My Dream Job

What's your dream job? Really....think about it. My dream job would involve travel, eating new exotic foods, and experiencing new things. I must admit that I'm a bit envious of Anthony Bourdain from the Travel Channel. Anthony Bourdain is many things - he's a chef, best selling author (Kitchen Confidential),foodie, and host of the show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.He travels the world and local hosts navigate him through the culture, cuisine, and new experiences (snowboarding on sand in Namibia, wiping out on an ATV in New Zealand, etc.). Who wouldn't want a permanent vacation to Tuscany, Brazil, Greek Islands, and Spain?

Slumdog Millionaire

New York Magazinecame out with a clever cover showing Bernie Madoff as Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight. The article discusses Madoff's "slumdog" beginnings, his constant resentment of the upperclass, his facial ticks, avoidance of anything with curves ("he drank out of square drinking glasses, stored his pencils in square holders, tossed his trash into square cans"), and his ultimate demise. My question - since Madoff orchestrated the largest financial scam ever ($50B), will the Ponzi Scheme be renamed the Madoff Scheme?

Reality Show Hell

I've been a fan of reality shows since MTV first aired The Real World. It was an original idea: take strangers from "formulated" different backgrounds, put them in a house, and film their ups and downs. Next came Survivor - again, another original concept: take strangers, have them compete for a reward/immunity, and contestants get voted off in a drama filled elimination process.

VH-1, which used to be a music video channel, has abandoned that concept and went "all in" with reality shows (they should rebrand themselves as RS-1 "Reality Shows One"). They evolved the reality genre into "celebreality" by using "past their prime" celebrities. Flavor of Love and Rock of Love were entertaining in the beginning, but became too redundant. The problem came with the many sequels (do we really need a 3rd Real World set in New York City or a Rock of Love Bus), the many spinoffs (I Love New York, Real Chance of Love), people not acting "real" by trying to get their own shows or further their acting/singing/modeling careers, and the trashiness. It'll be interesting to see what the genre will evolve into next.

Happy Friday the 13th

(I was inspired to do a blurb on Friday the 13th after the woman crossing the street behind me, tripped, fell, and almost got run over by a bus this morning.)

Friday the 13th has long been known as a superstitious unlucky day. On Friday, October 13, 1307 , King Philip IV ordered the secret arrest of all Knights of the Templar in France (they were later tortured and executed). The Knights of the Templar protected Christian pilgrims during the Crusades and grew powerful in wealth and politics.

There are countless other origins on Fridays and the number 13. Many negative Biblical events occurred on a Friday (Adam biting into the apple, the Great Flood, Crucifixion, etc), the stock market crashed on a Friday (Black Friday), and it was known as Execution Day in Pagan Rome and Britain (Hangman's Day) In numerology, twelve is considered the number of completeness: 12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 hours on a clock, 12 Apostles, etc. A Norse myth, thought to derive from the Last Supper, believes that thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners. If you have thirteen letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck: Jack The Ripper, Charles Manson, Theodore Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Albert Desalvo (the funny thing is that I have 13 letters in my name - great!). Many buildings do not have a 13th floor and many cities do not have a 13th Street or Avenue. There are 13 menstrual cycles in a year (13 X 28 days = 364 days) which would add validity to the theory. =)

What does this all mean? Nothing is real unless you believe it to be. Clutch your rabbit's feet, throw salt over your shoulder, and make sure those horseshoes are facing down.

Disturbia

I received the image on the left from my co-worker earlier in the day - its been circulating around the internet as a picture of Rihanna after the alleged assault. Its actually a fraud and a "Photoshopped" version of the picture on the right. Its a sad state of affairs when someone decides to circulate a fake picture on such a sensitive situation.

To the Victor go the Spoils

There are 247 members in the NFL Hall of Fame and not one of them is a punter. The punter is the least glorious position on the team - they don't score, they don't get physical, and they are statistically the most likely to turn the ball over per touch. No one grows up wanting to be a NFL punter (as far as I know). Offense wins games, defense wins championships, and punting simply gives the ball back to the other team (in other words: quitting).

There is an important business lesson in all of this: if you don't produce, you can't get rewarded. I learned this my first year out of college - businesses always reward/protect their profit centers and sacrifice their cost centers (support staff, HR, IT, etc). You can't win the game, if you're not scoring points.

It May Be Time....

The best Super Bowl commercial was CareerBuilders.com - It May Be Time. It cleverly outlines the rules to know when you need a new job:

1) You hate going to work everyday
2) Your co-workers don't respect you ("Hey Dummy!")
3) You always wish you were somewhere else
4) You cry constantly
5) You daydream of punching small animals in the face ("Oh dear!")
6) You sit next to the inappropriate guy who clips his toenails

It left off a few other reasons (being taken for granted, don't respect your boss), but nailed everyone's feelings when you hear that alarm clock go off in the morning.