A few weeks ago a 'Big Boss' came around the office to talk at us about new upheavals in the future. To protect the innocent I'll call him 'Del Boy' as he shrugged just like Del Boy. Anyhoo, Del Boy gave the usual flannel and then took questions which he preceded to dodge with, it must be said, an admirable skill, sort of like Muhammad Ali in his younger days.
One thing stuck in my mind, and it wasn't the pencil I'd been ramming into my skull to stay sane. Del Boy said that 'they' (the mis-managment) had not ruled out any department when it came to 'outsourcing' work.
First off, isn't 'outsourcing' a great word? Who first coined it and why? He was American, that much we know, but even there they now realise that 'outsourcing' causes more problems than it solves, the main one being that you have most of your workforce & structure in another country!
Secondly, why is it that 'no department is ruled out', except management? Why do we never 'outsource' the Bosses?
Given the credit crunch, I think it's time we considered it. Granted, historically outsourcing leaders has had mixed results, for every General Bernadotte or Barack Obama(!) , there's a Hitler or Stalin, but I think it's worth a try.
You heard it here first.......
Friday 31 July 2009
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Latest News
The Revolution has been postponed. More news as it comes in, but please, for the moment, lock up all weapons. That includes YOU, Billy Bob!
(You know what happened last time)
I'm off to the pics tonight, going to see 'The Proposal', which is a rom com, but shouldn't it be a gangster film with a title like that?
Wasn't therer an Aussie film called that with Ray Winstone?
(You know what happened last time)
I'm off to the pics tonight, going to see 'The Proposal', which is a rom com, but shouldn't it be a gangster film with a title like that?
Wasn't therer an Aussie film called that with Ray Winstone?
Friday 24 July 2009
The weeked starts here!
Hiya peeps!
I remember once meeting Stephen Fry, and I'll never forget his words. He said to me "What the hell are you doing in my house?". I laughed, grabbed his wallet and ran, instinctively knowing what he meant.
He meant "carpe diem Kev, seize the day, me old mate" and he's right, we don't know how long we've got. So this weekend lets get out there, fight like crazy people and shame the devil!
Who's with me people???
I remember once meeting Stephen Fry, and I'll never forget his words. He said to me "What the hell are you doing in my house?". I laughed, grabbed his wallet and ran, instinctively knowing what he meant.
He meant "carpe diem Kev, seize the day, me old mate" and he's right, we don't know how long we've got. So this weekend lets get out there, fight like crazy people and shame the devil!
Who's with me people???
Thursday 23 July 2009
Torchwood-day
Today is Thursday, which is named after the Norse God Thor. Why that is I don't know, but I thought you should. In mainland China they just name the days of the week after numbers, are they more logical or are we more imaginative?
I put this forward as an example of a question without a yes/no, wrong/right answer, because recently I was reading James Morans blog, 'The pen is mightier than the spork'. He's a writer who's stuff you might have noticed, Dr Who, Spooks, Torchwood, Severance, etc. and it seems that some so-called 'fans' have been giving him a hard time because he wrote a large part of Torchwood:Children of Earth and they didn't like some of the decisions made, such as killing off Ianto.
Now as it happens I thought this series of Torchwood has fulfilled the promise that the first two offered but only delivered in parts. It was brilliant, in my humble opinion, even though I'm not sure I agreed with all the plot decisions. Its basic idea could only be done in a Sci-Fi show, an alien race offers you a choice of complete obliteration of your species or 10% of your children, what do you do?
Obviously you can do it in things like Sophie's Choice, but not on such a scale. I felt there were flaws in the story logic, such as 'if the aliens needed the children so badly, would they really wipe them all out with humanity?' and 'why didn't they just kidnap them?' but who cares, it worked for the story.
I'll tell you who cares, these idiotic fans care. They care so much that they unleashed a stream of vitriolic abuse on a writer who only did his job. Here's a question for them, if they care so much why don't they go write a perfect script for themselves?
Because they are morons.
You don't like someone's idea? Fine, don't watch/read/listen to it. I remember a comment from a Dr Who fan that Russell T Davies' version wasn't as good as 'old Dr Who', he'd somehow squandered an opportuity.
He completely missed the point that without RTD there wouldn't have been ANY new Dr Who! Nothing! Just a repeat of the old series ad nauseum.
It's these fans who are really ruining the programme, because of them no one will want to go anywhere near it & it will die a lonely, painful death.
In short, get a life!
James Moran, if you're reading this (unlikely) remember the last line from one of my favourite films, 'Jagged Edge', as spoken by Robert Loggia: "F*** 'em, they was trash!"
Word!
I put this forward as an example of a question without a yes/no, wrong/right answer, because recently I was reading James Morans blog, 'The pen is mightier than the spork'. He's a writer who's stuff you might have noticed, Dr Who, Spooks, Torchwood, Severance, etc. and it seems that some so-called 'fans' have been giving him a hard time because he wrote a large part of Torchwood:Children of Earth and they didn't like some of the decisions made, such as killing off Ianto.
