid. We’re getting that coverage.
We’re also learning that they don’t want people to send hair to make booms because they’re not as effective as industrial booms. SIDENOTE: the problem seems to be that the booms sink because they absorb too much water, which doesn’t mean that they don’t work for land efforts that are sure to come if a hurricane decides to make something horrendous even worse. So keep your hair handy just in case.
To boot, the CEO for BP is a mega douche and he’s cranking it up a notch so people have someone to tar and feather and thanks to the spill and the unfortunate wildlife that has succumbed to the slick, there’s plenty of both. We also found out how he wanted his life back and decided he deserved a break from his job so he went to a boating competition.
To further promote our knowledge, we’ve found out that BP has spent over 2 billion dollars in cleanup efforts, Kevin Costner wants to preserve his Water World and we’ve learned what a plume is (a vertically or longitudinally moving, rising, or expanding fluid body, as of smoke or water). Oh and did I mention we have reality TV coverage of the well leaking? How great is that. Now if we oculd just get the damned thing closed.
So yeah things are "fun" for oil lover the world around and the Gulf has taken yet another massive hit. But it seems as if the current disaster isn’t enough. If you click the title of this post, you’ll be transported to an online article talking about the people of Louisiana insisting that offshore drilling continue. Their reasoning is that their economy has taken a big enough hit as it is, and crippling their oil economy would further impoverish the state.
My only response to this is pretty basic. Does everything have to be about money? Do we all have our heads shoved up our asses so capitalistically that we insist on still doing things wrong? Must we truly self destruct as a species? Can’t we simply look for an alternative fuel source? Yes efforts are underway, but honestly, it seems as if it’s not happening fast enough. Why? Because it costs too much. Meanwhile, our air quality continues to deteriorate, our oceans get shat on and people still keep thinking of the almighty dollar before, health, climate, wellness and happiness.
And to those that may consider this a tree hugging rant from some sociopathic worker bee who takes all the good ole US of A does for himfor granted, well pardon me if I’m not particularly thrilled about continuing to think within the oil based box.
We’re also learning that they don’t want people to send hair to make booms because they’re not as effective as industrial booms. SIDENOTE: the problem seems to be that the booms sink because they absorb too much water, which doesn’t mean that they don’t work for land efforts that are sure to come if a hurricane decides to make something horrendous even worse. So keep your hair handy just in case.
To boot, the CEO for BP is a mega douche and he’s cranking it up a notch so people have someone to tar and feather and thanks to the spill and the unfortunate wildlife that has succumbed to the slick, there’s plenty of both. We also found out how he wanted his life back and decided he deserved a break from his job so he went to a boating competition.
To further promote our knowledge, we’ve found out that BP has spent over 2 billion dollars in cleanup efforts, Kevin Costner wants to preserve his Water World and we’ve learned what a plume is (a vertically or longitudinally moving, rising, or expanding fluid body, as of smoke or water). Oh and did I mention we have reality TV coverage of the well leaking? How great is that. Now if we oculd just get the damned thing closed.
So yeah things are "fun" for oil lover the world around and the Gulf has taken yet another massive hit. But it seems as if the current disaster isn’t enough. If you click the title of this post, you’ll be transported to an online article talking about the people of Louisiana insisting that offshore drilling continue. Their reasoning is that their economy has taken a big enough hit as it is, and crippling their oil economy would further impoverish the state.
My only response to this is pretty basic. Does everything have to be about money? Do we all have our heads shoved up our asses so capitalistically that we insist on still doing things wrong? Must we truly self destruct as a species? Can’t we simply look for an alternative fuel source? Yes efforts are underway, but honestly, it seems as if it’s not happening fast enough. Why? Because it costs too much. Meanwhile, our air quality continues to deteriorate, our oceans get shat on and people still keep thinking of the almighty dollar before, health, climate, wellness and happiness.
And to those that may consider this a tree hugging rant from some sociopathic worker bee who takes all the good ole US of A does for himfor granted, well pardon me if I’m not particularly thrilled about continuing to think within the oil based box.
Labels:
BP,
Deep Horizon,
disaster,
Gulf of Mexico,
Louisiana,
oil,
oilspill,
pollution,
spill
Jul 8, 2010
You have the right to remain healthy
How often do you get sick? How often do you feel like a mushy slice of dung that has been out in the sun for too long? Simply put, when was the last time you felt good?
For a lot of people I know, the answer is often delivered in muffled tones and under their breath because they’re almost ashamed to answer. That’s ok by the way. It’s ok that you feel like some never ending case study, because you have simply put up with everything, have postponed appointments and put off annual check-ups for too long… not to mention your wonderful eating habits, your vibrant working hours and that emotional state that's just begging for some psycho analysis.
Let’s face it, if I learned anything from the advertising industry it’s that jobs not only take out a lot of you, but actually consume you. In case you needed any type of reminder, all that effort you put into your job? Most people don’t give a damn, and if they do, you’re probably never going to be their concern. That’s ok though, because now that you’ve read this, you know better.
You know better than to work 15 hour days. You know better than to cancel appointments. You know better than to always eat crap food because it’s the quickest thing you can get for lunch so you can go back to work… You know better because upon reading this, you see that feeling 65% and giving your 110% results in 0% satisfaction, and you’re going to make a life change.
Your boss needs you to cancel your appointment because there’s an ad that needs to get done? Say you’ll do it when you get back. Could you get fired? Maybe. But there’s a few things you can do to prevent that. First off, notify your appointment 3-4 days prior to when you have it. Secondly, send a reminder the day before. Third, keep printouts of these emails. NEVER SAY IT BY MOUTH. Fourth, if you get threatened, you have evidence to back up the lawsuit you can threaten back with. Simple. All you need to do to stay healthy is write emails, send reminders and stick to your schedule. Also, keep printouts of every communication just in case they want to cite performance as a reason for termination. I know it’s bullshit and so do you, but you need to keep any evidence that simply supports your claim to health.
Lastly, be selfish with your health. It’s your health. It’s not the company’s. It’s not your boss’. It’s your health and it’s up to you to keep it in the green.
Cheers
For a lot of people I know, the answer is often delivered in muffled tones and under their breath because they’re almost ashamed to answer. That’s ok by the way. It’s ok that you feel like some never ending case study, because you have simply put up with everything, have postponed appointments and put off annual check-ups for too long… not to mention your wonderful eating habits, your vibrant working hours and that emotional state that's just begging for some psycho analysis.
Let’s face it, if I learned anything from the advertising industry it’s that jobs not only take out a lot of you, but actually consume you. In case you needed any type of reminder, all that effort you put into your job? Most people don’t give a damn, and if they do, you’re probably never going to be their concern. That’s ok though, because now that you’ve read this, you know better.
You know better than to work 15 hour days. You know better than to cancel appointments. You know better than to always eat crap food because it’s the quickest thing you can get for lunch so you can go back to work… You know better because upon reading this, you see that feeling 65% and giving your 110% results in 0% satisfaction, and you’re going to make a life change.
Your boss needs you to cancel your appointment because there’s an ad that needs to get done? Say you’ll do it when you get back. Could you get fired? Maybe. But there’s a few things you can do to prevent that. First off, notify your appointment 3-4 days prior to when you have it. Secondly, send a reminder the day before. Third, keep printouts of these emails. NEVER SAY IT BY MOUTH. Fourth, if you get threatened, you have evidence to back up the lawsuit you can threaten back with. Simple. All you need to do to stay healthy is write emails, send reminders and stick to your schedule. Also, keep printouts of every communication just in case they want to cite performance as a reason for termination. I know it’s bullshit and so do you, but you need to keep any evidence that simply supports your claim to health.
Lastly, be selfish with your health. It’s your health. It’s not the company’s. It’s not your boss’. It’s your health and it’s up to you to keep it in the green.
Cheers
Labels:
quality of life,
work environments,
work sucks
Jul 7, 2010
B movie fans rejoice, Predators is upon us
Ever since I learned Robert Rodríguez was tied to Predators I got a funky feeling that something raunchy and nasty was coming our way. I've only seen the trailer and the poster but the initial reviews say that the game is on people. So strap on your shoulder cannon and get ready for some fun... this shit is about to get pretty messy.
Or as the first predator said: "You ugly motherfucker".... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHA BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM............................
Oooohhhhh here's the trailer:
Cheerssssssssssssssssssss
Labels:
action flick,
Adrien Brody,
predators,
Predators Movie,
Robert Rodriguez
Congratulations to someone who definitely doesn't think in Vain
If there's something I really miss from agency life, it's the liberty to go on blog runs and read some of the wonderful things written by people I've met through the blogosphere. That being said, a long time reader and a personal Joker fave is having a very special day today. So from all here at WAS, happy birthday "Tiv". You rock the kasbah and then some so keep your randomness afloat and keep trucking. You're probably a much better artist than you feel. So congrats, mucho love and above all else...
Cheers :)
Cheers :)
Labels:
blogger birthday,
fellow bloggers,
thinking in vain
Jul 6, 2010
Jul 5, 2010
See this number? We need your help.
Let me ask you a question. Do you like what you see here, from time to time? Do you at some point enjoy any of our posts? Well, I hope you answered yes. If you did, I was wondering... can you share our stuff with your friends?
All we need from you guys is that if you like our posts... Any of our posts! You pass them along to your friends. Maybe a tweet. Maybe a share... do it old fashion and send it by email, if you want. We just want to break the 200's in this badge. It is now the goal of the year to make WAS enter the 150 mark at some point and for that... we need you guys.
So, click ahead, spread the WAS love! Let's make this badge's number lower!
Jul 4, 2010
Jul 2, 2010
Jul 1, 2010
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