Now as it happens I thought this series of Torchwood has fulfilled the promise that the first two offered but only delivered in parts. It was brilliant, in my humble opinion, even though I'm not sure I agreed with all the plot decisions. Its basic idea could only be done in a Sci-Fi show, an alien race offers you a choice of complete obliteration of your species or 10% of your children, what do you do?
Obviously you can do it in things like Sophie's Choice, but not on such a scale. I felt there were flaws in the story logic, such as 'if the aliens needed the children so badly, would they really wipe them all out with humanity?' and 'why didn't they just kidnap them?' but who cares, it worked for the story.
I'll tell you who cares, these idiotic fans care. They care so much that they unleashed a stream of vitriolic abuse on a writer who only did his job. Here's a question for them, if they care so much why don't they go write a perfect script for themselves?
Because they are morons.
You don't like someone's idea? Fine, don't watch/read/listen to it. I remember a comment from a Dr Who fan that Russell T Davies' version wasn't as good as 'old Dr Who', he'd somehow squandered an opportuity.
He completely missed the point that without RTD there wouldn't have been ANY new Dr Who! Nothing! Just a repeat of the old series ad nauseum.
It's these fans who are really ruining the programme, because of them no one will want to go anywhere near it & it will die a lonely, painful death.
In short, get a life!
James Moran, if you're reading this (unlikely) remember the last line from one of my favourite films, 'Jagged Edge', as spoken by Robert Loggia: "F*** 'em, they was trash!"
Word!
Wednesday 15 July 2009
I was thinking recently (it's good practice & I intend to keep it up) it was when the memorial 'concert' for Michael Jackson was on, on both BBC2 AND Five (Altho' Five had a 10 second delay on the BBC coverage, don't know why) and my mind went back to 1997 and Princess Diana's death.
It really was one of those events you had to be at to fully appreciate. Britain forgot itself and went mental! It reminded me of a lyric from an Evita song, 'Oh What a Circus': "We've all gone crazy, mourning all day and mourning all night, falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right". It seemed that only myself and the Queen were immune, not very often I'm in agreement with Her Maj., altho' I do like corgis.
A works colleague even asked me "You're not upset at all by Diana then, Badge?" And I felt like I was defending myself when I replied "Well I'm sorry 2 kids have lost their mother, but she never meant anything to me". And she didn't, not really. I felt more sorrow when Richard Pryor or Spike Milligan died, because they DID mean something to me.
So now to Michael Jackson, and I feel the same, only now I feel angry. Diana over-shadowed the death of Mother Theresa, who died not long after, and I didn't think it fair. How do we apportion grief? Why is it those who dedicate their lives to good works pass away unnoticed, while Saddam gets on You Tube?
Don't get me wrong, I'm sorry for his family, friends and even his fans, but when 500 people are reportedly holding a vigil at the O2, I worry. When it's the same week as 8 young soldiers die in Afghanistan, I despair.
Then something happened that re-affirmed my faith in humanity. The people of Wootton Bassett, a small town in Wiltshire thru which all the bodies of the dead pass from the nearby RAF base, came out in droves as they have done since almost the first soldiers were killed, stood quietly by the side of the road and paid their respects. They did this without any urging from any organisation or authority, and for no personal gain.
Forget patriotism, this is humanity at it's most basic and inspiring. If we fail to honour our dead, we do not deserve to continue as a species, nor would I wish to be part of a species that didn't.
Thank you Wotton Bassett, thank you very much.
It really was one of those events you had to be at to fully appreciate. Britain forgot itself and went mental! It reminded me of a lyric from an Evita song, 'Oh What a Circus': "We've all gone crazy, mourning all day and mourning all night, falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right". It seemed that only myself and the Queen were immune, not very often I'm in agreement with Her Maj., altho' I do like corgis.
A works colleague even asked me "You're not upset at all by Diana then, Badge?" And I felt like I was defending myself when I replied "Well I'm sorry 2 kids have lost their mother, but she never meant anything to me". And she didn't, not really. I felt more sorrow when Richard Pryor or Spike Milligan died, because they DID mean something to me.
So now to Michael Jackson, and I feel the same, only now I feel angry. Diana over-shadowed the death of Mother Theresa, who died not long after, and I didn't think it fair. How do we apportion grief? Why is it those who dedicate their lives to good works pass away unnoticed, while Saddam gets on You Tube?
Don't get me wrong, I'm sorry for his family, friends and even his fans, but when 500 people are reportedly holding a vigil at the O2, I worry. When it's the same week as 8 young soldiers die in Afghanistan, I despair.
Then something happened that re-affirmed my faith in humanity. The people of Wootton Bassett, a small town in Wiltshire thru which all the bodies of the dead pass from the nearby RAF base, came out in droves as they have done since almost the first soldiers were killed, stood quietly by the side of the road and paid their respects. They did this without any urging from any organisation or authority, and for no personal gain.
Forget patriotism, this is humanity at it's most basic and inspiring. If we fail to honour our dead, we do not deserve to continue as a species, nor would I wish to be part of a species that didn't.
Thank you Wotton Bassett, thank you very much.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)